The Ring of Winter - James Lowder [95]
Finally Skuld slowed, then stopped. Debris and dead locusts began to rain down upon the village like hail. "It is over, master," the silver giant shouted.
Kaverin Ebonhand appeared in the doorway. To one side he was flanked by M'bobo, to the other by Lord Rayburton. The bara's hands were bound, and a gag filled his mouth. The braises on his face could have only come from a beating, but the wild, fearful look in his eyes told of far more terrible tortures.
All across the camp, the goblins were helping their wounded comrades and gathering weapons. None were willing to attack the humans that had brought the locusts down upon them, despite the orders M'bobo screeched from the palace door. When not a single warrior lifted a spear or bow against the intruders, she called for Balt to whip the soldiers into line. No one had the nerve to tell her the general was even less likely to jump to her command than they were. Instead, the tense and fearful Batiri gathered in a wide circle around Skuld and the humans.
"Put down your weapons and give yourselves up," Kaverin shouted, holding one empty hand out in a gesture of peace. "You won't be hurt-and the old man won't be hurt any worse than he already has been-but only if you surrender right now."
Artus raised his bow and fired, aiming for Kaverin's heart. The arrow would have split that wellspring of evil in two had Skuld not been there. The guardian spirit flexed his powerful legs and leaped into the air, as high as the second-story landing where Kaverin stood. The arrow bit into his chest. With the feathered shaft sticking out of him. Skuld dropped back to the ground. He plucked out the arrow with one of his four hands and crashed it.
Smiling viciously, Kaverin said, "I wouldn't have believed that offer either." He curled his hand into a fist. "Give up now, or I'll send Skuld after you. Either way, you're dead, but Skuld will make what little time you have left truly horrible if he has to come get you. Mulhorandi tortures are among the world's most painful, you know."
Sanda drew her long-bladed knife, and Kwalu brandished his war club. For a moment, Artus hesitated. Then he dropped his bow. The barae looked at him, astonished.
"Showing your true colors at last, eh Cimber?" Kaverin gloated. Rayburton tried to run forward, but a stone hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Kill the two natives, Skuld. Save Cimber for me. I am, after all, a man of my word."
The disappointment in Sanda's eyes wounded Artus to the core, but there was no time to explain his plan-even if he knew exactly what to expect. The explorer reached into his pocket for one of the diamond slivers. The gem felt slippery in his sweaty fingers, but he gripped it tightly and held it up before him. He glanced at Skuld; the four-armed guardian was running toward him, gnashing his filed teeth.
Artus said the Tabaxi word for lightning.
The flash that followed blinded everyone who was looking at the explorer and drove the goblin circle back. It should have blinded Artus, too, but somehow his eyes were spared. Something to do with the enchantment on the gem, he decided later. At the moment, his mind was set on controlling the crackling bolt of lightning that had appeared in his hand.
The heat from the lightning washed over Artus in waves, singeing his hair and reddening his skin. Sparks snaked around his arm and slithered up to his shoulder. There was no pain-no serious pain, anyway-just an immense feeling of power. He turned the bolt in his hand, holding it like a javelin.
Skuld rubbed his eyes with the heels of two hands, holding the other set up to ward off attackers. When he took his hands away, he glared at Artus. "That cannot help you," he snarled, then started forward again.
"Let's find out," Artus said. He hurled the lightning bolt.
In the instant before the bolt struck Skuld, a silver shield appeared in the guardian