Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [45]
Iakhovas glared at her and gestured.
Instantly, the quill next to her heart twisted and the nausea went away. At least, the physical effects of it did, leaving her stomach resting quietly. Mentally, she still couldn't stand the sight of the thing waiting quietly in the pit. Surface dwelling priests and priestesses had the ability to turn the undead, as did the hated sea elves, but as a priestess for Sekolah, she had no such ability. The drowned ones had nearly killed her before one of the humans she'd been working with turned them back.
"I would have something from you," Iakhovas told the thing.
"I have nothing."
"It was yours at one time," Iakhovas argued. "I was told it still resided with your body."
The thing ran its misshapen hands over its body. "I was killed and robbed. I don't even remember being brought here."
"Your name," Iakhovas said, "was Cuthbert Drin and you were brother to Halbazzer Drin, the owner of Sorcerous Sundries here in Baldur's Gate."
"I'm in Baldur's Gate?"
"Yes."
The dead thing moved uncertainly. Its face took on features as the rest of it sharpened into shape as well. Laaqueel realized whatever magic Iakhovas had laid on it was continuing to work.
"Release me," the thing ordered, knotting its crooked fingers and hands into fists. "This hurts."
"No," Iakhovas said.
"The time bij-rns!" The dead thing suddenly broke into a frenzy of activity, pacing and scratching itself. In places, the fingers penetrated the lime-covered skin. Tendrils of old blood wormed out, marring the white luster of the lime in the glowing globe's glare.
"Of course it burns," Iakhovas said. "It's a struggle to keep you alive at all."
"You can't keep me like this."
"Yes," Iakhovas said. "I can."
The dead thing moved faster, almost up to a run in the small area. It clawed at the walls of the pit, seeking some way to get out. "What do you want?"
"The ship you had with you on the day you were killed," Iakhovas answered. "It's mine, and I've come to claim it."
"It was taken," the dead thing argued.
"No," Iakhovas replied. "I traced your steps, Cuthbert Drin, through the ordinary means of agents planted here at Baldur's Gate, and through scrying and divining into the past. After I had the facts, I found the moment in time you discovered the bottle high in the Orsraun Mountains near the Vilhon Reach. You and your brother, Halbazzer, found mention of the bottled ship in scrolls that came into your hands at the shop. Even twenty years ago, his rigorous adventuring days were behind him, robbed by the poisoned knife of an assassin hired to kill him. The damage was so great he never fully recovered from the attack. You had the bottled ship the day you died, and your murderers didn't find it."
"How do you know this?"
"I found two of your murderers," Iakhovas said. "I took the time to question them, and I made certain of the veracity of their stories as I stripped their lives from them one layer at a time. Both stories, in the end, were screamed out and agreed on the fact that the killers hadn't seen the bottled ship."
"You know the mystery of the bottle?" the dead thing asked, picking at the lime-encrusted shreds of flesh hanging off it. "Though I tried any number of ways, I never succeeded in opening it. Even the glass wouldn't shatter."
"I know the secret of the bottle," Iakhovas said. "I petitioned the elemental beings who created it, trading with them for their services." He narrowed his single eye and deepened his voice. "Now give it to me or I'll leave you there like that, unable to ever escape the fiery kiss of the lime that ate away your flesh and bones."
"No!" The dead thing slapped and massaged at itself, still walking, still uncomfortable.
"Then burn." Iakhovas