Venom's Taste - Lisa Smedman [94]
But at least he was still talking. All Arvin had to do was get him to listen-and to believe him.
“I didn’t tell the yuan-ti psion anything,” Arvin protested. “If I had, your geas would have killed me. She reached into my mind-she violated it-and plucked out Osran’s name.”
“You gave it to her willingly,” Nicco accused. “That’s why you fled the city. You feared Hoar’s wrath.”
“Then why would I have come back? Why would I seek you out? I needed help-I left the city to find it. But the person who tried to negate what Zelia had done to me wasn’t able to-”
“Zelia.” Nicco’s eyes narrowed. “So that’s the name of your master.”
Arvin opened his mouth to explain further, but in that same moment Nicco barked out a quick prayer. “Walk,” he commanded, the lightning bolts in his earring tinkling as he thrust out a hand, pointing at the execution pits.
Arvin felt the compulsion of the prayer grip him-and found himself turning smartly on his heel. Like a puppet, he marched toward the pits, guided by Nicco’s pointing finger as the cleric strode along behind him. Arvin had an anxious moment when they passed the pit with the adder. He hissed with relief as Nicco directed him to the constrictor’s pit, instead.
“Halt,” Nicco ordered.
Arvin did. Stealing a glance down, he saw a strand of cord peeking out from under the serpent’s body-the unraveled monkey’s fist. A faint, powder-sweet odor rose from the pit, just detectable over the stink of the snake-the last of the gloomwing scent. Arvin took care not to inhale too deeply.
Nicco stared at him from the edge of the pit. “Any last words, condemned man?”
“Just this,” Arvin answered. “If I’m guilty, then may Hoar punish me by allowing the serpent to crush and consume me. If I’m innocent, may Hoar let me survive unharmed.”
“So be it,” Nicco said. Then he gave a third command: “Walk.”
Arvin did, not even bothering to try to fight the compulsion. He fell onto the serpent’s back and tumbled to the floor of the pit. The constrictor had been placid about the monkey’s fist landing beside it earlier, but at the touch of a large, living creature, it immediately responded. It whipped a coil around Arvin’s upper chest and flexed, driving the air from Arvin’s lungs. Another coil immediately fastened around Arvin’s legs.
For one terrible moment, Arvin thought he had miscalculated. As the serpent squeezed, his vision went gray and stars began to swim before his eyes…
Then he felt its coils loosening. The one around his legs slackened and fell away, followed by the one around his chest. Gasping his relief, Arvin staggered away from the constrictor. The gloomwing scent had done its work. The serpent had just expended what remained of its strength.
From above, he heard a sharp intake of breath. Glancing up, he saw Nicco staring down at him, a troubled expression on his face. “It seems that I accused you unjustly,” he said. He reached down into the pit. “Take my hand. Climb.”
Arvin did.
From the east side of the plaza came the sound of running footsteps. Looking in that direction, Arvin saw a dozen militia hurrying down one of the side streets toward the plaza. From one of them came a shout: “There he is!”
Arvin thought it was Nicco they were pointing at; then he realized it was him.
Nicco began murmuring a prayer that Arvin had heard once before and recognized. It was the one that would teleport him away. Realizing he was being left behind, Arvin spoke quickly. “I know where the Pox are hiding!” he cried. “Take me with you!”
A weighted line, fired from a crossbow, whizzed overhead.
Nicco smiled. “What makes you think I was going to leave you here?” Then he touched Arvin’s shoulder. Arvin felt himself wrenched through the dimensions by a teleportation spell. The Plaza of Justice-and the militia who were raising their crossbows-all disappeared from sight.
26 Kythorn, Evening
Arvin and Nicco stood together in the alley the cleric had teleported them to, talking in low voices. A few paces away, the alley opened onto the courtyard