“The voice of experience?”
“Yes. The other thing is, they have a strange habit of taking up with other creatures, assuming a role like a bodyguard.”
“Like a loyal dog,” Kauth said.
“Exactly. And about as smart. So it’s probably attached itself to whatever spawn of the daelkyr-”
Sevren’s hands shot to his ears and his mouth opened wide in a voiceless scream. Vor stepped to his side as Kauth looked around for the source of the attack. The first thing he saw could only have been the gray render Sevren had described-a hulking brute with a hairless gray body, long arms, and short legs. Kauth’s head reached about to its gaping mouth, but the thing’s sloping forehead and hunched shoulders rose several feet above him. Six small eyes in two columns rose up above the razor-toothed jaws.
Kauth’s mace was in his hands before he saw the render’s companion-an enormous emerald-scaled serpent almost as large as the gray-skinned brute. It slithered along the ground, holding its head high. A cobralike cowl spread out behind its head, which bore a twisted mockery of a human face, snarling in rage.
Vor stepped forward to meet the onrushing gray render. It thrust its misshapen head forward and tore the orc’s flesh with its black teeth, catching Vor off guard-his axe was ready to block a claw swinging in from the side, not the bite coming down from above. Only after the bite connected did the thing bring its claws to bear. Kauth’s gut clenched in fear-not for his own safety, but for the fallen paladin’s. He cursed his weakness even as he sprang forward to distract the creature before it could tear Vor apart.
His mace’s flanges tore into the render’s upper arm, and the monster’s head turned to him. Vor wrested himself out of the render’s grasp and struck a powerful blow with his greataxe, drawing its attention back to him.
Kauth nodded. Back and forth, back and forth, he thought. Keep it constantly distracted so it can’t land a solid blow.
He edged around the beast so it was directly between him and Vor, meaning it had to turn farther each time it shifted its attention. He scored a telling blow on the render’s back, just behind its arm, and it roared in pain as it wheeled back to face him. He concentrated on defending himself until Vor struck it again.
Back and forth, he thought, and it’ll be dead in no time.
Then the pain hit him, in the form of an arcane word that coursed through his body and set his nerves on fire. There was no part of him that wasn’t in agony, and he doubled over, clutching at his ears as Sevren had done. Even the gray render’s tearing bite didn’t increase the pain. He started falling backward from the force of the render’s blow, but its claws caught him before he hit the ground. Just as the torturous word faded from his ears and its wracking agony with it, the render’s claws tore at him and sent a jolt of a different kind of pain through his chest. At last, the render tossed him aside, turning back to face Vor, and he fell to the ground in a heap.
Kauth just wanted to lie there-it hurt to move even the slightest bit. It was humiliation, though, that made him reach for one of the wands at his belt and send its healing magic into his body. He didn’t want to be the one who got knocked out of the fight again, as he had when they fought the Children of Winter. He didn’t want to lose the respect of his companions.
The wand’s magic coursed through him, knitting his flesh and easing the ache that still throbbed in his skull. He took a deep breath as it flowed like cool water through his veins, bracing and refreshing, then got to his feet.
He heard Vor shout in pain, caught in the gray render’s grip again. Shifting his hold on his mace, Kauth swung it as hard as he could into the beast’s shoulder. The spikes dug deep, and the club’s impact made the render stagger forward. Vor stumbled backward out of its grasp, and then it fell on him. The orc managed to shift its weight to one side and send it crashing to the ground without being crushed beneath it.
Kauth drew a wand again and started toward the orc, but Vor waved him away, pointing weakly at the others. Kauth spun around-focusing on the gray render and the combat rhythm he had found with Vor, he had all but forgotten their two companions and the serpent creature.
Trying to assess the situation was like watching a complex dance. Sevren preferred to dart in, cut with his knives, and dart back out of reach, and Zandar liked blasting the serpent from a safe distance. The serpent wove between them, repeating its word over and over, rendering one man or the other helpless for a few moments at a time. Without Vor at the forefront, none of the battle’s participants wanted to stand still next to the others.
The serpent showed the marks of both Sevren’s knives and Zandar’s blasts, but it was still going strong. Kauth glanced back at Vor. The orc was stooped over, his hands on his knees, catching his breath and readying himself to fight again. He jerked his head back toward the others, so Kauth turned around again and charged the serpent.
Sevren saw Kauth’s approach and timed his next lunge so they hit the serpent at the same time. In that instant, the terror of the battle slipped away. Kauth felt like part of a larger creature, each part functioning with perfect coordination. He and Sevren were two claws of the same beast, an irresistible assault. He rode a surge of joy forward.
Then the serpent spoke another arcane word, and it resounded in the air like a clap of thunder. Kauth stopped dead before he could complete the swing of his mace. The thunder echoed through his mind for an instant, driving away any other thought.
In that instant, the serpent drew its head back and spit a gout of black liquid that sprayed over him and Sevren. His skin burned, and he felt fire wash through the veins the healing magic had cooled.
Poison, he thought. I have a wand for that, too-somewhere. It was a wand he didn’t keep ready at his belt, and his mind was still reeling from the serpent’s thundering word of power. He fumbled at a buckle that normally required only a simple flick of the fingers to open, even as he saw Sevren double over in pain. The venom made Kauth’s stomach churn, but at last he found the wand he needed. Just as he drew it out, though, the coiled serpent’s tail lashed out and slammed into his gut, sending him sprawling.
He looked up at the serpent, expecting to see a fanged mouth closing in for the kill. But a veil of darkness covered its eyes, and it flailed about. The tail whipped around wildly, hitting Sevren next, but the serpent moved away from them, trying to protect itself until the darkness cleared from its eyes.
That gave Kauth the time to yank the wand from his pouch and stop the poison, cooling his blood once more. He stepped to Sevren and touched him with the topaz tip of the wand as well. The shifter nodded his gratitude then leaped at the serpent again, slashing furiously with his knives.
Kauth was pleased to see that the enchantment he’d placed on Sevren’s weapons made a difference-each blow from his blades brought spurts of blood and hissing cries of pain. He hefted his mace and circled to flank the serpent with Sevren, hoping to find the same kind of rhythm he and Vor had found. He bashed at its coiled body and readied himself for its attack, but it proved more intelligent than the gray render-it kept its attention focused on Sevren, clearly a more significant threat.
Then Vor charged back into the melee. He swung his axe in a weaving loop, back and forth, biting deep into scales and flesh and bone each time. Kauth felt like cheering as the serpent gave a final, gasping hiss and slumped to the ground. Its body flopped around for a moment, uncoiling to show its monstrous length, and it died staring blankly at the sky.
Vor put his hands on his knees again, breathing heavily. His armor was splashed with blood, and Kauth could see several tears in the metal where the render’s claws had torn through and cut into him. Kauth produced one of the wands he kept close at hand and set to work on Vor’s wounds, knitting flesh back together. The wounds were deep and must have been painful, but Vor never flinched. He accepted Kauth’s ministrations with a gracious smile.