"Even if it could," put in Jasmine, "Shauku's torture may have driven it mad."
"Good for us," returned the practical ex-soldier. "Hurt breeds hate. That thing must loathe Shauku. We need all the allies we can scrape up."
"Good luck enlisting it," said Simone the Siren.
"But what is it?" Like most, Whistledove felt a combined pity and disgust. "Why the ring of fire?"
"To mask the stink?" asked Simone. Everyone's eyes were bloodshot and irritated by the pall of smoke wafting along the ceiling.
"So it can't grow,'' said a kobold.
"Grow how?" asked Adira.
"Like a plant. It makes little sprouts, but Shauku saws them off." People shuddered.
"So the fire keeps the roots from spreading," mused Heath.
Even as they watched, another quartet of kobolds dragged a log into the chamber, dumped it in the fiery trench, then went away. No other people were evident. "How big would the beast grow, given free rein?"
"Big," said a kobold.
Adira Strongheart's reduced Circle of Seven crouched in darkness and stared, pondering how to proceed. As did Magfire, her brother Taurion, the scout Kyenou, and four other woods warriors. The three kobolds were restrained by ropes around their necks lest they dash off and alert legionnaires or Lady Shauku herself. The two pixies Sacred Tree and Peaceflower perched on rocks, wary of queer newcomers.
Nearing the huge cavern, the party had been joined by five fire sprites. Long as a man's hand, naked and yellow with glaring black eyes, the fairies rode the air on wings of pure flame, hot as coals from a forge. One in passing frizzled Adira's chestnut curls. The sprites didn't whistle or sing like their wood brethren but simply tagged along like fireflies. The kobold Dog Ears or Prince explained that fire sprites were common in the Blue Mountains, and a pack of fire sprites had been shifted here along with the kobolds. They cast a pleasant yellow glow, so the adventurers ignored them, aside from watching their hats and hair.
As sudden as a thunderclap, a tiger's roar shook the walls and jarred human ears. The crying horror snapped and flailed helplessly. Pixies and fire sprites vaulted into the air to hover near the smoky ceiling.
"That's Jedit!" snapped Adira. "Where the hell-Where did he go?"
No one had seen the tiger slink off. One of the pixies flittered and jabbered. Hurriedly, lurking behind jumbled rocks where possible, the party skirted the hazy cavern. Magfire designated pickets while the pirates split to circle the trapped monster. Then stopped cold in their tracks.
Whereas so far they'd seen only broken fragments of amber glass, now they beheld a giant crystal intact, six-sided, half as tall as a man. The tiger Jedit Ojanen wrestled the crystal as if mad, making the thing rock like a ship at sea. Black claws skittered and screeked over the glasslike surface, unable to score it. What mostly stunned the adventurers was the shadow tumbling inside the crystal.
"Strike me blind!" piped Adira. "Johan!"
Trapped within the amber cube crouched Johan, Tyrant of Tirras, Emperor of the Northern Realms, and prisoner of Lady Shauku. Onlookers gawked. Jedit Ojanen, raging, bunched his mighty thighs and slammed into the crystal as if to tear it open. Talons skittered off harmlessly. Still the tiger hammered, mindless with fury.
"Heath! Hit him! With your bow!" barked Adira. When the part-elf balked, the pirate chief snatched away the thick bow, wound up with two hands, and whacked Jedit hard across the muzzle. Stunned, the tiger backpedaled and made to leap. Adira had drawn her black sword. "Stand fast, Stripes, or I'll fillet you like a hake! I may anyway! What's the idea of caterwauling like a banshee? Would you bring Shauku and every last legionnaire in these hills down on our heads?"
"I'll kill him!" Frothing at the mouth, Jedit had barely regained his senses. Rubbing his nose, he growled, "I'll crack this egg and suck the meat! This despot killed my father! I'll render him dead and rotten with his bones scattered for vultures!"
"Belay that bilge!" Adira didn't lower her sword. "This poxy bastard owes me half a crew and a tenth the population of Palmyra! We've all suffered at his bloody hands! Now settle down, or I'll lop off a limb and you can limp three-legged the rest of your misbegotten life!"
Throughout the show, Johan sat with arms around his knees, for he was cramped inside the crystal. He watched the clustered comrades coolly as a basilisk. In a pause, his voice came faint and tinny as if piped through a keyhole.
"Children, control your impulses. I'm safe. You can't crack this crystal any more than I."
"We'll see," snapped Adira. "Murdoch, strike."
"Aye, milady." Black sword in hand, the ex-soldier wound up two-handed, slung his blade high, and crashed it atop the crystal. The sword bounced off and almost wrenched from Murdoch's hand.
"As expected," asked Adira, "but we must essay everything, and simplest things first. Johan, tell us how to free you, so we can kill you."
"Gladly," called the archmage in a fine bout of sarcasm. "If only I knew."
Simone the Siren snorted. "We finally find our archenemy helpless as a hung goose, and we can't lay a hand on him!"
"Speaking of confinement." Murdoch was used to keeping his head in dangerous country. "If Jedit's cry does summon Shauku, we might all get smothered by amber."
"Too true," said Adira. Magfire had put out pickets, but now the pirate chief sent Heath and Murdoch to explore for more boltholes. The pirate queen sheathed her black sword. "What now? Can we roll this blighter through the tunnels and crack him out later? Will it even fit?"
"Why free him at all?" asked Jasmine Boreal. "Wouldn't it better serve the world to find a deep cleft and roll him into it?"
"So does a simple mind squander a valuable resource for spite," sneered the mage inside his amber cage.
"Who's simple?" retorted the druid. "Who's painted 'round with runes of enslavement?"
"Stifle your blather," chided the prisoner. "However loathsome, it's best we work together to stop Shauku."
Adira Strongheart waved a hand. "Shauku is nothing to us."
"Beg to differ!" bristled Magfire. "My people seek to unseat and punish Shauku! Don't count on our aid unless you also fight Shauku!"
Adira Strongheart didn't argue. Idly she drew a dagger and picked at a joint in the crystal. The keen blade left no mark. "How do you breathe in there?"
"I have no idea."
"How did she trap you? Do these crystals unlatch like bird cages, or did she shove you inside like a finger into a soap bubble?"
Johan shook his horned head. "I know not. I was spellbound."
"Spellbound? The master of deceit, overthrown by a greater liar?" Idly Adira tapped the crystal. "I wonder if this surface would take paint or pitch. We could black this crystal all over, smear it with dirt, then roll it into a dark comer for a hundred years."
The pirate queen was rewarded as Johan's eyes widened. Rapidly he said, "Did you know Shauku is a vampire?"
Consternation struck the heroes of Palmyra and Arboria. Magfire swore bitter oaths. Adira and the rest listened raptly as Johan described how Shauku shed her disguise and bled a woodswoman. Then Johan pressed his case.
"Clearly Shauku is the greater danger. But I have a suggestion to undermine her power."
"And free yourself?" asked Adira.
"Hush," demanded Magfire. "Let him talk. He's not my enemy, though I agree he's a rat. Shauku preys upon my people like a giant leech. I want her head on a pike. Johan is your problem."
"This is how you aid allies?" snarled Adira. "I pity your enemies."
"Gentle women," soothed Taurion, "surely we can find middle ground where both Johan and Shauku are rendered dead or impotent."
"Yes, stop spatting!" chided Jasmine Boreal, large violet eyes aflame. "You quibble like two lovers on a honeymoon! It profits nothing and grates on the ear! Punish those who deserve it!"