"We came here for that?" Laaqueel asked after a short time.
"Yes." The wizard glanced at her, a cruel smile on his face mocking her. "Don't be mislead by the talisman's size, my little malenti. Even small keys are known to open big doors."
Laaqueel's anger ignited within her. "What is it?"
"Perhaps, someday, I'll let you know, if it amuses me to do so."
She spoke again without pausing to think. "My people have fought and died this night for that thing. We should at least know-"
Iakhovas wheeled on her, using his size to tower above her. "You think perhaps you should at least be allowed to know what they've fought and died for? Is that what you're trying to say?"
Laaqueel felt her face tighten even further under the rampant emotions that surged through her. She tried to speak but couldn't.
"You have to learn your place, little malenti," Iakhovas grated in his harsh whisper. "I am giving you and your people the means to wipe the surface dwellers from the seas of Toril, and even drive them back into the interior that the sahuagin can claim the coastal lands as well. Ill even protect you from whatever enemies would try to take this empire from you."
"For what?" Laaqueel demanded.
He shook his head. "Once, my little malenti, I ruled the seas of this world, and I choose to do so again."
"Sacrilege!" Laaqueel said. "Sekolah-"
"-Has more pressing matters than paying attention to one puny world out of all those open to him," Iakhovas finished for her. "Why else have the sahuagin had to rely more on themselves than on their god?"
"Sekolah teaches us to be unmerciful, trains us to be strong through hardship. Self-sufficiency is valued above all things."
"If your people were truly self-sufficient," Iakhovas said, "they wouldn't need me now, would they? They would have already dealt with the hated surface dwellers, but they haven't. The success we've had here tonight will only lead to more successes in the future." Laaqueel searched for a reply, but none came readily. Her attention shifted to a Waterdhavian Watch group that raced down the walk across the street. Two of the men wore wizard's robes showing the watch's colors of black, gold and green that were apparent even in the moonlight. She watched their heads turn as they came across from Iakhovas.
"Hold there!" one of the watch wizards ordered. He pulled a red glowing wand from his robes. The other guardsmen came around like a school offish, turning as one.
Laaqueel appreciated their training but knew it made them dangerous if they saw through the illusion Iakhovas had cast. "Who are you people?" the watch wizard demanded. Citizens trapped between the two groups on the street quickly thinned around them, leaving them facing each other.
"We have a ship out in the harbor," Laaqueel replied after realizing Iakhovas wasn't going to answer.
"I want to see your papers," the wizard said, gesturing to one of the men around him. Several of the other watch members had drawn heavy crossbows.
"They have the sense that something is wrong," Iakhovas said. "They smell the sewer scent of the wererats. Even I couldn't disguise that from those who are magically adept. Stand ready."
Laaqueel wished they were closer to the harbor. There she would be at least near her element.
"Slay the man who approaches us," Iakhovas commanded quietly, "as soon as he's near enough to make sure of the kill."
Laaqueel stretched her empty hand down, hiding it behind her leg. She flipped her retractable claws out and waited. When the man stood across from her and reached out for her papers, she struck. Her claws flashed across his throat, opening his jugular in a crimson rush. He fell to the street clutching at his torn throat.
The watch wizard pointed his wand. A bright flare shot from the end of it, wriggling like an eel and the color of fire coral. The mystic bolt streaked at Laaqueel's face. Before it could reach her, Iakhovas stretched out a hand. Tattoos along his arm glowed. In the next instant, the bright flare disintegrated into a shower of purple sparks, like a candle that had been snuffed out.
"Attack!" Iakhovas ordered. He dropped a hand in front of Laaqueel. "Not you, little malenti. The wererats possess a resistance to any weapons that aren't silver or have magical properties. You will remain with me."
The wererats shrugged forward, cluttering in a semi-human language mixed with high, piercing squeaks. They brandished their swords, shapeshifting into their hybrid forms. The watch members held their ground, immediately moving shield men forward while the heavy crossbowmen fired at Laaqueel and Iakhovas. All of the arrows struck an invisible barrier and shattered, the pieces dropping into the street.
Iakhovas gestured at the wizard in an intricate pattern and spoke only a few words.
The human screamed in fear and pain as the spell took him. His arm holding the wand changed into limestone and the transformation kept moving, petrifying the whole man in seconds. He lost his voice in mid-yell.
The crossbow quarrels pierced the flesh of the wererats but didn't slow them in any way. They hacked into the guards, killing a few at first, then barely held their ground as the superior swordsmanship of the watch members ground them to a standstill.
The second watch wizard flung an arm forward. When it was out in front of him, a roiling mass of flames leaped from his hand and streaked toward Iakhovas and Laaqueel.
Instinctively, the malenti cowered away from the fireball. The basic fear of fire ingrained in her people proved too strong to resist. Iakhovas turned his hand out again and the tattoos glowed once more. Before the fireball could gather power and explode, it was snuffed out.
Wind rose around her, gathering strength quickly, then pressed outward across the street, picking up dust and loose debris and hurling it into the tangled knot of wererats and Waterdhavian Watch members. Small stones gathered up and flung by the wind broke the windows of the buildings behind the combatants.
Iakhovas stepped forward, drawing an imaginary bow as he spoke a lyrical incantation. When he released the make-believe string, a gossamer arrow that looked like glazed white pearl with a foul reddish undercast streaked across the street and pierced the second wizard's stomach.
The watch wizard shrieked in pain and fell to his knees. His hands gripped the shaft protruding from his belly, and smoke curled up from his flesh. Just as the other watch members started to beat the wererats back, dozens of black and gray furry bodies charged from nearby alleys. The rat horde responding to the calls of the wererats swarmed over the watch members, penetrating the weak spots in their armor, getting underfoot, and dropping from the eaves overhead.
Threatening yells grew louder from the surrounding citizens, and Laaqueel recognized that the danger their party was in was far from over. A man came at her. She beat his sword aside, then ripped the side of his face open and kicked him back into the street.
"Let us take our leave," Iakhovas said. "They will attempt to shut the harbor down soon, and I've no wish to be here when they do. We've little time left to effect our escape." He turned and fled into the shadows of the nearest alley.
Panic vibrated in Laaqueel as she realized if she lost sight of Iakhovas she wouldn't be able to find her way back to the harbor. She ran after him, followed by the wererats.
After a moment, the surface dwellers took up the pursuit, staying well back of the party of invaders. Still, Laaqueel knew their courage would grow as their numbers did.
XIII
"This is going to hurt."