"It's safe now. You can open your eyes." Tresslar's voice quavered with weariness, but the artificer sounded otherwise unharmed.
Diran opened his eyes onto a nightmarish scene. The forest had been decimated for dozens of yards in all directions. Smoldering stumps were all that remained of the trees, the ground was charred coal-black, and the shadowclaws had been reduced to blackened husks. Flames burned here and there, enough to provide sufficient illumination to see by, especially when their orange glow was added to that of the moons, for there was no longer any tree cover in the area to block the light of the celestial orbs from shining down upon the forest floor. Black snow drifted down from the sky… no, not snow, Diran realized. Ash.
Beyond the radius of the fireblast, no shadowclaws could be seen. Perhaps all the beasts had been within range when Tresslar had unleashed the magic that had resulted in this destruction. Or perhaps the surviving shadowclaws had been blinded by the explosion and had fled in terror. Whichever the case, it appeared the companions were safe, for the moment, at least.
One by one the companions stood, helping each other up as necessary. Ghaji held his elemental axe limply at his side, the weapon's flame extinguished, the metal cold.
"Is anyone injured?" Diran asked.
"I don't believe so," Tresslar said. "A few burns, some singed hair, that's all. I was careful to direct the majority of the flame's heat away from us."
"What did you do?" Ghaji asked. He lifted his axe and held it out for Tresslar's inspection. "It feels heavier somehow, more awkward, and the surface has grown dull."
"I'm sorry, my friend," Tresslar said, "but I could think of no other way to stop those clawed monstrosities. I adapted my revealer so that it would function as an enhancer, a device that can temporarily boost another mystic device's power. I used it to enhance your axe's flame so that it would burn hotter and spread outward rapidly. I hoped the resulting flame-blast would destroy the ebon creatures." Tresslar took a moment to survey the carnage he'd wrought. "Looks like it worked."
"Why apologize, Tresslar?" Hinto asked. "You saved us!"
"But at a cost, my little friend," Tresslar said. "Enhancers function by forcing a mystic object to expend all of its energy in a single burst. By employing the enhancer on Ghaji's axe, I forced the elemental within to devote its entire strength into one fiery explosion. Unfortunately, the elemental was drained of the magic that sustained it and was destroyed. I'm afraid your axe is just an ordinary weapon now, Ghaji. I'm sorry."
The half-orc looked at his axe for a moment then shrugged. "I got along without an elemental weapon most of my life. I'll get by now."
"I might be able to restore it some day," Tresslar said. "I can't make any promises, but if I can manage to-"
Asenka broke in, her voice close to a sob. "I can't believe you're standing there talking so calmly about a stupid axe! Have you forgotten that Leontis was outside the circle?"
"We haven't forgotten," Diran said. "Leontis is quite resourceful and not without his own defenses. It's quite possible he managed to get beyond the range of the fire." Diran wasn't lying, precisely. Leontis did have the defenses of his lycanthropic metabolism, and there was a good chance that-assuming the shadowclaws hadn't destroyed him-he'd either chased the beasts further into the forest or, when the fireblast happened, he'd reacted in animalistic fear and fled. Either way, Leontis would still be alive, though it was possible the werewolf he'd become would find itself at home in the forests of Trebaz Sinara and never return. That might well be for the best, Diran mused. Leontis could live out his life in seclusion, unable to hurt anyone or spread his curse.
"Excuse me," Onu said softly.
Asenka ignored the man and continued. "We have to at least search for his body!"
"How?" Yvka said. "I don't wish to upset you any further, but there are hundreds of dead creatures surrounding us, and their corpses all resemble large lumps of charcoal. Leontis, if he was caught in the blast, will look no different. How will be able to tell his body apart from all the others?"
"Excuse me," Onu repeated, a trifle louder this time.
Again, the sea captain was ignored. Solus spoke next.
"I might be able to detect some faint traces of human intelligence yet lingering in Leontis's mind," the psiforged said. "Assuming at least some portion of his brain remains relatively intact. I'll begin-"
Onu shouted this time, an edge of hysteria in his voice. "Excuse me!"
The companions turned toward the sea captain-or at least, toward a being who wore the captain's garish red longcoat. This being had pale gray skin and thin fair hair. Its arms and legs were somewhat longer than natural for a humanoid, and its white eyes were disturbingly blank. It possessed only the merest hint of facial features-a nub of a nose, a suggestion of lips, and small bumps where ears should be.
Ghaji was the first to give voice to what they were all thinking.
"You're a changeling?"
Onu nodded. "But that's not important right now." His voice was soft and nearly devoid of emotion, completely unlike that of the Captain Onu they had come to know. He pointed with a slender gray finger.
The companions turned to look where the changeling indicated and saw the still smoldering body of a shadowclaw a few yards away. In its oversized talons, the creature held the charred body of a small human-like being.
Onu's voice trembled with grief. "He… the creature grabbed him just before… when the fireblast…" The changeling trailed off, unable to say anything more.
Diran understood what had happened. In the moment right before Tresslar had activated the enhancer, a lone shadowclaw had managed to get close enough to sink its talons into Thokk and drag the dwarf off. When the fireblast occurred, Thokk had been burnt to a crisp, along with everything else in range of the enhanced flames.
No one said anything for several moments as the enormity of what had happened began to sink in. Finally, Onu spoke once more.
"I guess this means I really am the captain now."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Makala felt no physical aftereffects of Nathifa's energy blast, but she seethed with fury. As the lich led them across the cavern floor toward the skeletal remains of the dragon Paganus, it took all of the vampire's self-control to keep from attempting to tear the sorceress's head off.
Bide your time, whispered a voice inside her. You'll get your chance.
Makala hoped so, and she hoped it would be soon.
Nathifa walked up to the dragon's skull and stopped. In the forty years since Paganus died, evidently nothing had disturbed his bones, for his skeleton was not only intact, all the bones remained in their proper places. During her mortal life as an assassin, Makala had had occasion to visit Morgrave University in Sharn. There she'd seen skeletons of ancient creatures displayed on metal frameworks, arranged in what the curators no doubt hoped were lifelike poses. Paganus's skeleton reminded her of those displays. She could even imagine the placard that would accompany it: PAGANUS: ANCIENT GREEN DRAGON, COLLECTOR OF MAGICAL ARTIFACTS, SEEN HERE AT REST IN HIS CAVERN LAIR.
Makala had never seen a live dragon, and the small part of her that was still human marveled at the site of Paganus's bones. But her wonder was forgotten as she saw that the floor around the skeleton was stained a dull reddish-brown. Makala inhaled the rich scent of dragon blood, the odor faint but still tantalizing even after all these decades. She could smell the power in that blood, and she wondered what it would feel like to have a dragon's strength flowing through her veins.