"We have to climb down there," Lem said, already slipping out of his canvas rucksack.
"Wait," Naull said. "Regdar's-"
"Got enough trouble," Lem interrupted, "with whatever's making that booming sound."
Naull nodded and looked out over the magic fog as Lem and Samoth gathered up their lengths of rope and tied them to anything that looked strong enough to hold.
The sound came again, closer.
Naull ran through what spells she had left but she'd have to see the thing to use them.
The sound came again, much closer, and Lem started climbing down.
Regdar judged his arms to be about two and a half feet long, and he knew the blade of his greatsword was five and half feet in length. He held the blade straight out in front of him and couldn't see the tip.
Five feet, he guessed, no more.
He stood at the foot of the stairs on a damp, rough, stone floor, surrounded by gray fog as featureless and unyielding as endless Limbo itself. He could hear the thing approaching and could hear the voices of his comrades. He was happy they weren't following him. Naull's spells would be as dangerous to friends in the fog as to enemies, and Lem and Samoth were better off climbing down to save their fellows from the fire.
Lord Constable…
Regdar repeated the words in his mind. It was up to him.
The floor trembled under another booming footstep, and Regdar held his greatsword in a ready stance that protected his head and the front of his body. He might only be able to see five feet ahead of him but that was all the room he needed.
Another footstep, and the thing was close-very close.
As the vibration subsided, Regdar heard a boot scrape the rough floor next to him. He turned slowly, keeping ready to defend himself. He could see the vague outline of a man against the gray nothing of the fog.
"Lord Constable," Lem whispered, "it's me…Lem."
Regdar would have nodded but wasn't sure Lem could see him.
"Stay there," the lord constable whispered.
"I'm outside the fog," the watchman whispered back. "I can just barely see you."
Another booming footstep, and Regdar could tell that it was very, very close. He turned and saw a shadow looming up in the mist. It had the shape of a man but the behemoth was easily eight feet tall. Without a second's hesitation, Regdar charged, bringing his sword around in a high, hard slash aimed at the thing's midsection. He'd moved only half a step when the shadow thrust out its left hand and Regdar's mind registered a flash of light.
His body moved faster than his conscious mind. Regdar let the momentum of his sword slash spin his body down and under the streak of ragged, yellow lightning that burst from the shadow's outstretched palm. The lightning bolt passed within an inch of Regdar's face, and he had the unpleasant feeling of each tiny whisker standing on end, as if drawn to the bolt. The mist turned instantly to nearly boiling water that scalded his face but he managed to dodge it.
Regdar's spin brought his face around to see the lightning bolt slam the shadowy form of Lem full in the chest. The watchman never had a chance. Caught in the lightning's deadly embrace, Lem shook on his feet as if dangling from wires, his whole body convulsing. The mist was blasted away and Regdar saw the watchman's eyes burst in a shower of pink fluid. He smelled Lem's flesh burning a moment before the bolt bounced back, arcing angrily from Lem to Regdar.
The lord constable wasn't as fast or as lucky the second time. The bolt hit him in the right thigh. His armor seemed suddenly made of a million stinging bees and his eyes, jaw, and other orifices clamped tightly shut. He could hear himself rattle out a staccato groan, then it was gone as fast as it hit him.
He opened his eyes, waiting for the lightning to hit him again.
Naull watched Lem's twitching body fall to the floor, heard Regdar groan, and didn't have time to scream before an arc of blinding yellow light spat out of the fog and touched Samoth in the chest. The watchman blew out his breath in a stuttering moan and flapped his arms at his sides as if he was trying to take wing. All that happened in less than a second, then the lightning bounced off him and back into the mist.
There was a sound like a sack of rice being dropped on the floor, then the sound of wood exploding-she'd heard enough of that lately that the sound would never leave her.
Before she could think of what might have been broken, the chain lightning arced again, finding Asil's steel armor. The fallen watchman twitched as if he was being pummeled by the jagged bolt but he made no sound. From there the lightning bolt shot at Samoth again. The watchman had survived the first blow, if just barely, and was on his knees, holding his face in his hands. The lightning took him in the back and though it looked like it should have pushed him forward, Samoth jerked backward so hard and so fast that Naull heard something snap in the suffering watchman. Samoth's limp form fell as the lightning traced a vision-smearing arc straight upward, clawing at one of the dangling meat hooks and creating a puff of burning, powdered rust in the air. It snaked to a second hook, and Naull watched it with paralyzed fascination.
The bolt touched another hook startlingly close to the edge of the platform. Naull bent her knees, ready to jump.
The next bounce took the lightning bolt down at such an odd angle it seemed almost to curve around the edge of the wooden platform. It hit something, and Naull heard Regdar grunt loudly, then say, "Damn it!"
Finally she took a breath, relieved that he was at least alive, and she only dimly registered the lightning bolt arcing to another meat hook, then straight at her. If she ever thought she might be able to dodge that, she must have been mad.
The bolt struck her left earring and rattled her head. Every hair on her body stood on end and she could swear she felt the fluid in her eyes start to boil. She couldn't see and hoped it was because her eyes were closed, not because they'd burst in her skull.
Her eyes snapped open and she saw the lightning bolt tracing a line from her to another meat hook, then it released her and she fell to her knees riding a wave of excruciating pain.
Naull fell onto her stomach, coughing as she tried to get her lungs to work in rhythm again. From that vantage point she could see the lightning jiggle poor, dead Samoth again, and she was sure the bolt was thinner, dimmer. It had only one hop left, and it touched Jandik's armor. By then all it did was crackle. The tracker's body didn't move, and the chain stopped there.
It was all Vargussel could do not to jump for joy.
Oh, he thought, to the Abyss with it.
He jumped for joy.
The spell he stored in the shield guardian had worked better than he had any reason to hope it would. Chain lightning was a powerful spell but it could be finicky and unpredictable. Though it had spent much of its energy on meat hooks and, at least by the sound of it, shattering the stairs behind Regdar, it had killed all of the watchmen, wounded Regdar himself, and knocked the young mage momentarily senseless.
Vargussel laughed out loud. Killing them was enough but to do it so spectacularly pleased him to no end.
Regdar? the woman called weakly.
Vargussel watched her crawl to the top of the stairs. She peered into the mist but her eyes settled on nothing.
Naull, the lord constable replied. Vargussel liked the sound of his voice. It was weak, quavering. Is anyone else alive?
No, the woman answered.
Vargussel laughed again and squeezed the amulet.
Kill them, he commanded the shield guardian. Kill them slowly…
Regdar's heart sank at the news that he had lost his entire patrol but he didn't have time to grieve.
The huge shadow in the mist stepped forward, turning at the waist and shoulders, and it pulled back one massive arm. Regdar, knowing it was about to strike him, stepped in the direction of the blow, his own arms back, holding his greatsword over his right shoulder and waiting for the thing's arm to come to him.