The City of Towers

CHAPTER 41

"Lord Chyrassk,” Teral whispered, and he and his comrades prostrated themselves. Daine watched in horror as the hideous being entered the room. The creature did not speak, but the tendrils around its mouth twitched, and Daine could feel its satisfaction as if it were his own.

Chyrassk strode across the chamber to the table where Lei was bound and began to fill the basin in the table with glowing fluids.

“Lei!” Daine cried.

The gaunt figure continued its preparations, adjusting the fluids in the basin and arranging crystals around Lei’s body. Occasionally it would stroke her forehead with one of the tentacles around its mouth.

“Lei!”

No response.

Even from across the room, Daine could feel the creature’s power, the mental force that was holding Lei entranced. Its presence was overwhelming. It was as if he were seeing through the thing’s glowing golden eyes, as if he were preparing to drain Lei’s very life. Daine could almost taste Lei’s brain, both the delicious flesh and the far more exquisite memories within. He knew that the instant she died, her essence-her spirit, her dragonmark, all that she was-would be drawn away, captured in crystal and ready to be processed. The sensation passed, and Daine’s thoughts were his own again.

Teral was cackling and chittering to himself, rubbing his hands together. “Mine soon,” he muttered. “Her soul mine, yes, mine.”

Curiosity overcame Daine’s horror and he spoke. “But why? Why would that monster share power with you?”

Teral’s eyes were mad and gleaming, and Daine wasn’t sure the councilor even knew he was speaking. “Chyrassk is a child of madness, an emissary of the age to come,” Teral said, his eyes gleaming. “He feeds on thoughts and minds, but he is not of this world, and he cannot devour a human soul. But I have no such limitations. Chyrassk will consume her flesh, but her spirit will be mine. Yes.”

Lei moved slightly as the mind flayer caught her head with its tendrils. Daine could stand no more.

“Lei!” he cried, putting every ounce of energy into his voice. “Wake up now!”

It worked. Teral drew in a sharp breath as Lei jerked her head to the side, pulling free of the monster’s grip. The creature paused, and Daine could feel its frustration. A restless mind was less savory for the devourer. Again, its thoughts flooded through his mind, and he could see Lei’s face as Chyrassk darted in for a second attack.

“Kazha zar!” Lei cried.

The air rippled, and Lei vanished. Chryassk’s piercing tongue whipped through empty air. The enchantment Lei had woven into her glove could only be used once and its range was limited, but it was enough. Slipping through space and time, Lei reappeared an instant later in the dark corner of the room, standing over her pack.

Surprised as he was, Teral recovered quickly. But Daine knew what enchantments Lei had prepared, and he was already in motion. Calling on every ounce of strength, he pulled himself up, straining against the chains, and lashed out with his legs, catching Teral by the throat and hurling him to the ground.

“Do it!” he called to Lei.

Daine’s blow had stunned Teral, but only for a moment. He was already rising to his feet. Chyrassk spun to face them, its anger a stabbing pain in their minds, and Hugal and the others were sprinting across the hall, claws and blades glittering in the faint light. A moment was all Lei needed.

Grabbing her pack, she threw open the central compartment, folding out the cloth funnel that allowed her to fit large objects into the extradimensional pocket.

“Now!” she cried.

Pierce emerged, his massive bow in hand, and loosed an arrow the moment he cleared the portal. The feral boy charging Lei fell with an arrow through his knee.

But Pierce was not alone. Two smaller warforged, swift-moving scouts with swords fused to their arms, darted through the portal in his wake. Lei and Daine had found three of these ’forged damaged and inert in the ruins of Cyre, and Lei had been carrying them with her for months. Last night, she had finally managed to get two of them working. They were battered and worn, and Lei’s enchantments would not hold for long, but for the moment they could fight.

They charged Councilor Teral. The warped councilor was unnaturally swift and strong, but two warforged were a challenge for any warrior, and being made from metal and wood, the ’forged were immune to Teral’s paralytic venom. Teral hissed and cursed, dodging a blade and planting a powerful kick in the stomach of one of the scouts.

Once the ’forged were released, Lei rummaged in the side pocket of the pack. Daine had worn his sword to Teral’s tent, but the rest of their weapons were hidden in the magical pack, ready to be retrieved as necessary.

The altered humans were the lesser threat. The deadliest foe was Chyrassk. Now that Lei was on her feet and fully conscious, she recognized the creature from her studies-an illithid, a mindflayer, devourer of hope. These were the commanders of the armies of Xoriat, the Plane of Madness. It was said they had come to Eberron thousands of years in the past, in an extra-planar invasion that had devastated the empires of that age. An ancient order of druids had driven them and their armies into the depths of the earth, sealing them in the caverns of Khyber. Clearly those ancient bonds had grown weak if the flayers were preying on the surface once more.

Although it could consume a human brain in a matter of seconds, the greatest weapon of the illithid was its telepathic power. Even as Lei was rummaging for their weapons, Chyrassk unleashed a devastating mental shockwave. From Hugal to Daine, the creatures in the room gasped and twitched, their minds caught in the storm of conflicting thoughts. The one-armed man next to Hugal fell to the floor sobbing, and Hugal himself clutched at his head, his face a rictus of pain.

Lei struggled with the flood of emotions. Her mind was a blur-despair, hopelessness, and pain sought to overwhelm any sort of conscious thought. But she fought it. She clung to the memories of her companions-Jode’s laughter, Daine striding through the burning field at Keldan Ridge, the calm and gentle voice of Pierce. She remembered the challenges they had faced together, the forces they had overcome, and knew she could not falter now.

As suddenly as it had begun, the assault was over. The warforged were largely unaffected by the mental assault, as was Teral. Daine had withstood the attack, but his face was pale, his eyes haunted.

“Pierce!” he cried, his voice trembling. “Engage … leader … now!”

Pierce responded instantly. Dropping his bow, he charged Chyrassk, drawing his long flail as he ran. The mindflayer hissed, and a bolt of pure mental force engulfed Pierce. Even the inhuman consciousness of the warforged was not enough to shield him from its effects. But while the blow would have reduced a human to drooling catatonia, Pierce was only momentarily dazed. Within seconds he had reached Chyrassk, and the mindflayer barely avoided the first sweeping blow of the flail.

“Daine!” Lei called.

She threw his adamantine dagger through the air. It was a good throw, but he barely managed to catch it with one manacled hand. And not a moment too soon. Hugal had recovered, and he leveled a sweeping blow at Daine with his own sword. Daine flung himself to the side, but he couldn’t move fast enough, and the Deneith blade raked his ribs. Hugal cackled.

He wasn’t laughing for long. Lei produced the wand she’d stolen from her cousin, and she flung a crackling bolt of energy at Huhal. But the man seemed to have eyes in the side of his head, and he moved with unnatural speed. The lightning flew over him as he ducked and spun. Righting himself, he ran for Lei.

The distraction was enough. Gripping his chains with his left hand and bracing against the wall with his feet, Daine pulled himself up and slashed at the length of loose chain above his right wrist. No metal could stand against an adamantine edge, and the chain parted as if it were simple rope. Daine fell to the floor, his sore muscles causing him to cry out in pain. But there was no time to indulge the agony. Hugal had backed Lei into the corner of the room, and the wand was no match for the sword.

With a length of chain dangling from his left wrist, Daine charged for Hugal. He lashed out with the chain, but his foe turned, slipping under Daine’s attack with unnatural ease.

“You’re no match for me, Daine,” Hugal said with a laugh. He spun out of the path of Daine’s dagger, and for a moment Daine was looking right at the tip of Lei’s wand. A second later, Hugal’s blade raked across Daine’s back even as he turned. “I have extra eyes inside my mind. I can read your every move.”

“Really?”

Daine caught Lei’s eyes, and flicked a glance towards the floor. He went on the defensive, but no matter what he did, Hugal managed to dart past his blade. It was as if Hugal’s sword was made of mist. Every time he tried to parry, Hugal slipped around or over his blade, drawing another tiny cut. None of the blows were severe, but the pain and blood loss were beginning to take their toll.

Lei had already pulled the darkwood staff from the backpack, and as Hugal made another lunge at Daine she grabbed the staff and made a spinning strike at Hugal’s knees. Once again he reacted with inhuman reflexes, leaping to avoid a blow he shouldn’t even have seen. But a moment’s distraction was all Daine needed. A shining arc of dark adamantine cut through the air, and Hugal was left with a hilt and an inch of blade.

“Won’t your friend have something to say about that?” Lei asked Daine as she struck at Hugal’s legs.

“I never needed a dragonmark’s sword,” Daine replied. “How do you want to end this, Hugal?”

“I’ve got a few ideas,” Hugal said.

He moved in a blur, catching Daine off guard. He flung the useless hilt at Daine’s face then sent him tumbling to the ground with a swift, sweeping kick. Continuing the same motion he spun to face Lei, catching the staff in both hands. He raised his foot to kick her in the stomach-

— and then he screamed.

Black thorns had grown out of the shaft of the staff, and they pierced right through his hands. The twisted thorns pinned his hands to the staff, and the agony seemed to be precluding any conscious thought. He and Lei struggled over the staff, but Lei could shift her grip for superior leverage, and Hugal was weakened by pain, blood flowing from his pierced palms. He whimpered but still refused to surrender.

Daine snatched up the dagger. For a moment he hesitated. He had never liked stabbing a man in the back. But he had been a soldier for six years and a swordsman for many more, and he was covered in his own blood. This had to end now. He planted the point of his dagger in the back of Hugal’s neck and leaned in, putting his full weight behind it. With barely a cry, Hugal collapsed to the floor. His dead weight almost pulled the staff from Lei’s hands, but the black thorns vanished and the staff slipped free.

Even as Daine caught his breath, a crash came from behind him and an armored arm skidded along the floor. He turned to see Teral surrounded by the wreckage of the two scouts. The councilor’s robe was slashed and torn, and he was covered with bloody gashes. Despite his injuries, he faced Daine and Lei without fear.

“You can put an end to this, Teral,” Daine said.

He crouched and prepared for the attack, slowly spinning the chain attached to his left wrist. Lei was whispering behind him, and he knew that she needed time to complete whatever enchantment she was weaving.

“I intend to.” Teral hissed and licked at a wide gash that split the back of one hand. “Your blades have no power over me.”

Indeed, as Daine watched, he saw that the wounds in Teral’s fleshy armor were slowly healing.

“I’m impressed,” Daine said. “Does that work with a severed head?”

Teral sneered. “What are you fighting for, Daine? You have no country. All that you have worked for has been destroyed. Join us. Let the world share that pain.” He moved closer, and a fleshy tentacle drifted out from under his left sleeve and coiled above his hand, a blind cobra waiting to strike.

“You’re right,” Daine said. “My home has been destroyed, but that’s not all I have. I still have my friends. And you took one from me.” He rushed forward, and a lightning swift slash with his dagger severed the hovering tentacle.

Teral howled with rage. But even as Daine braced for the attack, Lei was moving. Her staff lashed out, catching Teral dead in the chest. The councilor stopped in his tracks, screaming in pain. To Daine’s astonishment, he saw that Teral’s unnatural armor had pulled back from the point of Lei’s blow.

“Come on!” she cried.

They charged. Teral had regained his balance. Moving inhumanly fast, he snatched up the leg of one of the shattered ’forged scouts and flung it at Lei. It caught her full in the chest and she fell. Daine kept moving, and with one smooth motion he struck the bare patch in Teral’s armor. There was a slight resistance as the dagger pierced flesh, scraped between the ribs, then it slid in the councilor’s chest up to the hilt.

Teral howled. He grabbed Daine by the throat and lifted him off of the ground. Blood was streaming from Teral’s mouth and down his chest, but his strength was inhuman. His hand was crushing Daine’s throat, the world began to fade-

And then Teral’s head exploded.

Pierce had come up behind Teral and brought the full force of his flail on the councilor’s skull. Teral instantly turned to dead weight, dragging Daine to the ground. Even in death his grip was strong, and Daine struggled to pry the grasping fingers from his throat.

“Pierce …” he gasped. For a moment, relief washed over him. Then he realized Chyrassk was nowhere to be seen.

With one curt kick, Pierce knocked Teral’s body aside, then planted his steel foot on Daine’s chest, slamming him back to the ground. Without a word, Pierce raised his flail for another killing blow.