Red Magic (24 page)

“I am Szass Tam,” he said softly as he rubbed his hand across the top of Brenna’s bald head, tracing with his index finger the designs painted there. “I am the Zulkir of Necromancy, the most powerful Red Wizard in Thay… and your master.”

It all came crashing down on Galvin then, and it made sickening sense. While undoubtedly other Red Wizards in Thay had undead at their command, only the Zulkir of Necromancy controlled a large force of unliving, and it was likely that only he could command vampires.

“You killed nearly every ghoul in one of my patrols the other night. That brought you to my attention and piqued my curiosity. One of them who managed to get away spotted your silver charm. Undead dislike silver, so he remembered it.”

Brenna recoiled from the zulkir’s touch and pushed herself into a sitting position, then shrank back from the wizard. She still felt weak from the attack by the shadows, and the room was spinning. She felt even more faint when she saw the unmoving form of Wynter.

The lich smiled at her, then moved to the center of the room and regarded the trio.

“Harper spies,” Szass Tam said evenly. “I don’t like the Harper organization and its politics. Harpers are nothing more than meddlers in other people’s affairs.

“I remember many decades ago when I crossed paths with some meddling Harpers. I defeated them with ease and needed no potent sorcery to do it. Your organization is unruly and ineffectual, poking into everything and commanding nothing. Your membership is secret, so you have no single strong leader. You are fools.”

The lich turned his back on the heroes and glided to his desk. Slowly he opened the lower right-hand drawer. It was filled with all manner of souvenirs—daggers, totems, odd bits of jewelry. He rummaged through it until he pulled out a tarnished chain made of heavy links. It bore a charm—a silver moon affixed to a harp. The lich had a half dozen similar chains and pins taken from spies his minions had killed over the past dozen decades. Those Harpers, whose charms the lich kept, were now part of his undead army.

The lich paused, remembering. It had been probably thirty or forty years since Szass Tam’s forces had last discovered a Harper. He had given the organization little thought. Until now. Until these three had virtually dispatched one of his patrols.

Szass Tam dropped the heavy chain on the desktop and leveled his gaze at Galvin. Leaving the desk drawer open, he moved from behind it to face the druid. The Harper wisely remained quiet and didn’t protest as the lich reached for the neck of Galvin’s tunic and pulled it down until he saw the Harper charm. The cold fingers grabbed it and yanked, breaking the chain and pulling it away from Galvin.

The lich voiced a throaty laugh and held the chain before his eyes, letting it sway back and forth as he examined it. “Fine silver, probably mined by dwarves north of Tantras. I prefer gold, since it is worth more and is far more malleable. I hope this trinket doesn’t mean much to you.”

Szass Tam returned to the desk with the prize, rubbing his thumb in a circular motion over the silver moon charm, then depositing the charm and broken chain unceremoniously in the drawer.

“I’m collecting them,” he announced. “Maybe I should start collecting Harpers instead.”

Brenna slid from the couch and joined Galvin on the floor. “What are you going to do with us?” she asked weakly.

“Harpers,” Szass Tam repeated, spitting out the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “Harpers, I will keep you alive, but you will work for me. You will begin by telling me what you are doing in my country.”

Galvin and Brenna remained silent. Neither had any intention of giving the zulkir any information or satisfaction. The pair looked defiant, and their obstinacy amused the lich.

Szass Tam motioned to one of the vampires, who stepped in front of Galvin. The lord of darkness turned his white face downward, catching the druid’s gaze. His red eyes bore hypnotically into the druid’s.

Galvin tried to fight the vampire’s control but found he couldn’t look away. The piercing red eyes were all the druid saw.

“Why are you here?” the lord of darkness whispered.

Galvin’s mind screamed in rebellion, but his voice cooperated in fluent tones. “We entered Thay at the request of the Aglarond council,” the druid began.

“No! Stop!” Brenna tried to interrupt him, shaking his shoulders in an endeavor to bring him to his senses. When that proved useless, she turned her attention to the vampire. “Release him! I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

“Silence!” the lich demanded, crossing the room and slapping Brenna hard enough to send her sliding several feet across the floor.

The vampire continued to probe Galvin’s mind and force an explanation from him.

“The Aglarond council heard rumors that a Red Wizard was building a large army. The council feared the wizard planned to march against Aglarond. Wynter and I were the nearest Harpers, and we agreed to help.”

“And the woman?” the vampire pressed. His voice was dry and hollow. “Who is she? Was she the one who called the lightning outside Amruthar’s gates?”

The color drained from Brenna’s face as Galvin continued to answer.

“She is an Aglarond council member, a young politician who decided to accompany Wynter and me. She commands magic, but it was I who called the lightning. I am a druid.”

The vampire plied the druid for more information, under the direction of Szass Tam. “What did you hope to accomplish in Thay?”

“We wanted to pose as Thayvians so we could find out what the Red Wizard Maligor was up to. If he was planning to march against Aglarond, the country would have to prepare for war.”

“Maligor!” Szass Tam screeched. “What made you think the Zulkir of Alteration was plotting war?”

The vampire who held control of Galvin had to repeat the question.

“I found a gnoll informer who worked for Maligor. He was willing to sell his loyalty to whoever had the most gold.” The words poured like honey from the druid’s mouth. “The gnoll told me that Maligor was planning to march against someone, perhaps another Red Wizard.”

“Perhaps,” Szass Tam echoed slowly. “I find it most unusual that the Harpers, the Aglarond Council, and I should all be interested in Maligor. Coincidences should not be taken lightly.”

The vampire’s face tilted to meet Szass Tam’s eyes.

Brenna realized that, just as the vampire had charmed Galvin, the Zulkir of Necromancy held the same power over the vampire. It was a horrible chain of command, with Szass Tam at the top. The lich whispered to the vampire in tones so soft she couldn’t make out what was being said. Turning to Galvin, she noted that a sheen of perspiration had broken out over his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” the druid began, not looking in her eyes. “I had to tell him everything he wanted to know. I had to. I felt like a puppet.”

“It’s not your fault.” She tried to console him, edging to his side again. “Their power is far greater than ours. It’s just our dumb luck to have drawn the attention of Szass Tam.” The sorceress draped her arms about Galvin’s shoulders, then stiffened when she noticed the Red Wizard looking at her.

“How feminine and sickeningly touching,” Szass Tam purred. “You’ll have time enough to enjoy each others’ company later, after you’ve finished working for me.”

“Never!” Galvin roared, shrugging off Brenna’s arms and rising to his feet. He kept his eyes focused on Szass Tam’s, not wanting to fall victim again to the vampire’s control. “I’m a Harper, zulkir. I’ve dedicated my life to fighting for good. I’m not going to help you. I’ll die first!”

“And if you die, you’ll help me anyway,” the lich replied. The vampires backed away from the zulkir as he laughed, a rich deep, throaty chuckle that sent goose bumps racing up and down Galvin’s and Brenna’s spines. Szass Tam leveled his gaze on the pair and willed his fleshly illusion to melt, the pink skin flowing from him to reveal his gaunt, corpselike body. The lich’s robes hung about him, and his arms and face appeared as bones covered by incredibly old, thin flesh. He threw back his skeletal head and laughed once more, then focused on the pair, the red pinpoints of his eyes staring out at them through deep sockets.

Brenna screamed again and again at Szass Tam’s true visage. She threw her trembling hands over face, and her shoulders shuddered terribly. She shook her head back and forth, trying to deny the creature before her. She had heard that one of Thay’s zulkir’s was a lich, the most powerful form of undead to walk the realms. On trembling legs, she rose to stand behind Galvin, finding little comfort in the druid’s closeness.

Szass Tam glared at her. “The dead are under my command, just as death is my domain. I’m beyond the living, Harpers, and I’m beyond your feeble protests. You will help me—living or dead. You will do exactly as I say.

“And if your performance is satisfactory,” the lich continued, “I will let you go. My plans do not call for meddling in Harper affairs or evoking the wrath of Aglarond dignitaries and statesmen. I have no desire to involve myself in such trivial things right now. So if you perform well, we will both be satisfied. You will learn what Maligor is up to, and I will have ended his miserable little plot.”

Galvin’s resolve appeared firm. “What makes you think we’ll help you willingly?” he protested, though deep down he knew that if the lich wanted their aid, the Harpers would be forced to comply. He was curious, however, to learn just how the lich would force them and if they truly would be freed afterward.

“Since you wish to continue this, very well,” Szass Tam sighed, moving slowly in front of his desk. He leaned backward against it, placing his bony hands flat on the polished surface and resting his slight weight on them. The zulkir’s red eyes vanished, leaving the sockets black like pits. He drew his thin lips tight and languidly rocked his head back and forth.

Galvin and Brenna saw their surroundings waver, then turn to mist, then change. They were on the edge of a city at dusk; the sorceress recognized it as her hometown.

Looking down the main street, they saw a legion of undead—skeletons and zombies, led by a pair of vampires—ripping people from their homes, tearing soldiers’ limbs off, and tramping over the dead and dying. The spectacle worsened as they spotted Wynter, his flesh hanging from his ribs and arms, his eyes hollow sockets like Szass Tam’s. The centaur was leading a pack of ghouls that were headed straight toward the government buildings. Like a ghastly play, the scene continued to unfold until it seemed no one remained alive in the city.

Then Szass Tam appeared on the capitol steps, waving his arms and commanding the dead Aglarond citizens to rise and join his forces. The lich waved his arms again, and the scene shifted once more.

Brenna and Galvin were back in the zulkir’s room, and Wynter remained wounded nearby.

“That is one possible future,” Szass Tam uttered, his voice lowering for impact. “Councilwoman, you will tell me that Aglarond’s forces can stand up to mine. And for a time, perhaps they could. But if I move at night, I am much more powerful, for the night is frightening and hides much, and my army would be in its element. Your soldiers would stop some of my troops, but not before many in Aglarond died. And with each death, I would become even more powerful, for death is my domain. And in the end, I would win.”

Brenna shuddered, wondering if the lich really was powerful enough to accomplish a raid on Aglarond. If he were so strong, she thought, why wasn’t he trying to take the country now?

He caught her doubts and offered the pair another illusion.

The room dissipated around them, the walls becoming mist and parting to reveal an ancient graveyard overgrown with weeds and sprinkled with small, stark trees. Galvin and Brenna shivered in the shadow of a massive marker, so weathered the pair couldn’t make out the inscription or date on it. The sun was setting, casting an orange haze over the desolate landscape and causing the shadows to lengthen from the gravestones that stretched off toward the horizon. The graves went to the edge of Galvin’s vision, and he and Brenna began to stroll down a row of waist-high markers. Two stones came into focus. They bore the names of Galvin and Brenna.

The ground shifted before the two stones, and the dirt began to be pushed away from underneath. Thin hands, covered in places by white flesh, clawed upward and grasped for a solid hold against the ground. Then arms emerged, skeletal pale in the waning light. Finding purchase, one pair of arms straightened and pulled, and the decaying form of the druid tugged itself from the grave. A tattered green cloak hung loosely from its form, and a silver neck chain with a harp and moon clung to the flesh about its frail neck.

The corpse stooped awkwardly and extended its hands to a pair of arms still struggling in the ground. The dead druid extricated the body of Brenna Graycloak from its resting place.

Together the corpses stumbled deeper into the graveyard, where more zombies were emerging. Brenna and Galvin fell in line with the others and marched toward the horizon.

The room returned.

Szass Tam had moved away from his desk and now stood only a few feet from the druid and Brenna.

“What—what do you want us to do?” Galvin asked quietly.

“I want Maligor stopped,” the lich replied simply. “The threat he poses to me is not from his gnoll army. If he is planning to march his gnolls against another Red Wizard, it will be a weak one. I know Maligor, and I know he won’t go up against something that might offer too much resistance. If he wants to march his gnolls against Aglarond, he would not be able to take much of the land. But I don’t want him succeeding in any attempt. A victory for him diminishes me. Do you understand?”

Galvin nodded. “You understand that Brenna and I do not have the power to stop him. Despite the magic at our command, his magic is superior. And he has an army.”

Brenna couldn’t stay silent any longer. “Why don’t you go after him yourself?” she said to the lich. “If you think you have the power to take Aglarond on your own, why don’t you take him instead?”

The lich snarled at her. “Fool. I cannot yet afford to overtly take on another wizard. I prefer to exercise power from a distance.”