The imp stepped out of the flames, looked down to the aged, dying man, laboring for breath, showing pain with every movement Druzil heard the man's arm bone simply snap with age as he reached up for the air, heard a groan mixed in with the futile gasps.
The imp only laughed and looked away. Druzil had overheard part of Aballister's conversation with the spirit of Bogo Rath, and though that conversation had been cryptic, the imp now suspected that this horrid creature might hold a particular grudge against Cadderly. Certainly the monster seemed to be moving with purpose; it hadn't even taken the time or effort to pursue tine fleeing men.
Druzil willed himself into a state of invisibility and flapped his leathery bat wings, rising up in pursuit of the ghost, thinking that perhaps he had been wrong to doubt Aballister's promises that this would be an enjoyable mission.
A Taste of Whafs to Come
Aballister walked through a large room filled with cages, admiring his private menagerie of exotic monsters. "Dorigen has spotted the young priest and his friends," the wizard said quietly, coming to a stop between two of the largest cages, each occupied by strange-looking beasts that seemed a mixture of two or more normal animals.
"Are you hungry?" Aballister asked one winged leonine monstrosity, its tail covered with a multitude of iron-hard spikes. The creature roared in reply and butted its massive, powerful chest against the bars of its cage.
Then fly," the wizard cooed, opening the cage door and running his skinny hands through the monster's thick mane as it ambled past. "Dorigen will guide you to my wicked son. Do teach him a lesson." The old wizard cackled heartily. He had spent many private hours in this extra-dimensional region. He had actually created the place while studying in the Edificant Library. Aballister's biggest
concerns at that time were the hovering priests always looking over his shoulder, making sure that his work was in accord with their strict rules. Little did they know that Aballister had circumvented then-watchful gazes, had created this extra pocket of real space so that he could continue his most precious, if most dangerous, experiments.
That had been more than two decades before when Cad-derly was a babe, and when, the wizard mused, the leonine monster and the three-headed beast behind it were also babes.
Aballister laughed aloud at the thought: he was sending two of his children out to kill the third.
The two powerful beasts followed Aballister out of the room and out of another door in the extradimensional mansion that led to the rocky ridge above Castle Trinity, where Dorigen, her crystal ball in hand, waited.
*****
"We are too high up," Vander protested as the party trudged along a narrow mountain trail more than halfway up a twelve-thousand foot peak. A few scraggly branches, bare of leaves, dotted the trail, but mostly the place was wind-carved rock, ridged in some places, polished smooth hi others. In this place, winter had already come in full. The snow lay deep, and the wind's bite, despite Cadderl/s magical protection spells, forced the companions to continually rub their hands to keep their fingers from growing numb. The narrow trail was mostly bare to the stone, at least, perpetually windblown so that little snow had found a hold there.
"We must stay far from the lower trails," Cadderly replied, having to yell to be heard through the growling wind. "Many goblins and giantkin are about, fleeing Shilmista in search of their mountain holes."
"Better to face them than what we might find up here," Vander argued. The booming voice of the twelve-foot-tall giant, thick red beard crusted by blowing ice, had no trouble cutting through the din of the wind. "You do not know the creatures of the lands where the snow does not melt, young priest" The rugged firbolg was talking from some experience, it seemed, and the dwarves, Shayleigh, and Danica looked to Cadderly, hopeful that Vender's warning might carry some influence.
"Yeah, like that big bird I spotted, floating on the winds a mile away," Ivan put in.
"It was an eagle," Cadderly insisted, though only Ivan had actually seen the soaring creature. "Some of the eagles in the Snowflakes are quite large, and I doubt..."
"A mile away?" Ivan balked,
"I doubt that it was a mile," Cadderly finished, to which Ivan only shook his yellow-haired head, adjusted his helmet, which sported a pair of deer antlers, and cast a less-than-friendly glare Cadderly*s way.
By that time, Cadderly had found a new person to argue with, as Danica came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her grim expression and recognized at once that she was in agreement with the others.
"I fear no monsters," she explained defensively, for she alone understood the pains the young priest had endured to get this quest underway. "But the land here is treacherous, and the wind uncomfortable at best. A slip on the ice could send one of us tumbling down the mountainside." Danica looked up the slope to their right and continued ominously, "And the snow hangs thick above us."
Cadderly did not have to follow her upward gaze to understand that she was referring to the very real threat of an avalanche. They had passed the remnants of a dozen such disasters, though most were old, probably from last year's spring melt
Cadderly took a deep breath and reminded himself of his secret purpose in being up this high, and he remained adamant The snow here is seasonal," he replied, celling ahead to Vander. "Except for the very tops of the mountains, where we shall not go."
Vander started to protest - Cadderly expected that the firbolg would argue that these fearful snow creatures might easily come down from the mountaintops when the snow lay so deep. He had barely uttered the first syllable of protest, though, when Cadderly interrupted him with a telepathic message, a magical plea that the firbolg lead on without further argument, that standing and talking only delayed the time when they could go back down to more hospitable climes.
Vander grunted and turned about, flipping his white bearskin cloak back over one shoulder to reveal to the others that his huge hand rested uneasily on the sculpted hilt of his giant-sized sword.
"As for the wind and the ice," Cadderly said to Danica, "we shall be careful with our steps and hold fast to our resolve."
"Unless we get plucked off by a passing bird," Ivan said dryly.
"It was only an eagle," Cadderly insisted again, turning on the dwarf, his anger flaring. Ivan shrugged and walked away. Pikel, seemingly oblivious to all the arguing and quite willing to go wherever the others led him, bobbed happily at his brother's side.
"Ye ever seen an eagle with four paws?" Ivan snarled over his shoulder when he and Pikel had moved away.
Pikel considered the question for a long moment before he stopped in his tracks, his smile melting away, and let out a profound, "Oooo."
Then the green-bearded dwarf skittered quickly to keep pace with the stomping Ivan. Together they walked right behind the firbolg and moved to Vander's sides when the trail was wide enough to accommodate them. The firbolg and the dwarves had become fast friends over the last days, continually trading tales of their respective homelands, places somewhat similar in rugged terrain and wicked beasts.
Cadderly came next in the procession, alone with his thoughts, still trying to reconcile his magical attack on Tho-bicus and contemplating the trials he knew that he would soon face, both at Castle Trinity and after Castle Trinity.
Danica allowed Cadderly to get some distance away before she resumed the march, her eyes revealing a mixture of contempt and pain at the way Cadderly had just rebuked her.
"He is scared," Shayleigh said to Danica, coming to her side.
"And stubborn," Danica added.
The elf maiden's sincere smile was too infectious for Danica to hold her grim thoughts. Danica was glad that Shayleigh was beside her once more, feeling an almost sisterly bond with the spirited elf. Given Cadderly* s recent mood and recent secretive actions, Danica felt as though she desperately needed a sister.
For Shayleigh, the trip was both a debt repaid and an act of sincere friendship. Cadderly, Danica, and the dwarves had come to the fighting aid of Shilmista's elves, and during their time together, Shayleigh had come to like all of them. More than one of Shilmista's haughty elves had joked at Shayleigh's expense, at the thought that an elf could so befriend a dwarf, but Shayleigh took it all in without complaint
Less than a half hour later, on an exposed section of trail where the mountain to their right sloped up at a gentle angle, though the drop to their left remained steep, Vander pulied up short and put his great hands out to the sides to halt the dwarves. It had begun to snow again, the wind whipping the icy flakes so that the companions all had to keep their traveling cloaks tight about their faces. In that poor visibility, Vander was unsure about the unusual shape he noticed on a wide section of trail up ahead.
The giant took a tentative step forward, drawing his massive sword halfway from its sheath. Ivan and Pikel leaned backward and looked to each other from behind the firbolg.
With simultaneous nods, they clutched then weapons, though they had no idea of what had put Vander on the alert
Then Vander relaxed visibly, and the dwarves shared another shrug and tucked their hands back under their thick cloaks.
Two steps later, the shape, which Vander had identified as a snowbank, coiled up like some huge serpent and lashed out at the giant, brushing against his outstretched fingers.
Vander cried out and leaped back, grabbing at his suddenly bloody hand.
"The damn snow bit him!" Ivan yelled and rushed up, chopping with his double-headed axe. The blade passed right through the weird monster, clanging against the bare stone underneath, cutting nearly a quarter of the creature's bulk away.
But that quarter was just as alive, and just as vicious, as the main bulk, and now there were two monsters to fight
Vander rushed in, chopping his sword with his one good hand.
Then there were three monsters.
Ivan felt an agonizing burn along one arm, but, blinded by the whipping wind and the battle frenzy, the dwarf did not realize the results of his actions. He brought his axe to bear repeatedly, unwittingly multiplying the monstrous ranks.