MINIONS OF THE EYE
Grehlia Cairnis knew they were coming for her. She had heard the distant sounds of battle echoing from the upper levels near the barracks of the Flamewarders. The Fish had told her that intruders were in the complex, but he hadn’t thought they would get this far. He was wrong, and now they were coming for her. She knew she could expect no assistance from the Cagewrights nor the other apprentices. Even the Fish, her mentor, would likely leave her to her own fate. To him this would be just another test of her abilities and her loyalty. If she failed, then she was not worthy to serve him anyway. She strolled casually through her sculpture garden, tenderly caressing the images she had worked so painstakingly to craft. Others might find the statues disturbing, since so many of them depicted images of suffering or cruelty. Some of the stone figures were hollow, filled with lava that she contained thru her magic, but which she allowed to show thru transparent holes in the rock. This effect served to outline certain horrible wounds in the statues, or the cruelty in their eyes. The White Banshee smiled on her work. What did she care if the others were to dim to see the beauty in it? They would not discuss their own religious beliefs with her, and seemed disdainful of hers. No matter. Kiaransalee smiled on her, and cursed her enemies. Ah! Here they were now! Grehlia stepped quickly into the shadows behind one of the larger sculptures as the first of the trespassers appeared. It was a giant! He stood twelve feet at least, and muscles rippled beneath his skin. He carried no weapons, however, nor did he wear armor. No sooner had he entered the chamber, than his eyes focused directly on her hiding spot. Quickly, she began a spell meant to slay the living instantly, but before the words could leave her lips, the giant was upon her. Sticking out one massive leg, he swept her from her feet. She landed hard on her back, the air knocked painfully from her lungs. An instant later, a ham-sized fist slammed into the side of her head, and everything went momentarily black. As she shook her head to clear it, she felt an agonizing, burning pain in her abdomen. Her eyes cleared abruptly, and she looked down to see a halfling, of all things, standing over her withdrawing a foot of steel from her midsection. Grehlia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Mother,” she managed to whisper before the giant’s fist descended again and darkness fell.
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“Damn it!” Thearynn Louvel cursed as he paced nervously around his mostly bare chambers, anxiously wringing his hands. Nearby, Xarthyx squatted on his perch, his tail twitching in amusement as he watched his master’s anguish. The quasit reached up absently to wipe the drool from his mouth. It was an unconscious habit that occurred when he was excited. He knew there was soon to be bloodshed.
“I warned Dyr’ryd that this would happen!” Thearynn shrieked, “But would they listen? No! They only hear Shebeleth, and that fool’s conceit will be his undoing! I know the Fish is behind this, he and Ardeth! They’re both out to get me! They probably let those interlopers in here, and sent them right for me! Well, it won’t do them any good. I’ve prepared, haven’t I Xarthyx? We will be ready for them, and then we’ll see who has the last laugh! Now come! They’ll be here any moment!”
“Yessss massster,” the quasit hissed, and then he began uttering the guttural words of a spell. Instantly, the little demon disappeared, but thanks to the spell of True Sight Thearynnn had cast, the conjurer could still see his apprentice. Hopefully, his enemies would not have the same foresight. Next, Thearynn spoke a brief command word, activating the magic in his boots, and he began rising slowly up towards the ceiling. Just when it seemed he would smash against the rock, he simply passed through it. Yet another contingency he had put in place for the moment he knew would eventually come, when all of his many enemies sought to assassinate him. He now rested comfortably in a concealed space bored into the ceiling, but the illusory image that covered it protected him completely from prying eyes, while his own magic allowed him to see out. He began casting one last spell as he heard the first crash against his chamber door. Now his foes would not even be aware where his voice was coming from when he began blasting them each out of existence.
The door smashed inward, and Xarthyx got his first glimpse of the invaders. For a moment, he was taken aback. He had expected the usual assortment of elves, dwarves, humans and other do-gooders. He was surprised to see a giant, an ogre half-breed, and a goliath, closely followed by a pair of the predicted dwarves, a halfling, and two humans…one of them a red wizard, if he was not mistaken. He’d always wanted to kill a Thayan. But first to deal with the muscle. The quasit quickly threw his first spell, meant to confuse the mind of the dim-witted goliath. To his surprise, the brute merely furrowed his brow for a moment, then shook his head as if bothered by a gnat. Unfortunately, by taking offensive action, Xarthyx had negated his concealing invisibility, and they were all looking right at him. The red wizard sneered, and stepped forward, hurling a wave of frigid air and ice at the diminutive demon. Xarthyx shrieked as he tried to flap to safety. Ice began to accumulate on his wings, and he shivered uncontrollably. He absolutely detested cold! Xarthyx yelped again as the giant moved like quicksilver, trying to grab him out of the air. Fortunately, the demonic sorcerer had placed a spell of Displacement around him, and the giant’s clutching fingers missed him by inches.
“That’s my lad,” Thearynn muttered as he watched the melee. “Just keep them busy a little longer.” He began conjuring, but due to the Ventriloquism spell he had cast, it seemed as if his voice were coming from a distant corner of the room. All of the intruders looked in that direction. Predictable. So as not to disappoint them, Thearynn concentrated on his summoned creature appearing right where they were focused. With a deafening roar, the hell-spawned tyrannosaurus rex erupted out of thin air. Hah! Thearynn thought. That should give the warriors pause. Now, to deal with the so-called spell-casters. He cast again, this time making his voice sound from directly behind the two dwarves and humans. A thick, roiling green fog cloud coalesced around them all, leaving the halfling, half-ogre and giant cut off, facing the t-rex. This was working out better than he’d planned. He hoped the fools trapped within the cloud appreciated the extra acidic touch he’d added.
Xarthyx giggled in glee as he witnessed his master’s handiwork. It was genius! So, the red wizard liked cold, did he? “Let’s see if he likes being on the other end,” the quasit tittered. “My life for you, master!” he shouted as he unleashed his own Cone of Cold into the Acid Fog, hoping to catch all of those imprisoned within. Xarthyx joy only increased when he saw the red wizard, grimacing in pain, step to the edge of the fog cloud and hurl a Fireball into the corner where he thought Thearynn was. The explosion only served to singe the t-rex a bit, and enrage it more. “Fool!” Xarthyx crowed. Just then, a shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see a massive hand swinging towards him. With one final squawk, the quasit was flattened into so much goo against the wall by the giant.
Thearynn watched his apprentice die dispassionately. He had served his purpose, and had certainly been more loyal than his previous three apprentices, all of whom had tried to supplant his place among the Cagewrights before he had dealt with them. Xarthyx would be hard to replace, but there was still the matter at hand. The giant that had killed the quasit was now busy hammering away at the t-rex. The halfling was scuttling around beneath the dinosaur’s legs, taking cheap shots wherever there was an opportunity. Suddenly, the big half-ogre stepped in and dealt a withering blow with the spiked chain he wielded, and the t-rex faded from view as it died. Near the door, the dwarves, humans and the goliath had finally managed to free themselves from the fog. It seemed that another diversion was in order.
Thearynn smiled, despite his paranoia, when he saw the forest of writhing, black tentacles erupt from the floor. The giant, halfling, and half-ogre were unfortunate enough to be caught right in the middle of the mass. The thick appendages immediately began wrapping around the limbs and necks of the so-called heroes, and the conjurer’s smile broadened. His enemies would do well not to underestimate him. He could picture the Fish in just such a predicament. Abruptly, his smile faded as the half-ogre simply walked out of the Evard’s, ignoring the tentacles that continued to slap at him, yet slid off his body the moment they struck. The cunning bastard must have had some sort of Freedom of Movement cast upon him. Then, Thearynn’s incredulity increased as the giant began ripping tentacles from the floor and hurling them away from him. In short order, he too was free. The half-ogre peered all about the room, obviously looking for Thearynn, but not seeing anything. With a roar of rage, the brute began randomly smashing up furniture and fixtures. Thearynn’s smile returned. So the dim wit felt impotent, did he? Well, perhaps his mood would be improved if he had something else to occupy him.
With a flash of blinding flames, the room below Thearynn erupted into a roiling inferno. A cloud of ash and soot, wreathed in scorching fire, billowed across the floor, igniting everything in its path. The half-ogre dove for cover, managing to roll beneath the bulk of the cloud. Incredibly, the halfling wriggled free of the tentacles at the last possible moment, and tumbled out the door to safety. The others were not so lucky. Not only did they have the Incendiary Cloud to contend with, but the tentacles were still seeking out new prey, and the Acid Fog remained in place as well. There was mass confusion and chaos below him, and Thearynn was loving every minute of it. Suddenly, the green mass of the Acid Fog vanished. Thearynn heard the words of a spell being cast by the older dwarf and he realized that his magic had been dispelled. Just then, two tentacles seized the dwarf, and the red wizard standing next to him, but before the life could be crushed out of them, the second dwarf managed to dispel the Evard’s as well. As the red wizard dropped unceremoniously to the floor, Thearynn heard him call out to his companions, “The voice is an illusion! It is a Ventriloquism! Do not waste your time searching for the source! He must be hidden!” Damn! Thearynn cursed to himself. They were on to him. Not that it mattered. They would still never pierce his concealment. And yet, the elder dwarf was now unfurling a scroll. As he read it, a feeling of dread fell over Thearynn. It was a True Sight spell!
“There!” Rusty cried, “In the ceiling!” “I’m on it!” Houshang shouted, but an instant later, a stone wall appeared out of nowhere in the center of the chamber, splitting the party in half. Not hesitating, Houshang flung a Disintegrate spell at the barrier, blasting a hole in it ten feet wide. On the other side, Kiko peered closely at the spot on the ceiling that Rusty had identified. As his mind focused past the illusion, he could see a patch of the stone become transparent, and then he could see the figure concealed on the other side. Immediately, he struck, his hand reaching into the hidden hole and connecting solidly. He heard the tell-tale snap of bone breaking.
Grimm still saw only hard stone, yet he clearly saw Kiko seemingly put his hand directly thru the solid rock, and he needed no further convincing. Aiming for the same spot, he struck in a flurry of blinding strikes, and as the last one hit, a body tumbled from the ceiling to land sprawled on the floor at an unnatural angle.
Just because you are paranoid does not mean someone is not out to get you.
