storm.
She stood there, a hail of ash falling around her like the first snowfall of winter. By that time, the others had caught up to her, and they were frozen in their tracks at the armageddon unfolding before them. Tazi hardly noticed when the lich glided up next to her, but she couldn't miss his frozen voice.
'And are you well pleased, lady?' he demanded of her.
'What?' she asked and turned to look up at his threadbare skull. There was no feeling of fear this time.
'Naglatha did not do this alone,' he explained. 'I know she had your help. Are you pleased with all you've done?' he asked again.
'I had no choice,' Tazi replied and hated that she had to defend herself to the necromancer. 'I had my reasons.'
The lich nodded benevolently. 'I hope so, woman, for look what you have wrought on my land. Consequences,' he added, 'there are consequences to every action. Now see yours.'
Tazi refused to meet his accusing glare and turned back to view the destruction. As another eruption shook the balcony, the mountains started to disgorge molten flows of lava, red and gold. From several of the peaks, the burning magma began its inexorable path down the slopes li^e a deadly tide. She could see that there was nothing to stop its flow save for the villages and towns in its lethal path. And that was not the end of it.
Tazi watched as, first from one tunnel and the next, unspeakable horrors began to pour out of every crevice in the Thaymount. Like a row of ants leaving their mound, the line of creatures seemed unending.
Demons of all shapes and sizes crawled out of the ancient tunnels. Twisted versions of darkenbeasts took to the skies and even albino creatures that had never seen the light of day cautiously clambered out. Their numbers seemed immeasurable. High up on the balcony, there was a sense of unreality as though they were removed from the danger, but another quake reminded the spectators that they were every bit as vulnerable as the unknowing masses below on the Escarpment.
'There must be thousands upon thousands,' Tazi breathed.
'Perhaps we can make it down below and warn the others to flee while they can,' offered Aznar Thrul, who was sweating profusely, though not from the overwhelming heat.
'You mean flee so you can escape,' Lauzoril corrected him harshly. 'Always thinking of yourself, aren't you?'
So much for alliances, Tazi thought as the two traded insults.
'There might be a way to stop the demon,' Nevron offered. 'There might be a way to bind him again.' Tazi recalled that he was the wizard Naglatha had said had an interest in demon spells. She turned to regard him more closely.
'Leave off,' Azhir shouted at him, the image of unbridled fury. 'Magic got us into this, but it will take an army to stop those monstrosities. Don't you agree, SzassTam?' she asked the lich, searching for support. The necromancer, however, remained impassive.
The Red Wizards launched into a tirade amongst themselves as to who had the better plan, seemingly oblivious to the rain of fire. Tazi listened for a moment then exploded at their bickering.
'Shut up!' she screamed. With ash falling around her and lava bombs streaking the sky behind her, she commanded their attention like a raging angel.
'Even in the midst of this-' she gestured with one gauntlet-covered hand to the hell behind her- 'you cannot work together? Your land will die if you do nothing!
'Ignore everything else and see the obvious. Perhaps binding the demon might stop the waiting disaster, but no one knows. What we can see is death pouring down the mountainside. That needs to be stopped. And we have the means to do it.'
'What do you have in mind?' Szass Tam asked her.
'On my way up, I saw the vast armies that dot the sides of the Thaymount. You yourselves bragged at dinner how many thousands of creatures you posses,' she told the small assembly. 'There must be more housed within these walls. We'll use them, one and all, against the demon spawn and as shields themselves, if we haveJ: o. They will stop the lava flows,' she finished.
The Red Wizards regarded her with stunned amazement. Szass Tam tilted his head and scrutinized her closely, contemplating her words. Even the duer-gar appeared taken aback by her suggestion.
'It won't work,' Aznar Thrul stated flatly and shook his head.
'Why not?' Tazi shouted to be heard over the continued rumbling as another peak vomited out more lava.
'It might,' interrupted Azhir Kren. 'It just might.'
'They'll never do it,' Nevron disagreed.
'He's right,' Lauzoril said. 'Those beasts will never follow just one leader. Never.'
'It has to be tried,' Tazi argued. 'What other choice is there?'
'There is another,' Szass Tam offered. Before he was able to say more, a shower of molten rocks sprayed the balcony. The group sought shelter as best they could, using the support stones of the balcony for cover. Most escaped the threat, but one was not so fortunate. Azhir Kren screamed in agony as her shoulders and arms were struck by the red-hot projectiles. Lauzoril caught her before she tumbled off the balcony, unconscious from the pain.
'Inside,' Szass Tam commanded the others.
'Back into the flames?' the dwarf demanded.
'There is another corridor,' he replied.
Tazi and Justikar led the way again as Szass Tam and the others trailed behind, dragging Azhir Kren with them.
'To the left,' she heard the lich say, and Tazi blindly felt her way through the smoke-filled hall until she found the route he meant.
As soon as she started down the passageway, her vision began to clear. She realized that they were dropping deeper into the Citadel, and they were quickly down below the level of the smoke from the council room blaze. The corridor began to twist downward in a spiral, and steps formed under Tazi's feet. She had no idea how far they continued down. Everyone had grown silent, and the only sound was the rumble of the mountains and the howls that grew in strength. Eventually, Tazi saw a glimmer of light ahead.
With the duergar at her heels, she led the way into another chamber and stopped in her tracks. Before her, the room opened onto a platform. Beneath that platform, it opened further into a cavernous mass too large for Tazi to see the end of. With glow lights scattered across the walls, Tazi beheld an unholy sight. Stacked up from side to side, shoulder to shoulder, stood thousands upon thousands of troops. But it was an army the likes of which she had never seen before.
Tazi heard the others behind her let out a collective gasp-all except for Szass Tarn. Tazi looked from him back to the forces lined up like clay figures, but at the ready. She could see that they wore armor and clothes in varying degrees of decay, and even from where she stood, she could see their skin had a grayish cast to it. Their rusty weapons glinted in the sorcerous light.
'I think you are^amiliar with them,' Tarn said to her.
Even with the Citadel crumbling around their ears, one of the other Red Wizards found something to complain about.
'Szass Tarn,' Aznar Thrul shouted, 'you never said you had this many housed here. This goes against any agreement we might have-'
'Enough!' Tazi whirled around and shouted to the bald wizard. 'Now is not the time!' He looked at her with his hateful, black eyes but held his tongue. She turned her attention back to the lich.
'Up there,' she motioned with her sword, 'you said there was another way. Let's hear it now.'
'I think you were on the right tack with the obvious use of the armies. But for us to be successful, we must work together, lady.'
Tazi shivered despite the heat when she heard the necromancer link himself to her.
'Explain,' she said and hated herself for not seeing another choice.
'Lead the forces as you said, and I will work with Nevron to find a spell to bind Eltab,' he explained to her. 'I bound him once; I can do it again. With him under our power, the rest of the demons will obey. It is Thay's only chance.' And, for the first time, Tazi heard true emotion in the lich's voice. She believed he might find a way.
