The Night Parade

his black leather and armor were designed to protect with crystal coverings woven into his suit.

Lord Sixx was extremely relaxed and seemed only mildly interested when Myrmeen and Krystin were led into the room. Imperator Zeal's entourage remained in the corridor's shadows, then spread out to block every avenue of escape other than the shaft at the center of the large chamber.

Finally Sixx looked over and smiled, his arching brows and widow's peak pointing at the three sets of eyes peering out from his skull. Zeal approached Lord Sixx with the prisoners, the fiery-haired man bowing as he reached the dark man who held dominion over them all. 'Lord Sixx, may I present-'

'You may not,' Sixx said as he dismissed the rainbow woman with a gentle pat to her bottom and approached Myrmeen. 'I know who this is, you idiot.'

Myrmeen noticed that not all of his eyes moved at the same time, and she was unnerved by the sight.

Imperator Zeal lowered his gaze and backed away. 'Of course, milord,' he said.

'Myrmeen Lhal,' Lord Sixx declared in his rich voice, 'ruler of Arabel, a fine city. Who sits upon your throne, Myrmeen? One of yours? Or one of ours, perhaps?'

The implication caused her heart to leap into her throat as she thought of Elyn, the Harper who had masqueraded as Myrmeen, ruling the city in her stead.

'Ah,' Sixx said softly as he tasted her fear, 'sweet.'

Myrmeen understood her mistake.

'Don't worry,' Sixx muttered assuredly, 'your friend is safe. But you might be surprised to learn how many of our kind have replaced humans in positions of power throughout this world. I'll give you a hint: Zhentil Keep is more for us than an excellent hunting ground.'

The Zhentarim, Myrmeen thought, the Harpers' blood enemies. If the shadow people could infiltrate ranks such as those, then no agency in the world was safe from their spies. She considered that even the Harpers could be compromised.

'He's lying,' Krystin said. 'He always lies.'

Lord Sixx turned his gaze to Krystin in amusement. 'Have we met?'

'That's what Alden said,' she muttered.

Sixx shrugged happily. 'Alden is a confused child. You can't take his rambling to heart. It may prove fatal not only to you.'

Krystin looked away, something in Lord Sixx's words seeming to strike home.

'Where are the others?' Myrmeen asked.

'Bring them,' Lord Sixx said as he raised his hand, slapping his fingers against his palm as if he were summoning a waiter in an expensive dining establishment. The crowd of monstrosities parted and the two remaining Harpers were brought forth. Myrmeen could tell from the fresh cuts and contusions lining their bodies that they had struggled bravely before they were subdued, but they were only flesh, and the members of the Night Parade were much more. Ord refused to walk of his own accord and had to be dragged. Reisz held himself with a quiet dignity, despite the roughness of the talons and claws that shoved him forward. Both men had been gagged with sashes of black silk.

'Let them speak,' Myrmeen commanded.

'No,' Sixx said lazily, 'I'm tired of their ranting.'

Myrmeen looked at him, stunned to have been refused.

'Let me explain,' Lord Sixx said as he lowered his head like a snake inspecting its latest kill. 'You are not in control here. You breathe because I wish it and for no other reason.'

'Do not anger him,' a voice said from behind Myrmeen, 'It will only make it worse.'

The fighter turned, recognizing the voice of the mage she had presumed dead. When she saw his pallid skin, drawn lips, and blood-drenched smock, she knew something was terribly wrong with him. 'Lucius?'

'Shandower is dead,' the mage said, his voice appearing to have emerged from the base of a tunnel, as if he were speaking from a nearly unreachable distance. 'I helped them kill him, Myrmeen. They threw his gauntlet into the pit, with his bones.' He turned to Lord Sixx. 'Please release me. My time is done.'

'In a just world, perhaps,' Lord Sixx said. 'When you reach such a place, you will have stories to share with the other com-plainers, those who suffered unnatural ends. Now be quiet or I'll loll them all.'

Lucius felt a trace of his old strength flow into him as he said, 'You promised to spare them if I cooperated.'

'True,' Sixx said and laughed, 'but your involvement is not yet finished and their lives are still in the balance.'

Myrmeen could not believe what she was hearing. 'Lucius, you must not help them. If you give them what they want, they'll have no reason to keep any of us alive. What happened to you, that you could betray us like this?'

The mage hesitated. 'I am dead.'

The fighter drew a sharp breath and suddenly identified the smell of rotting flesh among the putrid odors of the monstrosities gathered near the pit.

'They have trapped me here between this world and the next,' Lucius said. 'Cyric's emissaries call to me, screaming curses because I will not come, but I cannot, though I am dead.'

Myrmeen spun on Lord Sixx. 'What do you want of him?'

The Night Parade's leader glanced at her as if her intelligence had suffered an instant, rapid decline. 'He must retrieve the apparatus, of course. Shandower was not a powerful mage. He merely employed them. His skills would have been useless in sorting through the puzzle box of wards surrounding the apparatus.'

Lucius shook his head. 'You have denied me use of my spells. There is nothing I can do.'

'What I made you forget, I can make you remember,' Sixx promised.

Krystin hugged herself so tightly at these words that she forced blood to leak from the wound in her arm. A figure burst through the crowd of abominations, a flaxen-haired youth who leapt to her feet and licked her blood from the floor.

'Alden,' she whispered. When he looked up in response, she saw that he was no longer human. His eyes gleamed bright red and his teeth had become wolflike canines. The lower half of his face had lengthened, jutting straight outward to accommodate his snapping jaws. Alden's features had shortened, his brow becoming considerably more brutish. His hair stood out in wild patterns, matted in tangled clots near his sopping mouth. He latched onto her leg with a single hairy claw, and Krystin screamed.

'Child!' Lord Sixx shouted.

Alden's head snapped around, his eyes wide with fear. He panted like a frightened dog.

'Do not embarrass me before our guests,' Lord Sixx said as he struck Alden on the back of the head, causing him to release Krystin and scamper into the recesses of the crowd. 'You must forgive him. He was just happy to see you.'

'What have you done to him?' she whispered.

'He is becoming,' Sixx said with a touch of pride.

Krystin waited for him to finish the statement. When it was clear that Sixx felt he had answered sufficiently, she asked exactly what Alden was becoming.

Lord Sixx opened his hands. 'Who knows? Perhaps his father, Dymas, will have an idea when he arrives. For now, we have other matters to consider.' He looked at the mage. 'What is your decision, Cardoc?'

Lucius whispered, 'I am weak. I cannot help you.'

'Then everyone dies and we are delayed slightly longer until we find someone who can.' Sixx shrugged. 'I've only chosen this tack because I am impatient.'

'You said you did not want me to use my magic against you,' Lucius said.

'I would still prefer that to be the case,' Sixx said honestly. 'I am the only one who can release you from your torments, and the lives of all you care about are in my grasp. The decision, however, is yours.'

Myrmeen touched the dead mage's arm and immediately drew her hand back in disgust at the cold flesh her fingers encountered. Lucius looked at her sadly.

'I must do as he asks,' he said.

'I know,' she said, trying to clear her mind of the idea that was forming. 'But you said it yourself, you're weak. You're going to need help. Let me help you.'

He nodded and trained his gaze on Lord Sixx.