before Kelemvor claims your wailing spirit.' The voice seemed familiar…
Seren called from behind, 'That sounds like Japheth!' The woman peeked into the vestibule, her wand drawn.
Thoster stood next to her, his whirring, clicking sword unsheathed.
'Warlock, you hiding in there?' said the captain.
Raidon advanced another step.
The doors behind the creature opened. Several grim young faces peered out. Mostly humans, male and female, only a few older than twenty. The tallest said, 'You're dead meat.'
Captain Thoster guffawed. 'The three of us faced down a great kraken less than a month ago, lad. I don't reckon we'll have trouble turning you lot into so much chum for the sharks.'
Raidon raised his hand. 'We only want to know one thing-where is the warlock Japheth?'
The tallest youth scowled. He was a little older than the rest, and his arms were bare, apparently to show off an elaborate stitchery of scars and tattoos.
A younger, pudgier kid behind the tall one blurted, 'He's the man! What d'you want with Japheth?'
'Is he here now?' purred Seren. She moved into the vestibule. 'We'd like to talk to him.'
'Nah,' continued the pudgy kid. 'He don't hardly ever come here. We bring him his tribute at the-'
The scarred youth backhanded the talkative kid across the face. He hissed, 'Sheathe it or I'll rip out your entrails, eh?'
The pudgy kid yelped, 'Sorry, Dherk!'
The youth, apparently named Dherk, addressed his guests again. 'Japheth didn't mention friends. So get lost.'
'I'm sure he'll want to talk to us,' said Seren, her voice silky.
'Lady, I'll talk to you right now,' the scarred fellow leered.
Then his smile faded. He said, 'I have a question-how did you find our den? Too many loose lips, I think.'
As he finished his almost thoughtful statement, Dherk flipped his right hand up from where it hung at his side.
He released a small knife that hadn't been there a moment earlier.
The knife buried itself in Seren's throat. Her eyes went wide. Blood welled around a protruding blade smeared with green paste. A cry of excitement went up among the gang members as the wizard staggered backward, one hand clutching at the knife hilt.
Raidon charged. He aimed a flying knee at the treacherous youth.
Just before his knee connected with Dherk's head, one of the constructs nail hands clawed Raidon out of the air.
The monk was hammered to the ground. Three of the scarecrow's nails remained behind, two in Raidon's coat and one in his arm, all three punched through to the wooden floor. The monk was nailed to the ground.
He yelled,' 'Ware the construct's hands!' as he tried to pull free.
Thoster said, 'Quit playing around, Raidon!'
The monk tensed, jerked, and pulled his arm free of the nail. Blood poured down his arm as he rose. He ducked beneath another claw. The thing wasn't actually that fast- it had caught Raidon off guard. Seren got a grip on the knife hilt and pulled the blade free. More blood flowed. It was stained green from the paste. She gurgled, 'Poisoned!' She let the dagger fall.
Thoster twisted his sword's hilt. A vial dropped from a previously hidden hollow. He palmed it and pressed it into Seren's bloody hand. 'Drink it, eh? A restorative. And an anti-venom!'
Seren uncorked the vial with her teeth and gagged down its contents.
Raidon swayed like a tree in the wind to avoid another heavy but slow swipe by the construct.
Dherk tried to flank the monk, another knife held high. He brought it down in a brutal blow as if wielding an ice pick.
Raidon deflected the knife with his left forearm. His right hand balled into a fist and lashed straight into Dherk's throat. The youth made an odd noise and dropped the knife.
Raidon followed up by snatching the lapels of the youth's sleeveless coat. Still holding Dherk, he twisted his upper torso. The youth's feet left the ground as he was swung around the monk's body, propelled by the force of the throw until he sprawled at Thoster's feet.
The captain put the point of his sword in the hollow of the gang leader's tattooed throat. He said, 'Call off your construct,' levity gone from his voice.
Dherk gasped, yelled, 'I can't! Japheth, that sheepstraddler, set it in motion!'
The seashell-crowned bulk heaved toward Thoster and Seren but avoided stamping on the bleeding tough at its feet.
'I've had enough of this,' hissed Seren, her voice hoarse but furious.
The wizard brandished her wand and whispered three syllables like a cold wind blowing through the eaves. A wintry line momentarily connected the wand tip with the advancing driftwood scarecrow. Ice blossomed around it until the constructs body was trapped in a frozen sarcophagus. It ceased moving.
The faces watching the fight through the inner doorway had lost their grins. One by one, they faded into the shadows.
'Lost your nerve, eh?' Thoster yelled after them. He glanced back down at Dherk, who he still threatened with his sword. 'Your gang ain't up to defending its turf.'
Dherk snarled, 'We're a little tired of mages appearing out o' nowhere and blasting us to the Hells and back for a lark!'
Raidon motioned for Thoster to sheathe his sword. He crouched next to the angry young man. 'Tell us where to find Japheth, and we'll trouble you no more.'
'Why're you so antsy to find him?'
'He stole something from us. We want it back.'
Dherk's eyes narrowed. He studied Raidon, his clothing, and the sti ll-sheathed shape of the sword riding the monk's back. He said, 'He's stolen something from us too! All the work we do, day and night-he's taking most of it!'
Seren slipped her wand back into her belt. The vial Thoster had dispensed had nearly smoothed away the gash in her neck, though dried blood remained and her hair was uncharacteristically disheveled. She fixed the gang leader with a hard stare and said, 'The warlock is skimming your coin?'
'Yeah!' said Dherk. He sat up. 'He said he needed it to bankroll something he was working on. He also wanted us to score traveler's dust. I don't really care what he's doing- all I know is he's taking what belongs to us! So yeah, I'll tell you where to find Japheth. If you promise he'll trouble the Razorhides no more.'
'You ain't in a position to demand things, lad!' Thoster said.
Raidon helped Dherk to stand and said, 'Take us to Japheth. When we get back what the warlock stole from us, we'll see about what 'belongs' to you.'
Dherk smirked. 'Now you're talking.'
*****
Tendrils of arcane formulas twined up the vault wall. Sigils, runes, and sympathetic congruencies combined to create an elaborate diagram. Alphabets jumbled together, so that the graceful swoops of Rellanic battled the crude lines of Davek while intertwining uncomfortably with the even more elaborate loops of Supernal. Where lines intersected, glimmers of light gathered.
Japheth traced the inmost lines for the hundredth time to the diagram's center, where a magical sum was scribed in chalk. It was a conclusion that, no matter how many ways he varied the formulas, refused to change. He turned, swaying with exhaustion. His eyes fell on Anusha's sleeping form. 'You were right. I didn't save you at all.'
Lucky raised his head from his paws. Japheth rubbed at his forehead, smudging it with chalk. 'It's impossible.'
The dog whined.
The warlock dropped the chalk. He called the dog over and ruffled him behind the ears. 'Don't worry, I'm not
