Prophet of Moonshae

higher, expanding in a cone that gaped before the plummeting dracolich.

The Earl of Fairheight stood, awestruck, beside Deirdre and Malawar. The nobleman took no note of his two companions. Instead, Blackstone gasped at the dragon, and then fixed his wide eyes on the proud figure of Alicia, barely visible behind the translucent screen of bright hues.

'Kill her!' screamed the ancient priest. He squeezed Deirdre's arm until his clawlike fingers bit into her flesh.

Then suddenly she broke free, knocking his hand aside. He reached out to block her way, and she punched him solidly in the chest, driving his surprisingly frail form backward several steps.

'Treachery!' he cried. 'You betray your own god!'

'Treachery only against a betrayer,' Deirdre shot back. 'I am yours to command no longer!'

'Talos will punish-'

'You yourself clarified it for me,' spat the princess, her black hair flying around her head as she stepped toward the priest. 'I am sorceress-not priestess! The power of Talos can aid me, and I can work his will, but he will not bind me!'

'What are you doing?' demanded Blackstone plaintively, looking at the dragon. 'What about them?'

'Stay out of this,' snapped Deirdre, casting a look that withered the earl's courage, sending him staggering backward in search of cover.

'Harlot!' shrieked the cadaverous cleric, sputtering at Deirdre. 'You will pay for your perfidy!' He reached a withered hand into a pouch at his belt, but the younger, faster Deirdre lashed out with a foot, tripping the priest and smashing him backward into the rocky ground.

'No,' the princess said, quietly and grimly. 'You are the one with a debt to pay, and soon it will be time for me to claim my restitution!'

Gotha hurled his horrid body toward the princess, impelled by all the hatred wrought by his long decades of undeath. Moments ago, the insolent faerie dragon had infuriated the monster beyond all reason, tormenting Gotha with tiny pinpricks of icy cold magic. Each attack reminded the dracolich of his centuries encased beneath the ice, and each drove him to further heights of rage. Compelled by this fury, he had pursued the thing with berserk intensity.

Now, finally, the buglike annoyance was gone, either scorched or frightened away by Gotha's flamebreath. All of the serpent's hatred and loathing focused on this bright figure of a woman in the path of his dive.

The princess glowed with a brilliance that seared the monster's vision, burning into his brain. He knew it to be the power of the resurgent goddess, the direct foe of Gotha's own master. He plunged faster, a monstrous engine of death plummeting earthward at breakneck speed. The woman, in her arrogance, did not flee. Instead, she stared upward, as if she would meet the dracolich in battle.

If she did, thought Gotha grimly, she would die.

Alicia knew that it was not she who faced the diving dracolich-at least, not entirely so.

The power of the goddess burned within her, soothing her fears and making the princess strong. Whatever the horrible effects of the monster's attack, Alicia felt that she could face the onslaught with more than courage. She possessed the might to meet the monster on its own terms.

The moment of collision came and passed, and the princess felt no impact. Instead, she knew the strength of her own massive embrace, reaching outward to envelop the hateful image. Alicia's body was gone, though it waited for her, somewhere safe, she knew, and her will controlled a force that was far greater than a mere mortal form.

She was a physical presence in the air, in the water, in the ground-she was one with the goddess herself! Constricting the squirming beast with the power of her clasp, she melted downward into the soothing, cloaking waters of the well.

Deirdre watched in awe as the power of her mother's goddess arose from the earth to clasp the deathbeast and carry it to its end. The dracolich disappeared within the whirlwind of color as the water frothed like an erupting fountain of multicolored liquid. Slowly the rainbow-hued funnel settled into the swirling waters of the pool.

The Moonwell sparkled, tiny wavelets reflecting the sunlight as if the surface was coated with diamonds.

Malawar recovered his balance and scrambled to his feet. Now he regarded Deirdre, squinting in tight caution. Obviously he feared her-for he made no move to attack.

Blackstone stalked in agitation toward the priest. 'By the gods, man, what do we do now?'

'She is the cause of this disaster!' spat Malawar, gesturing toward Deirdre. 'She and her accursed sister!'

A sound pulled their attention away from the pond, and the trio gasped in unison as a figure lurched toward them. His wide-set eyes fixed upon Blackstone as his voice boomed, an all-too-familiar sound.

'Disaster? Nay! Behold the glory!' howled the prophet gleefully. His white beard, the long, wispy hair straggling around the bald pate-all were familiar. He raised his arms and staggered toward the Earl of Fairheight, as if to embrace him, to share the miracle of the Earthmother's resurgence.

'Where did you come from?' demanded Malawar, his voice a taut hiss.

'The well…' Deirdre breathed the reply. The white-robed figure was soaking wet, and the trail of water led straight to the shore of the pond.

'She returns!' cried the prophet, his tone rich with glee. 'Know the truth and the glory!'

'No!' shrieked Blackstone. 'You're dead-you must be- you are!' The nobleman, spittle flecking his lips, stumbled backward.

Princess Deirdre, alert, tried to watch neither the earl nor the prophet. Instead, her gaze stayed riveted upon Malawar. But then as the raving lunatic came closer, she darted a glance at the white-bearded stranger, seeing the man's face locked in that expression of fierce joy.

In the instant Deirdre turned her eyes away, Malawar snatched his clawlike holy symbol, three lightning bolts of steel, exploding outward from a gem-studded nut, from his pouch. He brandished the thing as if he himself was a storm cloud, whirling toward Deirdre, raising the artifact menacingly. The movement caught her eye, and the princess instantly turned back to face him.

The earl continued to jabber, and the white-bearded man advanced farther. Blackstone spun, darting away from the apparition, lunging between Deirdre and Malawar.

At that exact moment, the priest invoked the name of his god in killing magic. A fatal word triggered the spell, and the power of Talos lashed out, hissing through the air with flesh-rending force. The fatal force intended for Deirdre struck the fleeing earl full in the chest, enveloping him in light and fire that spit and crackled with power.

Lord Blackstone, Earl of Fairheight, died in supreme agony, his body wracked by the fatal power of Talos the Destroyer. His black-maned head flew backward, his mouth locked open in soundless horror. His fingers clenched desperately at the air, clutching for some hope of survival.

The robed priest of Talos stood transfixed behind the earl, his hood thrown back and his withered, balded pate spotted with sweat, staring wide-eyed at the misdirected power of his god. At last the sputtering died away, and a grisly corpse fell stiffly to the ground before the princess.

The cleric dodged backward, away from the princess, as he raised his holy symbol to ward off her attack. The corpse of Blackstone smoldered on the ground between them.

'Glory! Rejoice!' The prophet raised his hands, shouting at Deirdre, though it seemed as if he looked right through her. Then he turned toward Malawar as the cleric crouched defensively, ready to meet Deirdre's return spell.

'Know the truth!' cried the strange man, and he suddenly lunged at Malawar. His hands wrapped around the holy symbol clutched by the cleric, and then the prophet pulled the talisman away. 'Throw down the idols of false gods!' he expounded.

'No!' The priest shrieked in horror, desperately grabbing for the artifact. But the prophet shouted, as if in pain, and stumbled away from Malawar.