without, rain and wind thrusting at them as they peered north across the choppy waters of the Cillidellan.
OOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!
The wail rose higher, one long, continuous howl that swept through the heights. All about the shoreline of the Cillidellan, the Gnomes joined in the dark chant, voices blended into one as they faced the murky lake, the air filled with the mournful sound.
Radhomm appeared on the battlements below, shouting orders, and runners scurried from his side as he dispatched them to his captains. Everywhere there was a frenzy of activity as the garrison braced for whatever. was to come. Jair’s hand moved to his tunic, searching out and finding the reassuring presence of both the Silver Dust and the vision crystal.
Garet Jax snatched Slanter by his cloak and hauled him close. «What is happening here?»
There was unmistakable fear in the Gnome’s eyes. «A summons — a summons to the dark magic! Once before I saw it — at Graymark!» The Gnome twisted in the iron grip. «But it needs the touch of the walkers, Weapons Master! It needs their touch!»
«Garet!» Foraker pulled the other about roughly, pointing to the near shore of the Cillidellan, not a hundred yards from where. the high dam arced away. The Weapons Master released his grip on Slanter. All eyes turned to where the Dwarf directed.
From out of the midst of the Gnomes gathered along the shoreline, three black–cloaked figures approached, tall and hard against the coming dawn.
«Mord Wraiths!» Slanter whispered harshly. «The walkers have come!»
Chapter Twenty–Two
Down to the Cillidellan the Mord Wraiths came, gliding to the water’s edge almost without seeming to move. Hooded and featureless within the shadow of their cowls, they might have been ghosts of no substance but for the black–clawed fingers slipped from beneath their coverings to wrap with death grips about three gnarled gray staffs of burnished witch–wood. The wail of their Gnome believers rose all about them, shrieking into the whistle of the wind; to those who watched from the battlements of Capaal, is seemed as if the black ones had been born of its sound.
Then, without warning, the terrible wail died into silence as the Gnomes grew suddenly still. The wind’s strident shriek sounded across the empty expanse of the Cillidellan, and the lapping of the waves stirred with its passing.
The foremost of the Mord Wraiths lifted his staff high, his skeletal black arm thrusting from its protective robe like blasted deadwood. A strange and vibrant hush fell over the heights, and it seemed to the defenders that for an instant even the wind had gone still. Then the staff came slowly down, reaching toward the blackened waters of the lake. The other staffs joined it, witch–wood touching and becoming one as burnished tips slipped within the waters of the Cillidellan.
For an instant, nothing happened. Then the staffs exploded into lances of red fire, the flames ripping downward into the lake, burning and scorching its cool darkness. The waters shuddered and heaved, then began to boil. Gnomes shrieked in a cacophony of glee and fear, stumbling back from the shore’s edge.
«It is the summons!» Slanter cried.
The red fire burned through the murky, impenetrable blackness, down into the deepest recesses of the lake to where no light ever shone. Like a stain of blood, the light of chose flames spread outward through the waters, reaching. Geysers of steam burst skyward with a violent hiss, and the whole of the lake began to churn.
The defenders on the ramparts of the Dwarf fortress stood frozen with indecision. Something was about to happen, something unspeakable, and no one knew how it could be stopped.
«We’ve got to get out of here!» Slanter snatched at Garet Jax urgently. There was fear in his eyes, but reason as well. «Quickly, Weapons Master!»
Abruptly the fire from the witch–wood staffs died away. The gray wood lifted from the Cillidellan, clawed hands drawing back within their robes. Yet still the waters boiled feverishly; the reddened stain had become a deep and distant glow that shone from far beneath the surface like an eye slipped open from sleep.
OOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!
The wail of the Gnome siege army rose once more, shrill and expectant. Hands lifted and joined, stretching as the staffs of the Mord Wraiths signaled anew. Steam ripped from the lake in answer to the wail, and the whole of the Cillidellan seemed to erupt with a newfound fury.
Then something huge and dark began to rise from the depths.
«Weapons Master!» Slanter cried out.
But Garet Jax shook his head. «Stand fast. Helt, bring the long bows.»
The Borderman disappeared back into the watchtower at once. Jair glanced after him momentarily, then turned back to the Cillidellan — back to the deafening wail of the Gnomes and to the black thing rising from the deep.
It came swiftly now, growing in size as it neared the surface. An evil summoned by the Wraiths — but what manner of thing was it? Jair swallowed against the tightening of his throat. Whatever it was, it was monstrous, its bulk seeming to fill the whole of the lake bottom as it lifted free. Slowly it began to take shape, a great and hulking thing with arms that twisted and groped…
Then, with a thunderous surge, it broke the surface of the lake and burst free into the gray dawn. A misshapen black body wrenched clear of the confining waters and hung silhouetted for an instant against the light. Barrel–like in appearance, it was coated with bottom mud and slime, crusted over with sea life and corral. Four great fin–legs propelled it as it rose, clawed and spiny. Its head was a mass of writhing tentacles that surrounded a giant beak–shaped maw lined with razor teeth. Suckers coated the insides of the tentacles, each the size of a man’s spread hand, the whole protected without by scales and spines. Immediately back of the tentacles and to either side, a pair of reddened eyes blinked coldly. Stretching as it rose, the thing was more than a hundred feet from tip to tail and forty feet across.
Cries of dismay sounded from the battlements of Capaal.
«A Kraken!» Foraker said. «We are done now!»
The wail of the Gnomes had risen to a shriek that forbore all semblance of anything human. Now, with the monster’s appearance into the light, the wail dissipated into a battle cry that broke across the length and breadth of Capaal. Down into the waters of the lake the Kraken thundered, its black body twisting in response as it turned abruptly toward the wail of the dam and the fortress that protected it.
«It comes for us!» Garet Jax whispered in surprise. «A thing that cannot live within freshwater, a thing that comes from the ocean — yet here! Brought by the dark magic!» The gray eyes glittered coldly. «But it shall not have us, I think. Helt!»
Instantly the giant Borderman was at his side, three long bows clasped in one great hand. Garet Jax took one, left one with the Borderman, and passed the third to Edain Elessedil.
Slanter pushed forward. «Listen to me! You cannot stand against this thing! It is a monster summoned out of evil and too much even for you!»
But Garet Jax didn’t seem to hear him. «Remain with the Valeman, Gnome. He is your charge now. See that he stays safe.»
He went down off the watchtower, Helt and Edain Elessedil close upon his heels. Foraker hesitated only an instant, a mistrustful glance directed at Slanter; then he, too, followed.
The Kraken surged up against the wall of the Dwarf citadel, its giant bulk hammering into stone and mortar with stunning force as it breached. The giant tentacles swept from the water, reaching for the Dwarves that clustered on the battlements. Dozens were caught up, knocked from their feet into the waters of the lake, and wrapped in the suckers and spines of the thing that attacked them. Shrieks and howls filled the morning air as the Dwarves died. Weapons rained down upon the black thing, but its hide protected it from harm. Steadily it cleared away the small figures who sought to hold it back, tearing at them with its whiplike arms, breaking apart the battlements behind which they sought to keep safe.
Now the Gnomes joined in the attack as well, the siege army battering the gates at both ends of the high
