Corian turned slowly to look at Lumil and Byrd. “Well, at least he’s talking again.”
“I guess.” Lumil raised her clenched fists at her sides, and the bright-red spinning symbols of her magic flared to life around them. “Let’s skip to the part where he tells us something we don’t already know.”
The lizard-man’s bloody sneer faded as his reptilian eyes flickered between the goblin woman and the nightstalker. “Nothin’ you can do to make me talk, bitch.”
“Not when you’re lucid.” Lumil stepped toward him. “But hey, no one expects you to remember squealin’ your head off like a little piggy when you’re in that much pain.”
His gaze dropped to the spinning, sparking symbols swirling like circular saws around her fists. “You’re lying.”
“There’s only one way to find out, right?”
“And there’s only one way to make this easier on yourself,” Corian added.
Cheyenne glanced at him. I wonder how long it’s been since they had to play this good-magical, bad-magical crap. Seems a little rusty.
The lizard-man snorted. A layer of pink foam had gathered at the corners of his mouth and around his nostrils. More of it sprayed out in front of him as his breath quickened. Despite his valid fear of Lumil’s fists, his scaly upper lip lifted in a twitching snarl. “If you’d already made me talk, you wouldn’t be back in here to try again.”
“Under the previous circumstances, sure.” Corian dipped his head. “You would have called our bluff. But circumstances have changed in the last few hours, Lex, and we’re not bluffing.”
Lex lifted his chin and thumped his head against the wall, glaring up at the nightstalker. “What circumstances?”
“We know about your personal cache of machine parts, and I imagine the team we sent out to collect your things will be returning from that little errand shortly. In the meantime, we’ve discovered another little problem we’re really hoping you can clear up for us.” Corian gestured at Cheyenne without taking his eyes off the scaly prisoner.
With a sputtering hiss, Lex looked her up and down and cocked his head. “A human. That’s your problem?” He let out a weak laugh and smacked his lips. “Listen, I don’t know what you heard about my expertise, but you’re outta luck with this one. I can’t fix ugly.”
“Oh, man.” Byrd shook his head with a low chuckle. For once, Lumil didn’t try to smack him out of it.
Cheyenne blinked, wiping her face clean of any expression. I can play this game, no problem. “Wish I could say the same.”
“Oh, yeah? You think your tiny white human hands are gonna do more damage than the goblin’s whirly fists?”
“Nope.” It only took a second’s thought about the Nimlothar seed still connecting her to the root of drow power to pull all her magic up from the base of her spine to race through her body. Byrd and Lumil stepped nimbly away from her. When the purple light flashing behind Cheyenne’s golden eyes reflected in the shimmering silver scales covering Lex’s face, she knew it had the desired effect. She lifted both hands and summoned twin orbs of churning black magic hissing with purple sparks. “But these will.”
The prisoner’s yellow-green gaze darted from the drow halfling’s purple-gray face to the devastating attack spells roiling in her palms. Then he glanced quickly at Byrd, Lumil, and Corian in turn. A thin, stuttering wheeze burst from between his thin lips.
He’s laughing.
“You found the mór úcare. Sneaky fell-damn bastard.”
“I barely had to lift a finger.” Corian took a step forward, eliciting a subtle flinch from Lex. “She wants this as badly as the rest of us do, if not more. I’m sure you understand why.”
“She’s an idiot. So are you.”
Corian’s eyes narrowed.
Cheyenne started to step forward, but Lumil beat her to it. The goblin woman moved so quickly, Lex didn’t see it coming. She dropped to one knee in a slide and landed a bone-crunching left hook to the underside of the prisoner’s jaw. The perfect aim rocked him sideways instead of back against the wall, red sparks and dark blood flying in all directions. Lumil rode her momentum and gracefully swung her knee off the cement floor before marching toward the opposite side of the cramped room. She bounced once on her toes and circled back around to resume her place on the other side of Cheyenne.
The halfling met the goblin’s gaze and raised her eyebrows. Lumil winked.
“Oh, shit. Look at that.” Byrd pointed across the floor in front of them. Two shimmering silver flakes glinted on the cement. “I didn’t know you could pluck a taratas like a bird.”
Lumil barked a laugh. “Must be losing his integrity. Not like he had any to begin with.”
Cheyenne stared at the thick rivulets of green-black blood running down the right side of Lex’s chin. Where they started were two dark, glistening patches of flesh beneath his missing scales.
The prisoner’s sides heaved as he fought to catch his breath after the blow. Then he pulled enough strength from somewhere to swing his head up and glare at his captors. Even then, his slitted eyes shivered in their sockets while his head wobbled.
“That was just to get your attention, Lex. Time for you to listen.” Corian stepped across the room, casting his lengthening shadow over the bleeding, swaying prisoner. He dropped into a squat in one fluid movement and cocked his head, leaning close. “That drow behind me met one of your little toys tonight. Took her less than a minute to crush it to pieces, some of which she brought with her.”
Cheyenne killed her sparking black orbs and folded her arms. Okay, I’ll let him get away with that little embellishment.
“So
