jowls and squinting eyes.
Vendora's troops reined up in the town square, scarcely wider than the road on which they had come. It was deserted. Alodar cupped his hands to his mouth to shout out their arrival. 'Attend onto the fair lady. The queen of Procolon honors Bardina. Attend her and receive her regal presence.'
His words echoed off the walls. For a long moment, no one stirred. Then gradually, in twos and threes, the townspeople began to appear in the doorways of the buildings and narrow alleys between. They shuffled into the square in silence, forming a thin line that surrounded the royal party. Alodar looked rapidly about at the faces which confronted him. In some were apprehension and even a hint of fear, in others hate glowered out of piercing eyes. In none was the excitement that should accompany a visit of the queen.
The square filled, pressing in on them. 'The fair lady,' someone cried out. 'She has come to deliver us at last.'
'It cannot be she,' another yelled. 'This handful of men matters for little. It is more like another witch sent to torment us further.'
'My fair lady, set free my daughter. Possessed she is not.' An old woman in coarse tatters pressed against Duncan with arms outstretched to the queen. The magician pushed her back and the crowd responded with a buzz of anger.
'They are demons. Deal with them now before they can infest our townfolk further.' More shouts hurled upward and the agitation grew. Three figures in an alleyway struggled with a fourth. With a final shove, they pushed him to fall through the crowd to the horses' feet.
'Another of your kind,' a gruff voice called out as the group joined the rear of the throng. 'Take him when you depart. Bardina is his home no more.'
The man staggered to his feet and absently ran one hand down the side of a tattered cloak, caked with mud and decay. He squinted through swollen eyes past a tangle of long black hair that streaked across a nearly bald crown. Bits of moldy food clotted a mangy beard. Slack jowls hung from what once must have been a full and fleshy face.
Vendora leaned forward in her saddle, instinctively smoothing her own hair into place. 'And what manner of visitation is this?' she asked in annoyance. 'An official delegation to apologize for the treatment thus far accorded my presence? Speak ruffian, what message have you for us?'
The man did not heed the queen but stood with hands stiffly at his sides and eyes staring straight ahead. 'Sandacar,' he mumbled at last. 'Sandacar, my master Sandacar, will provide for me.'
'Periac!' Alodar exclaimed in sudden recognition. Handar dismounted, walked forward, and gently placed his palm under Periac's chin, looking him deeply in the eyes. 'His will, his being, his essence, they are gone,' he said. 'This empty hulk is animate only when his demon master abides among us.'
Vendora watched as Periac spasmodically thrust a hand to his face and pulled free a tangle of mud and hair. The queen shuddered and turned in her saddle. 'Tell them to take him away. Such display is most unfit for my presence.''
The rumbling increased. Feston stood in his stirrups, arms outstretched and motioned for silence. 'You speak most rashly,' he shouted. 'Know that it is the fair lady, indeed. Only her forgiving spirit stands between you and the swift vengeance of our swords. Do her the proper honor or suffer the just consequences.'
More shouts of anger hurled from the crowd. In a confusion of arms, they jostled one another for room in the crowded square. One man stumbled and fell. The others quickly trampled over him, raising clenched fists.
'Honor to the fair lady,' Feston blasted again as he tried to keep his balance while his mount banged against its skitterish comrades. Before he could say more, a rock whizzed overhead and the tumult increased.
Alodar looked again at the swaying thaumaturge. He scanned the crowd that was slowly creeping closer to Aeriel and the queen. He grimaced and made his decision.
'Enough of this mob, Grengor. We will have to attend to Periac later. Let us move to safer ground,' he commanded as he started his horse forward.
Suddenly the townsmen exploded in hatred. Two more rocks hurled by and then a third crashed painfully into Alodar's shoulder. With a piercing shout, the mob converged, pushing the ones in front under the horses' hooves and scrambling upon their backs to pull the riders down.
Arms from all sides reached up to grab at Alodar's reins. He heard Vendora scream behind him and turned to see Basil's horse rear and toss him to the ground. Grak pulled his sword and slashed at two who leaped upwards. Duncan jostled about on his saddle as he tried to activate his sphere. Grengor and Feston kneed their mounts forward into the crowd, making room to draw and defend themselves.
Alodar turned his horse to the side, out of the clutches of the men on the left; immediately three from the right surged forward to attack with bare hands. The tallest sprang upwards and grabbed Alodar about the waist. As he grappled to disengage, he felt his leg pulled free from the stirrup and painfully wrenched by another. With a crash, he fell to the street, barely ducking his head to avoid the nervous stomp of Aeriel's riderless horse.
Two of Alodar's assailants fell on top, pinning him to the pavement. A third raked his nails across Alodar's cheek. Alodar arched his back, freeing his left arm, and drove an elbow sharply into the groin of the one astride his chest. The man rolled off and Alodar brought his knees suddenly upward, lifting the second from the ground. As the townsman fought for balance on one leg, Alodar kicked savagely and propelled him into the forest of horse legs tromping whatever was underfoot,
Alodar rolled aside, missing a kick by the third attacker. Grabbing at an empty stirrup, he pulled himself to his feet. He glanced about quickly, just barely able to see over the rise and fall of the horses' backs as they reared. Everyone was down in the confusion of the square.
'Handar,' he called, 'assist the fair lady.' He danced aside from his antagonists as they stumbled forward, pushed from behind by others trying to join the fray. He ducked beneath a horse's neck and stepped over a body which lay sprawled in his way.
Alodar shouldered past a knot of intertwined men, each trying to bring the others to the ground. He elbowed a man with an upraised rock on the left and drove a hard blow into the face of another. He vaulted up onto a horse's back and then down on the other side, stumbling over a black-robed figure as he landed.
'Handar!' he shouted as he struggled to turn the wizard over. 'We need a devil to aid our cause. Suggest one I should seek.'
The wizard's eyes rolled in his head but then locked on Alodar's face. 'No, you must not,' he said thickly. 'You must deal with the townsmen instead. In my sleeve?the small candles. Toss them skyward one at a time but do not look as you do so.'
Alodar puzzled at the commands but did as he was instructed. He groped in Handar's clothing and retrieved a flint and three small tapers, dimly glistening in the sunlight and strangely heavy to the touch. The first instantly ignited from a small spark. Alodar hurled it high in the air.
He ducked his head and shut his eyes. Suddenly, even through closed lids, everything flashed painfully white. The random hubbub of the mob ceased, replaced by shrieks of surprise. Alodar felt the crowd give way around him. He lofted the second candle, this time burying his head in his arms. A yell more piercing than the first accompanied the flash, and Alodar could hear footfalls stumbling away from the periphery of the square. He threw the third candle. The retreat turned into a stampede. More rapidly than they had rushed forward, the townsmen trampled one another as they sped away, yelling about demons who tormented them still.
'It is what we call sunfire,' Handar yelled over the screams of the departing mob. 'We use it to summon certain fire sprites when simpler flames will not do. Your sight will return in a moment. Rest patiently and all will be well.'
Alodar stood up slowly and soothed one of the horses. He saw Aeriel staggering to her feet. She bore a few scratches and some torn clothing but was apparently unhurt. Vendora and the rest were either sitting or struggling upwards. Except for the party of the queen, the square was deserted. Even Periac was not to be seen.
'The townsmen were quite startled by the fireworks,' Handar said. 'It probably will be some while before they gather sufficient courage to try us again.'
'But what caused them to act so?' Duncan asked. 'It is no less than treason against the queen.'
'And Periac, a master thaumaturge,' Alodar wondered. 'He would know better than to traffic with such great risks.'
'No less is to be expected when demons freely walk the land,' Handar said. 'When only will-o'-the-wisps could come of their own volition and wizards sought the rest, there was some measure of control. But with a sprite in
