pay the inquisition chamber another visit.
Soon a werepanther padded through the eternal night of the dungeon, muscles rippling smoothly beneath a glossy black pelt. Often, as a child, Jadis had cursed her parents, though she remembered them only dimly. All she knew was that they had abandoned her, leaving her to scrape a wretched existence in the dangerous back alleys of II Aluk with a gang of street urchins. It had been a grim existence-living in the filth of abandoned basements, searching for bits of rotting food in heaps of refuse, daring to pick pockets for the local thieves' guild even though getting caught would have meant losing a hand. Even the stray dogs had it better. At least their mangy coats kept them warm in the frigid depths of winter.
In all likelihood her parents had not truly abandoned her, but simply died of the Crimson Death, leaving her an orphan. All the lonely, bitter child knew was that her parents had left her alone in life, and for that she had despised them. Yet there were some wounds time did heal. Nowadays Jadis regarded her unknown parents with more gratitude. At least one of them had possessed the lycanthropic blood type that she had inherited-the blood lineage that made her a natural werecat and allowed her to reshape her body whenever she desired into her cherished panther form.
Jadis stalked silently down a murky passageway until she reached the iron door of the inquisition chamber. Her flesh began remolding itself into a new shape. Her dark pelt rippled fluidly as muscles weaved and twisted beneath her skin. Limbs lengthened, her tail shrank to a stump, and her face melted into that of a woman's, though it retained pointed ears and daggerlike teeth. In moments the transformation was complete. Still covered with glossy fur, Jadis stood upright on bent hind legs. Her powerfully muscled arms ended in human hands with retractable talons. This was her manther form-half- panther, half-woman. Aesthetically it was not her favorite, but sometimes it was useful to have fingers instead of paws, yet still possess the fangs of the cat.
Jadis lifted the small golden box that hung now from a fine chain about her neck. Inside the box was a counterspell Azalin had prepared for her to break the warding enchantment of the door. A sound stopped her as she approached the portal. At first it was faint-a wet, smacking noise, like that made by the village women when they beat their dull gray clothes on the dull gray rocks beside.the dull gray river on wash day. But the noise grew louder, and the reek of rotten meat filled the air. Jadis's eyes narrowed in alarm as the source of the noise came into view. It seemed Sirraun had arranged a new obstacle for her to conquer.
Three forms shambled out of the corridor's gloom. The creatures that moved spasmodically toward Jadis were grotesque mockeries of the human form, like beings seen through the warped glass of a nightmare. Each had been formed of pieces hacked from many different corpses. The crude stitches that held the mismatched body parts together were plainly visible. These were flesh golems-creatures forged of dead bodies and animated by dark alchemy.
Jadis crouched, extending her claws, as the flesh golems drew near. One was shaped like a normal man except that his face bore no mouth. His body, however, was covered with mouths. They were everywhere, gaping open on his neck, his torso, his legs-even snapping hungrily at the ends of his arms. The mouths gnashed, moaned, and drooled green spittle.
Another golem lurched clumsily forward. Its body was forged of two human torsos fused together. The abomination walked on four legs, and instead of arms, three more legs were crudely sewn to each of its shoulders. The golem's multiple legs kicked violently in all directions.
Behind these two came the most hideous of the three-a madly staring human head supported by eight writhing arms attached to the stump of its neck. It scuttled along the floor like a huge spider, an impossibly long tongue hanging from its mouth. Jadis was neither coward nor weakling, but the sight and stench of the flesh golems sent waves of revulsion shooting through her.
The golems moved fast as they fell upon her. An arm ending in a slavering mouth snapped at Jadis's face. Snarling, she slashed with her claws. There was a wet, ripping sound, and the arm went spinning into the darkness. Whirling, Jadis barely dodged a series of powerful kicks from the flailing legs of the second golem. Abruptly a cry of pain and surprise escaped her lips. The spider-golem was grappling her leg while its head gnawed at her flesh. She grabbed the golem and ripped it from her leg to heave it at the wall. Head hit stone with a gurgling thunk! and slid to the floor. One of the thing's arms had ripped free and still held her in a clammy grip. With a sound of disgust Jadis shook her leg. The arm fell to the floor where it flopped wetly like a dying fish.
The spider-golem had gotten up and was scuttling toward her again. Jadis backed away as the three golems closed in on her. Her blows seemed to have little effect on them. Again she lashed out with her razor-sharp claws, tearing open the abdomen of the many-mouthed golem. Guts spilled out, and Jadis gagged. Even its writhing entrails ended in snapping, sharp-toothed mouths. Suddenly she realized she had made an error. She had backed away in the direction of the inquisition chamber's door. She fenced over her shoulder and saw the basalt archway rippling, molding itself into the giant fanged maw that guarded the door.
A desperate idea came to her. Jadis tensed her powerful legs and sprang upward in a high, arcing leap. She somersaulted over the golems and landed on her feet behind them. Jerking her head up, she was just in time to see the momentum of the three flesh golems carry them into the gigantic maw. The huge mouth closed, sinking jagged stone teeth into dead flesh. The stone maw chewed fiercely on its grisly repast. The golems writhed mindlessly as bones popped and flesh tore. In moments all that was left of the creatures were quivering gobbets of putrid meat. The stone mouth gave a satisfied belch.
'My, we were hungry, weren't we?' Jadis laughed, though with a slightly manic edge. Clutching the small golden box, she picked her way carefully through the slimy remains of the golems toward the giant maw. Its stone lips quivered around stalactite teeth, sensing the nearness of more flesh. Jadis broke the wax seal on the box. There was a small crimson flash, and the acrid scent of lightning drifted on the air. Unassisted by her touch, the tiny hinged lid opened. Inside she saw a small amount of silvery powder. Raising the box higher, Jadis blew. A cloud billowed forth to engulf the enchanted stone mouth. Each of the countless motes of dust flared brightly like a tiny star. Their brilliant radiance tore the darkness to shreds, then dimmed. Jadis blinked. When her vision cleared, she saw that the stone mouth had hardened and was frozen solid. It was animate no more. King Azalin's counterspell had worked.
'You are indeed a great magician, my king,' she murmured in admiration.
Moments later, still in her manther form, Jadis prowled through the dank inquisition chamber. What she found puzzled her. She saw all the predictable paraphernalia for causing pain-shackles, stretching racks, iron maidens-and more than a few of the instruments of torture still bore pathetic victims. But there was nothing else, nothing that would require the room's defensive measures.
'Why go to so much trouble to keep me out of here?' Jadis wondered to herself. Was it simply a false trail to waste her time? If so, then Caidin was more clever than she had given him credit for. With a growl, she turned to leave the inquisition chamber.
Jadis halted. One of the prisoners-a man whose limbs had been distorted to grotesque dimensions in a nameless contraption of steel and leather-seemed to be staring at her. Fascinated, Jadis approached. At first she thought he must still be alive. As she drew near, she realized that this was not the case. Blood pooled darkly beneath his pallid skin, and she could smell the first hint of decay emanating from his flesh. Yet he gazed at her with a sort of supernatural awareness.
'You can see me, can't you?' she said softly, leaning over the man.
'Must go… He says… I must go…
Jadis raised an eyebrow. Mow this was interesting. Though hideous, the flesh golems had been unremarkable. Every other Vistana in the bazaar of II Aluk knew the charm that made a dead chicken's heart twitch across a piece of cloth and trace in blood the name of an onlooker's true love. But this- a dead man who was somehow still sentient-this was astounding. She bent closer. She had barely been able to hear his croaking words. Of course, it was probably difficult to talk if you couldn't breathe.
'Where must you go?' she asked intently.
The man twitched, his eyes staring widely. Though conscious, he was clearly insane. No doubt his brain was beginning to rot like the rest of him.
'He says… go… go to..
'Where?' Jadis hissed.
'Tower…' The man's blue lips formed the word almost soundlessly. 'Go to… the tower…'
The cadaver's twitching turned into violent convulsions. Jadis backed away, thinking. What tower could the dead prisoner mean? Her eyes flashed. An image came to mind of the forbidding, half-finished tower that loomed
