flashed from his fingertips in a display of utter power. All Pinch had time for was a small amount of thankfulness that they occupied all of Manferic's attention.
It didn't last long. Once the first rush of the boldest fell, so fell the enthusiasm of those remaining. The lich was quicker than death, but he did not stop there. With a quick gesture, commanded chaos descended on the ranks that remained. Strong men dropped to their knees in confusion, and friends turned on friends in a bloodlust of killing. The company was caught up in itself, men slaughtering each other or wandering aimlessly, their weapons limp at their sides.
The next to try was Lissa. Just as Manferic broke the wave of swordsmen, she lunged forward and clapped her hands on his shoulders. Pinch couldn't hear the prayer she mouthed; it was drowned out by the screams and moans of those around him. Suddenly the lich stiffened with rage, its dead body insensitive to the pain, as Lissa's spell flowed through it. Its death mask contorted by rage, the lich whirled about and uttered a spell directly into her face. Between them materialized a titan's hand, as large as Lissa was tall. Its skin was puffy and smooth, and there were even rings on its fingers. The priestess gaped in astonishment and, in that stunned moment, the great digits closed about her and grasped her firm. Lissa twisted and squirmed but there was no escaping.
Manferic barely gave his prisoner notice, confident that she was trapped. 'Janol!' he shouted, scanning the hall for Pinch. 'Stand by me, my son. Together we can rule Ankhapur!'
Pinch, on the main floor, paused in his mad rush for the shelter of a pillar. Manferic's offer didn't stop him; he knew that was a lie. Now was the time to run, get to cover, and get away, but he wasn't moving. When the constables were coming, you didn't stay to gather more loot. You ran, and that's just what he knew he should do now.
He couldn't. Lissa was in trouble and he could not abandon her. It was against every pragmatic, self-serving precept of his being, but Pinch was determined to rescue her. In her own naive and honest way, she was as much a part of his gang as Sprite, Maeve, and Therin.
The chance of success was dismal. Juricale and a dozen of his priests were sprawled and broken on the dais, caught unprepared by Manferic's attack. The floor was slick with the blood of swordsmen. The doorways were choked with revelers pressing out while the royal guard helplessly struggled to get in. Even those able within the mass were rendered useless by the seething panic.
Without waiting for Pinch's answer, the lich conjured up another spell. Waves of sickly green smoke billowed from the monster's fingertips, swirling into a roiling cloud bank. Even well away from the cloud, the air was filled with an ammonia tang that bit and burned. Slowly the cloud began to sweep forward, rolling toward the arched doorway and the floundering mass of people. As the gases passed over the wounded and the dazed, their screams and babble changed to choking gurgles and then silence. The bodies that emerged from the cloud were blistered yellow and still, blood oozing from poison-scalded skin.
When the former revellers saw the cloud, a unified scream rose from the hysterical mass. Decorum and nobility were lost as rich men trampled their consorts and pushed back others as futile sacrifices to the uncaring death that closed on them. The sides broke and fled back into the hall before the toxic haze could envelop them, but the blind press at the front was a locked mass. Steadily the deadly vapors flowed through them. The nerve of the leading guardsmen broke and they tried to flee, turning their swords on any who stood in their way. This only added to the confusion, the blood, and the death.
Over it all, Manferic laughed, a harsh, mocking laugh that ridiculed the weakness of the living. It was a laugh of calculated terror. Boldly the lich strode up the steps of the dais and turned to face the hall. 'Nobles of Ankhapur, acknowledge your king, Manferic the Undying!'
While Manferic presented himself to the guests who huddled in fear along the walls, listening to the screams of those dying at the doorway, Pinch ran to Lissa. The massive hand still clutched her. He sliced the unreal flesh with his dagger. A great gash opened that did not bleed and the hand held firm.
'No time,' gasped Lissa, straining against the construct's might. 'Take this-use it.' She wriggled and twisted a hand through the fingers. 'Take it!' In her hand she waved the amulet of the Dawnbreaker.
'You're mad! I'm not touching it. It ruined me!'
'Death will do worse-thief,' Lissa spat back.
'I don't even know what to do with it!'
'Neither do I, but it's marked you. You have to use it.' She jingled the chain.
'Janol-away from her!' Manferic rasped, finally spotting his bastard son.
Pinch dove to the side but not quite in time. An icy blast seized his leg and he skidded to the stone floor as his muscles went numb. Lissa shrieked as the blast struck her full. Frost coated his hose and the chill sliced to his bones. Pinch knew he couldn't survive another attack like the last.
'Use it!' Lissa gasped as she weakly flipped the amulet his way. It skidded across the floor and Pinch grabbed it up, knowing there was no choice. He expected it to burn with pain and flame, but it did nothing.
From the dais, the lich looked at his son with a contemptuous sneer. 'I blame you for all their deaths, Janol,' he said, sweeping a rotting arm toward the carnage that covered the floor. The hysterical screaming had stopped; the poisonous cloud had seen to that. The survivors huddled dazed near the walls. Those still able to fight in both strength and spirit stood wary, waiting for someone else to make the first move. At the lich's words, all attention turned toward the thief.
Pinch held the amulet aloft, like he had the last time. It did not flare in his grasp and he despaired. Then he saw a small shadow moving slowly behind the thrones. 'The deaths are on your hands-Father,' he shouted back, keeping the lich focused on him.
'I should never have fathered you,' the thing sneered. The shadow lunged forward and Sprite appeared behind the lich with his short sword poised high.
Perhaps it was a footfall or a hopeful glance, but the lich wasn't surprised. It stepped to the side just as Sprite lunged forward. The halfling had thrown his weight into the blow, and now there was nothing to strike. As he staggered forward, Manferic easily caught him around the neck and lifted the little one before him. 'Fool!' Pointing his finger inches from Sprite's face, the lich uttered a single phrase of spell. A deadly barb of light flashed from the lich's fingertip and sliced into the halfling's face. Sprite screamed but there was no release. Another deadly flare flashed and then more in a steady stream. Sprite's screams were unrelenting as the magical darts sliced his face to ribbons.
'Damn you, do something!' Pinch swore as he held the amulet high. It was inert. What did he need to do? What was he missing? Pinch felt his utter helplessness as Sprite writhed in the lich's grasp.
And then he knew, he understood what truly mattered to him. It wasn't wealth or wine, it wasn't even the thrill of defying the law as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. It was Sprite, Maeve, and the others. Pinch knew he wasn't brave or noble, but his gang was all he had. If Manferic wanted Ankhapur, he could have it, but not his friends. Pinch could not leave them to this cruel lich. He was fighting for them.
Pinch focused everything in him-his hate, passion, ambition, even his greed-toward the one goal of saving his friends. In his heart, he was willing even to sacrifice his last good hand.
As if hearing that, the amulet began to glow. At first it was the golden gleam of dawn's aura, lighting up the room. The shadows of the hall fled with the rising of this false day.
Bathed in the glow, the lich's skin began to smolder. The creature hurled aside the shattered ruin in its grasp and turned its deadly finger on Pinch. The magical missiles rocketed across the gap, each one striking him dead on. These arrows of mystical force ripped jagged punctures into his flesh and rocked his body back. The pain staggered him, but Pinch did not relent. He didn't even try to dodge or hide. All his faith was in the amulet.
The glow's intensity swelled in his grasp. Now it was the sun rising over the horizon. The flare bleached the colors from the hall, until it dazzled all eyes. Figures became silhouettes cloaked in a luminous haze.
On the dais, in the heart of the light, an inhuman shriek drowned out all other sound. Against the white brilliance, a single torch of gold-red fire competed as Manferic the Undying was consumed. The lich reeled as the flames scoured past its frail flesh and blazed with the colors of its uncaged will. Tongues of gold, red, and blue leapt heavenward as the death that was denied reclaimed its due.
And still the intensity grew. The world became light beyond light, a brilliance so great that eyes open or closed barely made a difference. Voices tinged with fear and wonder whimpered in the void.
At last the light faded, although it was minutes before Pinch or any of the others could see clearly again. He stood blinking against the painful darkness, trying to see what had happened. Manferic stood no more. Where he had been was a crumbled heap of white ash, still holding the tracery of bone. When Pinch staggered up the steps, it
