[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Either way, both Jarlaxle and Crenshinibon thought it more amusing than in any way threatening.The floating chair drifted back across the small circular room, putting Jarlaxle in line with the first diversionary attack, a series of darkness globes at the top of the outer wall.The soldiers there went into a panic, running and crying out to reform a defensive line away from the magic, but even as they moved back-in fairly good order, Jarlaxle noted-the real attack began, bubbling up from the ground within the fortress courtyard.Rai-guy had crossed the courtyard, ten difficult feet at a time, casting a series of passwall spells out of a wand.Now, from a natural tunnel that he had fortunately located below the fortress, the drow wizard enacted the last of those passwalls, vanishing a section of stone and dirt.Immediately the soldiers of Bregan D’aerthe arose, floating with drow levitation into the courtyard, enacting darkness globes above them to confuse their enemies and to lessen the blinding impact of the hated sun.“We should have attacked at night,” Jarlaxle said aloud.Daytime is when my power is at its peak, Crenshinibon responded immediately, and Jarlaxle felt the rest of the thought keenly.Crenshinibon was none-too-subtly reminding him that it was more powerful than all of Bregan D’aerthe combined.That expression of confidence was more than a little disconcerting to the mercenary leader, for reasons that he hadn’t yet begun to untangle.Rai-guy stood in the hole, issuing orders to those dark elves running and leaping into levitation, floating up and eager for battle.The wizard was particularly animated this day.His blood was up, as always during a conquest, but he was not pleased at all that Jarlaxle had decided to launch the attack at dawn, a seemingly foolish trade-off of putting his soldiers, used to a world of blackness, at a disadvantage, for the simple gain of constructing a crystalline tower vantage point.The appearance of the tower was an amazing thing, without doubt, one that showed the power of the invaders clearly to those defending inside.Rai-guy did not diminish the value of striking such terror, but every time he saw one of his soldiers squint painfully as he rose up out of the hole into the daylight, the wizard considered his leader’s continuing surprising behavior and gritted his teeth in frustration.Also, the mere fact that they were using dark elves openly against the fortress seemed more than a bit of a gamble.Could they not have accomplished this conquest, as they had planned to do with Pasha Da’Daclan, by striking openly with human, perhaps even kobold soldiers, while the dark elves infiltrated more quietly? What would be left of Dallabad after the conquest now, after all? Almost all remaining alive within-and there would be many, since the dark elves led every assault with their trademark sleep-poisoned hand crossbow darts-would have to be executed anyway, lest they communicate the truth of their conquerors.Rai-guy reminded himself of his place in the guild and knew it would take a monumental error on the part of Jarlaxle, one that cost the lives of many of Bregan D’aerthe, for him to rally enough support truly to overthrow Jarlaxle.Perhaps this would be that mistake.The wizard heard a change in the timbre of the shouts from above.He glanced up, taking note that the sunlight seemed brighter, that the globes of magical darkness had gone away.The magically created shaft, too, suddenly disappeared, capturing a pair of levitating soldiers within it as the stone and dirt rematerialized.It lasted only a moment, as if something suddenly reached out and grabbed away the magic that was trying to dispel Rai-guys vertical passwall dweomers.That moment was long enough to destroy utterly the two unfortunate drow soldiers.The wizard cursed at Jarlaxle, but under his breath.He reminded himself to keep safe and to see, in the end, if this attack, even if a complete failure, might not prove personally beneficial.Kohrin Soulez fell back.His sensibilities were stung, both by the realization that these were dark elves that had come to secluded Dallabad, and by the magical counterattack that had overwhelmed his gauntlet.He had come out from the main house to rally his soldiers, the blood-red blade of Charon’s Claw bared and waving, leaving streaks of ashy blackness in the air.Soulez had run to the area of obvious invasion, where globes of darkness and screams of pain and terror heralded the fighting.Dispelling those globes was no major task for the gauntlet, nor was closing the hole in the ground through which the enemy continued to arrive, but Soulez had nearly been overwhelmed by a wave of energy that countered the countering energy he was exerting himself.It was a blast of magical power so raw and pure that he could not hope to contain it.He knew it had come from the tower.The tower!The dark elves!His doom was at hand!He fell back into the main house, ordering his soldiers to fight to the last.As he ran along the more deserted corridors leading to his private chambers, his dear Ahdahnia right behind him, he called out to Yharaskrik to come and whisk him away.There was no answer.“He has heard me,” Soulez assured his daughter anyway.“We need only escape long enough for Yharaskrik to come to us [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]