The Sword of Retribution

Pargonn - Part 4

     Lanaris and Pronias sat side by side at the table, and the dor-maja sat on its haunches behind them, its head a full three feet higher than theirs. “Good morning gentlemen,” said the Paladin. “Thank you all for coming at such short notice. Before we do anything else, could we please have all the curtains and shutters closed? Our guests here...” He indicated the four robed figures who’d been the last to enter “are very sensitive to sunlight.”

     Attendants went around the room, closing all the curtains and shutters, and as darkness fell around the table, some glowbottles on the wall were lit, producing a dull red light that was just enough to see by.

     As soon as this was done, the four robed figures lowered their hoods, and a gasp of horror and outrage broke out around the table. Delegates jumped to their feet and reached for their weapons. The first two, whom Resalintas had thought were demi shaes, were in fact nothing of the kind. They were members of a race implacably opposed to both humans and the shae folk ever since the moment of first contact between them. They were almost human in general appearance, but their skins were as white and slimy as drowned slugs and their huge eyes bulged out of their heads as if they were being strangled. Fell men! Evil, subterranean creatures who were the sworn enemies of virtually everything else in the world but who, for historical reasons, felt a particular enmity for the shae folk.

     Great though the delegates’ surprise at seeing them was, though, it was the other two, the two whose outlines beneath their robes had so disturbed Resalintas, who caused the greatest uproar as their true nature was revealed. The dim, red light from the glowbottles gleamed wetly on their slimy, rubbery, purple skin. Their evil octopus-like eyes glittered as they swept the room, eyeing the mammalian bipeds the way a cuttlefish eyes a crab just before it pounces, and the single coiled proboscis that emerged from the centre of its face throbbed and pulsed hungrily as if in anticipation. Even Resalintas jumped to his feet at the sight of them, drawing his sword and preparing to pray for protection from their telepathic mind attacks. Even the greatest warrior in the world would be terrified by the sight of a slaver, one of the most terrible and dangerous of all the inhabitants of the World Below.

     Dangerous though they were, though, they wouldn’t have lasted long against a whole roomful of enraged people, most of them fierce and experienced warriors, but as the nearest delegates lunged towards them they hit an invisible, rubbery barrier that prevented them from harming the subterraneans. Baffled and confused, they stared at Lanaris for an explanation.

     “Please, gentlemen, please,” said the Paladin, rising to his feet. “Please return to your seats. Let us conduct ourselves in an orderly and civilised manner.”

     “What is the meaning of this?” demanded the Beltharan Prince in outrage. “How dare you bring these creatures to our meeting? I understood this was to be a council of war, to organise and co-ordinate our response to the Shadowlord’s menace, not an open day for any monster or demon to attend!”

     “The cthillian and gl-hug ambassadors have good reasons for being here,” said Lanaris calmly, “and if you will all settle down and return to your seats, they will explain it for themselves.”

     As the Paladin called upon the powers granted him by the God of War, the delegates one by one fell silent and sat down, although they remained wary and kept one hand on their weapons as one of the fell men stepped forward to speak.

     “My name is Halandramancos,” he said, a gurgle in his voice as if his throat were filled with water, “and I represent a coalition of a dozen houses who see the Shadowlord as a threat. Not only to you of the World Above, but also to we of the World Below. When he has defeated the entire surface world, and make no mistake, he will do so without our help, he will not be content but will descend to the World Below to conquer that as well. We have not interfered with your wars with him in the past because we were confident that you could defeat him on your own, but he is stronger now and his forces on this world are under new leadership. We have analysed the tactics and strategies he has used so far and, together with our best estimates of his total strength, our projections lead us to believe that his eventual victory over you is inevitable. We have decided that it is in our best interests to fight with you, therefore. Even with our help, the war will not be easy and victory is far from assured, but you will at least have a chance.”