The Gem Lords

The Abduction - Part 4

     Unknown to them, however, another small group of wizards was also examining Lan's army, from the cover of a small grove of trees that grew on a nearby hill. After concluding their examination of the regions around the Ruby Keep they had travelled by flying carpet to the Sapphire Mansion in the Great Flat, where they’d concluded that a small force of demons could be safely bound there as well, whereupon they’d moved on to the Pearl umbilicus. They’d been shocked to discover the army camped there, and had had to cast invisibility spells twice already to hide from scouts sweeping the area. They were unaware of Raptor Rendaven's force on the other side of the camp, and also unaware that a small flight of steed riders was on its way.

     "They are invading after all!” Saturn hissed under his breath. "They've formed a bridgehead. You see? I should have known I couldn’t trust Essca’s memories. Just because she believes the world is doomed doesn’t mean all the Gem Lords do.”

     "What do we do?" asked Albad. "We can't take on all of them. How are we going to seal off this umbilicus now?"

     "Obviously we can't, so long as they're there," said the senior wizard. "We'll have to drive them away. That may look like a strong army, but they have no-one who can use magic in our universe. If we conjure up a creature that can only be hurt by magical weapons and send it in to create mayhem, they'll have no way to defend themselves. I think a gaxul will do the trick nicely."

     "An eater of souls!" gasped Albad. "You wouldn't! Not even you!"

     "There's no evidence that they eat souls," said Locon Tax with a sneer of contempt. "They just kill, that's all. If they really could eat souls, Lord Opal would already have seen them as the solution to his problem." Saturn had filled them in on the situation in the Realms, including the insanity of three of the Gem Lords.

     "We're not that far from Stelcorg," added Hatherbil. " What if the creature heads off in that direction instead? I doubt the relatives of the dead will be reassured that the souls of their loved ones are safe."

     "It'll attack the first group of people it sees," said Locon Tax. "All we've got to do is make sure it's that lot there. The creature will keep on attacking until there's no-one left standing. Then we send it back where it came from."

     "Isn't gaxul summoning banned by international treaty?" asked Albad, however. "Creatures of mass destruction..."

     "We're not a country, but a group of individuals," pointed out Saturn impatiently. “Our actions are justified by the circumstances. The only reason the creatures aren't used more often is that they're so easy to drive away with magic." He turned to Hatherbil. "Can we carry out a summoning using only the equipment we have with us?"

     "Well, we were supposed to be just carrying out a preliminary survey..." began the Head of Conjuration. He gulped as Saturn's single eye bored into him. "Yes, I believe so. The spell is a lot simpler than is commonly believed. A lot of gratuitous, difficult detail was deliberately added to put off the casual caster. Long, difficult words, expensive ingredients, that sort of thing."

     "How long will it take?" demanded the senior wizard.

     "Half an hour, perhaps."

     "Then make a start. And then we'll bind the gaxul to this site permanently. It can be the guardian of this umbilicus, at least until we can arrange something better."

     Hatherbil nodded and began sorting through his pouches for the material components.

☆☆☆

     Lirenna held onto the pommel of the saddle with her bound hands and watched the ground speeding past below, her soul spinning in misery and confusion. Why had they taken her? What did they want? The gag in her mouth, intended to stop her casting spells, also kept her from asking questions and so she could only wait, Lord Opal's arm around her waist, as they crossed the empty countryside below, the Gem Lord's four remaining men flanking them, two to a steed, on either side.