***
Thayan watched as Dameon searched Wessop's corpse. He knew he should have felt horror at what he saw in the crimson glow generated by Theodus' body, but it was dulled, reminding him he was different now. Dameon's hands dripped blood as he felt around in Wessop's clothing. The former seer's eyes smoldered with determination.
"Found it," Dameon grunted, holding up a vial and taking a small sip. "We'll each drink one-fifth of it."
"There are only four of us here," said Thayan.
"My master has not yet been cured," said Theodus. The Dar fiend was slumped against the wall, and his crimson flesh glowed brighter than ever--a sign that his body was trying to fight off the poison. Although he appeared to be made of fiery stone, he was alive and vulnerable to rare toxins. Whatever he'd ingested was slow but aggressive, seeking to wear down his formidable defenses.
Renstad had passed out again, his head wound leaking blood. Thayan wondered if the big man was dead and found himself barely able to care. If Renstad was dead, he was free of these horrors and burdens, and that didn't seem so bad to Thayan.
Dameon held up the vial. "Anyone want some? Then get over here. I don't feel like moving right now."
Theodus crawled across the floor, his body making scraping noises against the stone. He carefully drank his share. Although it was sheer agony to move, Thayan went next, knowing every moment was precious. He took his share and had to fight to keep from coughing it back up. It was so bitter it nearly choked him, but it seemed to make him feel better instantly.
Dameon crawled over to Renstad and poured a bit down his throat. "Block the entrance, Theodus. I don't want anyone closing that door on us again."
Theodus crawled over and lay with his shoulders through the doorway. "They will have to cut me in half to close this door."
They lay gasping and groaning. Thayan recovered faster than the others, and after less than an hour he was on his feet, feeling fairly strong. It occurred to him that he may not have needed the antidote at all. "I've had enough of these things," he said, and with a burst of magical energy he ripped his shackles apart. As they clattered to the floor, he had to fight down a sudden urge to lash out at his friends. He gazed at his hands, wondering what had happened to inspire such rage.
Thayan turned away in shame and disgust. Even the small act of breaking his chains threatened to turn him hopelessly evil. It was power at a terrible price, one he knew he'd pay again and again. Power was meant to be used, and sooner or later he'd call upon it and face the consequences. But he took a little comfort in the fact that Dameon, for whatever reason, seemed to believe Thayan could control himself.
Kelden was another matter entirely. Thayan cringed at the thought of his friend. Kelden couldn't control his inner demons at all, and the result was pure carnage. He couldn't help but think of Kelden and the beast he'd become as one and the same, and he found himself wishing Kelden would die and take his monsters with him.
Not long after that, Dameon recovered enough to stand. "We must get Theodus out of this chamber. He cannot heal properly in here."
Together, they moved the Dar fiend out into the tunnel, where torchlight revealed a nightmare scene of dead bodies. Dameon shook his head in disgust. "The Arnwolf is truly a killer with no sense of pity."
"I'll get Renstad," said Thayan. He turned to enter the chamber, only to come face to face with the big soldier.
Renstad rubbed his head. "What has happened here? Tell me these aren't my own men who lay torn asunder!"
"They might be," said Dameon. "But we've no time to concern ourselves with that. Tannis wants us dead. Once he realizes what has happened, he'll send more men to kill us. We have a grim fight ahead of us, if we are to escape this city."
"We have a good stash of weapons and armor," said Thayan, glancing about. "They just need to be cleaned." Thayan felt numb to the carnage.
"We shall take none of it," said Dameon. "Any of the items on these soldiers could be tainted with Blue World sorcery."
"That's absurd," said Thayan. "You think every sword, bow, or dagger is tainted? They just look like common weapons to me."
"You don't know the ways of Blue World," said Dameon. "Let me assure you that anything these soldiers were carrying could be a danger to us. Touch nothing!"
"I'm already cursed by Blue World," said Thayan. He picked up a dripping sword.
"Put it down," said Dameon. "It may not affect you, but it could harm the rest of us. Don't be a fool, Thayan!"
Thayan tossed the weapon aside. "If you say so. I think you just want to be the only one to carry a weapon, you stubborn oaf."
Theodus lurched to his feet. "I see something. An opening in the wall." He pointed into the shadows.
Renstad squinted. "I see nothing."
"But you cannot see in darkness," said Theodus, "as I can. A trail of dark magic leads that way. My master must have gone there!"
"I remember everything now," said Renstad. "Jarvin--or someone claiming to be him--struck me down when I refused to serve him." Renstad went on to describe the encounter in detail.
"I'm not surprised," said Dameon, as they trudged along the hall. The former seer pulled a torch off the wall and shone it into the cells. Men and women showing signs of starvation and torture greeted their vision. Some threw themselves against the bars and begged for help.
"I never knew about this!" Renstad said, his hands knotting into fists. "We must free them. No prisoner should be treated like this. No wonder Tannis never allowed me to come down here. He wasn't the man I thought he was. He probably chose to serve Jarvin of his own free will."
Dameon moved the torch away, his face stony. "We cannot help them. They are left to their fate, however terrible. Such unhealthy people would slow us down too much. We'd all be caught and murdered."
"But we must help them," Theodus said.
"We don't have time," said Dameon. He placed a huge hand on the Dar friend's shoulder. "Your master needs you, Theodus."
Theodus tore his gaze away from the cells and nodded, looking conflicted. "We'll have to come back for them later."
"I'll free this city of Jarvin's evil," Renstad swore.
Dameon said nothing, his head bowed.
"Help us!" the prisoners moaned. "Please!"
No one replied. Theodus winced, looking terribly unhappy. They entered the hidden tunnel, and Dameon pulled the section of wall shut behind them. "Let us hope this tunnel leads to freedom," he said.
"It might," said Renstad. "All the important buildings in Murakan have one or more escape routes, in case of a mass worm attack. This may even lead to a passage that will take us right out of the mountain."
Dameon paused at the sound of a female voice crying for help. "Ellistar?" he said, waving the torch in front of a cell.
"It's me," came the exhausted reply.
The oracle had been beaten and tortured, her robe bearing bloodstains and one of her eyes burned shut. "They caught me by surprise," she said. She laughed hoarsely. "Imagine that--an oracle getting caught by surprise. They knocked me unconscious and then poisoned me. I'm too weak to use my magic. I think I'm dying."
Dameon raised his glowing mace, but Thayan seized his arm. "Too loud, Dameon. Let me handle this."
Thayan seized the bars and let the darkness consume him, thinking he could control it. As the evil presence took his mind, he decided he would kill Ellistar. He pulled fiercely at the iron bars, and they finally buckled beneath the strain, ripping free. Grinning, he strode into the cell and seized her throat with his hands, his heart pounding in anticipation of the kill.
She spat in his face. "Monster!"
Thayan hesitated, his hands dropping away. She'd called him a monster. Didn't that mean something to him? Slowly the fog in his brain lifted, as Dameon pushed him aside to attend to the oracle.
Horrified, Thayan backed into a corner. "That does it!" he whispered. "I won't use that power again. I was going to kill her."
Dameon turned and gave him a
hard stare. "You wouldn't have killed her. My mace would have crushed your skull before that happened."
Thayan gulped. "Like I said, I'm done with it."
Dameon turned back to Ellistar. "How badly are you hurt?"
"My eye is in rough shape," she said. "But it's the poison that has ruined me." Her body sagged, and she groaned.
Dameon shoved the vial to her lips and forced her to drink, tilting her head back. Theodus lunged forward and seized his arm. "You've betrayed my master! There will be none left for him. You don't even know if Ellistar suffers from the same type of poison. You might have just wasted that on her."
Dameon shoved him away. "I betrayed no one. If Kelden still requires healing, we'll find more of the antidote." He bowed his head. "I couldn't stand there and watch her die."
"I feel better," said Ellistar, raising her eyebrows. "Whatever you gave me is working very quickly."
"We better hurry," said Thayan. "By the way, don't count on me for anything, as far as sorcery goes. I won't go through this again."
"You'll do what you must," said Dameon, as they left the cell. "Don't doubt that for an instant."
They found Kelden snoring peacefully at the bottom of some stone steps. His clothes were free of bloodstains.
"He looks healthy as can be!" Thayan marveled. "But how can his clothes still be intact? It doesn't make any sense."
"The transformation does not occur in the physical sense we're familiar with," said Dameon. "It obeys an entirely different set of laws."
Theodus grinned with delight. "He does indeed look healthy. Perhaps the transformation cured him somehow."
"The Arnwolf has the ability to regenerate almost instantly from wounds," said Dameon. "It's like no other creature that I know of. Perhaps some of that healing was passed on to Kelden when the beast took over his body." He gently shook Kelden several times. "Wake up, my friend."
Without warning, Kelden sat up and lashed out at Dameon. He screamed: "I killed them all!"