“That is no more its true shape than the last!” shouted Nakor from his position on the floor. “You cannot kill it. You can only hold it. You must confine it and return it to that pit outside.”
“And that you will never do,” said the thing that was now Zaltais. It buzzed an angry sound and the wings blurred as it launched itself from the dais. Tomas lashed out again with his sword and sheared through one of the wings.
Zaltais slammed hard into the stones and Nakor stood up, moving back as Miranda came forward incanting a spell. Pug also was attempting a spell.
Nakor hurried around the confrontation now in the center of the room. He didn’t want to get in the way. He looked over to where General Fadawah stood, his own sword at the ready as if he sought to join in the fight on the side of his infernal servant. The other man crouched down beside the throne and Nakor approached them, his staff ready if he needed to defend himself.
Miranda and Pug’s spells were completed within seconds of one another. Crimson bands materialized around the insect and clamped down hard upon it. It chittered in rage and pain. Then Pug’s spell manifested, a nimbus of white light which caused Zaltais to go limp. It crashed to the stones.
“Quickly!” shouted Nakor. “Take it back to the pit and cast it in. Then seal the pit.”
“How?” asked Miranda.
“Any way you can think of!” Turning to face Fadawah and his companion, Nakor said, “I’ll take care of these two.”
Tomas picked up the imprisoned creature, while Pug cast a backward glance at Nakor. Miranda said, “Go, now!”
Nakor advanced on Fadawah, his staff before him, while the General stood poised with his sword. “I don’t need demons from hell to best an old fool like you,” sneered the leader of the invading army. “I was killing better men than you when I was a boy.”
“No doubt,” said Nakor, “but you’ll find that for my obvious shortcomings, I’m still very difficult to kill.” He glanced at the man beside Fadawah. “Ask your companion there; he knows.”
“What?” asked Fadawah, glancing to his left at Kahil.
That slight distraction was all Nakor needed. Lightning-swift, his staff shot forward, the butt striking Fadawah’s sword hand with a knuckle-crushing blow. The sword fell from fingers gone numb and the General fell back, knocking over Kahil.
Fadawah tried to pull out a belt dagger with his left hand, but Nakor smashed it with his staff, and the General cried out in pain, as he now held out two useless hands.
Nakor’s staff shot out a third time, and the General’s kneecap shattered. He fell, crying in agony as Nakor said, “For too many crimes to measure, beyond what the Emerald Queen and the demon Jakan forced you to do, you have earned death. I shall be merciful and spare you the suffering you deserve.” Suddenly the staff shot forward again, striking the now helpless Fadawah in the center of his forehead. Nakor heard the man’s skull crack. The self-styled King of the Bitter Sea’s eyes rolled up into his head and he died.
Nakor moved around Fadawah’s body and knelt next to the man who crouched next to the throne. He was a thin man, his cheekbones the most prominent feature of his face. “Hello, my love,” said Nakor.
“You recognize me?” he whispered.
“Always,” said Nakor. “Who are you in this body?”
“I am Kahil, Captain of Intelligence.”
“The power behind the throne, eh?” said Nakor. “So this is where you went when the demon took your place?”
“No, before,” said Kahil. “I sensed something wrong with that body when I wore the Emerald Crown. My powers were being subverted . . . in any event, Kahil had been with Fadawah before and was trusted. He was clever, but he was greedy. It took little for me to take over this body.
For a while the Emerald Queen was nearly mindless, but no one seemed to notice. Then that damned demon showed up and ate it.” Kahil shrugged. “I was the only one who could see through the illusion and knew a demon ruled in my place. I bided my time, knowing eventually I would have a chance to rule again.”
“There have been things working beyond your most ambitious dreams. Do you now realize what a dangerous game you played?”
Weakly, the man said, “Yes, Nakor.” Then a light came into his eyes and he said, “But I can’t help myself.”
Nakor stood and helped Kahil to his feet. “What of Fadawah?”
“Mad. His mind was totally gone. I thought to build a weapon, an engine of magic that would create an army of the dead—there were so many of them lying around—and it did that, but it also brought Zaltais out of the pit. I did not expect that. Fadawah could control it, at least for a while, and I could not. I was, I believe the expression is, ‘caught between a rock and a hard place.’ I was ready to dispose of Fadawah once the Kingdom was defeated and I held all of Yabon, but with Zaltais around, I couldn’t quite get to that point.”
“You always failed to anticipate consequences, Jorma.”
“Kahil, please.”