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."This is Sythissal, King of Kressilacc—a prize captive indeed," Marqillor explained.He cast a scornful look at the enemy lord as the sahuagin backed into the corner, prodded by several tridents in the hands of mermen."An old enemy of mine," added Tristan Kendrick, studying the scaly face.Sythissal bared his teeth in a snarl."And of Deepvale," spat Marqillor, driving himself out of the water with a single flick of his powerful tail.He sat next to Tristan, facing the sahuagin lord."Are we trapped here?" asked the human king."Sanamarl has barred the doors," explained Marqillor, gesturing to one of his comrades in the water below their niche.Tristan saw one merman—Sanamarl, obviously—swim a quick circle around the periphery of the dome."Even now," continued the merman prince, "a few of my best men have made a break for freedom, striking out for home before we reached the palace.If they're successful, they may be able to bring help.Deepvale is not terribly distant, though admittedly it would be a costly venture to send our army against Kyrasti."Tristan looked around the great dome.He saw scrags swim past the crystal windows, but he could see no way they could readily enter the chamber short of bashing down the stout stone doors."Fools—you're both insignificant fools!" The words, spoken in a hissing version of the common tongue, came from the great sahuagin.Several tridents, borne by swimming mermen, pressed menacingly against Sythissal's belly.The creature crouched as far back into the niche as he could, sneering in hatred."Perhaps so," Marqillor replied."But the fools are holding steel to your skin.""I don't matter," spat the sahuagin king."It is my master.When he comes, you will all be destroyed!"Tristan stared at the savage creature.On many occasions in the king's own lifetime, this monster had hurled predatory armies against the coasts of the Moonshae Islands.Indeed, it had been the sahuagin whose onslaught had first provided the necessity that linked the northmen and Ffolk in peace.Always those incursions had been thrown back, but at grievous cost in villages burned, helpless people slain.Yet now that he had the enemy of all those years before him, Tristan felt the rage and fury slowly drain from his body, replaced by a great weariness.What was the point of a lifetime of war? Would it merely bring the adversaries to their shared doom here at the bottom of the sea?A thunderous force rocked the dome of Kyrasti then, rumbling through the water below, shaking the very foundations of the great structure, seeming to make the very reef itself tremble.Tristan saw long cracks ripple along the walls as something smashed against one of the doors, causing the water to churn with turbulence.When the human looked down, he could barely make out the floor of the chamber.The seawater in the dome grew murky, as if a dark cloud slowly spread through it.Abruptly the merman called Sanamarl vanished into that murk as the area of opacity continued to expand, obscuring more and more of the floor.Within a few moments, the inside of the chamber was as impenetrable to sight as the silty water of a placid river.In the next instant, a tentacle lashed out from the murky water, thrashing around the niche and grasping the sahuagin king around the neck.Sythissal screamed, a high-pitched, keening cry of pure terror.Quickly the tendril tightened its grip, dragging the monarch into the water.Tristan gasped and slashed, but his blade struck only hard coral when he missed the whipping, snakelike limb.The great sahuagin screamed and writhed in the grasp of the heavy tentacle.Then, as Tristan and the mermen watched helplessly, a great form rolled across the surface, ripping and tearing at Sythissal with tentacles and a sharp, chopping beak.They heard the crunch of bone, saw the rending of scaly skin.The sahuagin's screams slowly gurgled to a halt, but the sharp beak continued to rend the reptilian body.In moments, the fishman had been torn to shreds, leaving only gory remnants to float through the turbulent water of the throne room."What did that?" gasped Tristan, trying to comprehend the massive size of the tentacled intruder."It's a giant squid," Marqillor noted, trying to peer through the still murky water."The biggest one I've ever seen."Then, as the creature rose to the surface once more, more tentacles—several as big around as a man's waist—snaked toward the mermen and their human comrade.* * * * *The Princess of Moonshae moved with stately grace through depths layered with blue, aqua, and then a deep, cloaking green.The ship had been underwater for many hours, though Brandon could only guess at their course, since Robyn had lain still and unaware since their submergence.Finally the longship entered a realm of dark purple, where the water seemed to press against the wooden hull and its magical dome with ominous and inexorable pressure.Alicia still knelt beside her mother, relieved to see that the queen's wounds had healed for the most part with almost miraculous speed."It's the goddess," Tavish whispered reverently."Her healing comes to a druid when she changes her form for another's [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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