Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol II - By Richard A. Knaak Page 0,252

now produced, sprouted, grew, tried to reach them, then withered and died… all in the time it took to blink.

There could be no one in the citadel itself. Melenea would have no desire for a place that was no longer hers to mold as she willed. Thankfully, it also meant that Sharissa could not be there. If she was a captive of the deadly enchantress, Melenea would hardly waste her. This was one of her games and Sharissa was her prize piece. Her bait. The game he had unwittingly joined when he had taken her as a lover had never truly ended, not for Melenea. Dru had defied her in ways that none of the others had. It would not be over until he succumbed to her will.

Or when I kill you. That would end her games once and for all. The grim choice made, Dru rose and helped Xiri to her feet. “They have to be back in my lands. Melenea will be waiting for us there, ready to play a final hand.”

“She must be mad!”

“No more than any other Vraad! Longevity has its price. Perhaps that’s why the young try to kill their progenitors… to either unconsciously save their elders from further madness or prevent themselves from ever having to suffer it. Reaching adulthood is insanity enough!”

One of the sky-scraping towers twisted toward the duo, sighting upon them like a great serpent. Melenea had always been proud of her achievement. There were none stretched so high, not even in the communal city. Seen acting as some living creature, they were even more astounding.

“Time to leave,” Dru whispered. “Serkadion Manee! I pray I’m right!”

“What if Sharissa is not there?”

His skin was white and he knew his present appearance chilled the elf. At the moment, Dru did not care.

“Then Melenea will learn—”

Blue-green fur swarmed over them.

Xiri was tossed aside, only to land like a wet cloth on the ever-shifting earth. The monstrous form ignored her. Dru stared into a maw filled with teeth.

“Lady said that someone would come, sorcerer! Said that I could play with you if you came!” The massive wolf loomed over the battered spellcaster. “You are Dru Zeree. Delicious! She would never let me play with you before, but she is gone now! Lady said I could have anyone who came, anyone at all!”

Dru had forgotten Cabal, though he found it amazing that he could have ever erased the memory of this monstrosity. Cabal was Melenea as she should have been. Her alter ego. Yet… yet now painfully reminded of its existence, he also recalled something else about the wolf. Melenea had destroyed the familiar in a fit of anger when it had tried to take Dru while he slept. Destroyed it with hardly a care for the loyalty it had always given her. That was why he had forgotten Cabal; it had not existed anymore.

This was hardly an illusion that stood over him. Dru could feel and smell its hot, nauseating breath.

Seeming to understand the changing emotion in its victim’s expression, Cabal laughed again. “A long time, yes. You remember. A good trick she played, not telling you about me. Lady has punished me often, but there are always other Cabals!”

“I am legion!” laughed an identical voice.

A second Cabal emerged from hiding and joined the first, eyeing the limp elf with interest before turning a hungry gaze at the Vraad.

It should not have surprised Dru that there were more than one; it was typical Melenea. How many did she have? Dru envisioned an endless array of huge, blue-green wolves, all of them extensions of her twisted personality.

For all their strength, however, the familiars also suffered from her weaknesses. It was his only hope. With Xiri unconscious, Dru could not leave… even supposing his spell did work the first time.

Behind them, several of the towers had twisted their way, rippling pseudo-snakes drawn by the movements. Dru developed a wild, desperate plan.

“Who plays with me first, then?” he asked, trying to seem interested rather than anxious. Their response would indicate just how much like their mistress they were.

“I caught you! I am first!” growled the one who had knocked the Vraad and the elf over.

The other snarled. “I saw them! I let you have first strike, but I play first with him!”

“Play with the elf!”

“No!” The second Cabal narrowed its eyes, studying the hapless spellcaster as it might a favorite treat. “I want him! He is mine!”

“After I am done!”

“I don’t think I’ll be much fun to play