Idaria stared in shock at the monstrous assembly. She could sense the foul eagerness in the black pits that were their eyes. “You could not have planned for this … or for the Titans!”
He gave her a mock bow. What was not planned was adapted for, and the Titans have been almost as providential as our Golgren.
The pendant grew warmer again, so much so that the elf expected that the gargoyle king surely sensed or saw the relic. Yet neither he nor his ghoulish companions reacted as might be expected. Idaria was not certain whether to take hope in that or mark it as a sign that the pendant would avail her nothing.
He trusts you utterly, the shrouded figure went on, leaning close. He knows that you of all would sacrifice whatever necessary. He believes in you, and thus, your lie will be the final stroke that gives control of the Fire Rose over to me.
Idaria might have tried to deny his words, but her body would not obey her. She could not move. She could only look into his white eyes.
Do not be so crestfallen, elf. A chilling hand stroked her cheek, the sensation like that of icicles scraping her flesh. I will not kill him. I will be him, and then you will have both of us, and we will have you… and all Krynn.
XXII
Dagger gripped tightly, Golgren did not look at all shocked to know Safrag had been aware of his existence. Nor did it appear the lead Titan was disappointed by that lack of shock.
And both were not in the least surprised to find the air filled with gargoyles.
“Persistent gnats,” Safrag remarked. Casually turning his back on Golgren, he confronted his fellow sorcerers. “I will let you feel the gifts of the Fire Rose and allow each of you to choose exactly how you would prefer to remove these pests!”
The artifact flared. From its petals burst fiery bolts that arrowed out and struck each Titan. However, rather than cause the Titans harm, it instead made each sorcerer raise his fists in what could only be described as utter exultation.
“It-it’s so much more than I could have ever imagined!” sang Gadjul in the Titan tongue. “All we were … all we are is nothing compared to it!”
He thrust one fist toward a part of the vast swarm just out of reach of the sorcerers. From that fist erupted blazing, black streaks of energy that mirrored the bolts of fire that flowed into him and the others.
His spell spread as it reached the attackers, encompassing dozens. Some of the gargoyles wielded objects that briefly seemed to stave off the Titan’s spell, but that defense was short lived.
The gargoyles caught in Gadjul’s spell twisted like wet cloths being tightly wrung out. Their cries were enough to disturb even the hardiest ogres hiding below. Not so the Titans, however. Gadjul only laughed and pressed his spell.
From fearsome, winged beasts, the gargoyles were transformed into water drops, but they were water drops that rose skyward. The drops blinded those gargoyles directly behind. Indeed, each drop burned like the energies within the Fire Rose itself. From the many he had decimated, Gadjul had created death for scores more.
The other Titans did not stand idle while Gadjul kept busy. Each was casting a spell of his own choosing, using the power of the Fire Rose to terrible effect. The sky filled with monstrous transformations that began to wreak havoc on those gargoyles higher in the formation. The winged attackers perished in droves, some turning into unrecognizable shapes or dispersing into liquids, energies, or clouds of sinister gases.
A grinning Safrag glanced at Golgren, who had not budged. The lead Titan indicated his followers with his free hand. “The smallest of the Fire Rose’s gifts and look what they can do with it! The magic of the Titans is a poor thing compared to such power, and the Titans themselves are a poor creation of a failed goddess.”
With that, Safrag’s eyes grew brighter. The Fire Rose also surged.
The other Titans began to change form even as they continued their assault on the gargoyles. They grew thinner and taller yet, and their skin changed from blue to a blinding gold. Their faces became of one kind-semblances of Safrag’s-and long, silver hair cascaded down their backs. Their garments became form-fitting robes of a fire-red color, with a blazing flower symbol etched in their chests.
“So much more appropriate,” the lead Titan commented. “Why bother with the false legacy of the High Ogres? Why not create a new order? A race of such perfection that even our ancestors looked like shambling mockeries in comparison?”
Still, Golgren did not move. Safrag’s brow briefly furrowed, but the half-breed was too far away physically to attack the sorcerer. However, the sorcerer nevertheless finally raised his hand toward his adversary.
The building beneath Golgren’s feet suddenly softened. Before he could react, his feet were sealed up to the ankles.
“You will watch all of this, mongrel,” Safrag cheerfully remarked. “You of all people deserve that experience! In fact, I may even let you live when all is said and done, live so that you can savor the rise of the ogre race and the transformation of all Krynn by my hand!” He chuckled. “Of course, you won’t necessarily look as you do now … or look like anything anyone has seen before.”
Safrag turned from Golgren.
And the half-breed threw the ancient dagger at the sorcerer’s back.
The weapon struck Safrag, but as it did, it, too, transformed. The blade split open, bending five different ways. The handle became a pair of bright silver gossamer wings. The altered weapon fluttered up, changed into a fantastic flying flower with long, leafy petals of gold.
“In the end, so very predictable,” Safrag stated. He gestured and the flower hovered under his nostrils. As if he had no care in the world, the towering sorcerer-himself still unaltered-sniffed his creation then sent it on its way. “Now be good and watch as I do what both you and Dauroth could only dream of doing.”
With the other sorcerers keeping the gargoyles at bay, Safrag scanned Garantha. Clutching the Fire Rose with both hands, he held it out over the main part of the capital.
“Come out, my children!” he called in Common, his voice booming like thunder and causing both his followers and foes to momentarily falter. “Come out, my children, and become your future!”Garantha blazed with the crimson-orange light of the Fire Rose. As Golgren silently watched, the light began to settle over the dwellings of the city’s inhabitants.
A flat stone roof peeled as if it were a piece of fruit. Another followed then another and another until, in moments, all that the eye could see had been opened in that fashion.
And from each building, figures began to rise up into the air. The ogres of Garantha … or Safrag’s Dai Ushran.
Most were far enough away that their expressions could not be seen, and not one made a sound, likely as Safrag dictated. The few that Golgren could see close up were fearful. Trapped by such powerful magic, their bodily strength was nothing. They were reduced to little more than helpless children.
By the scores then the hundreds, they were gathered up. Whatever caste they were from no longer mattered. In the eyes of the Titan, they were all lacking.
But not for long …
“I will not rule over beasts!” Safrag proclaimed. “I will be a god above gods!”
The Fire Rose burned. As it did, so, too, did the captive ogres.
However, before Safrag could fulfill his intentions, a hooded figure suddenly materialized behind him. One hand outstretched toward Golgren, Tyranos thrust the head of the staff into the lead Titan’s back just as he had done before, to Falstoch.
Accompanied by violent sparks of magical energy, the crystal bore through Safrag, its head emerging out of his chest. The Titan let out a gasp.