The tyranny of ghosts tlod-3 Read online

  The tyranny of ghosts

  ( The Legacy of Dhakaar - 3 )

  Don Bassingthwaite

  Don Bassingthwaite

  The tyranny of ghosts

  EVENTS OF WORD OF TRAITORS

  As the body of Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat’kor-slain by the traitor Chetiin-was placed in the royal tomb, Geth and his allies faced a dilemma. Although Geth held the throne and the Rod of Kings in trust, a new lhesh would soon be chosen. Any heir, on grasping the rod, would be caught by its curse-memories of the ancient Empire of Dhakaan that sought to make the lhesh into a tyrant and gave the would-be emperor the power of irresistible command.

  Yet Geth-immune to both the rod’s curse and its power because of his connection to its sibling artifact, the Sword of Heroes-could not simply steal the rod either. Haruuc had made the rod a symbol of the lhesh’s sovereignty, and without that symbol, the new lhesh’s position would be weakened. With the rod, the new lhesh would lead Darguun into a war with neighboring nations and their allies that it could not win; without it, Darguun would crumble into civil war. In either case, Haruuc’s dream of a homeland for his people would be lost.

  An answer presented itself with the return to Rhukaan Draal of the cunning gnome scholar, Midian Mit Davandi. Midian proposed that they have a false rod created and present it to the new lhesh. The false rod would remain as the symbol of authority and unity that Haruuc had initially intended, while they smuggled the true rod out of Darguun and dealt with it in safety.

  But Makka, the bugbear chieftain overthrown by Geth and the others during their quest for the Rod of Kings, had also arrived in the city intent on revenge. His attempted ambush of Ashi d’Deneith and Ekhaas of the Kech Volaar ended badly, however, and he was forced to flee. Dying from his wounds, he encountered Pradoor, a blind old goblin woman released from the fortress of Khaar Mbar’ost by Geth in a misguided act of mercy. Pradoor, a priestess of the gods of the Dark Six, believed that she was destined to restore their worship to its proper place in Darguun. Healed by her prayers, Makka became her servant and pledged himself to the Fury, the dark goddess of vengeance.

  Meanwhile, Ekhaas, Geth, and the young warlord Dagii slipped out of Khaar Mbar’ost and met with Tenquis, a tiefling artificer. Tenquis agreed to create a false rod in exchange for a chance to study lore preserved by Ekhaas’s clan. In examining the rod and Geth’s sword, Tenquis guessed at something of the rod’s hidden properties and of the heroes’ intentions. He warned Geth that if they sought to destroy the rod, they wouldn’t find it an easy task-such artifacts did not pass out of existence easily.

  Leaving Tenquis’s workshop, Geth and the others returned to Khaar Mbar’ost only to be ambushed-by Chetiin! To their amazement, he insisted that he had not been the one who had killed Haruuc. On the day of the assassination, he had himself been attacked and left for dead while someone else-likely another hired assassin of his clan, the shaarat’khesh or Silent Blades-had stolen his unique magical dagger and posed as him. Ekhaas and Dagii believed him but Geth remained doubtful. Only one of their group could have known words spoken by the assassin over Haruuc’s body. If Chetiin’s story were true, Midian was the one behind the hired assassin.

  Geth, Ekhaas, and Dagii agreed to keep Chetiin’s survival from both Ashi and Midian, so that Chetiin would be free to look for further evidence of treachery. The goblin vanished into the night and the three continued on to Khaar Mbar’ost, only to receive another surprise. Valenar raiders had attacked and destroyed clanholds in the east of Darguun. Moments before his death, Haruuc had attempted to channel the aggression born of the cursed rod into conflict with the elves of Valenar. Although it had seemed that the threat of war had passed with Haruuc’s death, the elves still sought battle and had chosen to strike first.

  Tariic, Haruuc’s nephew and potential heir, roused Darguun’s warlords with an impassioned speech demanding the defense of the nation. He appointed Dagii to lead a small force to confront the raiders. Dagii, bound by honor and duty, accepted the command, and Ekhaas was ordered by Senen Dhakaan, the ambassador of her clan, to accompany him and record the story of the battle. They were also accompanied-in secret and at Geth’s request-by Chetiin. Geth had investigated details of Chetiin’s story and finally had been convinced that it was the truth. Although sending Chetiin away left only Ashi and Midian (his trustworthiness suspect) in Rhukaan Draal, Geth wanted to be certain Dagii and Ekhaas were kept safe.

  Soon after, Tariic was chosen as Haruuc’s successor. With Tariic’s coronation imminent and the false rod in hand, Geth felt confident that their scheme would succeed. He was shaken by the appearance of Pradoor and Makka at the coronation ceremony: Tariic had allied himself with the priestess to secure the support of the people in his selection as lhesh. Geth’s confidence was completely shattered, however, when Tariic, taking possession of the false rod during the ceremony, instantly recognized it as a forgery.

  While they had all assumed that no one but Haruuc and Geth had ever touched the Rod of Kings, they had forgotten that on the day they had returned to Rhukaan Draal with the rod, Tariic had taken it from Geth and had ceremoniously presented it to his uncle. Even that brief contact had exposed him to the curse. Where Haruuc had resisted the rod, though, Tariic had opened himself to it.

  Combined with Tariic’s natural ambition and charisma, the rod would be a greater danger than ever. Tariic could not, however, reveal the rod’s forgery without placing his newly-crowned status in jeopardy, and Geth took advantage of this vulnerability to escape the throne room. With guards in pursuit, he fled for his chamber to retrieve the true rod, intending to flee with it. Bursting into his chamber, however, he surprised Chetiin in the act of stealing the true rod.

  Stunned, Geth watched as the goblin traitor escaped with the rod, rappelling down the side of Khaar Mbar’ost, just as the guards reached the chamber. Outnumbered, Geth climbed out the window and plunged to the ground. He survived, thanks to his shifter-granted toughness, but was left badly injured. With his allies trapped in Tariic’s fortress, he turned to the only remaining person he could trust to hide him, passing out on Tenquis’s doorstep.

  But at the same time, far away, Chetiin stood with Ekhaas and Dagii in a skirmish against a small group of Valenar. Thanks to Dagii’s tactics and the timely use of Ekhaas’s duur’kala magic, the elves were defeated and the Darguuls discovered that the raiding warbands were only a cover for a larger force: an entire Valenar warclan. Dispatching warnings to Tariic, Dagii commanded his soldiers to make a stand against the Valenar.

  Meanwhile, in Rhukaan Draal on the day of the coronation, Ashi had come close to attacking the soldiers sent after Geth, but had been held back by Aruget, a loyal guard assigned to her by Haruuc. Aruget, knowing something of the heroes’ secrets, saw that if Ashi had attacked, Tariic would have been within his rights to arrest her. Vounn d’Deneith, Ashi’s superior and House Deneith’s envoy to the court of Darguun, agreed and kept Ashi isolated for several days. As soon as she deemed it safe, Vounn made arrangements with Pater d’Orien, viceroy of House Orien, to have Ashi magically transported out of Darguun.

  While Vounn made her arrangements, though, Ashi was able to meet with Midian for the first time since the coronation. Discovering that Geth had apparently returned and taken to accompanying Tariic everywhere while avoiding them, Ashi and Midian decided that they needed to confront their friend. Their conversation was overheard by Makka, still seeking vengeance and assigned by Tariic to deal with Ashi and Midian without bringing suspicion on the throne. Soon Ashi received a message from Geth arranging a secret meeting on the roof of Khaar Mbar’ost late at night. Though she, Midian, and Aruget were wary, they were unprepared for the attack launched by
Makka and “Geth”-in actual fact, a changeling, Ko, ordered to take on Geth’s likeness by Tariic in order to hide the real Geth’s disappearance.

  Aruget managed to get Ashi away. Their escape trapped Midian with Makka, but Aruget would not let Ashi go back, saying only that Midian could take care of himself. In the process of escaping, Aruget revealed that he was more than he seemed. He was not a hobgoblin at all, but another changeling, known to Ashi from previous adventures as a half-elf named Benti-an agent of Breland. Ashi and Aruget fled for the compound of House Orien. However, Tariic had sent a messenger ahead with a notice declaring Ashi a wanted criminal. As Aruget, looking out for himself, vanished, Ashi found herself cornered by Tariic’s soldiers and arrested.

  The next morning, Dagii’s forces engaged the Valenar near the town of Zarrthec. Though Darguul discipline and tactics initially dominated the battle, elven cavalry and war magic soon turned the tide. The Darguuls seemed doomed to fail until reinforcements arrived-taarka’khesh, goblin wolf riders rallied by Chetiin and his own wolflike worg mount, Marrow. Devastated, the Valenar fled the field. Victory belonged to Dagii, who used the opportunity to proclaim his love for Ekhaas. In the midst of the battle, however, Ekhaas had received a magical warning from Senen of Ashi’s arrest. Ekhaas and Chetiin hurried to Rhukaan Draal followed by Dagii and the survivors of the great battle, the victory march serving as a distraction from Ekhaas and Chetiin’s return.

  Ashi, to her own surprise, was left unharmed following her imprisonment. A daring attack by Midian freed her, but the gnome confessed that after being captured by Makka, he’d given her up for his own life and freedom. Worse, he’d also betrayed Geth and Tenquis, having uncovered Tenquis’s identity and guessing that Geth had taken refuge with the artificer. The shifter and the tiefling were also Tariic’s prisoners.

  Encountering Ekhaas on her way to rescue Ashi, they descended deeper into the dungeon and discovered that Geth and Tenquis had been tortured by Tariic in the belief that Geth had stolen the Rod of Kings. Geth hadn’t, but before their capture he and Tenquis had devised a way to track the rod and had found its location-Chetiin had somehow hidden the stolen rod in Haruuc’s sealed tomb! Although Geth had resisted torture, Tenquis had not. The lhesh’s allies were already on their way to the tomb.

  Chetiin’s appearance drove Geth into a rage, but the mystery of the goblin’s apparent treachery was solved as Aruget arrived (also with the intent of rescuing the prisoners). Just as Aruget was an agent of Breland, Midian was an agent of the gnome nation of Zilargo, and the gnomes were manipulating events for their own benefit. Midian had assassinated Haruuc in disguise as Chetiin, when it appeared Haruuc would become a tyrant, not realizing the rod’s curse was to blame. He’d donned the disguise again to steal the rod and discredit Chetiin after discovering the goblin had survived his initial attack.

  The need to retrieve the rod before Tariic could was more important than Midian’s guilt or innocence, however. Slipping out of Khaar Mbar’ost, the heroes hurried to Haruuc’s tomb, where they discovered Makka and Pradoor overseeing bugbear workers attempting to break through the tomb’s massive door. Midian had previously slipped into the tomb through a natural shaft in the rock, but no one trusted him enough to allow him to go back in on his own. Ekhaas, Ashi, and Aruget distracted Makka and the workers, while Tenquis used artificer magic to open the tomb so that Geth, Chetiin, and Midian could enter and retrieve the rod.

  But Midian escaped and ran for his own secret entrance to the tomb, betraying them all yet again. Geth, Chetiin, and Tenquis opened the door and beat Midian into the tomb but were unable to retrieve the rod before he began sniping at them with a crossbow retrieved from a hidden cache. Chetiin sneaked up to Midian, and while the goblin and the gnome struggled, Geth retrieved the rod. As he climbed out of the tomb, he was ambushed by Makka, who had returned. Seizing the rod from Geth, Makka and Pradoor rode back to Khaar Mbar’ost and Tariic.

  Geth came up with a desperate plan-another assassination. Forced to spare Midian in spite of his continued treachery, they returned to Khaar Mbar’ost and found Tariic, rod already in hand, waiting alongside the warlords of his court to greet Dagii as he marched into the city. Geth and the others worked their way through the gathered crowd until Midian could strike Tariic with a poisoned crossbow bolt, killing him. As the crowd scattered, Geth, Chetiin, and Ashi leaped onto the platform to retrieve the fallen rod-only to find that Tariic had outwitted them. In death, the lhesh’s body transformed into that of Ko, the changeling. The rod they had risked themselves to retrieve was the false one. Tariic, the true rod in his grasp, appeared and ordered the assembled Darguuls to seize the traitors.

  The heroes found themselves surrounded by Darguul warlords and commoners caught up in the irresistible power of the Rod of Kings. Aruget and Midian disappeared into the crowd. Ekhaas, confronted by Dagii, briefly believed herself rescued, only to realize that Dagii had also succumbed to the rod’s power. Tenquis, left beyond the crowd, rode to their rescue, parting the mob with horses for the heroes to ride to freedom.

  Or almost all the heroes. Makka-his vengeance long delayed-found himself with a chance to kill a momentarily defenseless Ashi. He attacked, but his killing blow was intercepted by Vounn d’Deneith, who attempted to turn the blade with the power of her own weak dragonmark. She failed, and Makka’s thrust impaled Vounn and Ashi together.

  Stunned at their friends’ deaths, there was nothing the others could do but flee as Tariic ordered Dagii to ride them down. Away from the crowd, Ekhaas turned to confront her beloved and allow the others a chance to flee, but found herself unexpectedly aided by Senen. Distracting Dagii with a spell of confusion, Senen told Ekhaas to guide the others to refuge with the Kech Volaar and to warn their clan against the dangers of an alliance with Tariic. The heroes fled, vowing to stop Tariic’s mad ambition but unaware of what they had left behind…

  CHAPTER ONE

  5 Aryth, 999 YK (late autumn)

  The Darguul patrol-two bugbears and six hobgoblins-crept among the trees in near silence. Their armor had been padded to dampen the rattle of plates and mail. Their scabbards had been bound close. They had left their horses behind and placed their feet with care, avoiding sticks and dry leaves and the tufts of crackling, frost-stiff grass left by winter’s first breath on the foothills of the Seawall Mountains. They carried no light source and didn’t need one-goblin eyes saw as well by night as by day.

  In the small camp ahead, four blanket-wrapped forms lay around the dim coals of a fire. The loudest sound in the night was the gentle snoring that came from one of those forms.

  The patrol’s leader, a hobgoblin with the ceremonial scars of the Rhukaan Taash clan across his forehead, raised a hand, and the patrol halted beside a thick fir tree. The leader studied the camp ahead, then gestured. As the patrol resumed its stealthy approach, two pairs of soldiers split off to come at the camp from south and north.

  Hidden among the thick boughs of the fir, Geth saw the patrol leader’s ears stand tall and his sharp teeth flash in a grin. The shifter knew what he was thinking: there would be honor and glory in Khaar Mbar’ost for the hero who brought back the heads of the would-be assassins of Lhesh Tariic Kurar’taarn.

  Geth could have told the hobgoblin that honor and glory weren’t always the rewards of heroes. For the two days since they’d fled the city of Rhukaan Draal, rage and anguish had festered in him. Anguish for the murders of Ashi and Vounn. Rage at Makka for having killed them. Rage at Tariic and at Pradoor. Rage at Midian Mit Davandi for betraying them yet again. Rage at Aruget-or whatever the changeling Dark Lantern of Breland chose to call himself-for abandoning them.

  Rage at himself for thinking he could try to save Haruuc’s dream of Darguun as a homeland for the dar, the three related races of hobgoblins, goblins, and bugbears. The disaster in Rhukaan Draal was his making.

  As the last hobgoblin passed, he tightened his grip on his sword, tensed his muscles-and exploded out of hiding, his roar shatteri
ng the silence.

  Already on edge, the patrol whirled, and Geth buried Wrath deep in the gut of the first of Tariic’s soldiers. The hobgoblin’s falling body trapped the sword for a moment. Geth whipped his right arm up to catch on the armored sleeve of his great gauntlet the swift blow of a second soldier. The soldier’s blade skittered across black, magewrought steel, then Geth had Wrath free. With a grunt, he sliced at the soldier’s legs. The hobgoblin hopped back just in time.

  At the fire, Ekhaas and Tenquis rose from their position as decoys. Out of the corner of his eye, Geth saw Chetiin, wrinkled face stained dark for stealth in the night, drop from the shadowed branches of a tree onto a bugbear. The goblin’s arm went around the soldier’s head, the unexpected weight dragging it back and exposing his throat. A dagger flashed-the ordinary dagger Chetiin sheathed on his left forearm, not the soul-stealing weapon that he kept on his right and that Midian had used to kill Haruuc-and the bugbear groped at the gaping, bubbling wound that opened across his neck. Chetiin kicked away as the sword of another soldier skimmed past him to plunge into the back of his already dying comrade. The dagger flashed again and the second soldier fell with a shriek, clutching at a crippled leg.

  Geth didn’t see the killing blow that ended the shriek. Two of his opponents came at him together and he whirled aside. He blocked one sword with his gauntlet, turned Wrath in his grip, and caught the second in the jagged teeth that formed the back of the ancient blade. A twist of his wrist locked the weapons together. Geth kicked underneath them, driving a foot hard into the belly of the soldier and sending him reeling away. The other soldier tried to catch him off balance with a sweeping blow. Geth threw himself away-or tried to. The blood of the first hobgoblin slid under his feet. He fell to his knees, hand slamming into the gory muck to keep him from pitching forward onto his face. The soldier of Darguun loomed over him and raised his sword high — and jerked back as a crossbow bolt punched through his armor to bury itself in his chest. Geth reared up and slashed out with Wrath, shearing through chain mail, thick padding, and flesh. More blood soaked the ground. Geth rose and spared a glance for the source of the bolt. Tenquis cranked back the string of a crossbow for another shot while Ekhaas, sword out, moved to meet two more soldiers.