Boy, am I ever having fun with this! *Snicker* I like torturing Drizzt…
Chapter 8--Flames
The guards gripped Drizzt's arms tightly. "When do you wish it done, Lady?" one asked.
"Now, we don't want him to escape. Who knows what tricks he has," she said. She gestured and two different guards came over to Drizzt. "Our guild's guards will secure him while you prepare things."
The city guards bowed and left and the other guards dragged Drizzt from the room. They took him down into a dank cellar with several cells and tossed him into one. Slamming the door, they left.
The shackles suddenly fell from his wrists, clattering loudly to the stone floor. This cell must have a spell on it that suppresses magic, Drizzt thought. Soft footsteps warned Drizzt of someone coming. It was Riana.
Riana stood at the cell door and stared at him. "Perhaps the smoke will steal your consciousness before the fire takes you. Your death would be painless then, even if you don't deserve it," she said.
"Why are you doing this? You know that I'm no necromancer," Drizzt growled.
"Yes, that's true, but I'm glad for a chance to eliminate a Drow. Your kind brings shame to all Elves and you should be eradicated. It starts with you," Riana said. She turned and walked away. "Your death will bring quite a crowd. You should be pleased."
"Thrilled, I'm sure," Drizzt muttered and sank to the floor. "This wasn't how I saw myself dying, not at all."
Another hour passed before the guards returned with two mages. One of the guards opened the door. "It's time, out," he ordered.
Drizzt considered attacking them, so they would be forced to kill him, but then he noticed that both wizards held wands. He was sure whatever magic the wands held would be used to immobilize not kill. There was no escaping the fate that they'd decided. Since he was going to burn he swore he'd face his death without fear. He walked from the cell.
The guards seized his arms and pulled him forward and the wizards followed. All to soon they were outside and the mages joined the rest of the mages who were seated in the plaza.
The crowd that had gathered shocked Drizzt. They shouted vile insults and threw things as Drizzt was led towards the pole set in the center of the plaza.
Riana was waiting when the guards led Drizzt up to the pole and bound him tightly to it. A gag was knotted tightly around his head, so he couldn't speak. Once he was secure the guards moved away.
Riana stood in front of him. "Farewell, Drow, may you rot in the abyss for eternity. I have generously decided to leave you all you carried, not that it will do any good," she whispered then stepped away. Turning, she faced the crowd and began to make a speech.
Drizzt paid no attention, bracing himself for the pain then he remembered and groaned inwardly. It was about to get worse.
Riana finished her speech and took a torch from a guard then tossed it onto the oil soaked wood that promptly burst into flames then just as promptly went out. Startled murmurs went through the crowd and whispers of black magic.
Drizzt waited to see what Riana would do. The scimitar he'd gotten from the lair of the white dragon, that Bruenor had dubbed Flameslayer, had put out the flames and saved him for now.
Riana calmed the crowd then turned to Drizzt and did a spell. Once she finished she smiled. "I see, well, it won't save you again. This time you burn," she said. She pulled the scimitar from its sheath and handed it to a nearby guard. Taking a fresh torch, she threw it into the wood and flames sprang up around him.
Drizzt cried out as he felt the fire's heat and the pain as it licked at his feet and legs. Smoke filled his lungs making him cough. He fought to breathe, but there was too much smoke then his chest began to ache. Black spots filled his vision.
The crowd cheered and screamed insults and curses. No one seemed bothered by the spectacle as they watched.
"Wait!!" a woman's voice shouted…
Queen of Cliffhangers…. *Snicker* R/R please!!!!