Jessi: If I wanted to I could.
As soon as the swirling chaos stopped Asgwrn rammed the end of his staff into his captor's gut. Turning he readied his weapon. As the wizard straightened he recognised him as the Senior Wizard, the one who'd captured and raped Yami.
Coldly and methodically he lashed out with the staff, putting all his strength behind the blow. The hit snapped his neck like a dry twig and it lolled against his chest loosely.
Asgwrn's keen ears picked up a hoarse, wheezing noise and he tightened his grip on his weapon. The Thayan was laughing!
The head rolled back, the broken bones fusing together with a crack. The eyes were black pits with a red dot, bright as a distant star, deep inside the darkness. The seeming fell away like shadow fleeing before the light.
Rotting flesh barely covered the bones. In places the skin had worn away to reveal bone, muscle and nerves. Crimson robes hung loosely from a decrepit frame and a ruby-encrusted crown of black iron adorned the skull. A sceptre, made of the same iron as the crown and covered in rubies and diamonds, was clutched in the rotting hand.
It was not the appearance of lich-king that frightened Asgwrn. He knew this lich...
Masw, the lich-king that trained him and had been destroyed by Yami Shadowblade and himself, was standing before him.
"Greetings my apprentice... Surprised to see me? Don't bother to answer; I can see it in your eyes. But," he leant forward, "What's this I also see? Is that fear?" The laugh came again, "And you have a right to be afraid, you ungrateful little brat! I took you from where your talent would have been wasted on those pointy-eared freaks and made you into what you are today. And how do you repay me!" The lich-king's voice was a roar and his breath stank of rot and of grave earth.
The lich-king took a step forward, his feet clicking on the stone floor,
"You destroyed me; you and that pale elf-wench that calls herself free. But even I had forgotten about this," he lifted a hand to his eyes and smiled, "A clone, from my mortal days, kept safe. And I knew I would have my revenge one day."
Asgwrn's knuckles were white.
"That day is now!" Masw screamed an incantation and suddenly they weren't in the castle any more the empty, fire-scoured plain around it.
Masw levelled his sceptre at Asgwrn. The largest diamond on the top began to glow.
Asgwrn readied his staff and slammed the end on the ground activating one of the many spells it could trigger. Both spells shot out and met each other in mid-air.
The explosion carried both spell-casters off their feet but both were already casting. Seven golden globes of magical energy shot from Asgwrn's hands and streaked toward the lich-king. The lich-king merely smiled. All seven Mordenkainen's Force Missiles were absorbed into the crown on his head with brilliant flashes of golden light.
With a smirk the lich-king completed his spell.
The wooden needle was pointing to the door. Following the abduction of Asgwrn, Yami had followed the spell down underground into the castle dungeons. She opened the door, peering cautiously into the room beyond. So far she had not seen any wizards... or anyone else for that matter and this room was as bereft of life as all the others had been.
This room had the look of a wizard's laboratory. The experiments carried out here though must have been... Yami shuddered as she entered the room.
The table was adorned with black manacles, evidentially for securing a creature's head, arms and legs. All of them were encrusted with dried, black blood. Jars of nameless specimens, ranging from entire preserved creatures to miscellaneous body parts, dominated the shelves. The needle was pointing to the back of the room. In the dusty, cobwebbed shadows were cheap crates and boxes, numbering no more than twenty.
Yami headed for them, sweeping away the webs with an expression of disgust on her face. The needle flew out of her hands and struck a crate before vanishing in a puff of green smoke.
This crate stood by itself and the lid was marked with the number 17 carved roughly by unskilled hands. Curiously, Yami flipped open the lid. Her clothes were neatly folded there and lying atop of these was Marwolaeth, wrapped in black silk.
She tore the wrappings away from Marwolaeth and unsheathed the blade. She held the flat of the blade, the point facing the collar. The tip of the sword grazed the collar with a crackle of magic. Yami growled and repeatedly hacked at the chocker with the katana. After, what seemed an eternity, the collar snapped open and bounced to a halt on the floor with the heavy clang sound metal made.
As though she were stroking a cat she ran a hand along the cold, black metal before sheathing it. She dressed in her clothes, relieved by the touch of the material on her skin and the familiar, slight weight of Marwolaeth on her back and her blades on her belt.
She fastened her charcoal-grey cloak and was about to turn to go when something caught her eye. At the bottom of the crate lay some more neatly folded clothes. Yami had never seen them before but when she held the shirt up to inspect it she found it to be her exact size.
There was also a stack of parchment fastened together with a scarlet ribbon. All the sheets were filled with closely spaced handwriting and appeared to be an account of the experiments that had taken place here.
Moving closer to the single lit candle she took the first sheet off the pile and read.
Subject 17
Moon elf
Female adult
The latest in the line of experiments has been completed, with pleasing results. After the ritual Subject 17 displays a heightened awareness of her surroundings and possible further acuteness of her senses. Other satisfying effects include increased strength and speed, methodical attitude to slaying and superb resistance to magic. The Subject is losing her dependence on food and rest and may soon have no need for such mundane concerns. Of course her skill with the weapon has increased exceptionally. It as exactly as Karsus' tomes describe. It may be prudent to note that the Subject had undergone some unexpected side effects. The colour has gone from all but her eyes and her memory is lost. Personally I am glad for her sudden amnesia. She has, at last, stopped her constant weeping and moping over her unborn brat. The poison, I must note, was effective in killing her unborn child. I regret the need to make the Subject barren but no one must be allowed to breed from the Subject, lest a rival force to the eventual army of these subjects Thay will possess grow.
Subject 17 is to be moved, in a comatose state, to the border outpost for the real test of her abilities.
For the Glory of Thay.
Yami frowned, took the second sheet... and gasped.
On this page a spell had formed a perfect portrait. The face staring
out at her was... hers!
Emerald green eyes stared out of the page framed by a mane of glossy red hair. Despite the changes Yami could still recognise her face.
"It cannot be..."
Underneath the picture, inscribed clearly in black ink were the words:
Subject 17
Yami fell to her knees,
"Is... Is this me?"