The Ruby Knight

Occuda.
    ‘He’s the count’s servant, a good and honest man.’
    ‘Is it still your intention to release the count’s sister?’
    ‘Release her? Are you mad? That fiend belongs in the deepest pit in hell.’
    ‘It’s worked,’ Sephrenia said to Sparhawk. ‘We won’t have to kill him now.’ There was a great relief in her voice.
    Sparhawk cringed back from the implication of her matter-of-fact tone.
    ‘Please, My Lady,’ Occuda said in a shaking voice, ‘can we go out of this horrible place now?’
    ‘We’re not finished yet. Now we come to the dangerous part. Kurik, take the torch to the back of the room. Go with him, Sparhawk, and be ready for anything.’
    Shoulder to shoulder the two slowly walked to the back of the chamber. And then in the flickering torchlight they saw the small stone idol set in a niche in the back wall. It was grotesquely misshapen and had a hideous face.
    ‘What is it?’ Sparhawk gasped.
    ‘That is Azash,’ Sephrenia replied.
    ‘Does He actually look like that? ’
    ‘Approximately. There are some things about Him that are too horrible for any sculptor to capture.’
    The air in front of the idol seemed to waver, and a tall, skeletal figure in a hooded black robe suddenly appeared between the image of Azash and Sparhawk. The green glow coming out of the hood grew brighter and brighter.
    ‘Don’t look at its face!’ Sephrenia warned them sharply. ‘Sparhawk, slide your left hand up the shaft of the spear until you’re holding the blade.’
    He vaguely understood, and when his hand reached the blade-socket, he felt an enormous surge of power.
    The Seeker shrieked and flinched back from him, and the glow from its face flickered and began to fade. Grimly, step by step, Sparhawk advanced on the hooded creature, holding the spear-blade out in front of him like a knife. The Seeker shrieked again and then vanished.
    ‘Destroy the idol, Sparhawk,’ Sephrenia commanded.
    Still holding the spear, he reached forward with one hand and took the idol from its niche. It seemed terribly heavy, and it was hot to the touch. He raised it overhead and dashed it to the floor where it shattered into hundreds of pieces.
    From high up in the house came a shriek of unutterable despair.
    ‘Done!’ Sephrenia said. ‘Your sister is powerless now, Count Ghasek. The destruction of the image of her God has bereft her of all supernatural capabilities, and I think that were you to look at her, you’d find that she once again appears as she did before she entered the Styric house in Chyrellos.’
    ‘I will never be able to thank you enough, Lady Sephrenia,’ he said with gratitude.
    ‘Was that the same thing that’s been following us?’ Kurik asked.
    ‘Its image,’ Sephrenia replied. ‘Azash summoned it when He realized that the idol was in danger.’
    ‘If it was only an image, then it wasn’t really dangerous, was it?’
    ‘Don’t ever make that mistake, Kurik. The images Azash summons are sometimes even more dangerous than the real things.’ She looked around with distaste. ‘Let us leave this revolting place,’ she suggested. ‘Lock the door again, Count Ghasek – for the time being. Later on, it might be wise to wall up the entrance.’
    ‘I’ll see to it,’ he promised.
    They went back up the narrow stairs and returned to the vaulted room where they had found the count. The others had already gathered there.
    ‘What was all that awful screaming?’ Talen asked. The boy’s face was pale.
    ‘My sister, I’m afraid,’ Count Ghasek replied sadly.
    Kalten looked warily at Bevier. ‘Is it safe to talk about her in front of him?’ he quietly asked Sparhawk.
    ‘He’s all right now,’ Sparhawk answered, ‘and Lady Bellina has been stripped of her powers.’
    ‘That’s a relief. I wasn’t sleeping too well under the same roof with her.’ He looked at Sephrenia. ‘How did you manage it?’ he asked. ‘To cure Bevier, I mean?’
    ‘We found out how the lady was influencing others,’ she said. ‘There’s a spell that temporarily counteracts that sort of thing. Then we went to a room in the cellar and completed the cure.’ She frowned. ‘There’s still a problem, though,’ she said to the count. ‘That minstrel’s still out there. He’s infected, and the servants you sent away probably are as well. They can infect others, and they could return with a large number of people. I cannot remain here to cure them all. Our quest is far, far too important for