What had him stunned, to say the least, was that atop the altar lay the still form of Belasco, eyes closed. Dead, unconscious, or sleeping, he could not judge.

And standing on the other side of the altar was a slender man, whipcord strong in his appearance, stripped to the waist. His torso was covered in clan tattoos, and his teeth had all been filed to points. Jim had never seen one before, but he had to be a Shaskahan cannibal, practitioners of especially dark magic.

Only this time the magic didn’t seem to be intended to destroy the body on the altar, but rather he appeared to be attempting to revive it. When the chanting stopped, the islander reached over and gave Belasco a gentle shake. “Master?” he whispered, loud enough that Jim could make out the word.

From out of the air came a voice. “Yes, my servant?”

“Are you with us again?” asked the islander. He appeared genuinely frightened by whatever was taking place.

“Not yet,” came the answer.

“What must I do? We trapped those coming, as you said they would. We have them bound here in chains that make their magic not work.” He looked at Sandreena and Magnus as he said the last, then at Kaspar. “We can spill blood if it will help.”

Dryly, the voice in the air said, “Nothing can help.”

Then another voice sounded, and it was as if the winds of hell had been given the power of speech. “Let me out of here!” commanded the other presence, and the body on the altar shook and the islander pulled back, obviously terrified.

Jim hung back in the shadows, now totally uncertain what to do next.

CHAPTER 17

SUMMONING

The pit exploded.

Pug and the others were thrown to the ground as a tower of green energy ripped up through the air from the pit to a point equally spaced between the four towers. There brilliant white energy lashed out like angry lightning, sizzling through the air with a hiss loud enough to make them want to cover their ears.

“Gods,” said Brandos. “What was that!”

Pug felt the hair on his arms and neck stand up as an all too familiar and evil power began to coalesce. “Oh, gods, indeed,” said Pug as a deep thrumming sound and a powerful vibration came from the ground beneath them and set their teeth on edge. “It’s a summoning!”

“What?” asked Gulamendis. “I have never seen anything like this, and I’ve summoned my share of demons.”

Laromendis said, “I have never seen its like, either.” The Taredhel had found his brother, Amirantha, and Brandos while Pug had encountered Jim. Pug had just finished explaining what he was going to do when the mad energy erupted from the pit.