Blackstaff

Blackstaff

Steven E. Schend

PROLOGUE

Feast of the Moon, the Year of True Names (464 DR) "Get back here, you malevolent windbag!" The wizard was dark in demeanor, garb, and action. He snarled out an incantation, and his arms erupted with orange energy. His colossal spell-arms seized the creature by its tail and yanked it hard away from its prey-a wide-eyed elf child. The mage then whipped his arms downward as if he were swinging a hammer. The green creature in his spell's grasp smacked against an outcrop of rock, popping many eyes along its length with each impact. The wizard could tell the phaerimm was in pain and angry by the high-pitched wind whistling around it, and he repeated his actions to disrupt any spells it tried to cast. He felt the creature collapse and stop its struggles, its body broken with bones jutting out through its sickly green skin. The man kept his focus on his spell but yelled to be heard over the wind, "Child, come here!" The small elf girl only shook with terror, unaware she was safe for the moment.

He visualized his hands wringing the creature out like a dishrag, and a harsh whistle on the winds were the phaerimm's final screams.

Phaerimm, to him, were the ugliest creatures ever to hover over the lands of Faerun, their strange conical forms ending around an ovoid head filled with barbed teeth and surrounded by four angular arms.

Their tails ended in a poisonous barb, and they flew at all times unless prevented from doing so. The ugly creatures were usually imprisoned beneath the desert they formed with their malicious spells.

Apparently, some had either found their way free or came from elsewhere, hoping to free more of their own. The black-clad wizard grabbed the amulet around his neck. He ran toward the tiny child, but spoke low into the amulet. "Take this child to her mother and protect them both. Follow the elf woman's directions, if in doubt." A short distance away, a massive figure made of steel and wood turned its head with a shriek of straining metal and began ru

"Hello, Father," he said flatly to the man at his side, as he unleashed a barrage of magical bolts at their foe. The ocean-colored bursts melted against the phaerimm's magical resistance. The taller man threw his axe at the creature, its head emitting a wolf's howl as the blade sliced into its target. A breath after contact, the axe disappeared before the phaerimm could grab it, reappearing in its master's hand. "Calarel saw a reunion written in the stars today," the man said and grunted as he threw the axe again. "What are you doing here, son?" The human wizard answered him by sweeping his staff behind Arun's knees as he threw himself backward as well. Both men fell down the descending slope of a sand dune, as a slash of razors whipped through the space where they previously stood. The half-elf screamed as he rolled. Both men coughed as sand threatened to flood their mouths, eyes, and noses. Rolling backward to a kneeling position, Arun's son asked, "Any spells left?" Arun rolled to his right, coughing up sand as he crouched and cradled his left arm. "Very few that will do much good, like walls for temporary shelters. Most of my spells sped us across the desert and protected us from the elements.

Besides, it takes longer to cast with only one hand." Arun turned, revealing his blood-covered left forearm, its bones obviously broken.

"Use Petrylloc's Gambit!" the human yelled. The half-elf looked confused, but he started casting after his son began his own spell.

The largest phaerimm loomed over the top of the sand dune. Its toothy maw and strange elongated arms lashed out at them, trying physical attacks for a change over its spells. The human wizard watched his spell take effect, the outline of an iron wall appearing beside and behind the creature. The massive wall fell onto the monster's midsection with a wet crunch, the phaerimm screaming its airy whistle.