“And not even a purple,” he added darkly, “but a green.” He glowered with ill-humor. Then spoke again:
“I am deeply offended at this disrespect!”
CHAPTER XXIV.
A Thaumaturge Insulted. A Daemon Destroyed. A Sorcerer Demeaned. A Glyph Dispelled, A Wizard Offended. A Ward Dissolved. A Mollified Mage. The Seal Is Broken!
“Disrespect, master?” queried the apprentice.
“Of course, disrespect!” spoke Zulkeh. “A slur, a sneer, a gesture of base contempt!” He pointed accusingly at the naga, which was still coiling and writhing about, its glowing eyes now fixed on the wizard.
Shelyid’s brow wrinkled. “Well, I don’t know, master, sure and the thing’s a fright, and it’s kind of obscene the way it keeps telling you to kiss it and all, but I’m not sure it’s really being disrespectful. Actually, I think it’s trying to trick—”
“Bah!” oathed Zulkeh. “Dolt of an apprentice! What boots it, the naga’s words? ‘Tis the very presence of the thing which offends me!”
Shelyid eyed the snake-spirit again. “Well, yes master, I can see where the thing’s ugly, and I know you have real refined—”
“Bah!” oathed Zulkeh. “Cretin of a gnome! What boots it, the naga’s appearance? I say again, ’tis the very presence of the thing which affronts!”
“Well,” said Shelyid uncertainly, then, in a small voice: “I guess I don’t understand, master.”
“Bah!” oathed Zulkeh. “Of course you don’t! You are a lowly apprentice—naturally you do not grasp the insult which is here delivered unto me.”
Seeing no understanding on Shelyid’s face, the wizard threw up his hands with exasperation. Then, with the look of resignation of one forced, for the thousandth time, to explain the obvious yet again:
“What am I, my loyal but stupid apprentice?”
“O master, you are the wisest and most powerful sorcerer in the world!” came the instant response.
“At last! A glimmer of intellect! And what am I doing here?”
Shelyid frowned. “Well, you’re here to take that relic thing that’s sitting right there under the naga.”
“Good, good. Two correct statements in a row. And what is the purpose of the naga’s presence?”
Shelyid frowned, hesitated, then said: “Well, I guess it’s here to keep the thing from being taken.”
“Very good! Three correct statements in a row.” The mage smiled, patted Shelyid’s head, then glowered deeply at the naga.
“And therein lies the insult!” he spoke. “For to put a naga—and a green, at that!—to prevent the mightiest mage of the world from seizing yon relic—O infamy! O insult!”
“That’s a lot of fancy talk,” commented Ignace, pressed against the far wall, face pale, eyes fixed fearfully on the naga, “but how’s about some action?” His sentiment seemed shared by Greyboar, who was pressed equally flat against the same far wall. Even the snarl kept its distance, sidling with agitation, growling at the naga.
“Action, you say? Observe, then, the dispatch of a naga!” And so saying, the wizard advanced upon the spirit-snake, who, for its part, hissed: “Oh you stallion! Kiss me! Kiss me, you stallion!”
“Which scroll do you want, master? I’ll get it for you!” The dwarf began scrabbling in the sack.
“Bah!” oathed Zulkeh. “Think you a thaumaturge of my puissance needs to consult a library to dispatch a mere naga—and a green, at that?” He was now almost upon the thing.
“Oh my gander! Kiss me! Kiss me, my gander!” Now great was the naga’s excitement.
“Bah!” oathed the wizard. “Think you I would not know from memory the hexes of the great scholar and serpentbane, I speak, of course, of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Sfondrati-Piccolomini?”
At the name, the naga recoiled in terror. Too late! For even now did Zulkeh purse his lips, like a lover, and speak the words of snakedoom:
“Oh mon goose! Kiss me! Kiss me, mon goose!”
A great wail filled the room, as of a lost soul—the naga was gone, vanished like smoke!
“I’ll be damned,” said Greyboar. He and Ignace stared at the wizard, a new respect in their eyes. But Zulkeh took no notice, for he was even now inspecting the relic at close hand—though ’twas noticed by all that he kept his hands away.
“There will now appear a glyph,” he predicted. Sure enough, but a second later did a great rune appear on the book’s cover, elaborate in its calligraphy, glowing a baleful crimson.