D & D - Red Sands by Paul B. Thompson, Tonya R. Carter Page B

bothered by the thuggery they had been forced into. In his heart be was a peaceful man, and the doings of the past two days oppressed his spirit.
    In times like this, he turned to his deity for help. As lamakh leaned forward to chant his mantra, something hard jabbed his ribs. He searched in his robe and found the iron key that had opened his fetters and Uramettu's cage. He contemplated the key.
    Iron was sacred to Agma. Other elder gods and spirits were venerated in gold and copper, silver or bronze. But out of the fire of the forge came iron, the hardest and strongest of metals. Agma sat on a throne of iron, deep in the flames of his ethereal plane.
    Agma . . .
    Tamakh felt his inner self rise out of his flesh. He saw the dunes fall away beneath his feet. The tiny black dots on the sand were his friends. A powerful voice filled his mind.
    Tamakh.
    "Yes, Great One?" he replied.
    Do you know me?
    "You are Agma, Master of Fire, Forger of Iron and Men."
    I am He. I have come to warn you, Tamakh. Danger lives all around you. You must be wary.
    "What will become of us, Great One?"
    Peril lies ahead, devoted.
    "Can we overcome it? Should we turn back from the Red Sands?"
    Keep to your path, devoted, but know that death follows you. It rides hard to catch you.
    "What form does death take, great Agma?"
    I see two score and ten men. Their arms are long and sharp. Much blood falls from their hands, devoted.
    "How shall we escape these men?"
    You must use every bit of knowledge you have. You must rely on the strength of your companions, on your wits and their courage. Be not afraid to help the weak and the small, for they shall carry you over a great barrier.
    "I-I do not understand, Great One. Who could be smaller and weaker than us?"
    Rejoice for the fire that burns in the sky and beware the man who walks unseen.
    "But—" Tamakh protested, but the cold and gloom resumed. He was shaking, and he returned to consciousness to find Jadira had him by the shoulders.
    "Wake up, Tamakh!" she said. "It's time to move on."
    "Uh? Yes, yes, very well."
    Nabul finally got his wish and mounted the horse. Or tried to mount; he swung so vigorously over the pommel he kept going and landed head-first in the sand on the other side. Grinning widely, Uramettu pulled him out and set him gently in the saddle.
    "There, my friend. Now hold on tightly," she said. Nabul managed a sickly smile and turned his head to spit out the sand he had swallowed.
    "Which way?" said Marix.
    "North by west," said Jadira.
    "Under the second wheel of the Chariot," Tamakh said, pointing to the sky.
    Walking again, Jadira fell into step beside the priest. She said, "You amaze me, Holy One. I would've thought you would be the first to fail out here, but you seem as fresh as a desert rose."
    Tamakh glanced down at the iron key, still in his hand. Agma's vision had made the homely object sacred. He rubbed it fondly.
    "We all have our secret strengths," he said.
    The Faceless One
    The brightening of dawn found the companions trudging up the slope of a particularly large dune. Uramettu was leading. She stopped suddenly, and Nabul, stumping along behind her, trod on her heels. "What're you doing?" he asked testily.
    "Quiet!" Uramettu hissed. "I heard something."
    They halted and stood poised to fight or flee. "I don't hear—" Nabul began, but Uramettu glowered down at him and he subsided. And then they all heard it. It was a full note, melodic and sustained, sighing aimlessly over the barren sands.
    "What," asked Marix, "was that?"
    Nabul shuddered. "I don't know and I don't want to know."
    "Music, perhaps," Marix offered. "Like a great reed
    pipe"
    "Do you suppose someone's out here playing music?" Nabul said sarcastically.
    "It's not music," Jadira said to Marix, "it's a voice." With this cryptic statement, she led them up to the summit of the dune. There she held out her hands and said, "Behold The Faceless One."
    The rim of the dune dropped away ten paces, then the sand flattened