D & D - Red Sands Read Online Free

the cloth under his arms. Jadira and Marix planted their feet against the grill and began to pull.
    "Oof! Religion is surely a weighty matter," Marix grunted.
    "No—jests! Just—pull!" Jadira gasped in reply.
    Soon Tamakh's shaven head bumped the bars. "Steady, my friends," he said, reaching his pudgy hands to the ironwork.
    "Never—pull them—out," Marix puffed.
    The priest spoke, but not to Marix. "Agma," he intoned. "Agmas, copit neda! Copit desram Agman!"
    Marix glanced at Jadira, but she was concentrating on retaining her grip on the ropes, Marix's puzzlement turned to amazement as the iron bars slowly, so slowly, began to bend apart.
    " Copit neda!' insisted Tamakh. "Agmas, suden copit desram!"
    Jadira's teeth were bared with the effort of holding the
    priest's weight. Suddenly, she felt the cloth of the safety line jerk in her hands. The knot holding the sash to the headdress was beginning to slip. "Quickly!" she gasped. "Get him out!"
    Marix, staring transfixed at the iron bars, shook his liead as if to clear it and took hold of Tamakh's robe, Tamakh squeezed through the gap and rolled ponderously onto the walkway.
    Marix reached out a tentative hand to touch the iron liars. They felt cold, solid, and as unyielding as ever. He snatched his hand back as Tamakh intoned his words of power again. The deformed grill slowly bent back to its original shape. The metal did not protest, but the entire process left their ears ringing.
    "I didn't realize you were a magician," said Jadira, digging a finger in her tingling ear.
    "I am not!" Tamakh replied with surprising verve. "I am not a vulgar sorcerer, confecting toad skins and bats' eyes. I am a servant of Agma, and the god sometimes grants me power to do his will. Iron is sacred to my god."
    "Forgive me, Holy One," she said, touching her forehead respectfully. She untied her headdress from the priest's sash and rewound it around her head. As they walked to the edge of the causeway, Tamakh wound the sash around his ample waist.
    "Say," said Marix. "If you can magic metal bars, how could the Faziris keep you fettered?"
    "It is a matter of metal," Tamakh said. "Iron is sacred to Agma and obeys his will. My bonds were bronze and outside his influence. The very priests who called me heretic for believing in a false god were the ones who made certain my bonds were not of iron."
    From the edge of the causeway, they could see the lower casements of the palace, and beyond, the city of
    Omerabad proper. A million stars salted the heavens. A million lamps twinkled in the city's windows. Cook-smoke hung in a blue haze over the houses, mixed with temple incense and a mist formed by the cool night air. In the distance, there was a song of glass bells. They each inhaled deeply. Free!
    But not safe. They were certain to be missed, Marix and Tamakh especially. The escape had only begun.

The Menagerie
    The palace of Sultan Julmet was so vast, entire regiments of the Imperial Army could not have adequately patrolled its interior. Jadira and her companions gave thanks for that as they encountered no guards on the causeway.
    The path ended at a squat tower sheathed in burnished brazen scales.
    "Where to now?" said Marix.
    "We must get to the outer palace wall and over," Jadira answered. She scanned the sky. "I wish I knew how much darkness we had left."
    Tamakh cupped his hands around his eyes and looked up. He turned slowly on his flat sandals until he faced north. He pointed to a familiar constellation. " As I see the Chariot, it is not yet midnight," he said.
    "Then we should have time."
    They descended to the lower casement. From there to the street below was a drop of four paces, but the wall had such a pronounced slope it was no great feat for them to slide down. When Tamakh had bumped to the
    bottom (losing his footing and landing hard where he sat), they found themselves in a narrow cobbled lane between the palace and the inner wall. Jadira could smell that horses had passed by not