Umbra was crouched at the base of a spruce tree easily three feet in diameter. Rondo hurried over beside him. Black energy had gathered at the base of the tree and was quickly rotting the wood away.
“Watch them,” Umbra said. “When I tell you, signal Shade to come this way.”
“How will you control the direction of the tree’s fall?” Rondo asked.
The wizard was now fully focused on the spell and gave no indication he either heard or cared about Rondo’s question. Fifty yards away, Shade was fully engaged in a lethal game of hide and go seek with the monster. Between the roars and snapping of branches, it would be a wonder if he even heard Rondo’s call.
A little over a minute passed and finally Umbra said, “Signal him now.”
Rondo put his fingers between his lips and let out a shrill whistle. The moment Shade looked his way he waved.
Shade actually somersaulted under the hybrid’s belly, sprang to his feet, and sprinted towards them. Rondo shifted to stand beside Umbra behind the weakened tree. Shade’s quick move bought him three strides, then his opponent was already closing the gap.
The moment he passed them Umbra muttered something magical and the tree started to fall.
The hybrid was running full speed after Shade.
It tried to stop, but its momentum carried it into the path of the falling tree. The massive spruce hit it dead center, crushing it to the forest floor, snapping its spine and shattering ribs. It was one of the most sickening sounds Rondo had ever heard.
Most remarkably, the titanic blow hadn’t killed the monster outright. Its front legs still scrabbled weakly in the pine straw as it tried to free itself.
“Took your sweet time,” Shade said between pants.
Umbra shot him a cold glare.
“Now, now, don’t get your cloak in a twist.” Shade sheathed his remaining dagger.
“Should we finish it off?” Rondo asked. He found its feeble thrashing oddly upsetting.
“Be my guest.” Umbra marched back toward the path they’d been following, making sure to give the trapped beast a wide berth.
Rondo glanced at Shade who shrugged and set out after the wizard. He paused just long enough to collect his second dagger.
No way was Rondo getting close enough to that thing to touch it. He shrugged and hurried to catch up with the others. At the very least he now understood why no one from Rend had come to harvest the logs.
Rondo and Umbra followed Shade for most of an hour as he tracked the dragon hybrid’s circuitous route through the forest. If the beast had any sort of destination in mind, it certainly didn’t plan to get there in a straight line. Rondo was beginning to doubt they were going to find anything when they stumbled across the trail marker. It was a little obelisk about a foot tall marked with imperial runes.
Shade tapped it with his toe. “This little guy look familiar?”
Rondo crouched beside it and took a closer look. The trail marker was nearly identical to the ones they found in the northwest near the tower. What he couldn’t figure out was if this was supposed to be a secret lab, why would it have a marked trail to it? Maybe it wasn’t a secret at the time of its construction.
“It’s gotta be a trap,” Rondo said. “This marker is definitely newer than the other ones we saw before.”
“You think they’d have a monster guard and set traps?” Shade asked.
“They might’ve set a trap for the monster,” Rondo said.
“What are you two talking about?” Umbra asked.
Shade explained about the trail markers then added, “It certainly argues for some old imperial buildings around here. If nothing else, it makes me think we’re on the right track. Do you sense any magic?”
“One moment.” Umbra closed his eyes. After nearly a minute he opened them again. “It’s faint, but there’s definitely something. The magic is different than the dragon hybrid’s.”
“That’s good,” Shade said. “I’m not overly anxious to run into another one of those things. Can you tell how far off it is?”
“Maybe half a mile. It’s right at the very edge of my perception.” Umbra pointed. “That way.”
They tromped through the forest for another fifteen minutes before Shade raised his hand. Rondo froze. They hadn’t seen any more markers and he had begun to think they were on the wrong path.
“What is it?” Rondo asked.
“There’s something up ahead,” Shade said. “It looks like a bunker. There’s a stone building jutting up out of the ground. It’s not much bigger than a couple of outhouses stuck together.”
Rondo moved up beside him. Sure enough about fifty feet from the edge of the forest in a perfectly round clearing there was a stone shack with a single heavily built door in the center of the front wall. It looked like a first cousin to the entrance they found in the northwest. How many of these things did the mad emperor build?
“Talk about déjà vu.” Rondo blew out a sigh. “You think it’s safe to approach?”
Shade shrugged. “No way to say for sure. There’s open ground between the edge of the forest and the door. Could be traps buried, but I can’t see anything. Anything magical?”
Umbra shook his head. “All I can sense is the same background magic that I noticed earlier only a little bit stronger. It’s definitely coming from inside the building. I certainly can’t sense any magical traps outside. Of course, if they were set by a competent wizard, they would’ve gone out of their way to hide the magical signature from anyone searching.”
That wasn’t overly reassuring.
Shade finally drew his daggers and strode out from the edge of the forest. He marched slowly across the clearing scuffing his feet to leave a clear track for them to follow. When he reached the door without getting shot, blasted, or burned, he waved for Rondo and Umbra to join him.
Rondo carefully put his feet exactly where Shade had, expecting every moment for a trap to snap on his leg and break his ankle. Just because the assassin got lucky and had made it across with no trouble didn’t mean he would. But he did.
When all three of them were standing in front of the heavy door, Shade grabbed the iron ring that served as a doorknob and yanked. The door didn’t so much as rattle in its frame.
“Well that would’ve been too easy,” Shade said. “It doesn’t have a keyhole so I can’t pick the lock. Anybody got any ideas?”
Shade looked directly at Umbra, ignoring Rondo completely. Being ignored didn’t bother Rondo much anymore. Plus he had no idea how to get the door open anyway. If it was going to get done, it would be done by magic.
Umbra muttered something that was muffled by his cowl and laid the tips of the fingers of his right hand on the door.
Half a minute passed then a full minute.
The tension was so thick Rondo almost forgot to breathe.
After nearly two minutes there was a faint creak followed by a clatter. Umbra pushed the door open. Inside there was a heavy bar lying on the floor. Rondo had expected some sort of magical lock, not a simple wooden bar, to be keeping them out.
Beyond the bar a long dark passage sloped downward into the earth. Ten yards from the door, it became so black Rondo couldn’t even see the tip of his nose. Ahead of him, Umbra was invisible in the darkness. At least Shade had the decency to look a little bit uncomfortable.
“If we don’t get some light, the gods only know what we’re going to walk into,” Rondo said.
“I have to agree,” Shade said. “This passage is too dark even for me. How about a little light for us poor mortal men?”
Umbra didn’t say anything, but a moment later one of Shade’s daggers began to glow. The light was dull and had a slightly reddish tinge, but at least it pushed the darkness back a little. Shade held the dagger above his head and set out with Rondo at his heels.
Umbra had to be around somewhere, but Rondo couldn’t see him. He just had to assume the wizard would be there when they needed him.
The tunnel continued on f
or about forty strides before they reached a round chamber from which six new tunnels exited. Why was nothing ever easy?
“Which way now?” Rondo asked. His question wasn’t directed at anyone in particular; he would’ve been happy with a response from either of his companions.
He got one from Shade. “I have no idea. Jax, what about you?”
“Be patient. I’ve dispatched a dark seeker to find the best route.”
Rondo had almost no sense of time in the dark, underground maze, but he guessed it had to be at least an hour before Umbra finally spoke again. “My seeker’s checked every passage and found nothing but more tunnels and chambers. In the center of this maze waits the largest of those chambers. I suspect there must be some sort of secret entrance hidden there.”
“Sounds a good place to visit,” Shade said. “Lead the way. Oh, give us something to follow if you don’t mind.”
A little blue glow appeared in the air, illuminating the very top of Umbra’s cowl. They followed the ghostly wizard down the second tunnel to the left. More twists and turns followed until Rondo was completely lost. After eight changes of direction, they finally exited into a large round chamber. Four more tunnel mouths appeared all around the perimeter. In the dim light there was nothing that gave any indication of a hidden door or panel. Any of the stones could be a trigger. If they had to check them all, they were going to be here for days.
Rondo moved to the nearest wall to get started. He hadn’t even touched anything yet when the whole chamber began to rumble. A narrow circle of light appeared in the center of the chamber. It was about fifteen feet in diameter. A stone disk began to dilate open until the entire circle was free of stone.
A deep snarl was the first warning that something wasn’t right. The crunch of stone on metal was the second. A black panther’s head came into view, its yellow eyes glowing in the dim light as it looked from Umbra, to Shade, and finally to Rondo. The creature gave off the distinct impression of trying to decide who to eat first.
It continued to rise out of the floor.A thick neck connected to a muscular, feline body covered in black scales. Dragon wings grew from its back and its four legs ended in talons six inches long. Four chains with links as big around as Rondo’s arm held the beast in place. The dragon hybrid snarled at them again, a deep bass rumble that vibrated in Rondo’s chest.
Umbra hurled a blast of magic at it that deflected off its scales without leaving a mark.
Rondo’s stomach dropped. There were no trees here to fell on the hybrid’s head. How, by all the watching gods, were they supposed to stop it?
At last the disk the monster was riding clunked to a stop, sealing the chamber.
“Anyone else think we should run for it?” Rondo asked.
As if in response to his question, iron portcullises dropped from the ceiling, blocking every avenue of escape. So much for that idea.
The chains restraining the beast fell away with a loud clatter.
“Aw, hell,” Shade muttered.
Rondo heartily agreed.
Shade licked his lips and studied the black dragon hybrid. He never lacked for confidence, but fighting these giant monsters was teaching him the limits of his abilities. Even if his blades could stab through the creature’s scales, they weren’t long enough to reach its vital organs.
The hybrid’s head snapped forward as it spat a line of darkness at him.
Shade dove, rolled clear, and sprang to his feet. He didn’t know what that black stuff would do to him and he really didn’t want to find out.
Jax blasted it with a beam of dark magic. The spell hit its scales and fizzled. He might as well spit at it for all the good his magic did.
While his spell didn’t do any damage, it did draw the monster’s attention. Its feline head snapped towards the wizard and spat more of the dark energy.
Jax flicked his wrist and the energy was diverted into the wall.
Shade charged in and stabbed it with his daggers. It was like trying to punch through a solid steel plate. He maybe got a quarter inch of penetration with half a dozen strikes before he was forced to spin away from a counter by its claws. This beast seemed a little slower and stupider than the one they fought outside. Not that it needed to be a genius in such a tight space. Eventually it would get lucky and tear one of them to pieces.
He looked around and quickly spotted Rondo crouched as far from the hybrid as he could get and trying to make himself the smallest possible target. That was good. Frankly, staying out of the way was about the best he could hope for from Rondo. Not that Shade was accomplishing much himself.
The hybrid roared and sent another line of darkness at Shade. He avoided it again and sprinted over to Jax. “Any ideas?” Shade asked.
“The creature’s powers are darkness based. I can turn them aside easily, but my own magic is useless against it. I fear I will run out of strength before it does.”
“If it uses the same kind of magic you do, why don’t you just turn the hybrid’s power against it?”
Before Jax could answer, Shade pushed him aside and dove the opposite way under a swipe from the monster’s claws. Sharp shards of stone bounced off Shade’s back.
He spun and found two-inch gouges had been torn from the wall. Maybe he could throw the pebbles it gouged out. They couldn’t be any less effective than his blades.
“Shade!” Rondo shouted.
The hybrid was trading darkness blasts with Jax so he risked running over to see what he wanted. “Yeah?”
“We need to get out of here.”
“No kidding. You called me over just to tell me that?”
“No, I have an idea. Umbra’s magic doesn’t seem to hurt the hybrid, but could he use it to make a hole in the floor? If he made it big enough for us but too small for the monster, we might escape.”
That wasn’t a horrible idea. In this space and with the gear at their disposal, there was no way Shade could see of winning this fight. Like his first teacher always said, if you can’t win the fight, run like hell and try again later. Shade seldom had to run, but he wasn’t averse to doing it when he had to.
“I’ll distract our playmate. You go talk to Jax.”
Rondo nodded and Shade darted right. “Hey, ugly! Over here!”
The last word had barely passed his lips before he had to leap a blast of darkness that probably would’ve melted his legs off. Gods he hoped Rondo’s plan worked. The fact that he was relying on Rondo for anything said just how desperate their situation was.
As he played tag with the monster, every once in a while, he caught a glimpse of Jax. The wizard had crouched at the edge of the disk that brought the hybrid up and was doing something magical.
That fraction of a second’s distraction cost him. He barely crossed his daggers in front of him before a massive claw sent him flying halfway across the chamber. His weapons blocked the talon, but the landing drove all the air from his lungs.
He struggled to rise as the hybrid looked over him.
So this was how he would die. Killed by some bizarre monster in a hidden compound in the middle of nowhere. Somehow, he always imagined it would be Domina that killed him.
He prepared himself for the end. He’d had a good run. His only regret was that he wouldn’t see the boss’s plan to fruition. Rebuilding an empire would have really been something.
Before the hybrid could finish him, a rock bounced off its head. The beast hissed and spun.
Never one to question his good luck, Shade scrambled to his feet, ran up the monster’s tail to its back, and continued toward its head. The neck was too long for him to reach its head.
It roared and bucked, trying to throw him off. Shade found a gap between two scales, slammed his right-hand dagger into it, and held on for dear life.
In all his days he’d never heard such a racket as the hybrid raised as it tried to throw him clear. It nearly deafened him.
The monster slammed into the chamber wall, forcing Shade to shift to the opposite sid
e or get crushed.
It reared on its hind legs and thrashed from side to side.
Shade’s grip slipped and he swung around so he was against its chest. Its fang-filled mouth opened.
“Shade! Let’s go!” Rondo shouted.
He ripped his dagger free and dropped just ahead of snapping jaws that would have bit him in half.
Jax had already vanished through a narrow hole in the floor. Rondo had his legs through and was working his shoulders down.
Shade sprinted toward the hole. He skidded into it feet first, nearly kicking Rondo in the face.
The hybrid came charging toward him.
Hands grasped his legs and pulled him down.
He fell about ten feet before Jax’s familiar power grasped him and slowed his descent. Two feet above his head, the hybrid’s leg was jammed down the hole, waving around in a vain attempt to reach them. It appeared they were safe, for the moment anyway.
As they descended into the darkness below, Shade said to Jax, “Thanks for the rescue earlier. If you hadn’t thrown those stones when you did, I would have been dead.”
Jax shook his head and jerked a thumb toward Rondo. “I was busy opening our escape tunnel.”
Shade stared at Rondo for a moment. “You threw them?”
“I wish you wouldn’t say it with such surprise. You’ve saved me enough times. I figured it was time to pay you back a little. Besides, Umbra was nearly done with the opening, so it seemed safe enough.”
That was more like it. Still, the fact that he took any risk impressed Shade. Maybe he really had underestimated Rondo.
Their feet hit the stone floor and Shade looked around in the dim red light. They’d ended up in a round chamber the exact size of the opening above. A heavy steel door made of bars marked the room’s only feature. He walked over and rattled the door but of course it was locked.
“Douse your light for a moment,” Shade said.
The light vanished but they weren’t in complete darkness. From beyond the door came a warm orange glow like from a campfire. Clearly, they weren’t alone down here.
The Dragonspire Chronicles Omnibus 2 Page 23
