With a swirl of her dark cloak, she strode to the troops and began slapping shoulders and grasping hands. DoHeney opened his mouth to protest until he saw the light of confidence and joy that spread among the troops in the priestess' wake. She was ancient, true, but all those years with the Earth Mother's power flowing through her veins made her the most powerful of all the clerics in the company. Besides, every dwarf loved her and drew strength from her; that alone made her indispensable. He turned to DoHurley and saw his own thoughts mirrored.
"Well, I guess we’d better be off!"
"I guess ye better, lad." He grasped DoHeney’s hands firmly. "May The Maker's hand protect ye."
DoHeney smiled his thanks and watched as his troops started filing out of the cavern into the dark tunnels that would take them to the dark-worshipers’ city...perhaps to their deaths. He suppressed a shudder as he remembered that he was no longer only out for himself; many destinies rested in his hands.
“May The Maker protect us all..." he prayed quietly.
Avari rose slowly toward consciousness, smiling as she smelled Yen’s distinctive scent. I wonder, she thought with a smile, if we’ll go riding today, perhaps to the— The sound of a door closing and Feldspar’s harsh whisper broke her semi-dream state and she bolted upright as she remembered where she was and what they were supposed to be doing.
“Whoa,” said Yenjil gently from his seat beside her. He held out a cup of tea and pointed to a tray of bread, butter, and cold meats. “We’re nearly ready to leave. Have a bite to eat; you’ll be needing your strength.”
Avari opened her mouth to refuse his offer, then realized that he was right. She sipped the tea; sweet with honey and no milk, just as she liked it. Heaping some meat onto bread, she took a bite, then asked, “What time is it?”
“Nearly morning,” Yenjil answered as he prepared his own fare. “I’ve prepared advisories for the emperor and sent them by slow messenger,” he smiled, “to arrive after we’ve gone, so there will be no interference from that quarter. And Feldspar has just returned from consulting with the others of the Royal Retinue.”
They sat for several minutes in silence. Yenjil seemed uncomfortably close and Avari wanted to move away from him, but since there was no place for her to go without sitting in someone else’s lap, she remained where she was.
“I hear you started a horse farm at the White Cliffs," he said.
"Who told you that?" she asked suspiciously, drawing a chuckle from him.
"I’m not sending spies after you," he assured her. "I spoke with one of the dwarves from the White Hills, who mentioned that a mad woman with a huge black horse had contracted them to lay the foundation for a ranch house and several buildings. He also mentioned a strange cat-man with the woman, which cinched it."
Suddenly, Avari wanted to tell him all about Searest, how the air smelled of pine and salt air; how the horses raced along the fence toward the tree line for the very joy of running; how everyone gathered after a long, hard day to eat together and laugh and talk. And how, despite her beloved employees and Huffer’s loyal friendship, she still missed his voice, his conversation, his warm body beside her at night.
"I’d love to see your new home some time," he said, trying to catch her eye, “and your horses.”
"I'd invite you," she said coldly as she recalled every ugly word of their final argument, steeling her resolve before she did something she would later regret, "but I wouldn't want you to get dung on your shoes."
"I—" Yenjil began, but Feldspar had returned; it was time to go.
Feldspar hitched the straps of his pack tighter and winced as his shoulder ached. “I’m getting too old for this crap!” he muttered, although, he admitted to himself, he wouldn’t miss this trip for the world. “We’ll see, Braelen my old friend, just what fascinated you about the other planes.” Aloud, he continued. “Where will we find our intended guide?” He looked expectantly at the group.
“We first saw him at Zellohar,” Avari said. “But he’s not there anymore.”
"My guess is that we will find him at Mjolnir Falls,” Shay suggested. “We also met him there, and it seemed to be a likely dragon habitat: secretive, well protected, plenty of room.”
"Good. We can use the Starstone to get there, albeit in a roundabout way. The artifact is intended for interplanar travel, not intraplanar, so we’ll have to skip through a nearby plane. I suggest the plane of air; it’s much more hospitable than earth, water, or fire. But first I want to show you all how to operate the Starstone."
"Can we do this without a long lecture?" Avari sighed.
"Don’t sass me, young lady," Feldspar scolded as he shook a finger at her. “Let’s see what happens when I’m dead and you don’t know how to work this thing to get yourself home!”
Avari grinned and muttered, “Now that’s the Feldspar I know and love.”
"Well!” Feldspar said, feeling uncommonly pleased. It heartened him to see her here, despite her continued animosity toward Yenjil. If they survived this, he planned to ask Kenrah if she still dabbled in love potions. He cleared his throat and continued, stifling a satisfied smile. “Now, multiple persons can be transported from plane to plane with minimal effort.” He laid the Starstone in the palm of his hand for all to see.
“To be transported, everyone must have some sort of contact with whoever’s controlling the Starstone. You don’t have to touch flesh, just touching clothing or a pack or even the next person in line is sufficient. Travel is initiated by grasping the appropriate point of the crystal and saying the word of activation.” He spent a couple of minutes explaining the use of the different hues, and making them repeat the activation word.
“You don’t think this will react badly with the cornerstones, do you?” Avari asked Shay.
Feldspar's eyes snapped up. “You have the cornerstones with you?”
Shay cast an annoyed look at Avari. “I carry two of the gems.”
“Let me know things like that!” Feldspar said irritably. “By The Maker, you can’t just expect that everything will be hunky dory when you’re dealing with magic of this magnitude! Cross reactions can be tricky. And if you’re holding a cornerstone, you probably don’t want to be the one activating the Starstone.”
“I do not see a problem with—“
“If you don’t see, then you’re not looking!” Feldspar was exasperated. They hadn’t even started out yet, and he saw that he was going to have to keep a close eye on this half-elf half-priest half-wizard. “Don’t tell me what’s what! I’ve been working magic—and only magic—since before you were born. The cornerstones likely won’t be a problem if I’m working the Starstone, but they’ve got to be considered. Now everyone grab someone else and say a little prayer, and we'll see if this thing actually works."
"You mean you don't even—" Avari's protest was cut short as they vanished in a swirling tornado of shimmering light.
"—know if the damn thing wor—Holy Eloss!"
Avari's curse mingled with the panicked shrieks of the rest of the companions. Feldspar was confused for a moment, then looked “down.” Down was relative to the position of his feet, however, because here on the plane of air there was nothing solid as far as the eye could see. Only Voncellia and Brok remained floating by his side. Below his feet, the rest of the companions fell in a tangled bundle, holding on to each other for dear life.
"Wait!" Feldspar shouted. "There's no 'down' here! Just— Oh, blast it!"
He quickly rummaged in his pocket, then cast a pinch of wool toward his plummeting friends. A wide mesh of netting appeared beneath them, and they all landed safely inside. As he, Voncellia, and Brok maneuvered to them, he deliberately did not tell them that the net was only an illusion; without belief, they’d slip right through.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry," he apologized. “I didn’t think to warn you.”
"It's taught us a lesson," Voncellia said as she looked irritably at her colleague. "Not all of us share the same knowledge. What on
e sees as perfectly normal may send another into a panic. Now let’s get out of here before the locals stop by to see what the ruckus is!"
“Locals!” exclaimed Hufferrrerrr. His eyes were wide and the strain evident as he tried to avoid clawing his friends while hoisting himself into a position he thought was upright in the net. “How are there being locals in the middle of the air?”
"Everyone grab on again. I’ll transport us directly to Mjolnir Falls now." Feldspar looked around at the clutching group, then at the Starstone in his hand. "All right, now brace yourselves. The return of weight can be disorienting."
He activated the Starstone, and the swirling tornado of light grabbed them from midair and deposited them abruptly at Mjolnir Falls.
Phlegothax stirred restlessly as his dream of flight transformed into a nightmare of servitude. He was chained to a rock spire as a sinister figure strode toward him from the shadows, cloak billowing, red eyes glowing. As it neared, he saw that the eyes stared out from a demon helm. It was the Nekdukarr. Phlegothax hissed as Iveron Darkmist held out his hand, which glowed with a blood-red light. But, it wasn’t his hand that glowed, it was the ruby in his palm: a cornerstone. Its power shivered the air, catching the rhythm of his heart and forcing it to beat in time. Harder and harder it pulsed, then the Nekdukarr spoke words of magic, and the world exploded.
The click of the door handle woke Jundag and he leapt into a crouch before the crib, a long iron brazier stand held at guard before him. Calmarel entered, but it was Calmarel as he had never seen her before. Her long black hair straggled down her back and hung limply around her face. She spun around and slammed the door, her movements quick and jerky. As she neared him, he saw that her eyes were red. Before he could comprehend what might have occurred, she slapped his face with all her strength.
"Put that down!" Her voice was shrill, almost panicked. "Stand there and be silent!"
As always, he accepted the abuse; he had no choice. Putting the brazier aside, he stood silently while she advanced on the baby.
Excited gurgles erupted from within the crib when she looked in, and he saw her shoulders slump. She gripped the side of the crib until her knuckles blanched, then slowly released her hold, reached in, and lifted the baby. Without a word, she retreated to the bed, pulled open her robe, and held the baby to her breast. While the child suckled, Calmarel rocked gently back and forth. It was difficult for Jundag to see into the shadows that draped the bed, but he would have sworn that she wept.
CHAPTER 26
Avari gripped Gaulengil’s hilt as she scanned the curtain of icy water that shielded the cave behind Mjolnir Falls. Shay stood beside her, his expression calm, his hand extended toward the falls, the diamond cornerstone in his palm. She could still feel the pressure of the magical pulse he had sent out from the gem. Feldspar stood to Shay’s other side, a grim look on his face, but a twinkle in his eye. Yenjil stood beyond Feldspar, his sword also drawn. The others were hidden nearby, ready to attack should need be.
“I never expected last night,” the old wizard chuckled, “that I’d be begging a favor of a dragon before breakfast. That’s what I love about getting out into the field; anything can happen! Quick thinking, that’s the key to—”
Avari never learned what quick thinking was the key to, for the falls erupted in spray as Phlegothax blasted through. The dragon flew directly at them, wings billowed like a ship's sails, its huge maw gaping wide. Her heart skipped a beat and she expected to be roasted alive, despite the shimmering shield that Voncellia had erected around them.
Apparently the dragon saw the shield, for it snapped its jaws closed and glared at them with eyes as red as burning embers, then thundered past and soared over the lake. The trees bent with the wind of its passage as it banked and wheeled around. It landed upon the shore a short distance away, far enough that a sword could not reach it, but close enough that it could stretch out its sinuous neck and pluck one of them off the ground with its jaws.
"Speak, bearers of two cornerstones," Phlegothax said, its voice grating like mill stones. Its fetid breath washed warm over them, and Avari wondered what type of meat it was stuck between its saber-like teeth. "Your possession of the gems means one of two things: either you are better thieves than I expected, or the Nekdukarr is no more."
"Darkmist is dead, Phlegothax," Shay said gravely. "We destroyed him."
Avari wondered if dragons could detect lies, because really, Darkmist had destroyed himself by holding two cornerstones. But Phlegothax didn’t condemn them as liars, though its eyes glinted and it huffed as if laughing.
"So why do you disturb me?" the dragon asked. "To present the gems to me as thanks for saving your pitiful army?" It glared now at Yenjil, who stared sternly back, but remained silent. “Or do you think to use their power to frighten me into helping you steal the other two?” Caustic spittle dribbled from its mouth to smolder on the ground between its tremendous forepaws.
Shay hesitated but a second, then replied in a smooth voice.
"We come to ask for your aid against a common foe, Phlegothax. For if the children of the Dark Gods succeed in their current plot, we are all doomed." He swept his arm wide. Far to the south, the sky looked bruised in the early dawn light. But Avari knew from her father’s stories that a dragon’s vision was keen, and from the narrowing of Phlegothax’s eyes, she knew it saw the great black tendrils of the burgeoning storm. "The worshipers of the Dark Gods seek to eradicate all life from the surface world by releasing Void essence into our world. There is no way to fight this storm, save to destroy its source."
"Void essence?" the dragon asked skeptically. It craned its neck and tilted its head to better assess the distant darkness. "That is insane! How could this be accomplished?"
"The dark worshipers have constructed a great stronghold at the nexus of the Eighth Hell and The Void. They channel Void essence through a portal into our world." Shay paused.
"The Eighth Hell...Draco's Lair," the dragon rumbled, curling its lips back from shiny fangs. "You seek my aid to travel there."
"We have a means of travelling there, great Phlegothax,” Feldspar said eagerly as he held out the Starstone, oblivious to Shay’s cringe of annoyance at being overstepped, “but we feel that it would be prudent to request permission to traverse Draco’s realm. That’s where you come in."
"And if I refuse?"
"We will go anyway," Shay said quickly, "though our chances of success will greatly diminish, as will the probability of survival for all beings that dwell upon the surface of this world. Even dragons,” he emphasized, “are not immune to the effects of Void essence."
"What do you offer in exchange for my assistance? Perhaps...a cornerstone?"
Avari saw Shay stiffen. Oh, no you don’t, she thought as she jabbed Gaulengil’s hilt into his side. He flinched away from her prod, but looked the dragon in the eye.
“We will need the cornerstones to destroy the dark- worshipers’ fortress. What happens after that...” he shrugged. “I can, however, offer you further vengeance for your betrayal by the Nekdukarr. Darkmist’s sisters are key players in this plot to destroy the surface world.”
Avari hoped once again that the dragon couldn’t detect Shay’s half-truths and speculations. The beast watched them for a long moment, stared toward the dark storm, then looked directly toward the hiding places of their friends. So much for trying to trick a dragon, she thought. The hairs on the nape of her neck rose as the dragon looked at her and cocked its head.
“I believed that I had killed you,” it said.
Holding Gaulengil in one hand, she pulled up her linen shirt and chain mail, exposing the long scar across her torso.
“I don’t die easily.”
Again Phlegothax huffed and turned slightly. The scales of its hide were askew where they had regrown over a long, straight scar that ran down its left flank and leg.
“Neither do I.”
Avari shifted Gaulengil back to ready—Do dragons hold grudges? she won
dered—but her tension eased as the dragon sat back on its haunches and crossed its wickedly taloned forepaws in an attitude of repose.
“What is our plan?” Phlegothax rumbled.
"Git this damned thing closed!" DoHurley howled over the tempest, lending his shoulder to the great doors to the outer courtyard. Silently he cursed MurFindle and the other elders. Upon returning from Refuge, he had been so busy organizing DoHeney's assault force, he had neglected to give the order to seal Zellohar Keep against the storm. Not until a messenger mentioned the Void essence in the outer courtyard did he realize that the keep was still open to the elements. He would have thought that someone—namely one of the elders—would have taken the initiative in his absence.
When confronted, MurFindle had just sneered, "But that's the king's job, sire".
The thick iron hinges squealed like swine being slaughtered. The plummeting temperatures had nearly frozen the metal, and it took the strength of twenty stout dwarves to shove the doors ponderously closed.
“Come on! Almost there. PUSH!”
DoHurley smiled at the sound of Irielnea’s encouragement. She had insisted on accompanying them to the upper level, and despite her seemingly fragile beauty, she excelled as a taskmaster, and the dwarves obeyed her as readily as if the king himself gave the orders. She now helped by holding a torch beneath the hinges to warm them. The torch sputtered in the wicked gusts that howled through the crack between the doors. Outside, black lightning and unearthly thunder lashed nonstop, and wisps of Void essence swirled through the courtyard. Several outbuildings had already collapsed, their support timbers shattered by the black essence.
As the edges of the doors finally met, a tiny tendril of Void essence floated through and touched the arm of a guardsman. The dwarf wailed in pain and terror and fell back.
“Don’t stop!” bellowed DoHurley to his fellows, a couple of whom hesitated at the horrible cry. “Irielnea—"
“I have him!” the elf called as she pulled the injured dwarf back with one hand while thrusting the torch at the Void essence. The wooden torch disintegrated, but the essence vanished with it.
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