“Hey, Professor, any idea what the Builders are supposed to look like?”
Dorius glanced back. “Should you be talking so loud?”
“As far as I can tell, the lizards react to soul force and movement, not sound. I bet I could scream myself hoarse and not draw their attention, not that I intend to try. So how about it?”
“I’ve found nothing definitive but based on measurements taken in the first-level buildings I estimate they have a build similar to humans with an average height of seven feet. Given the complete lack of artwork depicting anything but dragons, my information is limited.”
“I noticed that too. Weird, isn’t it? Shouldn’t there be at least a few statues of famous Builders or something? I mean a city of this size in the kingdom would have dozens.”
“We can’t judge an alien culture based on our own. It’s not fair to them. We may have to accept that we’ll never know their true appearance.”
Damien shrugged. It made no difference to him what they looked like. The whole giant empty city thing just seemed too strange. The disappearance of an entire people with no signs of war or unrest boggled his mind.
“Ah!” Dorius jogged over to a spiral tower. “I recognize this building. We’re getting close.”
Damien ran a hand over the smooth stone. There were no tool marks. How had they created the spiral pattern? It felt like stone that had been shaped with soul force.
Dorius had hurried on, forcing Damien to run to catch up.
A pack of lizards is approaching.
Damien grabbed Dorius by the collar and dragged him into the alley between a pair of three-story buildings.
“What?”
“Company, come on.”
Damien dragged him to the end of the alley, glanced all around, and said, “Get us up to the roof.”
Lizzy conjured a disk under them and they flew up. Damien ran to the edge. Four lizards were milling around at the base of the building. They didn’t appear to have noticed anything. Further up the street another pack stood guard. Maybe they were getting close after all.
“It appears they’re trying to block our progress,” Dorius said. “There’s one other path to the sealed door. How much do you want to bet more of the creatures will be watching for us that way?”
“No bet.” Damien moved back from the edge before the lizards noticed him.
The presence might be able to confuse the constructs enough to keep them from sensing their location, but the monsters were clever. They deduced their target and moved to intercept. That level of intelligence surprised Damien. Constructs tended to follow simple orders to the letter. Thinking and reacting should be too much for them.
Whatever was happening with the lizards, it messed up Damien’s plans. Even if they got past, no way could he figure out how to open the door and fight them off. He needed time and space, something in short supply at the moment.
“What are we going to do?” Dorius asked.
“You’re going to stay here where it is safe. I’m going to do something stupid and dangerous.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The tunnel leveled out then opened up into a gigantic cavern. Fifteen ogres swarmed around a linnorm that made the one that tried to swallow them look like an earthworm. This one had eight mandibles, four on either side of a mouth big enough to eat a mammoth whole. It had to be two hundred yards long and forty plus in diameter. Sig wouldn’t have been surprised if that thing could have given the Ice Queen a run for her money.
The berserkers didn’t seem overly impressed with the monster. They pounded on it with their ineffective weapons, leaping aside when it struck at them. One went for the talons only to get torn in half for his trouble.
Since the only ogre whose life Sig valued was standing beside him, he felt no overwhelming desire to lend a hand. Anyone stupid enough to attack something that strong deserved to get slaughtered.
“This group must have decided to take the hunt underground, the same as us,” Ilda said.
Getting dragged underground inside the mouth of a giant worm wasn’t making a decision in Sig’s book, but he let it go. “That isn’t Gorn’s group.”
“No, it’s Melcar’s. He’s the one keeping a safe distance from the fight.”
Sig spotted the lone ogre not engaging the linnorm. Melcar carried a steel sword, unlike his men, though Sig doubted he’d have any better luck against the worm’s scales with it than the others did with their weapons of ice.
“Is that another tunnel beyond the monster?” Sig asked.
Ilda squinted then nodded. “Yes, but I can’t tell where it goes.”
“Think we should check it out while the worm is busy?”
“We can, though if there’s no other exit, we’ll have to find a way around the linnorm.” Ilda didn’t seem to have an opinion one way or the other.
“Maybe if we hurry we can finish exploring before the fight ends.”
Sig guided the box all the way to the ceiling, over the fight, and back down to the tunnel entrance.
The loudest roar yet shook the chamber.
Sig glanced back to find the worm’s tail coming straight toward them.
He darted through the opening just ahead of the crashing cylinder of flesh.
It struck the ground with enough force to shake the entire cavern.
That had been far too close. He turned the box golden, so they could see, and flew down the tunnel.
Five hundred yards later, they reached another cavern, this one a little smaller than the first, but still gigantic. Bones littered the floor. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them as far as he could see in every direction.
“What is this?” Sig landed and transformed the box into a glow ball.
“It’s a cemetery.” Ilda bent down and picked up a curved chunk of bone that looked like a piece of spine and had to have come from a linnorm. “They must come here to die.”
“How do they get in?” Sig asked. “There’s no way that monster could fit down the tunnel.”
“Who cares? Let’s just find some talons and get out of here.”
Sig grinned and rummaged through the bones. This was way better than cutting a fresh one off a living worm and the dragon hadn’t specified that they had to take one from a live linnorm.
He tossed aside a bone as long as he was tall and under it lay a ten-inch talon, polished white and razor sharp. He picked it up and tucked it into his belt.
Two minutes later Ilda said, “Found one!”
She waved the talon at him and began working her way back. Now they needed to figure a way out of here. Preferably one that didn’t involve sneaking past the giant worm guarding the entrance. He didn’t know how smart the monsters were, but that one had seemed genuinely angry when they slipped past. As though the thought of them defiling this cemetery offended it.
That was a mystery for another day. Ilda stopped beside him and slipped the talon into her satchel. “That was easier than I’d hoped.”
As if mocking her words, bones exploded out of the center of the chamber and a slender linnorm burst up from a previously hidden hole. It let out a roar that was part wheeze and clacked its mandibles. No heavy armor covered its body, which explained how it had reached the room.
Sig blasted it with concentrated soul force. His attack pierced its flesh, opening a head-sized hole through its body.
The worm wheezed again and lunged toward Sig.
He flew over it and blasted its head to pieces.
It went still. When the linnorm hadn’t moved for a full minute he landed beside it.
“I prefer fighting the unarmored ones,” he said.
“Not much of a challenge,” Ilda said.
“Exactly. Let’s see where the new tunnel leads.”
He conjured the box, flew past the dead worm’s tail, and disappeared into the darkness. Hard to believe they’d completed the mission. Now to return to the dragon and the next challenge.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The tu
nnel out of the linnorm cemetery went down and down and then down some more. The deeper they went the hotter it got until sweat drenched them both. Sig guessed he was deeper in the earth than any man had ever gone. It wasn’t the sort of distinction he’d ever sought. The only thing keeping him going was the knowledge that the linnorm must’ve entered the shaft on the other end.
That and the looming presence of the huge armored one waiting for them outside the cemetery entrance.
Ilda panted, her eyes rolled up in her head, and she started to slump to the box’s floor. Her skin had darkened to almost purple.
“Hey, wake up.”
She groaned and tore at her tunic.
“What’s wrong?”
“Too hot. Can’t breathe.”
Damn it.
Ogres were designed for the northern cold, not this infernal heat. If Sig wanted to get her out of here alive, he needed to hurry.
He eyed the satchel over Ilda’s shoulder. Did he want to get her out of here alive? If she died, he could claim the talon and end the competition after a single round. Letting her die would make his life much simpler.
No, they had a deal. She’d dealt fairly with him so far and he’d do the same. He conjured a fan of soul force and set it waving over her. It wasn’t much, but the breeze might cool her a little. He couldn’t do anything else for the moment.
Sig willed the box to fly faster. It would drain his soul force more quickly, but Ilda had no other hope. They dropped like a boulder thrown from a cliff for half a minute before the bottom of the tunnel appeared.
Sig slowed and flew along a course so twisting that it would have broken a snake’s back. It rose and fell several times before they reached a modest cavern filled with armor plates. The entrance narrowed so much he feared they wouldn’t fit. But by some miracle they did. A refreshingly cool breeze flowed through a hole in the ceiling.
He zipped toward it as fast as he dared. More curving tunnels, luckily free of linnorms, led constantly upward. As the air cooled, Ilda’s breathing evened out and her skin returned to its normal, light-blue hue.
She forced herself to her feet. “Where are we?”
“I’m not sure. Closer to the surface if the temperature is any indication. This section of tunnel doesn’t branch. I think it’s the last path they take before they die.”
“It was nearly the last path I took. You saved my life. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The tunnel leveled out. Sig glanced at the walls and found bits of ice imbedded within the stone. They’d nearly reached the level of the first cavern. It wouldn’t take long now.
“Why did you do it?” Ilda asked.
“Save you?”
She nodded, her lips turned down in a frown.
“We had a deal. We get the talons and face off in the second challenge. The two of us can hardly face off if you’re dead.”
“If I was dead you’d win by default. Certainly, that would have been the sensible path.”
He sighed. “It would have. But, I fear, I’ve gotten to like you. Frankly, not something I expected. The thought of you dying in these worm-infested tunnels seemed wrong. I just couldn’t let it happen.”
“I confess, I’ve come to like you as well. Usually the only thing that interests me about humans is how best to kill them. But I can’t deny the connection I feel with you. I don’t understand it, but I like it.” She put her arm around his waist and leaned into him. “I like it a lot.”
Sig’s heart raced and his mouth went dry.
The tunnel opened up into a cavern, thankfully distracting him from the uncomfortable emotions swirling through him.
It took only a moment to spot the tracks they’d left near the back wall. They’d done it. Now if they could figure out which tunnel led to the surface, they’d be set. He’d also have to figure out what was happening between him and Ilda, but that might be an enjoyable task. That was assuming they both survived the next round of the dragon’s challenge.
“We need to land. I’m just about out of soul force.”
“As am I. I used the bulk of my power healing the heat damage. A few hours’ rest would suit me very well. I have a few ideas about how we might pass the time.”
Sig licked his lips and searched for a place to land. The box hit the ice and vanished.
Ilda turned to face him and put her arms around his neck. She leaned in.
Something hard slammed into his stomach but failed to penetrate his personal shield. Ilda collapsed, the shaft of a spear sticking out of her back.
Beyond her, Gorn leered at them. He roared and a dozen ogres leapt up out of shallow, hidden trenches.
Ilda’s blood stained Sig’s pants and tunic. He feared his own was about to join it.
Chapter Thirty
Damien gathered power and leapt off the roof. He flew above the lizards, taking care not to get low enough for their draining ability to reach him. Dorius had told him where the second road leading to the door ran and he found more crystal lizards waiting.
When they focused on him Damien flew back towards the second-floor entrance. He made sure to set a slow pace, but when he looked back, only half the lizards had followed him. The rest seemed determined to remain at their posts. Not the result he’d hoped for, but it gave him another idea.
He broke right and this time only a pair of lizards turned to follow. Two of them he could handle.
Damien landed in one of the strange, grass-free parks and pulled his power back into his core. He drew Lizzy and her blade crackled with divine energy. The lizards rounded the corner and charged him.
They might be smarter than he’d first thought, but strategic thinkers they weren’t. He waited until the last second, dove, and cut two of the rightmost construct’s legs off.
Damien rolled under its thrashing tail and continued on after the second monster. It snapped at him.
He dodged left and Lizzy took its head off. Exactly like the first one he decapitated, the lack of a head didn’t slow it in the least. He needed to remove a leg or three.
The lizard’s tail whizzed over his head.
Wouldn’t hurt to get rid of that thing either. He took it off on the backswing.
With its primary weapons removed, Damien had no trouble severing its legs. The two hobbled constructs twitched and flopped but posed no threat beyond their ability to drain his soul force.
It would be tedious, but Damien could deal with the rest of the constructs, assuming they let him separate them into small groups.
“How’s your soul force?”
I’m good. The lizards can’t drain my energy so keeping the sword sharp takes only a tiny amount of my strength.
“That’s a relief, because I fear we’re going to be at this a while.”
What about you?
“Looks like they can only drain power I’m using rather than taking it directly from my core. It’s strange fighting without a personal shield or any enhancements, but this is what I trained to do at the Citadel. Who’d have ever guessed straight sword fighting would come in handy in an underground city?”
Fredric would have been proud.
“Thanks. Shall we go find some more?”
And so they did. For the better part of an hour Damien flew around luring the constructs into traps and cutting them up. He’d just begun to think his plan might work, when the trio following him towards a cul-de-sac stopped dead in their tracks, turned, and marched back the way they’d come.
Damien frowned and blasted the nearest one with a spear of soul force. It was absorbed on impact and ignored by the lizard.
Huh. He flew up to the ceiling and followed along behind the retreating constructs.
Ten minutes later they rejoined five other survivors and Damien got his first look at the door Dorius expected him to open. It was a massive, gilded thing forty feet tall and twice that wide. He couldn’t even imagine how many tons it weighed. Images of dragons covered its entire surface. Hundreds and hundreds of
them without a single repeat in the bunch. Dorius was right, it looked religious.
And important, judging by the constructs’ behavior. Maybe he could open it from a distance.
Damien sent a probing burst of soul force toward the door. All eight lizards opened their mouths and the energy bent toward them and was absorbed. Guess they didn’t even want energy to touch it. So much for that plan.
Maybe if he mixed Lizzy’s power with his own and blasted them with that? He sensed her willingness to try, so Damien gathered a sphere of energy and soon the golden surface was streaked with the gray of Lizzy’s divine soul force.
Here’s a snack for you.
He hurled the sphere.
When it was six feet from them, the lizards opened their mouths and absorbed it, divine energy and all.
“What happened?” Damien asked.
I think your soul force diluted mine enough for their ability to work. I fear nothing less than pure divine soul force will affect them.
“Marvelous. Let’s head back to the professor. Maybe the presence will have some ideas tonight.”
This close to him, I might be able to make contact even if we’re awake.
The sooner the better as far as Damien was concerned. Something in him screamed that they needed to hurry.
Chapter Thirty-One
Damien had barely settled on the roof when Dorius hurried over and asked, “Have you destroyed them?”
“Some, but eight seem determined to hold their position. I’m fair with a sword, but eight constructs is too many for me. We need a new strategy.”
“Do you have one?”
Damien settled in the lotus position and closed his eyes. “Not yet, but I’m working on it. I need you to be quiet so I can concentrate.”
“Are you going to do something sorcerous?” Dorius asked.
Damien opened one eye.
“Sorry.”
He closed the eye again and a moment later joined Lizzy. She appeared fully dressed in a swirling black robe. That she didn’t tease him by going nude showed the seriousness of the situation.
Dreaming in the Dark: Chains of the Fallen Volume 1 (Soul Force Saga Book 4) Page 11
