I led the way down the path, and the rest followed in single file. We all clung to the wall of the cavern and made sure to stay away from the edge where crumbled sections of stone made it clear the years hadn’t been kind to the walkway.
The trail ran down a gentle incline for eighty yards, then took a sharp hairpin turn to zig-zag back the way we’d come. Though the switch-backs made the descent far longer, it also made the angle of the downward slope a lot easier to walk. We would have had a pretty exhausting climb if the trail dropped straight for those two hundred yards, and it would be far worse trying to get back up.
An almost reverent silence gripped the three Blackguards behind me. I could understand their awe at being in Ironfast; to me, it would be like wandering the Lost City of Atlantis or King Solomon’s Mines. They had heard stories about this city their entire lives, and now they were walking in something out of legends. It had to be overwhelming, exhilarating, and nerve-wracking all at once, especially given the knowledge that a demon was lurking out there in the darkness.
The torches did little to drive back the shadows of the cavern. We could see for about thirty yards in every direction, but the radius of torchlight revealed little more than the descending trail and the stone wall beside it. The sound of rushing water grew louder as we went farther down, but we had yet to see anything besides the shadows of Ironfast and the thick darkness.
We followed the path in silence for another twenty minutes before it finally leveled out. The earthen trail turned into a paved stone road easily ten yards wide, which ran just fifty feet from where we stood before rising into a curving bridge. The bridge spanned a gulf at least a hundred feet across, yet I could see no suspension beams or support pillars. It seemed carved from the stone of Ironfast itself and felt as solid as I stepped onto it.
“The wizards of Ironfast were not the only masters of their craft,” Captain Daxos said when I mentioned it. “The artisans, stonemasons, and craftsmen that lived here were skilled in their trades and fashioned many breathtaking marvels. Some of the oldest legends say that they hollowed out this cavern from a smaller cave, and they built the massive towers of Ironfast with the stone they cleared away.”
We paused at the center of the bridge and stared into the chasm. I could hear the sound of a rushing river, but it was so far down the torchlight failed to reach it.
“Some say the ancients used magical water wheels to power their tools,” Captain Daxos continued in a voice of hushed reverence. “The force of the Iron River was such that it could turn a hundred wheels, providing enough magic energy for all the mighty wizards of Ironfast.”
It sounded absolutely fascinating, like a sort of hydroelectric energy that produced magic instead of electricity.
“Imagine what you could do with all that power, hero,” Nyvea purred in my mind. “With all that magic at your command, you could conquer the world.”
“Yeah, but I’m not really the world-conquering sort of guy,” I told her with a grin. “I’m happy kicking dragon ass and saving people’s lives. I’d rather leave ruling for people like King Obragar. It seems like a lot of work.”
Nyvea seemed surprised by this. “Even if you were the most powerful man on Iriador, you would let others rule? You’re the savior of Whitespire, and you’re about to save Windwall as well. You could just claim the kingdoms as your own, and neither of them could do anything to stop you.”
“I’m not a king or a councilor, Nyvea,” I replied. “I’m just a firefighter from the Chicago ‘burbs. I trained to save people from fires, not figure out all the details that go into ruling a kingdom. The problem of the dragons is more my speed than the problem of how to raise taxes, make laws, or keep people from starving. I’m happy to stay in my lane.” This wasn’t the first time the seductive voice brought up the topic of me ruling the kingdoms, but I didn’t want to think about it now. I had a demon problem to take care of, and then I had a bunch of dragons who needed slaying.
“Strange,” Nyvea mused. “Once again, it seems I have misjudged your character, Ethan DePaolo of Earth.”
“People tend to do that with us Chicagoans. We may not have the biggest or richest city, but we’ve got the most heart.”
“Heart is one thing you do, indeed, possess in abundance,” Nyvea said.
We reached the other side of the bridge and strode down the curving slope and then continued along the broad paved highway. Small stone constructions rose on either side of the avenue, but they looked more like the stalls of a marketplace or business district than a residential area. If we camped out in there, we’d be too exposed should we find ourselves facing any ghoulins.
The sound of the rushing Iron River faded as we pushed deeper into the city. The open-air stone stalls of the market were soon replaced by solid buildings that rose five or six stories tall. By the flickering light of our torches, I could see that they resembled apartment complexes, with stone balconies protruding from every level. Age had caused many of the balconies to crumble, and the rubble of shattered stone littered the surrounding area.
I glanced backward at the two women and found them both drooping with fatigue. Irenya straightened and tried to hide her exhaustion, but Arieste just gave me a tired smile. Neither of them were conditioned for the sort of long day of trekking we’d just endured. Add on the strain of using their magical powers in the fight, and they were about to collapse. We needed to find somewhere to rest soon.
We passed another empty street and found ourselves in front of a taller and stouter looking stone apartment building. The ravages of age hadn’t yet crumbled the walls or the balconies to rubble, and the double doors to enter the building were actually closed. It was as if the occupants of this building had simply gone inside and closed their doors hundreds of years earlier, then never exited.
“This is the one,” I told the Captain as I strode toward the building. “We’ll make camp here and rest a few hours until we’ve recovered.”
“Agreed,” Captain Daxos said with a nod. He and his men showed no sign of tiredness, but soldiers, cops, and firemen all tended to be stoic about their aches, pains, and fatigue. They’d lugged their heavy armor and weapons around all day long, and they had to be getting tired, too. If I didn’t have the fire and ice magic to sustain me, I knew I’d be feeling it as well.
It took Captain Daxos, Sergeant Dai, and me a surprising amount of effort to get the double doors open. Rubble clattered inside the building as we shoved the heavy wooden doors inward, and we found the interior littered with shards of splintered furniture, overturned wicker baskets, and more debris. I could almost envision the scene of panic as people raced into the building and slammed the doors shut in an attempt to keep out whatever threat roamed the streets.
The interior of the building was a lot like the modern apartment complexes on Earth. We’d entered a large space with what looked like a front desk, with two halls leading to the left and right. The left-hand hall looked less strewn with rubble, so we followed it until we found the door to the first room. Layers of dust hung thick over everything we passed, it seemed everything in the building had been thrown out of place or knocked over in a hurry to flee.
The people of Ironfast had to have been truly terrified of the demon to do this to their homes.
The dwelling inside the fourth door down the hall proved fairly neat, with far less litter on the ground and furniture still in place. There were two rooms and a sitting area, along with a small side chamber with a hole into the ground like some primitive plumbing system. There were no rear windows or doors, meaning there was only one way in and out. If we were going to face any enemies, either Emroth’s minions or Vozaath, this would be the place to do it.
“The ladies may have the first room,” Captain Daxos told me, “and you can have the other, Sir Ethan. My men and I--”
“Captain, we all need a good night of rest,” I told him firmly. “There are two beds in each room, and there are four of us that can stand watch while the women sleep an
d recover.” I turned to Arieste and Irenya. “As soon as you feel rested enough, let us know so we can move out.”
“But first, a meal, right?” Irenya asked. I saw her eyes flash toward Captain Daxos’ pack, and I knew she was thinking about those marvelous rice balls from earlier.
Captain Daxos dug a leaf-wrapped package from his bag and handed it to the women. Irenya dug into hers with her usual gusto, but Arieste nibbled at hers more delicately. The day’s exertions had left us all drained and out of conversation. It was a silent meal, then the women turned to their room without a word.
When I finished my food, I followed suit and went to the chamber I’d share with Sergeant Dai while the Captain and Lieutenant stood watch. The room was small and sparse, with two beds sized more for children than full-grown adults. I removed the dust-covered blanket until only the straw-tick mattress remained beneath. With a cloak folded beneath my head for a pillow, it was actually a pretty comfortable bed. It didn’t matter that my feet hung off the end because I could lie down on something that wasn’t hard stone. After weeks spent traveling with Sir Galfred and sleeping on the ground, this bed felt like my own back in the king’s palace, though maybe a bit dustier.
Sergeant Dai gave me his usual eloquent grunt and nod as he took the other bed. He had the soldier’s knack for falling asleep quickly, and his snores filled the room within a matter of minutes.
But even though I closed my eyes, sleep wouldn’t come. I was the only one who could detect our enemies, so I kept scanning our surroundings with the Mark of the Guardian to detect any ghoulins, implings, or Vozaath. I wasn’t sure if ghoulins could hear, smell, or sense us this deep in the building, or if we had to be within their line of sight. And what of Vozaath? The demon once hunted down and killed all the wizards of Ironfast, so did it somehow have magic-sensing abilities like me? Or was it just like an animal that killed any enemies it could find?
So many unknown quantities and it was my responsibility to keep everyone in our little party alive. Captain Daxos and his Blackguards would be handy in a fight with a small group of ghoulins, but would they be useful against Vozaath? And what happened if that horde of Emroth’s minions at the Windwall somehow found their way in here? Against endless waves of ghoulins, they’d be in serious trouble.
We all would. Our armor couldn’t hold off thousands of ghoulin claws.
The thought of armor brought back the idea I’d had earlier. With a sigh, I gave up trying to sleep and sat up in bed. I didn’t need light to see as I reached for the ice magic flowing inside me. As always, the rush of icy power set my body tingling like I’d just jumped into Lake Michigan in winter. Pain and pleasure mixed in a glorious surge of energy as the magic coursed through my veins. It strained against the confines of my flesh as if aching to burst free and take shape in the ice shield as it was created to.
It took a conscious effort to stop it from forming the dome of ice, but I had had enough practice in the last few days to work with the power. Instead of a solid, unbroken wall of ice, I focused on using the magic to form segmented plates on the surface of my scale mail. Instead of links, rings, and rivets, magic held the plates together. I built it one section at a time, piece by piece until I could hear the plates of ice clacking as I twisted my upper body. First the chest plate, then down over my waist and stomach, then the bits guarding my sides, and finally the plates to protect my shoulders and arms. These required more concentration because there were lots of tiny pieces, and despite the ice covering my body, I was soon sweating heavily from the effort of controlling the magic.
As soon as I thought I had finished, I inspected the work to see if I could move in it. I’d done something wrong with the shoulders so I couldn’t raise my arms above chest level. The section around my midsection was also too stiff to turn easily, and the side plates jabbed into my armpits when I lowered my arms.
With a quiet growl of frustration, I re-absorbed the magic as Arieste had taught me that day in Frosdar’s cave, then started from scratch. I started with the breastplate again and made sure I could lift my arms, twist at the waist, and bend without restriction. Once I was sure I’d gotten it right, I forced the magic to cling onto my scale mail armor. When I tapped it, I felt the solidity of ice strengthening the links of scale mail.
Exhilaration coursed through me at the realization of what I’d done. It would take a lot of work, but I could do it. I could fashion an entire suit of armor using the ice magic. The breastplate clinging to my scale mail required a tiny trickle of magic to sustain.
I waited breathlessly as I counted the heartbeats until I could summon the ice magic again. Two, three, four, five. But I hadn’t reached seven when the sound of muffled voices distracted me.
There was no mistaking the voices of Arieste and Irenya coming from the room next to mine. My brow furrowed in confusion as I stared at the wall beside the bed. How could I be hearing their voices through solid stone?
The sound seemed to be coming from above me, so I climbed to my feet on top of my bed. I found myself face to face with what looked like a vent set high in the wall. I could feel a gentle flow of fresh air wafting through the vent, and I marveled at the ingenuity of the Ironfast architects that had somehow found a way to bring air into the enclosed room without modern air conditioning systems. Yet all other thoughts faded as I heard Irenya’s next words.
“We just take it from him!” Her voice held an edge of steely resolve. “I will not be shackled to a mere human any longer.”
“You know as well as I that he is no mere human,” Arieste replied in a voice as strong as Irenya’s. “I have seen the way you look at him. You feel the same thing for him as I do.”
“My human body may lust after him,” Irenya said, “but my instincts tell me to fly free. I am a dragon, created to--”
“You were a dragon,” Arieste insisted. “Whatever we were created to do, that is behind us. We are humans now, and the only way that we will have access to our powers is if we stay near him.”
“Which makes us his slaves!” I could easily picture the flash of fire in Irenya’s eyes. “We are bound to him against our will.”
“And how is that any different from our bond with the altars?” Arieste asked. “You may believe you roamed free, but you know as well as I what happened when we strayed too far from the altars.”
“Our magic weakened and faded,” Irenya sighed.
“We were as bound to those caves as we are to Ethan,” Arieste continued. “We cannot stray from him or else lose our powers.”
“Thus, it is still enslavement, just to a different master,” Irenya said, and the heat had returned to her words. “Once a lump of stone in a cave, now a human of flesh and bone. So long as he holds the key to our magic, we are his prisoners as surely as if we wore chains.”
“But that’s where you’re wrong,” Arieste insisted. “Ethan is someone worth being bound to. When I swore to serve him, I did it knowing that I would seek a way to reclaim what was once mine. But over the days we spent together, I realized that I did not want to be separated from him. Even after he gave me back the power to be my true dragon self, I chose to remain because of what he is.”
“And what’s that?” Irenya said in a mocking tone.
“A good man.” Arieste’s reply was quiet yet held a great deal of force. “A man who cares for others more than himself. A man who is willing to lay down his life to protect those who cannot protect themselves. A man who sees the best in people, even when everyone else tells him that they cannot be trusted.”
I was surprised to hear silence from Irenya.
“When I wanted to kill you for what you had done as Riamod,” Arieste continued, “he insisted you be given a chance to prove that you were better than the dragon. Even knowing you intended to find a way to reclaim your power and potentially betray him in the process, he decided that it was worth giving you a chance to make the decision for yourself. That is the sort of man I have chosen to follow, magic or no. How many men l
ike that have you met in your short time as a human?”
Again, Irenya had nothing to say.
“Captain Daxos seems like one such man,” Arieste said, and I heard a cold edge in her voice. “If you choose to stay with him, I know Ethan would--”
“Captain Daxos?” Irenya snapped. “Why would I want anything to do with him?”
“The way you were carrying on the other night,” Arieste said, “you seemed quite enthralled with him.”
“Oh, please!” Irenya said with a little snort. “I was just trying to get Ethan’s attention, and what better way to do that than by paying attention to another man? Human men always want what they can’t have.”
“And how are you any better?” I heard Arieste’s voice rising in anger. “Ethan is mine, and you will not take him from me.”
“Want to bet?” Irenya said, and her voice had grown suddenly sly. “You’re not the only one trapped in one of these gorgeous-looking human bodies. Trust me, I’ve seen the way Ethan looks at me, too. He’s thinking all kinds of delicious thoughts.”
I found myself blushing hard. Once again, it felt so surreal to have the two beautiful women fighting over me. The truth was that I didn’t know what to do in this situation. I had a real connection with Arieste, but I couldn’t deny my attraction to Irenya. I wanted both women, and it seemed that both of them wanted me.
“I’m telling you,” Nyvea purred, “all of this could be solved with a three-way.” She filled my head with the image of Irenya, Arieste, and I rolling around on the double bed in their room.
“The mission, Nyvea,” I reminded her, even though I was having a hard time pushing the scene out of my mind.
“Uhhh, sorry. I am just intrigued by the thought of the three of you. I can’t help wanting to vicariously live through them.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I like both of them, and of course, I wouldn’t mind it, but I have power over them because of our magic. I don’t want to force any woman to do something with me she doesn’t want to do.”
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