Delver Magic Book I: Sanctum's Breach

by Jeff Ianniello

  The wall of the corridor was not directly behind them. Instead, the corridor itself reappeared, just as the path between the two acid pools. They had made no progress. They were back at the starting point, though now facing the open expanse.

  "Please watch yourself, Holli," Jon called out politely from behind.

  She was about to reveal what had happened when a stern rebuke came from the head of the line.

  "Ignore what you think you see," Tun commanded with a tone which revealed he did not like to repeat himself.

  Exasperated, Holli turned her attention back to the algor that walked before her. Of all that marched, she would have the most difficulty in fending off the illusions. She shuddered each time it appeared as if they were stepping into pits of acid, lava, or spikes. It was difficult for her to believe the feel of her own feet even as they landed upon solid ground and she could only look down to see waiting death.

  With all her might, she concentrated upon the steps of the algor, but she could not refrain from scanning the area for threats. Each time she surveyed the surroundings, her tension grew with leaps and bounds. They walked directly over the most blatant dangers, even as safe ground waited within a single step's distance. She wished to cry out at the idiocy of such movements, yet these same movements defied the very dangers that made themselves so evident.

  While not with the same degree of suffering, Ryson also found the march disquieting. Though it was not his training to uncover threats before they manifested themselves, he was a delver. He relied on all his senses to explore a variety of places and things. He had traveled in caves previously, crawled through tunnels which threatened collapse or leapt over gorges with no visible bottom. In these times of exploration, all of his senses guided him away from danger. It now was his task to ignore his own honed sense of vision, or at the very least, to change his perception of what he saw.

  A desire filled him to uncover the secrets behind the illusions. He began to focus upon guessing what was real and what was deception before they moved upon it. With his keen eyesight, he sought the gems which created the magic of these mirages. He struggled to perceive that which might reveal the presence of illusion by seeing beyond the actual mirage and sensing the unnatural bend of light. At times, he was actually successful. He attuned his sight to the slightest wavering of an apparent solid structure, or the blur of distortion in visible open space. Several times he would predict correctly when Tun would move away from apparent safety, walk through a solid wall, or step toward an illusion of waiting catastrophe.

  These desires, however, split his concentration. He was torn between watching the steps of Lauren and searching for hidden answers to the illusions. He knew such distractions were dangerous, but as Holli scanned for threats which were invisible to her, his instincts kept him searching for answers.

  The march proceeded through many corridors, past two curtains of darkness, over and around hundreds of pitfalls, all without a single incident. Tun managed each turn with unfailing memory. Countless times, they walked uncomfortably close to waiting death, but death was always avoided. The cliff behemoth's size brought him within a cat's whisker of destruction on many occasion, but he walked as calmly and as confidently as Tun, as if he knew Godson was guiding his every step.

  After throngs of twists and turns, after a period of travel where time now had little meaning to any of them, they reached the center of yet another long corridor. Tun stopped, as if to step through yet another wall. He did not, however, move beyond his present position. Instead, he turned to face those that had unfailingly followed his every move.

  "We have successfully crossed the first tier," he stated without emotion. No hint of sadness, relief or joy existed in his expression or voice. He looked over them all with a stone cold glance. He saw the confusion in their faces which merely served to irritate him. "I told you you would not be able to see it. The door to the next level is here." He pointed to ordinary looking ground. There was nothing which indicated a door of any kind. Shaking his head and muttering, he bent down as if to prove its existence by opening the invisible passage.

  As he reached, Stephen realized what he was about to do and bid him to wait.

  Chapter 26

  Stephen's words did not form that of a command, the interpreter would never even consider giving orders to the heir to the throne of Dunop, but they were brisk and direct. More of a grave warning shaded his request, a sense of imminent disaster animated his features.

  "Please do not open that!" Stephen bent over to be seen by Tun, whose hand remained poised to open a door which was still not visible.

  Tun stopped. He pulled his hand back as if it neared acid. He took no offense at the abrupt appeal, for he understood its true intention. He had led them though a sea of hidden traps, death shrouded by the illusions of the gems. He had bluntly ordered all that followed to heed his every move. He had done so because he knew that failure waited in the form of an agonizing end, but now the journey through his maze was complete. The tier of the humans waited beyond the invisible door, and it held secrets of which he did not know.

  He could not find fault with Stephen Clarin, and would not cast an angry stare in his direction. Tun bore only limited knowledge of what waited beyond this door. While the dwarves constructed the tiers, laid the foundation for Sanctum, he had no idea of what waited within them. He knew there would be a second stone staircase, for the dwarves had built such steps for all the tiers, but he could not know what horror waited within the tier to create the human obstacle to the sphere.

  With this realization, came another. It was time for him to relinquish command. The moment of his authority over them had slipped away, and all too short for his liking. A passive role awaited him now. The secret of the dwarves, his secret, had been revealed. Nothing remained of the dwarves' obstacle, nothing which he might assist in overcoming. The knowledge of the remaining barriers was within the minds of others. It was now their lead which he must follow.

  This understanding left him bitter, humiliated. Once this door was open, he would sink to the back of the pack and be led about like an orphan. He and his brother, princes in Dunop, dwarves of unlimited stature, would be relegated to the roles of peasants that followed mindlessly.

  His pride called for him to leave Sanctum entirely; better for him to walk away as if the rest were not of his concern. He was too important to tag about like some duckling. Let the others proceed without him. An heir to the throne never need follow. The urge was strong, but two considerations kept him in place.

  First, he needed to see the end of the sphere. The gift of knowledge that the Sword of Decree placed in his mind remained as crisp as if he still held its handle. The destruction of the sphere meant life to the dwarves. His acknowledgment of this need would see him through this, even if it meant crawling at the rear.

  Second, there was the opportunity to learn of what the other races placed in Sanctum. He found pleasure in this. Soon, he would not be alone in revealing that which protected the most infamous talisman of all. The humans, the algors, and especially the elves; they would all have to face the sacrilege of professing their most guarded of secrets. He would not miss this. Again, he would follow as long as it meant the others would be forced into the same indignity of conceding that precious knowledge. It was now time for the humans to reveal their portion of the mystery behind Sanctum, and he waited eagerly.

  Stephen began. He spoke of the human secret as openly as he might speak of the passing weather. If any emotion painted his words, it was detachment, as if he wished to distance himself from what he was about to reveal. He always failed to comprehend the underlying justification for the waiting atrocities whenever he pondered the secret.

  Unlike Tun, there was never any pride for him in this secret. He held it with respect, recognized the responsibility of being its bearer, but for him, the secret itself created only apprehension over the human ability to create such horrible devises.

  "The tier that waits beyond t
his door holds death as subtle as the traps which surround us now, but without the innovation of illusions. The barrier is as cold and as stark as the knowledge that created it. Mostly it is in the form of poison, poison which in its basic composition would not deteriorate with age no matter how long it was trapped within this rock. Poison vapors, tainted gases, invisible toxins, and dreadful contaminates; all things that could withstand time and remain deadly were placed within the human tier."

  Stephen noted the curious expressions mixed with the distasteful. The mere mention of the poison struck a disquieting chord with the elves that even now were battling against the taint of the free-flowing magic. The others appeared more burdened with the extent and the number of toxins which waited within the tier. Their faces expressed reservation, and Stephen felt compelled to define the secret in greater detail, to reveal it as it was explained to him.

  "More than any other race, humans have always been most concerned with science." He spoke dryly, keeping his distaste for the subject under wraps. "That is why most have chosen to ignore the legends, even ignore Godson. Humans look for definitive principles to explain mysteries. Even during the time before the sphere, we as a race surged forward in the study of natural laws such a physics, chemistry, and biology. Being so far advanced in these studies, it is no wonder they placed in Sanctum what they did. With a knowledge of poison gases and liquids, the humans used a mix of elements which would snuff out our lives even before we were aware of their existence.

  "You see, the humans at that time were not quite sure which poisons would be the most effective, so they placed several within their tier. They knew that different gases would have different attributes. Apparently, they wished to contaminate the area with poisons which guaranteed the death of any intruder, no matter what race or what immunity. The tier was divided very modestly by brick walls. The walls do not present a true obstacle, they do not even stretch from side to side of the mountain. They merely create chambers, pockets to hold and separate the different gases.

  "The chambers also hold pools of synthetic liquids which would not evaporate, but would constantly react to create more and more poisonous gas. Thus, as time wore on, the concentration of poison would increase, making it more deadly now than it has ever been. Some gases were designed to be heavier than the air and sink to the ground. The poison waits for an intruder to walk by, to stir it up, and to finally inhale. Others mix with the air, wait like a death cloud."

  He stopped, gritted his teeth, and only continued after his sorrow became quite apparent.

  "The designers of the barrier weren't satisfied with just the poison gases. They apparently wanted something with a greater dramatic effect as well, so they put in another trap to stop entry. It's set to go off when we break the seal of this door. It was made airtight before the humans handed over the last tier to the dwarves. Within are compounds which consumed and removed the trapped air with slow precision. As the chemicals aged, they also altered into a substance which would now ignite at any new inflow of fresh air. So if you opened that door now, we would all be incinerated.

  "Unfortunately, it doesn't even end there. Another diabolical obstacle is present. Glowing stones wait within the far corners. They give off no traceable gas, but they will kill more terribly. Without protection we would become sick almost instantly, fall to our knees as our very skin would peel from our bodies. Our sight would grow pale. Even if we could escape before total immobility consumed us, we would not escape the slow death. It has been told to me that once contact is made with these glowing rocks, death is irreversible."

  The magnitude of his last statement was punctuated by its echo through Sanctum's uppermost cavern. The telling of mysterious rocks with such power chased away any warmth that drained from their magically heated clothes.

  "If such is the case," Holli questioned with a cold calculating tone, "how is it you intend for us to enter? I would expect only Dzeb is resistant to flame and these glowing rocks carry a burden which sounds heavy to face." She waited patiently for a response, but she listened with intensity, as if attending her training sessions all over again.

  Stephen gestured with an open hand toward Lauren who stood behind him. A sense of pride flushed away his remorse. He spoke near exaltedly that a blessing of power bestowed upon one human might counteract the misdeeds of others. "She has the power to protect us. That is why she is needed. She has the knowledge and ability to cast a field of protection around us all. Just as such a field will protect us from the flames and the stones; it will hold within it the untainted air which surrounds us now. We will be able to breathe without facing the gas, just as we are protected from the death of the glowing rocks."

  The statement bristled in Lauren's ears. The pressure became insurmountable. She burst into tears, wringing her hands at her chest. "You ask too much. I can't do it."

  The outburst caught Stephen off guard. He stood stupefied as Lauren stood nearly doubled over, wailing with frustration and fear.

  "I can't control it! I don't want to be here. None of this is my fault!" Her outburst grew and soon she could not mouth the thoughts which weighed upon her. She closed her eyes as tightly as possible. Her skin wrinkled above her cheeks and at the corners of her eyes. Uncontrollable moans echoed through the cavern just as her tears began falling to the ground.

  They stood about her, confused and tense. They looked about at each other, not wanting to stare at the grief stricken girl, and not knowing what to say to relieve her strain.

  Finally, Stephen brought his own surprise under control, but he could not hide his confusion. "Lauren, we talked about this before, talked about it before I brought you to the church. You believed you could do it."

  "I was wrong." It was all she could do to blurt out those three words.

  Stephen patted her on the back lightly as she coughed out more tears. "Just calm down. Take a moment to breath. We're not going to go forward without you, so you have all the time you need."

  Lauren pulled her hands apart and clenched them into fists. She held them so tightly that her nails made indentations in the flesh of her palms. The pain in her hands allowed her to concentrate upon something other than the stone walls that surrounded them. Slowly, she brought her moans to a near stop. The corners of her eyes remained wet with tears, but they no longer streamed down her cheeks. With a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes.

  "I can't protect so many," she spoke in a shakily controlled voice. It remained raspy even as she swallowed hard. "Look at how large the cliff behemoth is. How can I cast something so big to protect us all?" Her eyes beseeched all of them to understand, to realize what was being asked of her. She did not want these powers which now took hold of her. She did not want to be held responsible for protecting them all. Her head swerved about, taking in their confused expressions. She looked for compassionate understanding, but found bewilderment instead. Her head dropped and her eyes sank to the ground in depression.

  Holli considered the matter with the logic of a guard. She weighed Lauren's concern and offered the first solution to the problem. "We can reduce our numbers, if that is the only way to pass. Both Lief and I know what waits in the tier of the elves. It is not necessary for us both to go. One can remain behind, with both Jon and Tun. The dwarf tier is passed, and there is no need for them to continue forward. We can wait here for your return once you obtain the sphere. Perhaps, it is also possible for one of the algors to remain behind, and even Stephen. If it the sorceress' power which will lead you through, he can give instructions before you enter. If this can be done, we can cut the size of the party in half. Will this help you, sorceress?"

  She barely lifted her head. Her response was inaudible.

  Tun's, however, was not. "I will not remain behind!" he commanded with his usual authority. "As you have seen the revelation of the dwarf secret, I will see to yours. I will also see the destruction of the sphere to the end. I will not remain behind."

  The algors spoke together and spoke as if they did
not hear Tun's outburst. "Only one algor is necessary. It was your decision to send two. But another must decide who stays and who continues."

  Even the mere thought of making yet another division of the algors agonized the delver. His objection, however, was covered by the protests of another.

  "A separation is not necessary," Stephen stated loudly but calmly. "Lauren has the power to protect us all. I know it and she knows it."

  A light sob came from the sorceress who still stood with her head bowed and her face concealed.

  Stephen continued with a mix of compassion and resolve filling his speech. "I realize you are not a follower of Godson, Lauren. You don't understand the power that guided me to you. If you did, you'd lose your fears. But while you don't understand my faith, I know you understand the power within you, a power which you can control. The barrier you must create will be large, I realize that, but you can do this."

  Her head jolted up. Her eyes and nose were red, her face blotched with the strain of emotion. "I don't want to do it!" she nearly screamed.

  "Bah!" Tun released.

  "Alright, that's enough." Ryson turned aside the cold stare from the dwarf and placed his attention upon the sorceress. He sheathed his sword so the brilliant radiance would not be centered upon her. The level of light dropped significantly as only the strategically placed light gems offered any illumination. Many of the walls which surrounded them appeared to shift in size and shape. New paths emerged. Different traps became revealed, some real, some illusion; the change all due to the shift in light.

  Ryson ignored the alterations. He spoke softly to Lauren, in words that revealed his understanding. "Ignore him, and for a moment, ignore everything else. Stop worrying about what's happening to you. It's not helping you. You can wish with all your might that it would stop, but I don't think it's going to help. You're probably telling yourself over and over again that you didn't ask for this, didn't want it. All you want is to go back to the way things were, when you were no different than everybody else you knew."