by Paul Kidd
Once Sir Olthwaite’s attention was partially divided, Escallastealthily slipped off her anti-charm ring and dropped it in Jus’ palm. TheJusticar traded it for his own bone ring, shielding the faerie from view until the ring slipped it in place upon her finger. With a happy salute, Escalla flipped her wings wide and turned invisible, the magic light bobbing softly as she flew into the corridor.
She flew a mere ten feet and then screeched in pain. An instant later, a hot gold piece came flying at the Justicar.
“My lucky gold piece!” Visible again, the girl rubbed angrilyat her cleavage. “Damned thing almost branded me!”
“You’ll get it back.” Jus caught the rapidly cooling coin andtucked it into his scabbard. “Tell me you didn’t swallow any coins.”
The girl raised one brow, put her fingers against her stomach, and looked a little blank. “Are pearls metallic?”
“Not that I’ve heard.”
“Oh, good.” The girl turned invisible again. “Well, undead,here I come!”
She flew off into the unknown, her light glittering from the great copper slabs lining the passage walls. Far down the tunnel, the light seemed to flare as it caught the walls of a larger room. Escalla’s cheery littlevoice could be heard echoing out into the halls.
“Helloooo!” The light swirled and bobbed. “Yoo-hoooo!Undead? The vampire crusher is here!”
There was a sudden sound of a door crashing open, followed by a chorus of bestial snarls. Escalla’s war cry could be heard as frost and mistcame billowing down the metal corridor. Whooping, the unseen girl blasted at her enemies.
“Oh, you want some of this? Yeah? You want some more?”
Frosty vapors drifted into the copper passageway, and Jus lunged forward to the tunnel mouth.
“Escalla!”
“Hey, I’m fine!” The faerie could be seen framed against thelight as she waved her new magic wand above her head. “Oh, man, this thing iswild!”
“What happened?”
“Dunno. Some kind of ghouls or something. I froze them intocorpsicles!” The faerie turned a cartwheel in the air. “Come on down! Thewater’s fine!”
It was easier said than done. The Justicar carefully held a coin out into the corridor, dropping it when it suddenly became hot enough to scorch him through his leather glove. The coin hissed steam as it hit the water and disappeared from view.
Simply tying the arms and armor into a bundle and towing it through the corridor would be useless. The metal would heat itself enough to burn through the ropes. Jus removed his helmet, scratched at his head stubble and then settled his ideas. After long moments, inspiration came, and he settled into the details of a proper plan.
“Escalla, come back! Olthwaite, watch the rear.”
The faerie drifted into view, waving her wand over her head.
“Ta-daaaaah! Hey, killing undead is a real breeze. I maystart renting myself out.”
“Don’t get too fond of it. None of them have hit you yet.”The man lifted his arm to provide Escalla with a perch. “What’s down thecorridor?”
“Icicles and ghouls! There’s a dead priestess in the room,all eaten up.” Escalla waved a potion over her head. “She was carrying this,though. Pretty useful, huh?”
“Good.” Jus took the potion and tossed it to Polk. “Did youfigure out the wand?”
“Oh, it’s a frost thingie! It shoots out a cone of cold.” Thefaerie pointed at three different runes upon the side. “Red means kill, this onemakes a great big ice wall, but I dunno what the last one means. The blue line fades as its charges wear out.” The wand looked to be about two-thirds empty.“Pretty hoopy, huh?”
“You need it. It gives you a sting.” The Justicar looked downat the paladin’s pile of armor. “We can use it, too.”
The room at the far end of the tunnel seemed no more dangerous than half a dozen traps already passed and gone. Jus faced the passageway and folded his arms in thought.
“Paladin, why didn’t you go farther?” The man narrowed hiseyes as he glared into the dark. “The wights were dead, the priestess hadtraversed the copper tunnel…”
“I had no allies.” Sir Olthwaite tugged at his wet, filthyundersuit. “Dungeons are dangerous. I felt it best to find some companionsbefore proceeding farther. I searched-and I found you.”
“Go down the tunnel, then. It’s safe.” Jus held out his handfor the man’s sword. “Leave your sword and we’ll tow it through.”
“How? A rope will burn through within sixty feet!”
“The wand.” Jus took a blanket from Polk’s backpack andsoaked it in the water. “We wrap the weapons and freeze them inside a block ofice. We wrap the block with groundsheets and tow it through the water, moving at a run.”
“Ah!” The paladin stroked his moustache. “Then I shall helpyou. By all means bundle the weapons and metal.”
“Scout the passage.” Dark and forbidding, the Justicarrefused to look at the man. “Make sure there’re no obstacles in the water. Polkand I will do the carrying. It’s going to be dirty work.”
Sir Olthwaite took a torch and began to walk down the tunnel. Happily playing with her wand, Escalla encased armor, weapons, and sundry bits of treasure inside a block of ice. Polk seemed to approve of the whole idea and began wrapping the mass in cloaks and blankets.
Jus wore leather armor, but his belt had a metal buckle. After removing the belt, he tied his trousers up with string. As he did so, he moved quietly closer to the faerie.
“Follow Sir Olthwaite.”
“You got it!” The faerie worked the slide on her wand with aharsh clack-clack, setting it to kill. “See you in a few minutes.”
The faerie sped away. Jus and Polk lifted the big block of ice between them on a cradle of blankets. They looked at one another, drew a deep breath, and then ran like hell through the corridor.
Water foamed about their shins as they blundered through the mire. Steam rose from the ungainly ice block as the metal inside began to overheat. Halfway down the passageway, the ice gave a crack. With the block dripping and already beginning to sag, Polk and Jus careened into the open room and hurled the ice block over at a set of stairs. The ice split, and heated metal tumbled in the steam. Jus dove to retrieve Escalla’s golden ring. He cooled it with a chunk of ice and jammed it onto his finger before reaching down to rescue his helmet and sword.
Carefully inspecting his much-cherished sword, the Justicar slowly relaxed. The blade seemed unharmed. Rubbing the pommel with ice until it cooled, Jus slid the weapon back into the leather scabbard at his belt. The silky click of the sword sinking home sounded loud and comforting.
The chamber at the end of the copper passage was square. Issuing from a still-open secret panel were a group of fanged, skeletal humanoids all frozen in ice. Frost starred the walls and had frozen the floors into a sheet of ice. Escalla hovered self-importantly above the frozen ghouls, hoping that someone would choose to comment upon her handiwork.
The one man who saw fit to make a fuss was Polk. Overjoyed, the teamster licked the end of his wax marker as he circled the ghouls.
“Eight! She got eight! Now this girl has the right stuff!”Polk began scribbling notes into his chronicles. “Beauty and brains, son! Takeheed!” The man shot a glance up at Escalla. “Can I write ‘mistress of mayhem’?”
“As long as you don’t mention my leather duds in the sameparagraph, sure!” The faerie polished her knuckles on one breast. “Did I mentionthe fact that I took ’em all in one shot?”
“I’ll put it in big letters.” Polk suddenly seemed farhappier with his day. “Now see? There’s no reason not to fight fair. No slimesneeded. You’re a combat kitten now!”
With her head swollen, the faerie drifted down to watch her companions rescuing their gear. The paladin had not yet bothered to climb back into his armor. Escalla kept her eye casually upon Sir Olthwaite’s back as shecame closer to the ground. “So, Jus, nothing broken?”
“Doesn’t look like it.” The Justicar
tossed Sir Olthwaite hissilver sword. “Here.”
The paladin caught the weapon with a deft left-handed catch, then used the implement to point at a set of steps leading up out of the muck. The top of the steps had been sealed off with a door made out of something akin to solid ivory. Runes had been inscribed about a central indentation, and the whole portal had been fixed deep into the living stone. The door seemed massive, solid, and unbreakable.
Looking over at the new discovery, Cinders gave a sniff and then a sudden sneeze. Bah! Magic! Strong magic!
There seemed to be no explosive runes. Jus walked up to the white door and wiped it with a fingertip. The surface was free of algae, and the edges of the runes still showed stone dust that had drifted from above.
“This is new construction. The rest of the dungeon is old,but this has only been here a few days.”
Escalla flew over and pushed at the door, then twisted at a ring-latch set below the runes and said, “I can’t turn it.”
“It’ll be a mystic clue.” Polk looked immenselyself-important. “One of us should talk to it and see what it wants!”
No one seemed keen to speak to the dungeon fittings just yet. Watched intently by Sir Olthwaite, the Justicar held up his light and carefully traced the patterns cut into the door.
Someone had already unsuccessfully tried to break the door down. Mud marks showed where a foot had kicked at the ivory. Jus touched the still-wet mud then returned to the runes.
“Glyphs.” The man traced two symbols on either side of theindentation in the door. “Sir Olthwaite?”
“Glyphs are for rangers and priests.” Intensely interested,the paladin edged closer. “Can you read them?”
“Yup.” The ranger stood. “The one on the left means ‘good’.The one on the right is ‘blood’.” Jus carefully removed his gauntlet. “It’s amagic lock.”
The man nicked his thumb and pressed a droplet into the hollow of the door. A heavy click sounded as the door unlocked itself and suddenly sprang open. Jus snorted, licked his cut, and looked into the corridor beyond.
A shocking whip crack echoed through the hall. Sir Olthwaite lashed out his rope and snapped it about the ranger’s neck. With a scream oftriumph, the paladin seemed to swell, a new creature bursting up out of the abandoned skin. White wings unfolded as a naked female figure discarded her disguise to the floor.
Wrapped in a scorched magic rope, Jus snarled and rolled aside. Naked, savage, and powerful, the erinyes laughed in triumph and flung out a clawed hand toward the faerie girl.
Magic twisted through the air to slam into Escalla. “Obey me!Kill the others with your wand!”
The faerie rocked beneath the magic blast, then held up her hand with the Justicar’s magic ring and gave a nasty smile.
“Think again, bitch!”
Escalla turned the wand upon the erinyes. Screaming in anger and frustration, the devil-woman instantly fled. With Jus still in her line of fire, the faerie could only curse and fire her web spell down the hall to block the erinyes’ escape. The devil-creature gave a peal of laughter and evaded theweb with ease, disappearing quickly into the dark.
Swearing, Escalla stared into the dark and hunted targets for her wand.
“Damn it!” Furious, Escalla half-made to fly after theerinyes. “Jus! Do I ice the bitch?”
“Stay together!” The big man managed to wrench himself freefrom the erinyes’ abandoned rope. “She can’t beat us if we stay together!”
Escalla swore and slammed her little fist against the wall.
“She’s after Blackrazor!” The girl shouted curses. “Damn it!I thought the paladin was just an agent for one of the temples!”
Polk blinked. Still covered by wet scraps of Sir Olthwaite’sold skin, the man sat on the floor in a daze.
“You-you knew he wasn’t a paladin?”
Annoyed with himself, Jus gave a growl.
“A baatezu. No wonder the creature couldn’t use a healingpotion.” The Justicar cursed himself as he carefully coiled the erinyes’ magicrope. “But Cinders hated him so much I thought he must have really been apaladin!”
“Well, good boy, Cinders.” Escalla patted the hound upon thehead. “You tried to tell us.”
Cinders good dog! Evil smell gone!
The faerie cocked an eye at jus and asked, “Hey, erinyes comefrom somewhere really awful, don’t they? Are they immune to hell hound fire?”
“Yup.” Jus scratched at Cinders’ snout. “So I’m told.”
“Ah well, he can gnaw off the bits of her when we’re done!Pooch, sniff deep and start tracking!” Escalla assumed combat stance in midair,her wand covering the way ahead. “Jus, let’s go make some iced devil-bitch!”
21
“You have got to be kidding!”
Fluttering in midair, Escalla looked down at the floor of the dungeon’s latest room. Two trenches blocked access across the floor, and thebottom of each trench was filled with jagged, rusted blades. The floor between the two ditches gleamed as slick as polished silver.
Escalla thoughtfully hovered above the floor and touched it with a fingertip. The floor was so smooth that it would be impossible to keep a grip. It was literally slipperier than grease and made a deadly trap between the two pits. Were Polk or Jus to venture out onto the floor, they would fall, slide down, and come to a grisly end.
“Lovely.” Becoming more annoyed by the obstacle course,Escalla breathed out an angry puff of breath and shook her head. “I gotta getyou two guys some wings!” The girl twisted her wand in frustration. “Jus, ifyou’re going to get an idea, get it quick! That bitch is getting away!”
Standing in the doorway and measuring the room with his eyes, Jus drummed fingers on the pommel of his sword. Above his helmet, Cinders sniffed at the air, keeping watch for the elusive erinyes.
Polk peered out from behind the Justicar, uncorking his scroll case to once again begin his chronicles. He shook his head sadly as he flicked a glance at the Justicar.
“Son, the place has got you this time! Stymied! Flummoxed!This is the end of the road.” The teamster licked his wax marker and began towrite. “You just weren’t up to the challenge of evil, I guess.”
“Polk, shut up.” The Justicar nodded over at Escalla. “Thatwand of yours… Can you mold an ice wall into different shapes?”
“What? You mean ice sculpt?” The girl looked at her wand.“Dunno. You want me to do you a nice little elf or a dragon?”
Jus gave the girl an impatient glare. “Lay an ice wall on thefloor like a sheet. Bridge the pits. Polk and I will slide over on the ice.”
“Hey, now that’s thinking!” Escalla unstrapped herweapon. “This thing doesn’t have that many charges left, though. I’ve probablyonly got a dozen shots before I have to get it recharged.”
Despite the drawbacks, the Justicar’s plan was the bestpossible solution. Happy to be useful, Escalla thumbed her wand and flew backward, the ice wand hosing frost down onto the ground. A broad layer of ice made a flat road along the frictionless floor and above its two chasms. Escalla gave the ice an extra layer of thickness beneath the bridges, then switched off the wand and fanned away the frost vapors with her wings.
A gleaming causeway now stretched across the room. Six inches thick, the ice glittered as it stretched above the trenches and their rusty blades. More than satisfied, Escalla fluttered down to rap a bridge with her knuckles. The echo rattled through the hall.
“Solid as a frost giant’s privy!” The faerie rubbed her handstogether and looked expectantly at the two humans. “All right, guys, it’s overto you!”
Jus grabbed Polk’s backpack full of gear and threw it skatingacross the room, following it with the magic trident and hammer. The ranger then grabbed Polk by the belt and the scruff of his neck and held him facedown above the ground.
Struggling like a captured bug, Polk thrashed and stammered in fright.
“No, son! Stop! I can’t go!” The teamster wailed as he felthimself being swung to and fro.
“Son, someone has to outlive you to write thechronicles! Son, just think this through!”
With a mighty heave, Jus sent Polk shooting like a toboggan over the ice. The man gibbered as he whizzed above the razor-sharp spikes. When he hit the far wall, he clung like a monkey to the stone.
From the far side of the hall, Jus frowned and asked, “Areyou all right?”
“Yes, dagnabbit!”
“Damn.”
The Justicar shook his head then sank carefully down on all fours. He arranged Cinders carefully across his back and slid slowly upon his belly out on the ice. He used rags bound about his gloves to give him some grip as he stolidly wormed his way above the lethal traps.
Escalla hovered overhead, being rather less than helpful and beating time with her hands. “Come on! Hurry-hurry-hurry-hurry-hurry! Wehave to beat the erinyes to the sword!”
Ice creaked and groaned in the gloomy hall. As Jus reached the mid-point of the first bridge, the ice suddenly fractured beneath his weight. Long cracks whipped out across the bridge and a flake of ice fell tinkling from the bridge’s underside. The man froze, his eyes wide as he feltthe entire bridge threatening to give way.
Flitting between the ranger and the exit, Escalla irritably drummed her wand with her fingertips. “Hey Jus, did I mention the need for alittle speed here?”
The man sent her a furious look and slithered carefully on his way. The second bridge seemed even thinner and more brittle than the first. Jus blew out a breath, tested the ice with his hand, then slid carefully across the ice.
As he began to cross the second bridge, Escalla came closer and whispered, “Do you need a push or something?”
With a snarl of annoyance, the ranger rose up onto his hands and shouted, “Shut up! It’s slippery, and the stuff’s too damned thin!”
A cracking sound came from the bridge, and Jus’ eyes wentwide. With a sudden snap, the whole mass broke free. Escalla screamed in fright as the bridge slammed down onto the steel blades below. The faerie flung her hands to her face and flew through a cloud of frost to flap madly in the air.
