The Queen of Dragons (Tales from the New Earth Book 8)

by J. J. Thompson

  “Of course I do. But I want to be intact, all limbs attached, when I do. Have you actually used this spell before?”

  “Nope, not even once,” she replied evenly. “I've never had the occasion to try. But if Simon says it works, then it works. So what's it to be? Down? Or out?”

  Aiden stepped up to the open door of the ruined elevator car.

  “Down. Definitely down.”

  “Okay then. Take my hand.”

  Tamara extended her left hand and the warrior took it with his right, careful not to apply too much pressure.

  “Good.”

  The mage slipped the notebook back into her pocket, drew the wand from her belt and began to chant. Some of the words were so alien and guttural that Aiden stared at her in amazement, shocked that the human voice could even emit such sounds.

  When she was finished, Tamara motioned for her mage light to follow just above their heads and looked at the warrior.

  He nodded at her and she returned it.

  “Invectis,” she murmured and stepped off of the edge of the pit into emptiness.

  Without hesitation, Aiden moved with her. For a moment, he felt like he'd just made a terrible, fatal mistake. And then he felt something, like a gentle, giant hand, slip beneath his feet and support him as he and Tamara began to sink toward the bottom of the deep pit.

  “Holy crap, it works!” he exclaimed with a surprised laugh.

  The mage grinned back.

  “Simon comes through again,” she said happily. “This is amazing.”

  “Do I hear some relief in your voice?” Aiden asked, teasing her.

  “Maybe just a little. Oh, not because I doubted the spell, but I was worried that I'd misspeak a word. That would have been very bad.”

  They descended slowly, almost painfully so, and it gave the pair a chance to listen closely for any distant sounds.

  The horrid screaming did not repeat itself but something else began to echo around them as they approached the bottom. It was a strange, chittering sound.

  Dry, snapping noises. Hissing and scratching.

  Aiden and Tamara looked at each other, wide-eyed.

  “What is that?” the warrior whispered.

  “I don't know,” the mage muttered. “But whatever it is, it's sounds like it's getting closer. Get ready.”

  The warrior drew his sword and slipped his shield off of his back.

  “Cast a shield when we hit bottom,” he said. “I'll move forward to give you room.”

  “Shouldn't we...?”

  Aiden cut her off with a stern look.

  “I need room to fight. You need room to cast. Don't wait for me; just get a shield up. I'll be out of your way by the time you do.”

  Tamara nodded in acceptance. Aiden was the expert when it came to battle and she bowed to his knowledge.

  “We're about to land,” he said a few seconds later. “I'm going in three...two...one...”

  Chapter 13

  “What's this place called?” Sebastian asked as they made their way up a sloping tunnel.

  “The Grand Gallery,” Liliana replied as she walked ahead a few yards.

  She looked up at the vaulted ceiling that transformed the tunnel into an awesome cathedral-like space. Around them, the sound of their echoing steps made it seem like there was an entire troop of people stomping through the pyramid, not just the two of them. It was unnerving as it sounded like there were others following them, unseen in the darkness beyond Sebastian's globe of light.

  “Stop a moment,” she said abruptly.

  The mage halted and almost tripped over his own feet.

  “What is it?”

  “Shh!”

  They stood silently in the oppressive heat, listening to the distance creaks and groans of the immense edifice around them.

  Finally the paladin shrugged and began walking again.

  “Sorry, I guess it was nothing.”

  Sebastian stared at her armored back and looked around nervously. If Liliana was skittish, then he was really worried.

  He saw nothing back in the solid wall of blackness behind him and hurried to catch up with the paladin.

  “I'm still thinking about those scuff marks around the pit in the other tunnel,” he said to Liliana.

  She continued to walk forward, not looking back at him, but he saw her nodding.

  “I am as well. I still can't decide if something was dragged into that hole, or climbed out of it. Either of those thoughts is worrisome.”

  “Why?”

  The paladin stopped again and waited for Sebastian to catch up with her.

  “Because we're here to find Simon,” she told him, her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. “If something was dragged into that pit, it could have been him. On the other hand, if something crawled out of that hole, it could be waiting for us in the chamber ahead.”

  “You're in a gloomy mood, aren't you?”

  Liliana met his eyes and forced a smile.

  “Maybe it's just this place; the silence, the darkness, the weight of the tons of rock over our heads. I'll be fine once we finish our search, so let's get on with it.”

  She started off again and Sebastian hung back, still checking over his shoulder every few seconds.

  They had already crawled through the narrow passageway into the Queen's chamber, which was below the Grand Gallery, but all they had found was dust. There were some marks on the ground in there, but they couldn't identify them.

  A low doorway at the top of the gallery marked the entrance into the King's Chamber and the pair waited a moment once they had reached it.

  “Is it just me or is the smell barely noticeable up here?” Sebastian asked as he sniffed the still air.

  Liliana did the same and then turned her head to sneeze.

  “Sorry,” she said when the mage jumped in surprise. “It's the dust. Allergies. You're right, though. I can barely smell anything. The heat is worse here though. It sounds strange to say this, but I'll be happy to get out of here and into the cooler desert air. I just don't understand how a building this big can be so hot inside. It's not natural.”

  Sebastian dabbed his forehead on his sleeve.

  “It has to be,” he disagreed. “It's not like the pyramid has a furnace or whatever. But don't worry about crawling out of here when we're ready to leave. I'll Gate us home directly.”

  The paladin smiled in genuine relief.

  “That sounds good. Okay, follow me and we'll get this done. Watch your head.”

  They carefully slipped through the low tunnel, Sebastian's magic globe bobbing ahead of them to light their way. A small bare room opened up around them and a second low passage led out of it again.

  “The King's Chamber is directly through there,” Liliana said, nodding at the opening.

  Sebastian wrinkled his nose as he entered the square room.

  “I take it back. That stench is strong again.”

  He coughed and waved his hand in front of his nose.

  “Good God, strong is the wrong word. It's so thick, I can almost see it. Yuck.”

  Liliana scowled at the second tunnel.

  “It's coming from in there. Get ready with your Shield spell.”

  She drew her sword and settled her buckler on her left arm.

  “I'm going in,” she said grimly and lowered her head to enter the tunnel.

  Several things happened as the paladin disappeared into the low passage. From behind them, Sebastian heard a sudden scraping, rasping sound. The incantation for his Shield spell tripped off of his tongue reflexively and his barrier slammed into existence around him.

  Something had surged into the tunnel behind him and smashed into the magical barricade. A stench of burned hair and flesh was followed by a screech of pain and rage.

  “Christ!” he blurted out as he stumbled backwards. “What the hell is that?”

  A long black appendage, tipped with a dripping claw, scraped at his shield making it spark and flare. A second
wail of anger followed and the leg was withdrawn.

  “Liliana!” the mage bellowed. “We have company!”

  The ring of metal and a loud bang sounded from the next chamber.

  “Tell me about it!” the paladin shouted. “Just hang on a minute until I kill these ones.”

  These ones? What was she talking about?

  Sebastian focused on his own problems. He knew that Liliana could handle herself.

  The mage began chanting. He raised both hands, intoning his favorite offensive spell and then waited. Small glowing balls of force spun above his open palms and he glared at the gaping tunnel.

  “Come on, whatever you are. Come on in and say hello.”

  His opponent answered the challenge.

  A massive body, scaly and pale with ragged patches of black fur sticking out in all directions, pushed into the chamber, shoving Sebastian back as his shield was compressed by the mass of his foe.

  Whatever the creature was, its skin and fur was burning as it attacked the magical shield. It was roaring continuously as it flailed at the barrier with a half dozen spiny appendages tipped with poisonous claws. Its wailing was deafening in the small space.

  Sebastian's fear was submerged as his anger took over. He glared at the horror, his robe flapping around him as a magical wind began to swirl through the room. His hair lifted like an aura as he focused his power.

  “Invectis!” he shouted and thrust his palms forward.

  A hellish barrage of blazing missiles shot across the room and slammed into the monster. Flesh and blood burst out of the heavy body and the smell of burnt meat and hair became even thicker. Several of the groping limbs were ripped off of the creature's body and it was blasted out of the room by the force of the mage's spell.

  Sebastian quickly chanted a second spell, breathing heavily, and then waited to see what the attacker would do next. He spat several times to clear the acidic taste of bile from his throat and blinked rapidly to try to see through the heavy smoke of burned flesh that filled the room.

  A single long arm skittered through the doorway, scraped several times at the floor and then went limp. There was no noise from the tunnel and, after waiting a moment, the mage decided that his attacker was either too badly injured to continue the attack, or dead.

  He spun around and canceled his shield so that he could follow Liliana into the King's Chamber. Only now did he realize that the paladin was still fighting her own battle and he hurried into the tunnel as the sounds of fighting filled his ears.

  As he burst into the chamber, Sebastian realized that his mage globe had returned to illuminate his own fight with whatever had attacked him, leaving Liliana to battle in complete darkness. At least he assumed that, until he entered the next room.

  The paladin's armor was glowing silver, as bright as the light on a moonlit night. She was moving with the grace of a dancer as she dipped, weaved and blocked the attacks of several foes.

  Sebastian sent his mage light forward and gagged in disgust as he saw three black, hairy spiders, each as large as a bull mastiff, leaping to attack the paladin. At her feet, two more of the monsters lay dead, bleeding from a dozen wounds.

  He raised a hand glittering with sparks.

  “Liliana, jump back from them and give me some room!” he yelled.

  Showing remarkable trust, the armored figure didn't hesitate; she leaped backwards and spun away from her attackers as Sebastian invoked his spell.

  A blinding bolt of lightning engulfed the three monsters, frying them instantly. They screeched in agony, sounding remarkably similar to the creature that had attacked Sebastian. A deafening crash of thunder followed the lightning strike, drowning out the spiders' cries.

  Their bodies bubbled in the intense heat and then exploded into gory bits, splattering the walls and floor of the chamber.

  The total silence that followed the battle was almost surreal and Sebastian took a moment to try and catch his breath.

  Liliana stared at the remains of her attackers and actually smiled at the gore.

  “Nicely done, my friend,” she told the mage. “They were a bit challenging.”

  “I think that you would have been fine without me,” Sebastian said, a bit breathlessly. “I just hurried things along a little. Are you injured?”

  The paladin shook her silver blade clean and sheathed it, then slipped her shield across her back in one smooth motion.

  “No. Well, not badly and it will heal.”

  She raised her left hand and Sebastian saw that a hole had been torn on the back of her gauntlet. A jagged wound was dripping inside of it and his eye's widened.

  “Liliana, I'm pretty sure that those things are poisonous! I'll have to get you back to a healer right away.”

  She shook her head and looked at her injured hand.

  “No need. It's taking care of itself.”

  As the mage watched, wide-eyed, he saw the flesh close to leave a fine red scar and then the damaged gauntlet mended itself as if it were a living thing.

  “How?” he asked, shaken. “I mean, I know that the gods of Light choose a paladin, but...”

  She only shrugged.

  “Divine blessings, I suppose. I know how weak the lords of Law are, as they continue to battle the dark gods out in the Void, but I suppose they don't mind sparing a small bit of their power with their chosen champions. Maybe that's why there are only two of us, myself and Lei. Perhaps that is all that the gods can support.”

  She walked over to look Sebastian up and down.

  “Now, what about you? Are you all right? What happened out there?”

  He looked down at himself and grimaced in disgust. There were splatters of blood and bits of flesh all over the front of his robe.

  “Ugh, gross,” he said. “I'm fine, thanks, except for this stuff.”

  He looked back down the tunnel but there was no sound and no sign of movement.

  “I think I met the mother of those things,” he said, nodding at the bodies across the room. “At least, it was big, hairy and had a hell of a lot of legs.”

  “And it's dead? Excellent job, Sebastian. Simon himself couldn't have done better.”

  The mage felt a surge of pride at her praise. Liliana wasn't one to compliment others unless she meant it. And Sebastian admired Simon enough to be flattered by her comparison.

  “Speaking of our lost wizard, any sign that he was ever here?” he asked as he examined the chamber, trying to ignore the bits of dead spider everywhere.

  Liliana moved methodically around the room, seemingly oblivious to the spiders' remains. She looked into the ancient granite sarcophagus and then up at the vaulted ceiling high above their heads.

  “None,” she replied a few minutes later. “I don't believe that Simon was ever here. If he had been and had met a grizzly fate, there would at least be some remains. But there's nothing.”

  She sighed and rejoined Sebastian.

  “I'm relieved to know that he didn't meet his end here, but I'm also disappointed that the trail has gone cold. I suppose we can hope that one of the other teams had better luck.”

  The mage wiped his face off on his sleeve.

  “I hope so. Now, can we go? I'd really like to get cleaned up and the heat in here is sucking the life out of me.”

  Liliana looked amused.

  “Be thankful that it's the heat and not one of those creatures,” she said lightly, waving at the dead spiders.

  “Oh I am, believe me. Are you ready?”

  She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

  “I am indeed. Let's go home, my friend.”

  “No, I've never heard of such a creature. A chimera, you say? Well, one learns something new every day.”

  Sylvie looked at Lei in exasperation.

  “How can you be so calm about this? I mean, I appreciate that none of us is panicking, but we're in a rather bad spot right now, wouldn't you say?”

  The three of them were standing in the center of what must have been
a ceremonial room of some sort. A beautiful vaulted ceiling curved up above them, thick with cobwebs but covered with the most intricate designs created with tiny, colorful tiles. Columns supported the ceiling; they were inlaid with runes that, like the others they had seen in the rest of the temple, were unreadable. And the floor, thick with dust, was tiled in red marble veined with gold.

  At the far end of the room was a wide altar, also made of marble. It, however, was crafted from white marble, very pure and practically flawless. The surface of the altar was bare but Sylvie guessed that once upon a time it had probably been covered with rich fabrics and candles. She could almost hear distant chanting and smell pungent incense from long ago,

  All in all, it was a rich and gorgeous room and would have been a pleasure to explore if they hadn't been chased into it.

  Lei had been leading the two magic-users down a winding hallway, a magic light hovering over his head, when they had stopped to peek into an open archway. A thick smell of excrement had hit them all and the trio had pulled back just in time to avoid the swing of a massive paw. The attack had been followed by a reverberating roar that wouldn't have been out of place in the middle of the African plains.

  Sylvie had swept her light globe into the room and the group had gaped at the huge, tawny figure of a creature straight out of mythology. A maned lion's head glared at them, yellow eyes blazing out of the shadows. A hideous, fanged head that looked vaguely goat-like grew out of the middle of the monster's back and googled at them with insane eyes as it flopped horribly back and forth. And arching over this nightmare was a segmented tail with a tip that dripped with poison.

  “Run!” the mage had yelled and had taken off down the hallway, her light racing to keep up with her.

  The brothers might have been tempted to stop and fight but had followed Sylvie's precipitous flight instinctively, just as she had hoped they would. One look at the creature that was holed up in that room had been enough to convince her that they needed to find a more secure location to defend themselves.

  They had stumbled into this large room and, fortunately, the heavy stone doors had still been intact. Lei had slammed them closed behind them and rammed home heavy bolts into holes in the floor to lock them.