by Lyndon Hardy
He deftly scooped up the globule and rolled it around his palm, hesitating as he watched it skitter about. Saxton had said nothing about the internal effects, but what he must do was a logical necessity. Shrugging his shoulders, he popped the droplet into his mouth and began to swish it around. His tongue glazed and his lungs acquired that tickly feeling he had bad as a sick child. He exhaled forcefully and felt his nasal passages coat up as well.
He held his hands before his eyes, turning them from side to side, watching for telltale signs of spots with no protection. The stuff was spread too thin, he suspected. How could such a meager layer protect him from the heat of the mountain?
He stepped into the rubble and flipped open a small strongbox. Reaching inside, he scooped up the handful of coins that remained. Four coppers?all that was left of Saxton's wealth. Barely enough for the rental of a horse to take him to the Fumus Mountains.
Alodar raced his mount into the midst of the torchlights and jumped from the saddle. The horse stomped forward into the circle of miners taking their morning meal. On his left, Alodar recognized the circular hole where the gas bubble had burst through the mountainside. At his feet were picks, torches, iron strapped chests, and piles of small leather pouches, mixed with the pockmarked rock littering the gently sloping hillside. Straight ahead, rising from a silken mattress spread over the rough ground, was Basil the apothecary. Alodar glanced at the pale glow forming in the east and quickly drew his sword.
"You come a trifle early to pay your debt, novice," Basil said as he recognized the intruder. "And in so theatrical a manner. I am a reasonable man and would have allowed you the hour remaining."
"Rendrac?where is he?" Alodar snapped. "He has an obligation to pay to Saxton as well."
"The alchemist is no longer bound," Basil said. "I do not fault a man if he changes his mind, so long as his last decision is the correct one. And having Rendrac coated in the caloric shield is payment enough for what Saxton owed. I do not mind assuming whatever risk resides in the depths of the mountain. Full share is far better than a part."
He stopped and shredded a piece of parchment into the air. "See, the contract is concluded," he said.
"If the ointment was satisfaction enough," Alodar spat, "then why did you direct Rendrac to take his life as well?"
Basil knitted his brow. "Saxton's life," he said, puzzled. "I know not of what you speak. I would not order Rendrac to such an extreme measure, for what could it profit me to do so? Saxton dead is of no value whatsoever. Alive he either repays in goods or with labor. No, I may covet the products of his craft but I have no use for his life.'"
Alodar stared into Basil's eyes and hesitated. It might be true, he thought. Basil's control over Rendrac did not seem absolute. He tightened the grip on his sword and looked quickly around the group of miners slowly creeping back to form a circle around the two. He glanced into the opening into the mountainside and made up his mind.
"Then where is Rendrac?" he asked. "It is he that I will deal with first."
Basil looked to either side and signaled for his men to converge even closer. "He is already into the mountain," he said, "but that should be no concern of yours. Saxton was freed of his contract, but unless you have the brandels then you are still bound to my will. Put down your sword and submit. I will even let you stay and see with us what Rendrac brings from the depths below."
Alodar cast quick glances to either side and took one step backward. "It is not quite dawn. Until then I am still a free man."
"An exercise in futility," Basil said as he motioned his men forward. "If you do not have payment now, how can you hope to within the hour?"
"I will discuss it with Rendrac." Alodar suddenly turned and scrambled up the lip of the opening. He tumbled over into the passageway and spun around with his sword still pointing forward. Two miners appeared over the edge and then hesitated as Alodar flicked his blade back and forth in challenge.
"Oh, let him go." Basil laughed. "He will return soon enough, begging for water. Or if not, Rendrac will spot the body on his way out and we will dispose of it later."
Alodar did not bother to reply, but turned and headed into the bowels of the mountain. He followed what seemed to be the same tunnel he had traversed before, torchlit and sharply sloping downwards. He raced past the side passage in which he had bartered with Basil, and the line of torches led him onward for three hundred paces more. He ripped the last source of light from the wall and dipped through a small opening into the blackness that extended beyond.
The path tumbled and pitched as he slowly progressed, occasionally opening up to impressive heights and then narrowing down to slits to be traversed on hands and knees. But each step led him generally downward; and with each, Alodar felt the increasing discomfort of stillness and heat.
Suddenly the pathway opened wide into a larger tunnel that sloped even more forcefully into the mountain's interior. Alodar looked up at the roof, fully three times his height and could see bright spots of light from cracks that led to the surface. He held his torch to the floor, illuminating the smooth and hardened rock that had confined an ancient upward thrust of heat-laden gas.
Alodar looked down the direction of the tunnel's path and saw a dull glow in the receding blackness. He thrust his torch forward and picked up a small dot of light far ahead. He watched for a second to make sure it moved, then ran to follow, his footfalls echoing loudly down the passageway.
Apparently alerted by the noise, the bearer of the light stopped and waited for Alodar to get closer. The dot resolved into a torch, its light reflected from the gleaming ointment of Rendrac the warrior.
"Sweetbalm. you are indeed a nuisance." Rendrac's voice resounded through the cavern. "But, I see, a dimwitted one at that. If you come no more protected than that dull sheen indicates, I need worry about you only a few steps further."
"The ointment protects me as well as it does you," Alodar shot back. "I feel only a little discomfort and could survive with even less if I had to."
Rendrac responded with a booming laugh. "Oh could you now, novice? How well do you think you are protected now? Try your spittle on the rock before you answer."
Alodar wrinkled his brow, but complied. To his surprise, his saliva hissed and foamed and in an instant was gone.
"Yes," Rendrac continued, "the meager ointment you have protects you well enough now. But if you have any sense, you would turn back to save your flesh from baking."
Rendrac whipped his free hand about with a flourish and then placed it firmly against the wall. A blur of fine mist spewed from the contact in much the same way as the spittle had from the rock. "The ointment also evaporates in response to the heat," Rendrac continued. "I am well anointed and presently feel not even your discomfort. I shall be able to descend much farther into the depths of the mountain, but that thin coating of yours will be gone in a trice."
Rendrac laughed again and turned to continue his downward march with an easy stride, small tendrils of vapor rising from where his boots touched the hot rock-bed.
Alodar breathed deeply in defiance and then immediately regretted the act, coughing back the harsh volcanic gases into the humid air. He pressed forward after Rendrac, dimly aware of pinpoints of heat in his boots where the nails joined the heels to the soles.
Downward they went, following the tunnel's gentle turns, shining torches high to illuminate the smooth and featureless walls. Alodar stepped rapidly, trying to keep up with Rendrac's easy gait. Concentrating on closing the gap, he struggled to shut out the growing discomfort and feeling that his strength and clearheadedness were ebbing away.
They trudged on in silence for many minutes, Alodar some ten yards behind and unable to draw closer. The walls echoed the methodical rhythm of their step as they placed feet firmly against the downward slope of the tunnel. The cavern of smooth and unweathered rock loomed high and wide about them, majestic in its size. Like the intestine of some giant monster, it undulated forward into the very center of the mountai
n.
As they continued, Alodar suddenly caught another gleam of light reflected back from his torch.
Before he could act Rendrac cried out in recognition. "The first one! By the staves, it alone makes the whole journey worthwhile," he said. He stopped, reached on tiptoe to the tunnel's high wall, and deftly wrested a gem from the matrix which held it
"A topaz of at least thirty carats," Rendrac exclaimed as he dropped it into a silvery pouch hung at his side and resumed his pace. Almost immediately, he shouted again, "More sparkles. Just look at them! Sapphires, emerald's, aquamarines, bulging from the walls like the warts on the face of a crone. I doubt if a pickaxe is even needed for them." In a hastened effort, he began wrenching the jewels from the bedrock, excitedly advancing further into the depths for still bigger stones that blinked back his torchlight.
Alodar exerted himself to plunge after, now that Rendrac was slowed with his gathering, but his limbs responded sluggishly to his will. Small pains began to shoot through his lips; when he held them apart, the interior of his mouth ached for them to be shut again. Eyes darting about, he spied a small stone that Rendrac had missed and hastily reached out to snare it. With a start, he dropped it to the cavern floor, fingers stinging from the hasty contact. He spread his hands as he had done before he left Ambrosia. The opalescent shine was still there, but now barely noticeable against the fabric background that it covered.
Alodar turned to pursue Rendrac with plodding steps, each one an effort that barely kept pace with his adversary's slower meander back and forth across the tunnel's breadth. He saw Rendrac stop, pant, and catch himself as he almost wiped his brow. Alodar's own eyes watered and ached, and each breath brought fresh pain when he inhaled.
They rounded a sharp corner, and Alodar noticed that he could see farther ahead than the sphere of light provided by his torch. In the distance, a bright red glow filled the cavern floor, and the reflections bounced back and forth off the walls. Beneath the sharp echo of Rendrac's boots, he heard what sounded like a creamy ointment bubbling in a cauldron.
Rendrac looked at the soft background lighting, back to Alodar's torch, and then extinguished his own. He tied shut the third small pouch crammed to overflowing at his waist. With a grin, he snapped open a large sack that hung to the floor. Picking the jewels from the walls and dropping them inside, he continued onward.
They drew nearer the glowing redness until it filled the tunnel with its light Alodar extinguished his own torch and let it hang at his side, no longer needing it to show his way. With a dull realization, he saw that the glow came from a pond of molten rock lapping the floor some hundred yards ahead. The liquid nearest them was placid, but farther on Alodar squinted into a violent frothing of reds and yellows that shot brilliant sprays to the very top of the cavern, melting rock where it struck and tumbling giant stones into its midst. Further back, the tunnel roof glowed amber as it blended into the level of the lava. They could advance no further.
"The biggest prizes yet," Rendrac called out, panting down to the very lip of the lake of lava. There in a crystalized border around the pool, like the icing on a cake, massive gems sparkled in the glow. The smaller stones were the size of cherries and the largest as big as a man's fist. Rendrac lowered his pouch to the ground with its mouth gaping open and shoveled the jewels inside. Like a garden keeper removing autumn leaves, he methodically moved around the edge of the lake, raking in the treasure.
He finished stuffing his sack and bound it shut as Alodar came closer, wobbling on each step, his eyes glazed into an unblinking stare. Rendrac opened a second bag; holding it low to the ground, he tried batting the larger gems into the folds with his gloved fingers. His eyes raced over the jewels strewn about, disdaining those which were less than a baron's ransom. He looked out over the pool, stopped his collection, and hesitated.
"It will be enough," he said. "I need not test the ointment that far." Returning to the first sack, he wrapped the drawstrings around his wrist and then slowly pulled it over his shoulder. He staggered slightly as the heavy weight thumped against his back, grasped the second bag firmly, and started to return in Alodar's direction.
This would be his chance, Alodar thought dumbly. With painful slowness he forced his hand down to the scabbard at his side and winced as he tightened his grip on the hilt
Rendrac saw the motion and laughed. Without a word, he stopped, slowly balancing his weight on one foot and then kicking out with the other at Alodar's stomach. Alodar saw the boot rising but his reactions were too dulled to respond. With his sword only six inches from the scabbard, he felt the blow strike home. As he crashed to the tunnel floor, Rendrac swept by, leaving him to regain his breath and scramble to his feet alone.
Alodar sloughed aside the effects of the kick, but his palms and the soles of his feet felt burned, and the rest of his body ached with protest from the heat. He tried to lick the roof of his mouth with his tongue, but it lay flaccid and no moisture would come. He should have been disappointed that Rendrac was gone, but the heat dulled his will to care. He looked dimly forward to where the large jewels had been and saw no more. Only the smaller gems that the warrior had left lay scattered about the edge of the undulating pool of lava.
Like an enchanted harvester, he stiffly lumbered forward and dropped a dozen small stones into the pouch at his side. He looked uncomprehendingly at the wealth at his feet, back up the passageway, and then across the sea of molten rock.
As he scanned the bright red liquid, he saw what Rendrac had chosen not to investigate, a small dark speck bobbing in the fiery waves. He squinted his eyes against the light to see what it was.
"A chest," he gasped. "Much smaller than the largest of the jewels, but a chest nonetheless." He hesitated as he watched the small box bob on the slowly rolling surface, trying to remember why he was there.
He looked again at the chest. It might be the means for his freedom?and the treasure for the fair lady. The quests were still intertwined.
He hesitated for another moment, trying to anticipate the shock of contact, but his thoughts fused together in a sludge. He shrugged his shoulders and took a first step towards the very edge of the pool and then another.
The pain coursed through his palms and he felt the burning sensation creep down the nape of his neck and onto his back. He tried to shut his mind to the protests of his body and plod on to the edge. He concentrated only on raising one foot and extending it in front of the other. His supporting leg trembled with each step. His gait became a simple shuffle, each pace bringing him only inches closer to his goal. Finally he stood by the edge of the pool, feeling the angry waves of heat rise and bake his chest and thighs. He hesitated and then reached down into the lava to retrieve the small container from where it floated.
His hand screamed anew, not only skin but muscle and bone feeling the energy penetrate deep. Waves of heat pulsated up his arm and into his body. His flesh seemed to sear and his vital fluids boil as the feeling ripped through him. Alodar somehow ignored the pain and, clasping the small box as firmly as he could, he rose to stand erect.
The pain throbbed for several minutes more, and then was replaced by a deep numbness that ran the length of his arm. There was nothing left to stay for, he thought finally, and he turned and started to climb the tunnel to safety.
With great effort, he placed one foot up the incline and then followed with the other. Far more slowly than he bad descended, he struggled upward. His consciousness slid nearly away as visions of Iron Fist, Saxton's shop, Cedric's courtyard, Aeriel and the angry red walls hallucinated before him. To the small amount of reason that remained, it seemed that retreating from the heat should bring relief, but nothing seemed to change.
On and on he staggered, focusing only on the floor, not knowing if each step would be his last, and dimly not even caring. One weaving stride followed another up the passageway, and Alodar could not think clearly enough to recognize any of the natural features he had passed on the way down. After a countless number
of steps, he began to realize that his torch was again of use and the fiery lava no longer lighted his way.
Some time later the pain lessened as he climbed, but he could not take heart, so weary were his limbs and lungs from the punishment they had received. His breath was forced, and every muscle throbbed from its abuse. Eventually the slope became less steep, but Alodar did not notice as he continued to plod onward. He saw the light flickering along the wall and he followed the guide-posts upward. Finally he looked forward and blinked at a large patch of rosy blue directly ahead, beckoning to him with whiffs of fresh air.
Alodar threw one leg over the lip of the opening and pulled himself out of the tunnel. Sliding down the outside of the slope, he tumbled into an exhausted heap in the midst of Basil's camp.
He looked slowly about and saw Basil on his knees in front of two large chests with their lids thrown open. The apothecary brought his hands upwards, filled with gems, and then let the jewels spill through his fingers. About ten paces behind, Rendrac stood, holding a large pole horizontally across his chest and pushing back the excited miners straining for a glimpse of the treasure.
"You return," Basil said looking up from his play. "By the laws, you return." He looked quickly about the camp and then to the horizon. He turned back to Alodar with a smile. "Yes, you return," he said, "just in time to begin your lifetime of service."
