Alexander regained his feet and immediately took five shards of magical force right in the center of his chest, each hitting with sufficient energy to knock him backward a foot or two, delivering punishing blows but not penetrating his dragon-scale armor. The wizard looked at him incredulously when Alexander stumbled backward and fell, badly battered and bruised but still alive.
Jataan threw his bloody knife at the wizard but it bounced off his shield. The battle mage darted across the room, quickly recovering his knife before moving around behind the wizard.
As he raised his dagger, it abruptly transformed into a war hammer. He set himself, got a firm grip, and smashed the shield with as much force as he could bring to bear. His strike rebounded, knocking him off the pedestal, but the wizard’s shield failed with a pop.
The Acuna wizard looked around in a panic before throwing a black pellet to the ground. A ball of grey smoke quickly engulfed him, obscuring his position for a moment before fading away and revealing that he’d vanished. A small ember trailing black smoke floated through the passage that Alexander had cut around the shield and down the tunnel.
Chapter 30
“Everyone all right?” Alexander asked, wincing in pain as he got to his feet.
“You, least of all,” Lita said. “Let me take a look at your wounds.”
“I’ll be fine,” Alexander said.
“Nonsense,” she said, putting her hand lightly on his chest and muttering the words of a spell under her breath. She smiled serenely, her eyes closed while she nodded to herself as if she were receiving instructions.
“You’re badly bruised, but nothing is broken or bleeding,” she said. “You’ll heal, but it will be painful. When we stop, I can accelerate the process but not until you have time to sleep for the night.”
“Perhaps we should be on our way,” Jack said, looking through the red-tinged shield at the tunnel filled with approaching overseers. They were still a few hundred feet away, but there were a lot of them.
“Let’s go,” Alexander said, sheathing the Thinblade and hobbling toward the giant entry hall to the underdark. He hurt all over. The force shards had hit harder than he would have imagined-easily hard enough to cut straight through a man wearing normal plate armor.
“I see Mage Gamaliel made you a weapon,” Alexander said to Jataan.
The General Commander of the Reishi Protectorate actually smiled. “Yes, Lord Reishi. The Guild Mage presented me with a most wonderful gift. He calls it a Weaponere’s Stone.” Jataan held up a smooth lump of dull grey metal that looked more like a piece of slag than a weapon … until it transformed into a dagger. “With only a thought, I can make it into any weapon I wish. That by itself is potent, but it was also crafted to magnify the magic that is naturally imbued upon weapons that I wield, making it ideally suited to my needs.”
“Sometimes I think Mage Gamaliel has contributed more to this war effort than any other person,” Alexander said, climbing up into the entry hall, marveling again at the giant stone fir trees that served as pillars holding up the ceiling hundreds of feet overhead.
Jack stopped a few steps inside the hall, looking around and whistling to himself. “I could take notes on this place for an hour.”
“Probably not the best day for that,” Alexander said.
“Right … pity, though.”
They hurried across the enormous hall to the corridor entrance on the opposite wall. Alexander opened his Wizard’s Den midstride, snatching Luminessence from just inside the door, and lighting their way with his staff, illuminating the artistry of the corridor-a forest road covered over by branches of trees grown together, yet done completely in stone. He raised the light considerably once they reached the balcony overlooking the great chasm at the heart of the underdark.
Although most of the bridges across the chasm appeared to be broken, a few in the distance still looked intact, and the remnants were enough to demonstrate great power at work. A variety of stone buildings and balconies were set into the walls above and below stretching out as far as Alexander’s light could reach.
“And I thought the entryway was impressive,” Jack whispered. “Please tell me I can write about this place.”
“Most of it,” Alexander said.
McGinty seemed to ooze up out of the floor right in front of Alexander and take form: a three-foot-tall humanoid made out of mud, yet with reasonably lifelike features.
Jataan started to move, but Alexander stopped him with a gesture.
“You brought other fleshlings,” McGinty said.
“Yes, these are my friends.”
He seemed confused for a moment. Then he asked, “What is their purpose?”
“To help me navigate the underdark,” Alexander said.
Jack leaned forward a bit, giving him a sidelong look.
McGinty paused again.
“I take it you two have met before,” Jack said.
“In a manner of speaking,” Alexander said.
“I sensed the memory, but only briefly,” McGinty said.
“Yes.”
“Bring it quickly. Come to the well alone,” McGinty said, oozing back into the stone floor, completely vanishing into the cracks.
“The memory?” Jack said.
Alexander shook his head very deliberately.
Jack nodded reluctantly.
“We’re going to the other end of the chasm,” Alexander said. “The cliff walls on each side are riddled with passages and chambers; some are passable, while others are caved in. Also, there are things living down there.”
“What kind of things?” Anja asked, grimacing.
“Let’s just do our best to avoid them,” Alexander said. “Now, that staircase looks like the most promising way in.”
There were several staircases leading up and down along the walls on each side of the balcony, as well as a number of bridges arcing away, then ending abruptly, broken a few dozen feet over the black of the chasm.
Most of the stairways were also crumbling, but the one Alexander chose was solid, though worn by time. It led down a hundred feet along the right side of the underdark, then transformed into a corridor with a four-foot railing made of stone but fashioned to look like a row of cornstalks separating the pathway from the dark of the chasm. Pillars that looked like tree trunks interrupted the railing every hundred feet or so, joining the outside edge of the corridor floor with the overhanging ceiling ten feet above.
Jack stopped to inspect the railing, smiling in wonder. “This is really remarkable. I’ve never seen such intricate work. The buildings in the city have the same grace but nowhere near the detail.”
The voices of overseers shouting from the balcony above filtered down to them.
“Right … best be going,” Jack said.
Alexander dimmed his light and led the way, passing a number of doorways, ignoring them all. Most of the doors were closed and secure, made from stone and perfectly set into their frames. From the footprints on the floor, it was apparent that others, probably agents of the Babachenko, had recently been down here, no doubt looking for more Linkershim to power the forges.
A few footprints turned through a door that had been broken in half. Alexander peered inside the room, but saw no signs of life so he pressed on, sticking to the path cut into the chasm wall. As far as he was concerned, the less time he needed to spend wandering around the myriad passages riddling the massive underground cliffs that defined the chasm, the quicker he could finish his work here and go get Isabel.
The downside to traveling along the chasm wall was that they were exposed and visible, even at a great distance since they needed light to travel by, and light in the underdark could be seen for a very long way.
The overseers were well behind them when one of the wizards launched a bright white flare out into the chasm. It seemed to move slowly, traveling in a straight line until it hit just below the cornstalk railing a few dozen feet ahead of Alexander, sticking to the wall and continuing to shine brightly. It didn’t d
o any damage, but it did mark their location. The overseers quickly began filing down the staircase from the balcony.
Alexander stopped, leaning against the wall for a moment while closing his eyes and reaching out with his all around sight. Unfortunately, it was so dark that he couldn’t see enough to be useful. If he wanted to have a good look around, he would need to use his clairvoyance along with some illusionary light, and there just wasn’t time for that right now.
He pressed on, choosing the quick and easy path toward his objective, even though that made him far easier to track. The underdark was vast, so the more distance he could cover toward the well of memory, the better.
His chest hurt from his wounds. Every step, every breath, every movement brought a new jab of pain. He tried to focus on it and master it as he had so many times in the past, but his mind wouldn’t cooperate, so he just endured it, step-by-step.
They came to the first bridge arcing away from the corridor … it was broken just a few feet from the railing. It looked like it was made of stone, but had no supports and was only an inch or so thick. It was railed on both sides with a perfect replica of a grapevine, down to the last detail, yet done in white marble. They passed more bridges that arced away from the path, but none were intact.
At each locked door, the footsteps marring the ancient dust moved on, while each open door appeared to have been investigated. If the overseers were careful observers, they would be able to track Alexander no matter where he went, given the layer of dust caked onto the floor.
“I can see their lights behind us,” Jack said.
Alexander pressed on for over an hour, staying well ahead of the overseers, and maybe even gaining a little ground on them. Then the pathway simply ended, falling off into a fissure in the cliff face that had ripped a five-floor section wide open. It was three floors down to a level where they could traverse the fissure. He noted that the footprints stopped here and turned around.
“We either go down a few levels on ropes or back to the nearest door and into the underdark,” Alexander said.
“Perhaps both are in order,” Jack said.
“You want to split up?” Alexander asked.
“No. But opening that last door we passed might send the overseers off in the wrong direction while we disappear below.”
“Not a bad idea,” Alexander said. “You get the ropes set.”
The door was about a hundred feet from the fissure. The overseers were close enough that Alexander could see them with his all around sight. He trotted up to the door and slashed through the locking mechanism and frame. It lurched slightly, then swung wide open. An insect of some sort tumbled out. It was three feet long with spiked chitin in five sections along its back and nine-inch pincers on either side of its maw. Two more insects tumbled out on top of the first, which was struggling to right itself.
As Alexander backed away, he saw five more coming out into the corridor. They must have built a nest right next to the door, he thought, chiding himself for not looking before opening it. Those thoughts vanished when the first three insects got on their feet and started coming his way.
“Bugs!” Alexander shouted. “Go quickly, all of you.”
The giant insects were fast. The first three reached him at about the same time. He swept the Thinblade across their bodies, cutting them in half, but not before the third in line managed to lock on to his leg with its pincers, cutting into both sides of his calf and dropping him to one knee.
He looked up, estimating how long he had before another six were on him while swiping the Thinblade through the pincers still attached to his leg and pulling them loose, wincing in pain, fresh blood beginning to flow.
Jataan darted past him, his Weaponere’s stone becoming a ten-foot pike that he used expertly to keep the insects from advancing, killing three in a second. One went over the cornstalk railing and started crawling along the outside toward them.
Alexander regained his feet and yelled, “Fall back!”
His leg hurt. It almost couldn’t support his full weight, but he managed to work his way backward while Jataan killed bugs with surprising efficiency, modifying his weapon into a spear when they got closer, then into a sword. They kept coming, filling the passage and crawling along the outside of the cornstalk railing, advancing as fast as Alexander and Jataan could retreat.
“Go!” Alexander shouted to Jack over his shoulder, swiping through a bug crawling over the railing into the corridor. Jack slid down the rope into the fissure.
“Go, Lord Reishi, I will hold them,” Jataan said.
The battle mage was fighting an epic battle, spinning, stabbing, slashing, killing dozens of insects, but they kept coming, spilling over their dead in waves, large numbers going over the railing and onto the wall of the chasm.
“Be quick,” Alexander said, then slid down the rope, descending into a pitched battle three levels below. Anja was close to the edge of the chasm, hacking every bug that came around the wall. A dozen lay dead at her feet. Jack was close behind her and less than visible while Lita stood farther back, shield in place, casting a spell.
A bug fell near Alexander. He flicked the Thinblade through its head. Jataan was sliding down the rope. Another three bugs fell around Alexander while dozens more crawled over the edge above and started picking their way down.
Alexander killed two bugs before a third locked its pincers around his leg a few inches below where the first one had bitten him. He cut its face off with a swipe of the Thinblade and pulled the pincers off his leg. His trouser cuff and boot were soaked with blood and he was starting to feel light-headed.
A force-push from Lita blasted five or six bugs out into the chasm-Anja looked back at her with a frown when they passed over her head.
When Jataan hit the ground, Alexander opened the Wizard’s Den.
“Inside, quickly!” he shouted.
Jack slipped inside without taking his hood down, kicking a bug along the way, sending it skittering across the floor.
Lita was in next.
A wave of bugs fell off the path above, six landing all around them, then four more.
“Anja!” Alexander shouted.
Anja ran for the door, slashing a bug along the way and sending it flying away in two pieces. Another landed right next to her and locked on to her leg. She stabbed it through the head, driving the tip of her broadsword into the dirt, then tore the body off with her free hand and threw it at the nearest bug before darting inside the Wizard’s Den, followed quickly by Alexander and Jataan.
The door closed behind them and the sound of skittering stopped.
Chapter 31
Alexander sat down on the nearest bed, tenderly probing the four gashes on his lower leg. “Everyone all right?”
“You seem to make a habit of getting beaten up the most,” Lita said, pulling a chair up next to him. “Let me have a look.” She laid her hand on his leg and closed her eyes, muttering under her breath.
“Well, the good news is, they’re not poisonous,” she said. “The bad news is, those are some pretty nasty wounds. Lie back, let me clean them and spell them to speed the healing.”
Alexander eased himself onto the bed and let Lita go to work. She cut away part of his trouser leg, then gently cleaned and bandaged his wounds. Only after she’d done all of the more mundane work of a healer did she cast her healing spell. Isabel had told him once how rare healers were among the Reishi Coven. While Lita couldn’t channel the realm of light like Isabel could, she was a very capable healer.
Alexander felt warmth and soothing detachment fill his leg, then spread into the rest of his body, lulling him into a deep, restorative sleep. He woke with a dull throbbing in his leg. Peeling away the bandages, he was surprised just how well it had healed, even though the wounds had yet to fully close.
Lita came bustling over when she saw that he was awake.
“Let me see,” she said, peering at the four crosswise gashes on his lower leg, shaking her head. “These haven’
t healed as well as I would have liked. Let me make a poultice and put on a clean bandage.” She didn’t wait for Alexander to respond before hurrying away.
Jack pulled up a chair and sat down. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“Suggesting you open that door,” he said. “Wasn’t such a great idea after all.”
“You couldn’t have known … but I could have, if I’d just looked. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me.”
“Do you think they’re still out there?”
“I’m hoping the overseers attracted their attention.”
“That would certainly make sense,” Jack said. “My money’s on the bugs.”
“There did seem to be a lot of them. Let’s hope we don’t run into another nest.”
“All right then,” Lita said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “This might hurt a bit.” She carefully spread a green paste into his wounds, then wrapped his leg with fresh bandages.
“You should eat something before I spell you again,” she said. “Have to keep up your strength.”
Just then Anja woke in the bed next to his, sitting up and stretching with a giant yawn. She seemed to come to her senses a few moments later and frowned, looking down at her leg. Her wounds weren’t as bad as Alexander’s, but even with Lita’s healing spell, her injury still hadn’t fully healed either.
“I didn’t like those bugs at all,” she said.
“Me neither,” Alexander said. “Hopefully, we can avoid them from now on.”
After breakfast, Alexander eased himself back into bed.
“Are we ready?” Lita asked.
“Not quite yet. I need some counsel before I go back to sleep.”
He smiled at her quizzical frown, then touched the Sovereign Stone, his awareness abruptly transferring from the world of time and substance to the Reishi Sovereign Council.
He sat down at the table and detailed everything that had transpired, starting with his voyage from the Spires right up to the present moment. He dredged his memory for everything of significance or importance that he could offer them: Anja, the Goiri, Luminessence, Demonrend, the Tyr Thinblade, the keystone box and Lacy, progress with his magic, and finally culminating with an exhaustive recounting of his experiences with McGinty and Siduri.
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