“She will have all her merslayers nearby, for certain,” Letharia said. “She lost only a few dozen to you in the aquifer, so she still has hundreds more.”
The thought of facing hundreds of those mermaid-looking monsters underwater didn’t sit well with me, and I could see the same thought in Rizzala’s eyes. She had stood on the stone steps of the Hall of Cascades and fought the merslayers beside me, and she knew how dangerous they were out of the water. Neither of us were looking forward to finding out how they fought in their natural element.
“And the nagia?” Arieste asked. “Will she send them at us as well?”
“The nagia are a curious race,” Letharia said, her voice pensive. “As Curym is the most cunning of the dragons of Iriador, so too the nagia are the most intelligent magical creatures. Though they were summoned by Curym’s magic, they operate with far more independence than the rest of our…the dragons’ minions.”
“Riamod’s fire shamans were fairly independent and intelligent,” Irenya put in. “They created a whole social structure for the goblins.”
“Emroth’s ayrag also had more autonomy than the ghoulins,” Rizzala added.
“Could it be that the more magic is used to create a minion, the more intelligent it becomes?” I asked.
“Perhaps,” Arieste replied. “Though the Snow Killers formed by Frosdar’s magic were far more monster than intelligent beast.”
“My…er, Zaddrith’s serpents were clever in the way of predators, but they had no higher consciousness as we do,” Letharia said. “But Ethan’s guess is correct, in a way. A dragon’s willpower plays a prominent role in the formation of the magical creatures, but the magic itself also affects the outcome. No two dragons are the same, just as no two magical powers are the same. Thus, the creatures created will always be affected by both factors.”
It didn’t give a full explanation of how or why fire goblins, rock trolls, Snow Killers, giant serpents, and all the other creatures came into existence, but I guessed it was good enough for now.
“So it’s enough to say that Curym’s will and magic, probably affected by her intellect, shaped the nagia’s existence?’ I asked.
“Precisely,” Letharia said with a nod. “The nagia are far less dependent on Curym than the merslayers, or Zaddrith’s creatures. Which means it requires a great deal of mental and magical effort for her to control the nagia. In the case of our attack on Whitespire, it was worth the effort.”
“But now?” I asked. “Do you think Curym will summon the nagia if it costs her so much?”
“I do not think so,” Letharia said after a long moment. “The nagia have lost much, and their numbers are greatly reduced. They doubtless blame Curym, so will resist her efforts to control them. I expect Curym will make do with her merslayers.”
“So we’ve got to be ready to not only fight Curym,” I said, “but also hundreds of merslayers. Should be a fucking ball, but we’ll make it work.”
“What do you have in mind?” Rizzala asked.
“Curym’s going to know we’ll be coming,” I told her. “She’ll sense our magic, so she’ll be ready to fight us. We’re not going to disappoint her, but we’ll ram our attack right down her throat.”
“You plan to attack her head on?” Rizzala looked incredulous.
“No, I plan for the four of you to attack her head on,” I said with a grin.
Letharia went white and Arieste frowned at this.
“Curym’s going to be expecting dragons, so we’ll give her exactly that,” I told the four women. “She’ll probably think she can outsmart whatever plan we have, but she might not be expecting a straight-on assault from four powerful dragons. It will be more than enough to keep her occupied while I go for her altar.”
“Of course!” Irenya said, a bright smile on her face. “You take her power, she can’t fight us, and she loses control of her merslayers.”
“Exactly.” I nodded. “She’s going to expect you to come straight-on, but she won’t be ready for you to be able to breathe underwater. She’ll probably fight you the way she would have if you’d attacked her when you were Frosdar, Riamod, Zaddrith, and Emroth. But she won’t be expecting me.”
“Won’t she sense the magic within you?” Rizzala asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, my brow furrowed. “Hopefully, you four can keep her so focused on you that she won’t sense me. You will all have your magic, so I will just be a small presence in her magical senses.”
“Ah, of course,” Arieste said. “Like when you first entered Frosdar’s lair. I could sense the magic within you, but it was faint enough that I could have missed it had I not been wary of you.”
“I do have one worry, though,” I said with a frown. “I’m worried Curym will sense it when we kill her nagia and steal their power.”
“That is a real concern,” Rizzala said.
“All dragons are linked to their minions, right?” I asked the four of them. “Connected through the magic?”
“Yes, but not as closely as you might think,” Arieste said. “When dragons are in close proximity to any of their minions, it is instinctive for them to take control of the creatures through the magic that shaped them. Which explains how Frosdar could sense your presence when the Snow Killers attacked.”
“But only when you’re close?” I asked, then turned to Irenya. “So when I killed the fire goblins and rock trolls, what was that like?”
“A minor sensation, one barely noticed,” the redhead said after a moment of contemplation. “I could sense the fire within them dying out, but it was so minor it didn’t seem anything of importance. After all, the fire goblins often killed each other with their own inter-clan wars.”
“The same for Emroth’s ghoulins,” Rizzala put in. “When she was controlling them directly, the loss was felt more keenly. But she barely registered it when the ayrag and ghoulins in Ironfast were killed.”
“Essentially, the magic that binds the dragons to the altars also binds them to their minions,” Letharia explained. “But when a dragon is far enough away from their minions or they do not take direct control of the minions through the magic, the loss of a minion is a small thing. Think of it as one star being erased from the heavens. You would hardly notice, for there are so many more shining in the sky.”
“So the fact that the nagia operate so independently of Curym means we don’t have to worry too much about her sensing their deaths?” I asked.
“It will be like a flea bite to an ox,” Rizzala said. “If she is focused on controlling her merslayers, she will not have the mind space to register it.”
“Well, that’s the best news I’ve heard all day!” I said with a grin. “That was one of my biggest worries, that our killing the nagia would alert Curym to our presence.”
“She has to know we are here already,” Letharia said. “She would have felt us approaching Emerald Deep, and the earth can only hide us from her to a certain extent. But the hope is that she will not be able to sense us for certain until we are ready to make our move on her.”
“That’s as good as I can hope for,” I said, shrugging. “Any little edge we’ve got could make the difference between victory and defeat.”
“But we’ll only be able to fight if we rest,” Arieste reminded me.
“And I think we’ve found the right place to do it!” Rizzala said with a grin.
She held the torch low to the ground, and I saw there were no mud or water lines marking up the wall. We had risen above the water level even at high tide, so all we needed to do was find somewhere to make camp.
About five yards ahead, the tunnel widened into a circular-shaped area roughly ten feet across. That would give us more than enough space to lay our blankets for the night.
“Good thinking!” I said, and clapped Rizzala on the back. “But first, we check for dangers.”
I scanned the area with the Mark of the Guardian, but found nothing to indicate any magical traps.
“We move slow
ly, cautiously,” I told the others. “Careful for any mechanical traps.”
My eyes scanned the walls, ceiling, and floor for any danger as we made our careful way toward the circular chamber. We were five feet from our destination when I heard a quiet click from beneath Rizzala’s foot. My gut clenched as I tapped into the ice magic to throw up a shield, but no stone missiles whistled toward us. For long seconds, nothing happened. Was the magical trap a dud?
Then I felt it, a heavy, sleepy feeling seeping into my mind. I could feel the tug at my eyelids, and my muscles begged to relax, to sit, to rest. My arms lowered, everything suddenly seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
My brain worked sluggishly, but I recalled one of the training modules in the Fire Academy when we’d prepared for propane emergencies. Propane was odorless and invisible, but could be deadly.
I didn’t know what we were dealing with here, but one thing was perfectly clear. We were breathing in gas, and it was going to knock us all out within a matter of seconds.
Chapter Nine
I blinked hard and tried to push back the fatigue I felt descending over me.
“Use your magic!” Nyvea shouted.
It took me a long second to respond, my mind as sluggish as my body, but I managed to tap into Rizzala’s darkness magic. The moment I touched it, the power sent a jolt of energy coursing through me. The magic was alive, shifting, changing, and it had an instant transformative effect on every cell of my body. My skin deepened in color to match the black stone around me, and I felt the power pushing the sleepiness out of my mind and body.
I held my breath as I scanned the tunnel for any pipes, holes, or openings where the sleeping gas could be coming from. After a moment’s search, I found nothing, so I changed tactics.
One of the first lessons I’d learned about propane emergencies was that the gas, though invisible, was highly flammable. Even a single spark of fire could light the gas and cause a massive explosion. An explosion wouldn’t help me here, but fire could incinerate whatever gas or vapor was hanging in the air. Incineration would turn it into ash, water vapor, and carbon dioxide, effectively neutralizing its toxicity.
I whirled toward the four women, who were just a step behind me. Irenya and Letharia sagged against the wall and their eyes drooped closed. Letharia would join them soon, for already her eyelids were fluttering as the sleeping gas overwhelmed her natural resistance to toxins and poisons. Rizzala looked less affected by the gas, but if I didn’t deal with it soon, she’d follow the others into unconsciousness.
“Get down!” I shouted. The sacrifice of oxygen was worth saving their lives.
Rizzala dropped to the ground, and Letharia sagged as the sleeping gas overcame her. I took two quick steps toward Rizzala and the three unconscious woman and tapped into the ice magic. The power set my nerves sizzling as I summoned the ice shield, but I gritted my teeth against the pain and willed it into existence. Rizzala’s eyes went wide as inch-thick dome of ice appeared above her head and surrounded the four of them.
“What are you doing?” she shouted.
I hesitated a single heartbeat before tapping into the fire magic. Even though I knew I was dangerously close to burnout I had to take the risk. If I didn’t neutralize the sleeping gas, I’d follow the other women to sleep. I didn’t know if we’d wake up, or if the sleeping gas was meant to be fatal. The only way we survived this was through magic.
The blazing fire magic surged through my body and into my outstretched arms. A cry of pain burst from my throat as twin pillars of bright red and orange flames shot down the tunnel in both directions. I hurled the fire with as much force as I could, and a moment later two explosions rocked the tunnel. Long jets of flame raced away from us as the gas ignited, blazed bright hot for a heartbeat, then fizzled into ash and water vapor.
The magic drained from my body and I sagged against the wall. I barely managed to catch myself before falling, but I knew I had used the last of my power. Even though I had released my hold on the fire magic, I could feel it burning through my body. If I hadn’t had Rizzala’s darkness magic to repair my cells, the fire would probably have burned me from the inside out.
I shuddered at the close call, but forced myself to stand on shaking legs. I glanced down at the ice dome and found it had all but melted. Rizzala was crouched protectively over the three unconscious woman, and there were lines of pain etched on her face.
“Did you get burned?” I asked.
“A little,” she said, and held up her right arm, which had been burned as she tried to shield her face. “But it will heal. My magic will repair the damage.”
I could feel her tapping into the darkness power within her, and the cells of her arm began to shift and change color to the deep black of the tunnel’s stone. She still moved a bit stiffly as she stood, but all traces of the fatigue seemed to have left her body.
My legs seemed to weigh a thousand pounds each as I moved to crouch beside Arieste and Irenya. I pressed a hand to their necks and was rewarded with a strong pulse. Their chests rose and fell in a steady rhythm, and their expressions were as peaceful as if they slept safe in their own beds. I didn’t know what sort of gas had been used, but I held out hope that it had been mild, like the anesthetic used by doctors.
Letharia slept more lightly, and I guessed her magic had protected her from the toxic effects of the sleeping gas. However, when I shook her shoulder, she mumbled something in a language I didn’t understand and refused to wake.
“Looks like we’ll be resting here,” I told Rizzala with a sigh. “The best thing for them is to just sleep it off.” Anesthetics could knock a patient out for a few hours, which meant we’d need to wait until they awoke. I’d have to check to ensure their airways remained clear and they didn’t have any breathing difficulties, but otherwise they would have no problems. At most, they’d wake up with dry mouths and headaches.
“You look like you could use a rest as well,” Rizzala told me. Her brow was furrowed in concern, and she offered a hand to help me up. I found my leg muscles refused to work properly, so was glad for the assistance.
“Yeah, that last burst of magic really took a lot more out of me than I expected,” I said as I took a seat against the wall.
“You will be more careful in the future,” Rizzala said, a statement rather than a question. “Too much is riding on your shoulders to risk your safety.” There was something more in her voice, something beneath the words and in the way she looked at me.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“I will admit to a bit of fatigue,” Rizzala said as she took a seat against the wall opposite me, “but that is to be expected from the sleeping gas. Or perhaps the day’s exertions have taken their toll on me.”
“Yeah, no doubt.” I grinned at her. “It’s not every day that you get to try using new magical powers. How did it feel using the fire and ice?”
“Truly marvelous,” Rizzala said, and a note of wonder echoed in her voice. “Each power has its own unique feel, and I find myself in awe of the magic wielded by my fellow women.” Her eyes went to the sleeping redhead beside me. “Irenya, in particular. That fire within her is a force of amazing power and destruction. No wonder she has the temperament and passions to match.”
“Arieste’s a bad-ass in her own right,” I said with a glance at the platinum blonde on the floor. “She’s as cool and calm as ice, but she has an inner strength that makes her a truly amazing person. Irenya’s fiery, but I think Arieste is actually the stronger of the two.”
“Her body certainly speaks of strength,” Rizzala said, then glanced down at her own body. “Though I must admit I am glad that my human form was built with such powerful muscles. As Emroth, I only ever knew battle, so I feel I would be very out of place in a frail form like Letharia’s.”
“You know, I think there’s a lot more to Letharia than meets the eye,” I replied. “She may have more than her share of fears, and yet she overcame them to join us on our quest to defe
at Curym. That took a lot of strength. Add that to her intellect and interest in learning, and she has the potential to be as powerful as any of you. Where you use strength and warrior’s skill, she will use her knowledge. I think that adding her to the team is going to pay off in a big way down the line.”
For a moment, Rizzala said nothing, but simply stared at me. “How do you do that?” she finally asked in a quiet voice.
“Do what?” I asked.
“See the best in people,” she replied with a shake of her head. “All of my memories from my time as Emroth are filled with the knowledge that everything in the world was a threat to me and my existence. Emroth created a horde of ghoulins and ayrag as a shield to defend herself from larger, stronger dragons and humans who she feared would seek to hurt her. When I became human, I fully expected you to kill me. It is the dragon way to slay our fallen foes, yet you gave me a chance to be better, and it was that belief that drove me to fight in Whitespire. How do you see past the enemy before you and look at the friend or ally beneath?”
I pondered her words a moment. “I think it all comes down to wanting to believe that people really are good,” I told her. “There will always be bad people in the world, and I have no problem dealing with them the dragon way.”
She grinned at this. “The story of Military Councilor Warrald of Windwall was popular among the Blackguards that joined our fight.”
“But I didn’t set out to do that,” I continued. “We went to Windwall for help and to help them, and he was nothing but an ass. Whatever his reasons, he was the one that decided to fire on Irenya and me, so he forced my hand. I gave him a chance, even if it turned out he didn’t deserve one. I guess that’s the closest thing to an answer I can give you. Everyone should get a chance, and in some cases, even a second chance.”
“Isn’t that too gracious?” Rizzala asked. “Is there not the risk that your enemies will seek to stab you in the back after they accept your friendship?”
“Of course there is,” I said with a nod, “which is why I’ve learned to be careful who I trust and how much I trust them. But I’ve also learned that actions speak a lot louder than any words people can say. Like when you fought beside us to save Whitespire. Even if you started out doing it because it was the only way to survive, at some point it became something you did because you knew it was right. You couldn’t stand by and let those men die, so you used your power and skill to protect them. You proved yourself trustworthy.”
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