Asunder (26 page)

            "Cole."

            "I am Dabrissa."

            He tried to remember what people did when they met each other. Shake hands? But she was already touching him. So he shrugged awkwardly. "Do you want to leave, Dabrissa?"

            "I can't. The keep is sealed."

            "But the door is open."

            The girl stepped away from him, staring at him suspiciously. Then she bolted past him out into the hall. Cole remained there for a moment, unsure if he should follow— but where else did he have to go? He found her at the top of the stairs, looking down at the main floor where the wide- open entryway was plain to see.

            "See?" he said.

            Dabrissa shook her head in disbelief. "There . . . was so much noise. I thought, So
mething is happening! I must hide!
But I could have left. I could have . . ." More tears welled up in her eyes; she buried her face in her hands.

            Cole reached out and awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. It seemed like a useless, impotent gesture. He had no idea how to comfort someone, nor was he certain why he felt the need to. "There are men outside, on horses." He thought about it for a moment. "They might help you. I don't know." He had his doubts. When had the templars ever helped anyone? She wasn't a mage, but he wasn't sure that even mattered.

            Still, the news seemed to cheer her up. "Will you come with me?"

            "No. I have to find Rhys."

            She nodded, accepting his mission even if she didn't understand it. She began to move toward the doorway, but before she went more than a couple of steps she stopped and turned toward him. "You saved me." She smiled. It was a shy smile, but full of gratitude. "I will remember you forever."

            "No. You won't."

            He didn't look at her, and eventually he heard her walk down the stairs. Two tentative steps at first, and then she fled out the door as fast as her legs would carry her. And she didn't come back.

            He touched his shoulder where she had clung to him, feeling the first whispers of his emptiness return. If he was going to find Rhys, he had best get underway. The dark depths of the keep beckoned.

            Chapter 10

           
"At least we're off those stupid horses."

            The cramped passages swallowed Adrian's voice. Gone were the echoes, replaced by a suffocating sense of claustrophobia the farther they descended. Rhys glanced at Adrian, and saw she was nervous and pale. She jumped at nearly every shadow cast by Wynne's glowing staff .

            "It's all right," he whispered to her. "Calm down."

            "No, it's not all right. What are we
doing
here?"

            "You volunteered, remember?" He gave her his best grin.

            It didn't help. "Don't remind me."

            Shale turned to stare at them, the light in the pits of its eyes glowing red. "Perhaps the two mages wish to cease their nattering, lest they draw unwanted attention? I care not, but soft and fleshy creatures should take greater care for their innards."

            Rhys was tempted to point out that the golem's heavy footfalls more or less announced their presence already. Even attempting to move quietly, it was a constant litany of
thoom thoom thoom.
The golem seemed in no mood for such a reminder, however . . . if a walking statue could be said to have a "mood." Rhys was reminded of the solemn templar statues in the mage commons, and wondered what they might be like if they suddenly got up and started walking around.

            Somehow he doubted they would be nearly as sassy.

            Evangeline took point, warily keeping her sword at the ready.

            It was for good reason: the sounds they'd heard earlier were louder now. Things were moving, but the way the passages worked he could never tell how far away they were. Sometimes it seemed as if they'd be around the next turn, or just behind him. It was unnerving.

            After coming down the long stairs, they first passed through what might have been an antechamber. It was empty save for the blood that covered the floor and walls. Scraps of bloody cloth, bits of jewelry. It smelled like a charnel house. Still no bodies, however.

            "I'll give them this," he muttered. "These people really know how to redecorate."

            "It's very welcoming," Evangeline agreed humorlessly.

            "Perhaps the White Spire should consider a similar theme?"

            "Where would we get all the blood?"

            "With a tower full of mages? That's not a serious question."

            "True."

            Adrian glared at him incredulously. He couldn't tell whether it was because he was joking, or because he was joking with Evangeline. Knowing her, it was probably both. Rhys clammed up, but it only made him more nervous. The silence, punctuated by those distant slithering sounds, was almost unbearable. He would have screamed until something showed its face, just to get it over with, if he thought that might help. Somehow he doubted it.

            Suddenly there were more stairs, and branching hallways leading out from the bottom landing. Wynne confidently steered the group in the right direction: right, then left. Down a flight of stairs, then around a corner. It was dizzying . . . if Rhys had to find his way back, he wasn't sure he could manage. The place was so much larger than he'd imagined.

            "How many people lived here, anyhow?"

            "Several hundred, as I recall," Wynne answered.

            "But there's room for a thousand."

            "As I said, this was once home to the Grey Wardens. At the height of the Second Blight they very likely had more than a thousand men . . . and griffons."

            That perked Evangeline's interest. "Griffons?"

            "Of course. The old weyrs opened onto the chasm. They’re sealed up now, but I understand they're still down there. Either way, this place has stood mostly empty for centuries."

            "But if there were hundreds of people here . . ."

            The thought was left unanswered. There had been, at best, two dozen bodies in the courtyard. That left a lot of people unaccounted for. All the blood left little to the imagination as to what had become of them, but how had they died? And where were their bodies?

            They proceeded through several more rooms, once used for storage. The crates looked as if they'd been torn apart by animals, leaving a mix of grain and foodstuffs strewn about. It was everywhere, some of it mixed with blood, much of it rotting. Flies filled the room like a cloud.

            And there was noise coming from the room beyond. It was pitch black there, only the threshold lit by Wynne's staff . . . but they could see the hint of movement. He heard a low droning, and the sound of many things shifting about. Hundreds of things.

            Evangeline tensed, staring into the darkness. "Arm yourselves," she whispered.

            Rhys hoped it wasn't as bad as it sounded, but that seemed unlikely. He willed his staff to come to life, slowly channeling magic until it crackled with white energy. Adrian did the same. He saw the sweat pouring down her brow.

            Wynne quietly cast a spell, moving her hands in arcane patterns until gossamer streams of energy appeared and settled onto each of them. His skin tingled, and he could feel the protection her magic was offering. "Shale." She motioned to the golem. "You go first. Ser Evangeline will be right behind you."

            "Flesh creatures are so easily pulverized," it agreed. Clenching its huge stone fists, Shale charged into the room. The others followed right on its heels, Wynne causing her staff to flare so brightly that Rhys at first recoiled. He covered his eyes, and had to blink to get his vision back.

            As soon as he did, he wished it would go away again.

            The room might once have been a barracks of some kind, but now it had been turned into a gruesome lair. In the glaring light, he could see a huge crowd of people . . . or what had once been people. Now they were twisted creatures, hunched down and feasting on human remains. They crawled over piles of bones and even each other like primitive beasts, fighting over scraps. Wallowing in the gore. Their skin was covered in blood and filth, little more than rags remaining of what ever clothes they'd once worn.

            And their eyes. As they spun around to stare at the intruders, their eyes shone like malevolent beacons. It was as if some dark force spilled out from inside them. As they bared sharp and bloody teeth in angry hisses, they took on a decidedly demonic appearance.

            Rhys had never been so terrified in his life.

            "Beware!" Evangeline cried. She raced forward as the nearest creatures rushed at her. The first she cleaved nearly in half with her sword, but the others leapt on her and almost bore her down. She threw them off with a great heave. One immediately sprang back up, hissing loudly, and she took off his head.

            Shale was already ahead of her. The golem charged forward, each step making an earth- shattering boom. It scooped up several of the possessed men and women in its arms and threw them across the room. They screeched as they sailed through the air, plowing into others and knocking them all down.

            Already others were climbing over Shale. As it tore each one off, another replaced it. Shale resorted to ignoring them, swinging about with its fists as the creatures tried to get to the mages. Each one it struck was sent flying from the impact.

            But more were coming. A surge of them rushed into the room, howling and screaming in bloodlust. Wynne gave Rhys and Adrian a dire look. "Are you ready?"

            They both nodded.

            Rhys was first. He fought down his fear and concentrated, focusing instead on the power welling up inside. It grew stronger and stronger until he shook, until he felt ready to explode. Then he extended a hand, directing the energy outward.

            The thrill as magic coursed through his body was unbelievable. A ball of black energy burst from his fingertips and hurtled across the room. It flew past Shale and Evangeline, and when it struck the far wall it expanded. It became a sucking void, drawing the nearest creatures into it. They disappeared into its depths, screaming. And then it grew, its power becoming more immense. A corona of blue energy surrounded it, sucking air and debris and everything else into its core. Creatures not close enough to be drawn inside were slowed. As if fighting against a powerful wind, they bent down and struggled to take even the slightest step.

            Adrian was next. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and Rhys felt the heat radiating from her. When she opened her eyes they glowed red with flame. She held up a palm and a swirling ball of fire coalesced over it. Then she threw it, and as it flew it grew larger and hotter. It struck a group of creatures and exploded into an inferno. They emitted ear-splitting screeches as the flames engulfed them.

            Wynne fired lightning from the tip of her staff . As each bolt struck a creature, killing it instantly, the energy arced to another nearby. Still more of the creatures managed to get by Evangeline and Shale, and as they rushed at Wynne she unleashed a wave of cold. The entire group froze solid where they stood.

            Still others ran around their frozen comrades, ignoring them completely. Wynne blasted several, but one leapt high up into the air. It descended with fangs bared, knocking her to the ground.

            "Wynne!" Rhys cried.

            Panic gripped him. He launched a magical bolt from his staff , hitting the creature just as it was about to sink its fangs into her neck. It was blown off, and as it scrambled back to its feet Wynne blasted it with an ice spell. The creature froze, and then shattered into a thousand icy shards.

            Wynne gave Rhys a grateful look, but just then something slammed into him from the side. He fell hard, and twisted around to see the creature's face inches from his own. It was a woman— her skin mottled and diseased, blond hair hanging in stringy clumps from her scalp. She hissed, baring fangs coated with black saliva and blood.

            He desperately tried to push her off, but she was stronger than he ever would have believed. Just as she was about to overpower him, something struck her on the side of the head. A staff . Adrian loomed over them, face twisted by terror, and hit the creature again. It leapt off of him, and spun about to hiss at Adrian, and she fired a jet of flame at the creature. It was hurtled back into the shadows, screaming.

            “There's too many!" Adrian shouted, although he could barely hear. Each lightning bolt Wynne fired filled the chamber with thunder. That, combined with the screaming of the creatures as they swarmed Evangeline and the golem, made it deafening.