Dark Curse (44 page)

A short distance from them, deer moved out onto the meadow, but none approached the thicker grass a few yards from where she was standing. She touched their minds. Gentle creatures as a rule, interested in feeding. A few pawed the snow to reveal short stalks of grass beneath the white layer. Not one looked or scented the thick offering pushing through the snow.

She closed her eyes and inhaled the night, taking in the information her surroundings offered. The night was crisp and cold. The snow had ceased to fall but the smell was there, a clean feel to the air until you went deeper. She caught the whiff of tainted magic and wrinkled her nose, turning in the direction where it was strongest before opening her eyes. She was looking at that patch of tall grass that poked through the snow, yet didn't tempt hungry deer.

She took a couple of steps closer to the green stalks now rippling as if wind drove them—but there was no real breeze on her face. The ripples increased, until the grass undulated as if water ebbed and flowed around it. Something moved in the forest of green, a stealthy crawl that drew her eye. A bat emerged, using its wings as legs, coming out of the deep grass to creep silently toward the grazing deer. A second and third bat appeared, and then the ground seemed covered by them, a stealthy, dark-furred army, circling an unwary doe, cutting it off from the rest of the herd.

Lara gripped Nicolas's arm as the bats swayed back and forth, walking on the tips of their wings, to close the net on the deer.
Vampire bats just take a small amount of blood. They don't behave like that
. As if they were stalking the deer for darker, more sinister purposes.

Before Nicolas could reply, the bats rushed the doe, wings flapping, so that the circle appeared solid. She caught a glimpse of huge teeth, not like a vampire bat, but more like a shark, razor-edged and rows of them filling the muzzles. The sheer weight of numbers drove the doe to her knees and then down to the grass. Blood ran onto the snow. The herd whirled and raced away from the meadow, back into the forest.

The bats swarmed over the doe, her sides heaving, her pitiful bleats tearing at Lara's heart. When she would have moved, Nicolas stopped her.

There is nothing to do for her. Look at what they are doing.

The bats tore great chunks of flesh from the deer to get at her insides, but even while some fed, others began to use their teeth to pull the weight of the carcass across the meadow toward the taller grass. Behind them, they left a trail of blood. Several bats licked at the blood before hurrying to help drag the doe.

Have you ever seen something like that before
? Lara asked. She glanced at Vikirnoff and Natalya and they looked every bit as stunned as she was.

Nicolas shook his head.
They aren't vampire bats
.

A mutation then
. Lara watched the deer carcass disappear into the longer grass. Dirt and snow boiled up, spewing like a small geyser. The grass shook. Under the swarm of bats, the deer rolled over, legs up in the air and then sank beneath the earth. The ground was quiet again.
I think we've just met the guardians of the gate
, Lara said.
And they aren't going to be alone
.

"Did you see the teeth on those things?" Vikirnoff asked.

"Maybe we should try another way in," Natalya ventured.

Nicolas watched Lara closely. She moved in a semi-circle a few yards from the patch of green grass, pacing back and forth, counting beneath her breath, one hand out, palm facing down toward the earth.

"What's she doing?" Vikirnoff asked.

"Testing the strength of his safeguards," Natalya said. "Mage magic is all about elements and energy. She's obviously extremely sensitive to Xavier's signature. Every mage has one and when you work with them you get to know their particular fingerprints."

"That's why she can detect the microbe in the women?" Vikirnoff asked. "You're mage. And you're actually Xavier's granddaughter. She's his great granddaughter. You knew him, too."

Natalya shook her head. "Not like Lara. I stayed away from him. I was good at mage spells, Razvan wasn't. I was more mage, and I thought Razvan wasn't mage or Dragonseeker, but I was wrong. I was wrong about so many things."

Vikirnoff stroked a caress down the length of her hair. "He wanted you to be. He misled everyone on purpose to protect you."

"It seems he did that all the time," Nicolas said.

He stayed close enough to Lara to protect her, but far enough away to allow her to get a good feel for the traps Xavier left behind to safeguard his lair. He noted her hair banded, the red stripes moving through the blond. Tiny electric sparks gathered around her and he felt the buildup of energy as she gathered power to her. She lifted her arms into the air.

Air, earth, fire and water, hear my call. See your daughter…

The air grew heavy with the combination of elements gathering and spinning into a combined force.

Air unseen, seek that which is closed. Earth that does hold open, unfold. Fire that burns, eat that which would harm, water that flows, break open this door.

As she spoke, the ground beneath their feet shook. The mountain rumbled in protest. Rocks and snow rained down, as though hurled from above, showering the entire area where Lara stood, but she didn't move, trusting Nicolas to keep her from harm.

He waved his hands to form a protective shield over her, careful to give her room to work. Her hands moved in a graceful pattern, parts of which he recognized. She was reversing the tight weave of a safeguard, reversing the spell so she could open the entrance.

The wind rose to a piercing whine. The earth quivered and then shook in earnest. Fire spiders webbed along the base of the mountain right above the patch of green. Racing along tiny, unseen cracks, fire rained down on the patch of green. Right behind the silken strands of orange-red flame came a flood of water to pour over the blaze and into the cave entrance to finish eroding the safeguards.

Lara's hands continued to flow gracefully.
That which was set in place to harm, now give forth a warning alarm
. A fine-spun pattern began to appear.
Spiders, spiders of finespun ice, hear my call, spin and splice. Create a web of finest thread, to give a warning against harm and dread
. The pattern burned brightly in the air for a brief moment and then slowly faded away.

Stone creaked and groaned as if rubbing against itself. Snow slid from the mountain in a long rush of white. The patch of green sunk in so that dirt, snow and vegetation fell in on itself, revealing the deep hole penetrating the earth.

Nicolas caught Lara and shoved her behind him as he and Vikirnoff examined the entrance. Even as they watched, a thin layer of ice stretched and then covered the hole so he appeared to be looking through a window into the black interior. The ice walls were textured in spots with mud, grass and a dark stain that could only be blood. In direct contrast, the rest of the wall looked pristine and beautiful, like a great ice sculpture, thick and carved into a round tube of shimmering glass.

Lara caught Nicolas around the waist from behind and peered down into the hole, noting the darker spots lining the tube, most of which dotted the first two hundred feet of the shaft. The stains of grass and blood formed a distinctive trail to the scattered spots. They looked solid, but on closer inspection, that same sheet of thin ice that formed the window covered holes.

She indicated them with her chin. "That's where the guardians live."

"Bats with big teeth that will crawl out of their little holes and drop on us to gnaw our heads off as we descend," Natalya said. "Great. Someone ought to make a movie."

Vikirnoff grinned at her. "You and your movies. She has the worst taste in movies."

Natalya blew him a kiss. "Just for that, you can go first."

Lara shook her head. "Let me remove the ice cap and then I'll weave a holding spell. We should be able to get past them without too much trouble." She sent Nicolas a faint smile. "And I'd rather have someone protecting me from above."

She made a move toward the hole and Nicolas caught her arm. "You do your mage spell, but you do not set one foot in there by yourself. Vikirnoff can go first to make certain we land without too much harm and I will bring up the rear to protect you from above."

Lara put a hand over her heart and sent a quick grin in her aunt's direction. "I love it when he does that."

Natalya rolled her eyes. "He-Man and She-Ra."

Nicolas frowned. "Who?"

Vikirnoff groaned. "Do not
ever
make the mistake of asking." He looked up at the night, took a deep breath. "The safeguards are down?"

Lara nodded. "In theory, you should be able to go right through the thin layer of ice and straight down the tube without disturbing the guardians. Once into the lava tube, avoid touching anything that might trigger a response."

"Great, thanks," Vikirnoff said. He shimmered into mist and slipped through the layer of ice covering the entrance.

Natalya followed him immediately.

"I will hold the image for you," Nicolas assured.

Now that she'd had some experience with shifting, she knew what to expect so the sensation of her body disintegrating into vapor didn't alarm her and she just let it happen. Oftentimes, when caving in an ice cave, the ropes used could collect a thin layer of ice. There were hazards from falling icicles and great chunks of ice bursting out of the walls due to the tremendous pressures from the sheer weight. Becoming mist seemed so much easier.

The world beneath the earth, inside the ice cave itself was, to Lara, a world of uncommon and magnificent beauty. As she descended into the dark moulin, essentially a deep pit, she whispered a brief spell, calling for soft light to spill along the walls and floors wherever they walked. Using her childhood spiders, the only friends she had to light the way, she chanted softly.

Spiders, spiders of crystal ice, spin your webs of softest light
. The little spiders appeared instantly out of the walls of ice, spinning and dancing to freely form a continuous fine web of translucent icy silk, covering the walls and rushing ahead of them down toward the floor.
Spin and dance, surround and form, so our eyes may see to prevent all harm
.

At once the tube turned blue, a beautiful, surreal world of ice. The water spraying continually from above had caused an avalanche of various sized ice balls to cascade down the walls so it appeared as though a waterfall of blue ice rushed downward, when in reality, the ice balls were stationary, attached to the thick walls surrounding them. She was used to the sound of creaking ice punctuated by the thunderous roar as the tremendous pressure sent giant chunks hurling out of the wall to slam against the opposite side and fall to the floor below.

As she passed the darker holes, she realized the entryways were a maze of dwellings woven into the ice to allow the bats communal living. Through the thick window of ice, she could see bones and hair and blood from discarded carcasses. The cave dwellers feasted on their kill, lived for a while on the remains and then every so often swarmed to the surface to drag a hapless victim to their lair. Anything or anyone venturing too near at the wrong time was fair game.

They floated past a ledge that ran the circle of the tube, not very wide. Hanging below it was a variety of long icicles, each one coming to a lethal point.

We need to break those off,
she told Nicolas.
He'll use those against us and we don't want to be caught on the floor when they come flying at us
.

At once sound echoed through the tube, a high note that set the icicles rocking. Some shattered. Others broke loose and fell to the cavern floor several hundred feet below. The sound was loud—too loud—too abrupt. The bats flew at their entrances, the movement frightening to watch through the ice, but Lara's safeguard held against the battering bodies. Tiny fire spiders rushed down the sides of the walls, using their silken threads of flames. As the bats emerged from the holes, using their wings like arms to creep out onto the sheer wall, the nets made of flames and silk dropped over them, consuming them entirely.

A noxious odor permeated the moulin. Despite being insubstantial mist, Lara felt sick.

Nicolas flashed into human form, waved his arms to create a breeze, and then before any of the falling debris could strike him, was back to vapor form.

Thank you.

He seemed to think of everything for her comfort and she was grateful, because this place brought back too many horrific memories. She had to steel herself to the idea that she would find her aunts dead and bring them home. She didn't want their bodies to remain imprisoned as they'd spent their lives that way.

The cave floor was just beneath her and she hovered there, studying the layout, the way the chamber widened and ran into a maze of galleries. She took her time, not wanting to miss the slightest taint of dark magic that would herald an attack. This was Xavier's private realm. She recognized the high ceilings and network of lava tubes leading to various chambers where he conducted his gruesome experiments.