Magic Astray (The Llandra Saga) (18 page)

“I have an idea,” Nia said when they had stopped for a rest. “Can you carve runes on a door?”

“Sure,” Randall said. “But the only rune I really know that would do anything would be a strengthening rune, and the last thing we want to do is make it even harder to get in.”

“It doesn’t really matter what kind of rune it is,” Nia said. “That door is already well rusted. If you were to push magic into the runes on the door like you did your healing talisman, do you think you could weaken it enough for us to get in?”

“That’s an interesting idea,” Randall said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “But I don’t think it’d work. There’s still plenty of good iron in that door, and I’m afraid we’d be waiting here a long time for any runes I carved to weaken it enough for us to break in.”

Nia looked crestfallen, but Randall perked up. “But you have given me an idea,” he said. “Remember the big fight at Horsehead Tower? Kirsti had made some kind of poison gas that exploded when it came into contact with fire. The force of it was enough to knock me off the tower wall dozens of yards away. Maybe it will be enough to blow the door off its hinges.”

Nia’s eyes grew wide. “That sounds very dangerous,” she said quietly.

Randall shrugged. “Yeah, well, unless you’ve got a better idea, it’s either that or we leave and try our luck looking for the dwarves back in the mountains.”

“No,” Nia said hastily. “This is the only sign of dwarves that we have found. I am not prepared to abandon it yet. But please be careful, Randall.”

Randall grinned and opened himself to Llandra. As soon as he cast the spell, thick yellow gas began condensing in the air in front of him, and was greedily sucked up through the opening in the door, drawn by the draft that Randall had noticed earlier. After a few moments, Nia put her hand on his arm.

“I think that’s enough, Randall,” she said nervously.

“I just want to be sure,” Randall replied as more gas poured through the window.

“Please,” Nia begged. Her eyes were wide, and her fingernails dug painfully into his forearm.

“All right,” he sighed. “We should probably stand back.”

Nia called for Hunter to finish his explorations, and they all moved to the middle of the crater, hiding behind the large unfinished blocks of granite. Randall took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing,” he said, and cast the flame spell. The tiny jet of flame lapped at the opening to the doorway, but nothing happened.

Nia opened her mouth to speak, but Randall held up his hand. “Shh, listen,” he whispered. A low whistling noise escaped from the barred window. It rapidly grew louder and rose in pitch, until it sounded like a gale-force wind rushing through the bars. Suddenly, there was a muffled whump which reverberated from deep within the earth, blowing the door completely out of its stone frame.

The force of the explosion violently shook the ground and threw Randall onto his back, and Nia shrieked in surprise. The door hurtled across the quarry and slammed into a granite block with enough force to cleave a long jagged crack along one side. Dust and rocks rained down on the group, as Berry cowered beneath the elf to escape the worst of it. Hunter hissed and spat, his eyes wide and his belly low to the ground.

After the excitement died down, Randall stood up, laughing, and dusted off his breeches. He eyed the doorway, which was now a ragged hole in the cliff face.

“Well, I guess we have our way in,” he chortled.

Chapter 18

Beyond the doorway was a tunnel that pitched noticeably downward. The tunnel was much wider and taller than Randall would have imagined based on the size of the door, but he was glad that he wouldn’t have to travel the length of the tunnel hunched over. The sunlight from the doorway only penetrated a few dozen yards, and when it gave out altogether, Nia fished for her elf light among her belongings.

Randall hadn’t seen the light since his first meeting with the elves, and asked Nia if he could examine it more closely. He turned the object over in his hands, examining it from all sides. It was heavier than he expected, and judging from the weight he guessed that the sphere was completely solid, rather than being hollow as he had imagined. It glowed brightly from within from an unknown source.

“How does it work?” he asked as he continued to peer within. “I can’t see any runes on it.”

“How should I know?” Nia shrugged. “I’m not a Mage.”

“So, it just glows forever?” Randall asked, awestruck.

“Not forever,” Nia giggled. “They do eventually fade out, and when they fade completely, the glass will crack and take on a smoky black haze. But they do last for quite a long time.”

“Well, that does seem like rune magic,” Randall said thoughtfully. After a moment’s contemplation, he shrugged and handed the light back to his companion. “C’mon, let’s go. I want to find the dwarves.”

He nearly tripped over Berry as he turned to walk down the corridor. The donnan was hunched over a long crack running along the length of the hallway, probing it intently with one long finger. A second later, the imp fished out a wiggling centipede from the crevice and popped it into his mouth, crunching on it noisily. Seeing the donnan’s success, Hunter paced back and forth, sniffing and pawing at the crevice. Berry fished out another of the multi-legged insects and tossed it toward the big cat. Hunter pounced on the bug with both paws, before eagerly snatching it up in his jaws.

“Ugh,” Randall said. “Let’s hope we find the dwarves soon. I don’t think I could manage to eat one of those.”

The crack traveled down the hallway, disappearing off into the darkness ahead. “I guess I did more damage with my spell than I intended. I broke the floor. The ceiling looks sound enough, though.”

“I don’t think this was your doing,” Nia retorted. “Look, there are two of them, and they run parallel along the hallway."

Sure enough, there were two cracks, spaced a few feet apart. Each crack was about an inch wide, nearly as deep, and polished to a shiny finish. “What do you make of those?” Randall called over to Nia as she examined the other fissure.

“Your people have more experience with stonework than mine,” she replied. “I thought you might know.”

“Not a clue,” Randall admitted. “We can ask the dwarves when we find them,” he said optimistically.

The group traveled for several long minutes deeper into the earth. The tunnel walls were smooth and finished, but there were no side-passages or doors—just one big tunnel, leading downward.

“At least we won’t get lost,” Randall joked nervously.

Nia walked cautiously, the light held high in her left hand as her right hovered near her sword hilt. Her eyes were wide, and Randall thought he could detect tiny beads of sweat forming on her brow and upper lip. Randall could understand her worry; he was feeling nervous and claustrophobic himself. He could scarcely imagine how the environment must feel to a free-roaming elf.

He opened his mouth to offer words of comfort, only to be interrupted by her excited whisper. “I see something ahead,” she exclaimed, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of her sword.

Randall peered into the darkness, but saw nothing. As they crept slowly forward, a large shape came into view. A large block of granite sat in the middle of the tunnel, similar in size and shape to the cut stones from just outside. Scattered near the base of the block were chunks of rotting wood that flaked away at his touch.

“Well, at least we have an idea what the grooves in the floor were for,” Nia said as she nudged her toe against a long runner of wood passing beneath the block, nestled in the crack. “I think they were for some kind of sled to move the rock indoors. But if that is so, it has also been abandoned for a very long time.”

Randall nodded glumly. “I think you’re right. I’m beginning to lose hope that we’re going to find any dwarves down here at all.”

“I’m not ready to give up,” she replied. “We may still find the dwarves, but I’m more concerned about what caused them to abandon this block in the middle of the tunnel. This is obviously not the intended destination. It seems they must have left it in a hurry.”

“We’ll just have to keep our eyes open,” Randall said. “If it’s been so long, maybe whatever chased the dwarves away has gone as well.”

“Maybe,” Nia conceded, but Randall noted that her hand didn’t stray from her sword hilt as they continued down the tunnel.

After several long minutes, they came to a section of the tunnel that had partially collapsed. While the ceiling remained intact, a large chunk of the wall had fallen and broken into pieces on the floor, revealing a large ragged opening nearly three hand-spans in diameter. A rank, musky odor emanated from the hole, filling their nostrils. Berry let out a series of pint-sized sneezes in quick succession before burying his face in Randall’s collar in an attempt to escape the smell. Hunter’s ears flattened to his skull, and a low rumble escaped his throat.

“Let us move on,” Nia urged, her hand covering her mouth and nose. “Whatever made that hole their home smells long dead.”

Randall gulped and nodded, taking shallow breaths to minimize the stench. After a few yards, the smell subsided, and soon after they found themselves at a crossroads. The tracks carved into the floor continued onward down a sloping tunnel, while the main corridor branched off both to the left and right.

“One way’s probably as good as another,” Randall quipped.

“I disagree,” Nia argued. “The tracked path probably leads to some kind of workroom. If the dwarves haven’t been harvesting the stone here for some time, there is no point continuing that direction.”

“If you say so,” Randall shrugged. “That leaves us two choices. Which way would you suggest?”

As Nia contemplated the question, Berry suddenly tensed up, digging his fingers painfully into Randall’s shoulder. A sharp hiss escaped from between the donnan’s needle-sharp teeth. Hunter let out a plaintive mewling, sounding more like a housecat than a panther.

An instant later, the musky stench they had smelled earlier rolled over them, and Randall fought down the urge to retch. The sound of claws scrabbling on stone echoed from the dark tunnel they had just come down. Randall and Nia barely had time to draw their weapons before the beast came into view.

One long, red antenna entered the area lit by Nia’s elf light, followed by another. This was followed by a bright red head, swaying to and fro along the passage floor as the antenna flayed about. Behind the head was a long black chitinous body borne on a multitude of bright yellow segmented legs. The creature stood waist-high, but there was no telling how long it stretched back into the darkness.

Randall’s heart pounded as one antenna flicked uncomfortably close. He lashed out with his sword, chopping the end off of the offending appendage. The monstrosity reacted with surprising speed, lunching forward and arching its body upward, grasping at the travelers with its many feet. Nia and Randall battered at it with their weapons, barely keeping themselves out of the beast’s claws. Hunter danced back and forth, hissing and swatting at the creature’s legs.

“My sword doesn’t harm it,” Nia shouted in a panic-stricken voice. Randall’s own blade was equally ineffective against the tough armor of the creature’s body.

The creature dropped to the tunnel floor, and Randall reflexively threw himself across its upper body, pinning its head and mandibles to the ground. The giant insect thrashed wildly, curling its body spasmodically in an attempt to pluck the young Mage from its back.

“Help me out!” he cried, realizing his precarious position. If the beast managed to dislodge him, he would be dangerously close to its mouth.

Nia raked her sword tip along the creature’s back, catching it in a chink between armored plates just behind its head. She leaned forward, the sword pommel braced against her chest with both arms, until the sword penetrated the soft spot and slid deep into the creature’s body. The thing flailed about even more wildly then, tossing Randall off to the side, but Nia held firm, pinning its head to the tunnel floor. Soon, its wild motions slowed and then ceased altogether.

Nia yanked her sword free, bending over to reclaim her dropped elf light. “I think it’s safe to say that we know why the dwarves abandoned this spot,” she said as Randall lay on his back breathing raggedly.

Randall nodded as he rolled over to stand. He froze, still perched on all fours. The sound of claws scraping on stone echoed down the hallway.

“There’s more of them,” he said, jumping to his feet just as two more of the giant insects came into view.

Drawing magic from Llandra, Randall sent a geyser of flame down the hallway, felling the beasts. He gasped in horror as the light of the flame revealed dozens more scurrying down the tunnel toward them.

“Run!” he shouted, turning on his heel and sprinting toward the side tunnel closest to him, with Nia hot on his heels.

They sped down the passage, shooting past hallways and scrambling down side passages at random until they could hardly draw breath into their lungs. Randall stopped and hunched over, putting his hands on his knees as he drew in large ragged breaths.

"I can't run anymore," he said between gasps. "I don't hear them behind us."

Nia nodded, her chest heaving. "I don't smell them either," she said.

After a few moments, Randall pushed himself up, and looked around. His heart skipped a beat and he spun in a circle, casting his gaze wildly around him.

"Berry," he said in a panic. "We left Berry behind!"

Nia's eyes opened wide and her hands flew up to her mouth. "Hunter, too. I don't know how to get back," she whispered.

"You think I do?" Randall snapped as he paced back and forth.

Nia opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again without uttering a word.

"I'm sure he got away," Randall muttered to himself. "He's clever. But how are we going to find him?"

Nia's eyebrows shot up as Randall muttered a series of curse words that he had learned from the sailors at Varna on the Lake. After a few moments longer, when it was clear neither his pacing nor his cursing were going to wind down any time soon, she gently put her hand on his upper arm.