The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (50 page)

Aeris looked surprised at the
question.

“
Certainly I'm sure. I've seen
my fair share of those creatures in the past, believe me. Two patrols
of a dozen goblin warriors each were pacing around the place. But
now, nothing. I don't like it.”

“
I agree,” Tamara said
darkly. “Why pull those patrols out?”

“
The whys and wherefores will
have to wait, I'm afraid,” Hallic told her. “We have a
long way to go and standing here is just asking for trouble. Shall we
proceed?”

He pointed across the empty hall to
the far wall. A ramp, faintly lit by scattered patches of glowing
lichen, ascended gently to the left, rising up and out of sight to
the floor above.

“
That's weird,” Barnaby
said as they walked toward it. “Why a ramp? Wouldn't it be
easier to build stairs than carve a ramp out of rock?”

“
Some of the more...clumsy
undead have trouble with stairs,” Liliana told him. “An
empty-headed skeleton doesn't quite grasp the mechanics of climbing
up steps.”

“
Really? Huh, that makes them
sound a lot less scary to me.”

“
Don't let your guard down,”
the paladin warned him. “They aren't smart enough to know fear
either. Undead just keep coming; they don't feel fear, joy, pain, or
any other sensation. They are empty vessels controlled by the will of
their creator. And in large numbers, that makes them damned
dangerous.”

Barnaby paled and nodded quickly.

“
Gotcha,” he said and
nervously wiped his palms on his robe.

At the bottom of the ramp, Hallic stopped and
looked over the entire group.

“From here, I think we should move in battle
formation, as we agreed upon earlier. While you all get organized,
I'll scout ahead.”

He turned and began walking up the incline, his
form becoming indistinct and then vanishing in the gloom.

Tamara watched him leave and then moved to stand
next to Simon, keeping her voice down.

“We decided that the warriors should advance
first once we got inside the tower. Malcolm, Aiden, Kate and Fergus
will take the lead, followed by Liliana. You and I next, with
Sebastian and Barnaby behind us. Veronique was supposed to fit in
there somewhere but she isn't here now so we'll have to make do.
Miriam will stay at the back in a supporting role and I would like
your friend Aeris to bring up the rear, to make sure nothing sneaks
up behind us. You,” she looked down at Kronk with a smile, “are
free to do whatever your wizard wants you to do, if that's
acceptable?”

The little guy bowed.

“I am happy to help wherever I can, lady
mage,” he told her.

“Excellent. Simon, are you okay with the
order we'll be moving in?'

“Of course. I'm no tactician, Tamara, but it
sounds sensible to me.”

“Good. Malcolm? Let's move.”

“Yes ma'am,” the big guy said with a
wide grin. He had pulled an iron cap out of his small backpack and
settled it on to his head; it fit a little lopsidedly over his braids
and made him look like a little boy playing dress-up.

“And don't call me ma'am,” Tamara told
him as he started walking up the ramp. “It makes me feel like
an old lady.”

“Yes sir,” Malcolm's voice trailed
back and the mage rolled her eyes.

The party moved slowly but steadily up to the
second floor. Each level of the tower had ceilings that rose up about
twenty feet, making it feel like they were sneaking through a palace.
And starting on the second level, there were hallways and rooms that
had to be searched as they passed by. It wouldn't be wise to miss an
enemy and end up being attacked from behind.

Hallic was waiting for them at the top of the ramp
and explained the layout ahead.

“I don't know who designed this place,”
he told them quietly as they looked around. “But whoever it was
seems to have been very ambitious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Down this hallway,” he said and
pointed, “are a row of rooms that look like offices. At least,
each one has a heavy desk and several chairs in it. Shelves too.”

“And?” Tamara asked impatiently. “What
is so ambitious about that?”

The rogue shook his head, looking puzzled.

“It's just that I don't think any of them
has been used, ever. The furniture is covered in dust, the fabric of
the chairs is starting to rot and the shelves are empty. Maybe they
expected more allies or perhaps the rooms are ready to be used in the
future, but at the moment, they are deserted.”

“Okay, that is weird,” Aiden agreed.
“What else is on this level?”

“Nothing but offices, as far as I can tell.
There's a large central room that all of the hallways converge upon
and a spiral ramp that leads upwards from there. That is our
destination. Check each room as you pass by it; I only looked into a
few of them. In the meantime, I will go ahead and keep an eye on the
ramp, just in case we get any visitors.”

He nodded to them all and headed off down the
hallway.

Simon watched the dwarf, trying to figure out how
the rogue blended into the background so quickly. As soon as he got
about twenty feet away, he would literally fade away like a chameleon
into the surrounding colors and textures. It was weirdly fascinating
to the wizard and he was quite sure that Hallic would never tell him
how it was done.

The air on the second floor was as cold as the
first but filled with the scent of dust and mold. There were still
spots and patches of lichen on the walls and ceiling, perhaps there
because all of the surfaces were made from rough stone. Nothing had
been painted or sealed and the dampness in the rock seemed to
encourage the mossy growth.

“I'm glad that this glowing stuff is here,”
Malcolm said to Aiden, echoing Simon's thought. “Otherwise we'd
have to carry our own lights, and that would make us better targets.”

“It may be fine down here, but remember
those red lights we saw higher up when we were outside?” his
partner told him as they began walking slowly down the hallway. “I
think they might be torches, so we might be stuck for light as we go
up.”

The party became silent again and walked softly,
following the two warriors.

The entire second floor was empty. Hallic had been
right; unused offices and rotting furniture was all that there was to
see.

The next two floors were the same; empty, rotting
and eerie. The entire party was on edge and Simon had reached a point
emotionally where he would have almost preferred a fight to the
frightening emptiness that they had faced so far.

He had his chance on the fifth floor.

Hallic met the group at the bottom of the ramp on
the fourth level. The rogue was actually grinning as he watched the
party emerge from a hallway.

“No luck?” he asked Malcolm.

“If by luck you mean, did we find anyone,
then the answer is no,” the big man with some disgust. “Does
anyone or anything actually live in this depressing place?”

“I'm not sure if they could be called
'living', but some of the residents of this lovely tower are waiting
for us,” he nodded up the ramp, “on the next floor.”

“Who are they, Hallic?” Tamara asked
as she slipped between the hulking figures of Aiden and Malcolm.

“More like what than who, lady mage. I
didn't get too close because I was afraid that they would smell me.”

Simon was confused by that statement. As far as he
knew, skeletons and zombies didn't have a sense of smell. There
really wasn't enough left of them to be able to do that.

He looked down at Kronk, who also looked puzzled
and then at Aeris, who was floating next to him. The air elemental
shrugged.

“No idea,” he mouthed silently.

“Smell you? What are you talking about?”

“Ghouls. Lots and lots of ghouls. The next
floor is wide open. Why it has no rooms or walls or anything except
pillars to hold up the ceiling is anyone's guess, but there are
roaming ghouls scattered all over the place. Luckily, when I went
upstairs, I hugged the wall at the top of the ramp and none of the
fiends got too close. I know from the records I've read that they
have an exceptional sense of smell; easier to find corpses to dig up
and feast upon, I suppose.”

He pulled out a linen handkerchief and blew his
nose loudly, then put it away with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, but how those things can smell
anything over their own stench is beyond me.”

“Great,” Tamara said. “Ghouls. I
have no idea what they are or how to fight them. Anyone have any
suggestions?”

“Aeris,” Simon said, “Could you
tell us something about ghouls, please?”

The group as a whole looked over at the hovering
elemental, who in turn looked at Simon in surprise.

“You actually
want
me to speak for a
change?”

“Don't let it go to your head,” Simon
told him with a grin. “But you have a lot of data stored in
your memory. Let's tap into some of it, shall we?”

“Um, yes, of course. Well, let me see here.
Ghouls are evil magical entities that rip the flesh from living
beings to give their bodies form and substance in the mortal realm.”

Aeris suddenly reminded Simon of a professor that
he had once had back in college and he almost laughed at the
similarity. The elemental sounded like he was reading directly out of
a text book.

“The flesh of living things? Ew,”
Barnaby said in disgust. “What kinds of things?”

“Any tissue will do,” Aeris informed
him pedantically. “Animal, human, the ghoul doesn't care. But
after creation, they have a taste for human flesh, be it fresh or
rotting. Old tales tell us that ghouls will, if driven to it, consume
other undead like zombies if no regular sources of food are
available.”

“Okay, when did we step out of the real
world and into a horror movie?” Barnaby exclaimed. “Seriously,
ghouls?”

Tamara walked over to the mage and looked directly
into his eyes.

“If you're having second thoughts about this
venture, feel free to stay behind. I don't want anyone freaking out
in the middle of battle. If you are too scared to do your job, tell
me right now.”

Simon watched silently. Tamara was being a bit
harsh, but he had a feeling that she was just trying to get Barnaby's
attention. He doubted that the young man had ever faced these kinds
of opponents before. Most of them hadn't, actually.

“No. No, of course not,” he stammered.
“Honestly, I'm fine. Just caught me off guard a bit, that's
all.”

She continued to hold his gaze for a moment and
then smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Good man. Stay focused and remember your
training, all right? I chose you because you are one of the best; now
it's up to you to prove to me that I was right.”

Barnaby actually stood up straighter and nodded
stiffly.

“I won't let you down, Tamara.”

“I know you won't. Okay, Hallic, any
suggestions? Can we get by these ghouls or do we have to fight?”

“I don't see how we could get around them,
lady,” the rogue said ruefully. “Even invisibility
wouldn't help against them; their sense of smell is their primary
method of tracking down prey. We'll have to fight.”

Tamara sighed and looked around at the party.

“Well, we knew that this wouldn't be a walk
in the park, so...”

“One moment, please,” the dwarf
interjected.

“Yes? Go ahead, Hallic.”

“While we will have to confront the ghouls,
there might be a way that we can take them on piecemeal; a few at a
time.”

“We're listening,” Malcolm said,
looking a little hopeful.

Hallic looked up the ramp and then moved closer to
the others.

“Ghouls are not social creatures. You'll see
when you get upstairs, but they are scattered all over the place up
there. If we advance slowly across the floor toward the next ramp,
our scent alone will pull them to us one or two at a time.”

“But if we start fighting, won't that
attract more of the beasts?” Aiden asked.

“Not necessarily. If one person advances
slowly, once a ghoul catches their scent and is attracted to them,
they can retreat and pull the monster away from the rest. As good as
their noses are, ghouls don't hear or see very well. We might be able
to isolate and kill them all without starting a larger battle.”

“That sounds lovely and all,” Tamara
said a little sarcastically, “but who do you expect to
volunteer as live bait?”

“I can do it,” Malcolm said
immediately.

“Don't be stupid, you big ox,” Aiden
responded. “You're strong but slow. I'll do it.”

“Both of you are wearing armor,”
Tamara told them. “That makes you less than nimble.”

“Fine, I'll do it,” her brother spoke
up. “I can run like a deer and I'm nimble. I can be the bait.”

“Not a chance!” Tamara said loudly and
then winced, looking up to see if anything had heard her.

“You are not going to expose yourself to
that kind of danger,” she added in a lower voice. “And
that's final.”

“Stop playing big sister all the time,”
Sebastian hissed at her, looking angry for the first time that Simon
could remember. “I don't need to be coddled. I'm a grown man
and I can take care of myself.”

Before his sister could say anything, Hallic held
up his hands for silence.

“Everyone, please. As fascinating as this
whole discussion is, we are in the middle of enemy territory and this
is neither the time nor the place. I wasn't asking for volunteers to
attract the ghouls; I intend to do it myself. No offense to the rest
of you, but rogues are trained in speed and agility and we are chosen
specifically for those traits. So I will lure the ghouls toward the
party and you all will, I hope, take them out before they start
nibbling on my giblets. Sound like a plan?”