The Survivors (26 page)

The edgy, sleep-deprived dwarves reacted as one, seizing their weapons and their loved ones and huddling together fearfully. Kellik lashed out with his warhammer, shattering a freestanding crystal into a thousand glittering shards.

“Wait!” Rose cried as others stood, ready to begin swinging at anything that glittered or gleamed. “It isn’t hurting us.”

“Says you,” Chisul muttered, his hand on his short sword.

Meanwhile the orange light zoomed around the room, ignoring Bradok and the dwarves completely. Gradually it slowed and began orbiting an enormous crystal at the far end of the cave, revolving around the trunklike structure with changing light pulses.

“It’s beautiful,” Rose decided.

Bradok would have felt a lot better about the beauty of the pulsing ball of light if he knew whether it promised doom or salvation.

Suddenly the ball of light began to accelerate, spinning around the crystal so quickly that it seemed to create a solid band of light. The reflections around the room seemed to jump and flicker across the smaller crystals with incredible speed, a shimmering movement accompanied by a deep, belllike tone.

“What is that?” Bradok said.

“The crystals are singing,” Much ventured.

The sound grew and Bradok could swear he heard different notes joining in, slowly changing the cacophony into a harmonious chord.

“Look,” Chisul said, pointing.

All the dwarves were staring already. All around the chamber, individual crystals were changing color. Before, they had all reflected the orange light of the energy creature, but as they watched, they burned from within, reds, greens, blues, and yellows.

New balls of light began to slide out of the crystals, adding their brightness to the room. At least a dozen new balls of light emerged and floated over to the giant crystal.

The orange light stopped spinning as its companions crowded around it. One by one, they flew through the crystal, penetrating its smooth surface the same way the orange one had flown through Bradok the first night he’d witnessed them. With each pass, the crystal began to glow pale blue from within. After a few moments, the glow became a blinding light encompassing the entire cavern and the dwarves had to cover their eyes again.

When the lights finally stopped moving, the giant crystal pulsed with inner light. Each pulse seemed to push the light outward, and the surrounding crystals began to glow again
as well. Soon the entire room sparkled with twinkling lights. Bradok noticed that even the shards of the crystal Kellik had shattered were renewed and glowed.

“I tell you, it’s beautiful,” Rose repeated.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kellik said in his gravelly voice.

“What’s happening now?” Much said, grabbing Bradok’s attention by the urgency in his voice then grabbing his shirt as well.

The old dwarf was pointing at the first orange ball of light, which hung in the air in front of the giant crystal. Its surface rippled and bulged, as if something inside of it were trying to escape. The other lights hovered around the first one, but not too close. Each time its surface rippled, the orange light seemed to dim and the ball of light fell a bit, drifting toward the floor.

“I think it’s sick or something,” Bradok said. “Maybe dying.”

“Why did it bring us here, then?” Corin asked. “To witness this?”

“That’s exactly right,” Rose decided, her face splitting into a smile. “But I don’t think it’s dying. Look!”

The energy creature pulsed and bulged again, and it seemed to expel a small burst of light from its body that hung motionless in the air like a miniature star. After a moment, the light seemed to collapse in on itself, forming a perfect, orange sphere.

“See,” Rose said. “It’s more like it’s—she’s—pregnant.”

Rose had no more than said those words when a second small ball of light was expelled from the mother-light. Four more followed before the orange ball began to brighten again. She was just above the floor, hovering there with her babies zipping around her like playful puppies. Whenever they drew close enough, purple tethers of energy would jump between mother and offspring.

“She’s bonding with them,” Tal said, agreeing with his sister.

“How do you know so much?” Chisul asked suspiciously.

“It’s what most species do,” Tal said with a shrug.

“It’s beautiful,” Rose said for the third time, dabbing tears from her eyes.

“I hate to be the practical one,” Chisul said, “but unless she’s offering to let us borrow a couple of her babies to use as light buddies, I think we’ve wasted enough time here.”

Rose shot Chisul a hard look and elbowed him in the ribs.

“What?” he protested. “As interesting as this is, it isn’t getting us anywhere. I think we should move on.”

“He’s got a point,” Kellik said grudgingly.

“What do you think?” Rose asked Bradok.

Back to him again, Bradok thought with a sinking feeling. Before he could respond, however, the baby lights zoomed away from their mother. They darted over to where Bradok stood with the others, zipping around them all, hovering, then moving off.

One let Rose touch it glancingly with her outstretched fingers before shooting away.

After a few minutes of that, the mother pulsed with light, and the babies returned to her, circling around her as she hung just below the massive crystal. Purple energy tethers jumped from the babies to the mother then from the mother to the side of the giant crystal. All of them glowed brighter and brighter until, with a thunderous crack, a fragment of the crystal popped out of the side, like a cork from a keg. A torrent of glowing water issued forth from the hole, splashing across the base of the crystal and filling a small depression in the stone floor.

In less than a minute, a small pool had formed at the base of the radiating crystal. Then the torrent of water dwindled to a trickle. The water or fluid or whatever it was glowed. It almost
seemed as though the crystal were bleeding from a wound.

The light creatures pulsed in unison, and all but the mother rose up and disappeared into the ceiling as if it were nothing more than smoke. The mother light hung in the air a moment longer, pulsing gently; then she, too, disappeared into the stone.

“So there it is. Some fireworks and a disappearing act. And what’s left behind? Do you think your friend the orange ball of light is inviting us to drink from her glowing pool?” Chisul asked sarcastically.

Bradok shook his head. It didn’t make sense to him either.

“Are you two daft?” Much exclaimed, laughter in his voice. “It’s a moonwell.”

They all stared, Rose beginning to laugh too. Bradok had heard of such deep pools where the water had absorbed so many minerals that it actually glowed with weird energy, but he’d never seen one before. Most dwarves thought they were legend.

“Reorx has blessed us,” Kellik said happily. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head, offering a prayer of thanks. On either side of the big smith, his boys did the same.

“Aye,” everyone intoned when the prayer was finished.

Bradok felt like the odd man out. He’d never been the kind of dwarf who prayed and he wasn’t much for attending temple, yet there he was, leading a ragtag group of believers in Reorx’s name.

He felt like more of hypocrite than anything else as he knelt and pretended to pray along with the rest.

Standing up, he reminded himself that he had actually met Reorx and knew he was as real as Much or Chisul or Rose. He’d seen Reorx with his own eyes, or at the very least, a messenger of the god’s. He must be blessed, somehow, even if he wasn’t a believer.

“Moonwells are reputed to possess the power of the gods,”
Much whispered into Bradok’s ear. “Maybe it can restore our glowstones.”

“Thanks,” he whispered back then proclaimed Much’s idea as if it were his own.

The dead glowstones were brought out and passed to Bradok, who took them over to the glowing pool. He had no idea what he was doing really, but he determined to make a show of it. Slowly, he dipped the stones into the water, setting them gently on the bottom.

The water itself felt like any other water to the touch, but it seemed to cling thickly to his fingers as he withdrew them, soaking into his skin rather than running off.

“What about the compass?” Chisul said. “Why not try that?”

Why not, indeed? Bradok took out the compass and stared at it. What if it got a little wet? It had no inner works to spoil. He flipped it open, expecting to be greeted by the Seer in a swimming dress, but instead she did not appear. That was odd but sometimes happened. Perhaps she dreaded the coming immersion, or maybe her power had faded too much. His course of action was decided. With only the barest of hesitation, he snapped the compass’s lid closed and lowered it reverently into the pool.

“How long till we know if it works?” Tal asked.

Bradok shrugged dumbly.

“Let’s leave it in for the night,” he said, looking around at the glowing crystals filling the cave. “This looks like a nice, warm, bright place for everyone to get some rest.”

F
or the first time in many weeks, Bradok woke up peaceably. No one had roused him. No sound had penetrated his weary mind to raise any alarms. No sense of impending danger compelled him to consciousness. He just felt a weightless, euphoric feeling as he floated up from the depths of dreaming to full consciousness.

It felt wondrous.

Bradok opened his eyes and looked at the cave ceiling above. The glowing crystals had dimmed considerably since the night before, but there was still plenty of light shining. A few people were up and about, but most still slept. He gave a thought to just rolling over and going back to sleep, but he knew if he rested too much, it would just make him more tired later.

With a sigh, he rose, brushing the dust from his pants and shaking the dirt from his cloak. He changed his shirt and went to the moonwell to splash some water on his face. As he approached the shallow pool, it seemed to have grown brighter rather than dimmer, as the crystals had. The water shimmered only faintly, retaining very little of the luminescent silver light that it displayed the previous night. However, two bright points of light burned coldly from the bottom of the little pool.

Bradok’s face broke into a wide smile as he rolled up his sleeve. He thrust his hand in the freezing water and withdrew the two glowstones, revived and returned to a brightly glowing state.

“It worked,” Corin said, materializing beside him.

Bradok tossed the Daergar one of the stones with a grin then retrieved the compass. Flipping open its lid, the Seer appeared immediately, hovering in the air. She extended her spear, but instead of pointing at the only exit from the crystal chamber, she gestured toward a spot to one side, against one of the walls.

“Maybe she’s confused,” Corin said, scratching his beard.

The image of the Seer screwed up her face in a look of disdain.

“All right, all right,” Corin said. “Don’t get testy. I’ll go check it out.” He winked at Bradok then rose and bowed to the Seer before moving off toward the wall she had indicated.

“What was that all about?” Rose’s voice greeted Bradok as he put the compass away.

“Corin and the compass were having a difference of opinion,” he said wryly.

Rose knelt down beside the pool and splashed a handful of water on her face, doing her best to wipe away the dirt of the road with a little towel.

“Oh, I see the pool recharged the glowstones,” she said with a note of her old cheerfulness.

Bradok nodded, polishing the compass with the hem of his cloak before putting it away.

“Do you think this water’s safe to drink?” Rose asked, eyeing the still-glowing liquid.

“I usually don’t make a point of drinking things that glow,” he said.

Rose smiled and nodded. “Good point,” she said.

As Bradok dried the glowstones, a long silence began to
stretch between them. Rose seemed to be absently combing her hair, and Bradok wanted to broach a delicate subject.

“How are you feeling? How’s your arm?” he asked finally.

She involuntarily put her left hand over the bandage. “It’s healing,” she said. “It’s fine,” she added but in a brisk, uncertain manner that seemed to cut off further inquiry.

“Let’s see,” Bradok said, pulling a strip of cloth from his bag. “I’m sure it could do with a fresh bandage.”

“I tell you, it’s better,” Rose said, putting her hand over the bandage again.

Her face was defiant with anger. Bradok had expected trepidation, maybe even fear, but anger seemed out of place.

“Come on,” he said, reaching for her arm. “We need to see how you’re doing.”

“Don’t touch me,” she growled, pulling her arm back out of reach.

“I was just—” Bradok started to say, but Rose cut him off.

“You’re not my husband, you’re not my mother, and you’re not my doctor.”

“No, your brother is your doctor,” Tal cut in. “Isn’t that confusing enough?” he added good-humoredly, trying to allay the tension.

Bradok turned to find Rose’s brother standing with his arms folded across his barrel chest. “Bradok is right,” he said with more sternness than Bradok had ever heard from him. “Let’s see that arm.”