Fireclaws - Search for the Golden (26 page)

Taking Andi’s arm, I followed. Perhaps sixty feet of tunnel later, we broke through into a hot cavern about seventy feet square. The air in here was murky and probably full of gasses I didn’t really want to know about, but still, it didn’t hurt too much to breathe. My dark elf sight would have been useless in an absolute void of light, but there were large patches of wall that appeared almost glass-like with what I assumed were ribbons of lava bubbling behind them. It gave the entire place a spooky, blood-red tint. The floor was a soft bed of reasonably flat sand crystals, with only the occasional outcrop of sharp stone to flaw its beauty.

Diori drew in a deep amount of air as if scenting the cavern. “Kailemora’s egg chamber!”

“I don’t see any egg.”

“Oh, it would not be in a small room like this. I am positive there are one or more larger chambers beyond this one, but we must be getting very close. This would have been a diversionary chamber at best.”

“Diversionary?”

“Sometimes a luminary will set up a false chamber, even put some treasure and egg shells inside to make it look like the hatching has already taken place to throw off delvers. Come with me…”

She moved farther into the space, concentrating on the far wall, while I helped Andi along. The seer was exhausted and almost asleep on her feet. Diori inspected the natural stone critically; she reached her arm, then her whole body, through the wall. A few seconds later, her head appeared and she stepped back into the space with us.

“This is the way.” Once again, she created the glass-lined tunnel and we followed. In a much shorter span, perhaps twenty-five feet, Diori emerged into a second space. Similar to the first chamber in lighting level and construction, this one was much, much larger. The ceiling height alone was forty-five feet or more, the walls had to be two hundred feet in circumference. If possible, this room was even warmer and it had been a long time since we had access to water. I pulled out my badly-depleted water skin and squeezed the last few remaining squirts into Andi’s mouth. As if awakening from a bad dream, the seer’s eyelids shot open in terror.

“We need to leave this place, Ryliss,” she whispered frantically. “We are in grave danger…I am so sorry!” Then she seemed to faint from either the heat or plain exhaustion. I eased her to the ground and propped her up against one of the cooler side walls. I looked around in a near panic; the last time I had gotten such a warning from the seer, I ended up being thrown off a cliff to my death.

“Diori! Andi says…”

“I found it!” the construct interrupted from the far end of the massive cavern. “Come quickly, I need you to verify the viability of the hatchling before I release the stasis!”

“Does it matter?” I said urgently. “Just open it and find out.”

The construct shook her head. “Luminaries have been known to plant a magically-trapped egg in chambers, as well. Believe me, as old and as magical as Kailemora was, you do not want to find one of those. You might find yourself transported to the surface of a moon or dropped into the maw of an active volcano. Even I might not survive such a fate. It is indeed fortunate that you are a Druid and have a connection to living things.”

I raced to the spot where the kobold was looking down into a hot shallow pit in the floor. The mountain’s magma must be very close to the surface here as the heat rose in waves out of the depression. Surrounding the pit were a number of iron pillars like boundary markers drilled into the rock in a decorative pattern flush with the main surface. In the middle of the depression, no more than five feet down, rested a large egg with a band of light blue magic aura surrounding it.

“I must know, Druid. Is the egg real and is it still viable?” the stone version of me questioned, her hand firmly on my arm.

“What are these iron posts for?”

“A warding; I have already deactivated them so they pose no harm. Now hurry, Ryliss! As soon as we rescue the Auric, I will open another path out of this place and your mission will be at an end!”

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I gazed down into the pit, extending my senses down into the egg shell below me, probing for any spark of life. Immediately, I felt a magical surge and the world nearly exploded around me. Indeed, there was a life form inside completely unlike any I had encountered before. It was sleeping, its consciousness lingering just below the surface of wakefulness. But I sensed a feeling of purity and wisdom emanating from it. Again, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise up, similar to when I met the Earth Mother. This was almost a deity-level creature before me, and I suddenly felt a moral imperative to protect him at all costs.

Shaken by Diori out of my reverence, I gasped, “Yes, he is alive!”

“Excellent!” I heard a loud male voice gloat from the other side of the chamber. Still slightly dazed, I looked up and saw half the chamber was now filled with Verledn’s men, including the gargoyle. It was the fire wizard, still carrying the red crystal who spoke, and he held a frightened Andi dangling roughly by one arm. Behind them all, three blood-red portals silently snapped shut and faded to darkness.

“Diori, grab the egg and run!” I screamed, starting the change to my Jag’uri form. But before I sprouted a single black hair, I felt snakelike tendrils wrap around my feet and knees, climbing my body and pinning my arms helplessly to my side. The familiar haziness of contact with cold iron and its effect on my Druid abilities ensued. “What the…?” Seconds later I was thoroughly trussed up by the bands; I couldn’t free my arms, and my legs were bound tightly together as well.

Turning my head, I saw a grim-faced Diori finish the summoning of my iron prison, and then turn to fashion a birdcage of sorts out of the same material. She was pulling it directly out of the pilings around the pit and forming it to her needs, casting the spells effortlessly. “Diori, why are you doing this? You must save the Auric!”

The stone girl that looked like me paused momentarily but then continued working on her casting as she replied, “I, too, am saddened that we will no longer be friends, Ryliss. You were my first and only friend. Had we met even five hundred of your cycles ago, things might have been very different. But the wound placed on me by Kailemora has festered too long and now it poisons my spirit.”

“What wound? What are you talking about?” I wheezed, the iron bands constricting with every breath.

“Her creation of the perfect nursemaid. She gave me a heart, a conscience, empathy for others, but she spared no empathy for me! She created no more of my kind for company; she made me able to feel love but gave me no outlet for it. She made my ‘life’ a lie, and now I will thwart her last and final legacy. Her punishment will be the end of all luminaries and her last remaining hatchling turned to the evil that she professed to hate the most. A fitting revenge, do you not think?”

“No, Diori, don’t do this! I beg you!”

“Don’t worry, Ryliss, I will not be the one to end your life; I have pledged this to you. Now you will have to excuse me, I must attend to my work.”

I tried to struggle against my bonds, but it was no use. All I managed to do was fall over and lay bound and helpless on the soft sand. In the interim, the fire wizard and his entourage had moved in much closer, handing Andi off to one of his men. The mage and the gargoyle were practically standing right over me. They watched in satisfaction as Diori made the last of her mystic passes. A few seconds later, the construct leaped down into the pit and I heard the sound of a shell being shattered.

While this was going on, the fire wizard leaned over me and leered. The brimstone stench that clung to him almost gagged me. “The kobold may have vowed not to kill you, my troublesome young Druid, but I have made no such pact. Your meddling has plagued me horribly, but in the end, everything turned out exactly as planned.”

“But how did you find us?” I gritted.

“You mean beyond the regular reports of your schemes given by your stone ‘friend’? Do you think I would skip putting something as rudimentary as a wizard’s trace on your blind seer girl? You were pathetically easy to outwit, even for a dark elf; you hardly even made it fun.”

I couldn’t see from where I lay, but I heard Diori hop out of the pit, carrying something that hissed loudly. With a loud slam and a metallic click, whatever creature it was found itself imprisoned in the birdcage.

The wizard chuckled, “Excellent work, Diori; our mistress will be pleased. We’ll take charge of the golden now.”

“Mistress?” I wheezed. “But you work for Verledn…”

“Hardly,” the one called Lebahn snickered. “That fool is nothing but a figurehead, a Duke Pharmon want-to-be. He still has his uses, I suppose…but I digress.” He rose up and backed away; looking over at the stone-crafted gargoyle, he nodded. “We have wasted enough time on this one…kill her!”

There was a rasping of stone-on-stone as the monster leaned down and grabbed me by the hair with one of its enormous paws, pulling me half way off the ground and exposing my throat. Pain, fear, and a measure of regret shot through me. Sprouting evilly from its other hand was a full series of foot-long, razor-sharp, obsidian-straight claws. It pulled back that arm to strike a fatal blow. I had failed.

A rippling inhuman scream and a flashing streak of blackness intersected the edges of my vision first. From out of nowhere, Naurakka flung herself onto the stone giant, raking her claws across its face and chest in a whirlwind of savage fury. The gargoyle dropped me back down to the sand to meet the new threat, extending claws from its other hand, as well.

“Rakka, no! You can’t beat this thing,”
I shouted desperately through our bond.

I watched in horror as with a soul-tearing shriek of her own, my four-footed girl continued to attack as only an enraged Jag’uri can. She deftly dodged one slash, and then another, all the while breaking her own sickle-shaped claws on the creature until her paws ran red with blood. The sheer ferocity of the attack continued as the gargoyle staggered back, losing its footing in the soft, uncertain sand. But off-guard and ungainly as the gargoyle was, it was only a matter of time, and finally, painfully, I heard the stone monster connect with a wicked slash that snapped ribs and sprayed arterial blood across the sand where I lay.

I felt a dagger of agony bury itself in my own chest as Rakka gamely tried to recover and continue to fight. Had the monster been flesh and blood, I have no doubt that it would have been dead ten times over. But there is no weakness in stone, and obsidian does not shatter when it rends living flesh. A second scoring hit, and then a third, took the last of the fight from my best friend as snarls of rage turned to strangled coughs of sorrow. Abruptly, Naurakka’s bloody limp form hit the sand next to me, quivering, her noble face and eyes only inches from my own. I cursed life as I watched the light in those trusting eyes dim and wink out exactly as her mother’s had years before. My tears and the Jag’uri blood of my friend soaked pitilessly into the soft sand.

Kerrik

Things happened quickly once King Alex and Queen Maya made a decision. Alex immediately went into consultation with the tall, green elf, Rosa. It seemed Queen Maya, on the other hand, was a peerless tactician. She started barking orders to the golden-hued warriors, and they scattered like raindrops on a hot skillet. Even Wyatt was given assignments, as was the healer woman. Supplies were loaded into bags of dimensions and a general feeling of competent preparation for battle was in the air. I nodded with approval. Too many times in the army, I had been subjected to ill-thought-out and poorly-prepared campaigns. These people obviously knew their business.

I was so engrossed in taking in the scene that I didn’t notice one of the female warriors come up behind me and tap me on the shoulder.

“Would you care to be outfitted in armor for the battle, Wizard Kerrik?”

“Err…no, thank you,” I said, somewhat put off my stride by her golden skin and arcane blue eyes that held genuine warmth.

“Trooper Clariostia, Field Armorer, but you can call me Clara; everyone does.”

“Thank you, Clara, but I am afraid heavy armor would interfere with my ability to fly, and I might need that. I wouldn’t turn down one of those amulets that protect a person from arrows if you had one available.”

She nodded. “Of course, Enchanter Primus Rosa keeps a few on hand for emergencies. How about your lovely paramour?” she said, indicating Daffi, who was still tightly gripping my arm.

“I will be fine as I am, but thank you,” Daphne answered. She was still caught up in looking around at the grand hall. Having grown up in a forest, the finery and grandeur of the place made her wide-eyed in wonder.

I noticed Alex had finished his consultations with the green elf at the same time his Queen pulled his head down to her level and whispered something in his ear. Several of the golden warriors came down the elegant stairs carrying two suits of white armor almost reverently. Another followed with a large tower shield, followed by another with a huge war hammer.

As soon as the armor arrived, two of the women assisted the queen with putting on one of the sets. The others just laid out the larger, bulkier set pieces on the floor. Alex strode confidently into the midst of the pile and raised his arms. I was astonished to see the pieces levitate up and clamp firmly onto his body as if each had a mind of its own and each knew the precise order that they were to engage.

“Did you see that?” Daffi whispered, her fingers digging into my bicep. Once both of the Royals were fully-armored except their helms, which were still being held by the golden attendants, everyone drew back away from them. Once again, white-feathered wings sprouted from their backs, each spanning twenty feet or more.

I was speechless, but Daphne was hopping up and down squealing, “I know those wings! Those are beautiful snow owl wings!”

“Indeed,” murmured Clara, returning with a small piece of smooth river rock attached to a gold chain. She gently placed it around my neck. “Our Comets are truly blessed; their wings are functional as well as beautiful and are also the symbol of their office.”

“Comets?” I echoed.

“Yes, they are the children of the Nova and the sworn protectors of this world.” She watched with a proud smile as the two rulers checked out the fit of their armor and nodded that all was in readiness.

Alex smiled and announced, “Looks like we are set. I will have no problem carrying Kerrik’s weight, and Maya can handle Lady Daphne easily.”

“My king, as the Commander of your personal guard, I must object,” Ebony said heatedly, stepping to the forefront. “It is not a matter of weight; you are both supremely powerful, but rather a matter of encumbrance.” Alex looked surprised but urged her to continue with a hand gesture. “Carrying a passenger in your arms will leave you both defenseless in flight. If you were attacked by a flock of hippogriffs or wyverns, grave damage could be done before you reach the ground.

“But Wizard Beratin can fly; I could drop him and fight.”

“With respect to the wind wizards,” she countered, “they generally are not agile enough in flight to defend themselves against such an opponent. You would be splitting yourselves into three targets with still only one defender. We must consider the Queen’s and Lady Daphne’s safety.

Daffi let go of my arm. “Your pardon, my King, but encumbrance will not be an issue. If you could but supply your lovely queen with a simple shoulder sack, I will be no trouble at all.”

Alex smirked and looked at the tall, golden warrior. “There…satisfied, Ebony? If Maya has the freedom to employ Winya, we are better defended than if we traveled with an entire army.” Ebony gave a reluctant nod of agreement and backed away. The king turned back to Daffi and chuckled. “My King, is it? I seem to remember having this conversation with your friend, Ryliss, a few years ago. Are you petitioning to become one of our subjects, Miss Daphne?”

Daffi performed an awkward bow and curtsey and looked over at me. “We would very much like that, Your Grace, if you will have us.”

Alex grinned and looked questioningly over at his wife. “Well, My Lady’s sister, Ryliss, vouching for your characters is high praise in itself, but I suggest we shelve this discussion for the victory dinner when we return. Now we need to leave.”

Another servant came running in with a shoulder sack and presented it to Maya, who stepped down from the raised throne platform. She gave Daffi a wink and took her by the arm.

The procession from the keep back down to the portal pad was brief. King Alex set a fast pace, which left most of the rest of us scurrying to keep up. A number of happy-looking civilians and wizard students lined the street, clearly thrilled to see the King and Queen in their winged regalia. They kept their wings folded back slightly so they didn’t drag on the ground. In just a couple of minutes, we were standing at the portal threshold. The white-robed elf woman was anxiously walking alongside the King and seemed to be trying to cover every contingency that might occur for the entire trip. Finally, Alex stopped, extended his armored arms, and gave her a reassuring hug and a smile.

“We’ll be fine, Rosa, stop worrying. We’re going to find a dragon, not fight one!”

“You know I’ll still worry horribly about you both.”

“Just be ready to send us a portal when I call.”

“Of course, but remember, I need your mind calm and a good mental picture of where you want it. And Maya,” she said, swiveling her gaze and sternly pointing a long finger at the Queen. “Alex’s mind isn’t calm when you are cooing over him, batting your eyes, and blowing in his ear like you do after every battle.”

“Yes, Mom,” Maya grinned shyly. “It’s just that pounding the snot out of evil is so ‘motivating’!”

“Ahuh…sometimes I think I should just give up and put the pixie in charge of these operations.”

The pixie in question stood up from her perch on Alex’s armored shoulder and smiled wickedly. But at that point, Alex and Maya drew us through the portal, and anything the sprite was going to say was lost in the curtains of translocation.

We stepped out of the portal at Northfield; the non-human attendants in the cloaks not seeming to notice our arrival. A few seconds later and beyond the massive doors, we were standing outside in the mid-afternoon sun. Alex and Maya were all smiles as they unfurled their wings to their fullest extent.

“Alright then, Wizard Kerrik, you can direct us to where you last saw Ryliss, and we will pick up their trail. Miss Daphne, will you reveal the need for the sack now?”

Immediately, Daffi shapeshifted into a small black rabbit. Queen Maya giggled and scooped her up, holding her twitchy little face right up to hers. “She’s so cute!” Then she gently placed her in the sack and hung it around her shoulder, tying it back to her narrow waist so that Daffi didn’t dangle unnecessarily.

I was watching Alex’s reaction, and there was indeed surprise there. Finally, he just shook his head and muttered some request about the stars saving him from more Druid girls. The Royals put on their helms, which they had clipped to their belts earlier. Alex already had the war hammer in a sleeve across his back, but I didn’t see that Maya was armed. Picking me up like I was a two-year-old child, Alex vaulted into the sky with Maya hot on our heels.

The Comets made good time, far faster than an air wizard’s fly spell, and in little more than two hours, we were already circling over the area where we had parted ways with the Druid. Fortunately, being somewhat used to flying, I was accustomed to seeing topography from the air and was able to guide the party back without much issue.

As we widened our circle, Maya called out, “There!” She pointed to a curious collection of stones with an appendage of some kind, laid out in the flat area between two rocky gorges. It was little more than two shards up and two shards down with a string of smaller round rocks trailing out.

“What is it?” Alex shouted back over the sound of the wind rushing past us.

“That is my people’s stylized symbol for a Jag’uri! It has to be Ryliss! We follow the direction the tail is pointing.”

Over the next hour, we found four more of the strange rock structures, all with the tails pointing toward some looming mountains in the distance ominously shrouded in smoke. I was thankful we were flying and not trying to cross the difficult terrain below on foot. The closer we got to the mountains, the more sloppily the markers were being constructed, which spoke of Ryliss’ great haste. It was starting to get dark when we found what was to be the last marker. It was at the foot of a tall, rocky promontory, which I judged was probably still a semi-active volcanic site. We could all feel the heat rising in the air, billowing off the very rocks of the mountain itself. Taking advantage of the free updraft, Alex and Maya adjusted their wings and we soared high above the top peak.

“There’s a tunnel entrance of sorts not far from the top,” Alex said, pointing. Throughout the journey, I noticed Maya following his lead without ever hearing his words, so I assumed they had some form of communication that didn’t require speaking. The Queen started her dive at the same time Alex did. Their vision must be more acute than normal because we were more than halfway down before the mists cleared enough for me to make out the details he spoke of. Yes, there was a tunnel drilled into the side of the mountaintop.

We touched down on a flat, apron ledge and faced what appeared to be a colossal pile of rocks that had thundered down from high above at some point earlier in history. It probably wouldn’t have merited a second look except for the large, glass-lined hole that marred its otherwise dull appearance.

Once on two feet, both Comets retracted their wings, and after handing me the bag with the rabbit, Queen Maya disappeared completely; actually vanished before my eyes. I did hear her voice from the edge of the tunnel whisper back, “This glass is recent, Alex; it’s not even dusty on the inside. I’ll be right back…”

“You can release me now, Kerrik, please,” Daphne mumbled from within the sack I was holding, and I gently laid it out on the rock. Instantly, the black bunny darted out and scampered down the tunnel and out of sight. Crap! I know Daffi is good at stealth, but she should have waited for the rest of the team! I looked at Alex and sighed.

A few moments later, Maya was back and now visible. “We need to move fast; Ryliss is in trouble. It looks like the bad guys arrived before we did.” She knelt down in the dirt and drew a hasty sketch in the dust. “There are about forty-five mixed archers and footmen in the second large chamber, about here.” Maya pointed. “Right now, all their attention is facing away from the tunnel entrance, so that is in our favor. Closer to the back of the chamber, it looks like Ryliss is being held prisoner, and the fire mage and gargoyle are running the show. The stone girl that Kerrik described as Diori seems to be breaking into the egg!”

“What do you want us to do, Maya?” the pixie said, focused attentively from Alex’s shoulder. She appeared to be wearing plate armor now, even on the tips of her wings.

“Nia, I want you to make life miserable for the soldiers. Give them a chance to surrender, but if they don’t take it, feel free to blast them. Alex, the gargoyle, of course; Kerrik your job is to find your sister and get her to safety. I’ll drag Ryliss out of harm’s way and help out as needed. Any questions?” We all shook our heads. “Good, let’s go!” She vanished once again like a heavily-armored ghost.

I readied my fly spell and followed King Alex through the tunnel. We sped through the first chamber and could hear screaming as we charged through the second. As soon as Alex cleared the doorway, his wings deployed and he was flying over the surprised mercenaries, carrying both his shield and hammer. I took to the air, as well; I spotted Andea below me being held fast by a mercenary. I also noticed Ryliss lying trussed up on the ground, blood everywhere. Next to her was the unmoving body of a large black cat. The gargoyle stood over her, claws extended, ready to plunge them into the Druid on the ground. The deadly claws shot down, but at the last second, Ryliss’ form was dragged out between the gargoyles legs, and it missed its mark.

Then all hell broke loose. From somewhere behind me, I heard the amplified voice of the pixie ordering the mercenaries to drop their weapons and lie face down on the floor. Of course, that only triggered snickers from the warriors and a few of them lifted their bows to try and skewer Nia. The resulting detonations and the screams that followed were worse than anything I remembered from the war. The stern warrior holding Andi did, however, release her and duck for cover.