Crossroads 04 - The Dragon Isles (14 page)

 
          
Shimmer
nodded slowly.

 
          
“I
will drink with you,” he said.

 
          
Without
warning, the room shook. The water in the chamber quivered and Lakuda had to
grab hold of her golden netting to steady herself. The guards looked around
apprehensively, and even Shimmer adjusted his balance. Cloudy streamers of sand
drifted down from the ceiling. A faint rumbling echoed through the room.

 
          
“What
was that?” one of the guards asked nervously.

 
          
“Seaquake?”
suggested another.

 
          
“Don’t
just float there, fools,” Lakuda snarled. “Go find out” ♦ * * + *

 
          
Karista
staggered, but Mik caught her before she fell. Ula jumped out of the way as a
big piece of coral plummeted from the ceiling and smashed a driftwood table
near one wall of the room. Trickles of sand drifted down from the ceiling.

 
          
“What
was that?” Trip asked, rising and dusting himself off.

 
          
Mik
walked to the window and peered out into the darkness. For a moment, he saw
nothing. Then, swift shadows began to dart through the dim light surrounding
the city. Giant razorfish, he realized, and sharks.

 
          
“Mik,”
Trip said, “I think we’ve sprung a leak.” He held his small hand out under a
trickle of water dripping from the ceiling.

 
          
The
words barely registered on the sailor’s mind. There, at the edge of the
flickering city lights, he saw something that made his blood run cold.

 
          
Mik’s
mouth dropped open and he whispered, “The dragon!”

No
Way
Out

 
         
A
mixture of anger and fear flashed across Lakuda’s gaunt face. “Tempest!” she
gasped. Then her eyes narrowed. “It’s that accursed Drakenvaal!” she hissed.
“Isn’t it?”

 
          
“Absurd,”
Shimmer countered.

 
          
“Well
. . . she’s been known to associate with dragons before!”

 
          
Shimmer
said nothing, but his orangish eyes flared with anger.

 
          
Lakuda’s
angular face softened. “I meant no offense,” she said. “Your choice of...
friends is your own, of course.” Shimmer nodded slowly.

 
          
“Well?”
Lakuda said, swimming to the exit of the throne room, “Are you coming?”

 
          
“I
think,” Shimmer said, “that I shall stay here and contemplate your words.”

 
          
Lakuda’s
dark eyes narrowed and her lean jaw trembled. “This is no time to be petulant.”

 
 
          
Another
tremor shook the reef-villa. Pieces of coral drifted down from the hall
ceiling, and a small pillar supporting a window arch crumbled.

 
          
“Suit
yourself
,” Lakuda growled. “With the dragon loose, I
must tend to business. We’ll have that drink later, and forget our
differences?”

 
          
“Yes,”
Shimmer replied.
“Perhaps.”

 
          
Lakuda
frowned at him, then turned and swam out of the room, taking the guards with
her.

 
          
Shimanloreth
stood alone in the room, thinking.

 
          
 
* * * *

           
“Give me some of that seaweed,”
Karista said, reaching toward Trip. “After all, it’s mine.”

 
          
The
kender handed her some; he’d already doled out other bits to himself and
Kingfisher's
former captain.

 
          
“A
moment ago, you had no intention of escaping,” Ula said slyly.

 
          
“A
moment ago, we weren’t in danger of drowning,” Karista replied. She sloshed
around in the rising waters of their prison chamber.

 
          
“We’d
welcome any other aids you might have for the occasion,” Mik said.

 
          
“I’ve
nothing to weave spells with here,” Karista replied. “It all went down with the
ship. And, even if it hadn’t, with the gods so long departed, my powers are next
to nothing.” She stuffed the magical seaweed into her cheek and glared at them.

 
          
“Maybe
you’ll assist us in overpowering the guards, then,” Mik replied.

 
          
“If
I must,” she said.

 
          
Ula
laughed.

 
          
The
chamber shuddered again, and another leak sprang up.

 
          
Mik
glanced out the window. Flashes like lightning in the darkness silhouetted a
terrible battle between Reeftown’s sea elves and Tempest’s forces.

           
As Mik watched, a horrible visage
appeared at the porthole. It was neither human nor elf. Blotchy scales covered
its terrifying countenance. Its mouth was like a sucker ringed with sharp
teeth. Its eyes glowed red. Small Turbidus leeches clung to its skin. The
creature pressed its face against the glass of the porthole and leered at the
captives inside.

 
          
Mik
jumped back as the thing raised its clawed hand and pounded against the glass.
Trip gasped and Karista squawked in surprise. The scaly fist smashed into the
window, but the thick glass held firm.

 
          
“Time
to go,” Ula said.

 
          
“Agreed,”
said Mik.

 
          
All
four captives splashed back down the passageway to where they’d first entered
their prison. The corridor was partially submerged, but they found a dry ledge
near the pool.

 
          
They
all paused there, peering into the rising water.

 
          
“I
can’t see any of the guards,” Mik said.

 
          
“They’re
probably just down the tunnel, out of sight,” Ula replied.

 
          
“Any
idea which way we should go if we get past them?” Mik asked.

 
          
“Follow
me,” Ula said. “I’ll improvise.”

 
          
The
corridor shook, and another piece of coral fell from the arched ceiling. The
water grew higher around them, nearly reaching the top of the small ledge they
stood on.

 
          
“Let’s
go,” Mik said. Ula dived into the water, and he jumped in right after her. Trip
and Karista followed.

 
          
It
took a moment for Mik’s eyes to adjust to the gloomy waters. The magic of the
seaweed wasn’t as potent as that of his necklace. The air didn’t smell so
sweet, and he felt vaguely nauseous.

 
          
Ula
streaked ahead as the guards turned to face them. Luckily, there were only
two—the others having been called away to help fight the dragon. Ula ducked
aside as the first man thrust his spear at her. The sea elf moved as swifdy as
a barracuda and as gracefully as a dolphin. She clouted the guard on the back
of the neck with the flat of her hand, and the sentry stumbled forward.

 
          
Mik
grabbed the haft of the man’s spear. He wrested the weapon from the sentry’s
grip and elbowed the man in the face. The guardsman went down.

 
          
The
sailor swam forward as Ula struggled with the second guard. It was all Ula
could do to avoid being skewered by his spear. As it was, the weapon’s blade
traced a long scratch up her side, cutting free a piece of her already scanty
outfit.

 
          
Ula
cursed and wrestled with the guard as Mik bore in. The guard ducked under the
sailor’s thrust, but Mik had expected that. He wheeled the spear in his hands
and smashed the haft into the man’s back.

 
          
The
sentry grunted in pain. Ula clouted him on the jaw, and his head snapped back.
The group quickly pulled the stunned guards up the corridor into the rapidly
filling air pocket near the cell.

 
          
Trip
and Karista confiscated the sentries’ other weapons as Ula and Mik hefted their
“borrowed” spears.

 
          
“Leave
their daggers,” Mik said.

 
          
“Aye,
captain,” Trip replied.

 
          
“Why
leave them anything?” Karista asked.

 
          
“We’ve
weapons enough,” Mik replied. “I won’t leave them defenseless in this chaos.
They might need to protect themselves.”

 
          
“Lead
the way,” Mik then said to Ula, and they all splashed back into the water once
more.

 
          
They
passed numerous corridors as they swam. Several times, they passed small
breaches in the wall that gave them a glimpse of the fighting outside.
Reeftowners swam everywhere, battling with evil fish under the dragon’s
command. Finally, they came to a branch in the tunnels where there seemed to be
no good choice.

 
          
“This
one will take us back into the palace,” Ula said, “while I’m pretty sure this
will take us outside—into the midst of the fighting.”

 
          
“Doomed
... either way!” burbled Karista.

 
          
“Not
either
way,” said a deep voice.

 
          
From
the inner corridor emerged the gleaming form of Shimanloreth. He looked even
larger and more formidable in the confined space of the tunnel.

 
          
Mik
and Ula lowered their spears at him, while Meinor and Trip drew their swords.

 
          
“We
won’t ... go back,” Mik said, the seaweed’s enchantment distorting his voice.

 
          
“I’ll
fight you if I have to,” said Ula.

 
          
Shimmer
laughed, and the corridor shook. Fine sand floated down from the ceiling.

 
          
“You
won’t have to,” he said. “Not today.”

 
          
Mik
and Ula lowered their weapons and breathed a sigh of relief.

 
          
“Not
ever
,;
I
hope,” Ula said.

 
          
“We’ll
see,” Shimmer replied. “I was coming to free you, though you seem to have done
the job yourselves. I brought your possessions. They would have been due me
anyway, as my share of the forage.”

 
          
“Our
weapons?” asked Mik.

 
          
The
bronze knight nodded.
“Them as well.”
He handed two
pearl-handled daggers to Trip and a dagger and cutlass to Mik.

 
          
Then
he handed the enchanted fish necklace to Mik. The captain put it on, and
immediately felt the nauseous tug of the different enchantments. He took the
wad of seaweed out of his mouth and handed it to Trip, who stuffed it in a
pocket.

 
          
“In
case we need it later,” Mik said to the kender.

 
          
Trip
nodded his understanding.

 
          
The
amulet’s strong magic filled Mik’s lungs and he felt better instantly. Another
gemstone scale cracked and fell off the necklace.

 
          
“So
many gems gone...” he thought But, instead of voicing his concern, he said,
“Which way?”

 
          
“Follow
me,” Shimmer replied.

 
          
*
* * * *

           
As fighting swirled through the
submerged streets of Reeftown, Tempest’s dragonspawn lieutenant had taken on a
special mission.

 
          
A
convenient breach in a coral wall allowed Mog access to the inner corridors of
Lakuda’s undersea villa. A handful of razorfish, sharks, and Turbidus
leeches—all under the power of the sea dragon—accompanied the dragonspawn as he
swam through the murky corridors toward the chamber where he’d spotted the
surface dwellers.