by Bill Allen
The flame Dolzowt held disappeared in a flash, and Dolzowt clenched his hand to his chest, tears in his eyes. “You will die for this, wizard.”
“No one will die here today, Dolzowt, as long as you cooperate with me. After all, we’ll need to work together to overcome this spell of yours.”
“Work together? Are you mad?” He inspected his palm briefly and moved it back to his chest. “Why would I help you after what you’ve done?”
“Because it’s the only way you’ll leave this room alive.”
Dolzowt looked like he desperately wanted to throw something at Nathan, but Greg had an idea the magician would think twice before summoning another fireball. He settled for a burning glare that Greg found nearly as threatening.
“What will it be?” Nathan asked. “Don’t feel too rushed. We have nothing but time.”
Dolzowt scowled, his contempt for Nathan obvious. “What makes you think working together will help?”
“I assume when you entered this cell you intended to leave again. That means there exists some flaw in the spell that I can leverage. You simply need to explain how you managed to accomplish such a feat, and then, if luck is with us, I should be able to set us all free.”
“Oh, luck is with us,” Melvin said, shoving Lucky forward.
“Oh, no, no, no,” said Dolzowt. “That spell is mine and mine alone. Why would I let you in on how I cast it? You and your little friends will just disappear and leave me here to rot.”
“No, you have my word,” said Nathan. “I have no reason to leave you behind. You pose no threat to me.”
Dolzowt looked highly offended by this last, but the poorly concealed fear in his eye also suggested he knew Nathan spoke the truth. “Very well,” he said through clenched teeth, “but if this is a trick, I will hunt you down and make you rue the day—”
“If this is a trick, you will die in this cell,” Nathan corrected him. “But you need not fear. I would not lie to you.”
Though far from happy about it, Dolzowt revealed to Nathan the details of his latest work. Nathan listened intently to all of it, until Dolzowt finished his explanation and eased himself to the floor, defeated.
“Ah, yes, I see,” said Nathan after a time. “Now I must think.” He separated himself from the others as much as possible for the small space and dropped into silence.
Rake swatted Greg to let him know the level of attention he was receiving didn’t match his expectations. Greg didn’t mind. He hugged the shadowcat to him and buried his nose in Rake’s fur. “Oh, Rake, I still can’t believe it’s you. But how? I saw you disappear into the night. Whatever that thing was in the water threw you hard enough to send you all the way back to the shore at New Haven.”
Nathan looked up from his thoughts. “Apparently he was flung hard enough to reach shore, all right, but the shore of Deth’s End, not the one in New Haven. Now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to think.”
“But,” insisted Greg, “even if he did reach land, we’re in an infinitely tall spire . . .”
“Yes, but only half way up,” Lucky reminded him.
“How did he get here?”
Nathan snapped out of his thoughts again, looking annoyed over the distraction.
Dolzowt crawled back to his feet and pulled Greg aside. “Shadowcats are quite mysterious creatures,” he told Greg, “far smarter than people give them credit. You must be a powerful magician, for I have never seen one take to a man before . . . or a boy, as the case may be. And this one seems special, even for a shadowcat.”
“He did summon all his friends to help us get into Ruuan’s spire that one time,” Lucky reminded Greg.
“And he’s constantly warning us of trouble,” said Melvin.
“And helping you out of jams, like on the boat,” added Priscilla.
Kristin, who had no stories to share about Rake, stared at the furry creature in Greg’s arms and offered all she could. “And look how cute he is.”
Greg didn’t really see what that had to do with anything, but Rake seemed to like her comment best. The shadowcat struggled in his grasp until Greg had no choice but to let go. Rake shook off the humility of falling and wandered over to Kristin’s feet, where he rubbed against her legs until she picked him up and cuddled him.
Greg frowned. If Rake was going to be sharing a bond with someone, that someone ought to be Greg. And whether he was ready to admit it or not, Greg wished Kristin would say he was cute and offer to hold him that way.
“I think I’ve got it,” Nathan suddenly announced, his face beaming with excitement.
“You’ve figured out a way to escape?” said Dolzowt.
“Yes, but first we have other business to discuss.”
Dolzowt’s face turned nearly the same shade of red his eyes had held before Nathan turned him solid. “I knew this was a trick. You lied to me. You never intended to let me out of this cell.”
“Quiet,” said Nathan. “I didn’t lie. We’ll go in a moment.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
Nathan removed an object from beneath his robe. Circular and roughly half the size of his fist, it gleamed even brighter than the tip of Nathan’s staff, engulfing the room in an eerie green glow.
“There’s still the matter of the dragon,” he said, and Greg now recognized the object in Nathan’s hand as the legendary Amulet of Ruuan, which Nathan once described as the most powerful artifact ever borne of this world.
Greg wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but he had no doubt of the power resting in Nathan’s palm. On his last trip to Myrth he had held all four of the pie-shaped center pieces in his own hand. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to hold them as they were now, nestled within the center of the fifth and most essential piece, an outer ring used to keep the others in place.
Dolzowt thrust out his chin defiantly. “No. I won’t help you there.”
Nathan offered a sympathetic frown. “With this amulet I can take Tehrer with or without your help, Dolzowt. But you’re the only one he’ll listen to of his own free will. Those on the side of Good were given the edge in the Dragon Wars because the dragon controlled by this amulet did not resist the magicians who sought to control him. Without Tehrer’s cooperation, I’m afraid he’ll be no match for Ruuan. As fierce as he was in his day, his anger and hatred for men has taken a heavy toll on him. He has not aged well.”
“Is he talking about the dragon that bit our boat in half?” Kristin whispered to Priscilla.
Greg could swear he saw the red return to Dolzowt’s eyes. “I told you before, I won’t help you,” the sorcerer said with a hiss.
Nathan frowned. “Then Witch Hazel will most surely win her battle against the kingdom.”
“I care nothing about your witch, or your kingdom.”
“Did I mention that once she controls the kingdom, she will certainly extend her power to the Netherworld as well?”
Dolzowt scowled. “Let her come.”
“But your dragon will be dead. And perhaps I failed to mention that with the amulet Hazel now holds, she is more powerful than I.”
Dolzowt looked less certain.
“And that while I am forgiving to those who stand in my way, she is not.”
“No,” said Dolzowt. “Tehrer will not let you control him. You don’t know him like I do. He’s bitter about his past. He hates everything about men and the kingdom.”
“He must like you,” said Nathan. “You’re still breathing.”
“Tehrer and I have an agreement. I guard the passageway to his lair, and he . . . well, he doesn’t eat me. It’s a good arrangement from both our points of view. But that’s something special between us. He’s not much for cooperating with other humans.”
“The dragon has made agreements with others in the past,” said Nathan, and Greg wondered if the magician knew about Norman Greatheart letting Tehrer live, or vice versa. He supposed Nathan must. He knew Tehrer was alive, which was only possible if Norman had lied.
“That was years ago,” claimed Dolzowt. “But as you said yourself, age has been hard on him. He’s not as reasonable as he once was. He listens to me only out of respect for my power.”
“If that were true, he’d surely listen to me,” said Nathan, “but I think it more likely he listens to you because you are kindred spirits. You share similar views of morality, and he is not alone in losing his race against age.”
“Are you calling me old?” Dolzowt said, his voice rising.
“Not old, exactly. Just too old to take on an opponent like Hazel.”
Dolzowt searched the room with his eyes, as if he might have overlooked a means of escape.
“What will it be then?” Nathan asked. “Should I be making myself comfortable?”
“I will see you die for this, magician.”
“Yes, given what I’m about to attempt and what I know of Hazel, you quite possibly will. But we’re doing it just the same. Now, do we have a deal?”
“Yes, yes, just let us out.”
The tip of Nathan’s staff brightened, and one of the walls that had appeared perfectly solid a moment before melted away to nothing, revealing the open passageway behind.
Nathan bowed slightly to Dolzowt Deth and motioned toward the opening. “After you.”
Dolzowt growled to himself and stormed from the cell. Nathan winked at Greg and stepped out after him, and the children followed. They’d made only a few turns before Greg felt a tug on his robe and realized Rake was scampering along behind, trying to get his attention.
“Rake, I almost forgot you.”
He stooped to pick up the shadowcat and noticed movement in the tunnel behind. To his astonishment, several children were milling about the corridor, peering cautiously in all directions.
Greg glanced ahead, to where Nathan and Dolzowt led the others up the corridor. Each cell they passed shimmered, a nearly undetectable shifting of the rock, and within moments a child emerged on shaky legs—or at least leg—to join the others.
In some cases, those in the hall had to rush in and offer a shoulder of support, because the newcomers could not stand on their own. Other children walked with their hands on another’s shoulder to guide them, as they had no eyes to see. But slowly they amassed—dozens in all, slowly banding together, searching for a way out of the catacomb of tunnels.
Kristin noticed Greg missing and turned. Her eyes nearly sprang from her head, but for once she didn’t scream. Instead, she tugged on Lucky’s robe and let him in on the secret. Within moments Priscilla and Melvin knew too. When Melvin saw the sight he nearly shouted, but Lucky happened to be pointing past the boy’s nose when Melvin spotted them, and he managed to clamp a hand over Melvin’s mouth before Dolzowt was alerted. Once again Greg realized how glad he was to have brought Lucky and his good fortune along.
Knowing no other way, the gathering children followed Greg and the others through the tunnels as Dolzowt negotiated turn after turn, each identical to the last. From every cross-passageway, more joined in, until hundreds walked behind them, their pounding footsteps impossible to ignore. Yet Dolzowt never noticed. The sorcerer floated along ahead of Nathan, still griping to himself, oblivious of the activity behind.
Eventually they stepped into a wider passage, where the floor sloped noticeably to the left, and Greg knew that they had reached the Netherworld’s equivalent of the Passageway of Shifted Dimensions that bore through Ruuan’s spire. Dolzowt turned right and started up the incline toward the dragon’s lair, but Greg dropped behind to talk without being overheard. He pointed toward what he hoped was the main tunnel.
“Gather everyone and go that way, down the incline,” he whispered to one girl who looked remarkably whole. “If I guess right, it will take you to a wider tunnel that leads out of the spire.”
The young girl simply stared, tears in her eyes, and pushed back her hair to reveal two holes in her head where her ears should have been. Greg recoiled from the sight, but caught himself and fought hard not to add to the girl’s fear.
An older boy stepped up and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“I’ll help her,” he whispered, and to Greg’s relief, guided the girl away.
Greg ran after the others. When he caught up to Priscilla and Kristin, they were looking even more worried than he felt.
“What’s wrong?” Greg asked, though he could think of very little that was right.
“How are they going to travel the main passage?” she said. “Once we leave, they’ll have nothing to protect them from the heat.”
Greg’s stomach lurched. He’d just sent all those children to their doom. The passages they traveled before were cooled by magic, but if the outer tunnel resembled the one in Ruuan’s spire, those children couldn’t possibly step into it without melting into the rock. The best they could do would be to wander the catacombs looking for a way out until Dolzowt returned and herded them up again.
“But your friend Nathan’s obviously using magic to free them,” Kristin argued. “Maybe he’ll protect them from the heat, too.”
Greg looked ahead to where Nathan led the pack. As if hearing her words, Nathan glanced back at Greg and nodded, and Greg knew that at least the children would be safe.
With Nathan in control, Greg was nearly willing to believe the same about himself, but then he remembered Simon’s warnings. Even if they did get back to the kingdom safely, all Greg had to look forward to was his “rather unfortunate demise.”
“WHY SHOULD I COOPERATE WITH YOU, MAGICIAN?” Greg stood cowering with the other children near the wall of Tehrer’s lair, as Nathan and Dolzowt presented their proposal to the dragon. Since befriending Ruuan, Greg had forgotten how much bigger a dragon could look when it was angry.
“It’s the only way the kingdom stands a chance of survival,” Nathan told him.
Tehrer’s head dropped to Nathan’s level so quickly, Greg thought the walls were caving in. The dragon’s jet black coloring contrasted so much with the glowing white walls, it looked as if there were a dragon-shaped hole in the center of the immense cavern.
“I’M NOT SEEING YOUR POINT.” The look in the dragon’s eye could only be described as challenging, especially given Tehrer’s eye was taller than Greg himself.
“It is not just the kingdom that will suffer,” Nathan said. “Without anyone holding the reins on Witch Hazel’s power, it is only a matter of time before she comes to stake her claim here.”
“LET HER COME,” Tehrer said. “I WELCOME THE CHALLENGE.”
“That is only because you do not fully understand it.”
“IT IS YOU WHO DOES NOT UNDERSTAND. THE WITCH WILL DIE IF SHE STEPS FOOT INTO THE NETHERWORLD.
THIS IS MY PLACE. SHE HOLDS NO POWER HERE.”
“That is where you are wrong,” Nathan told him, “and why you will surely die. When she comes, she will come riding the dragon Ruuan, and she’ll wield more power than you can imagine, for she will hold both the ancient Amulet of Ruuan and the Amulet of Tehrer.”
Greg wouldn’t have thought Tehrer’s eyes could have grown bigger.
“Ah, yes,” said Nathan. “You of all dragons should understand the danger. With them she can bend your will, control you like a puppet.
You will perish, and then Hazel will force Ruuan to destroy himself, and all of your kind will be remembered as weak, mindless creatures, little more than livestock.”
“LIVESTOCK! I WILL SEE THIS WITCH HAZEL DIE A LONG AND LINGERING DEATH.”
“No. On the contrary, you will do whatever she asks, cater to her every whim.”
The dragon released a jet of searing steam that would have surely disintegrated Nathan if not for his protective magic.
“Do it for Dolzowt,” Kristin tried from behind Nathan’s shoulder. “HA! I CARE NOTHING FOR HIM,” Tehrer shouted, his blazing red eyes darting Dolzowt Deth’s way. And to illustrate his point he directed a second jet of steam, equally as hard as the first, straight at the sorcerer.
Dolzowt’s magic
must have been weaker than Nathan’s, because he ended up standing about five feet shorter, as nothing above his calves remained.
The screams of all five children echoed about the lair. ”You killed him,” Kristin said, horrified.
“DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO,” the dragon advised her. Sound advice, Greg silently decided. He could hardly believe his ears when he heard Kristin say, “But what about your anger? Dolzowt told us you grow more ornery every year.”
The dragon’s gaze locked on Kristin, and Greg could only hope Nathan wasn’t going to be stingy with his spell of protection just because he didn’t know the girl.
“YOU’RE LUCKY I DO NOT CONSIDER THAT AN INSULT, OR YOU WOULD SHARE DOLZOWT’S FATE.” Greg very slowly released his breath, but Kristin refused to learn from her mistake.
“I just mean, there’s a reason why you’re angry. I’d be angry too if someone killed my father.”
“NO ONE KILLED MY FATHER. HE DIED HERE IN THE NETHERWORLD SEVERAL CENTURIES AFTER THE DRAGON WARS.”
“Okay, then, I’d be mad if someone forced my dad into hiding for the rest of his life.”
“DRAGONS DO NOT HIDE.”
Tehrer unleashed a third jet of steam straight at Kristin, and for a change it was Greg who screamed for her safety. Kristin opened her eyes again, and if Greg could interpret her expression correctly, she was quite surprised to see she still had eyes to open, or a head to support them.
Again Greg released a nervous breath.
Nathan gave him a nod to indicate he might want to help Kristin.
With caution, of course.
“Okay, maybe your dad wasn’t down here hiding,” Greg said.
“Maybe he wasn’t afraid of the amulets that were used on him and his kind during the Dragon Wars.”
“OF COURSE HE WASN’T.”
“Then why does everyone think he was?” said Kristin. “WHAT? WHO THINKS THAT?”
“Everyone,” Kristin repeated. “At least that’s what it seems like to me. Of course, I’ve only been here a few days. It could just be everyone I’ve met—you know, a matter of coincidence—but I’m betting it’s really everyone everyone.”