“Fight your way to us!” Mik called to Trip.
“Duck your head, little one!” Shimmer shouted.
The visor of the bronze knight’s helmet opened and his scintillating dragon breath blasted across the briny deep. Dragon-enthralled fish withered and died where Shiman- loreth’s power struck them, cutting a path through the swirling predators. Exhausted, the bronze knight collapsed to one knee, nearly toppling off the edge of the plaza.
Trip darted through the opening toward his friends, but Mog rose up before him. The dragonspawn grabbed the kender’s cloak. His talonlike fingers raked toward Trip’s eyes. Trip struggled frantically in Mog’s grip.
Mik and Ula shot through the gap in their enemies and drove straight for Mog.
Ula thrust her spear under the dragonspawn’s arm, but , the point got caught in the armor of the dead guard that Mog had been impersonating. Mik cut at the creature’s head, but Mog ducked out of the way. He whirled in a tight circle, yanking Ula and her spear with him.
The sea elf smashed into Mik and the kender just as her spear yanked free from Mog’s stolen armor. The three of them tumbled back, limbs flailing, as a group of razorfish flashed past. The fishes’ sharp teeth missed the treasure hunters by mere inches.
The key flew from Trip’s hand and landed near the steps ascending from the plaza. Lord Kell snatched it up before anyone else could reach it. “Up the stairs!” he called, and he, Karista, and Shimmer began to climb.
“Give me the key, Kell,” Shimmer said. They’d gone a dozen steps, and the spell over the stairs was keeping the evil fish from following. The bronze knight looked pained and exhausted, but his orange eyes blazed. The bottom of his visor raised slightly, showing the scintillating energies within.
The brass lord gritted his teeth and handed Shimmer the artifact. “We’re all in this together,” he said, barely meaning it.
In a flash, Karista smashed the pommel of her dagger across Kell’s helmet. He reeled, dropping his coral lance, and tumbled down the stairs into the plaza where Mik, Ula, and Trip were still fighting for their lives. Karista picked up Kell’s fallen weapon.
“Why did you . . . ?” Shimmer began. But he never finished his sentence.
Karista thrust the weapon between Shimanloreth’s ribs. The coral lance’s magic pierced the dragon’s bronze armor and drove deep into his side. Shimmer’s humanlike eyes went wide, and he dropped the bejeweled key. “Why . . . ?” he gasped.
The aristocrat gave the spear a final twist and pushed Shimmer off the side of the stairway. He disappeared into the dark waters below, Kell’s lance still protruding from his side.
Karista smiled, and spoke in a voice as much Tempest’s as her own.
“The key is mine!”
Thirty-Eight
The Fight to the Summit
Mik and Trip stood frozen in disbelief as Karista pushed Shimmer’s bleeding body off the stairway.
“No!” Ula shrieked. She broke off fighting and leaped off the platform into the darkness after her wounded companion.
Karista picked up die ancient key.
“No!” Mog wailed.
Fire burned in Karista’s steely eyes. “You haven’t the strength necessary to open the Veil,” she said. “So Tempest has chosen a more suitable vessel.”
She clutched the key to her breast and began climbing the stairs once more.
“Lady Meinor! What are you doing?” Trip cried.
The aristocrat paused and turned toward her former companions. Her pretty face cold and distant. “What I must! She would have killed me if I hadn’t become her thrall. I didn’t want to die there, in the middle of the ocean, like Bok had. I had to do what Tempest wanted. She spared me, and put her leech on me, and made me one of her own. The world is so clear now.”
Karista held the key out before her, and in the temple far above, a bright blue-white light flared, and the island shook. “Protect me while I do our mistress’s will!” she called.
Immediately, the remaining enthralled fish swam across the plaza and formed a wall at the base of die stairs.
“It weakens, Mistress!” Karista called. “Can you feel it?!” Her steely eyes flashed with mad glee.
Lord Kell raised himself woozdy from the coral flagstones. “By the Gods!” he cried. “She means to rend the Veil and let the dragon through! We’ve brought destruction upon all the Dragon Isles!”
Mik and Trip charged past the lord and began hacking at the phalanx of evil fish protecting the stairs.
Mik’s jaw tightened. “I’ve been a fool!” he hissed, cutting down a razorfish. “The treasure we sought—the great diamond—it wasn’t just part of the ceremony to create the Veil. It’s part of the fabric of the Veil. It’s a cornerstone of its defense!”
“The key is the key to the Veil?” Trip said.
“Yes,” Mik replied. “It opens the magic of the diamond.”
“What can we do?” Trip asked. He grabbed a Turbidus leech as big as his arm and smashed it into a redtip shark.
“We have to stop Karista before she reaches the diamond,” Mik said.
The water around them became a bloody cloud as Mik and Trip fought their way toward the stairway separating them from Tempest’s thrall.
* * * * *
The sea dragon’s mighty flukes propelled her toward the wavering barrier. Her evil hordes swam with her: sharks, razorfish, Turbidus leeches, and a half dozen dragonspawn— all ready to die at their mistress’ command.
Tempest threw herself against the Veil. It shuddered but did not break. Her mind remained clear, though; the barrier’s vexing enchantment had failed. Tempest roared with laughter.
Now it was only a matter of time. Her thrall’s power grew as she brought the key closer to the great enchanted diamond. As Karista’s power—and through her, the power of Tempest—escalated, the Veil weakened. After the sea dragon passed through, she would then snatch the key and use the great diamond to destroy the Veil once and for all.
Again and again, Tempest crashed against the barrier as Karista bent the Veil’s magic to her mistress’ will. Finally, a tiny rift formed in the shield’s magical surface. The sea dragon ripped it open.
With a hideous bellow of triumph, Tempest and her minions surged through the breach into the Dragon Isles.
* * * * *
“She’s coming!” the aristocrat cried. “She’s coming!” She held the key high overhead and rejoiced. Mog glanced from the glowing key toward the bright temple at the top of the stairs. The diamond within the temple flared as the key summoned its power. The sky opened up and lightning flashed.
Mik and Trip pushed forward through the cloud of blood, killing many of Karista’s fishy bodyguards as they came. Lord Kell charged the rear of the frenzied mass, but he was far behind the sailor and the kender.
“Fight it, Karista! Fight the dragon!” Mik shouted.
“Milady,” Kell called, “this is not you. You do not want to destroy the isles!” His voice sounded tinny and strained through the magic of his helmet.
“Of course it’s what I want, fool!” Karista shrieked. “It’s what Tempest wants, and I am her creature! The Veil will open to ... to my ships, as well.” She turned and began to climb once more. The wave-tossed surface loomed just twenty steps over her head.
“The isles will be destroyed!” Mik called. “There will be no trade!”
“Fight back!” Trip yelled.
Mik and Trip broke through the line of enthralled fish and ran up the stairs toward Karista. The fish remaining in the plaza tried to follow them, but the stairs’ enchantment pushed them back down. A few left the plaza to try and circle down from above, though the ocean’s surface left them little room to do so.
“Karista!” Mik called.
She turned and looked back.
Mik pulled his dagger and threw it at her.
Mog stepped between them and batted the blade aside. It settled on the stairway near the dragonspawn’s feet.
Madness
played across the aristocrat’s face. She turned toward her former companions and extended the key.
“Flee or I shall kill you!” she cried.
The gems on the key blazed to life, and lightning flashed from the artifact toward Mik and Trip. They dodged aside, and the bolt cracked a coral pillar in the plaza behind them. The kender hurtled off the stairway and into the swirling waters beyond.
Mik picked himself off the stairs and kept climbing.
Mog charged down the stairway at Mik. The sailor ducked under Mog’s spearthrust and grabbed the dragonspawn by the front of its stolen armor. The sailor fell backward, thrusting hard with his legs as he did.
Tempest’s lieutenant sailed over Mik’s head, down the stairs, and into the cracked pillar. The column broke into smaller pieces and toppled onto the startled dragonspawn, burying him beneath it.
Mik ran up the stairs and retrieved his dagger from where it had fallen. “Karista,” he called, surging forward, “I don’t want to hurt you, but you must stop.”
“I can’t!” she cried. The power of the key coursed around her, building for another strike. She pointed her hand toward Mik’s heart, her fingers glowing with deadly energy.
Thirty-Nine
Sea, Storm, and Tempest
The storm that had been lingering above the 1 ocean for days gathered into a typhoon and whipped the waves into titanic mountains of water. Jerick the Red harked frantic orders to his crew, hying to keep his galleon from floundering in the terrible weather. Exploring the strange stairway and temple that had suddenly appeared on the side of the volcano would have to wait.
Only a bow shot away from Red Wake, the crew of Kell’s trireme struggled as well. The brass-covered gunwales of their ship were not as high above the water as Red Wake's. Huge whitecaps washed over their decks, threatening to swamp the galley with every surge.
Jerick cursed himself for sailing so close to the Veil during typhoon season. The Isle of Fire had no harbor, no shelter from the storm. Its rocky shores were treacherous. They could easily rip the bottoms out of Red Wake and Kell’s galley.
The red-bearded captain had ordered both ships away from the shore into open water, but they were still far too close for Jerick’s comfort.
As the captain of Red Wake worried about the shoals, the sea nearby began to heave and roil. Suddenly, the dragon was upon them.
Tempest burst from the waves, her immense bulk sailing high into the air. She crashed down between the two ships, sundering the deck of the galley with her titanic claws and smashing Red Wake with her flukes.
The two ships spun precariously in the water, like toy boats in a bathtub. Sailors flew from the rigging and slid off the decks into the heaving surf.
Tempest rose up and smashed down upon them again. She laughed at the screams of the dying crews. Then she dived under once more.
A huge breaker washed Jerick to the shattered rail of his galleon. Red Wake listed badly to starboard, taking on a frightening amount of water.
Just to port, Kell’s brass-armored ship lay in splinters. Its keel had been broken, and each wave threatened to pull it to the bottom.
The cries of wounded sailors in the water and aboard the crippled vessels echoed above the wail of the wind. Sharks and razorfish swarmed in the dragon’s wake, attacking anything that moved. The sailors in the water stood no chance of swimming to the Isle of Fire’s rocky shore.
Jerick spat the brine and blood from his whiskers and called to his men. “Sing out if you’re injured! Those who aren’t, help the rest! Get our people out of the water! Throw some lines to the remains of that galley, too—maybe we can save some of them as well! Then bail for all you’re worth and pray to the gods that the dragon doesn’t return!”
* * * * *
It took Mog only a moment to recover his bearings. The huge pillar pinning him resisted his strength, so he changed himself into a scavenger eel and wriggled out from under it. As he did, Lord Kell somehow grabbed him by the tail.
Mog changed back to his draconian form just in time to ward off a blow from the brass lord’s dagger. Kell stabbed at him again but, as he did, Mog lunged forward. The dragonspawn’s forehead smashed hard into the human lord’s gut.
Kell reeled back, and Mog clouted him across the helmet with a scaly fist. Benthor Kell grunted, and Mog kicked him hard in the belly.
The armored man fell back, head over heels, crashing into the stairs and rolling down them into the undersea darkness. Mog turned and loped up the steps to join Karista.
Kell thudded to a halt halfway down to the next landing. His head spun, and every muscle in his body ached. He groped his way to his feet and began to climb once more.
*****
A tiny figure streaked down the stairs through the water and grabbed Karista around the waist, spoiling her aim. The deadly energies coruscating at her fingertips ripped wildly through the depths. The spell missed Mik and smashed into the stairway near the last plaza.
“Good work, Trip!” Mik called, realizing the kender had circled around from the upper part of the stairway.
Now Trip brought his small fist up and clouted Karista in the jaw. The aristocrat reeled back but did not let go of the pulsating key. She screamed in pain and frustration.
Mik surged ahead, slashing at her with his cutlass. Karista stepped back, out of the way, confusion clouding her steely eyes. “Keep at her!” Mik said. “If she can’t concentrate, she can’t summon a spell to kill us.”
“I hope you’re right,” Trip replied.
Karista punched Trip on the chin, and the kender reeled and tumbled down the stairs. She pointed at Mik, energy blasting from her fingertips.
Mik dived out of the way and almost fell off the stairs. He grabbed hold of the edge of the steps and hung on as the surging waters outside the stairway’s enchantment tried to rip him away into the sea.
Karista turned and staggered up the silver stairs, out of the raging surf, and into the open air. The stairway’s preternatural calm fell away at the nexus of water and wind. The swirling waves tugged at Karista, like breakers crashing against the shore. She stumbled and nearly lost her grip on the key.
Trip helped Mik pull himself back onto the stairs, and they both ran after her. The waves buffeted them as they made the transition from sea to land. Mik gasped for air and noticed that a half-dozen gems had flaked off his enchanted necklace.
Trip’s waterlogged cloak clung to his skin, and its long hem tangled under his feet. He fell to his knees, the waves lapping at his back. Mik struggled to keep going.
Karista reached the next plaza and turned toward the sailor, a mixture of murder and regret in her eyes. She raised the key to blast him again—but, depleted from her previous efforts, its energy glowed more faintly this time.
The sailor crested the platform and dove under her arms. White lightning blasted from Karista’s hands, searing over Mik’s head. He grabbed the aristocrat around her slender waist, and they fell hard onto the wet flagstones.
The lady Meinor gasped, and Mik felt something wriggling under one of his arms. “Tempest’s leech!” he called to Trip. “It’s at the base of her spine!”
“No!” Karista screamed. “You’ll not have it!”
“I could use some help here, Trip,” Mik said. He tumbled across the rain-drenched flagstones with her, tearing at the leech but getting no good purchase. Karista’s blouse tore at the back, revealing the writhing, slimy parasite.
Trip struggled to this feet, but a wave broke over him and swept the kender underwater once more.
Mik clung desperately to Karista. Madness reigned in the aristocrat’s steely eyes. She drew power from the key, increasing her strength. Mik tried to turn his sword on her, but she slapped it from his hand. The scimitar skidded across the landing and came to rest against a pillar.
Grappling together, Mik and Karista rolled across the water-drenched plaza. Mik’s head cracked against a pillar near the stairs, and lights hurst before his eyes.
&nbs
p; Cackling gleefully, Karista raised the faintly glowing key high to smash it down upon Mik’s unprotected skull.
Then Trip burst from the water below. His prodigious, dolphinlike leap carried him up the steps to the landing where the aristocrat sat astride the sailor. The kender’s daggers flashed, and Karista lurched away from Mik, screaming.
She landed hard on her hack, and the key to the Temple of the Sky skidded out of her hands. The Turbidus leech that had controlled her wriggled on the wet paving stones; Trip had sliced it in two. Both halves of the foul creature flopped around for a moment before finally lying still.
Trip had no time to rejoice in his victory. The kender’s momentum carried him past his foe and into the pillars at the landing’s edge. He slammed up against them, and the breath rushed out of his lungs.
Karista lay on the marble flagstones and moaned as though waking from a long nightmare.
Mik blinked the rain out of his eyes and tried to regain his bearings as the bejeweled key slid across the plaza toward the silver stairs. Just as it reached the edge, Mog leaped from below and seized it.
The dragonspawn’s baleful eyes flashed across the stunned mariner and the groggy kender. Then—without even a glance at Karista—he crossed the plaza and loped up the final stairs leading to the temple.
Mik cursed and rose to his feet. A pounding, roaring sound filled his ears, but he couldn’t tell if it was from the storm, the surf, or the blow to his head. He retrieved his scimitar and climbed after Mog just as Lord Kell staggered out of the surf behind him.
Kell spotted Karista, lying half-conscious on the flagstones, and knelt down beside her barely conscious form. “Why?” he asked.
“It was the leech,” Trip explained, getting up slowly. The kender slogged across the plaza toward the stairs, his cloak dragging behind him like a huge, clumsy tail. “The dragon was controlling her.”
Crossroads 04 - The Dragon Isles Page 25