by Lisa Smedman
The demonic drow scrambled to her feet. She stared wildly around-at the hollowed-out temple, at Karas, at the voidstone, at Cabrath. Then she threw back her head and shrieked with laughter, a sound as brittle as breaking glass.
"Lolth!" she cried. "I'm your plaything no longer. I've won! I'm dead!"
Karas stared at the voidstone. It was smooth and spherical once more. The skeletal legions were not issuing forth from it. Not yet. And Cabrath seemed just as surprised by what had just happened as Karas was. The spirit stared at the demonic drow, a puzzled frown on her face.
Slowly Karas backed out of the temple. He'd find a quiet place, report to Qilue-and let her decide what to do next.
CHAPTER 12
Leliana halted the group when she spotted Brindell running back through the tunnel. The halfling's eyes were wide with terror. Unlike a drow, she wore her emotions where everyone could see them.
Brindell skidded to a halt in front of Leliana, her copper-colored hair damp with sweat. "A wave," she gasped, fear making her forget to use the silent speech, "of putrid flesh. It's headed this way, dissolving everything in its path."
"Mother's blood," Leliana whispered. She could hear it, even then. A bubbling, gurgling sound, overlaid with a faint, sizzling hiss. She turned to the mages, several paces behind her, and signaled for them to turn back.
But we're almost there, Gilkriz protested.
According to the map… His hands fluttered to a halt as he stared at something behind Leliana.
Leliana spun. The thing Brindell had spotted was in view. It looked like a waist-deep puddle of bruised fat, wide enough to fill the tunnel from side to side. Veins as thick as legs bulged as it oozed forward-one broke, spraying the tunnel walls with red. Boils rose on the surface of the thing and erupted with wet pops. The monstrosity was still a hundred paces away, but even at that distance Leliana could smell the stench of corruption.
"Join my prayer!" she shouted. "Drive it back."
The priestesses burst into song, lifting the miniature swords that were the symbols of their faith. "By sword and by song, we command thee. By moonlight be driven back…"
The monstrosity surged on, unaffected by the priestess's prayers.
Leliana lowered her holy symbol. If they couldn't stop this thing, they'd be forced to retreat through the shaft they'd just climbed to reach this tunnel. A shaft that led only down. A deep shaft. Before they reached bottom, the monstrosity would be spilling down on top of them.
A streak of frost shot past Leliana's shoulder: one of the wizards, casting a spell. Ice crystals blossomed across the leading edge of the putrid wave, freezing it. An instant later, however, the ice cracked and the monstrosity surged forward again. As it came on, a rat burst from a crack in the tunnel wall just ahead of the oozing mass and scurried up a timber, trying to escape. The putrid mass flowed after it, climbing the wall. The rat shrieked as it was enveloped and dissolved. The timber it had tried to climb fell to pieces and was also consumed.
"Out of the way!" Gilkriz yelled, shoving past her. "Kulg!" he cried, slamming his stiff-fingered hands in front of him as if they were a gate closing.
With a rumble and a thud, the tunnel ahead slammed shut. A wall of solid stone stood where an open passage had been a moment before, blocking the monster's path.
Brindell let out a whooping cheer. "Praise be to Eilistraee! We're safe."
The others were more restrained; they merely murmured their relief.
"That's it, then," Leliana said. She turned her back on the wall. "We'll have to go another…"
She paused. What was that sound?
There it was again. A faint noise, coming from the shaft they'd just climbed.
Tash'kla ran to it and peered down. Another one! she signed-as if maintaining silence would save them. Coming up the shaft!
"Gilkriz!" Leliana barked.
The conjurer nodded. He ran over to where Tash'kla stood and repeated his spell, bringing his hands together. Rock groaned, bulged. The top of the shaft slammed shut.
Brindell glanced back and forth between the blocked tunnel and the plugged shaft. "Now what?"
Leliana looked around. What indeed?
She noticed the human wizard standing slightly apart from the group, intently studying a portion of the tunnel wall. "What is it, Daffir? Have you spotted something?"
He turned, leaning on his staff. "A doorway, hidden by magic." He pointed. "Here."
The dark lenses hovering in front of his eyes hid his expression, but his voice had a strained sound Leliana didn't like. "Where does it lead?"
"To death. And… freedom."
"Whose death?" Gilkriz asked, striding forward. He peered at the wall, his face illuminated by the Faerzress glow.
Daffir shrugged.
"We certainly can't stay here," Tash'kla said. "We'll run out of air." She raised her sword in both hands in front of her; the blade hummed softly. "I'm ready to face death, if it means finding a way past those monsters."
"So am I," Brindell said. She fingered her holy symbol with a pudgy hand.
"Perhaps the divination wasn't a literal one," Eldrinn said. " 'Death' could mean the Crones, and the door may be another route to the Acropolis, hence 'freedom.'" He turned to the wizard beside him. "What do you think, Q'arlynd?"
"Why don't you try opening it, Daffir?" Q'arlynd suggested, moving closer to the other wizard. "Let's see what's behind the door, and decide."
Q'arlynd's eyes, Leliana noted, kept straying to the staff Daffir held.
"Just be ready," she told the others. "Anything could come through that door." She readied her sword. "Go ahead, Daffir."
Daffir balled his hand into a fist, raised it to his lips, and barked a word into it.
Nothing happened. The wall looked as solid as ever.
"I need assistance," he said. "Gilkriz, Q'arlynd, can you aid me?"
The conjurer nodded. So did Q'arlynd, but less eagerly.
"On the count of three, then," Daffir said. "One…"
Gilkriz raised his fist to his lips. Q'arlynd motioned for Eldrinn to step back, then did the same.
"Two…"
The priestesses also heeded the warning. All took a step back.
"Three!"
All three mages spat out a word in unison. As it left their lips, a black iron door became visible. It had no handle, but a knocker shaped like a goat's head hung dead-center on its pitted metal surface. The knocker reared up and thudded its horns against metal with a hollow boom. The door creaked open, away from them, releasing a puff of dust-scented air.
Leliana stepped forward. The top of the door was level with her chest, so she had to bend slightly to peer inside. Even without a prayer of divination, she could feel the tainted chill that spilled from the room. When her eye fell on the statue that stood against the far wall, between two arched exits, she understood why. Like the door knocker, it had a goat's head. Blood-red gems glinted in the eye sockets, reflecting the light from the Faerzress that glimmered from every surface, including the statue itself. The statue had a duergar's squat proportions but stood fully twice Leliana's height, its curving horns nearly scraping the ceiling of the room. Arms folded against its chest, it stared down at a pool of silver that shimmered at its cloven feet: quicksilver.
The priestesses and wizards crowded behind her, curiosity overcoming their apprehension. "What is that?" Tash'kla breathed. "A golem?"
"There's a rune on its chest," Gilkriz said. "A duergar rune. It's faded, but I can still make it out: 'Orcus.'"
Leliana immediately sang a prayer. Behind her, she heard the other priestesses do the same.
"That means something to you?" the conjurer asked.
Leliana nodded. "Orcus is a demon. Prince of the dead. Kiaransalee killed him."
Q'arlynd squatted beside her. "You said he 'is' a demon. Did he rise from the dead?"
"Yes, despite Kiaransalee's best efforts. She not only killed him but conquered his realm-that layer of the Abyss known as T
hanatos. Her priestesses marked the victory by naming her chief temple after it. But the demon lord eventually returned to reclaim his realm."
"Did the duergar of these parts worship Orcus?" Gilkriz asked.
"The ones who dug this mine obviously did," Leliana answered. "It's odd, though, that this shrine remains intact. Kiaransalee's followers made it their mission to eradicate all vestiges of the demon prince. Legend has it the goddess worked magic that erased Orcus's name, wherever and however it had been written."
"And yet this rune remains," Gilkriz said. "Maybe we should close the door," Eldrinn blurted.
Q'arlynd stared at the room's far wall. "I'm wondering where those corridors go, myself. I don't know if any of you has noticed, but they're not glowing. The Faerzress ends at the wall on each side of those arches. I think they're portals."
"Go ahead and try one, then," Gilkriz suggested, his voice silky. "We've got diviners to spare."
Q'arlynd bristled. His fingers twitched.
"Enough," Leliana reprimanded. "I've made my decision: we're going to seal this room and take our chances with the putrid ooze. As Gilkriz pointed out earlier, we were almost at the Crone's cavern when-"
"Madam," Daffir said, his soft voice interrupting her. "Please stand aside."
Leliana turned. "What is it, Daffir? Do you see something?"
"Yes. My destiny."
He moved closer to the door and peered inside. His head tilted, as if he were glancing at something the others couldn't see. Then he nodded. He straightened and handed his staff to Eldrinn, startling the boy, then ducked down low and entered the room.
"Stop!" Leliana cried. She grabbed for his robe, but missed. "We need you. You're the only one who…"
Daffir crossed the room with swift, purposeful strides.
"Protectors," Leliana barked. "Stand ready."
The priestesses lifted their swords and touched holy symbols.
Without so much as a backward glance, Daffir entered the corridor to the left of the statue and vanished.
Several moments passed.
Gilkriz broke the silence with a snort. "Diviners," he muttered. He waggled his fingers beside his temple. Crazy.
Leliana expected a retort from Eldrinn or Q'arlynd, but the pair had drawn apart from the others. She could see Q'arlynd's arms moving-he was saying something to the younger wizard in rapid, silent gestures-but his back was to her and she couldn't see his hands. The boy's eyes widened. Then he nodded. He clutched the staff with both hands and drew it to his chest protectively.
Leliana caught Gilkriz's eye. "Seal that door," she ordered. She was just about to find out what Q'arlynd and Eldrinn were up to when Qilue's voice sang out in her head.
Leliana, I have news. Karas has penetrated the Acropolis. He's discovered what the Crones are up to.
Gilkriz was casting the spell that sealed the door, his chanting a distraction. Leliana clapped her hands against her ears to block it out. She listened as Qilue described what Karas had discovered: a massive orb of voidstone at the heart of the Acropolis, guarded by a ghostly Crone. And that wasn't the worst of it.
Judging by what Karas described, the Crones are attempting to open a gate to the negative energy plane, just as they did in Maerimydra, Qilue told her. And I fear I know what they're trying to bring through it. An army of undead, commanded by a vampire minotaur. The legions of the Death Heart.
"The Death Heart," Leliana repeated, her voice tight.
We must stop them. This time, we won't have the help of the Guardians. And Cavatina…
The voice stopped.
"Qilue?" Leliana asked. "Are you still there?"
The others had fallen silent. They stared tensely at Leliana.
Cavatina is beyond my reach. I fear the worst.
Leliana felt, rather than heard, Qilue's anguished sigh.
It's up to you, Leliana. You have to find a way to take the Acropolis. To halt what's happening before the Crones spill an unholy blight upon this world.
"The Nightshadows aren't with us," Leliana said. "They went another way. And we-"
So Karas told me. You'll need reinforcements. I'll be sending others through the portal, but I want those of you who are already there to move on the Acropolis at once. Karas said he could already see shapes moving inside the voidstone. It already spat out one monster. It won't be long, now, before the gate cracks open.
Leliana wet her lips nervously. "Lady," she ventured. "Will you be leading the reinforcements?"
I… can't. There are… matters here I have to deal with.
"So be it, Lady," Leliana said. "We'll do what we can."
May Eilistraee lend strength to your sword and harmony to your song. Farewell.
Farewell? The word carved a hollow in Leliana's gut. Did Qilue have so little faith in her that she was already counting Leliana as lost? For the space of a heartbeat, Leliana regretted ever volunteering for this mission. Then anger eclipsed fear. She would prove Qilue wrong. She would do it. Take the Acropolis and destroy the voidstone. Without reinforcements.
And if she failed, well, dying wouldn't be anything new. She'd already given her life for the Lady once before. She smiled grimly, remembering the battle in the Misty Forest.
The others were waiting. Leliana steeled herself. Swiftly, she relayed what Qilue had just told her. "Lady Qilue has ordered us to attack the Acropolis and destroy the voidstone. She'll send reinforcements, but they probably won't make it in time. Which means it's up to us." She stared at the wall Gilkriz had plugged the tunnel with. "We're going to have to fight our way past that monster."
The other Protectors nodded grimly, their expressions matching her own.
Gilkriz took a deep breath and stared at the wall he'd conjured. "Let me know when you're ready." He raised his hands.
"Wait!" Q'arlynd said. "There may be another way to reach the Acropolis."
Leliana turned. "What way is that, Q'arlynd? Spit it out."
"I have an idea, Lady, inspired by the combined magic we three wizards just utilized to open the door." He gestured at the wall. The door, closed, was once again cloaked by illusion.
"Go on," Leliana said.
"You'll be utilizing positive energy to destroy the voidstone, correct?"
"That's the general plan. With Eilistraee's blessing, enough of us will get close enough to it to do just that."
Q'arlynd actually smiled. "What if I told you I could get all of us to the Acropolis?" He snapped his fingers. "Like that."
"I'm listening."
Q'arlynd slapped a hand against the wall. "The only thing preventing me from teleporting us into the cavern that holds the Acropolis is the Faerzress. There may be a way to counter it, however."
Gilkriz's eyebrows rose. "Suddenly you're an expert on Faerzress?"
Q'arlynd smiled. "When I lingered behind at the Moondeep, I conducted an experiment. I attempted a teleport. Faerie fire didn't erupt from my body, as it did back in Sshamath, but from the cavern wall that I… inadvertently touched. From within the Faerzress. The touch of my body somehow drew it to the surface of the rock. I think the problem lies within us-some unique link we drow have to Faerzress energy, which in turn is fed by negative energy. We draw the Faerzress in, somehow, and release it as faerie fire. It would therefore follow that, if we can fill our bodies with positive energy, we can force the Faerzress out. Then I can-"
All at once, Leliana saw what he was getting at. "Teleport us all to the Acropolis," she said, finishing his thought for him.
"Exactly."
"All very well, in theory," Gilkriz said in a dry voice. "But Q'arlynd's never even seen the Acropolis."
"I studied the map and heard a detailed description of the temple. For me, that's enough."
Leliana nodded. "I think it's worth a try."
The others nodded. All except Gilkriz, who stood with his arms folded, fingers drumming restlessly against his sleeves.
"All right then." Q'arlynd shrugged back his piwafwi and flexed hi
s fingers. "Eldrinn, stand next to me; I may need your assistance with the spell. The rest of you, form a circle around me and link hands. As I finish my casting, I'll touch one of you, and we'll all go together."
"Eldrinn's a novice," Gilkriz protested. "What help will he be?"
"That's where you're wrong," Q'arlynd said. "Eldrinn's assisted my teleports before. He knows exactly what to do, and when. Just join hands with the others, Gilkriz, and you'll come along. Unless…" Q'arlynd arched an eyebrow. "Unless you'd rather remain here, snug and secure behind these lovely walls you just conjured, until it's all over and we can send someone back to fetch you."
The conjurer's nostrils flared, but he joined the circle. "I still don't believe this will work," he muttered.
"You haven't seen me teleport." The wizard nodded in Leliana's direction. "She has."
Gilkriz said nothing.
"Just be sure," Q'arlynd instructed the priestesses, "to maintain the flow of positive energy even after we reach the Acropolis. Hold it for at least a moment or two. Otherwise, we may miss our mark. If we land off target, we could wind up in solid stone. And that would be, well… unfortunate."
"Define 'unfortunate,' " Leliana said.
Q'arlynd grimaced. "Missing a few pounds of flesh, at best. At worst, you'll be meeting Eilistraee a lot sooner than anticipated."
Leliana turned to the priestesses. "Make your preparations. If this works, in another moment or two we'll be facing not just Crones and their undead minions, but a ghost."
The Protectors readied their weapons.
Leliana glanced at the halfling. "Brindell?"
The halfling tucked a silence stone into the pocket of her sling. "I'll be ready."
The priestesses formed a circle facing inward. Each stood with her sword in her right hand, her left hand on the shoulder of the person next to her. Their swords hummed softly. Gilkriz stood next to Brindell, who had to stand on tiptoe to reach his shoulder.