by T. H. Lain
He growled, deep in his throat. Gnolls seldom admitted to fear, and never to their subordinates, but Grawltak was tired and Kark was his friend.
The old gnoll nodded and asked, "And she will find us?"
"She will, curse—curse the half-orc," he amended. He nearly tore the amulet off his chest. "I'm not sure I want a reward anymore, Kark. The mistress drives us, and I do not think we will gain a reward anyway. I would rather go back to the north and raid."
Kark chuckled and let out a soft howl of laughter. Despite himself, Grawltak found himself chuckling, too.
"Would that we could!" Kark said. "But we must hunt our quarry and kill it. Only when the half-orc's blood stains our fangs and we tear out the throats of his friends will we be free again!" He clapped his leader on the back. "Come, my captain, let us join the hunt before the young ones run into trouble."
Grawltak grinned and the two set off down the passage.
A strip of dirty cloth leaped up at Naull from the floor. She started in surprise and moved her fingers, but the band wrapped around her hands and arms tightly. She tried to cry out, but another strip whipped at her face and drew blood. When she opened her mouth, rough leather gagged her. Eyes widening in panic, she tried to pull away.
Krusk hacked at the cloth, yelling his war cry. He narrowly missed hitting Naull as she felt herself jerked back and forth by the animated cloth. As the tatters and bands of leather and fabric wrapped around her, she felt herself spun this way and that.
From the corner of one eye she saw the other bits of ripped clothing fly up off the floor. They formed roughly humanoid shapes. Bits of gems and metal peeked out from behind the tatters, and the shapes jerked as if manipulated by a puppeteer's strings.
One of the shapes leaped, or flew, or in some other way moved toward Krusk. He still tried to find a way to strike the fabric grappling Naull and the shape caught him from behind. The half-orc cried out as strips of cloth and leather bound his mighty legs. Dropping his axe, the half-orc wrestled with the tattered form.
Then something struck Naull—from inside. Something that felt like a ragged but powerful consciousness tried to envelope her mind even as it covered her body. She tried to scream again, forgetting the leather bonds around her mouth, then she fell back on her training.
Concentrate ... concentrate, she thought.
In an instant, she felt the consciousness repelled. It could not control her as long as she maintained her focus.
So the fabric started squeezing her.
Alhandra and Regdar rushed forward as they saw the cloth snake out and grab Naull. They reached the room as it completely covered her and as Krusk dropped his weapon. Regdar shifted his bastard sword to his left hand and drew a knife. He tried cutting at Naull's bonds but succeeded at slicing both the fabric and the wizard underneath. With a cry of dismay he hardened himself and hacked again. The fabric shuddered and Naull's blood flowed, but the creature was shifting to avoid the blade and that meant it was releasing the wizard. Naull gasped as air came back into her body.
Alhandra paused at Krusk's side to help him, but a third tattered shape leaped toward Regdar. Alhandra rushed between the fighter and the magical horror and swung her sword down. It cut through the humanoid shape easily, shattering one of the gem-stones in the process. The floating rags uttered no cry, but did recoiled as if in pain. Stepping forward, Alhandra raised her arm to strike again.
Before she could slash through the jumping fabric, something smashed against the paladin's unprotected back. If it hadn't been for her fine steel armor, the blow from Krusk's axe would have severed her spine. As it was, Alhandra stumbled forward in agony, her own blade slicing wide. The tatter-creature retreated before her, though, and she turned to see Krusk raise his axe again.
It was Krusk, and it wasn't. He was wrapped up the same as Naull, but his eyes were open and staring blankly, not even focused on Alhandra. His axe came down and she dodged aside easily.
"Krusk!" she cried out. "Fight it off!"
But the barbarian didn't seem to hear. He swung his axe again, this time less clumsily. The leather and fabric wrappings gave him the appearance of an unraveling mummy, but whatever force was at work had him completely under its control.
With Regdar's help, Naull finally jumped clear of the grasping creature. The moment she was free, two bolts of force jetted from her palms and struck the rags in what should have been their chest. Fabric shuddered, then fluttered harmlessly to the ground.
Alhandra continued blocking and evading Krusk's powerful blows, but another of the rag monsters was moving up on her other side, trying to get behind her. Either it would get her or Krusk's axe would, that seemed certain.
Picking up his sword again, Regdar jumped behind the half-orc. Turning the blade to the flat, he didn't hesitate. In a mighty, two-handed blow he brought it down on the half-orc's skull.
Krusk turned toward him and swung his axe.
Regdar cursed and deflected the blow. Alhandra, seeing Regdar in danger, moved forward and swung her own blade, one-handed but flat side out, at the back of Krusk's head. The second blow was too much even for the half-orc's thick skull, and the fabric-covered barbarian went down. The cloth and leather strips unwrapped from his still form and jigged above him, but two more magic missiles struck them and the rags disintegrated.
Glittering sparks erupted from the sole remaining creature, blinding the adventurers. When their eyes cleared moments later, it was gone.
"Krusk—is he all right?" Naull asked as she bent to the barbarian's still form. Alhandra was there as well, while Regdar stood over them, watching for any attack. Nothing came, however, and Alhandra drew off her gauntlets.
"He's only unconscious," she assured Naull. "He'll be all right." Still, she placed her hands on the half-orc's face and they glowed faintly.
"What were those things?" Alhandra asked.
"I'm not sure," Naull said. "I've heard of creatures that live at the borders between worlds, but..." She slapped her forehead lightly. "I should have known there'd be something like this. The City of Fire is on another plane. There's bound to be strange things in between."
Krusk blinked his mismatched eyes and groaned, forestalling any more of Naull's self-recrimination.
The wizard smiled, then winced. "I think it broke one of my ribs," she gasped painfully.
"Here, let me see," Alhandra said.
She helped the wizard down onto her back as Krusk shook himself off and stood guard with Regdar. A warm feeling moved through Naull's body and she felt the slicing pain in her side ease. It was still there, but reduced to a dull ache. She noticed that the cuts on her arms were closed up as well.
"Thanks," she said, allowing Alhandra to pull her up. The paladin winced in pain, though. "Oh, I'm sorry," Naull said contritely. She remembered the massive blow Krusk had struck her in the back. "Get that breastplate off. Let me look at it."
Alhandra shook her head and rubbed her back. "No ... I'll be all right. Let's look at the door."
Frowning, Naull let the matter drop. She wasn't a healer, anyway, but she wanted to do something. Still, her spells killed two of them. How could she tell the rest of the group she had nearly exhausted her store of spells again? She was still thinking of what to say when Krusk drew out the key.
The disk blazed to light immediately, as brightly as they'd seen it yet. A sigil inscribed just above the lock answered by turning fiery red.
"Well, go ahead," Naull said.
Krusk stuck the key in the lock. It went in about three-quarters of the way, so he could still hold it in his big fingers.
The outline of the emblem on the door glowed brightly and a long, straight crack appeared in the opening. The door split in two and swung open.
The City of Fire
Bright light spilled into the torchlit hallway. Each adventurer blinked and Krusk raised one thick forearm to shield his mismatched eyes. The light was brighter than Naull's new spell, brighter even than true daylight.
/> "Stairs," Regdar said as his eyes acclimated.
The others looked and saw a flight of sandstone-colored steps leading up into the bright light.
"Do you see anything else?" Naull asked. She still shielded her eyes with her hands. Peering into the light was painful.
The fighter shook his head and moved forward.
"No," Alhandra said, "it's my turn."
The paladin, her armor shining brightly in the clear light and her sword held before her, advanced toward the light.
The others followed at a short distance, Regdar second, Naull third, and Krusk bringing up the rear. Of all the adventurers, the half-orc seemed to have the most problem with the bright light and he didn't lower his arm away from his eyes.
Naull found as soon as she stepped onto the stairs, however, that the light became more bearable. She still couldn't see the top of the flight, but as she slowly ascended, the light bothered her less and less. By the time she'd climbed a dozen steps, she could see normally. She looked back and Krusk was no longer shielding his eyes. His heavy brows still squinted against the dazzle, but he peered around more or less normally.
"I... I think I see something," Alhandra said, pausing on the stairs. The others stopped behind her, but the paladin started moving almost immediately. "It's ... it's ..."
Standing on the top step, Alhandra lowered her sword and looked around in amazement. The others followed her example. Naull gasped audibly, and Krusk growled.
"It's the sky," Regdar said.
"It's a sky," amended Naull.
Beyond the stairs the adventurers saw an open expanse above them. It was red, however, not blue, and the few wispy clouds swirling quickly through the air high above them seemed almost bright pink in color.
Naull shook herself out of her wonderment and said, "That passage ..." The wizard hesitated. How to say it without panicking anyone? "That passage must have been the link between our world and the plane, the pocket dimension, that Secrustia Nar resides in. We're somewhere between our world and the Elemental Plane of Fire."
Turning in place, Regdar gaped at the wizard. The others looked at her.
"We walked to another plane?" Regdar asked.
Naull shrugged, palms upward, in answer.
"Oh," he continued, "I thought there'd be some big, swirling gate filled with fiery energy or something, not just a hallway."
Krusk thumped Regdar on the shoulder, who looked at the barbarian, and asked, "What?"
Pointing one finger over the fighter's armored shoulder, Krusk nodded. Regdar turned.
"Oh," the fighter said simply.
The sky still swirled red above them, giving off light with no sun, but all around the land looked much more familiar—flat, unremarkable desert. That is, except where Krusk pointed. Perhaps a quarter mile distant—it was very hard to judge distances—stood what looked like a huge arch. It was sandstone in color, like the stairs, but an immense emerald-colored stone flashed in the keystone at the top.
Within the arch, reddish-orange flames rippled.
"Well, isn't that nice?" Naull commented dryly.
Regdar frowned, but then grinned at her.
"Let's go," the fighter said with mock exasperation. "I want to get this over with."
The others followed.
"I thought it was supposed to be harder than this," Regdar whispered to Naull.
Alhandra took point again, and Krusk walked with her over the hot sand. All four sweated furiously.
"You complaining?" she asked, but privately agreed. She took out the papers that came with the key and shuffled through them as they walked. "The key," she said. "It must be because we have the key." She looked down at a picture on one of the sheets. "Either that, or ..."
"Or what?"
"A lot of this stuff," she said, shaking the papers and wiping sweat off her forehead with her sleeve, "has to do with the city itself. I thought it told of the dangers and tricks for getting in, but..."
"But it talks about the dangers in the city."
Naull wasn't certain, so she shrugged almost apologetically. "It really is a weird code."
Regdar stopped, and Naull halted alongside him. "Naull," he said quietly, facing her. "No one expects you to know everything or to be able to figure it all out. We're getting swept along here, and you're figuring things out as you go." He reached out to her and she took his gauntlet in her hand. "You're doing great."
Nodding, Naull smiled up at her partner.
Yes, she thought, we're definitely going to have to have a talk when this is over.
"Thanks," she said.
The two turned and continued walking, and the party reached the gate sooner than they expected. It loomed large in front of them, but not as large as they'd supposed from the end of the stairs. It stood perhaps forty feet high and was easily thirty feet across—nearly a semicircle, jutting up out of the sand.
"Heironeous protect us!" Alhandra exclaimed, holding up her shield. "It feels like an oven!"
It did. The flames in the gate weren't just for show. The adventurers felt as if they stood in front of a well-stoked forge, if that forge was the size of a large city gate.
But there was no city beyond the gate. They looked on either side, and after a few moments of arguing Krusk actually walked all the way around the arch.
"Here!" Krusk exclaimed.
Just above head-height on the left side of the arch they saw an emblem that looked exactly like the key. Krusk pulled out the golden disk and raised it, but Alhandra shouted for him to stop. On the other side of the arch was a second emblem, identical to the first. After a few minutes examination, they found two more, each on an opposite side.
Pressed deep into the stone of the arch, each emblem looked identical to every other. Naull confirmed from the notes that the right thing to do was place the key into one of these emblems. That would open the arch and let them into the city... but which one should they choose? Krusk had no more information from Captain Tahrain. He stood before the gate, sweating and staring at the flames.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take, Naull," Regdar complained. "Could we at least move away from this thing while you figure it out?" He'd stripped off his helmet and poured water down into his armor. Alhandra did the same, but they didn't dare use any more of the precious liquid that way. "Should we go back to the stairs?"
The wizard sat before the fiery gate, laying some of the papers out before her. She found a diagram of the arch and it had small symbols on it she guessed were the key sigils. Naull shook her head once, sweat from her head spattering the ground.
"No... no," she said, "there has to be a clue."
"Well, what do you know so far?" Alhandra asked.
She stood by the right side of the arch, running her hand over the stone. Her face glistened in the light. Naull resisted the urge to scream at her.
It's the heat, she thought. Regdar's right—we should move away from the arch, but didn't the paladin ever ... ?
"Wait..." Naull said. "I think I've got it."
She jumped up, clutching one of the pages in both hands. Moving quickly to Alhandra's side, she pointed to the sigil there.
"Look! Here, the tail of the flame goes up and to the right."
She jogged over to the other side of the arch, the others following tiredly, and Naull indicated the emblem there.
"Here," she said, "it points to the left. On the other side—" she moved around the arch—"it's reversed, and upside down. It's the same sigil but it's oriented differently, relative to where you are near the arch."
Shaking his head, Regdar asked, "What does that mean?"
"Don't you see? The key can be placed in any of the emblems, but it has a different function depending on which you use."
"All right, I guess that makes sense," the fighter mused, rubbing his goatee thoughtfully, "but why four emblems? What does each one do?"
Naull grinned as she suddenly realized the answer.
"That's what hung me up
for so long," she said. "Two sigils would make sense—one to open the gate and one to close it—but four? That's what had me puzzled."
She started chuckling, shaking her head. When she looked up, even the paladin stared at her with a twinge of impatience.
"Oh, sorry," Naull laughed again. "Look up at the sky; what do you see?"
They all looked up and Krusk, surprisingly, was the first to answer, "Fire."
Alhandra and Regdar gaped, but Naull nodded sagely and said, "Right. Fire. That isn't a red sky up there—that's actual flame."
It took a moment for the import of that statement to sink in.
"No wonder it's so hot," Regdar added lamely.
"It was Krusk who made me think of it, actually," Naull said. Stooping, she picked up a handful of sand—or tried to; she dropped it almost immediately. "It's really hot. But now feel the air." She breathed in, deeply. The others followed suit. "I know it's hard to tell, but the air isn't hot. It's certainly warm, but most of that's emanation from the sand. I bet the air's no hotter than it was back in Durandell."
The others agreed, but they still didn't understand.
Naull continued, "Before we opened the door back there, this area was part of the Elemental Plane of Fire. In fact, I'm betting it still is—but it's been changed, magically, to someplace we can inhabit. That's why there are four symbols on the arch."
"All right," Regdar said, following Naull to the left side of the arch. "I understand. So a few hours ago, this area was completely covered in flame."
"I guess."
"And it'll be covered in flame again?" Alhandra ventured.
Naull shrugged and said, "I guess so—probably when somebody closes that door."
They all looked nervously back at the hole in the sand.
"So how do we open this gate?" asked Regdar.