by Mel Odom
“Helping. Or do you think you’re going to be able to take that drow on all by yourself?”
Shut up and save your breath for climbing, Xuxa ordered.
Baylee turned his attention back overhead. Krystarn Fellhammer had reached the uppermost railing, twenty feet above him. He pulled harder as he watched the drow disappear from view further back on the ledge.
A sudden explosion of fire and light came from below. A heartbeat later, a wave of concussive force slammed against him, bruising his chest against the railing in front of him. He held his position, looking back over his shoulder.
Scoontiphp remained by the whirling maelstrom in the center of the room. His clothing shifted, torn by the winds. The lightning dancing from the palms of his hands. Calebaan stood nearby, defending the baelnorn from any hobgoblins who crept around the net of steel Cthulad and the Waterdhavian watch had put up.
The sphere of whirling winds detonated again, scattering sparks from the baelnorn’s lightning. The gems seemed to slow, and the residual tremors that had been part of the underground since the earlier earthquakes appeared to fade.
Then a shadow sailed out into the room. With the continual light spell Scoontiphp had in effect overhead, Baylee guessed that the new arrival had to be Folgrim Shallowsoul, the lich who kept the library.
Shallowsoul stood in the middle of a carpet that flew effortlessly through the air. The carpet hovered only a few feet from the sphere and stopped.
Baylee yelled down a warning, wondering if the baelnorn knew the lich was there. Then it became a moot point because the lich gestured toward Scoontiphp. An invisible wall of force slammed into the baelnorn, knocking him from his feet and into a set of bookshelves behind him. The force was so great that the baelnorn didn’t stop there, knocking down two other sets of shelves behind him.
“Climb!” Cordyan yelled up.
Baylee reached up and grabbed his next handhold. More blasts of light and bursts of incredible noise rose from below. He gained the top and swung a leg over. Only his finely tuned senses warned him of the morning star streaking for his head.
He ducked and rolled to one side as the weapon smashed splinters from the stairway railing. He came up standing, but had to shift again as Krystarn Fellhammer fired her hand crossbow at him. The shaft ripped through the sleeve of his left arm, and he felt an immediate numbness that told him at least part of the poison had entered his system. He fought against it, barely able to keep his mind clear.
“You made a mistake in coming here, human,” the drow hissed.
“I don’t think so,” said the ranger, shaking the double images of the drow from his sight.
“Why?” she taunted. “I killed your old mentor, trapped him like a rat in his own home, then snapped his neck like a rat. What makes you think I’ll have any trouble with his whelp?”
Baylee focused on her words, backing away as she came at him. Thick support columns ran down from the ceiling overhead. They provided cover from her spellwork. Another crossbow quarrel chipped away stone only inches from his face.
Rooms opened up off of the runway the stairs led up on. Baylee glanced through them hurriedly, hoping to see some sign of the emerald drum Scoontiphp had spoken of.
Get ready, Baylee, Xuxa said, I am on my way.
No! Baylee responded. She’s too quick, too dangerous.
And you’re wounded.
Frantically, Baylee searched the open area above the room below. Even with all the pyrotechnics coming from the battle raging below, he couldn’t spot the azmyth bat. But with his blurring vision, he didn’t know if it would have been possible anyway.
Xuxa swept in like an arrow, her wings wrapped tight against her body. She hit the drow sorceress from the side, not hesitating. Her claws dragged across Krystarn Fellhammer’s cheek, ripping the flesh open and sizzling electricity at the same time.
Stay ready, Xuxa cried as the drow spun in her direction.
Baylee tried to remain steady, but the poison in his system counteracted his reflexes. He staggered slightly but managed to keep the long sword up in front of him.
Before the drow could attack Xuxa, she twisted in pain, turning back to the rope Baylee had just quit. As she turned, the ranger saw the trio of darts sticking out of her back, driven deep between the links of her mail shirt.
Krystarn Fellhammer lifted a hand and began a series of intricate manipulations with her fingers as Cordyan pulled herself over the railing twenty feet and more back.
Baylee ripped a throwing knife free of the gnomish workman’s armor and flung it at the drow. It sank deeply between her shoulder blades. He felt less than honorable attacking her from behind, but he couldn’t stand by and let Cordyan be killed.
Move to the attack, Baylee, Xuxa said. For the moment, you are soundless. The drow can’t hear you. The azmyth bat had the ability to magically create silence in the area near her once a day. He moved swiftly behind the drow, getting a good grip on the long sword.
As the drow turned back around, he took her head off cleanly with the long sword. Blood sprayed an arc of bright color against the wall behind her as her headless body dropped to its knees and toppled forward.
Exhausted by his efforts, Baylee slumped to the floor when the latest earthquake hit. He tried to remain on his feet, tried to maintain his hold on the long sword, but the poison surged through his system unchecked.
“Baylee,” Cordyan said, approaching him with her sword before her.
He tried to speak, but nothing came out.
He was poisoned, Xuxa said. She fluttered to the wall in front of Baylee, gazing at him worriedly.
Cordyan rummaged in the pouch at her side, coming out with a vial. She unstoppered it, then poured the contents into Baylee’s mouth. He felt a warm lassitude spread through him, the sharp ache of the poison suddenly dulled. His limbs still felt heavy, but his breathing already felt less labored.
The watch lieutenant gave him another sip of the heal potion. “Drink it down.”
Baylee’s mind cleared, followed shortly by his vision. He forced himself to his feet with Cordyan’s help. “The phylactery?” he asked.
The light from downstairs started to fade gradually. Another quake rocked the great library, letting him know who was gaining the upper hand in the battle of spells going on below.
“I don’t know,” the civilar answered.
I found it, Xuxa announced.
Where? Baylee stared through the gloom and found the azmyth bat as she released the wall she’d clung to.
Xuxa flapped her wings and headed into the room to Baylee’s left.
The ranger stumbled in pursuit, his reflexes starting to feel more normal. The room he entered was filled as was all the others, with volumes and volumes of books. A tall desk occupied one end of the room. A carved stone chair with a high back sat behind it.
No one was in the room.
All of the walls held items scattered amid the books. Skulls, some from real creatures and others carved from precious metals, glinted in the lantern light. Dozens of crystal balls occupied unique mounts, including the skeletal hands of men and creatures. Vases numbered the most among the items scattered along the shelves.
Where? Baylee played the lantern light over the shelves. A flicker of green caught his attention on the left.
Xuxa winged to the shelves in the center of the lantern’s beam and hung upside down over a statue that must have been three feet tall. Here.
Baylee moved forward, targeting the statue of a woman with two faces, the second one occupying the space where the back of her skull should have been. She was naked, revealing twisted and broken limbs clothed in loose flesh. She held the emerald drum above her head. Her features, both sets of them, held only horror.
He moved closer, hypnotized by the beauty of the emerald drum. He didn’t know how much it would be worth to a jeweler or a collector, but the burnished surface captured the light from his lantern like a fire had started deep within the emerald. He reached
for the drum.
Before his hand touched the drum, a strident voice rang out behind him.
“Stay away from that!”
Baylee turned, bringing the long sword up.
Folgrim Shallowsoul floated through the door on the flying carpet. His clothing still held sparks that burned bright orange. He gestured toward the ranger.
A wall of incredible force slammed into Baylee. He flew backward, flailing to regain his balance. He rolled across the broad floor but came up on his feet.
“You’re in league with that foul baelnorn,” Shallowsoul said as he drifted into place behind the stone desk. The carpet landed gently beside the desk. “But you’re too late to stop me from shifting this library to the astral plane where you and your kind will never find it.”
Cordyan rushed for the phylactery. Before she reached it, a gust of wind blew her aside.
Baylee slipped a throwing knife from the gnomish leather. He flung it from the side, trying to mask the movement till the last possible moment. The knife flew like a dart.
The lich raised his hand and caught the knife in his skeletal fingers. He walked behind the desk without concern. “The baelnorn has killed you all,” he declared as he took the seat behind the desk. Tossing the knife away, he waved his hand over the desktop. “I’ve kept this library safe for hundreds of years. How can you think I’d shirk my duties now?”
Without preamble, an earthquake tremor shivered through the room. Baylee braced himself, amazed at how the books didn’t fall from the shelves.
A cloud of smoke erupted from the top of the desk, taking the shape of a huge, naked humanoid. The smoke kept coiling and climbing. In less than a moment, the desk was gone, reshaped into a stone golem that stepped ponderously toward Baylee.
The golem stood nine and a half feet tall and was as broad as any two men. The stone flesh marbled, turning white under the ranger’s lantern light. It opened its mouth in a soundless scream.
“In moments, this library will shift to the astral plane,” the lich said. “There’s nothing you can do to stop it. And once we get there, you won’t escape this labyrinth alive!”
Moving much faster than the stone golem, Baylee swung his long sword at the creature’s arm, hoping to sever the limb or at least render it useless. Instead, the sword shattered against the stone skin, falling in gleaming shards. It swung its hand at the ranger.
Baylee barely managed to duck under the blow. The huge hand slammed into the nearby bookshelves, toppling them over.
“No!” Shallowsoul screamed, sitting upright in his chair. “Don’t hurt the books!”
The golem hesitated for just a moment, giving Baylee time to discard the useless sword hilt. He unfastened the straps holding the battle-axe he’d taken from the hobgoblin, bringing it around swiftly in his hands. The ranger gave ground, using the time to his advantage. He ran for the emerald drum.
Xuxa, Baylee called.
I am here, the azmyth bat replied. I know the lich controls the golem. When I have a proper opening, I shall try to distract him.
Be careful. Baylee placed a hand on the emerald drum in the twisted statue’s hands. A tingling sensation, like that he received from the haft of the battle-axe, ran through his palm. The magic in the emerald drum was a physical presence.
“Destroy him!” Shallowsoul ordered.
The golem lumbered to do the lich’s bidding.
Another tremor ripped through the library. Baylee barely maintained his balance. He tried to pry the emerald drum from the statue’s hands, but failed. Grabbing the battle-axe up, he brought it smashing down hard against the emerald drum. Bright green sparks jumped from the keen edge, but there was not even a crack to mark the blow he’d struck.
“You’re going to need more magic than that pathetic axe has to destroy my phylactery,” the lich said.
Switching his grip on the battle-axe, Baylee smashed the heavy warblade into the statue’s upraised hands. The wrists shattered, but the stone hands still clung to the emerald drum. However, it was enough. Baylee grinned, knowing his success was only seconds away from being taken from him as the stone golem bore down on him.
He reached down and seized one of the broken stone hands holding onto the drum. The phylactery was heavier than it looked, but he managed it easily enough.
Baylee Arnvold. The ranger recognized the baelnorn’s voice in his head, sounding weak and agonized. Bring the phylactery to me. I am downstairs with the astral shift spell. I can help.
Baylee ducked under the golem’s arm. The huge stone hand thundered against the wall, knocking books from the shelves and breaking a dozen vases or more. He looked up and spotted Cordyan slipping behind the golem. She swung her blade with force and using all of her body weight. The sword bit into the golem’s back, sending fracture marks through the stone.
The golem turned ponderously, as if unwilling to shift too much and put strain on the wounded area.
“Get back,” Baylee said.
The civilar slipped out of the way of the golem’s fist. Then the creature turned completely, trying to trap her between its outspread arms.
Unbelievably, Cordyan froze where she was.
Baylee’s stomach turned over at the thought of what those terrible stone hands would do to her. “Move!” he shouted, already on his way to the door.
Cordyan didn’t flinch at all as the golem reached for her.
Looking past the civilar, Baylee saw the lich holding a hand toward her. He guessed that Shallowsoul had enspelled her. Xuxa, take him. The ranger rolled the emerald drum toward the door, then took up the battle-axe in both hands. “Cordyan, when you’re free, get the drum.” He launched himself at the golem, pulling into position, then bringing the axe into the creature’s knee joint.
The axe head buried deep in the stone flesh, sending fissures running through the injured leg. Stunned and hurting, the golem turned back to Baylee, its face a mask of inarticulate rage.
Baylee ducked under the outstretched hands. He caught a brief glimpse of Xuxa streaking across the intervening space in front of the lich. Then the azmyth bat raked her claws across the back of Shallowsoul’s hand. The lich drew his hand back, breaking the spell.
“Get the drum,” Baylee said. “We’ve got to get it downstairs to the baelnorn.” He drew back the axe and chopped at the golem’s leg again. Fist-sized chunks flew from the creature’s limb this time.
Cordyan broke free and streaked for the drum. She caught it up in one hand and ran for the door.
“No!” the lich screamed behind her.
Baylee drew back from the golem, luring it into position so that it blocked the lich behind it and served as a shield from any spells Shallowsoul might cast. He turned and ran after Cordyan, vaulting over the headless corpse of Krystarn Fellhammer.
A concussive wave overtook him, buffeting his body. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the stone golem suddenly blown toward him, coming at him impossibly fast. Ripped from the floor, the creature flailed soundlessly in the wind blast.
“Get down!” Baylee yelled in warning, diving to the ground beside the door.
The stone golem blew by overhead, rolling and turning as it shot out over the railing. But one of its flailing hands caught Cordyan a glancing blow, knocking her over the side. She almost caught herself, one hand wrapping around the railing.
Baylee pushed himself up, aware of the emerald drum balanced precariously on the edge of the railing, one of the broken stone hands still holding onto it, somehow wedging against the railing. He dropped the battle-axe.
He ran forward, telling himself there was time to save both, to save the woman and the phylactery. Both had managed to find a grip on the railing. The phylactery would have to come first, of course. After all, it was more precariously perched. Cordyan could at least hold on.
He took another step, his mind racing with everything he needed to do, then the step after that. Getting to the woman and the drum was going to be easy.
Then a tremor s
hivered throughout the library again, one of the worst ones so far.
Baylee lost his footing and went to the floor. He heard Cordyan scream in renewed fear. “No!” he shouted as he watched the drum’s balance point shift over the side of the railing. It slid over the side, starting a slow tumble.
By the gods, it wasn’t fair! Baylee pushed himself to his feet. He breathed a quick prayer to Mielikki, begging the Lady of the Forest’s indulgence in asking for so selfish a prize. He could catch the drum before it hit the ground, there was time.
There had to be. Losing it meant losing the library, and losing the library meant losing an incalculable amount of knowledge. All the dreams he had ever had, all the questions that he could ever hope to have answers for, the drum contained them all. The loss couldn’t be allowed.
“Baylee!” Cordyan shrilled.
The ranger shifted his gaze, watching as the woman’s hand slipped and she fell. He grabbed the enchanted rope from the gnomish leather and vaulted over the side. Fifty feet of free fall opened up below him. On one side was the woman; and on the other was the phylactery.
And he only had time to save one of them. And that one only at the risk of his own life.
Saying the command word while in free fall himself, Baylee threw one end of the rope toward the cavern roof. The rope slithered around a projecting bit of rock and tied itself.
Letting the rope burn through his gloved hand, the ranger made his choice. Cordyan looked up at him, her face tense, barely keeping the fear at bay. Reaching for her, he caught her free hand. “Hang on!” He wrapped his arm in the rope and tightened his grip.
When they hit the apex of their drop, he felt her hand sliding out of his. The pain in his shoulders was incredible as he took the strain. “Don’t let go!”
Cordyan gripped his hand.
Baylee knew what she was thinking because he was thinking the same thing. Once the phylactery hit the ground, it would shatter. Whatever control they might have been able to exercise over the lich would be gone. The library would be lost.
The drum hurtled down, spinning over and over as it fell toward the whirlwind of gemstones in the center of the room. Baylee was vaguely aware of the pockets of battle between the watch and the hobgoblins and the undead that were going on.