Cloth? Wet? Those were somehow significant, but I couldn’t remember why.
I heard Jason’s voice as he called urgently from somewhere far away, “Yo, chica, wake up! Hey, Lise! You’re in danger! Catch!”
I blearily opened my eyes and squinted against the light. I found myself lying on the stone altar, and above me Morsca glowered at me, arms upraised. She was straining against her own blood-dyed nightgown which had somehow entangled around her and prevented her from driving that damned glowing jeweled knife into in my chest.
What the hell?!
“C’mon, Lise! Catch!” Jason yelled, anxiousness mixed in with the urgency now.
Spurred by the danger, my head cleared enough to register his words. Adrenaline filled me, banishing my fuzziness and sharpening my reflexes. I rolled off the altar towards his voice and saw the incoming dirk being thrown my way. Praying to Caelestis I’d catch it, I reached for it. It smacked into my palm.
“Oh, no, you will not!” hissed Morsca as she burst out of the bonds that had held her.
She rammed one hand onto the altar to help her leap across it at me, jeweled knife at the ready.
“Oh, yes I will!” I growled back.
I ducked the green-haired Surface-elf’s in-coming strike. I then executed a perfect stop lunge as Morsca landed, pushing her back against the altar and burying the dirk in her heart. It didn’t even bother me to do it. Morsca’s face blanched. She looked down in anger at the dirk’s guard pressing up against her chest and glared at me. The jeweled knife, still glowing, fell from her hand and hit the dais. She pursed her lips, looking almost as if she wanted to spit but was unable to do it.
Hatred flared in her face and she stared straight at me. “I curse you, Lise, with my Death Curse.”
Her dark green eyes flashed eerily light blue for one second, and then the light faded with her life. Her body slid backwards off my blade and landed sprawled on the stone altar.
CHAPTER 31
As soon as Morsca’s body hit the altar, a rumble was felt in the soles of everyone’s feet throughout the cavern floor. I stepped back from the corpse as the others converged on me.
“Dead?! She’s DEAD?! No. No! I wanted to kill her!” Ragar yowled as he stared at the body.
Auraus frowned at him as she landed. “It does not matter who killed her, Ragar! It just matters that she is dead.” The Wind-rider turned to me. “Lise! I was so worried that my spell to hamper Morsca was not going to stay active long enough for you to get away! She had created a magical zone of protection that kept our projectile weapons from her, and I had to improvise. Are you all right?”
Another low, stone-deep rumble punctuated her words, and dust sifted down from the cavern’s ceiling. The bats, which I guessed had been defeated and had fled to their perches, now flew around in a panic. Most of them headed towards the far corner of the cave and disappeared out of a previously unnoticed exit.
“That’s not important now, Auraus!” I said urgently.
I tossed Jason his knife back. The rumble sounded again, and one of the tall heavy candle sticks holding a torch that stood on the floor nearby toppled over and just missed hitting me.
I jumped at the close call. “We need a plan!”
“If this is a natural earthquake, or even if it is not, we have no real choices,” Arghen said hurriedly. “Any cavern passage out of here might get us lost underground, so following the bats is not an option. We need to hurry back up and out the way we came.”
The Under-elf started chivvying us in the direction of the anteroom.
“Wait!” said Auraus, ducking his arm.
She turned back to pull Morsca down off the altar and started to arrange the body.
“What are you doing? You can’t give her the Rite of the Dead!” exclaimed Jason in outrage.
Arghen held up a calming hand. “Not her, Jason. Thoronis; and any other soul she’s already taken.”
Auraus knelt as she pulled out her handbook. She closed her eyes, but then opened them.
“I thought there would be other souls in there with hers already, but I do not think so.” The Wind-rider caught sight of the knife on the ground, its jewels still glowing with an inner fire, and her eyes widened in understanding. “They must all be inside the knife! But, how do we get them out?” She started to scoop it up as she stood, but stopped. “We should not touch this—though its hilt is leather wrapped and will provide some protection for a while, this is still cold iron. What do we do?”
I bent down to pick it up.
Auraus shrieked a warning and would have stopped me, but Arghen prevented her. “It’s all right, my lady. Humans, it turns out, can handle cold iron.”
The Wind-rider looked at me in wonder as I held it with no obvious ill effect.
“We do not have time to finesse things,” said the Under-elf as the rumbling continued. “We should take it with us and figure out how to free the souls later.”
“We cannot,” insisted Auraus. “What if we break the knife and the souls are already primed to go into her? They would instead be going into a dead body and so still be trapped. We need to do it here to make sure.”
“Then let’s break it and hope it works,” I said firmly.
Another rumble punctuated my words, and everybody looked with worry at the stalactites on the ceiling as a burst of small stone chips rained down on us.
“Once you break this there will be a backlash,” Auraus warned. “Let me create a protection for you.”
I placed the still glowing knife on the altar. The Wind-rider flipped through the pages of her handbook and incanted a blessing upon the sacrificial area to cleanse and sanctify it. She then prayed to Caelestis and cast a shield spell made of wind before me.
“You should all get behind the shield, too,” she warned the others.
I unsheathed my long knife. “My Goddess Caelestis, I call upon you for help to save the souls of those who have been sacrificed, especially that of Thoronis. They all need to be freed so they can go on to their afterlives. Guide my hands; break the knife. End the spell.”
I reached through the protective winds and smashed my pommel on the glowing jewels of the knife. The ensuing explosion shattered the knife, broke my weapon, and blew apart Auraus’s shield, which had been just strong enough to protect us all from the explosion itself. But the souls that leapt up from their psychic prison threw us to the ground by the force of their escape. Before the spirits flashed away, Jason and I gaped as their power pulsed the same eerie blue colored glow as I had seen in Morsca’s eyes as she died. They also blew the bloodied altar cloth ceiling-ward, cracked the altar in two, shook the dais, and brought more stone down from the ceiling on top of us. As we sat up and brushed off the rocks bits, many of the beings still alive on the shelves started to wake up and jabber incoherently.
“Time to go!” said Jason.
Everybody scrambled to their feet and raced towards the antechamber door.
“Wait! What about all these unfortunates? We cannot just leave them!” objected Auraus, stopping to point at the shelves.
“My lady, yes, we can.” Arghen’s tone was grimly sympathetic as he took her arm in a firm grip and pulled her towards the anteroom again. “There is a natural exit to this cavern which the bats took, and we have given those on the shelves the chance to save themselves—something they did not have before we came.” He paused. “However, we can do something for them. Can you enhance my voice?”
She nodded, said a quick prayer, and cast a spell at him.
The Under-elf’s voice boomed over the noises of the cracking and falling stones. “Dwellers of the Sub-realms, there is an entrance in the far corner of this cavern through which bats have already fled. It may be your only escape back whence you came!”
The effect was immediate—almost as one, the Kobolds and other creatures all turned and ran to where the bats exited.
Arghen pulled on the Wind-rider’s arm again. “We have done all we can do for them now.”
Ducking small bits of stone that continued to shake down from the ceiling, we barreled towards the exit to the keep, pausing onlyto scoop up my saber from where it had fallen. Another violent shake in the anteroom had us all dodging falling shelves.
“I thought they were bolted to the wall like the ones out in the cavern!’ I yelled as I leapt over the nearest shelf.
“The earthquakes must have shaken them loose!” shouted Auraus as she dodged another.
“Do not talk; run!” urged Arghen.
The Under-elf jumped over the shelves’ debris scattered about on the floor, and we followed his lead. We headed up the stone stairway: Arghen first, followed by Ragar and Jason, and then Auraus and me. More stone rumblings caused the walls to shake the smokeless torches on top of us as we climbed. We grabbed what torches we could as they fell. We reached the top of the stairs and faced its blank, closed wall.
“The door is shut!” yowled Ragar.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Of course it was going to close. I had to let go of the button!” I said.
Auraus’s voice edged on panic. “How do we get out, then, Lise?”
“I think this is the way,” I said as I projected a calm I didn’t feel.
I went to the small mosaic I’d seen before and pressed the glass piece that corresponded to the larger one outside. The door at the top of the stair slid open, and everyone rushed into the bedroom. But things were no better here: the walls, floor, pillars and ceiling were vibrating gently now, and tiny cracks were appearing everywhere. We could hear objects crashing to the floor in other parts of the room.
“I think we should not take a chance going down the main stairs,” Arghen suggested. “There will be pandemonium down below as servants, guards, and who knows what else scurry around in response to the quakes.”
More rumbles punctuated his words. An empty torch bracket shook itself off the wall in my direction. I fended it off with one of the torches I’d gotten from the stairwell. Then the large glass mosaic nearby me slid down off the wall and shattered. Everyone ducked to avoid the flying glass, but I wasn’t quite fast enough. Afterwards I stood up and brushed the small, sharp sparkling bits off my clothes.
Arghen looked at me, saw that I was all right, and then turned to Auraus. “If we left by the windows of this room, my lady, could you fly us?”
“I can fly those who are not too heavy for a short distance,” she replied confidently.
“Like to the canyon’s edge of the yard?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “Since we are higher than the lip I should be able to bank with a passenger whichever way is needed.” Auraus looked speculatively at the mountain-cat-elf’s bulk. “I do not know if I can take you though, Ragar. But I will try.”
“Then let us go through the windows and try to make the mountain side as quickly as we may,” Arghen said.
A decorative vase shook out of its wall niche and nearly hit Jason and myself. To the tune of more rumbles plus a violent shaking of the keep that peppered us with sand from the ceiling, we made our way to the windows. I almost regretted cutting through the first gorgeous tapestry blocking my way with my saber, but not enough not to do it. The tapestry collapsed behind us as we entered the area beyond, which had an intimate sitting arrangement with a silver tea service set on a low mahogany table. A forceful shake made the serving items fly up and rain themselves down on us. We dodged most of the flying debris, though I was hit in the face by one of the delicate tea cups. It raised an immediate welt and reinforced the headache I’d earned down below. Twice more we had to struggle our way through a plummeting room divider as well as avoiding its tapestry hardware and the items within its boundaries.
I caught the Under-elf looking with concern at me after I avoided yet another set of falling hooks and rails. I remembered what he’d said below about earthquakes. Wasn’t this natural anymore? If it wasn’t, I couldn’t even begin to think what that might mean. When we finally reached the windows we yanked aside the rich blue velvet curtains that covered them. I was happy to find that Morsca’s wall-length casements looked directly down over the cage yard. It was kind of amazing to see that true dawn hadn’t broken yet, though false dawn was starting to show.
Another longer, deeper rumble shook the keep. All the curtain rods on the ceilings right above us crashed down, with one striking me squarely on the head and burying me beneath the shimmering sapphire folds of its cloth. Many hands helped to uncover me, and when I emerged with crossed eyes Auraus checked my head.
“Let me cast another healing on you, Lise,” she offered, anxious.
I stopped her, impatient. “I’m fine; I’m fine. I’m only sore. You can do anything you like later, but let’s just get out of here now!”
The Wind-rider jumped up to the sill and turned around and grabbed the nearest person to her, who happened to be Jason. She pulled him into a tight hug and leapt out into the open air. The sound of his startled yell was almost lost in the loudest rumble yet. More nearby tapestries and curtains shook on their hangers, and a previously-unseen shelf filled with decorative vases crashed down on top of me and Arghen. We crawled out of the broken wreckage with Ragar’s help, and then the Under-elf pulled himself up to the window. He leaned out to watch Auraus’ flight and see that she made it to the canyon lip. Another rumble caused more dust and larger stone chips to fall on everyone.
Arghen said, “Wait here,” and ran in the direction of the bedroom door.
I knew he was going after Thoronis’ body. I expected him to return with it, but he came back empty-handed, looking grim. The Wind-rider returned before I could ask him what happened, and as Arghen was within reach, she grabbed for him. He tried to demur and gestured towards me, but Auraus ignored him. Knowing that time was of the essence, the Under-elf reluctantly let her have her way. I didn’t lean out to watch Auraus carry him away, but my eyes swept the view. I too saw nothing to threaten her flight. Another rumble, and Ragar and I dodged more falling brass from tapestry rails that were shaken out of the ceiling. Oddly enough, the tapestries in the rest of Morsca’s room where we hadn’t been yet hadn’t collapsed.
Auraus came back again and looked at the mountain-cat-elf. “Ragar, I will try to fly you last. If I cannot do it, then I will glide you down to the pen and you can run for the ropes at the back of the yard.”
He shrugged acceptance. It was only when Auraus tried to get me to safety that she ran into trouble.
As she made to leap and fly out with me, she stopped short. “I cannot get through the window!”
She reached forward unbelievingly at what had been open air not one minute before. Now, though it still looked like open air, it no longer allowed her to leave. Ragar’s mouth fell open as he watched the Wind-rider’s abortive attempts at getting through the casement with me in her arms. He stuck his arm past hers and met with no resistance in waving his hand in the air beyond.
I had a blinding flash of intuition. “Put me down, Auraus, and try again.”
She, not comprehending, did as I asked and discovered that once again she could get through. She looked in frightened amazement at me as another rumble shook the keep. More small stone chunks fell from the ceiling, and the three of us covered our heads.
“What is going on? How did you know?” Auraus gasped.
“Because before she died, Morsca said something to me about a ‘death curse’,” I replied.
Ragar’s expression turned solemn. “Then this must be it: the curse is to trap Morsca’s killer inside her keep. The building is now a death trap designed to kill Lise.”
Auraus was horrified. “No! No! That cannot happen! We have got to get you both out!”
“Auraus. If it is Morsca’s Death Curse, this is powerful magic and you know Lise will not be able to escape this way. You fly on and join the others. I will stay with her and get us both out of here,” Ragar said firmly.
“But how?”
“We will figure out something.”
Another rumble and
shake nearly knocked the Wind-rider through the window. It was followed by crashing and breaking noises elsewhere in the room.
Ragar stepped closer to the casement and pointed outward. “Go.”
“No! I cannot do that. Lise is in danger. You are in danger. I would be a coward if I just left you!” she cried.
The mountain-cat-elf shoved her off the ledge. She had to twist her body and spread her white-and-gold wings to prevent herself from falling all the way to the ground.
“Go on!” he roared down after her. “What if the others come looking, worried about us not arriving at the meeting place? Then we will all be back in the same stew pot!”
Auraus, listening to reason at last, swooped away, though not without a backwards look of regret and anguish at us.
Ragar turned urgently to me as the room shook again, and we both dodged larger falling ceiling chunks. “So, up or down? I recommend ‘up’.”
Confused, I asked, “Up? What do you mean?”
“I will make a guess that doors and windows are probably blocked by the curse, but people often forget that chimneys are also ways in and out of a place. Maybe the curse-maker forgot this too.”
“Then let’s hope we find one in here!”
CHAPTER 32
Ragar and I ran along the windowed wall in search of a chimney. The rumbles increased in strength and created larger and larger cracks everywhere in the room. We dodged the things that were now actively throwing themselves at me and reached the corner of the room that was opposite the secret door. Here we discovered a dressing area with the remains of several floor-length mirrors that had once hung on opened armoire doors but were now on the ground in pieces. I screamed and covered my face to hide from the bits of broken glass that jumped up at me. Ragar caught a couple of small jewelry chests that rose to aim themselves and opened them as we ran, combining the contents into one chest before stuffing it into his belt pouch.
“What are you doing?” I cried.
“If jewelry chests filled with jewelry are going to throw themselves at us, who am I to not accept their generosity?” the mountain-cat-elf yelled back with a grin.
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