Sindari also scooted back, but he remained in front of us, determined to jump the skeletons first if we had to fight.
We may have to deal with them ourselves, I told Sindari.
I will handle it, he replied, his green eyes intent as the undead minions marched inexorably toward us, bones rattling as bare feet flapped down on the hard floor.
Mind if I help? I hefted the heavy dwarven sword.
The skeletons reached the stairs, and Sindari did not reply.
Zav still hadn’t appeared to notice the skeletons. His brow was furrowed. Whatever he was finding in Li’s mind must not be good.
The skeletons turned, as if to go up the stairs, but they halted, and their skulls swiveled on their neck vertebrae, empty eye sockets rotating toward us. We were ten feet away from them.
Sindari crouched to spring, but I put a hand on his back to stay him. If we attacked, there would be no more chance of hiding.
I started to creep farther back, but more clacking feet came from behind us. Another pair of minions being sent to join the first?
The skeletons in front of us stepped in our direction. Sindari sprang—only to be levitated straight up in the air with a whisper of magic. My feet left the ground right after his, Zav lifting all three of us to the ceiling. Sindari didn’t make a noise, but his legs flailed in the air, claws extended.
Be still, Zav whispered into our minds.
The skeletons clacked past right under us, walking slowly. Their skulls swiveled left and right, as if they could see out of those empty sockets, but they didn’t stop. They continued down the tunnel as we hung suspended ten feet above them. Two more skeletal minions walked into view from the opposite side.
They stopped when they reached each other, then both pairs turned and headed back the way they had come. The first two walked under us again without pausing, then headed up the stairs.
It will be better if we don’t battle the minions, Zav told us. I am certain they are only roaming about to search for us and that the lich doesn’t know exactly where we are.
I assumed so, but I didn’t realize we had an alternative. I lifted my fingers to touch the black ceiling inches above my head.
Once Peynar’dokla pinpoints me, I believe she will attack. She does not fear me.
That’ll be her downfall, right? I looked at Zav and gave him an encouraging smile.
He didn’t smile back. In her current state, she is more powerful than I am. And if my people appear in this world, I must send them away.
What? Why?
That wasn’t the plan. But his bleak expression suggested he’d learned something from Li. Something bad.
Peynar’dokla was inspired by the bacterial infection that was used to infect my kin, though she deemed it too slow-acting for her plans. She wanted to kill us much, much quicker. After doing a great deal of research, she found buried in this ancient dwarven repository a recipe for a poison that was concocted thousands of years ago, a poison designed to float in the air and kill our kind quickly.
A dwarven king from those distant times hired an outcast gnomish scientist to make it. The king wanted to rid the realms of dragons. All of them, forever. The poison turned out to be effective at killing dragons, but it also ended up killing a great many dwarves. The remaining dwarves rebelled against the king, and he was slain in battle, then entombed in this mountain along with the recipe for his concoction and the magical artifact the gnome made to disperse it into the air all around an area.
When Peynar’dokla learned of this, she searched relentlessly until she found both recipe and artifact. She has set it up, and at a touch, it will eject the poison in an aerosol that can be spewed out into the air around this mountain, should my people show up to attack her. As they plan to do. She’s already tested it, and it killed all those animals we saw in the area. It is very virulent.
I grimaced. We’re lucky we didn’t arrive during the testing phase.
Yes.
Won’t your people be able to raise their barriers and keep any poison in the air from reaching them?
We must breathe, so our barriers do not keep out air—or particles tiny enough to float in the air.
Wait, is Li your source for all this? How does she know? I can’t imagine a dragon lich would make a human a confidante.
Back when she’d first come here, she intended to steal artifacts from the dwarven tombs. She was searching primarily for a dragon blade—having learned of you and yours. Peynar’dokla happened to be here testing the device, and Li saw everything.
Why had she come searching for a dragon blade if she was the rightful owner of Chopper? Had the story of her lineage and right to the sword been a fabrication to trick me into coming with her? Until she had an opportunity to steal Chopper from me? But if that had been her plan, why had she wanted to bring me to this awful place? Especially when she’d snagged Chopper back in the woods?
There was a dwarven engineer, Zav continued, that Peynar’dokla brought with her to make the aerosol and ensure the artifact was operational, and she was speaking to him as they ran the tests. She killed him once she knew she had a working system and added him to her undead army. The thief heard and saw all of this.
The skeletons hadn’t returned, so Zav lowered us to the ground. Sindari spread his legs, claws managing to dig into the hard salt floors, and appeared relieved to be out of the air.
We will go that way. Zav pointed in the direction that creaks still whispered from and where an army of those skeletons might be waiting.
That’s better than the other way? I asked.
The thief had a partner when she came into the mountain. The partner went that way and was incinerated by traps in the walls. It is possible that I could defend us from them, but it is also possible that if Peynar’dokla made them, they would be too powerful. Zav pointed again. Besides, I must go that way. The artifact and the poison are that way.
Is the lich that way too?
Yes. He strode into the lead again.
I trotted to keep up but said, Maybe we should leave and warn your people instead.
It takes time to transport to another world through a portal, and I fear they are already on the way. If they are coming while I am going… I would miss them and be too late to warn them. I must destroy the artifact before they arrive.
Am I right that it’s heavily guarded?
It is guarded by many minions and the lich herself. She is waiting for us.
How fun.
27
Immense energy radiated from the dark tunnel somewhere up ahead. It rolled toward us in waves, buzzing my senses and making me feel like I was approaching a giant microwave oven without a door. My skin crawled, and I wanted to sprint in the opposite direction.
Were these the enemies Zav had said he sensed? Or some nefarious trap that didn’t feel the need to hide itself?
Still insisting on leading, Zav strode toward the source of the energy without slowing down. He’d produced a magical sword I’d rarely seen him use from whatever interdimensional sheath he stored the thing in. Maybe he felt he needed all the help he could get, especially if he couldn’t find enough room in these underground passages to shift into his dragon form.
When we rounded a bend and entered a straight stretch of tunnel, a lit expanse came into view ahead, a jumble of pale yellow and blue light making me wince and turn off my night-vision charm. The creaking we’d been hearing all along came from the lit area, though I couldn’t see anyone—or anything—yet. The energy that buzzed at my senses grew stronger, almost painfully so. Oddly, the source seemed to be located just up ahead, before the opening of what appeared to be a deep cavern.
I sense many, many undead creatures in the chamber up ahead, Sindari said.
We were getting close enough that I could sense them, too, though something about this mountain muted my range a lot. You wanted a fight, didn’t you?
Sindari looked gravely at me.
There is a barrier across the passage, Zav
stated.
Is that what I’m sensing? With all that power, I was expecting something more epic.
It is an epic barrier. Zav stopped to regard an invisible field blocking the tunnel. I believe I can break it, but then she will know where I am. That is most certainly the point.
Any chance you can burrow a hole in the rock and go around it? I suggested.
Zav considered the walls thoughtfully, then turned an equally thoughtful gaze on me. Perhaps I should alert her to my presence intentionally and see if I can get her to chase me out of the mountain. This would allow you to snoop around in her lair.
I adore snooping in the lairs of uber enemies who can kill me with a thought.
She will attempt to kill me with a thought. Zav’s eyes were fierce and defiant. If she can catch me. Meanwhile, you can attempt to find your sword and the artifact set to poison the air. If you can destroy that, there would be no threat to my people when they arrive, besides the lich herself.
The super powerful lich who’s stronger than any dragon.
His eyes flared violet. She is not stronger than two dozen dragons.
I’d been hoping for a hundred, but I didn’t say it. He was willing to nobly risk his life for me and his people. Not that I approved of that or planned to allow it, but I appreciated the gesture.
I patted his arm. How about we sneak in together, don’t let her know we’re here, and bash the artifact to bits while she’s looking the other way?
She will not be looking the other way unless she’s chasing me.
Zav… I frowned at him. You’re not trying to sacrifice yourself, right?
I am not. I will only do what I must to keep her occupied and ideally get her away from the mountain so that my people, when they arrive, can attack her without flying close enough to be poisoned. He rested a hand on my shoulder. But you must be careful not to unleash any poison or anything equally vile on yourself. Now that I think about it, there is no reason for you to go near the artifact if I succeed in leading her away from the mountain. Only retrieve your sword and then wait here for us to handle her.
Us? You’re so sure your people are on the way? Xilneth isn’t the most reliable guy, you know.
They knew I was coming and were preparing when I left. They will come. He lowered his hand. But I will first attempt to get around her barrier. I do not think it will be possible, but we will try your way.
Good. My way is always excellent.
Zav strode toward the barrier and stopped a few feet from it. He stepped to the side and placed his hand on the wall, magic trickling from his fingers.
I came up behind him and peered down the tunnel, hoping to get a glimpse of what awaited us in the cavern. Intense power heated my skin, and the buzzing of my nerves increased until it was painful. My heart seemed to jitter in my chest.
One of the skeletal winged creatures flew across the opening at the end of the tunnel, startling me. I started to lift my sword before I remembered we were all camouflaged. Beside me, Sindari also tensed.
It looked like our tunnel ended well above the floor of the cavern. More of those winged creatures flew into view, circling the open area ahead, and I realized their wings were what was responsible for the creaking noises.
I rose on my tiptoes, not quite able to see to the ground below, but moving skulls came into view, the heads of more undead dwarven warriors stalking about down there. Depending on the size of the cavern, there could be hundreds. Tall stone statues of dwarves wearing helmets lined the far wall, and magic emanated from all over down there, artifacts of all kinds. Maybe information on Chopper was down there. Maybe Chopper was down there. I hoped so. It would do little good to finally get information about the sword if I never was able to recover it.
With so many magical artifacts, along with all the magical beings, I had no hope of picking out the blade. The possibility that the lich had destroyed it made my stomach hurt.
And what of Li? We hadn’t heard another scream for a while. Was she still alive down there?
The aura of a living being was different from that of an undead creature or an artifact, and as I strained my senses, willing my magic to amplify my ability to pick out details, I thought I sensed someone alive somewhere along that far wall and off to one side. The barrier kept me from creeping to the end of the tunnel to look.
From my vantage point, I could just make out the top of another tunnel or maybe a dark alcove in that far wall. The power of the lich emanated from within it. Was she napping in there while waiting for her minions to find us?
Clacks came from the tunnel behind us. Sooner or later, those skeletons would walk this way on their patrol. The ceiling wasn’t as high here as it had been by the stairs. There might not be room for Zav to lift us high enough that the minions wouldn’t sense us.
For that matter, how would we get past all the minions in the cavern? If Zav left, there was no way Sindari and I would be able to deal with those guys. If we couldn’t sneak past them, we would be screwed. Unless they also chased him out of the mountain, but I doubted the lich would take her entire army and leave her precious artifact unguarded. She might not even fall for Zav’s attempt to lead her away from the mountain.
I have completed my examination of the barrier. Zav placed a hand on the wall. It extends into the rock walls on either side, but not indefinitely. I will attempt to bore a tunnel parallel to it and then around the end. This will take time.
Another creature flew across the opening into the cavern, the creaking of its wings floating on the air.
I hope you can do it quietly. As far as I’d seen, those things didn’t have ears—not anymore—but I was sure they would sense disturbances somehow.
Quietly, yes, but not without using my power, which they may sense. Be prepared. If the lich comes, I will lead her away from the mountain. You will do what you can while she is distracted.
Yup. I hefted the heavy dwarven sword. Got it.
Smoke was already wafting from under Zav’s hand, rock turning to pulverized ash as he created a hole. I’d envisioned him drilling into the rock, but it was more like he was burning it. Incinerating it, like breading on chicken strips.
I only felt the barest trickle of power from him as he did his best to hide it. Harder for him to hide was the scent of burning rock. It reminded me of the time I’d ended up battling werewolves in a foundry.
He created a tunnel just large enough for Sindari and me to crawl through—though it would be a tight and claustrophobic fit. The odor of burning rock floated into my nose, and my lungs grew tight. I backed away several steps, brushing against Sindari, and pulled out my inhaler. Since I’d told Zav about my weakness, I no longer tried to hide using it in front of him, but I still resented that I needed it.
One of the winged creatures appeared in front of our tunnel again. This time, it didn’t fly past; it landed on a narrow ledge, thrusting its head inside and staring straight at us.
I barely kept from dropping my inhaler. Zav gazed back at the creature. He’d paused and wasn’t using any magic, but it peered suspiciously into the tunnel. Trying to see us? Sense us? Could it go through its master’s barrier?
It sprang backward from its perch, like a diver doing a backflip off the board, then sped toward the alcove.
It sensed my magic. Zav poured more magic into the tunnel, not bothering to be as subtle now. I will finish the tunnel and attempt to camouflage it so they cannot see it here or where it comes out. You will use it.
The power emanating from the alcove—the lich—grew stronger. Movement stirred back in those dark shadows.
Uh, maybe you should get out of here, Zav. I pointed my thumb back the way we’d come. Sindari and I will be sneaky and try to avoid notice.
Zav kept working. I expected creatures to fly into the tunnel at him at any second, but it was the lich who stirred. She strode out of the alcove in dragon form—how had she fit through the tunnels to get down there?—and spread her wings.
Tremendous power
burst from her, and Zav whirled, pushing me down to the ground and wrapping his body and his protective barrier around both Sindari and me. Angry orange energy poured into the tunnel, tearing down the lich’s own barrier and slamming into us. Even with Zav’s barrier around me, the power clawed at my nerves and shocked my mind, making me feel like lightning bolts were striking me over and over.
I lay on my back stunned and unable to move. Zav sprawled atop me, his face straining as he struggled to keep his protective barrier up to keep her power from destroying us both.
I must change into my natural form, he told me, to have a chance against this.
I started to reply that it would be a tight fit in the tunnel, but he jumped up and ran toward the cavern. His barrier continued to fill the tunnel and protect Sindari and me, but it wouldn’t once he rushed out there.
This way, Sindari. I leaped up as Zav flung himself out of the tunnel and changed forms in the air, and I dove into the side tunnel he’d made.
Sindari roared in pain, catching the tail end of the lich’s power before it shifted away from the tunnel. Zav roared, and I knew she was targeting him as he dove for her.
Heat from the rock scorched my hands as I scrambled into the tunnel, with Sindari right behind, ducking his head in the low passage. We crawled and kept crawling. How far back had Zav had to drill to get around that damn barrier?
Finally, the tunnel turned a bend, and the yellow and blue light of the caverns came into view ahead. The orange of dragon fire flared somewhere out of sight, and through my link with Zav, I sensed pain from him.
Get out of there, Zav. Please! You can’t fight her and all of her minions alone.
He didn’t answer. I scrambled forward on hands and knees, the low ceiling bumping my head, the dwarven sword scraping on the rock. I knew I had to be quiet, but worry for Zav drove me forward as quickly as I could scramble. How I could help him, I had no idea, but I had to try.
Secrets of the Sword 2 (Death Before Dragons Book 8) Page 23