I kept the pace deliberately slow and steady as we moved down the corridor toward King Dentas’ palace. There was no sense risking being caught by another magical or mechanical trap this close to our goal. I summoned fire and ice magic to my hands and held the power ready to unleash as needed. The ice would shield us from any flying missiles while the fire would incinerate any more sleeping gas or enemies that lurked in the tunnels ahead.
The Mark of the Guardian warned me of a magical laser beam fifty yards farther, and we evaded it with ease. When the mechanical trap clicked under Rizzala’s boot, I was ready with an ice shield to deflect the missiles. Now that I was somewhat rested, my ice shield was more than thick enough to stop the flying stone darts. I really had needed a few hours of sleep to be back to full strength. Now that I had added Letharia’s acid magic to the mix, I could feel my abilities amplified and my stamina increased.
Three hundred yards farther along, the tunnel came to an abrupt end at a blank stone wall. We had found the exit, now all we needed to do was find the way out.
I scanned the wall using the Mark of the Guardian, but I found no magical locks or “laser beams” to open it for us. A quick examination of the stone revealed nothing that could be a pressure plate, and there were no keyholes. There was only one other way I could think of to get the door open.
Once again, I tapped into fire and ice and summoned the two powers to my hands. I kept the ice ready to summon a protective shield, but sent a thin stream of fire magic at the door. The moment the yellow and orange tongue of flame touched stone, red runes flared to life all along the wall. Within seconds, the entire wall had lit up and filled the corridor with a bright ruby glow. Something clunked behind the stone, then a section slid aside to reveal a doorway into darkness.
“The heart of the dragon shows the way again,” I said, and shot a wink over my shoulder at Letharia. The dark-haired woman ducked her head to hide a smile.
“Time for a power-up,” I told the four women as I pulled out the four gemstones. “We need to be ready to face anything. What powers do you want?”
Rizzala stepped up first. “Fire and ice,” she said, and tilted her head to expose the side of her neck. She closed her eyes and drew in a sharp breath as I flooded her body first with her own darkness magic, then the fire and ice powers.
“Fire and darkness,” Irenya said, then swept a hand toward her body. “Not that I want anything to conceal this marvel, but I think the ability to heal faster will be quite useful.” She thrust out her chest with a sly grin, and gave a little giggle as I nestled the gemstone between her ample breasts.
It took more effort to infuse her body with the darkness magic, even though I’d already broken through the gemstone’s initial resistance. Finally, I felt the barrier fall and the sprightly, energetic magic I’d taken from Emroth filled her body. Her eyes popped open, and she gave a little squeal of delight.
“That feels wonderful!” She turned to Rizzala with a huge grin. “It’s all tingly!” Her hands ran across her body, and I could see her skin shift color to match the red of her dress and the black of the stone behind her.
Arieste came next. “I will have them all,” she said. “I have felt the fire and darkness coursing through me, yet I believe the acid magic is what is needed most in our battle to come.”
She closed her eyes as I placed the gemstone against her forehead, and a little sigh escaped her lips as I poured first ice, then fire, then darkness into her body. I hesitated to use the acid magic, given Irenya’s reaction to it back in Whitespire. Yet if Letharia could use ice magic without pain, maybe Arieste could handle the acid magic.
Arieste stiffened as I poured the metallic, biting power into her body, yet I could feel the ice within her resist the corrupting touch of the acid. From my own experience mixing the powers, I knew the ice would act as a shield to keep the acid from interacting with the fire, and the darkness magic would repair any damage done by the degrading power.
After a long moment, the tension drained from her body and she opened her eyes. “Damn!” she breathed. “That is an unusual sensation.”
“Does it hurt?” I asked, concerned.
“Not as much as I expected,” Arieste said with a shake of her head. “It will require some getting used to, but I believe I can manage.”
I turned to Letharia. “You’re up.”
“Can I try darkness?” she asked in a meek voice. “I believe the ability to hide would serve me well in the battle to come. As we have established, I am no fighter.”
“You’re right,” Rizzala said with a nod. She towered over the dark-haired Letharia, but there was no malice or recrimination in her voice. Instead, she placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “But do not do yourself a disservice. Your acid magic is far more powerful than you realize. Cloak yourself in shadow, but be prepared to leap in when you are needed most.”
“Okay,” Letharia said. She seemed surprised by Rizzala’s compliment, but a shy smile broke through. “I-I’ll try.”
The acid magic flowed through the green gemstone I set against her right shoulder, and the ice followed it without much difficulty. When I tried to push the darkness power into her body, it seemed the acid resisted it. I had to force it to obey my will, which was easier said than done with the shifting, changing, lively magic. However, after a few seconds, it did as I commanded and flowed into her.
“I tried to give you as much as I thought was safe,” I told the four of them, “but I don’t know how long the magic will last or how much you can use at once. If it runs out in the middle of battle, I may not be able to give you a refill. We’ll need to fight smart, conserve our magical energy.”
“We each have weapons we can wield,” Rizzala said, and hefted her magical spear. “Let us face our enemies with bared steel and grim resolve, with magic as our recourse when the situation grows dire.”
“Easy for you to say,” Arieste said with a shake of her head as she gestured to the handle of the fencing sword that poked out of the top of her pack. “You know how to fight, but we don’t.”
“Ah, but the nagia don’t know that!” I replied with a little chuckle. “They see you holding those fencing blades, they will draw swords and charge you head on like a warrior. All you have to do is hold your ground until they get close, then hit them with your magic.”
“A clever ruse.” Rizzala’s teeth shone white against her coffee-colored skin. “Ethan and I will face them head-on, and it will be your job to take care of any that get through us.”
“And watch our backs,” I told them. “We don’t know how many nagia we’re going to face, so we’ve got to be ready for anything. The good news is that we’re only facing about twenty or thirty of them, according to Letharia.”
The dark-haired woman colored, but gave a hesitant nod. “I believe that is the correct number, though Curym may have lied about how many she left guarding Emerald Deep.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” I told her. “Either way, we’re going to be facing odds that we can beat any day.”
“The nagia are bad-asses, but they’ve got nothing on us!” Rizzala said, and clapped Arieste on the back.
“And, if what Letharia said is true,” I continued, “they’ll be spread out to the four towers of the palace, so we won’t have to fight more than eight at once. Even with the Mistresses, that’s not too much for us to handle.”
“That’s it, hero!” Nyvea purred in my mind. “That confidence is contagious.”
“And remember,” I told the four women, “I need to siphon off as much power as I can from the nagia. Kill them if you have to, but try and restrain them long enough for me to steal their magic. Arieste, that means you and your ice shields are going to be very handy.”
“And Letharia’s,” Arieste said with a pointed glance at the shorter, dark-haired woman beside her. “She, too, wields my ice magic.”
“But I don’t know how to use it!” Letharia protested. “You saw what happened when I tried bac
k at the quicksand.”
“So you’ll try again,” Arieste replied with a shrug. “And you will keep trying until you succeed.”
“You’ve got this,” Irenya added, and wrapped an arm around Letharia.
Rizzala placed a hand on Letharia’s shoulder. “We all have confidence in your abilities.”
Letharia colored, but the words of her companions seemed to push back the anxiety and timidity that filled her eyes. Just knowing someone believed in you instilled confidence, and I knew the women’s words would go a long way toward helping Letharia overcome her fears.
I unslung my axe from its sheath and turned toward the door. “Let’s do this,” I said, then stepped through the opening.
The tunnel beyond had the same black stone walls, floor, and ceiling as the rest of the corridor we’d traveled, but it sloped sharply upward for thirty yards. I guessed that we were ascending toward what had once been the basement level of the palace. No doubt the secret passages that ran between the concubines’ towers would have been underground, but not so deep beneath the earth that King Dentas would have to travel far out of his way to reach his women.
The passage leveled off after thirty yards, ran straight for two hundred yards, then reached an intersection that split into four identical passages set at right angles to each other.
“Any guesses of which way to go?” I asked Letharia over my shoulder.
“The tablets have no directions,” she replied in a hushed voice.
I contemplated the passages, which were identical in every way. I put myself in the mindset of King Dentas building secret tunnels to get from his chambers to the four towers, or from the palace to the temple. A possible picture of the palace’s layout popped into my head.
“If this spot is the exact center of the palace,” I said, “then the four concubines would have to travel the exact same distance from their towers to reach it.”
“What of it?” Rizzala asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“I heard the story of a king long ago that set a round table in his throne room,” I told the four women. “He made the table round so none of them would feel like they were superior to the others because they were closer to him. What if that’s the same thing here? What if this is the exact midpoint in the palace, so all four concubines have to travel the same distance to reach it, then the same distance to the temple and back.”
“So none of them would feel slighted that they were farther from King Dentas or their destination!” Letharia exclaimed. “Brilliant!”
“If that’s the case,” I continued, “it means these four passages will lead us to the four towers of the concubines and the nagia nests. At the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest corners of the palace.”
“Then I would suggest that tunnel.” Letharia pointed to the southeastern tunnel. “Mistress Queraya’s clan was always the weakest among the nagia, and her losses in the battle of Whitespire were the most substantial. She would be the easiest target.”
“I would suggest we go for the strongest first,” Rizzala said and bared her teeth in a snarl. “Fight the hardest battle while we are still fresh.”
Both options held appeal, so I turned to Arieste and Irenya with a questioning glance. “What do you think?”
“Perhaps the easier target is the better choice,” Arieste said. She held up a hand, and I could feel her tap into the darkness magic, which her skin shifting. “It might be better for us to develop our skills with our magical abilities if our enemy is easier to defeat. Less chance of a mistake turning fatal.”
“Damn, Arieste, that’s good thinking!” Irenya said. “I was going to agree with Rizzala, but now I’m throwing in with the other two.”
I glanced at Rizzala. “Maybe the easier opponent will give you more practice with your powers.”
“It was a wise suggestion,” Rizzala said, and inclined her head to Arieste. “Mistress Queraya will be the first to taste our wrath.”
“But not the last.” I hefted my axe and led our little crew down the southeastern tunnel.
The passage ran for fifty yards before ending in another stone doorway. Once again, I found no locking mechanism or keyhole, so I tapped into the fire magic and sent a thin thread of flames toward the door. A red glow filled the passage as the runes flared to life. A moment of silence gripped us, broken by a loud hissing like a watertight seal being broken. The stone door rumbled as it slid to one side, and water sloshed through the opening to surge all around us.
I tensed in expectation of a flood and prepared to summon an ice shield to block the opening, but to my surprise only a few inches of water washed over my boots and slithered along the stone tunnel behind us.
“Good to know the tunnel isn’t truly flooded,” Rizzala whispered.
“Yeah, though if the towers really were airtight, where did all this water come from?” I asked. There was no mistaking the salty tang of ocean water.
“Let’s go find out,” the fierce warrior women said. “Our enemy awaits above.”
Through the door was a set of stone stairs, which climbed to what I guessed was the lowest floor of the tower. The moment we stepped out of the stairwell, I was struck dumb by the magnificence of the tower. King Dentas really had wanted to give his concubines the best of everything, and he’d spent a fortune to do it.
The walls of the tower were made of glass, and through them I could see the dark blue-black of water too deep for sunlight to hit it. It felt like being trapped in an aquarium or a glass submarine deep beneath the surface of the ocean, and I couldn’t help feeling an instinctive fear that the glass would shatter at any moment and flood the tower with water. I had to remind myself that it had survived sinking into the ocean and hundreds of years underwater, so we were as safe as it got.
The floor of the tower was white marble, which doubtless would have shone brilliant in sunlight, but which looked pale and ghastly in the shadowy light leaking through the glass walls. The floor was wet, with sections where water had pooled. However the water had gotten into the tower, it hadn’t had a way to get out until we opened the doorway at the bottom of the stairs.
Rich furniture of stone, woven bamboo, palm, and teak was scattered around the room. The chamber had the appearance of something that had once been organized, but now belonged to occupants that cared little for the value of what they owned. Deep claw marks scored the empty bookshelves, bamboo chairs, and even the one ebony table in the center of the room. The carpet that ran along the entire eastern wall had sat in stagnant ocean water for so long that all the colors had faded, and only dull brown threads remained.
I used the Mark of the Guardian to scan the chamber, but felt nothing. The only magical presences came from a few floors above us. It was faint, but there was no mistaking the surging, rushing power of Curym’s minions. I sensed five nagia, including a larger creature that had to be Mistress Queraya.
“Four plus the Mistress,” I told my companions.
“Easy pickings,” Rizzala growled. “We hit them hard and fast.”
I nodded. “Take them down, then siphon their magic.”
A curving staircase curled along the western wall of the room, and we slipped up the marble-tiled steps as silently as we could. I kept a tight grip on my axe, but didn’t touch my magic. I didn’t know if the nagia could sense the power, but I didn’t want to risk anything alerting them. The element of surprise would be our greatest ally in this fight.
For two floors we climbed, and the ocean outside the glass walls grew brighter as we approached the surface of the water. I lifted a raised fist to slow our movement, then pointed to the ceiling and mouthed, “Above us.”
Rizzala grinned and tightened her grip on her spear. Arieste and Irenya drew their fencing swords, though they held them awkwardly. Letharia’s dagger would be next to useless against a well-armed foe like the nagia, but she wasn’t going to fight with the blade. Magic would win this fight for us.
I took the lead and climbed the last fe
w stairs to the floor where the nagia awaited, then peered over the bannister at our enemies.
Five nagia lounged among the ruined furniture and waterlogged finery of the tower. Long blue hair flowed down around their broad, strong shoulders. One of them was facing me, and I could see her beautiful female features. However, there was nothing beautiful about the rows of razor sharp teeth in her mouth, or the claws that tipped her thick fingers. Her arms were heavily-muscled and had to be easily twice as long as any normal human. Even from this distance, I could see the nagia were at least eight or nine feet tall. Add in the length of their blue-and-white-scaled, spike-tipped tail, and the serpent-like creatures would be fifteen or twenty feet long.
Then there was Mistress Queraya. She was taller, broader in the shoulder, and a deeper blue than her four clanswomen. The two curving scimitars on her back were easily six feet long, and she had two shorter blades hanging on her belt. I had no doubt she could use them to devastating effect. If this was a straight hand-to-hand fight, we’d be in serious trouble.
But thanks to the might of the dragon magic we possessed, they stood no chance.
Chapter Eleven
I leapt into the room, tapped into my magic, and hurled a massive blast of fire at the nagia nearest me. The serpent-like creature didn’t even manage to turn as the pillar of flames engulfed her. A loud screaming, hissing sound filled the air, and her huge body writhed and twisted as the fire magic roasted her alive. By the time the flow of magic trickled away, all that remained of her was a hunk of charred, twisted flesh.
“Intruders!” hissed Mistress Queraya, and thrust a claw-tipped finger at us. “Kill them!”
“You’re welcome to try,” I spat as I raced toward the next nagia. The serpent creature reached for one of its scimitars and half-drew the weapon before I reached her, but my axe put an end to her movement as it chopped through her skull, face, and down to her collarbone. I released my grip on the axe, embedded in her head, and turned toward the next threat.
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