“Stay out of it,” Nardus growled.
He closed his eyes and called upon his mezhik, something he never thought he’d do. His entire body shuddered and tingled. “Sarai,” he whispered.
But then it happened. Long, sharp fingernails pierced his temples and dug deep into his mind. He fought to keep control even as his memories of Cyrus faded from his mind once again. Perfect darkness pulled him into the depths as the tingle of mezhik faded.
† † †
Nardus sat up straight and exhaled water from his lungs. He spat and coughed up more water for several minutes before his chest and throat ceased to convulse. His eyes burned with fire, and he couldn’t see anything but a bluish blur. When he rubbed them, they burned even more.
“Hello?” His voice echoed back.
“I’m still here,” said Theyn in his mind.
Nardus reached out but his hand only found water. “What happened? Where am I?”
A booming voice filled the cavern. “You’ve been resting in my waters.”
Memories slowly trickled back into Nardus’s mind.
Tharos. The Valley of Dragons. Peorvem.
Nardus blinked several times as the cavern with the blue lake came back into focus. He sat in the water, several feet from the shoreline. Peorvem stood in the water before him and Theyn watched from the water’s edge.
“You’ve cast the spell then?”
Peorvem gazed beyond Nardus. His face conveyed traces of concern, or at least that’s what Nardus thought he saw. To be truthful, he had no idea how to read a dragon’s emotions.
“Do you remember meeting Cyrus?”
Nardus closed his eyes and searched his memories but came up blank. “No. Was he here?”
Peorvem sighed. “This is what I warned you about, son of Ƨäʈūr. You weren’t ready. You may wish to thank Ƨäʈūr that you hadn’t already left.”
Nardus pulled himself to his feet. His head throbbed and his legs wobbled beneath him. He turned toward Theyn. “What is he talking about? I wasn’t ready for what?”
“To leave,” she said in his mind.
“Leave? Why would I have wanted to leave when we arrived here just a few hours ago?”
“No, Nardus. We’ve been here five days.”
Nardus stumbled forward but caught himself before he face-planted in the shallow water. Had they really been there five days already?
“What have I missed?”
Theyn hung her head. “Everything.”
Nardus rubbed the back of his head as he walked toward the shore. “Now what?”
Peorvem followed him out of the water. “We start again, and this time you will not try to leave until I say you’re ready.”
“And what if I don’t remember our conversation and I don’t listen again?”
“Trust me,” said Peorvem. “You won’t have a choice. Now, sit down and don’t move.”
Nardus sat down on the hard rock floor and swallowed hard as the tingle of mezhik crept up from the ground and into his bones. The blue lights of the cavern shifted in his vision and began to blur.
“I don’t remember feeling like this before. What’s happening? Is something wrong?”
Theyn’s voice entered his mind. “Relax, my love. I’m sure Peorvem knows what he’s doing.”
Darkness cradled Nardus as the mezhik continued to flow into him. Memories of himself began disintegrating into dust. Every last detail crushed and swept away until he no longer remembered his own name.
He struggled to hang on to something tangible but only the darkness remained. Fear drove the two questions that lingered in his mind.
Who am I? What if I don’t return?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Ruins of Nasda rose in the distance, little more than broken columns and mounds of rubble. The once mighty city reached up with despair even as it succumbed to the unforgiving sands of the Profugus Desert. Rayah understood its plight all too well. Every passing moment drew her and Urza closer to death.
Will we succeed or succumb to the sands as well?
She definitely hoped for the former. She still had a life worth living.
To everyone’s surprise, her, Rakzar, Urza, and Normak arrived at the Ruins of Nasda without incident. It’d been the most boring four-day journey she’d endured in quite some time, and she thanked Ƨäʈūr for it. However, seeing what lay in front of them sobered her mood.
Normak looked around, his hand held over his eyes to block the sun. “Where do we start lookin’?”
Rakzar and Urza turned and looked at Rayah.
She frowned. “What?”
“Figured this was kinda your thing,” said Urza. “Dirt and all that.”
“Find the entrance Torbrek spoke of,” said Rakzar.
She had to admit that their logic made sense, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. The task of digging down into unfamiliar sand, especially in the middle of a desert, would be dangerous. No telling what kinds of creatures or traps she might dig up or come across.
She took a long drink of water from her waterskin and then pulled the strap over her head. She shoved it and her pack of supplies at Rakzar. “Don’t lose these.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Rakzar took them and tossed them over his shoulder.
Rayah gathered herself, took a deep breath, and sank into the hot, desert sand. About a foot down, the sand cooled to a reasonable temperature. She didn’t really understand how her gift worked, but she could see through dirt and sand as though it wasn’t there at all. Not only that, but her wings worked without hindrance as well.
She beat her wings as she sank deeper and drilled into the deep sand. About eight feet underneath the surface, she began to encounter structures long buried. Surprisingly, more of the city remained intact than she would’ve expected, given the surface view.
Torbrek was adamant about the details of where they’d find the dungeon entrance, but she couldn’t see indefinitely through the sand. She only had a radius of about ten feet to work with, so finding a specific building and doorway would take some time.
As she searched the twenty-square-mile area of the ruins, she encountered nothing that remained alive. It concerned her. So much so that she began seeing things watching her and following her through the ruins.
Rayah began to surface, but then something long and skinny caught her eye. She turned, and it moved. Slithered. Away from her. She flew straight toward it and pushed herself hard to catch it, but the thing was fast. She reached out to snatch its tail, but by then it was too late.
She careened straight into a solid surface. The force crumpled her and knocked the air from her lungs. Her head pulsed with pain.
How stupid can you be, Rayah?
She pulled back and looked at what she’d slammed into. A set of large stone doors. Her pulse raced when she noticed the crescent moon symbol etched into each door.
These must be the doors!
But what had led her to them? And where had it gone? Underneath each crescent moon were several two-inch, round holes. All but one of them bottomed out.
That thing must’ve gone through the hole.
She turned to surface but couldn’t seem to get traction. She looked back over her shoulder and panicked. Somehow, the two doors had swung inward and started swallowing the entire desert. No matter how hard she beat her wings she couldn’t make headway. Eventually, she gave up and let the tide pull her down into the darkness.
† † †
Rakzar pointed to the east. “Something’s happening over there.”
Normak shot across the desert, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Several moments later, he returned. “I think Rayah might’ve found those doors we be lookin’ for, but I didn’ see ‘er anywhere.”
Damn.
Normak sped away again. Rakzar and Urza dropped on all fours and loped across the sand. Normak awaited them just beyond the edge of a massive sinkhole. A dark, squ
are hole sat at the bottom of the sinkhole. From their vantage, Rakzar couldn’t tell what had created the hole, but he knew nature didn’t create things perfectly square. He also didn’t know if Rayah had fallen in or if she was someplace else. Unfortunately, only one way existed for him to find out.
“I’m going to investigate,” said Rakzar.
“We all will,” Urza replied.
“No,” growled Rakzar. “We don’t know where it goes or if Rayah’s even down there. Wait here.”
“Fine, but be careful,” said Urza.
“What she said,” said Normak.
Rakzar made it halfway down the steep slope before the sand shifted and started funneling into the hole. He dug his claws into the sand to brace himself, but it didn’t stop his momentum. The pull of the sand reminded him of the ocean current and drove fear into his heart. No recourse existed, so he went with the flow and prayed that he’d be able to grab onto the edge of the opening when he reached it.
The sifting sand made little noise, far less than would’ve been required to cover Urza’s yelp. He didn’t look up the slope and couldn’t have if he’d wanted to. Urza would suffer the same fate as him.
The edge came faster than he’d hoped. His claws scraped and vibrated against the stone opening as he slid across its surface but found nothing to anchor him. His stomach rose into his throat as he slid into the pit of darkness.
Rakzar fell. And fell. And fell.
Is there no bottom to this pit?
The answer jarred his legs, contorted his back, and pushed the air from his lungs. A mountain of sand broke his fall. He tumbled at least a dozen times before coming to a rest face-down in the sand.
Rakzar rolled onto his back and spat sand from his mouth. Two loud grunts, one right after the other, sounded. Urza and Normak must’ve found the bottom of the pit as well.
A dim shaft of light hung impossibly high over his head, about an inch square from where he lay.
Even if we find the damned crystal how will we get back out of here?
The shroud of darkness slowly lifted as Rakzar’s eyes began to adjust to the dark space. Normak and Urza lay in the sand twenty paces away, both of them on their backs.
Rakzar trotted over to them. “Either of you seen the dryte?”
Normak rubbed his eyes. “Nah. Lucky ta see anythin’ with all the sand in me eyes.”
“What’s wrong with using Rayah’s name?” asked Urza. “You use it and she becomes your responsibility? Is that it?”
“Shut up, beast,” growled Rakzar.
Normak chuckled.
“You too, dwarf. Keep it up, and none of you will have names by the end of this journey.”
“Living up to your name, bad thing?”
Rakzar nearly jumped out of his leather armor as he spun around. “Moves like that’ll get you killed, dryte.”
Rayah giggled and spun around in the air. “Never thought the day would come, but I finally got the jump on you!” Urza raised her hand and Rayah high-fived it. “I was sure he’d spot me or smell me long before I reached you all. He’s not on his game today. Seems like that’s been true for a while now.”
“He’s grown soft,” said Urza. “Just look at that belly poking out underneath his breastplate.”
“Don’t you wish.” Rakzar casually poked his stomach. He knew it wasn’t really what Urza meant, but his stomach did have a little more give to it than he remembered.
Normak stood and looked around. “Where to?”
“It’s great that the three of you can see in the dark, but I can’t,” said Rayah. “Did any of you happen to bring a torch?”
“I knew I shouldn’t have let you come along,” growled Rakzar. “You’ll only slow us down.”
“Oh really?” Rayah floated off the ground and matched Rakzar’s height. She poked him in the chest with her finger. “You never would’ve found this place without my help.”
“You think locating a sinkhole was difficult?”
“I found the doors Torbrek described and opened them!”
Rakzar scoffed, “By accident, I’m sure.”
Rayah crossed her arms. “Ugh!”
Normak pointed at Rayah. “What’s that thing on yer shoulder?”
Rayah reached up and stroked the creature’s furry head. “I’ve decided to call him Boris. He’s a sand rat. I chased him through the sand, and he led me straight—”
“To the doors.” Rakzar snarled, “I knew it.”
“So what?” said Urza. “We’re here now. Let’s find the crystal.”
“Do you still have Eshtak’s bag?” asked Rayah.
“Yeah.” Rakzar reached behind his breastplate and pulled out a limp brown bag with drawstrings. He handed it to Rayah.
Rayah set the bag on the ground and spread its opening wide. A soft glow emanated from the bag. “I’ll be right back.” She dove into the bag.
Normak knelt next to the bag. “Now there be somethin’ I ne’er seen before.”
“Thought you dwarves had seen it all,” said Rakzar.
Normak jumped back as Rayah zoomed out of the open bag with a lit torch in each hand. She handed one of them to Normak. “Now we can go find the crystal.”
Rakzar scooped up the bag and stuffed it back behind his breastplate. “Now what?”
“Oh, wait. Do you still have my things?” asked Rayah.
“Yes.” Rakzar handed her pack and waterskin to her. “We finally good to go?”
“I think we should split up,” said Urza. “We could cover more ground that way.”
“Or I could see what be ‘round real quick,” said Normak.
“Do it,” said Rakzar.
Normak nodded and then shot across the sand, a streaking star with the torch he carried. Surprisingly, the torch stayed lit as he circled the entire area. A wave of sand engulfed Rakzar and Urza when he slid to a halt. Rayah had been smart enough to take to the air.
Rakzar spat sand from his mouth for the second time in fifteen minutes. “Do that again, and I’ll leave you down here to rot.”
“Sorry.” Normak scratched the back of his neck. “Sometimes me feet move faster than me thinks. Plus it ain’t no problem at ‘ome in the rocky mountains. Very little dirt there.”
“So, what did you see?” asked Urza.
“If legends be true, I know where we be.” His voice lowered. “They called this place Äränä Bəllʊd.”
“And that means what?” asked Rayah.
“Blood Arena.” Normak looked around suspiciously. “Dangerous battles fought to the death here.”
“Between men for sport?” asked Urza.
“Aye. More than that though. Battles between man and beast. Horrific creatures. Nightmares, they be.”
“So how do we proceed?” asked Rakzar. “Did you find an exit?”
“Many large metal doors surround the arena. None be open.”
“Then we’re trapped…” said Urza.
Rayah looked around. “I can fly out of here and find another path. Just tell me which way to go.”
“Nay. There be nets all around the arena. Impenetrable. Woven with mezhik they be.”
Rakzar smacked his fist against his palm. “There must be some way out of here.” He took a few steps and the ground depressed several inches. He pulled his foot back and something clicked. “That can’t be good.”
The ground quaked violently, and the sound of chains pulling through gears filled the arena. Urza and Rakzar dropped on all fours, Rayah rose in the air, and Normak spread his legs wide.
Rakzar pointed at the mountain of sand they’d landed on. “Is it just me, or is that mountain shrinking?”
“It be shrinkin’,” Normak confirmed.
A minute later, the mountain of sand no longer existed and the quaking stopped.
Whoosh!
A ring of fire lit the upper edge of the arena, and then the fire climbed the arena net all the way to the ceil
ing a thousand feet above, bringing light to the entire room.
“That be helpful,” said Normak.
Scrape!
Thunk-thunk-thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk!
“Sounds like a chain being pulled through gears,” said Urza.
“Yeah, but for what?” asked Rayah.
The four of them huddled together, back-to-back and weapons drawn.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four of the steel doors dropped down into the arena floor, one in each direction. Snarls, howls, and growls filled the arena.
“Gods,” said Normak. “If ya be seein’ what me be seein’, we be in trouble.”
† † †
Rayah dropped her torch.
She didn’t doubt what her eyes saw, but her brain still couldn’t process it. Three beasts stalked toward her on all fours, each three or four feet tall and a good foot-and-a-half wide. Their shapes reminded her of dire wolves, but that’s where the similarities stopped. She’d never seen anything quite like them.
Empty eye sockets stared her down. Nothing but black holes on the sides of skinless skulls. Greyish-white bones. No flesh. No tendons. No muscles. No organs.
Nothing but teeth, claws, and bones. Ƨäʈūr, save us!
“Reaper wolves!” shouted Normak. The name fit, but she’d never heard of them. “Filthy buggers.”
Normak stood to Rayah’s left and faced ninety degrees away from her. She assumed he had several of the beasts closing in on him as well but couldn’t and wouldn’t take her eyes off the ones headed straight for her.
Rakzar stood with his back to Rayah. “How do you kill them?”
“Can dead things be killed?” questioned Urza.
“Good question,” said Normak. “All me knows is don’ let ‘em bite ya. Ya do and say goodbye to yer skin! Falls right off.”
“Can’t fight them this close together,” said Urza. “We need to spread out.”
“Agreed,” said Rakzar. “If anyone figures out how to stop or kill these damned things, tell the rest of us.”
The way the reaper wolves moved fascinated Rayah, but she didn’t have time to appreciate or think about it. She drew her knives with a quick motion of her hands and zoomed into the air. With her mind and her hands, she directed her knives to slash and stab the reaper wolves, but the knives didn’t seem to cause any damage. Then again, what had she expected?
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