'No!' the tharchion hissed.
The centaur eyed the tharchion, annoyed by his manners. 'Maligor moved a large force north recently. Have you seen it? Have you heard rumors of it?'
'Maligor's force might not have been human,' the druid added.
'I've seen nothing unusual,' the tharchion replied, appearing more calm. 'The slaves and guards would have reported anything out of the ordinary.' The tharchion squinted his eyes, then they flew open, as if he had just thought of something.
'But I have heard rumors about trouble to the south. Something about an army of Maligor's gnolls. If your master, Szass Tam, is having difficulties with Maligor, you should investigate to the south. Now leave! Get those stinking undead out of here!'
'We're sorry to have inconvenienced you, tharchion. Our apologies.' Wynter turned, being careful not to lose his footing, and headed down the mountain. The undead did not move until Galvin started after him.
Brenna grasped the druid's arm as he passed by. 'He's lying,' she whispered. 'Trust me. He's lying about something-about Maligor's forces, about not seeing anything, perhaps. I think he knows a lot more than he's telling you.'
'What are you saying?' the tharchion bellowed, striding toward the enchantress.
'I was telling my friend you should be concerned about Maligor,' Brenna replied, meeting the squat man's gaze.
'The mines might be his target. He could be after them!'
'I told you to leave-you, your stinking undead, all of you. You're breaking Thayvian law by disrupting the operation of the mines. I could have you eviscerated-or worse!' the tharchion bellowed. 'I know nothing of Maligor's plans, so crawl back to Szass Tam.'
'Liar!' Brenna cried, watching for a reaction. 'I bet you're in league with Maligor. I bet you know where he is.'
'I'll see you dead!' the tharchion hissed. 'The Council of Zulkirs will be told about this-in full.' He waved one thick arm, and the quartet of miners rushed forward, raising their picks above their heads threateningly.
Brenna stepped behind Galvin, her fingers twirling. Feigning fear, she began to mumble softly so the tharchion couldn't tell she was casting a spell.
The tharchion's eyes narrowed to slits so thin they appeared to be closed. He moved until he could see the sorceress, then began to twitch his fingers and mouth his own arcane words.
Wynter had whirled around when he heard the confrontation and headed back to the plateau. The skeletons and zombies shuffled behind him, struggling to keep their balance on the steep incline.
'Kill them!' the tharchion screamed as he continued to manipulate his fingers. The quartet of miners moved forward, and Wynter reared back and charged the closest one. Galvin leapt at another one, willing his body to change as he dove at the tallest miner. The druid's body sprouted short yellow-orange fur that flowed like water over his arms, legs, and clothing. His chest thickened, his legs became feline and muscular, and his facial features melted away to reveal the snarling visage of a jaguar. The big cat extended its claws as it closed the distance to its quarry.
At the same time, the undead began to swarm forward on the plateau, their bony feet clicking over the rocks.
Brenna completed her spell, a force that dispelled magic and that would eliminate the sorcerous hold she believed Maligor held over the tharchion. The force, which only Brenna could see, shot from her fingers in ribbons, avoiding the skeletons and wrapping about her target.
But Brenna's magic enchantment wasn't what she had expected. As the spell took effect, the tharchion grew taller and more slender, his form continuing to change as the bands of magic writhed about him. The magic Brenna had dispersed was not Maligor's but Asp's own ability, which enabled the naga to look like the tharchion. The spirit naga's tail undulated as it grew to its full length, and her human torso sprouted from the stocky man's dissolving chest. Finally, fully formed, Asp threw back her head and cried, 'You'll die!'
Asp's appearance startled Wynter, giving one of the miners an opening. Sinking his pick into the back of the centaur's leg, the miner continued his assault, trying to throw Wynter off balance. The centaur groaned and fought to keep his balance. Then he swung his fist into the miner's face. The man rolled down the side of the mountain and into the waiting arms of the juju zombies.
While Galvin in his jaguar form slashed at a miner, Brenna rushed the spirit naga, hurling herself on the creature and attempting to pin the snake-woman's arms. Too late, the enchantress realized her mistake, as the naga's tail whipped about her legs and restrained her. A dozen skeletons ringed the two women, thrusting forward with their bony arms in an attempt to grab the spirit naga.
Meanwhile, the centaur pulled the pick from his right leg and swung it wildly at another miner, who stood rooted in fear at the sight of the approaching skeletons. Embedding the point of the pick solidly in the man's neck, the centaur followed through by rearing on his hind legs and pounding his front hooves against the man's chest. The miner went down in agony as a wave of skeletons stormed by him toward the remaining miner.
The miner ran, but in his panic, his feet tripped him up, and he was quickly lost from sight amid a sea of bones.
The great cat finished with its victim and tried to leap to Brenna's side. The enchantress was thrashing about on the plateau with the naga. The thick ring of skeletons and zombies that were forming about them kept Galvin from getting through. The druid growled, but still the undead did not open a path.
'Foolish creature,' said a wraith that had floated over the edge of the plateau and was hovering above him. 'We smell sweet, sweet death.'
'Get back!' Wynter barked, brushing by the wraith and pushing several skeletons aside so he and Galvin could get closer to Brenna. The druid snarled for emphasis and darted between a pair of bony legs to get inside the circle.
Asp was attempting to strangle Brenna. At the same time, she flailed her tail back and forth like a whip to keep her enemies at bay. But Galvin was desperate, and he sprang forward, pouncing on the naga's tail and sinking his sharp cat's teeth into her scales. The naga screamed in pain and released her grip on Brenna's throat. The enchantress rolled free, leaving the naga open to attack from Galvin and the onrushing skeletons.
'I'll see you in hell!' the naga cried as the druid, in his great cat form, closed in. Then Asp screamed a single word, and the mountain rumbled in response.
The mine shaft yawned as a large boulder on each side of it trembled and seemed to pull away from the mountainside. The plateau shook, and the twin rocks vibrated and began to crack. The cracks spread quickly and uniformly as stony arms extended from the sides of the boulders and squat legs pushed outward from the bases of the great stones. The face of the boulders cracked still more, chips of rocks flying away from them, leaving behind the chiseled visages of two huge bald-headed men. The rocks' eyes stared at the undead.
'Trespassers!' the one on the south side of the shaft boomed as its lips cracked open. Its deep voice reverberated loudly over the plateau, bringing a shower of small pebbles down from the mountain that stretched above the mine.
'Tres-pass-ers die!' the other grumbled in rough, slow tones so thunderous the entire mountain seemed to shake. A stumpy rock arm gestured threateningly. The mountain groaned, and fist-size rocks began to roll toward the heroes and their undead charges.
The boulder gestured again, and more rocks shook loose, all rolling down the mountainside and bypassing the mouth of the mine, all under the direction of the rock creatures. The rocks cascading down now were larger, the size of full-grown melons. They picked up speed and crashed into a wave of skeletons, splintering their bones and bowling them over the side of the plateau.
Wynter summoned his strength and galloped at full speed toward the rockslide, angling his body toward the mine entrance, which the rocks somehow avoided. Stones pummeled his body, but he pressed forward, his hooves pounding over the plateau.
Meanwhile, the druid dodged the rockslide agilely, his cat reflexes signaling him when to leap out of the way, but when the slide increased in intensity, he leapt into the air and willed another transformation. The great cat seemed to fold in upon itself, its fur turning to feathers, its front legs to wings and its rear claws to talons. The hawk let out a cry and rose upward, above the mass of tumbling rocks.
At the same time, Brenna and Asp were about to be pushed over the edge of the plateau by the rocks and
