shy;sored his legs feverishly.
Tarscenian felt Snoop's hand bump against his foot and draw back. The thief followed him closely, then. At least Tarscenian hoped it was Snoop.
Soon his lungs burned, and Tarscenian lost track of direction. Were they traveling horizontally or upward? Did it matter? He kicked weakly now, at times resting his legs and using his arms to pull himself along. A voice shrieked in his mind: Need air need air need air. He tried to focus on the Diamond Dragon, on his hatred of Hederick. On Ancilla. This would be worth it if somehow she could be saved.
Then his hands broke water. He came to rest on an incline, his cheek cradled in soft mud-above the surface. Tarscenian allowed himself to fill his lungs again and again; it didn't matter that the air was fetid, the mud foul in his nostrils, the light dim. It was air. Somewhere, water dripped. That and his gasping were the only sounds.
Then frantic scrabbling at his feet reminded him of Snoop's presence. Tarscenian pulled himself farther out of the muck and heard the thief emerge behind him. Snoop coughed, retched, and swore.
'By all that's holy … old man.. I've been in some spots before… but this…' Tarscenian heard more retch shy;ing, then still more cursing. 'Where do we … go from here?'
'Be quiet,' Tarscenian ordered. 'Let me think.' They needed to let their eyes adjust. He stood guardedly and unfastened the lance from his waist. Warily, he used the koalinth's weapon to probe the space around him.
'Ouch! By whatever gods there are, man, watch out!'
Tarscenian grunted an apology. They seemed to be in a second tunnel, this one much larger than the first-tall enough for Tarscenian to stand in. He was ankle-deep in muck.
His lance poked something soft but solid. He pulled it free and felt again, a bit to the right, with the same result. Then to the left. His lance met a similar obstruction. It was too soft for stone or wood, too hard for mud.
Tarscenian felt in the pocket that carried his steel and flint. 'I don't suppose you have a supply of dry tinder on you, do you, spy?' he whispered.
'Certainly,' Snoop snapped. 'In the same pocket with my emerald collection.'
It would have to be magic, then, although Tarscenian had barely any strength left. Each spell had drained him, and he'd had precious little time to rest, these last few days. 'Shirak,' he whispered, and molded his hands around the point of the lance. The tip glowed like a torch. Tarscenian gazed around him, half-expecting what now met his eyes. Snoop, unwarned, inhaled suddenly and drew his dirk.
There were four of them-four bodies, facedown-and when Tarscenian lifted the lance-light, he could make out other, similar mounds farther up the tunnel. He lowered the light again. Pale blue slime coated the four corpses from head to foot.
Tarscenian used a booted toe gently to turn over one of the four. Snoop gagged.
'The man from this afternoon,' Tarscenian said quietly. 'He dared to question Hederick. The guards hauled him away.'
He remembered that Snoop had not been at the sen shy;tencing of the black-robed mage. Tarscenian overturned another corpse. This belonged to a middle-aged woman; a kerchief was still in place on her head. 'One of the women the guards arrested. Also this afternoon.' His stare went to the other bodies. Two more kerchiefs. 'Her friends.'
Snoop looked like a wild-eyed ferret, partly terrified and wholly nauseated. Tarscenian, on the other hand, merely felt tired and old.
'I suppose the materbill was sated, so they put the bod shy;ies in here,' he said. 'Eventually the remains will wash out into the lake.'
Snoop burst out, 'But what happened to them? What's that coating? There are no wounds, nothing but this blue …' He stooped and reached toward one of the still forms.
Tarscenian shouted a warning, but too late. Snoop touched the blue substance with his forefinger and, screaming, jumped up. Tarscenian grabbed the thief's hand and used the light of the lance to burn away the ooze. The man's finger turned blistered and red.
'What is the stuff?' Snoop cried.
'It's digesting the bodies,' Tarscenian replied tensely. 'Now be still.'
Snoop controlled himself with an effort. 'Why?' he finally whispered. 'Who will hear us in here?'
'Whatever spread this stuff.'
Horror increased tenfold on Snoop's face.
'I don't know what the monster is called. The man who told me about it years ago referred to it as a slime creature.'
'Where is it?'
'Somewhere in this tunnel, I'd guess. If it had been in the first tunnel, we'd be dead by now. The creatures spread their ooze on living or dead things, then retire to a cave to wait until the ooze does its job and the prey is soft enough to absorb.'
'Did that man tell you how to fight such a creature?' Tarscenian grimaced. There was something he half- remembered, but he couldn't quite put the words together. It had been a long time ago.
Snoop gasped in the foul air. 'I can handle human ene shy;mies, maybe even a hobgoblin or two. But this … I don't know if I can stand this, Tarscenian.'
'You made your decision when you entered the tun shy;nel.'
'But I ….'
'Be quiet,' Tarscenian repeated. 'Listen.' Water splashed somewhere, and a sound, as of some shy;thing slithering through the tunnel, came to them. 'Maybe you should turn out that light,' Snoop whispered. 'The creature can see in the dark. Can you?' Not waiting for an answer, Tarscenian stepped over the slimy bodies and moved toward the sound. He thrust his lance-light before him.
Ten feet in front of them, a waist-high mound of pale blue ooze glistened.
Snoop halted, dumbfounded, then sneered. 'That unimpressive thing?' he asked. 'That's it? I can probably take care of that beast all by myself, old man.' He raised his arm. In an instant the spy's dirk was hurtling through the air toward the creature. Tarscenian's shout came too late.
The weapon sliced through the slime monster's cover shy;ing of ooze, then bounced off the creature's hide and landed back in the water at their feet. Snoop slowly bent to pick it up, then halted. He used his foot to nudge the weapon out of the water. The doused weapon was clean and free of ooze.
Tarscenian frowned. Something still tickled at his mem shy;ory.
The monster slithered forward, slow and sluglike, as though it had all the time in the world. 'How do we stop it?' Snoop whispered, less cocksure now. He took a step backward.
'Stay back. It catches live victims by interfering with their thoughts. At this distance, you may be safe. If it gets closer, that won't be so. It will offer you what you most desire. Ultimately you will actually urge it to devour you.'
Snoop shook his head. 'That thing? Not a chance.'
'It has overcome stronger men than us.'
The thief doggedly shook his head. 'It has to have a weak spot, Tarscenian-someplace where my dirk is wel shy;come.' Snoop moved forward. Tarscenian tried to grab him, but the thief shook him off and continued. 'It's mov shy;ing this way,' Snoop said. 'There must be eyes or some shy;thing where there's no hide to pro…'
Snoop's voice trailed off into silence. He stared at the creature, an arm's length away. A whisper hissed through the tunnel.
'I will give you great wealth. I will give you great power. All the world will thrill to your existence. The world will worship at your feet. You will be rich beyond anything you have dreamed.'
A whimper escaped Snoop. Tarscenian searched through his pockets for something to block his own ears, but he'd lost everything in the lake. His hands would have to do. Covering his ears, he stepped to Snoop's side. He had to remove Snoop from the creature's deadly influence.
'All of Solace will work to indulge your every wish. You will want for nothing. You will enjoy power and wealth that kings would gladly die for.'
Tarscenian placed a hand on Snoop's shoulder. Snoop gave a small scream and jumped toward the creature. The slime monster turned slightly and now addressed Tarscen shy;ian.
'I will help you attain what you seek, also. Your lady will live again, and Hederick will die. Together, you and
