The Crucible of the Dragon God

'Okay, fine, point taken. So what are we looking for?'

'Portable armaments, light but powerful. In this case, discharge weapons. The elves called them crackstaffs.'

'Crackstaffs?'

'You will recognise them when you see them.'

'Right, fine. Third level it is, then.' Kali moved forward then hesitated. 'Sonpear, the stairs in this place — they are negotiable?'

'This Three Towers possesses residual corporeal mass, yes. But the experience of negotiating it may be a little disorientating.'

Sonpear wasn't kidding, Kali soon discovered. The disorientation hit she and Pim as soon as they entered the structure, mainly because all of their senses persisted in telling them that they hadn't entered anywhere at all, misled by the translucency — and, in some areas, almost complete transparency — of the sorcerous manifestation. Kali couldn't describe it any other way than as weird — like walking through a hall of mirrors where the mirrors cast no reflection at all. Nevertheless, she and Pim managed to navigate their way to the central staircase and, treading warily on its insubstantial risers, made their way up to the third level.

Kali's heart thudded, though not from the climb. Laid out before her were any number of objects that she had summoned in the Three Towers' virtual forbidden archive many months ago. Though here, of course, they were real. They could be touched. Examined. Explored. And she longed to do all three. For a moment she felt that it wasn't fair that she was stuck with having to risk her life exploring all manner of lethal ruins when the League of Prestidigitation and Prestige had such a collection — perhaps years worth of adventuring! — here for the asking. But then she reminded herself of the lesson Merrit Moon had taught her long ago. Twilight simply wasn't ready for certain things, and that to unleash these objects on the world might well bring about catastrophe. Even so, who were the League to make such judgements? And could they even be trusted to be the guardians of such potentially devastating might? To be honest, she was actually a little surprised that they hadn't rolled out these big guns during the last war, because they would have been pretty much guaranteed to put Vos in its place.

'Here,' Pim said, interrupting her train of thought. 'These look pretty staff-like to me.'

Kali moved to where Pim stood examining four racks of what appeared, at first glance, to be simple lengths of metal. But closer inspection revealed them to be inscribed with complex runics and tiny studs that had to be part of a magetech device. The metal tubes seemed to be of different ages and all had been preserved in varying states of wear and tear. This suggested to Kali that they had been collected from various locations, rather than a single source. Perhaps some of them — the more dented and bashed ones — even from some long ago won or lost battlefield. But if they had been used in battle, she wondered who the combatants might have been, because from the look of them they came from the third age of dwarven and elven development, when the two races should have been at peace. She sighed at the fact that it was just one more puzzle to ponder over.

What mattered now was that they worked and, to that end, Kali hefted one of the tubes from a rack and was surprised to find herself thrown of balance because the object was so light. It was strange because the staff felt heavy — cold, hard, unyielding — and yet it was perfectly balanced and weighed so little that she could spin it in the palm of her hand. One possible reason for that, she discovered, was that it was hollow. Thinking that Sonpear had sold them a dud, she first shook it and then peered down its length, moving it around until she had Pim framed in a small circle. It took the thieves guild leader a second to spot what she was doing but, when he did, he waved and frowned.

'Do you mind?' he said, stepping out of the way. 'That thing could go off.'

'Don't see how. Unless there's a rack of blowdarts around here somewhere.'

'Even so…'

'But,' Kali mused to herself, 'I suppose it has to be called a crackstaff for a reason.'

It was, as Kali discovered that very second.

What exactly she had touched on the length of metal she had no idea but, whatever it was, it appeared to have been the 'on' switch. Kali suddenly found herself blown backwards as a bolt of blue energy fired from the crackstaff with a recoil like a kick from a giant mool. Winded and dazed, Kali slid to the floor and watched the powerful bolt of energy that had been discharged still fizzling away around the edges of a jagged hole in the far wall. Instead of a pained expression crossing her face Kali began, slowly, to grin.

'Wuhh-ow.'

'Hells,' Jengo Pim said softly, echoing the sentiment. 'How the hells did it — ?'

Kali flipped herself up onto her feet.

'No idea,' she said, moving over to the racks and sweeping up as many of the crackstaffs as she could carry, before thrusting them at Pim. 'Maybe these tubes channel magical threads or maybe they somehow concentrate them but one thing's for sure — they work. Pim, we've got something with which we can even up the fight a little bit.'

'I'm not so sure we have — yet.' Pim said slowly.

'What are you talking about? Pim, we don't have much time so grab some more if you can!'

'Miss Hooper, I think we have company.'

'What?' Kali said.

For the first time she noticed the thieves guild leader was staring past her, back towards the stairway they had used to get here, and followed his gaze. Several things were climbing — no, sweeping — up the stairs towards them. Spectral, ghostly shapes that Kali couldn't quite pin down enough to identify but knew immediately she didn't like.

'Oh, fark. I guess there is no such thing as a free lunch.'

'I warned you this might prove hazardous,' Poul Sonpear's voice commented. 'I am afraid your careless use of the crackstaff has disturbed them.'

'Them? Them, who? All right, Sonpear, so these are your hazards but what in all the hells are those things?'

'We call them residuals. They have become attracted to your vital energy.'

'I'm flattered.' The figures had reached the top of the stairs now and she could see them in a little more detail. 'Wait a minute. Are they what I think they are?'

'They were what you think they are.'

'How can that be?'

'It is believed that when Domdruggle created his expanse there were sacrifices that had to be made. An area effect at the point of conjuration that ended the lives of Domdruggle and they who assisted with the ritual, condemning them to a half-life here in the Expanse. They volunteered for it, Miss Hooper, elves and dwarves, but now I doubt that they even remember who or what they were. They know only what it felt like to be and hunger for that feeling, still.'

'Hunger. Okay, I'm not sure I like the sound of that. So, they're attracted to us why exactly?'

'To extract the life force from your bodies. Make your souls part of the Expanse.'

'Gotcha. Sonpear, why didn't you tell me about these things before?'

'There was a chance you would not encounter them, and so I did not wish to worry you.'

'Next time, Sonpear. Give me all the facts.' Kali grabbed another crackstaff from the rack, then shoved the thieves guild leader. 'Out of the way, Pim.'

Bracing herself this time, she aimed and pressed the same stud she thought she had previously used, gratified to find she'd made the right choice.

A crackling lance of blue energy shot impacted in the centre of the approaching residuals. But instead of blowing them apart, as she had hoped, the lance passed through them harmlessly, doing no more damage than a hand might wafting at some fog. It did something, though, because the spectral figures suddenly quickened their approach, coming right at her with a renewed determination.

'Shit.'

Suddenly they were close enough for Kali to see them in full detail. She could make out wasted bodies and haunted faces with gaping mouths and what she thought might be weapons. With flowing beards or streak-like, angular heads, they looked as if someone had drawn them on the landscape and then had a hasty rethink, half