surf ebbed. Time and water had eroded the details, but Nix could make out sunken eyes, the nub of a nose, the outline of a mouth formed into an inscrutable smile, and, most importantly of all, the stylized serpent headdress of an Afirion wizard-king.
'Well, well,' Nix said. He turned a circle, studied the terrain. He thought about Rakon's map, the fact that the Bleak Sea had once been much smaller. 'Has to be the cliff face. This was probably a valley once. What say you?'
'I was thinking the same.'
Nix nodded toward Rakon and Baras. 'You show them yet?'
Egil shook his head and put his palm on his stomach, as if the spellworm had squirmed. 'I haven't. Wanted to get your thoughts first.'
'And you wanted Rakon to suffer.'
'There was that,' Egil said. He put his palm on his stomach. 'Though withholding it seems to agitate the damned spellworm.'
'Let's get on with it,' Nix said. 'The sooner we get this horn, the sooner we're free of the compulsion. I want some space between us and this sorcerer and his sisters.'
'We could always kill him instead,' Egil said, and groaned as the spellworm did its work.
'You really need to tame your thoughts,' Nix said with a grin. He turned to Rakon and Baras. 'Over here!'
'Did you find something?' Rakon called, his voice eager, hopeful. 'What did you find? Speak, man.'
Nix let him dangle until they reached him. When the surf receded, he showed them the Afirion face staring up at the sky. Rakon's intake of breath was sharp enough to cut meat.
'It's here,' he said.
'In the cliff face, probably,' Nix said. 'We're going to need rope. We'll hitch it to the horses.'
Baras sidled up to the edge of the cliff, leaned over to try to see the cliff face.
'Mind yourself,' Egil warned. 'You go over the edge, we'll be looking for your body in the surf. That's rough water.'
Baras nodded, backed off.
Rakon licked his lips, stared down at the face in the water, appearing, disappearing. His hands fidgeted.
'Go get as much rope as we have, Baras. And bring the horses.'
'And whatever torches we have,' Nix said. 'Now, tell us what this horn looks like.'
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It was late afternoon by the time Nix and Egil had gathered up such supplies as they expected to need, checked and re-checked their own gear and weapons, and taken a hearty meal. Egil prayed. Nix got his mind right.
Rakon paced and fumed throughout.
'We never rush,' Nix explained.
'Body, soul, mind, and gear need to be prepared,' Egil said.
'Prepare faster,' Rakon said. 'Minnear rises full tonight.'
When they were ready, all but the eunuch and the sisters ascended to the top of the rise. Nix tied a series of step knots in the ropes and harnessed them to the pack horses. Egil took them in hand and pulled. The harnesses held and the horses seemed untroubled.
'Well tied,' the priest said, as he tossed the lines over the side of the cliff.
'Of course they are,' Nix said. 'I tied them, didn't I?'
'You must return with the horn quickly,' Rakon said.
'We don't even know for certain that this is the right tomb,' Nix said.
'And neither do we know that it holds the horn,' Egil added.
'It is and it does,' Rakon said. 'It must. My guards will accompany you. All but Jyme and Baras.'
Nix shook his head. 'They'll be in the way.' He looked to the guards. 'No offense.'
They shrugged. None of them looked eager to descend the cliff face on a rope.
'They go with you,' Rakon insisted.
'The spellworm already ensures our return,' Nix said. 'We don't need guards hounding us.'
'They go with you, Nix Fall,' Rakon said again.
Nix's anger made him think of striking Rakon, which made the spellworm squirm, which made him groan with nausea. Rakon smirked, no doubt surmising the truth.
'Fine,' Nix said. He faced the guards, and indicated one of the rope lines. 'You and your men use that line and only that line. I don't want one of you slubbers falling on my head.'
Derg smirked. 'You take care of your work, and we'll take of ours.'
'Just like you did when that Vwynn tore open your shoulder and filled you with poison, yeah? You're only standing here because of me.'
Derg colored, looked away.
'That line,' Nix said, pointing at the rope. 'And you'll want to lose your mail, too, unless you fancy heaving another four stone of weight up that rope when we come out. Or maybe you don't intend to come out? You think they'll come out, Egil?'
'Doubtful,' said the priest.
Mutters, sheepish glances.
'I'm jesting,' Egil said. 'Find your balls, men.'
Nix continued, 'When we get into the caves, you do exactly what we say. Nothing more and nothing less. Your lives will depend on that. Well enough?'
The guards shifted on their feet, hesitated. Derg looked to Baras, but Nix spoke before Baras could offer any words.
'Baras isn't in command once we enter the cave. So I say again: well enough?'
'Yes, well enough,' the guards said, and started to remove their mail shirts.
'Fakking slubbers,' Nix muttered, and set to evaluating his gear, weapons, and gewgaws a final time. All was in order. Egil checked his hammers, his crowbar, then offered a prayer to the god who existed only on his pate.
For their part, the guards made the symbol of Orella and muttered prayers to Borkan, God of Warriors. Egil and Nix divided the torches between the two of them.
'Ready?' Nix asked.
Egil nodded; the guards nodded.
'Then over we go,' Nix said. 'Keep those horses still, Baras.'
Nix and Egil went deftly over the side, Egil first, Nix following. The wind assaulted them the moment they hung exposed. Below, the surf roared over the rocks.
'Mind the breeze,' Nix called to the guards. 'And don't look down.'
Egil and Nix braced their boots on the cliff face and walked themselves down. The guards followed on the other line, creeping awkwardly over the side and shinnying down the rope, using the knots Nix had tied.
Egil looked up at them and tsked. 'Hope they can swim.'
Nix looked down — heights did not trouble him — and waited for the surf and foam to pull back and expose the stone face of Abn Thuset.
'Comin' for you,' he said with a wink.
While the guards made their slow, diffident climb down the rope, grunting and cursing throughout, Nix and Egil reached the cave mouth. Light from the lateafternoon sun set the large chamber's limestone alight. They swung off the rope and stepped inside.
A thicket of stalactites hung from the ceiling, and stalagmites jutted from the floor. Along the sides they joined into single columns that reached from the rough, irregular floor to the low ceiling. Down the center of the cave, however, the smaller stalagmites and stalactites stretched for one another like hopeless lovers, but didn't
