They heard nothing. “Whatever killed those others must have destroyed the whole hive,” Corin said with obvious relief.
“Maybe,” Bradok said.
“We shouldn’t stay here,” Urlish hissed.
“Everyone’s exhausted,” Rose said in a whisper. “We can’t go much further right now. Better to rest, at least for a short while.”
“She’s right,” Thurl said, coming out of the darkness on silent feet. “We may have to fight these things eventually, but I’d rather be rested and fresh.”
Bradok quickly checked the compass. The Seer had her cloak wrapped about her, and her spear lay hidden beneath.
“All right,” Bradok said, though the idea of sleeping there made his flesh crawl. “If the compass says it’s safe, then it’s safe.”
“Wouldn’t hurt to make sure,” Rose said.
Thurl smiled, showing his pointed teeth. “I’ll check out the rest of the cavern,” he said. “I can move quietly.” Without hesitation, the ex-assassin melted back into the darkness.
“Let’s make camp here tonight,” Bradok said to the others. “Pass the word for everyone to keep as quiet as possible, though.”
That command wasn’t needed; within minutes, most of the dwarves were fast asleep. Only Bradok, Rose, Corin, Tal, and Much stayed awake to talk things over and divide the watch.
“There are a whole bunch of Disir bodies over there,” Thurl said, materializing close to them so suddenly that he gave them all a start. “But other than that, the cavern’s empty.”
“Have someone wake me for the third watch,” Corin said, heading for his gear.
Bradok reached out and caught the Daergar by his cloak. “Sleep on your sword,” he said. “Pass the word to anyone you trust.”
Corin nodded then disappeared into the semidarkness. Bradok made his way back to where the large passage emptied out into the enormous cave. The rear guard had been set up there, and he smiled to see Rose, Tal, and Thurl waiting for him.
They engaged in small talk for an hour while everyone quieted down. Then, bone weary, Bradok returned to where he’d spread out his cloak and lay down. He thought he had too much on his mind to sleep, but before he knew it, the blackness encompassed him.
He woke what felt like an instant later with Thurl poking him in the ribs with the tip of his boot. Bradok knew that a lot of time had passed. The roof of the cavern, far above, could be clearly seen as sunlight streamed through its wide cracks.
“What’s going on?” he asked groggily.
“Trouble,” Thurl said.
He put out his hand, and Bradok took it, allowing the Daergar assassin to help him to his feet. Bradok brushed the dirt from his cloak and whipped it over his shoulders.
“Over here,” Thurl said, moving off toward the side of the cavern.
A large group had gathered in the dim circle of the diffuse light filtering down from the ceiling so impossibly high above. Much, Corin, Kellik, and Rose were among the assembled dwarves.
“How far up do you think that is?” Kellik said as Bradok drew closer.
“It’s at least a mile,” Much said.
“I don’t care how far it is,” Chisul said. “It’s a way out.”
Bradok looked up at the glowing slits high above. They were indeed some kind of conduits to the surface world, but Much was right, they were far away-very, very far away.
“I say we try to send a few of us up there to check it out,” Chisul said. “Let them check if the path is safe.”
“What path?” Bradok asked.
Chisul smiled and pointed over his shoulder to the wall of the cavern. It took Bradok a moment to penetrate the darkness since his eyes had adjusted to the light. As his vision cleared, he could see that a narrow footpath had been cut into the wall. It ran up and around the cavern, spiraling upward toward the openings in the ceiling. He couldn’t see where it ended.
“What do you think?” Chisul said, grinning widely. “It’s worth a look, right?”
Bradok grinned back. It looked promising. He stepped closer for a better look. The path was narrow and had no safety rail, and Bradok shuddered as he imagined what a single misstep would mean. Still, if they moved slowly and carefully, they might reach the surface.
Instinctively, Bradok’s hand sought Reorx’s compass in his vest pocket. He moved back into the light and held the little brass device out into the glow. As he reached for the catch to open the lid, his eyes caught the intricate engraving on the lid. Once he’d seen words there, urging him to have faith. To his astonishment, there appeared new words, revealed in the etching:
His heart sank. Without even opening the compass, he knew what it would show him. Sure enough, he saw after flipping its lid, the Seer extended her spear straight away into the darkness. The thought of following the Seer made him groan. He hadn’t realized how much the light had cheered him in just a short time.
The other dwarves were just as dismayed when they crowded in to see the Seer, suspended in the air above Bradok’s palm.
“Oh, come on!” Chisul exploded. “What are we trying to do here?”
“We’re trying to survive,” Much said mildly.
“Survive?” he said. “Is that it?”
A nervous silence followed; then Chisul continued. “We all know we can’t stay underground forever if we want to survive,” he said. “We’ve been lucky up to now, finding just enough mushrooms to feed us for a few days here, a few days there. If we want to stop anywhere, we’re going to need a cavern this size full of mushrooms and we’re going to have to start farming them.
“I haven’t seen anything as promising as that so far,” he said, daring anyone to meet his gaze. “Have any of you?”
“Reorx has a plan for us,” Bradok said quietly. “If we follow the compass-”
“Damn the compass,” Chisul retorted, pointing up at the light far above their heads. “There’s the surface world. It’s just a short climb away. Once we’re there, our chances of survival go up dramatically.”
“You don’t have any idea what’s up there,” Kellik said, loyally supporting Bradok, though he had his doubts. “Don’t forget what happened the last time we disregarded the compass.”
Chisul opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, a violent tremor shook the cavern, sending several dwarves tumbling to the sandy floor. Someone screamed and dwarves scattered.
A sinkhole had opened in the floor, the sand dropping down and falling away. A second later, to everyone’s horror, a living, breathing Disir emerged from the depths. It was an awful sight that Bradok would recall in his nightmares to his dying day.
Its dark head rose up, shiny, glistening, and eyeless. Its mouth opened, revealing an expandable lower jaw and rows of curved teeth. The greenish outer shell was transparent, so Bradok could see its vitals right through its armored chest. A pale, blue light shone out from a glowing organ, right behind where the eyes would have been. It looked as if the killer insect had only one large eye in the center of its face.
The creature pulled itself out of the hole with two long, swordlike arms, bristling with serrated spines.
Bradok was frozen in fear. Much grabbed his arm and shook him, pointing over to the far side of the cavern. At least a dozen more holes were opening in the floor all over the chamber.
“To arms,” Bradok yelled. “Here they come!”
CHAPTER 20
