Moving slowly like a cat on the hunt, he crept toward the noise at the edge of the camp, trying not to disturb anyone else in the interim. After all, if there was nothing to worry about, he didn’t want to stir them up over nothing.
He took another step forward and the sound came again, just on the edge of the camp this time, right on the other side of the copse of trees.
Just a little further, he thought. Just a little further and you’re mine.
* * * * * * * * * *
Following Terwain’s advice, he pushed the bottom button. Instantly, the three could feel the floor beneath them start to move downward, taking them with it, though their feet stayed on solid ground the whole time.
Hardly a second after the button was pushed, Teryn could have sworn he heard the sound of a human scream out in agony, as if they were dead or dying.
His mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario and he assumed his little band of wizards had been discovered and ambushed, even though there was no way their screams would travel this far.
At any rate, there was nothing he could do about it now without jeopardizing the two wizards with him. Seconds later, the three felt the floor stop moving. They had reached the bottom.
The door whooshed opened, leaving the three of them sitting there in plain sight. They stepped out of the ‘elevator,’ as Terwain had called it, and started looking around for the megacylinder.
Wherever they were now, it looked different from the room they’d been in before. Teryn marveled at the wondrous magic at work in the elevator, but had no time to focus on it.
He changed his focus back to looking for their prize. But the more they searched, the harder it became for Aldrek and Valeria to keep up their costumes. The two were not used to maintaining illusion spells for a long time. They had held up well enough so far, but it wouldn’t be long before the magic failed.
They needed a miracle, and fast.
A few steps further on, they rounded a big corner and came across a massive room, much bigger than the others. Peering inside the room, Teryn saw what looked like a tangle of metallic vines running across the floor, with dozens of flashing buttons lining the walls. And there, standing in the middle of the room like a glowing beacon, stood what had to be the megacylinder.
It was a giant metal cylinder, true to its name, and it rose out of the ground almost to the ceiling. The thing was much bigger than Teryn had ever imagined. He doubted the three of them could carry it any meaningful distance, even if they each had the strength of General Talon.
“So now what do we do, just walk up and take it?” Valeria asked, her eyes wide.
“Well, um . . . yes?” Teryn replied in as serious a tone as he could muster.
“Oh. Okay, then. Let’s get to it,” she said with false bravado.
The three climbed over some of the metal vines and pushed their way past panels and screens that were flashing with various bits of information in a language none of them could understand.
Soon, they were standing next to the megacylinder. Teryn looked around for a way to remove the device from where it was standing, but nothing stood out.
A moment later, Aldrek noticed a switch near the bottom and he stepped on it without thinking. This action had two outcomes. First, it loosened the megacylinder from its base. Second, it cut power to the entire base. Suddenly, everything around them was pitch black and the three could hear the distinct, raspy sound of Surcrams scurrying about outside their room.
Almost instinctively, Aldrek cast a candleflicker spell so they could see their surroundings. The Surcrams in the hallway noticed the light, too, and ran toward the three startled wizards at high speed.
Teryn’s heart lurched and he mumbled the words to a gustblast spell, which slammed into the nearest Sucrams, crushing them against a nearby wall.
“That will stall them for a moment, but we’ve got to get out of here!” he shouted.
Aldrek turned to start running back towards the ‘elevator’ room, but Teryn grabbed his shirt collar and begged for him to stop.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he insisted. “Hold on to the megacylinder and pray this works!”
Neither Aldrek nor Valeria looked like they had the utmost confidence in whatever Teryn had planned, but the remaining Surcrams had started charging them again and they had little choice but to comply. The two clung to the megacylinder as hard as they could as Teryn took a step closer to them and started channeling the Tytin magikcs to get them out of there.
“MOVE DRAGON!” he shouted
In the same instant, one of the Surcrams swiped at the wizards with a massive claw that suddenly had a very well-defined form to it. Teryn felt the whoosh of the claw as it breezed past his chest, stopping mere inches away.
Then the scene around them faded into a field of blue light.
* * * * * * * * * *
When their surroundings came back into focus, Teryn, Valeria, and Aldrek were sitting on top of Mount Malabohr once again, the megacylinder in between them. About six inches in front of them stood the severed husk of a Surcram claw, smoking on the ground. The megacylinder gave off a faint orange glow that filled the summit in with its eerie light while humming slightly.
It must have been a sight to behold.
“Back so soon, Little One?” the Great Dragon asked Teryn its usual growl of a voice.
“Here is the megacylinder you asked for, Great Dragon,” Teryn stammered out while trying to act like this had been his plan all along.
The dragon gave him what he assumed was a sideways glance – he couldn’t really tell since its eyes were as big as a
