shoulders. Darien, robed, followed moments later.
'What is it?' demanded Cordell.
'I have been warned by Helm,' pronounced the Bishou, his voice booming. 'There will be an attempt against our prisoner!'
'To kill him?' asked the general, alarmed.
'Perhaps. Or to free him,' said the Bishou. 'In any event, we must increase the guard.'
Cordell acted quickly, having had experience in the past with the Bishou's premonitions of disaster. 'Double the men' at the gates and in the hallways. Roust the troops from their sleep — now!'
The alarm quickly spread through the palace. Cordell then gestured to Darien, Alvarro, and the Bishou. 'Come on — hurry!'
He led them toward Naltecona's chamber.
'Kirisha' Hal whispered, and cool white light spilled through the previously dark tunnel. Poshtli looked at him, blinking momentarily in surprise, then turned back to the sheet of paper in his hands.
'That does make map-reading a little easier,' he admitted. 'Now, this tunnel should take us under the palace of Axalt.'
The warrior led the way, with Erixitl behind him and Halloran bringing up the rear, since the dank, stone- lined tunnel offered only enough space for a single-file advance.
The Lord Architect had shown them a passage leading from Naltecona's throne room itself to a network of tunnels passing beneath the palaces, pyramids, and courtyards of the sacred plaza. A courtier had announced the arrival of the priests of Zaltec as the small group was preparing to depart, and Poshtli had instructed him to keep the priests waiting.
The map had been hastily drawn by the architect of Nexal, who had designed the palace of Naltecona. High predecessor, who had created the plans for Axalt's palace some sixty years earlier, no longer lived. Consequently, the architect had warned, the map became less accurate the closer they got to their goal. It didn't show every passage, and the man had told Poshtli that the scale was rough at best.
But it was all they had, and it was far better than nothing.
'I think we're starting to go up,' Erix announced after long minutes of walking. The others paused and regarded the tunnel before and behind them, agreeing that she was right.
'The slaves who provide his food tell me that Naltecona is quartered in the old Revered Counselor's chambers. That should make our task a little easier. There's certain to be a secret passage leading there' Poshtli held his steel longsword in one hand now as the climb in the tunnel became more noticeable. 'We must be under the palace now.'
Abruptly the tunnel met an intersection with another passage crossing at right angles. Poshtli stopped, confronted with three choices of direction.
'That way,' said Erix decisively, pointing to the right.
The men looked at her, surprised by her vehemence. She pointed again, and they shrugged. With no more convincing alternative, the warrior led them to the right.
This tunnel proceeded for perhaps two hundred paces and then ended in a steep stone stairway.
'Up there,' Erix whispered.
'How can you know where we're going?' asked Halloran, wanting to believe that they were on the right track.
'I don't know,' she replied. 'But I think we'll find Naltecona up ahead.'
Carefully Poshtli led the way up the steep, spiraling steps. After one full circle, the stairway ended at a narrow platform. Before them, fully illuminated in the light of Halloran's spell, stood the outline of a narrow stone door.
'Kirishone' Hal whispered, dousing the light. He didn't want any telltale gleam through a crack to give them away to anyone on the other side.
'Let's have a look,' Poshtli said, pushing against the portal. With a dull rasp of wooden pivots, the stone door slowly yielded to his pressure.
Soundlessly the warrior slipped through, quickly followed by Erix and Hal. They smelled moist foliage, and grass cushioned their footsteps. For a few moments, they blinked into what seemed like pitch darkness, but gradually their eyes adjusted to the gloom.
They had entered an enclosed garden, Hal saw, one that was open to the sky above. He guessed that they were in the right palace, but he could only hope that somehow they had emerged into the proper area of that palace.
'D'you hear somethin?' The guttural question, spoken from a few feet away, froze them in place. The language was that of the legionnaires.
'I dunno. Here, get a spark for the torch.'
'Styberius' hissed Hal, quickly pulling a pinch of sand from his pouch. He had studied the sleep spell but never used it before.
'Hey…' The original voice grunted softly in surprise, but then the listeners were rewarded by three soft thuds as bodies fell to the ground.
Erix quickly knelt beside the forms of the slumbering guards. The overcast kept the night very dark, but enough light from the nearly full moon penetrated the clouds to reveal the garden in dim, shadowy detail.
'I thought you killed them,' the woman whispered, 'but they're only asleep.'
'Guards — a good sign,' Poshtli added. 'It means they have something worth guarding here, and this looks like a royal garden. Naltecona might be in one of these sleeping chambers.'
They advanced along a grassy path between ferns and blossoms. Several tall, graceful palms leaned over them, silhouetted against the sky.
'Wait!' Erix warned quietly, her voice taut with alarm.
'What is it?' Hal turned from side to side, peering into the shrubbery around them. Was something moving?
'Kirisha!' The command, barked in a woman's voice, suddenly filled the garden with white light. A dozen or more legionnaires leaped from the rooms around them, swords drawn.
'A trap!' cried Poshtli. He raised his longsword and deflected the attack of the first swordsman.
Halloran leaped in front of Erixitl and slashed with Helms-tooth at another attacker. He grunted in astonishment as the weapon cleaved his opponent's sword and went on to slash the man's body into two pieces. Never had he struck a blow with such power.
He turned and chopped at another legionnaire who rushed him from the flank, surprising him. Nevertheless, this blow sent another attacker flying across the garden to smash, stunned, against the wall. Halloran hacked again, an overhand chop that once more snapped his opponent's sword and cleaved the man in two.
Poshtli stumbled against Hal, pressed by three attackers, and Halloran whirled. He charged into them, his blade flashing, bone-crushing power behind his attacks. Three savage blows dropped the swordsmen, and Hal rushed ahead, driving a rank of legionnaires back before him.
He saw stark fear in the faces of the men he fought, but, mindful of his companions, he didn't pursue too far. He moved back to Erixitl's side, and saw the awe upon her face. 'How did you do that?' she gasped, gesturing to the broken bodies around them.
For the first time, Halloran noticed the tingling in his wrists. He looked down and saw the delicate rings of his feathered wristbands — the dowry given him by Lotil, the featherworker. Could those beautiful objects truly be the source of his sudden, giantlike strength? What had Lotil told him?
'… they may not look like much, but I think that you will appreciate them'
Indeed he did! Panting slightly, Hal looked around. The swordsmen stood in a rough circle around them, their eyes wide with fear. He saw movement behind the legionnaires, recognizing the dark form of Darien. It was she who had cast the light spell.
She raised her hand, and he saw a dim pebble of light float from her finger — a pebble he had seen in battle before. 'Fireball!' he cried, feeling a hopeless sense of panic as that innocent-looking globule of flame drifted toward them.
Erixitl seized his arm and Poshtli's, pulling them both close to her. Spellbound, they watched the dot move closer.
