the blightlords. He is probably taking Ash directly to his paymaster. If we follow this path, we will find him. There are no side passages on the path, right Ususi?”
“Correct” said wizard, “but I am not ready to gothere are supplies I must get…”
“Then you can follow later. I must go after Ash,” interrupted Marrec.
So saying, Marrec strode down the path. Gunggari followed.
Elowen gave Ususi a small shrug and said, “The matter is decided. I’ll see you later, when we return.”
“Smoke and Fire!” screamed Ususi, frustrated. “That traitor has the Keystone. I won’t let him keep it. I’m coming.”
Still in earshot, Marrec paused until Elowen and Ususi joined him Behind them, the daylight grayed out and became black. Utter night encompassed them all. Points of light from distant motes of matter dotting the Celestial Nadir twinkled into visibility.
Ususi’s voice pierced the black, “We forgot to block the gate open.”
Marrec heard her utter a few arcane syllables. A light dazzled his eyes. Ususi had called magical illumination. Before Lurue’s silence, he had been able to do the same.
“Just like last time we braved the Nadir,” said Ususi, “the only way out is through. Let us hope the exit is not contested by the Rotting Man.”
“If he squats at the end of this path,” said Elowen, “our task will prove all the easier. We won’t have to track him down.”
Gunggari chuckled.
“Follow me,” urged Marrec, turning to continue down the path.
They hurried along the stone lane, suspended without strut or structure over the void. On their last trip through that path behind the world, Marrec had led several mounts. That meant moving cautiously down the stone path. He wasn’t so constrained any longer. None of them had mounts. The weight of his armor kept him from a run, even with the extra strength he felt trickling into his blood from the Nentyarch’s gloves, but they moved nearly twice as fast as they had before.
He tried to keep his eyes on the course ahead, scanning for any evidence of Ash’s passage and that of her kidnapper, Fallon. It wasn’t too long before such evidence appeared along the path, illuminated by Ususi’s light. Henri was a horse, after all, and his spoor was enough to raise Marrec’s spirits immediately.
“Watch your step,” he called to his friends behind.
After glancing at the droppings, Gunggari stated, “They are no more than thirty minutes ahead of us, if that.”
Marrec nodded and they were off again. When he got his hands on Fallon… Well, he hoped that he would have the luxury of just tossing the elf into the surrounding void. Of course, running the traitor through with Justlance wouldn’t be out of the question, just so long as Ash was safe. Lurue’s legacy had been entrusted him, and he’d squandered that trust. He tried not to think about it. He’d get her back. Failing was not an option.
“What’s that smell?” inquired Elowen from behind.
He paused and sniffed. He caught the barest tang of salt, like the sea, but the briny smell was not alone. Mixed with it was a smell of corruption, like spoiled fish.
“More relics come to haunt us?” asked Marrec, looking back to catch Ususi’s eye.
“Perhaps,” she answered, uncertain.
The advancing light brought into view a branch in the path. The main stone lane they had followed for so long appeared to continue on straight into the darkness, but a narrower way gave off to the left. Rather than stone, it appeared to be organic, not unlike a huge exposed root.
The tips of the root were entangled with the stone lane, piercing and growing through it, while the thicker portion of the root angled out and slightly up, leading toward to some unseen larger stem. The stone bridge was stained a dirty green, as the root itself seemed to ooze flaccid sap. It was also the source of the smell, which had become strong enough to wrinkle Marrec’s nose.
Gunggari moved to the edge of the root, kneeled, and ran his fingers lightly over the surface of the stone and root. Bringing his fingers up, slightly stained with dark green, he sniffed.
He said, “They took this side way.”
They walked on that thing?” asked Marrec.
“It may have been grown expressly for that purpose,” said Ususi. “Having held the Keystone, even for short a time, I have gained a slight sensitivity to the paths that pierce this place. This ‘root’ is not part of the system, yet Fallon, with the help of the Keystone, has allowed an outside influence into the Nadir, a powerful influence. This ‘root path’ may only be temporary. If we want to find Fallon, we should take it before it disengages.”
Marrec steeled himself, then carefully set a foot out on the root. He expected it to be slippery but was surprised when the green ooze caught and held his foot in place. However, when he removed his foot, the ooze gave up its grasp without complaint.
He said, “The path seems to be ensorcelled to prevent slipping.”
He stepped back out and moved a little way along the root, avoiding looking down; it really was noticeably narrower than the stone path had been. The root path had a slight but noticeable slope upward. The others tentatively moved out onto the root after him. Because the root was more round than flat, there was only room for them to travel single file.
Before he commenced walking along the sticky conduit, he pulled Justlance out. He felt better immediately.
And so they continued along the strange green path. The smell worsened.
After less than a minute, the stone lane bridging the void was no longer visible behind them. Marrec hoped they weren’t making a stupid error. What if the root was pulled away? He tried to quicken his pace.
“The smell… it’s familiar. I just placed it,” said Elowen. “I smelled the same thing when we faced Gameliel in the glade of the Mucklestones.”
Marrec nodded, but he realized Elowen might not be able to see him. He said, “I thought the same. My hope is that we are gaining, and that whoever is aiding Fallon’s passage doesn’t know we are following behind.”
A mumbling voice spoke from ahead of him, “We know now.”
Earthy giggling broke out. A concentration of ooze at the edge of the light shifted, and Marrec saw that it was actually a creature; a loathsome, miniature human composed of muck and filth. The smell worsened, as slime oozed from the creature’s form and it giggled and chortled.
Marrec hefted his spear into throwing position and said, “Name yourself, creature.”
The giggling eased, and the muck man eyed Marrec with muddy orbs. He seemed about to speak, but instead of answer, he spewed a gob of muddy liquid. With uncanny accuracy, the filth spattered across Marrec’s face. It burned.
He could still see enough to cast his readied weapon. Justlance buried itself in the creature’s stomach. The creature squealed and burbled, like a man yelling up from underwater. The spear had pinned it to the root. But in a feat that must have proved extremely painful, it pulled itself free, losing a significant portion of its oozing body. It screamed, and if possible, the stench worsened, but it wasn’t dead.
Translucent wings of ooze unfurled from its back as it flowed like bead of water across the top of the root, then dripped off into the darkness. Gone… but Marrec could hear heavy wings flapping down in the darkness and a final giggle.
Justlance slapped back into his hand magically clean of all defilement. Marrec used his other hand to wipe away the stinging mud from his eyes.
He said, “Surprise is no longer our ally.”
Gunggari, who was bringing up the rear, said, “A winged foe in this open space is trouble.”
“Let’s hope my spear in its belly will make it think twice about returning.”
As they hurried up the root, the diameter of the path gradually widened. The glimmer of a greenish illumination grew steadily closer as they walked. “Be ready,” warned Marrec. “Our path is leading us to that light.”
The light’s intensity grew as they approached. Their path revealed itself to be the long, slender shoot of an earthy mass of mud and ooze which hung in the void. Like a pustule, the mass had forced itself through a self-made breach in the dark voidbrilliant light streamed through a small gap in space; it was the reflection off the mass itself that gave the light a greenish cast.
