“A transport, much like the Steading chain,” Malowan said.“With a specific goal. We pull down on the bar, and whoever is in this partlyenclosed area will go there-wherever ‘there’ is. We need something I can standon.”
Khlened and Bleryn ran back into the Jarl’s bedchamber, cameout with a sturdy-looking flat chest, and set it against the cavern wall.
“All right,” Vlandar said. “We’ll go half at a time. I wantNemis, Rowan, Bleryn, Khlened, and Gerikh in the first party, weapons drawn. And Nemis, be ready to bespell any guards. The rest of us will be right behind you.”
The mage nodded and climbed onto the trunk while Malowan drew the rest of them back against the curtain into the bedchamber.
The mage reached up to the lever and pulled down smoothly. Lhors blinked in surprise. The mage and the others simply vanished!
And then it was his turn.
Vlandar’s arm was reassuringly solid against his shoulder.The youth gripped his spear.
“Deep breath, my young friend,” the warrior told him. “You’vedone well so far.”
Once everyone was in place, the paladin drew down on the bar. The chamber faded. Icy cold whirled away, and as the ground solidified under their feet, a hellish blast of heat wrapped around them.
Lhors blinked furiously, but for a moment, he could see nothing but blackness. Then, as his vision began to clear, he could make out a steep, black wall blocking their view ahead. To their right and left was nothing but smoke and distant fires.
Nemis was dragging off his cloak and hood as Vlandar came up. “Fire giants,” the mage said unhappily. “I knew it would be fire giants.”
19
What they could see was dire.
The night sky was thick with clouds painted blood red by fires and volcanic eruptions. Smoke was everywhere, and the addled-egg smell of reeking steam issued from nearby vents. Thick, ashy clouds billowed from a nearby volcano that shot flame and boulders high into the roiling sky. Not far away, the unmistakable form of a great hall topped a mass of shining, solidified lava, stone, and slag.
Where they stood was separated from the hall and the road leading to it by a low rock wall-to keep anyone from walking over it when themagic was being used, Lhors thought.
“Let us go,” the mage said. “There should be a guard here,and there are guards just inside the palace.”
“Howd y’know that?” Khlened asked. He eyed the mage warily.
Vlandar held up a hand for silence. “Ask later. We need toget out of sight now.”
Nemis nodded. “Unless the landscapes changed much in the pastyears, I know of one such place.” He glanced around. “Watch where I step andfollow me closely. There are sinkholes and hot pools that will kill you in an instant.”
Florimund gasped.
The mage gave Maera a chill look. “Keep him quiet, please.”
The ranger turned away from him to soothe the half-elf.
Nemis turned his back to the palace and walked rapidly, angling away from the nearest volcano. The others followed, Malowan bringing up the rear.
It took longer than Vlandar would have liked, but in the end Nemis found his sanctuary: a black-walled, roughly circular tunnel, blocked at the inner end. The chamber was long and possessed two sharp bends that would keep in any light they made. It was surprisingly cool in here-compared to theoutside at least. The company hastily removed their winter garb once they were well in, and Malowan made a light for them.
“What kind of cave is this?” Lhors asked.
The walls were almost glassy, oddly rough-shaped but smooth to the touch.
“Never mind that. What’s this
“It is a place south of the Yeomanry,” Nemis told her. “Thefiery mountains are volcanoes, and the smoke and steam they make can be deadly to breathe. This cave was once a passage for such fire, but it has been blocked off for long years, and it is now too small for giants to bother about.”
“And how,” Khlened demanded pointedly, “do you know
“Food first,” Vlandar said. “I know it’s hot here, but we’lldo better for a warm soup. I’ll take on the cooking. Lhors, Khlened, there weresome broken bushes near where we came in. See if you can find them. We’ll want afire for light and soup both. But be careful and
An hour or so later, they’d eaten and the fire was dying downto embers. Malowan had constructed two tightly wrapped torches from brushwood and found places to mount them high in the walls so they would have some light. He and Agya were wrapping more torches for the rest of the night and the morrow.
After their meager meal, Nemis told the tale of his apprenticeship among the drow, his journey to this place, and how he had killed his former master and escaped that life.
Khlened, to Lhors’ surprise, heard Nemis out.
“Could happen t’any of us,” the barbarian said finally.“Guess I can see why y’told Vlandar and Mal before th’ rest of us.”
“There was no point in telling everyone,” Malowan said. “Forall we knew, we might never have come this far.”
“Aye, well,” the barbarian said. “What’s to do here, then?Y’think this Eclavdra-drow witch or whatever she is-is here?”
“She came here now and again as the guest of the fire giantking, old Snurre,” Nemis replied. He seemed to have difficulty speaking, as ifunwilling to say what he had so long kept quiet. “She has her own dwelling deepunderground-a deadly place far from here. She has-or had-a scroll she kept inher chambers here that takes her back to that dwelling. I traveled here with her sometimes.”
“Could you locate those chambers?” Vlandar asked.
Nemis shrugged. “The only time I was allowed to carry amessage to King Snurre-it was years ago, and I am not certain I remember theways of the first floor. It was dark, and there were guards everywhere….”His voice faded, and he stared at the far wall. After a long silence, he roused himself with visible effort. “I know the level below that well. Often I wentwith her to council meetings with other drow. Below that, it is all caves and horrible creatures and darkness.”
“I know how good your memory is,” Malowan told the mage. “Ifyou went there once, however long ago, you will remember it. A man who can memorize as many spells as you-”
Nemis smiled crookedly. “Yes, but I
“Well, we can doubtless get inside,” Vlandar said, “and Nemismay well be able to guide us through. The question is, do we want to do that?”
Everyone’s eyes were on him except for Florimund, who wascurled up on the floor, his eyes only partway open. The half-elf seemed to have given up, Lhors thought-the way Gran’s husband had when the fever took him.
“Why not?” Khlened asked. “We’ve done well so far. Lost noone yet, have we? I’ve wealth to keep me in comfort for at least a year or twoand tales to tell….”
“And we’ve done some damage to both the Steading and theRift,” Vlandar put in. “We’ve learned who’s made an alliance with the giants toattack our lands. Now we’re in a place that may kill us before we can get wordto my king. If that happens, we’ve accomplished little indeed.”
