Crossroads 04 - The Dragon Isles (15 page)

 
          
Mog’s
“troops” encountered little resistance during their journey; most of the sea
elves were outside the walls of the town boss’ home, battling Tempest’s forces.
Those few unfortunates Mog’s troops met, they quickly slew and devoured.

 
          
The
passageways of Lakuda’s dwelling twisted and turned through the coral reef, so
it took some time for Mog and his allies to find the correct wing of the villa.
As they approached, a strange scent in the water caused Mog to pause.

 
          
The
dragonspawn swam cautiously forward, sniffing and listening. Soon, he heard voices
from the corridor ahead. He crept to the corner and peered around.

 
          
Ahead
swam a small group of humanoids, including the surface-dwellers he’d spotted
earlier—the ones Tempest was especially interested in. They numbered five, and
were a motley crew: humans, kender, sea elf, armored knight.

 
          
Easy
prey, Mog thought.

 
          
In
his mind, he saw pictures of the dismemberment to come—his sharks biting the
hapless victims in half, his razorfish stripping the flesh from the prey’s
bones, his leeches swirling in whirlpools of carnage.

 
          
He
imagined himself cracking open the knight’s bronze armor, breaking the man’s
bones, and sucking out the still warm marrow. The eyes of the victims would
taste good as well—especially the succulent ones of the kender. Other soft,
meaty portions of their prey he would savor as well—all the best parts, for was
he not the commander of Tempest’s legion?

 
          
Mog
started forward. Then something brought him up short. He’d been so preoccupied
with thoughts of the feast to
come,
that he hadn’t
noticed there was something strange about this rag-tag group. Something about
the
knight.
. . perhaps.

 
          
Did
his mistress share this feeling? Was this the reason she was so interested in
these fleshy creatures? He tried to call to his mistress, but she was lost in
the frenzy of battle. Images of blood and death clouded his mind. For a moment,
Mog reveled in them.

 
          
When
the red haze faded, the question remained. What was Tempest’s interest in this
group?

 
          
Mog
did not know. Still, the strange scent lingered in the water.
Uncharacteristically, Mog decided to fall back. There was something here that
he must watch. Wait and watch.

 
          
No
need to kill these creatures now. He and his minions could harvest them just as
surely later.

 
          
Then,
when the time was right, Mog would slay them all.

 
          
*****

 
          
Mik,
Ula, and the rest moved as quickly as they could through the tunnels beneath
Lakuda’s villa. Shimmer set the pace, swimming quickly and gracefully despite
his cumbersome-looking armor.

 
          
The
undersea hallways continued to shake as they went. Pieces of coral dislodged
themselves from the ceiling, and some of the passages were clogged with great
clouds of disturbed silt. Their voyage took them ever deeper into the bowels of
the reef behind Lakuda’s villa. Gradually, the hidden corridors began to slope
upward.

 
          
“Ouch!”
Trip stopped.

 
          
“What’s
wrong?” asked Mik.

 
          
“Something
hot... in one pocket,” the kender replied.

 
          
“What
do you mean?” Mik asked.

 
          
Trip
pointed to one of his vest pockets and mouthed the words, “The diamond.”

 
          
“Give
it to me,” Mik said.

 
          
Trip
nodded, fished the artifact out, and surreptitiously handed it to Mik while
Ula, Karista, and Shimmer kept swimming.

 
          
Mik
took the black diamond’s setting. It didn’t feel hot to him, merely somewhat
warm. The sensation of holding it brought images of the lost treasure to his
mind. He tucked the artifact securely within a hidden pocket in the waistband
of his pants.

 
          
Swimming
hard, they quickly caught up with Ula and Karista. The sea elf gave them a
curious glance, and Mik said, “Nothing to worry about.”

 
          
Suddenly,
the coral tunnel shook more violently than it had before. The floor buckled,
and huge cracks appeared along the length of the ceiling. Then, with a deep
rumble, the passageway began to collapse.

The Bronze Knight

 
         
Karista
Meinor screamed and threw her arms up over her head. Small pieces of coral
rained down from the ceiling and bounced off her, scraping her exposed skin.
Tiny streamers of blood from her scratches clouded the water.

 
          
Mik
pulled Trip out of the way of a large coral boulder as it crashed from the
ceiling. The floor split into pieces under the rock’s weight. Because they were
all swimming, no one fell through the hole. However, as the floor caved in, it
undermined the corridor’s riblike wall supports.

 
          
The
walls gave way and more of the roof collapsed. The holes opened the tunnel to
the battle outside, and Tempest’s minions streamed through.

 
          
A
swarm of predatory fish quickly surrounded the beleaguered fugitives. Mik and
the others drew their weapons and slashed at the attacking school. Great clouds
of blood soon filled the corridors, attracting even more evil fish.

 
          
“Keep
going! Keep going!” Ula called, trying to lead the rest down the crumbling
tunnel and away from the breaches.

 
          
Shimmer
followed her, watching the sea elf s back. Small pieces of coral crashed into
his armor, but he didn’t seem to notice.

 
          
A
razorfish got past Mik’s guard and tore a small gash in Karista’s arm. The
aristocrat screamed and swung wildly with her borrowed sword. Flailing in the
murky water, she sliced across the top of Trip’s knee.

 
          
The
kender yelped, and the magical seaweed nearly popped out of his mouth.

 
          
“Give
me that!” Mik said, snatching the sword out of Karista’s grasp with his left
hand. With the cutlass in his right hand, he continued to fend off a big
Turbidus leech. “Stay calm!”

 
          
“But
I’m bleeding!” Karista blurted.

 
          
“Not
badly,” Mik replied, the magic of his necklace projecting his voice clearly.
“Stay calm. You okay Trip?”

 
          
“Fine
...” Trip gasped, nodding. He quickly rolled his pants leg into a makeshift
bandage to cover the wound.

 
          
The
delicious blood proved too much for Mog’s fishy escorts. They left their
master’s side and swarmed ahead. Despite the bloodlust building within him, Mog
remained hidden.

 
          
Ula
cursed,
then
turned to fend off the new threat. She
swam back quickly to the rear of the group, dodging a deadly hail of crumbling
coral as she went. “Shimmer, this tunnel is going to collapse before we can get
through it,” she called. “Can you buy us some time?”

 
          
Shimanloreth
nodded and, with two quick strokes, moved through the falling boulders to the
back of the group. He picked up a huge section of bracing and threw it into the
midst of their attackers. Many died, and many others fell back.

 
          
Shimmer
drew his jagged-edged bronze sword and swung it in wide circles. More attacking
fish died in droves, turning the water black with their blood.

           
Mog crept closer, staying carefully
hidden from the humans and their allies.

 
          
The
beleaguered fugitives retreated. The sharks and their kith swarmed toward them.
The tunnel’s final collapse, though, seemed imminent. Columns toppled like
ninepins, and coral blocks big enough to crush the whole group crashed down from
above.

 
          
“Keep
swimming,” Shimmer said grimly. “I can hold the rear.”

 
          
Mik
nodded and led the rest down the corridor. Ula, amazingly quick and agile,
helped pull the slower Trip and Karista along. Even so, they barely kept ahead
of the ever widening cracks in the walls.

 
          
“The
tunnel burrows into the reef up ahead,” Shimmer called, bringing up the rear.
As he spoke, though, a huge slab broke off the ceiling directly above them.

 
          
Shimmer
surged forward to meet the falling coral. He grew as he
swam,
his body expanding like an angry puffer- fish. His armor twisted and changed.
Huge spikes sprouted from his shoulders, and thick, scaly plates covered his
arms and legs.

 
          
In
moments, the knight filled nearly the whole corridor. He pressed his huge back
against the ceiling to keep it from collapsing.

 
          
“Move!”
he growled, his voice booming like thunder through the swirling currents.

 
          
Wide-eyed,
Mik, Trip, and the rest darted into the safety of the coral hillside beyond,
sparing only a few worried glances back for their savior.

 
          
Shimmer
screamed in pain and, with one final surge, leaped from the collapsing
passageway and into the tunnel beyond. He shrank to human size once more as he
darted through the falling debris. Huge blocks crashed down on the pursuing fish,
killing most of the evil throng. In moments, rubble blocked the corridor behind
the fugitives.

 
          
Mik
quickly slew the few snakelike Turbidus leeches that had escaped the
devastation. “Thanks, Shimmer,” he said, panting and feeling bone-weary.

 
          
“Yes,
thanks,” Ula said. “We’d all be fish paste if it wasn’t for you.”

 
          
Shimmer
nodded back. He brushed the silt from his armor and gingerly rubbed his left
shoulder.

 
          
“That
was the most amazing thing ever!” spouted Trip. He was out of breath and looked
slightly blue.

 
          
“We
should keep moving,” Mik said. “That magical seaweed can’t last forever.”

 
          
Karista,
silt-covered, cut, and bruised, vigorously nodded her agreement.

 
          
With
pursuit foiled, and the tunnel in no danger of further collapse, they moved
quickly into the heart of the huge reef.

 
          
No
one noticed the green, eel-like shape that wound its way out of the crevasses
in the crumbled slabs blocking the corridor. The creature swam forward a short
distance and then shuddered and resumed its true shape.

 
          
Mog
peered into the semi-darkness after the fugitives. There were too many to
fight—especially with this strange and powerful bronze knight among their
number. He now understood his mistress’ burning interest in the group. Taking
care not to be seen, the dragonspawn swam down the tunnel after his prey.

 
          
* * * * *

 
          
The
passageway wound deep into the reef before turning toward the surface once
more. The fugitives passed numerous side corridors, always choosing the one
that ascended most steeply. Small, bioluminescent creatures inhabiting nooks in
the coral walls lit their course, giving the tunnels a pale green glow.

 
          
Shimmer,
battered and weary looking, led the way. He glanced back now and again to make
sure the rest were keeping up. They moved continuously, taking little time for
rest. Though it seemed unlikely that either Lakuda’s people or the dragon would
he able to catch them, no one wanted to take any chances.

 
          
During
one of their brief stops, Mik took the time to properly bandage Trip’s leg
wound. The kender didn’t complain, hut his friends noticed that he wasn’t
swimming with his usual verve. The captain treated Karista’s cuts and scrapes
as well.

 
          
All
went well until they came to a three-way branch in the corridor. Shimmer closed
his orangish eyes a moment and concentrated before declaring that he detected
no preferable route among the three.

 
          
“Perhaps
they
all
lead to the surface,” Mik
said hopefully.

 
          
“These
corridors are part of the Maze,” Shimmer replied, his deep voice clear, even
through the water. “They’re designed to confuse people and keep them from
passing beyond the Veil. Chances are that two of these corridors lead to deadly
traps.”

 
          
Karista
cursed and leaned against the corridor’s rough coral wall. She looked pale and
weary.

 
          
“Trip,”
Mik said, “Give Karista some of that extra seaweed I gave
hack
to you.”

 
          
“Yes,”
Karista said. “The magic is fading.”

 
          
Trip
nodded and took the small wad out of his pocket. He divided it and gave the
larger portion to Lady Meinor.

 
          
Mik
took a deep breath and leaned hack. He felt tired, and slightly dizzy. A warm,
almost burning sensation had sprung up in his gut. He slumped to his knees and
felt something dig into his thigh.

 
          
He
fished the diamond artifact out of his belt pocket and held it up. The golden
loops felt very warm, and the black gem shone with a dim luminescence.

 
          
“A diamond key!”
Shimmer said, his eyes shining with
fascination. “Where did you get it?”

 
          
“Diving
on an old wreck,” Mik replied. “Ula said it would lead us to the isles. Could it
still
he
working?”

 
          
“Yes!”
Ula and Shimanloreth said at the same time.

 
          
“Hold
it up before the passages, Mik,” Ula said.

 
          
The
captain nodded and got to his feet, holding the diamond in his outstretched
hand. As he slowly approached each of the three corridors, the artifact sparked
slightly toward the one on their left. Mik smiled.

 
          
Trip
and Karista looked at each other in disbelief.

 
          
“The
crystal is attuned to the barrier at the end of the maze,” Ula explained.

 
          
“It’s
leading us toward the Dragon Isles,” Mik added.
“Just as it
was aboard the ship.”

 
          
“This
way,” Ula said, starting up the chosen corridor.

 
          
The
passage sloped gradually upward and, soon, the way ahead grew brighter.

 
          
“Is
that moonlight?” Trip asked.

 
          
“Not
moonlight,” Shimmer replied soberly.
“The Veil.”

 
          
“Once
we’re beyond the Veil,” Ula said, “we’ll be out of the sea dragon’s reach.
It’ll be trickier for Lakuda to catch us as well.”