The Bonding (The Song and the Rhythm) (63 page)

Merdel’s light, hanging above his head now, still provided enough illumination to see by, but gave little hint as to what was more than ten feet in front of them. Not even Dart’s sensitive eyes could penetrate the magical darkness, which was why the wizard led. Though they glowed faintly green, the vines revealed only themselves with their uncanny light. Only Merdel’s magical flame had the power to probe the shrouded tower, though not quite enough to keep him from almost stepping into a hole like the one that appeared suddenly under his feet.

“Fire!” The bearded mage stumbled to a halt. His right foot hung mere inches from the edge of another of the stairway’s many gaps. This one covered perhaps ten steps.

Dart bumped into the wizard from behind, causing Merdel to lurch dangerously forward. The elven archer choked on his apology as he realized Merdel’s predicament and hurriedly grasped the swaying magician’s arm and helped steady him.

Merdel turned a sour face on the brown-haired elf. “Those eyes of yours should be able to notice when someone stops, you wind-blinded fool. If I fall, none of you will make it out of here alive.”

Dart nodded sheepishly, acknowledging his mistake. “Aye, Great One. You are right. Your vast powers are the only things which keep us meager mortals alive. I so humbly apologize for my mistake, and I beg your divine forgiveness. That is, if your many years don’t keep you from forgetting what that mistake was.”

Merdel frowned but said nothing, deciding to save his breath for more important matters than trading insults with Dart. Instead, he called down to Rush standing behind Drath and asked if anyone followed them.

The blond elf didn’t even bother to turn his head. “Not that I can see.” Of course, even if he’d looked, his answer would’ve been the same. The darkness was so total that Rush could barely even see Merdel less than ten steps in front of him.

Merdel nodded satisfactorily, as if thinking that Rush had just performed a thorough inspection of the pathway below. He hoped the unsteadiness of the tower, or Elak’s orders, kept the mercenaries from chasing after them. Neither one, however, would keep the guards from forming a cordon around the place while they explored inside. That would make escape nigh to impossible, but he couldn’t worry about that right now. At the moment, he was concerned that Elak hadn’t appeared to stop them. Surely he’d recovered from the destruction of his wards by now. Merdel swallowed his apprehension as he determined once more to succeed no matter what stood in his way.

Maneuvering around the hole by creeping along the tiny, vine-covered ridge of stone left by the fallen steps alongside the wall, Merdel led his companions the rest of the way up. It wasn’t much farther to the top, and when they finally reached the door sealing the chamber they all sighed wearily. Strangely, the vines, prevalent throughout the tower, stopped about twelve steps from the door, though they still climbed high up the walls to the ceiling overhead. Each of the four party members could see their faint, effervescent glow.

Merdel saw the wards guarding the door nearly twenty steps before he reached it. These were far stronger and more complex than the ones on the other door, and the magical glow they created inside the blackness was downright creepy. Only Merdel could see the shadows cast by his companions dance wickedly on the dark walls. They seemed almost to have a life of their own. Merdel shivered under rising dread, trying to focus on removing the wards.

It took the mage several minutes of hard concentration and many strong probing spells before he found the means to unlock it. He chuckled softly. “He’s connected to these wards, too. With luck, he’ll die when they’re broken.” He glanced behind him into the gloom. “Rush! Come up here. I need your help.”

“My
help?” The elven thief sounded unenthusiastic as he stepped around Drath and his cousin. “I can’t pick a magic lock.”

Exasperated, Merdel flung at him, “Just see if you can pick the lock.”

Looking uncertain but obeying nonetheless, the blond elf had to wipe sweaty palms on his breeches several times before he could grip his picks tight enough to use them. Breathing shallowly with nervousness, Rush felt around inside the lock, searching for the right tumblers to manipulate and muttering about some spell placed on the panel that would burn him to cinders.

Merdel chanted under his breath all during Rush’s attempts to breach the lock. At one point, the picks flashed with a bright blue light followed by a loud pop, causing the elf to cry out and jump backward. Merdel had to cease his spell casting for the five minutes it took to coax Rush back to the job. Even then, the elf had few nice things to say to the wizard who seemed determined to get him killed in what would probably be a very nasty way.

Finally, after over a quarter of an hour, the wards disappeared with a pop and a crackle of blue lightning as the lock sprung. Rush stumbled backward clutching burned fingers, and Dart and Drath had to save him from a fall down the steps. Cursing Merdel in elvish, Rush threw his melted lock picks to the ground as the tower door swung open with a loud groaning of hinges.

At that moment, the eerie green glow from the moss-covered vines brightened. The stairway was suddenly lit by a sickly green haze that pulsated with a disturbingly heartbeat-like rhythm. A low hissing issued from all around them, sounding as if it came from the very walls. They all heard stretching and crumbling sounds from behind them, and though they were afraid to do so, they each turned to see what caused the noise. What they saw froze them open-mouthed in place.

The stairway had come alive. Ten steps below them, what had previously looked like harmless vines now writhed up and down the walls and steps. Tendrils breaking away from the stone they’d formerly rested on tore out chunks the size of Drath’s fist. The hissing increased as more vines began to move, and as it did the green-glowing vines reached out toward the companions standing dumbfounded at the top of the staircase.

Merdel’s eyes widened at sight of the aura surrounding the vines. Dormant until the wards on the door were broken, it now shined brighter than the one that had surrounded Vaun during their trek through the sewage tunnels. He could feel the power of the creature, a power given it by its creator.

Drath clamped his mouth shut as a mossy arm lunged for him. Drawing his longsword, he swiped at it, succeeding only in slapping it aside with the flat of his blade. He backed hastily up the steps, one hand reaching behind for support and the other sweeping his weapon side to side to keep the vines at bay.

Rush ducked under a pair of vines trying to grab him and jumped over another that sought his legs. Drawing his elven shortsword, he attempted to slice into one of the vines threatening him but it dodged away before he could land his strike. It was almost as if the vines had eyes on them, for they unerringly reached straight toward him and evaded all attempts to hit them. Even his chameleon ability was useless against this magical creature.

Dodging another vine trying to choke him, Dart scrambled up the steps behind Drath. He shouted at Rush to follow, but his cousin must not have heard him, so engaged was he in not being caught up by one of the arm-thick vines. The elven archer could see a swarm of vines on the steps below Rush, and the hissing issued from its writhing mass. He could see more of the leathery tendrils crawling up the walls and steps towards them and knew that if his idiot kinsman didn’t move soon he’d be overwhelmed.

“Rush, you leaf-brained fool! Get out of there! There are too many to fight!” But it was no use, Rush either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. He seemed bent on defeating the vines himself.

At that moment one of the green arms struck Rush’s side. He staggered into the wall, and barely ducked in time to avoid having his skull crushed by another strike. A thinner vine caught his ankles and wrapped around them, tripping him. The only thing he could see when he fell was the emptiness of the tower at the edge of the stairwell, and he hoped the ground was hard enough to kill him on impact. But he didn’t plummet over the side. Rather, he landed with only the top half of his body hanging over the edge. The rest was held tightly by the vines crawling up his legs.

Wriggling did no good, as the vines only tightened their grip. When they reached his waist, the elven thief began to panic. He’d dropped both his sword and his dagger when he’d landed, so he began beating on the vines with his fists. That didn’t help, either, and the elf could hear laughter echoing behind the hissing.

Drath reached Rush just ahead of Dart, and they began kicking at the vines to release him. They wrapped the elf up too tightly for them to risk sword strokes, but no matter how hard they hit or kicked the vines they would not let go of him. They could see Rush beginning to turn blue from the vines constricting his chest, and when the vines lashed out toward them they despaired of rescuing him.

Jumping over a mossy arm seeking to trip him, Drath stepped toward the wall and raised his sword. If he couldn’t cut the vines close to Rush, he’d move a little farther down. Screaming in anger, he brought his weapon down with all his might. He never heard Merdel’s warning cry.

Merdel had been analyzing the nature of this creature and was disturbed at what he’d found. The spells giving it life were powerful, too powerful for him to counteract them in his weakened state. It had taken so much effort to neutralize the wards on the doors that he had little strength left for a strong spell. But he was able to learn quite a bit about this creature, like that they should avoid cutting it at all costs.

“Drath, no!” Merdel raised his hands up to forestall the tall man’s action. “Don’t cut it! It’s poisonous!”

Too late. Drath’s sword had already come down and severed the thickest of the vines holding Rush.

At once, a harsh screaming erupted in the stairwell. All of the companions covered their ears to block out the noise, but it did little good. Drath staggered back from the creature and looked down to see a noxious green gas emitting from the vine he’d cut. Almost immediately he began coughing, and his lungs felt on fire. What had he done?

Dart fought through the odious gas to grab hold of his cousin as the green stuff coming from the severed vine became thicker. His hands found Rush barely moving but alive, with the vines that held him quivering as if they felt the pain of the cut. He pulled at the vines confining Rush, but his head began to swim and his vision blurred. He coughed several times before he listed over and fell on his side. The world became obscured by the smelly green smoke, and suddenly all he wanted to do was sleep.

Drath fell back against the wall, overcome by the desire to lay down and rest. His eyelids grew heavy, and he could barely breathe. The hellish screaming and hissing coming from the mass of vines a few feet below him drifted away, and he soon found himself in an island of peaceful silence. It would be a nice place to rest his weary bones for a while.

Merdel saw the green smoke envelop his friends and could smell the taint of magic on it. Even from where he was, he began to feel the effects of the poison. His eyes wanted to close, and at the same time his chest constricted with pain. It felt like the gas would burn his lungs away to nothing.

Shaking his head in an effort to clear it, and only partially succeeding, Merdel pulled at his magic to save them. It felt like he had to reach through walls of thickened air to reach his spell, and when he finally did, he wondered if he could even cast it. It had taken a tremendous effort just to find the right one. He prayed the Great God would lend him the strength he needed.

Gritting his teeth, the mage released the spell amidst a barrage of pain. His head felt like it would explode, and his eyes bulged as the wind he’d called up finally began to blow. His vision swam, and he lurched to the side so much he had to catch hold of the wall to keep from falling. He concentrated on adding strength to the wind and nearly passed out when the magical breeze doubled in force.

Drath’s eyelids fluttered open as a breeze caressed his face. He could still smell that awful gas that promised peace, but at the same time he realized what kind of peace it offered. He tried to stand upright but couldn’t seem to find the floor. His legs felt numb from the knee down, and the steps kept avoiding his feet. When the breeze became a powerful wind, the tall man’s vision cleared enough for him to see that he was actually on his feet. However, it wasn’t his legs that held him up; it was the vines wrapping him from the chest down.

Dart sat up long enough to vomit. His stomach lurched and heaved at the gas assaulting his heightened senses. Just as soon as he’d wiped his mouth, he vomited again, and reminded himself to apologize to Rush later. Finally his stomach stopped rebelling against the noxious green smoke after a sudden wind carried it away. Struggling to his knees, he crawled closer to his cousin, who thankfully began to move a little. The brown-haired elf helped Rush remove the vines that, though still active, seemed no longer interested in smothering him.

Merdel smiled as his strength returned but grimaced when he saw his friends’ predicament. They were slowly escaping the vine creature’s mossy clutches, but he could see the mass of vines below them swarming together in preparation for another assault. They couldn’t fight the thing with swords unless they wanted to endure the same thing over and over again. His wind still blew the fumes away, but he knew it would soon die. And the gas still issued from the vine Drath had cut. Merdel searched his mind for a simple spell that would save them but found precious few that he doubted would harm the magical beast. Unless…

Gritting his teeth, the bearded wizard staggered down a few steps, dizzy with weakness. Even if he succeeding in defeating this creature, he wouldn’t have strength left to even swear at Elak. But that didn’t matter; he had to save his friends.

Merdel stumbled and nearly fell when he reached where his companions now stood on the steps, but Drath caught him and held him up. Merdel could see the tall man was tired and in pain, but he acknowledged the wizard’s aid with a warm smile and a nod anyway. Dart had Rush’s left arm wrapped around his shoulders and clearly struggled under his cousin’s weight. He fell to his knees when he bent to retrieve his kinsman’s shortsword but pushed himself to his feet before Drath could move to help him. He came to stand by the others just as Merdel called upon his magic one more time.