Dralin (36 page)

Pelya dashed through and closed it behind
her. As she did so, she heard the cook’s muffled voice. “It’s those
stupid rats! That worthless girl didn’t kill a single one the other
day and now they’re bold as can be.”

She thought for sure someone would follow
them down, but the girls made it to the bottom of the steps without
the door opening. Pelya took one of the lanterns and led Ebudae to
the back. She didn’t light it right away. Instead, they hid behind
some crates, waiting to see what would happen. After a few minutes,
everything remained silent. Ebudae magically lit the lantern with
words Pelya couldn’t hear and then took the warrior’s invisible
hand.

The two girls went down the stairs to the
sub-basement. Had anyone been watching, they would have seen a
single lantern floating through the air and surely would have run
away thinking a ghost was coming. Pelya quickly pulled her to the
secret passage. Ebudae had two more of the rune balls, but they
didn’t want to use them right away in case they were needed later.
Fortunately, the young warrior had a memory that was becoming
finely honed and was able to find the opening mechanism.

The door opened and they went through,
closing it behind them. They listened for a moment before rushing
down the passage to the stairs. A minute later, they were at the
door to the lab with no incidents. Like before, it was unlocked.
Pelya thought Lord Uylvich foolish for being overconfident just
because a secret passage hid the lab.

Unlike before, there was a man in the room.
He was a tall, fit man wearing green robes that had runes
embroidered in rich gold thread. Unlike the cook, he didn’t blame
the mysteriously opened door on rats. “Who’s there? I see your
lantern, now show yourself or die,” he growled with hands in front
of him as though ready to catch the invisible intruder.

Ebudae let go of Pelya’s hand to cast a
spell. The warrior girl saw air warp in a bolt toward the wizard.
Before hitting him, it dissipated. The gold thread on the wizard’s
robe flared briefly, indicating it had protected him against the
spell.

Pelya rapidly pushed Ebudae to the side as
the wizard began to circle his hands in front of his chest while
speaking words of magic. She saw a mysterious wind blow his hair
back. It didn’t affect anything else and she realized he was
gathering energy for a spell. That energy gathered in an icy cloud
in front of the wizard.

When he cast it forward, the magical wind
that only affected him switched direction and slammed into his
back. Meanwhile, shards of ice flew from the cloud to pierce the
door, wall and ground where the girls had been standing. They ran
around behind him while he watched the shards melt. Pelya realized
that she had drawn her sword at some point, so she leapt forward
and stabbed him in the back of the thigh with it.

The golden runes on the robe flared as the
sword slid deep into the leg causing the wizard to scream. It was
the first time Pelya had ever drawn blood on anyone and it scared
her. To make matters worse, it had been a weak thrust with bad aim.
Had the blade not been magical, it wouldn’t have done real damage.
She immediately pulled the sword out, causing hot blood to spurt
from the open wound all over her. As the wizard clutched the wound
and fell to his knees in agony, Pelya realized the runes in that
area had burned away in failed protection. Had she stabbed with a
lesser weapon, the result would have been much different.

The blood did not become invisible when it
sprayed the girls. They realized they would be easy to target from
that point on and both deactivated the necklaces at the same time.
Ebudae had a rune ball in her hand and said the activation word.
With amazing aim, she hit the wizard on the side of the face. It
exploded in a cloud of dark blue dust that the wizard instantly
inhaled while attempting to gasp for breath. The dust went into his
mouth and disappeared. He collapsed.

“Did you kill him?” Pelya asked in alarm.
The sword was shaking in her trembling hand.

“No. It was a sleeping mist stored in the
rune ball. He should be unconscious for an hour or so,” she
answered excitedly. It was clear Ebudae was enjoying their
adventure. “Although, he’ll be dead in less time with that wound,”
she stated, pointing at the blood-soaked cut.

“We should bandage it,” Pelya said in
alarm.

“No! We have to save Rizzith,” Ebudae said,
pointing at the dragon that was looking at them in curiosity from
the cage.

Pelya glanced at it and then back at the
wizard. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’ve never killed anyone,
Ebudae. I don’t really want to.” The wizardess stared at her in
surprise. Pelya made a fast decision, put her pack on the ground
and retrieved the healing kit. She grabbed a bandage and wrapped
the leg with it as tightly as possible. It was instantly soaked in
blood. She hadn’t cut the artery, but it was still a deep and
serious wound.

“You bandaged it, now let’s rescue Rizzith,”
Ebudae said in exasperation while pulling on Pelya’s shoulder. The
young warrior reluctantly went with her, still staring at the
injured wizard.

They stood in front of the circle around the
cage. “I can do this,” Ebudae insisted quietly. Rizzith had managed
to lift his head, but it swayed tiredly.

“No! It would kill you.” Pelya forgot about
the man and focused on her friend. Hezzena had talked aloud in the
wizardess’s presence about how to deactivate the circle of runes
around the cage so they could release him. Then she had talked
about how to reverse the energy in the globes to bring Rizzith back
to health.

Ebudae understood everything that was said
and told Hezzena that she would deactivate the runes. The dragon
woman had instantly forbidden it. Children should never perform
magic. Only after puberty should it be considered and it was best
to wait until adulthood. A child’s body was developing and the
energies could stunt that growth or even deform a person. Ebudae
was in severe danger just with the magic she had already performed
in her short life.

Even with that knowledge, the wizardess
stood there with her fingers twitching. Ebudae had told Pelya in
the past that the power was like a drug she wanted more of each
day. “Let’s take care of the secret door,” Pelya encouraged,
pulling her friend in that direction. Ebudae reluctantly followed,
still staring at the dragon cage and orbs.

They set down their packs and Ebudae grabbed
a set of eight medallions Hezzena had given them. She set the
medallions on the floor in an outward arc from the edges of the
secret door. Pelya carefully pulled out a special rune ball Hezzena
had also given them. It was larger than any she had seen before,
filling up her hand. She readied it along with her courage while
the wizardess activated the medallions.

The normal way to open a secret door
protected by magical triggers was to know the activation words and
gestures for it. However, the runes had been made specifically to
work against Hezzena. Even after listening to Pelya’s description
of everything, understanding eluded the dragon. So she chose the
solution the girls were implementing.

Upon activation, hundreds of orange lacework
lines emitted from the medallions and connected to each other. They
shimmered upward to the ceiling in an arc around the entrance,
creating a barrier of magical force. Ebudae had to continue
chanting a series of magical words in order to keep it activated.
Her voice had an otherworldly quality to it and a strong magical
breeze ruffled her hair and robe.

Pelya threw the rune ball hard through the
glowing lines. Hezzena told them that things could pass from their
side of the force field, but nothing could get through from the
other side. The medallions had to be placed exactly right and the
words spoken correctly though. It was an enormous risk to leave it
to a child wizard, but she would do anything to save her son.

As the rune ball passed through the lines
and just before it hit the wall, Pelya yelled the activation word
loudly. The timing was another thing that had to be just right. It
was foolish to leave that to a child as well, but the dragon was
desperate and had no other options.

White light flashed as the rune ball
detonated and the building shook with an enormous blast. Hezzena
had told them what would happen, but it was still a shock. The
lacework barrier protected the girls from the worst of the flash
and sound as well as the entire explosion. It also channeled all of
the force into the secret door. Not only was it blown open, but
half the wall on either side and stones from the ceiling collapsed
in the rubble. The force shook the ground and knocked the girls on
their backs. The orange barrier disappeared once Ebudae’s
concentration was broken and she couldn’t continue chanting.

Everything had worked exactly as planned
except the part where the two girls were dazed. They crawled to
their hands and knees and tried to regain their senses. Pelya
glanced at Rizzith in his cage. The orbs and circular runes around
it were still intact, too powerful to be disturbed by the secondary
force of the explosion.

Then she saw the wizard move and heard his
groan through the mild ringing in her ears. The barrier had
absorbed most of the sound and flash, but not all of it. Coupled
with crashing stone, it had hurt their ears and created spots in
front of their eyes.

Ebudae was scrambling to get the medallions
and put them away. She cried out in pain when stone from the
ceiling fell and hit her in the shoulder. Pelya rushed over to her.
“Can you move it?” she asked. Ebudae’s robe was dirty, but not
torn. She moved her shoulder and groaned in pain, but it wasn’t
broken. Pelya helped her to stand. “The wizard is waking up. We
need to hurry.”

They snatched up the rest of the medallions
as quickly as possible before scrambling over the rubble. Stone
dust clogged their noses and they looked up to make sure nothing
else would fall on them from the gashed ceiling. Pelya looked back
as they entered the passage. The wizard was gingerly moving, but
hadn’t gotten up yet. Ebudae pulled on her hand.

There were large double doors a few hundred
feet up the passage with magical lanterns exactly like the ones
outside the doors from the ruins where Hezzena would be waiting for
them. When they reached them, Pelya noticed Ebudae panting heavily.
She grabbed the wizardess’s face and saw dark circles under her
eyes. “Ebudae, what happened?” Pelya asked in alarm.

“Very tired. It was
so
hard keeping
the medallions activated.” Exhaustion dripped from her voice.

“You just relax. I’ll open the doors,” Pelya
told her. When the wizardess nodded, Pelya grabbed the picks under
her tunic. She pulled one out and held it in front of her. When it
glowed hot, Pelya wanted to cry.

“Use this.” Ebudae handed her one of the
small rune balls that would deactivate wards. Once it was in
Pelya’s palm, the wizardess told her the keyword and advised her to
throw it from a distance. They took a few steps back and glanced
down the hallway to make certain no one was coming yet.

Pelya threw it and yelled the activation
word. The ball flashed along with eight previously invisible runes
drawn in a circle on the doors. Three of the runes disappeared with
crackling sounds, but the others remained, flickering dimly. The
warrior felt another rune ball placed in her hand. “Activate it the
same way,” Ebudae told her. Pelya did the exact same thing and the
remaining runes vanished with more crackling. She rushed forward to
the door and discovered it to be locked.

With a deep calming breath, Pelya pulled out
her lockpicks again. Her hands were shaking, but she wasn’t going
to let that stop her. Uncle Bobbell had told her to always push
ahead no matter how tired or frightened she might be. It helped
that the picks were magically enhanced to be steady.

It took a minute and switching the lockpicks
twice to figure out the right combination. Ebudae leaned against
the wall tiredly while Pelya worked. When the lock clicked open,
they exchanged happy smiles. The smiles faded when they heard
voices behind them. “They went down the passage!” one yelled. Pelya
hurriedly put the picks away while Ebudae pulled one of the doors
open.

Instead of being in the ancient ruins, they
were in a room filled with crates and tables. It looked like a
storage area and secondary workspace. Across from them was another
set of doors. Ebudae pointed excitedly while Pelya pulled the
current door shut. “Those are the doors to the ruins. They look
exactly
the same.”

They ran toward them, but Ebudae held out a
hand just before they reached the doors. She handed another of the
small rune balls to Pelya who took it and threw while yelling the
activation word. More wards flashed and crackled and she
immediately threw the last rune ball that Ebudae handed her to
finish them off.

Once again the doors were locked. Pelya
pulled out the picks that had opened the last one. The lock looked
the same and she prayed they would work. The tumblers inside
clicked just as the doors behind opened. “There they are! Kill
them!” Pelya looked back and saw the limping wizard and two others
coming into the room. One was a female wizard preparing to cast a
spell while the third had a wicked looking sword in his hand.

The girls frantically opened the doors, each
pulling one back. Relief flooded their hearts when they saw Hezzena
in the entrance. She was crouched with taloned hands in front of
her, teeth bared and furiously swirling eyes staring straight ahead
at the attackers.

What happened next was so fast that Pelya
barely had time to digest it all. In one blurred leap, Hezzena
reached the enemy and thrust both hands into the chest of the woman
casting the spell, killing her instantly. The energy of the
thwarted spell turned into wisps of green fire that burned the
woman’s skin. Hezzena pulled out flesh and flung it in the faces of
the men. Pelya heard herself scream in horror. She knew about
death, but was really beginning to hate the concept. It was messy,
violent and painful to those who experienced it. What she didn’t
notice was Ebudae watching everything with her head tilted in
fascination.