Crypt of the shadowking - Mark Anthony [111]
"I am afraid you are quite mistaken," Snake replied in his sibilant voice. His eyes were flat, his face emotionless.
"Stop this idiocy!" Ravendas snapped. "I will hear it no longer. All my servants obey my will and my will alone, Caldorien. As will you." A blotch of color touched each of her pale cheeks.
She is uncertain, Caledan thought. He had planted the seeds of doubt in her heart, and they had taken root.
"Tell me, my lord steward," she said, turning to the green-robed man. "Is there any truth to this base accusation? Do you intend to cross my wishes?"
"By all the powers that be, I swear not I serve only to see the Nightstone placed in your hand, my Lord Ravendas. That is my sole purpose."
Ravendas nodded in satisfaction. "You see?" she said smugly to Caledan. "I own him, as I own all of you. Once the power of the Nightstone is mine, I will own far more. Now the door must be opened." She lifted a hand and pointed a finger at Morhion. "You, mage, shall perform this momentous task for me."
Morhion nodded, stepping toward the onyx door. He spread his arms wide and closed his eyes. He spoke a single guttural word of magic, and a small, silvery ball of light burst into existence before him. Caledan watched as thin, glowing tendrils began to stretch from the orb of light. Like silvery threads, the tendrils caressed the door and began to trace their way across its dark, flawless surface.
Caledan realized that the silvery threads were outlining strange symbols and weird runes. In moments the entire door was covered with their glimmering decoration. Morhion spoke another word of magic, and the ball of light vanished as abruptly as it had appeared. The magical tendrils faded, yet a curious luminescence remained. The symbols and runes could be faintly observed.
For long moments Morhion studied the ancient writing. Finally he nodded. He gestured to a dark, perfect circle in the center of the doorway, a place where the smooth stone was untouched by rune or sigil.
"The circle is as dark as the moon is this night," Morhion intoned. He gazed at Ravendas. "One who desires to enter need only touch it." He stepped away from the door.
Caledan saw Ravendas hesitate only briefly. Then she thrust her chin outward and boldly stood before the door.
All that lies beyond this portal, I claim for my own," she proclaimed. She reached forward, laying her hand full upon the dark circle.
There was a sharp sound like ice cracking, and Ravendas took a startled step backward, staring at the door. The writing on the portal flared brilliantly. Then it went dark. A faint, sharp line appeared in the portal's center. The line darkened, growing into a crack. Then, propelled by some unseen force, the two halves of the onyx slab swung silently inward. A puff of stale air rushed out of the open doorway, bringing the smell of death. Beyond lay only impenetrable darkness.
"The portal is open," Morhion spoke softly.
"Then let us enter the crypt of the Shadowking." The fear had left Ravendas's face, replaced by a look of exultation. She took a torch from the wall and stepped through the portal.
"Follow," Snake said harshly, and the warriors pushed the four companions through the portal. Caledan felt a momentary chill as he passed through the doorway, then he blinked in surprise. He could see. He had expected the room to be utterly dark, or at most to be faintly lit by the single torch Ravendas carried. Instead the vast chamber was filled with a peculiar, ruddy illumination.
The crypt of the Shadowking was a vast, circular chamber. The floor was fashioned of the same flawless dark stone as the doorway, and the perimeter of the tomb was lined with massive buttresses of basalt, thirteen in number. The spandrels between them were carved with nightmarish friezes, the bas-relief gargoyles leering evilly down at the companions. Beneath each stone buttress was a shallow alcove. Those few into which Caledan could see were filled with burial offerings: one