Curse of the Shadowmage - Mark Anthony [60]
"They built this city awfully close to the river," Cormik noted. "I wonder if they built a bridge as well."
Morhion's eyes gleamed brightly. "Let us find out if you're right."
The Talfirc had indeed built a bridge. Unfortunately, the river had shifted in its course over the centuries. The ancient yet solid span of stones now arched over the verdant flood plain. The river came nowhere near it.
"Well, that's about as useful as a rowboat in the deser," Jewel said drolly.
"Not even that," Cormik chimed in.
They made their way back to the central plaza. The light was failing rapidly.
"We might as well camp here," Mari said, though she shivered as she did. The years rested heavily on this place.
"What's that boy doing?" Cormik asked with a scowl.
Mari followed Cormik's gaze, then gasped. Kellen was climbing nimbly up one side of the stone pyramid. "Kellen!" she cried out in alarm. "Come back down!" He seemed not to have heard her over the roar of the river, for he kept climbing. It was unlike him to behave so rashly, but she could see now what had attracted his attention. Atop the pyramid was a gleaming golden orb. Morhion was the first to the pyramid. He leapt from the saddle and swiftly scrambled up the side after
Kellen. Seconds later, Mari, Jewel, and Cormik dismounted and started up the stone steps after the mage.
These three were perhaps a quarter of the way up the pyramid when Kellen reached the summit. Glancing over his shoulder, he grinned when he spotted Morhion right behind him. But there was something wrong with
Kellen's eyes. Mari realized. They were dull, vacant. And Kellen never grinned, Mari remembered. Sometimes he smiled, but he never bared his teeth and grinned.
"Look at it, Morhion," Kellen said in a strangely flat voice, "Isn't it beautiful?"
Morhion also sensed something was wrong. He reached a hand out toward the boy. "Kellen, don't touch the-"
But the mage was too late. Kellen had already laid his left hand on the orb.
Green lightning split the sky. A bolt of sizzling energy shot down from the angry clouds and struck the golden orb. Both Kellen and Morhion were thrown backward by the blazing force of the strike, tumbling down a dozen steps before coming to a halt. Kellen staggered to his feet, dazed, but Morhion lay still, sprawled upon the stones. Mari could see a red stain spreading across his forehead.
Mari scrambled up the side of the pyramid, quickly outpacing Jewel and Cormik, who followed behind her. A heartbeat later, the golden orb flashed. There was a hissing noise, like air escaping through a crack, and a grating of rock on rock. Mari cried out as the stones beneath her shifted. In moments they no longer formed a stair case, but instead a smooth, steep ramp down which she slid backward. Over her shoulder, she could hear screams. She twisted her neck just in time to see Cormik and Jewel disappear into a dark pit that had opened at the base of the pyramid. Mari clawed at the stone to slow her descent. Then she heard Kellen's frightened cry.
"Mari, look out!"
She looked up in time to see Kellen and Morhion sliding rapidly toward her. She tried to twist out of the way, but she was too slow. Child and mage struck her at the same time. She lost her grip on the stone, and they all went tumbling down into darkness.
*****
Surprisingly, it was Cormik who took charge. The corpulent crime lord was accustomed to a life of luxury; nonetheless, he reacted to their predicament with coolness and aplomb.
The five had fallen through an opening into a perfectly spherical chamber formed of seamless black stone.
Moments after they struck the bottom, there came a low grinding noise. The entire hollow globe seemed to rotate. Mari scrambled on all fours, trying to keep from tumbling end-over-end like a rat trapped inside a spinning ball. When the sphere's movement came to a halt, the opening through