Darkvision - Bruce R. Cordell [105]
"Yes," she continued. "It's a magical mechanism the Imaskari put in place in case the Purple Palace ever returned to the world. This path maintains a connection with some chamber inside the palace. If we walk the path to its end, through the interface, we should be injected back into our world, safely inside the tower."
"And not far from the weapons cache?" asked the vengeance taker.
"Only a floor or two below, from what I remember of the floor plans."
Iahn nodded and increased his pace. He threw over his back, "Time is precious."
Ususi turned to Warian and Zel. "Once we get into the palace, we could go up against Pandorym, plus whatever else Pandorym has released from the weapons cache to defend it. Be ready for anything." She looked dubiously at Zel, then turned and moved quickly to catch up with Iahn.
"Do you think that look implied something?" wondered Zel.
"She wants you to be careful, Uncle."
"And you?
"I've got my arm. You've got… a pickaxe."
Zel chuckled and slung the haft of the pickaxe over his shoulder.
Stepping through the wavering interface was like walking beneath a waterfall-icy, and just as shocking.
Warian stiffened, but the cold faded. He wasn't actually wet. And the gulfs of the Celestial Nadir were gone. Instead, the glimmer of Ususi's head-orbiting light revealed the confines of a cylindrical stone corridor. Inscribed glyphs spiraled endlessly around the passageway. He jumped when the glyphs pulsed, sending a whirl of white light corkscrewing down the passage a hundred paces or more. Zel suddenly blinked into the space next to Warian.
The wizard said, "We stand at the endpoint of a more sophisticated version of the stone circles, which are the usual means to access the Celestial Nadir. This is probably one of the twenty gates."
"Twenty… are you saying there are twenty gates into the Celestial Nadir?" asked Warian.
"Yes. Prior to this journey, it was my goal to find and catalogue all of them. I suspected the Purple Palace contained at least one gate, but figured it would be years before I learned whether I was right or wrong. Funny. Until recently, this gate wasn't even accessible from our world."
"You're sure we're back in the world?" asked Zel. He cast a suspicious gaze down the narrow, circular corridor.
"If not the world, then at least the Purple Palace," said the wizard. "Soon, we'll encounter Pandorym."
"And defeat it," added Iahn. The vengeance taker muttered a few words in a language unknown to Warian and trudged ahead.
Ususi nodded, apparently agreeing with Iahn's statement, and followed.
Warian and Zel brought up the rear.
The long, spiraling corridor opened into a wider space. Iahn and Ususi entered, and Warian moved just inside the new chamber. The wizard's light flickered around, revealing a wide, empty room with a single exit opposite the corridor. It was shuttered by a rusted slab of iron.
"If I recall correctly…" Ususi began, then a shudder rumbled below Warian's feet. He tried to retreat the way he'd come, but he bumped against his uncle.
"Get back!" Warian cried.
The floor dropped away. He fell, as did Zel and Ususi. The vengeance taker performed a desperate and impressive leap toward the far door, where an iron handle glinted invitingly, but he came up several feet short and plunged like the rest of them. He tumbled through a series of braking maneuvers against the wall.
Warian smashed hard onto stone. Thuds, cries, and gasps peppered the darkness around him, and he knew he wasn't alone. Ususi's light flicked back on.
The stone pit that enclosed them was perhaps fifteen paces across. Putrid, slimy water pooled in the corners. Disintegrating bones lay scattered across the room. The walls rose on all sides about twenty or thirty paces, to a ceiling of rusted iron.
"It closed?" groaned Zel, who lay next to Warian. "It closed us in!"
Iahn, who'd somehow managed to land on his feet, helped Ususi to stand.
Breathing