Darkvision - Bruce R. Cordell [87]
She glanced at Iahn. The vengeance taker popped the finger he'd dipped in the damos into his mouth. Ususi gasped, "By the Great Seal!"
Iahn's eyes glazed, his vision fixing on some distant horizon. His head lolled, and he slurred, "One whose flesh is partly crystalline is yet thrall to his mind-and his mind is in thrall to Pandorym. Sever the first connection, and the second connection is for naught. Sever the second connection, and we…"
Even as he uttered the last of his warning, his diction improved. Ususi realized the vengeance taker's body was throwing off the poison.
Ice fragments exploded outward as Shaddon clawed through the magical barrier. He spoke. "The keystone will be taken. The keystone…"
Ususi uttered a spell to freeze Shaddon's will, its sharp consonants and long vowels buzzing in her throat. The spell took shape and descended upon Shaddon like a stooping hawk. For a heartbeat, then two, Shaddon stood transfixed, his body refusing to act as his mind, or Pandorym's will, directed him.
The reprieve gave Iahn enough time to snatch up his fallen dragonfly blade.
Ususi shouted to the vengeance taker, "Use your damos on him!"
Without answering, Iahn took his blade and shoved it unceremoniously into the unmoving Datharathi's chest, but it failed to penetrate.
The vengeance taker said, "His flesh is completely encased in crystal."
Ususi yelled, "He's struggling against the bonds of my spell-kill him! Use your damos."
Darkness scythed around the transfixed body of Shaddon, swooping and whirling like a murder of crows.
Iahn explained, "I emptied the damos reservoir to see ahead to a future that contained both of us. It'll take a day for the damos to refill. The Voice is not something called on lightly, and doing so has consequences."
"Then forget Shaddon-by the time Pandorym breaks down my spell, we'll be gone. The portal must be this way!" Ususi made a dash toward the tunnel Shaddon had appeared from, but paused.
The still form of Eined lay sprawled in her path. The Datharathi woman's spirit had fled the world, to a place of final freedom Ususi herself had nearly reached when the efts had mauled her. The stars had been so bright…
Iahn saw Ususi's hesitation and sheathed his dragonfly blade on his left hip. He stooped, grabbed the girl, and threw her limp body over his shoulder. Without visible effort, he ran past Ususi down the corridor. Wiping a tear from her cheek, Ususi followed.
The vengeance taker ignored the side passages. Unearthly screeches pealed from one dark opening, and a venomous glow leaked from another. But the main passage was clear, and soon enough emptied into another large cavern. This grotto was the site of some sort of recent disaster. A pile of broken wooden tables, the wreckage of expensive equipment, and a variety of other debris left a whorled trail of destruction across the floor. A woman lay at the spiral's epicenter, unmoving. Crystal implants were visible on her body. Some creature or force had apparently removed the woman's head.
Ususi turned and saw the menhir ring. Her heart leaped! The ring was a duplicate of the Mucklestones of the Lethyr Forest, which meant…
"There! A portal into the Celestial Nadir," the wizard breathed.
The bright, unwavering lights on the cavern's periphery failed to illuminate the ring's interior.
"Careful," the wizard told Iahn as he moved toward a gap between two stones, "it's open. Even without a keystone, they've managed to access the Celestial Nadir."
The vengeance taker nodded and stepped through. Ususi followed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The sun burned a hole in the sky. Whisky burned Kiril's throat