Escape from Undermountain - Mark Anthony [109]
She shook her head fiercely. "How could I ever forget you?" But she could manage no more words beyond that.
The gargoyle flashed a toothy grin and extended his onyx talons, truly looking like the fearsome creature he had been created to be. But the same kindness glowed in his eyes.
"Here I come, Fang!" Guss bellowed. "Your doom is upon you. And its name is Terrathiguss!"
The gargoyle shredded the paper door with his claws and leapt through the tatters. The mouse squealed, its bloody whiskers twitching. Guss ran down the corridor. The mouse scrabbled after him while the others dashed into the hallway, watching in horror.
Guss was fast, but the mouse was faster still. It pounced, landing on the gargoyle. The two caught each other in a terrible embrace. Guss's talons raked across the mouse's belly, staining its snowy fur with crimson. It shrieked, then dug its teeth into the gargoyle's shoulder, and green ichor flowed. Wrestling with each other, the two creatures crashed into a wall. Thin wood splintered. As one, mouse and gargoyle tumbled through the hole and were gone.
Artek was first to the gap in the wall. Beckla and Corin-who held Muragh-were a half-second behind. Together, they peered through the hole.
Beyond the edge of the tabletop, on the floor far below, lay the mouse, its fur drenched with blood. It twitched once, then lay still. Scattered around the mouse were a dozen jagged shards of gray stone, stone that looked just like the remnants of a broken statue-the statue of a gargoyle.
Clutching a hand to her mouth, Beckla turned away. Corin cradled Muragh in his arms. By force of will, Artek swallowed the lump of sorrow in his throat. There would be time for mourning later. He gripped Beckla's hand.
"Let's go," he said.
The others nodded, and they started back down the hallway. Moments later, they burst through a paper door and into a small room. Wish Gate hung on the far wall like a shimmering emerald mirror. Artek looked down at his tattoo. The sun had brushed the arrow. How long did he have now? Three minutes? Two? There was no time to waste.
He gripped hands with Beckla and Corin; the nobleman held Muragh in his other hand. They approached the shimmering gate.
"Where are you going to wish us to?" Beckla asked.
Artek bared his pointed teeth; the expression was not a smile. "If it works, then you'll see."
Fixing his wish in his mind, he tightened his grip on the others. Then, as one, they leapt into the gate.
This time the nothingness was green. Then blue. Then black as ice at midnight. The cold was worse than before, and far, far longer-crueler than anything they had felt. Artek thought it would freeze his very soul to splinters, and his consciousness dwindled, like a dying spark lost in a winter night. Then, just as the spark wavered on the edge of being extinguished, cold dark became blazing light, and the universe exploded.
Falling through a sizzling aperture, they landed on a cushioned surface. Artek blinked and looked down. It was a thick, luxurious rug-an expensive one, by the look of it. His feral grin broadened. He recognized this room. The wish had worked.
With a snarl, he leapt to his feet. Corin and Beckla pulled themselves up behind him. They were in a gaudily decorated room filled with gilded wood, rich tapestries, and ostentatious displays of gold and silver. Before them stood two men. One was clearly a wizard: bald-headed, hook-nosed, and clad in a brown robe. The other was tall and elegant, with dark hair and gleaming green eyes, fashionably clad in purple velvet and silvery silk. He had frozen in the act of putting on a thick, black walking cloak.
"Going somewhere, Lord Thal?" Artek asked.
Only for a second did shock register upon the lord's handsome face. Then his visage grew smooth once more, his hooded green eyes glittering like a serpent's. A cruel smile coiled around the corners of his lips.
"Artek Ar'talen," he said with an almost imperceptible nod. "Exaggerated