Escape from Undermountain - Mark Anthony [91]
He fixed Beckla with a piercing look. "You had to wish us to the apprentice's lair, rather than to the apprentice himself."
She shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "Oops."
Artek let out a groan of exasperation. "How did I know you were going to say that?"
Beckla drew her eyebrows together in a scowl. "Look, Ar'talen. I was a little pressed for time. The thanatars were about to chop us to bits, if you recall. We really didn't have the opportunity to debate whether I should wish for this or that. We're lucky we made it out of there at all." She gestured toward the phantasmal army. "I think it would be more productive if we all directed our energy to the problem at hand."
The wizard was right, but Artek shot her a nasty look all the same, just to let her know he was not happy. He crossed his thick arms across his black leather jerkin and studied the scene before him with dark eyes. "It's like some game the apprentice has prepared for us," he murmured to himself.
To his surprise, someone answered him. "It's not just some game," said a quiet voice. "It's lanceboard."
Artek turned around. It was Corin. The young lord gazed with his clear blue eyes at the eerie figures across the room. "Don't you see?" Corin went on timidly. "With those black and white checks, the entire floor serves as the playing board. And those figures over there are the opponent's playing pieces."
Artek turned back toward the gigantic lanceboard. It made sense-the apprentice would not let just anyone enter his domain. They had to best the wizard at a game of lanceboard first. If they could do so, it was likely the apprentice would view them favorably. But something odd struck Artek. "If those are our opponent's playing pieces, then where are ours?"
Beckla swallowed hard. "I think we're them."
Even as her words chilled him, Artek knew they were right. No ghostly army had appeared on their side of the marble gameboard. They themselves were the only playing pieces they were going to get.
"Why don't I just fly across the room?" Guss asked.
Wings flapping, the gargoyle rose into the air. He was no more than three feet off the floor when a plane of white magic flashed above him. He fell back to the green marble, landing with a grunt.
"Oh, I suppose that's why," he winced, rubbing his scaly tail.
"Well, this is just wonderful," Artek growled in disgust, running a hand through his short black hair. "I've never played a game of lanceboard in my life. I don't even have the foggiest notion of the rules."
He looked to Beckla, but the wizard shook her head. So did Guss. Neither knew how to play the game. Artek's gaze drifted toward the yellowed skull he had set down on the green marble.
"Well, don't look at me," Muragh said defensively. "I was just a lowly priest of Lathander in life."
The others turned their eyes toward Corin. The young lord looked up in shock, his face drawn.
"No," he whispered hoarsely, slowly shaking his head back and forth. "Not me…"
Artek quickly moved forward and knelt beside Corin. "You know how to play lanceboard, don't you?" he asked intently.
Corin opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. It didn't matter. Artek already knew the answer. Corin had recognized the gameboard and the playing pieces. Like every noble child, he had learned to play the game.
"You have to help us, Corin," Artek said gravely. He gripped the young man's shoulders. "You have to help us get across the room. You're the only one who can do it."
Corin tried to back away, but Artek's strong hands held him firmly. "But I can't," the nobleman gasped. "Don't you understand? If I make a mistake, you'll all be killed."
"And if you don't try, we'll all die for certain," Artek growled.
Tears sprang into Corin's eyes, along with a look of terror. "You don't understand. I can't do it. I tried… I tried to be worth something,