Ironhelm - Douglas Niles [43]
"Won't you join us, then?" said Halloran weakly.
"Send for my luggage-tonight, please," Martine continued, scarcely missing a beat.
Halloran nodded, stunned by this abrupt assault and uneasy about its possible consequences.
SPIRAL
A black cape rustled softly in the darkness. The sound was intentional; the Ancient One announced his arrival to his fellows. But even more than this, the silken whisper told the others that this one had made a decision, a decision for action.
"Kizzwryll!"
The whispered word, spoken by the Ancestor, called to life the Darkfyre. The black liquid roiled in its caldron, shedding a darkness across the gathering that washed the faces of each of those present with an inky illumination.
The Darkfyre settled within its kettle, and the Ancient Ones turned to regard Spiral!, the one of their number who had just arrived.
"The cleric is incredibly weak, even for a human. We cannot trust him to fulfill the task." Spiraь's voice, a low whisper, echoed hollowly in the vast cavern.
"tou speak the truth." The wizened Ancestor, concealed by his robes where aU the others gathered with bared heads, nodded.
"There is now a thing I must do."
Several cloaks rustled, a mute agreement with Spirali's remark and a comment about its drastic nature.
"tou must not reveal yourself if it can be avoided. But if the humans fail, you must slay the girl." The Ancestor rasped the command gently, knowing that Spiral] had implicitly understood the situation long before any of the rest of them had acknowledged the truth. Sometime our deliberateness hampers us, reflected the Ancestor. The humans move so much faster.
"I will enact the will of the council," said Spiral!. With another rustle of his cape, he bowed deeply and then turned back to the darkness.
Erix could not see the cycles of the sun, so she had no accurate means of measuring the length of her imprisonment. She had received ten meals-each a miserable portion of cold mayz and water-and her best guess was that ten days had passed.
Other than the silent servers who brought her food, slipping it to her through a small hatch in the cell door, she had no contact with other humans. Around her yawned a seemingly vast realm of silence. A perennial chill made her suspect that she was held somewhere underground.
Not long after her tenth meal, Erix again heard sandaled footsteps outside her cell door. She sensed that only a few hours had passed since her daily sustenance, so she knew this was an unusual visit. Crouching against the wall opposite the door, she waited. The latch lifted, and a sudden wash of torchlight filled the room as the portal opened, revealing a pair of men in loincloths.
With a shriek that contained all the pent-up anger and frustration of her life, Erixitl sprang at the first man. He stumbled backward in shock as her fingers raked across his face. Instantly her victim screamed and collapsed, moaning and clutching his bleeding face.
The second man stopped in shock, and the force of her charge bowled him over. She leaped on his belly, doubling him over, and then she sprang past. She was free!
Then she slammed into something hard, something that pushed back. She fell to the floor, stunned, and felt her arms gripped by talonlike fingers. In the fading light of the torch, she recognized the horrid visage of a Jaguar Knight. His dark eyes glowered at her through the gaping jaws of his helm. The jaguar teeth, long and ivory white, seemed to reach menacingly for her face.
"That was foolish, little one!" he hissed, lifting her easily off the floor and holding her upright. "You may have blinded one of my slaves."
He shook her like a rag doll, and she felt as if her teeth would bounce from her jaw. "Now, behave!" he warned, setting her on her feet. Instantly her fist flew at his chest, scraping her knuckJes on his hishna armor of jaguar hide. She spit in his face and he cuffed her; she kicked his knee and he knocked her down.
Finally he grabbed her unceremoniously and tossed her over his shoulder, neutralizing