Masquerades - Kate Novak [108]
Mist laughed. "Oh, dear. It does not look like we shall be able to complete our little transaction after all. Ah, well. I have no regrets, knowing this will be your end. Die well, Alias of the Inner Sea. And fond good-byes to you, Mistress Ruskettle, Champion. Lord Victor, it was a pleasure dealing with you." The dragon skull sank back into the pool.
The level of water in the pool began to rise until it poured over the edge, splashing to the floor.
"This doesn't sound good," Olive whispered.
The sound of the gears grinding stopped and there was a moment of relative silence. Then they all heard it: the sound of rushing water, as loud as the ocean itself.
Vast amounts of water began pouring down on the adventurers from the ceiling, extinguishing Olive's lantern. The force of the flow was enough to knock Olive off her feet. Dragonbait grabbed the halfling by her cloak and helped her stand upright.
"We've got to get across the bridge!" Alias shouted. She sheathed her sword and snagged Victor's arm, pulling him toward the stairs to the bridge. Dragonbait splashed behind her with the halfling in tow.
The stairs had become a rushing cascade of water, and Dragonbait's flaming sword was their only light now. The swordswoman was forced to press her hands against both sides of the narrow corridor in order to keep herself upright. She could feel Victor, Dragonbait, and Olive bumping into her from behind. As Alias touched down on the last step, she felt it shift beneath her feet. With a sickening dread, the swordswoman tried planting her feet more firmly on the slick stone, but to no avail.
A wave of water crashed down from the ceiling above the stair, knocking all the adventures off their feet and carrying them at a breakneck speed down the corridor toward the bridge and the sewer.
First Alias could hear the water plunging down into the sewer. Then there was a sense of weightlessness as the current shot her out across the chasm of the sewer. Just as she took a great gulp of air, she had a glimpse of light-Dragonbait's flaming sword. Finally, there came the flesh-bruising impact of her body against the fetid sewer water below.
Alias's lungs were screaming for air before she managed to break the surface and take a gulp of the foul air. The water was flowing faster, fed by the stream from the Faceless's water trap, carrying her with it.
"Dragonbait!" Alias screamed. "Victor! Olive!"
She spotted the paladin first, still clutching his flaming sword. Olive bobbed alongside him.
"Where's Victor?" she shouted.
"Here," the nobleman called from just behind her.
Alias strained to face the young lord's direction, relieved to see that he seemed to know how to stay afloat. Her chain mail shirt made treading water tiring enough. She didn't think she could manage helping a fully grown man as well.
Try to stay close to the near wall," the swordswoman shouted to the others. "There have to be some side passages we can-"
Alias gasped. Something large had pushed against her, and she knew what it had to be.
The quelzarn's head broke the water just beside Dragonbait, attracted perhaps by the light from the paladin's sword. The sea serpent's teeth gleamed in the flaming light.
Alias screamed the paladin's name in his own tongue. The quelzarn dived down, taking the saurial with it. The sewer darkened, but a dim light shone beneath the water's surface.
The female warrior took a deep breath and plunged beneath the surface, heading for the light. As long as it shone she knew Dragonbait had not yet been swallowed.
The foul water stung her eyes, and visibility below the surface wasn't more than a few feet, but that was enough to detect a great shadow looming before her. Alias grabbed the monster's fin and hung on with all her might as it wriggled and writhed beneath her. With her arms aching from the strain, the swordswoman pulled herself along the length of the fin, making for the quelzarn's head. Just when the fire in her lungs grew too intense to bear, the creature broke the surface of the water again, and Alias