Masquerades - Kate Novak [95]
"-treasure," Olive concluded, handing Dragonbait back his weapon. With a squeal of delight, she pressed her way past the two warriors.
The cellar floor was carpeted with a layer of shifting gold coins and a smattering of silver utensils, bowls and tea services. It appeared that a mound of treasure had been piled up against the secret door. Olive went scuffling through the coins like a child kicking up fallen leaves in the autumn, humming happily. Her practiced eye made a quick survey for gems, jewels, or particular stunning pieces of silver, but there were none of those. She contented herself by rolling about atop the coins and washing her hands in them with a laugh.
"Not bad at all," the halfling said with a sigh. "It doesn't appear that the current owners know anything about the secret passage, or this treasure wouldn't have been left so conveniently in our path."
Alias frowned as she peered at the glistening walls around the dungeon. "Olive," she whispered, "do you remember the walls down here being damp?"
"Bound to be some seepage in a basement this deep," the halfling replied, scooping handfuls of coins into her pockets. The halfling giggled as she moved down the corridor. "I can just picture whoever settled Cassana's estate trying to sell the old place. Yes, Madam, the walls of the basement do leak, but that's a minor inconvenience when you consider the value. Four bedrooms, single bath, prison cells in the basement. The previous owner was a notorious sorceress. She lived here quietly with her undead lover. Did I mention the secret passageway-"
Olive froze in her tracks, literally, one foot poised over the ground in a step that never came down. She remained motionless and, even stranger for Olive, speechless.
Dragonbait took a step toward the curiously immobile, suspended halfling, but Alias caught him by the arm. She bent down, grabbed a handful of coins, and flung them down the corridor. The air about them seemed to ripple and surge for a moment, then the coins hung in the air, just as did the halfling's foot.
Realizing now what caused the walls to glisten, Alias raised her sword and sprang forward. "It's a gelatinous cube!" she shouted. "It's swallowed Olive. We've got to cut her out before she suffocates!"
The scavenging monster had been practically invisible in the lantern light, but the adventurers could now see it rippling as the creature, alerted to their movements, slithered toward the secret door in an effort to engulf them. It had no intelligence, so its attack was purely instinctual, and it towered over them and blocked the passage completely.
Alias struck first with a sweeping semicircular cut along one side of the cube, wide enough to miss the imprisoned halfling but close enough to loosen the monster's grip. Dragonbait began slicing at the jellylike creature with his flaming sword, creating great scorching gashes in its side. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air. With her free hand Alias grabbed Olive's shirt collar and pulled hard. There was a soft sucking sound as the cube attempted to draw the halfling deeper into its digestive interior.
Knowing that the gelatinous cube exuded a slime capable of paralyzing even the largest of prey, Alias shifted backward to avoid contact with the creature and nearly lost her grip on the halfling.
The warrior woman stabbed the creature and released the hilt of her sword. With both hands clenched on the halfling's shirt, she yanked with all her might.
There was a squishing noise, and the slime-encrusted halfling erupted from the side of the cube. Alias slipped on the carpet of coins and fell over backward, Olive landing on top of her. A layer of clear ooze still covered the halfling, but separated from the host body the goo could not survive and began to evaporate in a thin mist.
The creature sent out a protrusion that crested over the heads of the two woman like a wave. Before the wave could overwhelm them, the saurial slashed