Pool of Radiance_ Ruins of Myth Drannor - Carrie Bebris [97]
The dracolich’s deep rumble followed. “As you wish, child.”
A second later, the passage shook with the force of an earthquake. Rocks and debris rained down, pummeling the party and thickening the air with dust. Kestrel held the edge of her cloak over her nose to keep from inhaling the dirt as she dodged the falling rocks, but a fit of coughing seized her.
Ahead of her, Corran lost his footing. He fell, narrowly escaping the path of a huge stone that slammed into the ground where he had just stood.
“Corran?” Kestrel shouted but could not hear her own voice in the din of the tunnel’s collapse. Nor could she see the paladin. Had the rock hit him after all?
Suddenly, an enormous weight slammed Kestrel to the ground. Another boulder. White-hot pain shot through her legs from the knees down. She was pinned.
The explosion seemed to last forever. The few torches that lined the walls shook loose. They fell and sputtered out, immersing the party in blackness. Kestrel shouted again, but still the roar drowned out her words. Yet somehow, above the thunder sang Mordrayn’s voice, laughing in wicked delight.
The sound wasn’t nearly as bad as what followed. Once the debris settled, Kestrel called to her companions. Her unanswered cry echoed in the silence.
The silence of a tomb.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
She was trapped in the darkness.
Her legs were broken, her companions unconscious or dead.
Kestrel pushed at the boulder pinning her to the ground. It wouldn’t budge. She leaned back, summoned energy from a place deep within herself, and tried again. She could not wobble the huge stone in the slightest.
“Dammit!” She choked back a sob of frustration and beat the rock with her fist, but succeeded only in bruising her knuckles. Damn it all! Every last, bloody moment of this whole damned quest.
She let the pain in, then-into her mind. She’d been forcing it back, but something had to drive off the despair that threatened to overwhelm her. A whimper escaped her lips.
“Kestrel?”
“Corran?” She’d never been so happy to hear another human voice. “Are you all right?” Her eyes, unused to the absolute blackness, probed the dark for some faint image of the paladin but saw nothing.
“I have a terrible headache-I believe I lost consciousness for a while there. What about you?” She heard him moving, his armor scraping against rocks and debris.
“I think my legs are broken.”
“Keep talking so I can find you.”
“Only if you talk back.” Her spirit clung to Corran’s disembodied voice like a lifeline. “I’m under a boulder-it fell on me, and I can’t move it.”
“It pinned your legs?”
“Just below the knee. I think they might be crushed.” Her head suddenly felt very light. “I don’t know-they hurt real bad for a bit, but now I don’t feel them so much.”
He seemed to move more rapidly. “Have you heard sounds from anyone else?”
“No.”
He scuffled on some loose gravel. The sound was closer than she expected, and she felt the air move nearby. “Here.” She reached out and caught his hand. It felt warm and strong in hers. She hadn’t realized how cold she’d grown.
“You’re freezing.” He rubbed her fingers in his palms, then let them drop. “I’m going to see how big this rock is.” She heard him shuffle around the boulder, running his hands over its surface. “If I can find somewhere to plant my feet for leverage, I think I can roll it off your legs. Here.”
She heard more scuffling, followed by several grunts. Then, ever so slowly, the pressure lifted from her legs. Fresh pain seized her as blood coursed through the vessels.
Corran returned to her side. She flinched as his hands touched one of her legs, old defenses working reflexively. If the paladin noticed, he didn’t comment as he methodically palpated her knees and shins. “Good news, Kestrel. The rock didn’t crush the bones-I feel two clean breaks. With Tyr’s grace, I can heal you.”
“No.” The word flew out