Pool of Twilight - James M. Ward [118]
"There is one way you can save your precious friends," Sirana's all-pervasive voice cooed. "Except for the one you call Miltiades, that vile metal can of moldering bones. There will be no saving that… that heinous defiler of my father's tower. I plan to grind that wretched skeleton to dust!" Unseen magical hands shook Miltiades violently. His skeletal body rattled inside his armor, though his ever-stoic expression did not waver. "However, I will free the others-even the treacherous sorceress, Evaine-if you will do just one tiny thing. Drop the Hammer of Tyr into the pool."
Kern scowled, gritting his teeth. He clenched the holy relic tightly. It was his destiny to return the hammer to Phlan. He couldn't simply cast it into the pool. Yet if he did not, it looked as if his friends would die. Slowly, he extended the hammer out over the pool's edge.
"Kern, don't!" Listle managed to cry out. Invisible bonds squeezed the elf brutally, silencing her.
"Do it, paladin!"
Kern clenched his jaw, loosening his grip…
Thunder split the air.
Jagged chunks of stone crashed to the cavern's floor as a hole burst open in the ceiling above. Something crashed through with a deafening noise.
A vast black dragon.
Kern froze in astonishment, realizing it was the beast Trooper had called Dusk.
The dragon circled menacingly.
"How have you forced me to return here, sorceress?" the dragon hissed.
The half-fiend laughed shrilly. "Just because you are guardian of the pool no longer-and I am guardian in your place-does not mean your pact with the pool is broken. When you accepted the power I granted you, you also accepted shackles that bind you to me. You cannot ignore my call, Dusk!"
"This cannot be!" the dragon shrieked. Brilliant silver sparks danced in his one good eye. "I was on the verge of sending a thousand evil dragons against the cities of the Moonsea. The dragon-rage was about to begin!"
Kern gasped as the beast whirled dangerously close to his friends. They bobbed up and down in the dragon's wake, like leaves buffeted by the wind.
"Your petty dragon-rage means nothing to me," Sirana's voice snapped. "I have need of you here. These vile creatures intend to destroy the pool of twilight. Without its magic, you wouldn't have the power of a garden snake, Dusk. Now, obey my command. Kill these intruders for me." She pointed the staff directly at Kern. "And start with this puppy-paladin."
"I am not your slave," the dragon bellowed. His vast wings propelled his sinuous body toward the cavern's ceiling.
"As long as I am guardian of the pool, you must obey me, Dusk!"
The dragon threw his head back, trumpeting his fury. "Then you will die, sorceress, and command me no more!"
Dusk barked a magical word. Suddenly a globe of impenetrable darkness sprang into being around the rock Sirana stood upon. Folding his wings back against his scaly body, the dragon dove toward the inky sphere.
At the same time, brilliant silver-gray streaks of magic from Sirana's staff shattered the globe of darkness. Dusk accelerated his descent, extending his sicklelike claws.
Sirana waved a hand frantically, and a shimmering haze appeared around her an instant before the dragon struck.
His blow glanced off the magical shield in a spray of sparks. With a bellow, he winged back toward the cavern's ceiling. Sirana smiled smugly, but the force of the dragon's blow had managed to knock her off balance. She teetered on the edge of the rock, arms flailing. Then she tumbled backward into the pool. The Staff of Twilight flew from her hand.
Kern watched in horror as the staff tumbled and rolled. It stopped less than a handspan from the edge.
Daile gasped. "We're sinking!" the ranger shouted.
Kern looked up in horror. Sure enough, his six friends were all gradually descending toward the pool's surface.
"Can't one of you blasted spellcasters do something?" Trooper snapped. "I've already had my bath this year!"
Both Evaine and Listle were powerless. Kern swore. Somehow he had to get that staff.
The waters of the pool frothed