Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [63]
Lewan's eyes widened and he glanced toward Sauk. The half-orc caught his gaze and smiled.
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Talieth and Lewan left the garden, passing under a stone arch covered in mistletoe. She said nothing, but her gait was stiffer than before. Whether from rage or shock, Lewan couldn't be sure-he had been around no ladies of such social standing in his life and could not read her-bur he was certain there was very little grief in her mood. She had ordered the men to clean up the torn corpses as if ordering a servant to sweep up a broken plate.
A great domed building stood at the end of the path before them. Pillars ringed it-Lewan counted four on the near side alone-and he was surprised to see smoke wafting out the top. Not pillars, then, but great chimneys, each one covered in the odd angle-patterns that seemed to dominate the fortress’s architecture.
Talieth glanced back and saw him gawking. "This is the Dome of Fire," she said. "Get your head down."
Lewan obeyed, and she led him down a brick path along one wall of the dome to a narrow stairway that began at ground level and descended into the earth. Ten steps down, the darkness was broken by lamps set in alcoves along the wall. The air felt cool but close, and water from the storm ran down into the earth through gutters on either side of the path. Twenty more steps and the stairway turned left and doubled back, their way lit by more lamps. Farther from the fresh air, Lewan could smell the lamp oil, scented with some kind of spice.
The stairs doubled back twice more, then ended before a yawning blackness. Lewan hesitated, but Talieth stepped toward the right wall. Just at the border between light and shadow was a stone column about waist high. The odd angular patterns and strange runes covered it, and atop it, set within the stone itself, was the top third of a crystal sphere. In the murky light cast by the last of the lamps, the crystal seemed black as dreamless sleep. Talieth placed her open hand on the crystal and stroked it.
Lewan gasped and jumped back as fire flared to life in the darkness beyond-leaping from a ledge that ran along the wall a few feet off the floor. It ran down the length of the hall, disappearing around a bend not far ahead.
Talieth turned around and gave him a gracious nod of her head. "Welcome to the Dome of Fire," she said, "although as I'm sure you've guessed, we're actually well below the dome itself."
"How-?" Lewan stared, open mouthed, at the long stream of flame running along the wall.
"The Imaskari were masters of the elements," said Talieth. "They are long gone, but their works endure, only waiting for the proper hand to bring them to life." A sharpness entered her eyes, not unlike the careful watchfulness Lewan had seen in the eyes of Sauk's tiger when she'd been set to watch him. "Much as we are hoping you will do with your sacred relic, yes?"
Lewan drew a breath, intending to point out that he had never agreed to aid their conspiracy. At least not yet. But that tigerlike gaze made him think better of it. Still, frightened as he was-and he didn't even try to fool himself into thinking that he wasn't frightened-he could not bring himself to give in so easily. He simply looked to the flames and kept his tone light as he said, "What would you have me do, lady?"
Talieth smiled, though the predator's eyes remained. "Follow me," she said, and turned down the hallway.
Lewan followed. The hall was wide enough for several to walk abreast. Talieth glided down the middle, Lewan behind her and slightly to the right. He drifted to one side and looked down into the channel. He could not smell or see oil or fuel of any sort-only a tiny crack along the bottom of the stone. It seemed no thicker than his thumbnail, and the