Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [74]
As soon as Rethnor swung down from his mount, the servant seized the pony's reins. Wheeling his own mount about, he bolted back toward the safety of the town. Rethnor briefly considered throwing a knife into the coward's back, but the man was out of range too quickly. With a curse and a shrug, the Luskar let the matter pass. He took a pine-pitch torch from his pack and lit it; then he dropped into the water.
Even at low tide, the sea was waist-deep at the cave's entrance. Holding the torch high, Rethnor slogged onward into the darkness. The cave was larger than he had anticipated, and the vast blackness seemed to swallow the flickering light. Just as the Captain began to wonder whether the king had sent him on a fool's errand, the chamber narrowed, and the light of his torch reflected off the walls of a wondrously carved stone passage.
Thick pillars lined the walkway, and curving buttresses met overhead in graceful arcs. All surfaces were carved with intricate designs, detailed scenes, and the curving script of some long-forgotten language. The artistry was breathtaking, and Rethnor could not help but calculate the market price of some of the artifacts he passed as he waded through the silent halls. Just the gargoyles alone would bring a fortune to rival that of the most corrupt Waterdhavian noble.
Rethnor raised his torch for a better look. Marvelously detailed and endlessly varied, the gargoyles perched atop the pillars like silent sentinels watching over the passage. Looming over him was a particularly fearsome statue-a goblinlike creature with an owl's beak and feet, and wings like a cross between those of a bat and a manta ray. As the torch's flickering light touched the gargoyle, the stone statue stirred to life. The massive wings snapped out into a tight arch, and the creature leaped from its post. Down it glided toward the stunned man, the talons on its enormous feet flexed and eager.
Too late Rethnor realized his error. These were not statues, but living creatures-kapoacinth, a marine variation on the pure evil that was a gargoyle. As the creature bore down on him, Rethnor flailed at it with his torch. But what weapon was fire to a creature of stone?
As the kapoacinth swooped in, Rethnor understood what a hare must feel just before the strike of a hawk. Giant stone claws closed on the Northman's shoulders, biting through the protective layers of fur overcoat and leather armor. Rethnor gritted his teeth against the pain as the creature dragged him from the water. His torch flew from his hand and died with a feeble hiss.
The gargoyle flapped heavily into the air with its prey and then glided down the passage. After a time the man's eyes adjusted to the darkness. He noted that the passage was one ofmany, each with side tunnels branching offhaphazardly on either side. The kapoacinth took many turns, following a convoluted path that Rethnor could not hope to remember. Then, to the High Captain's greater horror, the creature changed path once again and dove straight for the water. The man filled his lungs with air just as the icy impact struck him.
After the cold, Rethnor's first sensation was that of incredible speed. The water rushed past him with a force that threatened to tear him from his captor's claws. Then, suddenly, the motion stopped. Cautiously Rethnor opened his eyes. They had emerged from the tunnel into a large, deep basin. In the dark water ahead Rethnor could make out the shapes of what appeared to be the ruins of a city wall. Once again the kapoacinth dove like a stooping hawk. The creature glided through the remains of a massive portcullis, then swiftly made its way through an enormous labyrinth of ancient stone.
in moments the inner city lay before