Temple Hill - Drew Karpyshyn [92]
The sub-tunnel narrowed, forcing them to walk single file. Corin took the lead-despite the traps, he was still worried about running into a guard, and he wanted to be between the gnome and any potential foes. Passing his lantern to Fendel, he drew his sword with his metal arm. His other hand was wrapped firmly around the wooden staff.
Corin pressed the pace, driven by a growing sense of urgency. At the rate they were going, it would be dawn before they ever got close to Xiliath's trophy room. He rapped his staff in quick, staccato bursts against the floor, occasionally giving a few raps to the roof above or the walls on the side. Fendel trailed a step behind, a lantern in each hand to light the way, his own staff stashed safely in the bag.
The faint whiff of sulfur brought Corin up short. The warrior heard the clatter of Fendel dropping the lamps, then the gnome yanked Corin backward by his belt, pulling him off balance. As Corin toppled back the staff fell from his hand. His metallic limb kept a firm grasp on his sword, however.
The floor erupted in a wall of fire where Corin had been standing a moment before, incinerating the wooden pole and igniting the oil spilling out from the lanterns. Scrambling back from the heat, Corin and Fendel could only watch as the hall ahead of them flared up in a roaring inferno.
The flames lasted for less than a minute before sputtering out, casting the tunnel into utter darkness. Corin heard Fendel's chant, and a second later the way before them was lit by the now glowing end of Fendel's pole. In the magical light, Corin could see the melted metal casings of their lanterns.
"Sorry," Corin said, his voice loud in the cramped passage, "I should have been more careful."
"Maybe," Fendel answered slowly, "but I think that was no ordinary trap. Probably a warding glyph."
Corin nodded. Any guilt he felt about the near disaster he had caused quickly vanished. Warding glyphs were powerful magic. Fendel surely didn't expect a simple soldier to avoid them. Corin suppressed a shudder as he realized how close he had come to a grisly death.
"I better take the lead," the gnome advised. "If there are any more wards I might be able to spot them."
They continued on. With the gnome in the lead the pace was much slower than the one Corin had set. Fendel held the glowing end of his staff out far in front of him, still using it to tap and prod the way ahead while his keen eyes sought out the telltale signs of magical protections.
Despite his best efforts they stumbled right into the heart of the third trap. Neither Corin nor his gnome guide noticed the tiny symbols engraved on the rock wall as they passed, but they both heard the whoosh of air as the enchantment was sprung.
A cloud of billowing, noxious vapors materialized around them, its appearance so sudden they didn't even have time to hold their breath. Corin dropped to his knees. He could feel the fumes burning his eyes and exposed skin. In the corner of his tear-filled vision he saw that Fendel had collapsed unconscious, succumbing to the poisonous fog almost immediately.
The brackish mist crawled down Corin's throat and seared his lungs, but Corin hardly noticed as he struggled to keep from blacking out. He reached out with his left hand and seized Fendel's ankle, gagging and choking on the fumes as he dragged both himself and Fendel down the tunnel, back the way they had come.
In the thick haze, he couldn't even seen three feet ahead. He had no idea how far the cloud extended back down the tunnel. Realizing his vision was useless anyway, Corin clenched his eyes against the acrid smoke and continued to pull himself along. He felt his skin blistering from the corrosive cloud. His chest heaved as it tried to expel the contaminated air filling his lungs. Corin fought against the urge, knowing even the poisonous air in his lungs was far safer than the thickening fog that enveloped him now.
Two minutes later-limbs shaking, muscles crying out for air-Corin could hold out no longer. The trapped air in his lungs vomited forth in