The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [73]
Daine nodded. “Lei, Pierce—on point. Slow.”
They crept down the aisle. Lei stayed just ahead of Pierce, and Daine wondered what she saw as she studied the currents of arcane energy. Moments passed before an end to the aisle came into view. They had come to the edge of the room, and a narrow corridor ran alongside the stone wall of the cavern. Lei paused at the edge in the intersection, kneeling down and passing her hand over the floor.
“What have you discovered?” Pierce asked.
Lei frowned. “There’s a symbol here, a glyph of tremendous power. Set this off and you’d be dead in an instant—it would be like a hurricane blowing out a candle.”
“Can you break it?” Daine said.
“Never, but … it’s already been triggered. It’s strange—it looks like it was set off, but there aren’t any corpses.”
Daine’s grip tightened on the hilt of his sword. “So we’re not alone?”
“It really depends how long it takes for the energy in the seal to rebuild itself. Perhaps intruders were in here earlier, and the guards already removed the bodies.”
“Perhaps. We need to be prepared. Lakashtai … can you link our minds again?”
Certainly. The thought blossomed in Daine’s mind.
Good. Lei—left. Careful and quiet.
They crept along the edge of the wall, slipping past rows of giant shelves. Up ahead, the labyrinth of shelves came to an end, opening into a wide chamber; Daine caught a glimpse of shattered statues and other large relics, but a sudden stop from Pierce brought them to a halt.
There. At the corner of the last shelf. Blood.
It could barely be seen in the magical light, but Pierce’s eyes were keen. There was a dark stain at the base of the last shelf, just intruding into the corridor, a pool of dried blood.
Daine stepped forward, drawing his dagger. Lei, is the hallway clear to that point?
I … I think so.
Daine took his place next to Pierce. Stand ready, he thought.
He tumbled forward, executing a low roll that would hopefully drop him below the line of anyone who might be waiting with weapon in hand. He darted out beyond the shelves, coming to a halt behind a massive foot formed of blue marble—apparently, the last remnant of a colossal monument. Spinning around, he searched the hall for any sign of enemies, but there were none to be seen.
No living enemies, at least.
It’s safe, he thought, stepping out from his cover. Come take a look at this.
Two corpses were spread across the floor of the chamber. They were two of Hassalac’s reptilian guards—possibly the same two that had escorted Daine and Lakashtai earlier in the day, but the damage made it impossible to tell.
“Merciful Arawai,” Lei whispered, dropping to one knee to study the closer of the two corpses. “What could do something like this?”
Barely half of the creature’s body was left. It was as if it had stumbled into a wall of whirling razors—a force that had shredded flesh, bone, and chainmail with equal ease, scattering the remains in a bloody circle almost ten feet in diameter. The stench was awful.
“I don’t know,” Daine said, “but for the moment it looks like someone has cleared our path. This blood is dry, and we haven’t seen any motion. Let’s do this as quickly as we can and begone before anyone else comes to investigate. Lakashtai?”
The emerald gaze swept across the scattered relics. There, she thought, and the cone of light narrowed to focus on one object—a massive chunk of polished crystal, covered with strange sigils etched into its surface.
All right. Pierce, ready your bow. I’ll take point.
Daine darted across the room. There were still no enemies to be seen, and the others swiftly followed. Pierce kept his distance, watching the shadows of the room; Lei and Lakashtai took up positions around the stone.
“I don’t understand,” Lei whispered. “I don’t sense any sort of magical aura at all, and these symbols—that’s no language I’ve ever seen or any school of arcane