Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [117]
Cursed by Beshaba, every one of the kobolds' crossbow bolts struck Amber, but only two stuck in her scaly wyvern hide. The rest bounced away and clattered to the floor.
Amber hissed. The kobolds screamed and clambered back down the stairs. Amber turned around and nudged Cory with her scaly horned head. Cory raced up the stairs, with Amber trundling clumsily after him.
The other children, who had not witnessed Amber's transformation, cowered against the wall of the crypt when they saw the wyvern. The orcs at the other entrance to the crypt gave a shout and retreated up the stairs.
Amber changed back into her normal form and immediately sank to the floor, whimpering softly. The two crossbow bolts, which hadn't slowed her in the least when she was a wyvern, were far more painful now that they were buried in human flesh. One missile stuck from her thigh and the other protruded from her shoulder. Blood seeped out from under the bolts, but at least it didn't gush.
Pars ran to his sister and threw himself into her arms, clinging to her dress.
Cory looked at his older cousin with a mixture of jealousy and respect. Only one Wyvernspur in each generation was capable of using the spur. Naturally he had hoped it was he, but if it had to be someone else, he was glad it was Amber. He liked Amber best of all his cousins. He even liked her more than his own sister. He knelt beside Amber and pressed a clean handkerchief to the wound in her shoulder. "You knew all along that you were the one who could use the spur, didn't you?" he asked her. Amber nodded. "Last summer I started having the same dreams Uncle Giogi has. He brought me down here to meet the guardian and showed me how to use the spur, just in case anything ever happened to him." "Why didn't you say anything?" Tavan asked. "Would you have believed me if I had?" Amber asked. "No," Tavan admitted.
"Amberlee," a sensuous, husky voice whispered through the crypt. The wyvern shadow that had destroyed the two orcs reappeared on the wall. The dark silhouette swayed back and forth above the children's heads. "Hello, guardian," Amber replied. "You have gotten yourself cornered," the guardian noted.
"But the kobolds and the orcs have fled," Cory said. "The kobolds still lurk on the stairs to the catacombs, and the orcs still wait on the stairs to the mausoleum," the guardian replied. "I can hear them. The orcs know you must come out eventually. The kobolds are praying to Beshaba to bring you ruin."
"We'll just have to wait here," Amber said. "Wait!" Toran complained. "Wait for what?" "When Uncle Giogi gets back and finds out we haven't come home for supper, he'll look for the wyvern's spur so he can turn into a wyvern to search for us. When he sees the spur is gone, he'll guess we took it and know where to look for us," Amber said. "Then he and Uncle Sam and Aunt Cat can fight off the orcs and free us."
"She's right," Cory agreed.
"I'm not sitting around here waiting all day," Tavan said. "We made a sacrifice to Tymora. If we attack the orcs, we'll be lucky and break through." He pulled out a dagger from his belt.
"No," Toran said. "We should attack the kobolds and try to find the exit from the catacombs into the woods."
"We'll flip for it," Tavan said. "I call heads."
Toran pulled out a coin and tossed it in the air, but he didn't manage to catch it. The coin hit the floor of the crypt and spun about on its side like a top. When it stopped spinning, it did not fall over. Instead, it remained balanced on edge, neither heads nor tails.
"Interesting," the guardian hissed. "I'd take that as a sign."
"We stay here," Amber growled to Tavan and Toran.
From the catacombs, the kobolds began shrieking loudly. The clamor upset the children.
Suddenly a terrible rumbling noise came from the catacombs, and the whole crypt began to shake. Pieces of stone from the arched ceiling of the crypt began to tumble to the floor.
"If we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Toran shouted.
Now not only Pars, but also Ferrin and Heather,