Chapter 8 - Flygin

The wait for Martell was anything but exciting. By now the room had gotten stuffy, and the air that drifted under the door reeked of death and decay. Tannyr whistled to himself, but stopped, burying his head in his hands and sighing. Auric sharpened his sword with a whetstone, and then wiped it as shiny as he could with the hem of his tunic.

Zengrath sat alone, his back to the others. He chewed on a hazelnut from his pouch and focused deep in his mind. The evil power that occupied this mountain radiated from nearby, but the exact location of the source was vague. The power gripped him momentarily, flushing his mind of all sense, but then it faded as the protection spell rid the wizard of the evil entity.

Racti looked up at the ceiling, wondering how he could reach it. The benches were firmly attached to the wall, so that idea was out. Scanning the room, Racti’s attention fell on Martell’s spear, which he had left behind for the lizardmen’s weapons in the battle. The spear was surely long enough. He began prodding at the ceiling above the orb with it.

Besides a few small pebbles that had broken loose, Racti found nothing from the search. “It’s a good thing,” Tannyr laughed lightly,” for if Racti had found something, we would have a hell of a time getting up there with the orb in the way.” Everyone responded with a chuckle of their own.

Racti began his search on the floor, keeping flat against it to avoid being burned by the glowing orb above him. He could feel its warmth on his back. As he worked on trying to lift the stone tile from the floor, his fingers ached and throbbed. The chisel would serve as a much better tool for this job. Racti opened his pack and took out the small chisel that had failed him against the door earlier. Cracking his knuckles, Racti set to work chipping the stone out from the others.

“Auric, this tile does feel different from the rest of the floor. I’m almost certain that there is a secret door here.” Racti smiled confidently at the half-elf.

* * *

After several minutes of laboring with the block that was firmly stuck in its place, Racti slid out from under the orb and jumped to his feet. “There, it’s free.” Auric and Tannyr rushed over to lift the heavy stone. The grinding of the stone echoed throughout the room. When they had finally lifted it, Auric and Tannyr slid the tile over to one of the benches.

The passage underneath was flooded with darkness, save for the scant amount of light emitted by the orb. Water trickled and dripped below, and Auric guessed that it came from an underground spring, the lizardmen’s primary water source.

An enthusiastic smile spread across Tannyr’s bearded face. “Let’s go.” He sat on the edge of the opening, ready to leap into the dark passage, but Racti grabbed his shoulder.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Martell?”

Auric put his hand on Racti’s shoulder. “If we wait for him, another one of us will be thrown into the arena. We must go now, before the guards return. He will catch up.” Auric feigned a smile. He knew Racti was concerned for his friend, but he also knew that the needs of the group outweighed the one. Racti indicated with a nod that he understood.

“Wait, Tannyr. Use this. We don’t know how deep this hole is.” Auric handed Tannyr a coil of rope from his backpack. The dwarf tied one end to one of the legs of the nearest bench and then dropped the other end into the opening. With a grunt, Tannyr took hold of the rope and lowered himself into the hole.

Moments later, his gruff voice called up from below. “It’s not that deep, but I need…” Suddenly his voice was cut off, leaving a muffled silence.

“Tannyr?” Auric called down, but there was no reply. He turned to his remaining two friends. “I’m worried.”

Racti was already at the rope and descending before Auric could protest. “I’m going after him, Auric.” Racti’s voice faded into the darkness.

Auric and Zengrath looked at each other. “Do you want me to go after him?” Zengrath asked. Auric could read the concern on the wizard’s face. He nodded slowly. As Zengrath began his descent into the opening, Auric paced around the room, hoping both that his friends were safe and that the lizardmen guards wouldn't return soon.

* * *

The pressure was too much for Auric to handle. He untied the rope and wrapped it around his arm. Then, holding the stone tile on top of his palms above his head, Auric ran and jumped down into the dark passage.

He was shrouded in darkness, and the sound of running water and the stone tile falling into place filled his ears. “Who’s there?” Auric called out, hoping he would hear the voice of one of his companions.

Instead a dry, whispery voice, which Auric recognized as that of a shadow elf, responded. “Let us shine some light on that subject, shall we?”

A small flash of light burst in the darkness, illuminating the room with a bright white glow. The passage was not a passage at all, but a large round room. Before Auric could admire its details, he noticed the faces of his companions among a sea of shadow elf faces. Looking closer, he saw that their arms were bound behind their backs. The sight reminded him of their situation not long ago, when they were prisoners of the lizardmen.

Auric quickly recognized an impish grin among the shadow elves as Flygin. “Greetings, Auric,” he said in a fake refined tone. “I don’t want to sound cliché, but I knew I wasn’t yet finished with you.”

Auric didn’t need any formal introduction. He wanted to get straight to the point. “You stole the lizardmen’s amulet.”

Flygin threw his head back and burst into haughty laughter. “Masterfully done, I must say. The lizardmen are such a gullible race, but I don’t want to bore the company of such honored guests.” Flygin’s sarcastic tone was apparent.

“What do you want with it, anyway?” snapped Tannyr, annoyed at Flygin’s false act of ‘nobility.’

“That is no business of yours, but as I have lost it, there is no harm in telling you.”

Racti leaned closer to Tannyr. “Doesn’t this seem familiar?” he whispered. “Being told a story by our captors.” The dwarf nodded in agreement.

“The amulet is a key. It opens the door to the dragon’s lair. When I control the dragons myself, the entire world will be repopulated with my kind, with me as their leader. But unfortunately for me, I lost it to a sneaky elven cleric who fooled me into believing he’d show us how to use it.”

Auric knew exactly whom Flygin spoke of. “Alandrin — you killed him, didn’t you?”

“I wish I did, but instead I found his stinking rotting corpse near the entrance to this place. I searched him, but the amulet was missing. Something else wants the amulet as well.”

Auric’s eyes momentarily turned to Zengrath, but he said nothing. He patted the secret pocket of his tunic, where the amulet was safely tucked away. The fool, Auric laughed to himself. He doesn’t know that I have the amulet.

“So,” Flygin said, striding toward Auric, “you never told me what brought you and your friends to this mountain.”

“What does that matter to you?” Flygin’s manner of speaking annoyed Auric as well, and it kindled the flame on his last nerve. Auric drew his sword and lunged at the shadow elf, but his blade met the steel of Flygin’s sword. Huffing, Auric sheathed his weapon and straightened his posture. “I heard rumors of a dragon dwelling here, and I wanted to see for myself.”

Of course this wasn’t the complete truth, but it was enough to fool Flygin. “It looks like you won’t see much of anything, since the key is lost. However, I’ll take you to the doorway, so you can take a glimpse at part of the dragon’s lair.” This was exactly what Auric had hoped he would say. “Right this way, gentlemen.” Speaking in a sarcastic undertone on the final word, Flygin marched off in the direction of a dark corridor that exited the room, the other shadow elves leading Auric and the others close behind.

* * *

Minutes of treading through hot, damp and slimy tunnels passed slowly. Each step burned at the soles of their feet, especially Racti’s, who still walked barefoot. If Martell were with them, he would have asked the large warrior to carry him. Instead he bit his lip and kept mum.

The shadow elves sang during the entire walk, their droning, nasal voices filling the corridors and resounding off the walls.

“I prefer dwarf song better than this,” Racti mumbled to Auric.

Finally the corridor opened into another large cavern much like the one where they had first entered the mountain. The walls here, however, were lined with veins of silver, which reflected the light of the spell, making the entire room glimmer and shine. The most astonishing feature about the room was the massive door on the far side of the cavern.

Breaking away from the others, Auric slipped off to inspect the door. Standing at a height of about forty feet, the intricacy and detail of the craftsmanship of the door was truly a spectacle. A strange set of runes lined its border. Auric guessed that these runes represented the magic that had kept the egg chamber sealed for so long. The pattern within the border of runes consisted of a series of concentric circles, every other one containing pictures of dragons and the priests that worshipped them. In the center of these circles, at eye-level to Auric, was a pyramid-shaped slot.

Zengrath sneaked away as well, joining Auric by the door. He stared open-mouthed up at it, reading the magical inscription along the border to himself before noticing the slot in the center of the door. The wizard looked at Auric, and the same thought dawned in both their minds. “So the amulet really is a key,” Zengrath whispered to the half-elf, who nodded.

“What was that, wizard?” demanded Flygin, noticing the two had strayed from the others. “Apparently the old man has something to say. Repeat to our thirsty ears your words of wisdom.”

Instead, Zengrath closed his eyes and remained silent, focusing in the back of his mind. A small sphere of flame appeared in front of him, slowly pulsating as it hung in the air.

The score of dark elves who stood near the exit to the cavern stared in awe at the luminous ball of fire that lingered near Zengrath. As the fireball approached them, Racti and Tannyr backed away, recognizing the spell as the delayed blast fireball.

“Fools! Get your arses out of here before the spell goes off!” Flygin shouted to his minions, waving his sword in the direction of the exit. Still dumbfounded, the dark elves scurried about, bumping into each other as they tried to exit the room in one large mob.

The fireball ascended into the air and loomed above the heads of the frantic elves. Zengrath opened his eyes and mumbled a few words under his breath, releasing his concentration. The fireball, which had slightly grown in size, exploded into a blazing inferno that engulfed the bodies of the shadow elves, scorching them.

It was several moments before the explosion completely subsided, and even then the room was still filled with smoke and the smell of the burnt bodies. Suddenly, the floor of the cavern violently quaked and trembled beneath everyone’s feet.

“Bad choice, wizard,” Flygin snapped as he carefully stepped his way past the charred remains of his fellow shadow elves toward the exit. “By setting off your fireworks, you’ve angered the dragons within.”

“What was that?” gasped Racti, obviously shaken as he tried to regain his footing.

Tannyr looked around, and then stopped his search with his eyes on the door. “The noise of the explosion must have awakened some of the dragons.”

Flygin grinned evilly. “The dwarf is right. Now you’ll meet the same fate as the wizard Normagus.” Zengrath wondered what he meant by that. Flygin dashed into the corridor. The party started after him, but several boulders that had shaken loose from the rumble fell from the ceiling, blocking the exit.

Tannyr let out a long sigh and threw his arms into the air. “This is perfect,” the dwarf grumbled. “We are stuck here with a magical door that leads to dragons, and no possibility of getting out any other way.” He picked up a fist-sized rock and flung it at the door. The chink echoed a few times before fading away, followed by a muffled growl from behind the door.

“Peace, Tannyr,” Auric spoke up after looking the door over. “There may be a way out past the door.” He reached into his tunic pocket and retrieved the silver amulet.

“You mean we go in with the dragons?” Tannyr didn’t wait for an answer. Turning away with defeat masking his face, the dwarf slowly walked off and sat down on a rock. His anger wasn’t so much toward Auric as it was the entire situation. He didn’t fear dragons, nor was he afraid of being trapped. Tannyr preferred having more options.

“Wait!” Zengrath approached Auric, pointing at the runes inscribed on the door. He spoke in a winded voice, since the spellcasting had used up much of his energy. “We must proceed with caution while trying to go through this door. The runes read: ‘Those who wish to enter must face the Inquisition.’”

“Inquisition?”

“Apparently these runes, which unfortunately are written in a language I can’t read, ask questions that we must answer.”

A muffled sound of body movement turned everyone’s attention away from the door toward a dark part of the room. Only an ear-numbing silence followed.

“Auric,” Racti whispered, tapping his friend on the shoulder, “I’m going to try to find any secret switches or panels on the door if I can.” Auric nodded, and Racti scampered back toward the door.

Racti cracked his knuckles as he stepped up to about arm’s length from the door. It emitted a strange warm feeling like a fireplace giving off heat. Zengrath’s comment about using caution hung in his mind. He scanned the surface first, trying to spot any suspicious-looking areas. Taking a deep breath, Racti reached forward.

“Don’t touch that door!” A female voice shouted from the dark area where the shuffling was heard moments before. Racti leapt backward away from the door.