Thrang bowed, surprise and eagerness on his face.
Kat led the company deeper into the city. Alex conjured weir lights, sending them ahead so the path was well lit, but there was little of interest to be seen.
Alex knew something was bothering Kat, but she was silent as they walked through the city.
Kat led them without hesitation, as if she knew the city well. They walked down long corridors, through huge open chambers, and past large empty halls. There was no sign of dwarfs or any other living thing. Alex began to feel nervous, but he couldn’t explain why so he kept his worries to himself.
Finally they came to a wide stairway leading down, the steps covered in thick dust. Kat walked quietly down the steps, turning at the bottom to follow another corridor that led to more steps. Once again, Kat turned down a corridor at the bottom of the steps, and again it led to more steps. There was even more dust here, deep in the dwarf city, and their footsteps sounded muffled as they walked.
After six corridors and six stairways, they reached a huge stone door. A silver ring hung in the middle of the door with several dwarf runes carved on it. Thrang hurried forward and brushed the letters softly with his hands.
“Here lies Albrek, lord of the south,” Thrang said as he read the runes.
“The tomb of Albrek,” Kat said in a sad tone. “He tried so hard to make a success here, but in the end, he failed.”
“Help me,” Thrang said as he began pulling on the silver ring.
Nellus and Barnabus both came forward to help Thrang, and slowly the stone door began to move. Alex stood by Kat, watching as the door opened. He wondered if Thrang had even heard what Kat had said. When the stone door had been moved far enough to allow them to enter, Alex sent the weir lights in ahead of his friends. Thrang hurried after the lights, eager to find what they had all been looking for.
The chamber was large and round. Bookshelves and weapons covered the walls, and in the center of the chamber stood a huge stone sarcophagus covered with runes.
Thrang moved forward and once more brushed the dust away from the runes with his hands. For several minutes he was silent, then he spoke in a slightly shaky voice.
“Albrek’s Tomb,” Thrang said. “He died before his people were destroyed by an enemy they could not fight, but his monument does not say who or what that enemy was.”
“Perhaps these books will tell us,” Arconn suggested, moving toward the shelves along the wall.
“And the ring?” Nellus questioned.
“There,” Kat said, pointing toward one side of the chamber. “It is with his weapons.”
“You should take it, Thrang,” Alex said, following Arconn toward the books. “Put it in your bag for safekeeping, and then help us search these books for some answers.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Thrang said as he hurried to the pile of weapons. “Ah, yes, here it is. The Ring of Searching, just as Thorgood described it.”
“Put it away for now,” Alex said softly. “We need to learn what enemy destroyed Albrek’s people. If we know what it is, we might be able to escape this city. If we don’t know what it is, we’re all in great danger.”
Thrang put the ring in his magic bag and then joined Alex and Arconn by the bookshelf. The books were arranged chronologically, so Thrang pulled a book off the bottom shelf first.
“Brighten your lights a little, if you please,” Thrang said to Alex, opening the book.
Alex changed the weir lights from yellow to white and then looked over Thrang’s shoulder at the book. The pages were in perfect condition, but Alex had trouble reading the runes as quickly as Thrang flipped through the book.
“Ah, here it is,” Thrang said at last, leaning closer to the book. “It says that dwarfs have been attacked outside the city.”
“Outside the city?” Barnabus questioned.
“Let me read,” said Thrang, waving his hand so the others wouldn’t ask any questions.
Thrang bent so close to the book that Alex could hardly see the pages. Instead of trying to read along with Thrang, he stood back and looked at the rest of the books on the shelf. For what seemed like a long time, Thrang said nothing. When he finally snapped the book shut, everyone jumped.
“A thunderbird,” Thrang said softly. “The book says that a thunderbird destroyed Albrek’s people and laid waste to the city.”
“I’ve never heard of such a bird,” Nellus said.
“Nor have I,” Barnabus added.
“Thunderbirds are just a story,” Thrain said nervously. “Something mothers use to scare their children into obeying.”
“Some people think they are legends,” Arconn said. “Others say that such birds did exist at one time.”
“Kat and I both felt something large and powerful fly over us on our way here,” Alex pointed out.
“Will someone please explain to me what a thunderbird is?” Nellus questioned in a pleading tone.
“The thunderbirds were an ancient race of magical, giant birds,” Arconn explained.
“So what’s so terrible about a giant bird?” Barnabus asked.
“Thunderbirds are birds of prey,” Thrang answered. “They hunt and kill whatever they like. Some stories say that a single thunderbird could carry off a horse and rider with one claw and a full-grown cow with the other.”
“Oh,” Barnabus managed to reply.
“But thunderbirds never stay in one place too long, because if they do, they soon eat everything that is there,” Arconn said.
“They might stay in one area if there’s a large supply of food,” said Thrang. “The book says that the thunderbird carried off dwarfs from this city whenever they went outside of the mountain. It says they tried to fight off the bird, but it became enraged and attacked the city. That was when Albrek’s heir died, though the book doesn’t say specifically that he was killed by the bird.”
“What else does the book say?” Alex questioned, trying to remember anything he might have read about thunderbirds.
“Only that the remaining dwarfs were planning to escape,” said Thrang. “They were going to wait for a cloudy day, then head across the plain.”
“None of them made it,” Kat said sadly. “Not a single dwarf made it across the plain.”
“But that all happened years ago,” Nellus said. “The thunderbird wouldn’t still be here, would it?”
“I wouldn’t think so,” Arconn said. “Once there was no more food, the bird would have moved on.”
“Unless it couldn’tmove on,” said Alex.
“Couldn’t move on? What do you mean?” Thrang questioned.
“It might have laid an egg,” said Alex. “And thunderbird eggs take a very, very long time to hatch.”
“What is the date of the last entry in the book?” Arconn questioned.
“Just over a hundred years ago,” Thrang answered. “Surely the egg would have hatched by now.”
“That’s true,” said Alex. “But even if the egg hatched, I have no idea how long it takes a young thunderbird to learn to fly.”
“But you can fight it off with magic,” Thrain said. “Or hide us so the thunderbird can’t see us.”
“Thunderbirds have powerful magic of their own,” said Alex. “I’m not sure I can fight it off using magic, and I’m not sure that any illusion I create will deceive it.”
“Then we’re stuck here?” Thrang questioned. “We have to remain in this dead city or be taken as prey by the thunderbird?”
“We made it to the city when it was raining,” Nellus said. “Perhaps we will simply have to wait until the rains return.”
“That will be too long,” Kat said in despair.
“Much too long,” Thrang agreed.
“Then what do we do?” Barnabus questioned.
“First, we go back to the gates,” said Thrang. “Then we will decide what can be done.”
They all moved out of the chamber, pausing long enough to push the stone door back into place, and then followed Kat back through the empty city. As they walked, Alex racked his brain, trying to think of some way to protect them from the thunderbird. His magic books had mentioned them from time to time, but the information was incomplete.