“There are so many,” Kelvich said quietly.
“More than I’ve ever seen before,” the Duke said. “Now do you understand my concern?”
“I’m beginning to.”
“And your friend?”
“Zollin,” Kelvich said. He realized that the Duke was hoping that Zollin would come and fight. It made him nervous. He didn’t want Zollin to join the Torr, but the Torr had risen to power in the Five Kingdoms by consolidating magical power so that no single kingdom had a military advantage over another by using wizards when they waged war. There hadn’t been a wizard aligned with a specific kingdom in centuries. In fact, Kelvich suspected that Zollin’s presence was the cause for the Council of Kings. And if he was right and Prince Wilam had withdrawn, that meant that there was no one speaking for Yelsia at the Council. Perhaps it all made sense. Perhaps, Kelvich thought to himself, the King wants war.
“I can’t make any promises,” Kelvich said. “Zollin could be in the mountains for months. There’s really no telling when or even if he’ll ever come back. But I see your point.”
“I’m not afraid to fight,” the Duke said. “I’m not interested in the whys or what happens afterward. My whole life I’ve trained my body and my mind to hold this Keep against whatever forces come against us. But if I’m right and the other kingdoms join forces against us, we could be overrun. If that happens, we lose the library. All the scrolls could be destroyed. Once the scholars are finished translating the manuscripts you need, I’d like you to leave the Keep and send your wizard to help defend us.”
“I’ll do all I can,” Kelvich said. He was suddenly upset with himself for not insisting that Jax come with him when he left.
“That’s all I can ask,” said the Duke.
Chapter 10
Zollin considered all the possibilities. He needed materials to make the bridge. There was plenty of stone-he was under the mountain after all-but it would take a lot of time and strength to remove the stone from the cavern walls. Plus he didn’t want to have to worry about the structural integrity of the cavern. The molten rock was his best option. It was already heated to a liquid state, so it would be easy to separate and then transmute. The only question was, could he manipulate the molten rock without hurting himself? He had moved incredibly heavy objects before, but he had never worked with anything that was too hot to touch.
“What’s your plan?” Brianna asked.
They had asked Bahbaz to bring their packs and gather the supplies they would need for the journey. Zollin was hopeful that by passing under the mountains they could make better time than the dragon, although it was possible that at any moment the beast could take flight and their best efforts would all be for naught.
“I’m wondering about using the molten rock to build the bridge.”
“I don’t know,” Brianna said. “It’s already so hot in here I can hardly stand it.”
“I don’t really have much choice. We need to get this done as quickly as possible. The molten rock is my best option.”
“But it could take a really long time to cool enough that we could pass over it.”
“No, I’ll have to cool it down to a reasonable temperature.”
“You can do that?”
“Sure, I think so.”
“Can you cool me down?” she asked playfully, waving her hand to fan her face.
Her skin glistened with sweat in the orange light of the cavern, and Zollin thought she looked more beautiful than ever.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I always get hot when I’m around you.”
“Oh, Zollin,” she said. “You need to stick to magic. I don’t think wooing women is your strong suit.”
“I thought it was pretty smooth.”
Brianna just laughed, and Zollin turned back to his task. He let his magic flow out and approach the molten rock. He could feel the heat. It wasn’t the same as physically being near the heat. It was more like noticing something: the heat registered in his mind but didn’t hurt him. He could sense that the surface, although blisteringly hot, was much cooler than the molten rock underneath. He probed the magma and found that the molten rock was thick like molasses on the surface. As the rock grew hotter, it became less viscous until it was almost like water.
He could also perceive the tiny particles that made up the magma. They were the same as the rock all around him, only these particles were spinning and shaking at an incredible rate. Further under the surface of the molten rock the particles crashed into each other, causing even more friction and heat. Zollin realized that all he needed to do was slow down the racing particles and the magma would revert to solid stone.
It took a great amount of concentration to form the shape of the bridge. It had to be arched, both for strength and to allow humans or dwarves to cross over the giant well of molten rock without the heat becoming unbearable.
Brianna watched in awe as the column of magma, at first merely glowing orange and then so bright white it was difficult to look at, rose up from the pool of molten rock. The magma dimmed and took shape as it rose. Zollin first simply made an arch of stone and cooled the rock. Then he levitated more of the molten rock and formed a flat walkway with railings on the side, fusing it to the arch he had already made. The entire process took nearly an hour.
Bahbaz returned halfway through the process and watched in awe as Zollin lifted the molten rock and made a bridge over the pool of super heated stone. When Zollin finished he leaned against the rock wall, tired and hot. His hair was wet with sweat and there were drops of sweat running down his face. He used his shirt to mop up the perspiration.
“That’s a fine bridge, wizard,” Bahbaz said. “You may have dwarfish blood. How long until we can cross?”
“Whenever you’re ready, although I could use a drink,” Zollin said.
“How’s your containment working?” Brianna said, referring to the barrier Zollin had built around his magic to keep it from sapping his physical strength so much.
“It’s fine, I’m just really hot.”
“It’s warm under the mountain, southlander,” Bahbaz boasted. “Spend the day pounding iron near a dwarf’s forge and you’ll know true heat.”
“I’ll pass,” Zollin said.
Bahbaz handed Zollin a metal canteen that was covered in a thin layer of tanned animal hide. There were four other dwarves with Bahbaz, each carrying a ruck sack, and among them they carried Zollin and Brianna’s packs. Brianna hefted hers over her shoulders and offered to carry Zollin’s.
“No, I’ve got it. Let’s get moving,” Zollin said.
The surface of the bridge was rough under their feet. Zollin had left it that way to give better traction to those crossing the steep inclines. The heat in the large cavern increased as they neared the apex of the bridge. Zollin had to dodge a few of the lowest-hanging stalactites, and soon they were on their way down the far side of the bridge. Beyond that was another tunnel.
The dwarves produced lanterns to light their path. The little lamps were great at illuminating the path, but not so effective at giving light to the ceiling of the tunnel. Zollin hit his head on the uneven stone several times. Brianna put on the helmet Zollin had made for her and the dwarves all marveled at it.
“That’s dwarfish steel if ever I’ve seen it,” Bahbaz said. “But who forged it for you? Dwarves don’t make human armor.”
“Zollin made it for me,” she said.
“You’re a smith?” asked one of the other dwarfs. He had a gruff voice that was so low-pitched it was almost hard to understand.
“No, I forged it using magic. Just like the bridge.”
This seemed to pacify the dwarves. They didn’t seem to care that their steel was forged into armor or weapons, but they wanted to ensure it was well made.
They walked for a long time. At certain points the tunnels opened up into larger caverns. At other times, Zollin and Brianna were forced to walk stooped over. Finally they came to another of the large caverns with a pool of molten rock at the center. This one still had remnants of the ancient bridge that once spanned the gap. It was narrower than the one Zollin had built. The pool of magma had built up, too, so that it looked like a tiny volcano in the center of the cavern floor.