Iahn appeared behind Shaddon. The vengeance taker stabbed his drawn blade deep into the darkness shrouding the elder Datharathi. The form in the center of the thickening cloud jittered, then spun around with blinding speed, one arm extended wide. As Shaddon completed his spin, one hand lashed out like a scything blade, trying to catch the vengeance taker across the throat. Iahn deflected the blow along the flat of his dragonfly blade, but the force of the blow knocked the vengeance taker's weapon spinning away.
Shaddon's other hand, closed in a fist, and jabbed with the speed of an adder. Iahn evaded it with an economical head bob, just as quick. Shaddon's sinews were enhanced with the power summoned by his Celestial Nadir prostheses, but a vengeance taker's abilities drew from years of hard training and sorcery.
Ususi whispered words of ineptitude and hurled them at Shaddon, who absorbed them without flinching. The wizard next traced a sign in the air, but Shaddon evaded the small, whirling vortex that tried to pull him up. She spoke the dark syllables of the Decomposition of Umyatin, but before she could finish, another barrage of wavering black rays fell upon her from one of Shaddon's hands. His other hand connected in a particularly vicious cross to Iahn's left shoulder, just missing his head. The wizard cried out as her protective screen failed, and several thin ribbons chewed through her flesh, thankfully still hardened from the ward she'd erected upon first entering Adama's Tooth. Blood flowed, and she hoped the pain meant only a superficial wound.
Iahn continued to circle and jab with his bare hands, attempting to prevent Shaddon from matching each of the wizard's attacks with a salvo of his own. The elder Datharathi managed to release another barrage against Ususi, but the vengeance taker took advantage of his split attention and assayed a vicious, low-leg sweep. The blow knocked Shaddon's feet from under him, and he clattered to the floor.
Shaddon bounded back to his feet, tangible claws of darkness growing from his fingers, and a mane of ebony fire rimming his brow.
Iahn backpedaled, spoke a single resonant word, and faded from view.
Shaddon intoned, "I see you." The possessed Datharathi waved its burgeoning claws of darkness through empty air and knocked the vengeance taker into view from the mystical angle of space in which he'd hidden. Iahn rolled away from the claws in a smooth tumble toward Ususi. Simultaneous with his roll, the wizard saw the taker deftly open and plunge a finger into his damos. Shaddon turned and advanced upon Ususi, claws clacking and ebony mane dripping malevolent fire. As Iahn finished his roll, she erected a semi-solid wall of ice, hoping to hold Shaddon back long enough for her to devise a better strategy.
She glanced at Iahn. The vengeance taker popped the finger he'd dipped in the damos into his mouth. Ususi gasped, "By the Great Seal!"
Iahn's eyes glazed, his vision fixing on some distant horizon. His head lolled, and he slurred, "One whose flesh is partly crystalline is yet thrall to his mind-and his mind is in thrall to Pandorym. Sever the first connection, and the second connection is for naught. Sever the second connection, and we…"
Even as he uttered the last of his warning, his diction improved.
Ususi realized the vengeance taker's body was throwing off the poison.
Ice fragments exploded outward as Shaddon clawed through the magical barrier. He spoke. "The keystone will be taken. The keystone …"
Ususi uttered a spell to freeze Shaddon's will, its sharp consonants and long vowels buzzing in her throat. The spell took shape and descended upon Shaddon like a stooping hawk. For a heartbeat, then two, Shaddon stood transfixed, his body refusing to act as his mind, or Pandorym's will, directed him.
The reprieve gave Iahn enough time to snatch up his fallen dragonfly blade.
Ususi shouted to the vengeance taker, "Use your damos on him!"
Without answering, Iahn took his blade and shoved it unceremoniously into the unmoving Datharathi's chest, but it failed to penetrate.
The vengeance taker said, "His flesh is completely encased in crystal."
Ususi yelled, "He's struggling against the bonds of my spell-kill him! Use your damos."
Darkness scythed around the transfixed body of Shaddon, swooping and whirling like a murder of crows.
Iahn explained, "I emptied the damos reservoir to see ahead to a future that contained both of us. It'll take a day for the damos to refill. The Voice is not something called on lightly, and doing so has consequences."
"Then forget Shaddon-by the time Pandorym breaks down my spell, we'll be gone. The portal must be this way!" Ususi made a dash toward the tunnel Shaddon had appeared from, but paused.
The still form of Eined lay sprawled in her path. The Datharathi woman's spirit had fled the world, to a place of final freedom Ususi herself had nearly reached when the efts had mauled her. The stars had been so bright…
Iahn saw Ususi's hesitation and sheathed his dragonfly blade on his left hip. He stooped, grabbed the girl, and threw her limp body over his shoulder. Without visible effort, he ran past Ususi down the corridor. Wiping a tear from her cheek, Ususi followed.
The vengeance taker ignored the side passages. Unearthly screeches pealed from one dark opening, and a venomous glow leaked from another.
But the main passage was clear, and soon enough emptied into another large cavern. This grotto was the site of some sort of recent disaster. A pile of broken wooden tables, the wreckage of expensive equipment, and a variety of other debris left a whorled trail of destruction across the floor. A woman lay at the spiral's epicenter, unmoving. Crystal implants were visible on her body. Some creature or force had apparently removed the woman's head. Ususi turned and saw the menhir ring. Her heart leaped! The ring was a duplicate of the Mucklestones of the Lethyr Forest, which meant… "There! A portal into the Celestial Nadir," the wizard breathed. The bright, unwavering lights on the cavern's periphery failed to illuminate the ring's interior. "Careful," the wizard told Iahn as he moved toward a gap between two stones, "it's open. Even without a keystone, they've managed to access the Celestial Nadir." The vengeance taker nodded and stepped through. Ususi followed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The sun burned a hole in the sky. Whisky burned Kiril's throat and warmed a path to her stomach. A slender tower reached toward the heavens as they galloped across the scorched dunes, raising a line of dust in their wake. Sweat stung the elf's eyes, but she resisted rubbing them. She could clearly see the splinter for the first time.
The shard towered a mile or more into the sand-hazed sky. "Blood!" she cursed. Kiril took another swig, then holstered her flask. The stone destrier ate up the wasteland miles, swelling the tower's silhouette to an improbable height. The geomancer dozed at Kiril's side. He was strapped into place, lest he roll off in his daze. He woke now and then to look at the splinter, mumble something half lucidly, then fall back into a fitful sleep. His curse-born illness had resurged. The dwarf's energy failed by the moment. Ahead, the booming sound of Prince Monolith's strides seemed to count the heartbeats remaining to the dwarf. "Hells and blood," muttered the elf. They reached the base of the splinter in the late afternoon. Vast and imposing, many-windowed and sprouting hundreds of secondary spires, Kiril could see for herself that the edifice was not an unworked fragment carved off some larger chunk of purplish stone. It was an enormous artifact of some previous era, worked by hands and minds informed with skill now unrivaled in the world. Hundreds of balconies, balustrades, verandas, spiraling stairs, and sealed doorways dotted the great tower's sides, all empty and silent. Drifts of sand and rust stains spoke of metal fixtures that had entirely dissolved. The lowest visible balcony was a good two or three hundred paces above the desert floor. Below it were sheer-sided tower walls as seamless and slick as an ice cliff. Kiril knew some dwarves and humans possessed great skill in climbing sheer rock or ice, but they weren't along, nor was any of the elaborate equipment such a climb required. The prince raised one hand and pressed it against the side of the purplish stone. "It rebuffs me," reported Prince Monolith. "I cannot force an entry." "Do you know who built it?" blurted Kiril. She recalled the fantastic glassy architecture of her own star elf heritage. This stone tower rivaled even the most fantastic glass fortresses of Sildeyuir in its size and imposing impregnability. "Thormud could answer that question." Monolith turned and strode back to the destrier. The elemental lord removed the dwarf from the destrier's back. He held Thormud in his massive hands. He exhaled long and hard, and golden motes of light danced from the elemental lord's open mouth to settle on the geomancer's beard and face. The dwarf opened his eyes. They were clear again. Thormud looked up at the prince, "Thanks for that, old friend." "It is only a reprieve, I'm afraid," said Monolith. The dwarf nodded. "Then you'd better set me down." The elemental obliged.