He found himself standing in a narrow tunnel. Always interested in devices and gadgets, he examined the two crossbows sitting in iron supports and carefully aimed upward to the opening.
"It's a simple trick really," Leesil said. "You just mount them solidly, load them up, and then run a wire or string from the door to the firing mechanisms."
"If you two have finished admiring these would-be murder weapons," Magiere interjected in a low, irritated voice, "we need to move on. Light a torch."
Edwan arrived back at the tunnels under the warehouse in a state of agitation. He had listened to every word that passed between the hunter and the stranger who was staying in the cellar rooms of The Velvet Rose. Although he did not fully understand what had taken place, Edwan did comprehend that this hunter was more dangerous than Rashed would acknowledge and that the stranger knew many things about the undead. Also, this stranger was urging the hunter to hunt. Edwan thought back to the night Magiere visited the death place of the blacksmith's sister. The stranger had appeared and talked to her. He called her a dhampir. How had he put it…? "Someone gifted to kill the dead." The hunter had not been interested in Teesha or Rashed before that night. Bits of thoughts and connections passed through Edwan's scattered mind. He willed himself to think.
What if this stranger was somehow guiding the hunter's movements? She seemed so proud, yet she sought his guidance.
Edwan knew he must tell Teesha. She would understand what all the words meant-at least the words he could remember. She would know what to do.
He planned on flitting straight to her coffin when he sensed a presence and hesitated… no, he sensed more than one presence. Moving on instinct, he floated down a tunnel and came upon the sight of the hunter, her half-elf, the blacksmith, and the dog. They carried torches and weapons and were making their way straight toward the caves where Teesha and Rashed and Ratboy slept. Edwan felt shock and then chastised himself. Of course, they would be here. Did the stranger not tell her to hunt and to use her dog?
Some time ago, Edwan had begged Teesha to move her coffin away from Rashed's, so that he might have a brief span of privacy with her as she retired or when she arose. And she had agreed. Now, he hurried to her. With a bright flash, he appeared visibly in the center of her private underground chamber, frustrated that he lacked the ability to open the lid of her coffin.
"My dear," he said aloud. "You must wake up."
Edwan tried to push his consciousness back to when he'd been alive and could have at least tried to protect her. What would he have done? His thoughts had so long been trapped between the mortal and spirit world, he found it difficult to focus on anything more than the specific details of the moment at hand, let alone a time long gone.
"Teesha." He attempted using his thoughts this time, allowing his noncorporeal form to pass through the smooth lid of her coffin so that he could see her sleeping face. "Wake up."
Her eyes remained closed like a sweet child lost in sleep. Dusk was just beginning. She would awaken soon on her own, but he needed her to rise now.
Edwan drew back out of the chamber into the stone and packed-earth tunnels that Rashed had paid twelve men to dig before the warehouse was built. The job took nearly a year. The men were hired from out of town, and no one ever knew what became of them after they finished their task. The ghost tried desperately to remember any words floating about at that past time. Some areas needed wooden supports-he recalled those words-and the warrior designed a way for one of those places to cave in if intruders passed. Where was that place?
Rapid movement being one of the few gifts left to him, he concentrated upon his presence and vanished.
Leesil kept his equipment bag slung over one shoulder. He held a short torch out in front of him, but wanted his other hand completely free. Chap walked directly behind him, then Magiere, and Brenden brought up the rear, carrying the other torch. He warned both of them not to touch anything, even the walls, unless he told them it was safe.
It had been a long time since he had a reason to locate a sleeping target, and usually the job called for climbing up, not down. Keeping his attention on the task at hand, he moved slowly, examining the floor, walls, and ceiling carefully before stepping forward. He ignored Brenden's continued comments about the need for haste.
He also avoided speaking to or looking at Magiere, which wasn't difficult at this point. Their torches provided the only light source so far down and, after all, he was quite busy.
Chap growled softly, and his eyes grew brighter and even more transparent than usual.
"We're close," Magiere said. "I think."
None of them knew anything about Chap's abilities, but Leesil thought her comment made sense. He cast a glance over his shoulder at her and, in the scant light, something else caught his attention. With all the crawling about, her amulets had fallen out from inside her shirt and hung in plain sight about her neck. The topaz stone was glowing.
"Look," he said, pointing.
She glanced down and touched it in mild wonder. "It's not any warmer, just glowing."
Chap whined.
"Has it ever glowed before?" Leesil asked.
"When I fought that villager at the Vudrask River and…" She trailed off, and their eyes locked.
"Maybe you better leave it out," he said.
"We need to hurry," Brenden said in clear frustration.
The tunnel was small-barely large enough to stand in-and crudely dug. Leesil could see nothing except the walls, his feet, and a small distance ahead.
"How did they dig this tunnel under the warehouse?" Magiere asked.
"It's been a while, but I remember the construction seemed to take a long time," Brenden answered. "Perhaps the tunnel was created first and the warehouse built on top of it?"
That sounded plausible. Leesil saw overhead boards coming up.
"There are wooden supports here," he said. "Be careful passing through."
A small glint low to the floor caught his attention. He stopped, holding up a hand for the others to do the same, and crouched down for a closer look. A small wire ran across the tunnel a hand's breadth above the floor.
"Trip wire," he said. "If you look, you'll see it. Step carefully."
Such things were more of a nuisance to Leesil than an actual danger. His sharp gaze missed nothing, and he'd found his old ways coming back to him naturally, even after many years of trying to forget them. He turned to make sure Chap didn't trip the wire, when a glowing light appeared before him.
Colors solidified in the space of a heartbeat.
Leesil was face-to-face with a beheaded man standing close enough to touch him. The dead man's partially severed head lay at an angle on one shoulder with the stump of his open, bleeding throat exposed. His torso turned sharply, swinging his head in toward Leesil's face as the lips curled into a snarl.
Leesil lurched away from the terrifying sight. But he remembered the trip wire.
His first step was high enough to clear the wire, but his footing slipped as it came down. His trailing foot's heel snagged the wire as he stumbled backward. He instinctively covered his head with his arms."
Two boards pulled loose from above, one of them striking him flatsided as it fell. The roof above him exploded as roots and churning earth gained a life of their own. He tried to see if Magiere was far enough back to escape being buried, but he didn't have time. The pattering dirt and stone falling on him suddenly became a great weight. He was slammed downward, striking the ground with crushing force.
Magiere saw Leesil turn in her direction, then stumble backward down the tunnel, an expression of horror on his face, as if he'd seen something terrible. Almost instantly an avalanche of wood, rock, and sandy soil poured from the tunnel ceiling.