Ember cocked her head. "Do you hear that?" Indeed, all could hear the mutterings of many voices in the next room, muted by the stout door. "It is some sort of gathering. I've never known the elders to meet so late."
Ember looked to Kairoth, and the elder shook his head.
"Any elders we see beyond this door are masters in the art of hand, fist, and foot, even if they've been somehow subverted. It would be foolish for any of you to try your strength against them. Leave them to me. Are you ready?"
Nebin brought his goggles down over his eyes and pulled a scroll from his belt. Hennet rubbed his hands together, while the dwarf smacked the head of his warhammer into his other palm.
Ember simply nodded and said, "It is time."
Kairoth pushed wide the door.
Two days before, Ember was heartened by the warm lights and fragrant oils of this chamber. Now, the ambiance of the reddish lights seemed to suggest only blood.
Four people sat in a circle at the center of the large room. All four wore red masks and chanted in atonal unison. At the center of the circle were two more figures. One was a woman half wrapped in gray strands of fabric, lying face up. She seemed drugged, unaware of her surroundings. Another red-masked figure hunched over her, tightening the woman's wrappings, winding the fabric around her slowly and ritually in time to the chanting. Ember recognized both. The woman being wrapped was Elder Cestra, the other, Elder Vobod! The walls of the room were hidden by silken screens.
Elder Kairoth spoke loudly. "Vobod, your betrayal of the Order ends here."
The chanting ceased as every masked face turned toward the intruders.
Vobod looked up, easily recognizable despite his red mask, and said, "Look here, my fellow adepts. We have more applicants who wish to take the Oath. Welcome them!"
The chanters scrambled to gain their feet. Elder Kairoth didn't give them the chance. With a yell, he leaped spectacularly over their heads and delivered a powerful spinning kick to Elder Vobod. Vobod deflected most of the force with the back of his hand, then counterattacked; he was a blur of flashing arms and legs. Normally, an exhibition fight between two elders was something Ember wouldn't miss. Now, she had to somehow deal with the other red-masked chanters. She hoped there were no elders hiding among them, or the battle was over before it began.
With a rush of feet, the red masks leaped to the attack, one after another.
Ember engaged the foremost, using careful ho shin sul, the self defense techniques of the Order. She was slightly dismayed when the man she faced used a similar, if not identical, technique. A stunning, round-house thunder slap to his neck penetrated his defense before he could counterattack. Ember spun past the collapsing man, looking for more adversaries.
Her breath caught when she saw robes cartwheeling past her and Brek's flank, directly toward Hennet. The sorcerer traced a pattern in the air, then reduced his assailant to a writhing heap on the floor with sizzling bolts of magic. Though the man fell, the momentum of his charge pushed the body to within a foot of the sorcerer.
Two more menaced Brek Gorunn, each attempting to distract the dwarf so that the other could attempt a killing blow. Before Ember could assist, Nebin rushed forward, one of his hands aglow with frigid lambency. When the gnome's hand brushed one of Brek's attackers, the supernatural charge stopped him cold. A heartbeat later, the dwarf dropped the other with a ringing blow from his warhammer.
Kairoth and Vobod continued sparring, two blurred forms moving too quickly to resolve. The dwarf howled his cry to battle, attacking Vobod from the rear. Before the dwarf's roar was fully formed, a foot lashed against his neck. The cry choked off and Brek collapsed, unmoving. Ember, on the dwarf's heels, stopped to check on him. He breathed, but his neck was badly crushed. Ember looked up, wondering if she should pull the dwarf away or help her mentor. No decision was necessary.
With the dwarf as a distraction, Elder Kairoth executed another spin kick. This time, Vobod had no defense. With the sound of crunching bone, Vobod joined Brek Gorunn on the floor. Kairoth stood as a pillar, unmoving, but his eyes danced.
It was then that a brutish, hollow voice echoed in the chamber. It said, "Elder Kairoth, remember your oath!"
Kairoth staggered as if punched, then stood unmoving again, but the flames in his eyes were doused.
"Who said that?" squealed Nebin.
Ember darted her gaze around, trying to ascertain the same thing. It hadn't been the last chanter. He cowered on the floor.
A shape burst through one of the screens surrounding the room, tearing the silk into flapping shreds. It was humanlike, yet bestial, half-again as big as a human. Its skin was muddy green.
Nebin squeaked, "An ogre! Or half-breed?"
The gnome's voice wavered with uncertainty. The ogre-like monstrosity laughed.
"Elder Kairoth," it intoned hollowly, "kill the woman! Then kill the rest!"
Kairoth grunted, his face working hard. Ember looked at her mentor, taking a step back. With a strangled grunt, he faced Ember.
He whispered, the muscles of his neck straining like wires, "Run!"
Ember nearly fell. Whatever had happened in the subterranean temple, they had not rescued Kairoth in time. It would have been clear to anyone that Kairoth's will was fighting the magical effect with supernatural effort. To Ember, who knew the mental disciplines behind the Order's training, the struggle playing out on Kairoth's face was a nightmare to behold. If Kairoth could not overcome it, she knew no one could. That would indeed be powerful and frightening magic-and the ogre somehow manipulated it. The monster had to be dealt with, and quickly. None of them would live long if Kairoth turned fully against them.
"Hennet, Nebin, kill that ogre now!" she screamed.
She wanted to say more, but Kairoth kicked at her. Another kick, two feints, and then a hammer blow so fast and hard it made the air ring. Ember fell back with each attack, knowing she couldn't fight her mentor. She barely dared to deflect his blows, afraid that even a glancing hit could shatter her arm or snap a wrist. She dodged and ducked, leaped and rolled, anything to stay away from those hands and feet that could strike like hot iron. If she could avoid getting crippled or knocked out, perhaps she could keep Kairoth occupied long enough for the others to eliminate the ogre that drove the monk to attack.
These were no thoughts in Ember's mind, only instinct. No time existed for thought. The notion had barely formed when a steely fist streaked past her whirling defense. Even as she was lifted from her feet and lost track of the room's orientation, she marveled at the elder's speed and power. How could a human do such feats?
She smashed backward through a silk screen and slammed into the solid wall behind. The force of the impact sent spiderweb cracks through the stone. Only when she slid down and collided with the floor did Ember realize she was upside down. Darkness's seductive veil tantalized her eyes.
Ember moaned, rolled onto all fours, and crawled forward. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, more streamed down her shoulder. She tried sitting up, pulling at the rough stones on the wall behind the screen for support, but her head swooned and up and down rushed together. Her back slapped the floor in a puff of dust. Lying there, she managed to turn her head so she could watch how the others fared without her.
Kairoth stood unmoving again, his hands squeezing into fists then relaxing, over and over. His face was beet red and sweat rolled across it to disappear into the knotted muscles of his neck. Ember looked for Hennet, then saw him facing the ogre. The sorcerer muttered a few syllables and gestured. A ghostly, disembodied hand appeared above and behind the ogre. The ogre didn't seem to see it-it was yelling something to Kairoth, but she couldn't hear over the thumping in her ears.