"Listle, what's the matter?" Miltiades called out.
The elf bit her lip, shaking the Staff of Twilight. A thin tendril of smoke rose from its tip. "I think this thing's had it," she said glumly, casting the spent staff aside.
"Well, you'll be able to say the same thing about us shortly if we don't do something about this blasted creature," Trooper snapped. He testily gathered his gray robe around his knobby knees to dodge a flying chunk of rock. "Cat-man, how is that sorceress of yours doing?"
"Her spell is not yet complete," Gamaliel said sharply, his eyes flashing at the mere hint his mistress was not doing all she could.
"Just a question," Trooper grumped. "No need to take it so personally."
"All right, I have an idea," Listle cried out. "But I'm going to need you to distract old two-heads here."
Trooper looked at the elf suspiciously. "What harebrained scheme are you-"
"Just keep zombie-breath occupied, all right?" she replied. She traced an intricate pattern in the air with her fingers. Silvery sparks crackled about her feet, and suddenly she began to move so rapidly she blurred before their eyes.
There was no time to doubt her strategy. The three warriors darted between the cascading rocks, reaching the pool's edge. They attacked-Kern with his hammer, Miltiades with his long sword, Trooper with his rune sword. More metallic tentacles lifted themselves from the pool, snaking wildly to parry their blows. But a few swings managed to slip through, landing against the mutant zombie's knees. It let out a roar and bent over to reach its foes with long, scythelike claws.
As a result, it did not see the silver streak that sped around the far side of the pool, approaching on its blind side.
Just then, Listle reached the melee, the silver sparks around her feet fading as her swiftness spell ended. Still distracted, the creature did not notice as the elf reached out a single finger and touched its flesh, whispering the words of a spell.
Instantly the guardian straightened, growing rigid. The dead eyes that had once been Sirana's stared into space, gazing at some imagined foe with a look equal parts horror and outrage. The dragon's maw snarled at a conjured enemy as the creature clawed futilely at thin air.
Listle's illusion spell had worked! In its mind, the creature was now battling its worst nightmare. What sort of form that nightmare had taken, there was no way to know. But if the guardian lost the imaginary battle, the consequences would prove fatal-and very real.
The elf grinned triumphantly at her fellow warriors. Suddenly, caught in the throes of its phantom battle, the guardian whirled. Its serpent tail whistled through the air, cracking like a gigantic whip as it struck Listle forcibly.
The elf's delicate body was hurled through the air like a piece of chaff. She struck a pile of jagged rocks and did not move. Blood seeped from a wound on Listle's temple.
"No!" Kern screamed in disbelief, taking a step toward the fallen elf.
A hand on his shoulder halted him.
"Kern."
It was Trooper, his voice solemn. "The battle is not over."
Kern shook his head dumbly. Could an illusion…could Listle… die?
At the same moment, Daile moved toward the edge of the pool, raising her bow. She felt a sick knot in her stomach, fear that Listle was dead. But Daile was determined that the elf's sacrifice would not be in vain. Nor would her father's. Now was her chance for vengeance, while the creature was still distracted.
Do not fail me now, bow, she silently instructed her weapon. She nocked an arrow, raising the magical longbow.
"I am no sorcerer," a calm voice said behind her, "but I do know that if you strike the creature with an arrow, the elf's spell will be broken."
Daile froze.
Gamaliel stepped before her. As always, the barbarian's chiseled face was impassive.
Daile clenched her fingers. She ought to release the arrow right away. Her opportunity for vengeance could pass at any moment. But something in Gamaliel's eyes held her.
"A single arrow cannot slay this beast," he went on softly.
The bow trembled in her grip. "But I vowed to my father…"
Gamaliel reached out, clasping her wrist. "Remember what I told you," he said quietly. "Sometimes those with the wild gift lose themselves in the hunt. But this is not your hunt, Daile." He nodded toward Kern. "It is his. Do not take that from him." A shadow touched the barbarian's lips. It might almost have been a smile. "Fear not, Daile. You will have many opportunities in the years to come to honor your father's memory with your deeds."
Slowly Daile lowered the bow. "I will honor him," she whispered fiercely.
Gamaliel only nodded, his grip tightening.
"Kern," Trooper growled fiercely. "Listle's spell won't last much longer. Act now! Use the Hammer of Tyr!"
Kern was dazed and reacting slowly.
"Life was worth everything to Listle," Miltiades prompted quietly. "Yet she was willing to risk her life for this quest. Do not let that sacrifice come to nothing."
These words bit deep into Kern's heart. Suddenly he felt his fear, his anger-his confusion-melt away.
He whirled to face the mutant. The creature writhed before him, still tackling the phantom enemy that only its grotesque eyes could see. It lurched forward, within range.
With a cry to Tyr, Kern hurled the glowing hammer with all his might.
This time the metallic tentacles that reached up to snatch it out of the air were smashed. The hammer hit the guardian full in the chest. Blue lightning crackled, transfixing the zombie. In a heartbeat, the hammer returned to Kern's grip.
"What's going on?" a clear voice asked.
Evaine had woken from her spell. In her hand she held the gem that had been bathed in the magical flame of her brazier. An energy pulsated inside the gem, first dark, then light, beating to a slow, steady rhythm.
"Is your spell complete, Evaine?" Miltiades asked.
"It is." She frowned, noticing the gigantic mutant zombie struggling against the magic that encircled it. "Something tells me I missed out on some highlights."
"We'll explain later!" Kern cried hoarsely. "I think now would be a good time to destroy the pool."
Evaine smiled, her green eyes glinting with a dangerous light. "With pleasure." She raised the pulsating gem and cast it into the pool of twilight.
The crystal sank silently beneath the surface of the pool. At first nothing happened. Kern wondered with a shiver of fear if Evaine's spell had misfired. Then he noticed a faint, pulsating spot where the gem had fallen into the pool, glowing light, then dark, in a steady cadence.
The waters of the pool swirled and bubbled, but the pulsing spot began to spread, stilling the waves. The pool surged in fury, waterspouts reaching to the ceiling. But the pulsating circle continued to enlarge, its steady, calming rhythm unwavering. First dark. Then light. Then dark again.
"What's happening?" Kern shouted above the roar of the waves.
"The pool fights to keep its chaotic nature," Evaine shouted back. "But the magic within the gem is rhythmic, ordered."
Metallic foam flew through the air. The guardian of the pool-the mutant zombie that was half Sirana, half Dusk- screamed as it struggled against the holy magic that surrounded it.
By now all the pool was pulsating. Dark. Light. Dark.
The waves ebbed. The surface of the pool became as still as glass. Even the guardian became motionless, the dragon maw frozen in midscream.
The pool went dark, so dark that all the light seemed to be drained out of the cavern. The blackness hurt Kern's eyes. He counted ten heartbeats in the ominous silence. Then, all of a sudden, the pool flared brilliantly, and everything went white. The searing light seemed to burn right through stone and flesh. Ten more heartbeats. Abruptly, then, the radiance dimmed.