Ciredor inspected the stone and rubbed it against his tunic like someone about to bite into an apple. He smiled deeply.
"Off to collect my prize," he told Tazi as he turned to go.
"But don't worry," he called over his shoulder, "I'll be back to collect you later. If there's anything left, that is."
He disappeared down the stairs.
Tazi saw that the mummies grew more active after the stone's rays no longer bathed their bodies. She briefly wondered if they were angered that it was gone or if the rock's mystical properties kept them at bay. She guessed the former because she was fairly certain Ciredor's gem was the receptacle for their stolen souls. She didn't have time for further contemplation as one of the mummies' snarls snapped her back to the here and now.
She could see by the firelight that they were all staring at her, perhaps blaming her for the absence of the stone. The circle of mummies started to tighten around her. Tazi turned in a circle herself, ready to strike though she knew she was hopelessly outnumbered.
A shout from the doorway drew some of the undead's attention away from Tazi. She looked over as well to see Steorf and Fannah standing in the doorway to the lookout chamber.
"What is this?" Steorf shouted as several of the mummies had broken away from the circle and started their odd shuffling over to the newcomers.
Tazi could see that Steorf had his sword drawn and Fannah still had the dagger Tazi had given her during the worm attack.
"He's here!" Tazi shouted.
She slashed across the arm of the nearest mummy. The partially severed limb dangled from the creature by a dried piece of tendon. That did nothing, however, to stop its inexorable march forward. Tazi backed up and bumped into the brazier. The mummy that was pursuing her flinched a little at the sight of the flames.
"Of course," Tazi realized, "you're afraid of fire." She knelt down, and with her free hand she felt around for the poker Ciredor had dropped. When she found it, she stood and placed the metal into the fire.
She shouted to Steorf, "Have you got a torch?"
Steorf saw one mounted to the entrance of the chamber and wrenched it from the wall. He tossed the old wood toward Tazi, and she caught it with her left hand. Still brandishing her sword with her right, she shoved the wood into the red-hot brazier, and it burst into flames. She waved the fire at the mummified remains of the Mysterious Lurker, and he threw his rotted hands in front of his face. She used the opportunity to slip past the lurching horror and gain her friends' side.
"I've got to stop him," a breathless Tazi said to her companions.
A moan made all three of them turn, and they saw that the mummies had grouped up and were shuffling toward the doorway.
"Go!" Steorf shouted. "We'll guard your back." Tazi was torn for a moment, turning from the darkened stairs to the room of rotted corpses and back again. It was Fannah who broke the spell.
"You have to stop him," she told Tazi. "No one else can."
Tazi looked at her blind friend and squeezed her arm gratefully.
"I'll be back," she told Fannah, handed her the torch, and disappeared after Ciredor.
The guardians growled at Tazi's departure. Steorf cast a quick glance at Fannah and saw that the Calishite gripped her dagger fiercely and held the torch high.
"Are you ready?" he asked the blind woman.
"Yes," she answered immediately.
As one, they entered the room, and the mummies moved toward the intruders with a slow certainty. Steorf beheaded the first one that approached him with one stroke but could feel how exhausted he was after the single effort. The worm poison had taken a heavy toll on him, and he knew he lacked the strength for even the simplest of spells. Fannah stayed close to his side. He wasn't sure if she was clinging to him for protection or to offer it. He realized, however, that it didn't matter.
Fannah waved the torch at the face of a mummified troll that had slithered up beside her. The creature screamed in pain and backed away, batting at the places where the flames had singed its leathery skin. While it was distracted, Fannah flicked her dagger across its throat. Nothing poured forth, as the troll was long since a desiccated husk, but the cut was deep enough to cause its head to sag back.
The weight of its skull and gravity finished the job for Fannah. The troll's head snapped off and tumbled to the ground. Its body stumbled about, directionless.
Steorf smiled at Fannah's handiwork but had his hands full soon enough. Two more creatures shambled over. While a hulking human waved a sword blindly at Steorf, a female half-elf jumped on his back with a shrill scream. She wrapped her arms around his throat and her slender, rotted legs around Steorf's waist. While he slashed at the air between himself and the human, the half-elf clawed at his eyes and bit his ear.
The mummy with the sword made blind slashes at Steorf, which he parried easily. The half-elf was another matter. Steorf had to continue to thrash his head from side to side to avoid her raking fingers. He could feel warm blood trickle down the side of his neck where the female had bitten through his earlobe, and he was momentarily surprised that he had enough fluid in his body left to bleed.
"Enough!" he shouted.
Fannah turned at the sound of his voice. When he saw her, an idea came to him. Steorf began to swing harder with his weapon and forced the human mummy backward.
Thrust after thrust, the creature lost more ground until it tripped on the stone support for the brass brazier and dropped its weapon. The creature stumbled back and fell into the flames. It writhed from side to side and managed to jump up as fast as its hulking body allowed. It made one staggering step before the flames ran up the length of its body. The mummy tumbled to the ground and rolled once before burning completely. An acrid smoke filled the chamber.
Steorf had no time to admire his handiwork. The half-elf managed to get her claws into his chest wound and tear it further. Steorf bellowed in rage and slammed his back, with the half-elf still on him, into the metal doorframe of the chamber.
There was a sickening crack, and when he moved forward the half-elf released her grip and slumped bonelessly to the floor. She toppled forward and Steorf could see that her back had split open. To his horror, she still made a swipe at his boot with one hand.
In absolute repulsion, he brought his heel down on her hand and reduced it to powder.
"You won't be clawing anyone with that," he spat, moving away from the shuddering mummy.
Fannah was cornered by three undead, and she swung her torch in a protective arc in front of her. Steorf saw her predicament and moved to help her. He raised his broadsword with two hands and swung across the mummies like a thresher would a field of wheat, his rage sparking his last reserves of strength. Each mummy was cleanly sliced through the midsection, and they toppled over like a child's set of blocks. Steorf looked at Fannah and saw that she was relieved to hear the mummies' crash, but there wasn't a hint of fear on her face. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her free of the torsos that still tried to clutch at her feet.
"We're almost done," he told her, and she smiled.
"I knew we'd make it," she replied.
"How?" he asked her.
"Because this is part of what I saw within the gate," she answered simply.
Before Steorf could reply, he saw another mummy come up behind Fannah with a raised weapon.
"Duck!" he shouted to the Calishite and roughly shoved her aside.
He parried the monster's blow and brought his knee up into the creature's groin. The force of the blow doubled the mummy up, and Steorf smashed the hilt of his broadsword into the thing's skull. The mummy's head exploded in a puff of dust and rot.