Five steps from the top, Captain Bakal found another trap … and almost too late.
The step itself looked innocent, and even when he tossed the pebbles on it, nothing happened. Bakal even reached up and tapped the step with his scythe, quickly drawing back in order to avoid any surprise.
Still suspicious of his luck but unwilling to hesitate anymore, Bakal put a foot on the step.
A slight hiss sent him dropping.
Razor-sharp sheets of metal sprouted from the opposing walls, slicing across the step. Less than an inch separated the vile pair. If Bakal had stood there, the top half of his body would no longer have been attached to the bottom.
As quickly as they had appeared, the huge blades retracted. The devilish device had clearly been set into place by the dark mage, for as the sheets retreated, they vanished into seamless blank walls.
“Draco Paladin!” uttered the scarred veteran, for the moment unable to rise. His body shook as he thought of his near death. The captain had always been ready to give his life on the field of battle, but that hardly compared to this. Better a sword thrust through the heart than severed in half like a fish prepared for supper.
Despite the blades, Bakal knew he could not rest. Estimating the height at which they had materialized, the captain started crawling up the stairs. When the blades did not shoot out, he grew encouraged. Only two steps remained.
Two steps that he had not yet tested.
Still lying down, Bakal took the scythe and tapped the nearest. Nothing. Then, recalling that it had taken the weight of his foot to set off the blades, the Ergothian officer took a chance and used his free hand to push down.
Again nothing.
Only one step left.
Sweating, Bakal used the scythe again. When that failed to bring about any result, he touched the step himself.
And two more blades shot out of the walls, this time just above knee level.
Bakal flattened himself on the stairs, not daring to look up until the blades had vanished again.
“B-Blasted spellcasters!” Bakal didn’t let the new trap slow him, though. Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself up the final few feet. The second set of metal blades forced the Ergothian to practically slither.
It was with some relief that he reached the entrance to the tower chamber. The captain gingerly touched the door. To his amazement, it opened readily, with no further surprises. Bakal entered, scythe held before him.
Windows lined the circular room, a different touch from what the veteran recalled from previous flying citadels. In those, the chamber had been sealed off from the outside save for a single inner entrance. Reports had indicated that the one who flew the castle had some magical means of viewing his destination. One had claimed that a spell on the ceiling created some sort of window to the outside world. Bakal actually thought Valkyn’s approach made more sense; let a man see where he’s going and be done with all the mystical nonsense.
At that moment, Bakal caught sight of Valkyn’s steersman, a thing more shadow than man. No matter how many times he had seen the creatures, the cloaked ghouls still unnerved him, more so because he knew that they had once been living men just like himself.
Steeling himself, Captain Bakal shouted, “You there! Away from that thing! Do it now!”
The shadow servant did not obey. Instead, he simply turned his sightless gaze toward the soldier, revealing the pale, drawn face.
Bakal shivered. Something about that face struck a memory. He quickly dismissed the thought. Bad enough to confront the creature without the added knowledge of who he once had been.
Still the robed figure did not move. Bakal exhaled. If the shadow servant wouldn’t listen to his demand, then the captain would have to use force. Holding the scythe high, Bakal marched up and took hold of the ghoul’s sleeve, which slid back … and revealed the awful truth.
There were no hands-or rather, what little that remained of them simply melded into the controls of the misnamed Wind Captain’s Chair. Glancing down, Captain Bakal saw that the feet, too, had become part of the mechanism. In fact, it was impossible to tell where the steersman ended and the Wind Captain’s Chair began.
“By the gods!” Captain Bakal murmured, overwhelmed by revulsion.
“Disgustingly efficient, isn’t it?” came a voice from behind him. “He told me about it, but seeing it is certainly something else. Typical of Valkyn to come up with something like this.”
General Cadrio stood at the entrance. The vulpine general had his sword drawn, its point leveled at the Ergothian’s gut.
Bakal realized that he had been a fool. Cadrio had allowed him to show the way. The general had likely watched from the bottom of the steps, marking each trap or action.
“You can offer to surrender, Ergothian, but I just want you to know that Valkyn doesn’t see much need for you.”
“You, either, from what I’ve seen.”
Cadrio’s expression darkened. “He’s been more clever than I would have thought, but I’m working my way back into his graces. Better a puppet emperor of Ansalon than dead.”
“Until you can cut the strings, I suppose.”
The lanky villain smiled slightly. “Until then, yes …”
The captain doubted that Valkyn would prove as foolish as General Cadrio believed. From what Bakal had seen so far, the wizard would let Cadrio hang himself when the time came. “It will be interesting to see which one of you proves wrong.…”
“Does that mean you’re surrendering?”
Now Bakal smiled. “No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that.”
“Probably not the best idea, but the result will be the same whether you accept your death willingly or not.”
Bakal readied the hand scythe. “I’ll take that chance.”
Cadrio suddenly thrust. The general moved even swifter than Bakal expected. He barely parried the blade with the more awkward scythe, then quickly backed away before his adversary could follow through. The Ergothian veteran skirted around the shadow servant, assuming that General Cadrio wouldn’t slay the creature.
The dark warrior nearly did just that, so eagerly did he want Bakal. The sword went past the face of the servant, who paid it as much mind as he did the air. Cadrio backed away, then started around the robed figure. The captain kept pace, trying to assess his chances. Not only did Cadrio move fast, but his sword far outreached the curving scythe. Bakal needed to get well within range of the skilled swordsman to do any good with his own weapon.
“Stop dancing and fight … or is this how the Ergothians lost their vast empire?”
If he expected taunts to get to Bakal, Cadrio was sorely mistaken. The captain had not lived this long by falling prey to words. “Trade weapons with me and we’ll see how you dance.”
Again Cadrio thrust, and again he nearly skewered the shadow servant. The general seemed not to care if he killed the only one keeping the castle on course. If anything happened to the robed creature, then Atriun would go flying out of control and …
Bakal had made many quick but difficult decisions in his career, but this one he found the worst. Castle Atriun needed to be destroyed. No one, not even the Whites tone Council, had the right to the knowledge needed to create such an ungodly craft.
He held the scythe ready, as if preparing to meet Cadrio head-on. The general smiled, poising himself for the Ergothian’s attack.
“I’ll make it quick for you, Captain.”
“Just what I was thinking …”
Bakal swung with all his might, but his target was not General Cadrio. As the commander moved to defend himself, Bakal suddenly turned in a different direction. Cadrio finally realized what his adversary intended and let out a cry of outrage.