The creatures turned toward the kender. Lightning surged out, twin bolts that cut through the still air and narrowly missed Blister as she fell to the floor. Rig snapped the chain that bound together the necks of himself and Palin and with one strong tug broke the necklace that gripped their ankles. Pushing himself away from the sorcerer, he plowed into the pair of spawn and threw off the aim of their second lightning barrage.
Rig ducked as a bolt of lighting, meant for him, passed narrowly above his head. He barely sidestepped another as he hurled his small blade at the tallest spawn. The tiny knife sank all the way into the creature’s neck, causing it to howl madly. Its claws tore at the scales around its wound, trying to find purchase on the blade. Black blood oozed down its muscular chest. The spawn dropped to its knees, gasped for air, then exploded in a ball of light.
“What happened?” Blister called. She had been watching Feril and only saw the flash out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, there’s one less!”
“Palin, get over here!” Rig bellowed.
Although the sorcerer hadn’t been looking at the creature, he was practically blinded by the explosion. He shut his eyes firmly and took a few hesitant steps toward the mariner.
“See cannot!” shouted the smaller wyvern, who had been engrossed in the struggle. “Bright light! Eyes sting! See cannot!”
“Spawn popped!” its companion growled. “Prisoners bad!”
“Palin!” Rig hollered. The mariner grabbed Palin by the shoulder, pulling the disoriented sorcerer to him.
“Slayers!” the remaining spawn cried. It flapped its wings to rise several feet above the stone floor and spit at Rig and Palin. “I can’t kill you,” it hissed. “The master would be angry. But I can hurt you. I will hurt you so badly that you shall wish you were dead.”
“My pockets!” Rig shouted to Palin. “Reach in! Hurry!”
The sorcerer blinked, shaking his head to clear his vision. The lightning flashes made it difficult to see very well and he struggled to focus amid all the light sparking from the creature’s claws and teeth. Giving up on trusting his eyes, he shut them and felt about for the mariner’s waist His hands dipped into the folds of Rig’s pockets and closed on the pommels of twin daggers in hidden sheaths.
Rig stepped away from the sorcerer, tugged off his red leather headband, and started swinging it above his head. “Can’t kill us, huh?” he blustered. “Too bad. That’s just what I intend to do to you!”
He leapt at the hovering creature, just as a bolt of lightning arced from the spawn’s mouth. It cut through the air where the mariner had been standing a moment before and nearly struck Palin. Rig whipped the leather thong around the spawn’s ankle and yanked hard. It closed tight like a lasso, and the mariner’s weight pulled the creature down.
Rig wrestled the spawn to its stomach and drove his knee into its back. His fingers fumbled with the thong to pull it free. “And this time I’ll know enough to keep my eyes closed when you breathe your last.” He quickly wrapped the thong around the creature’s thick neck. But as he pulled back to tighten the strap, the spawn beat its wings furiously, slicing Rig’s arms and chest.
“Hold still, damn you!” Rig gritted his teeth and hung on as the spawn thrust up with its arms and legs, pushing off the stone floor. Despite his best efforts, he found himself dislodged, and the spawn whirled on him. Lightning sparked about its claws as it hurled a bolt into the mariner’s stomach, sending him flying against the far wall. The spawn grinned malevolently, then turned toward Palin.
Meanwhile, Blister was busy scooping up pearls and loading her sling, while the Kagonesti touched the cave wall behind her and began to chant. “Move,” the elf whispered to the stone. “Dance with me. Sing.” The stone began to respond, quaking almost imperceptibly at first beneath her fingertips. Then it began to rumble softly. “Sing,” she coaxed. “Louder.”
“Hey, over here, blue and ugly!” the kender called, trying to attract the spawn’s attention. The creature was stalking Palin now, staying just beyond the reach of the sorcerer’s adroitly flashing daggers. “Why don’t you pick on me for a change! Afraid of small folk?” She whipped her sling at the spawn, pelting its thick hide with pearls.
“Fool kender!” the creature spat as it turned to study Blister. “Kender cannot be made into spawn. My master shall not mind if I kill you.”
“I’d mind, you poor excuse for a draconian!” Blister shouted over the growing rumbling noise in the cavern. The spawn darted toward her, its claws outstretched and sparking lightning. At the last second Blister rolled under its claws, wrapped her stubby arms around one of its legs, and tripped the thing so that it fell on top of her. The kender gasped—she hadn’t thought spawn could be so heavy. The miniature bolts of lightning that flickered about its form shot into her like hundreds of jabbing needles. She pushed up with all of her remaining strength. The ache in her fingers was intense.
“No!” she shouted as the world seemed to explode in a blast of blue-white light. Her small frame shuddered as lightning raced through it. Then the pressure of the spawn atop her vanished and she was plunged into an inky world that smelled like burnt cloth and singed flesh.
“So death is blackness,” Blister said disappointedly after a moment of silence. “I tingle all over and my fingers still hurt. I thought death would be a little more rewarding. Is anyone else here? Am I the only dead one? Dhamon? Raph? Mom?”
“Blister…” The voice was soft, but recognizable—Palin’s.
“Not you, too! Did the spawn kill everybody?”
“The spawn’s dead, not you,” Palin said. “I killed it with Rig’s daggers.”
“Spawn popped!” the smaller wyvern announced.
“Bad prisoner!” the other lectured. “Master not want spawn to pop. Master be mad—punish you!”
“So it exploded and now I’m blind like Feril was.” The kender groped about until she found Palin’s leg. She pulled herself up and grabbed onto his tunic. “I can’t see anything. Hope it doesn’t last long. I like to see what’s going on.”
“So do I,” the sorcerer said. “It’s dark as pitch in here. Rig? Feril?”
The rumbling of the cavern grew louder and sand was filtering down through cracks in the ceiling.
“Over here!” Rig called. “Say, Palin, can you… .” The mariner’s words trailed off as a softly glowing orb of light appeared in the sorcerer’s palm. “That’s just what I was going to suggest.”
The orb alternately pulsed white, orange, and scarlet. The light revealed Palin’s tunic to be in smoking tatters, and his heaving chest covered with ugly red welts. Blood dripped from his neck where the gold chain had cut him.
“You look terrible,” Rig said.
“Thanks.” Palin glanced at the mariner. Rig’s pants hung in shreds, and he was covered with at least an equal number of claw marks. A patch of hair on his head had been burned away by lightning.
“Is Feril all right?” the kender asked.
The sorcerer turned and spotted the Kagonesti. Relatively unscathed, she was pressed against the cave wall, her fingers playing across the stone. “Dance faster,” she urged the rock.
“Jump with me” The rumbling intensified and cracks spread outward from her fingers, racing away from her and toward the dark part of the cave where the lair extended underground.
“Cave shake. What do?” the smaller asked.
“Spawn below,” the other replied. “Warn spawn.”
“Spawn! Spawn!” the smaller wyvern shouted, its grating voice echoing off the cave and barely rising above the rumbling sounds. “Warn master!” it added. “Storm! Storm!”