“Now that you’ve gotten your gateway to paradise, could you let us get on about our work?” Daine said to the drow holding the knife to his throat. “Some of us still have our own problems to deal with.”
The firebinder said nothing, and the knife was as steady as ever.
“Perhaps you can find what we seek, Lei.” If Lakashtai was concerned about the elf with a sword at her throat, she gave no sign of it. “The chamber we seek must be elsewhere in this facility. If you can find a way to disable the field that blocks my … talents … I may be able to sense its presence.”
“How would I do that, exactly?” Lei said.
“How is it that you were able to restore function to the network of gates?”
“I … I don’t know,” Lei said. “I just studied the controls, and it came to me. It all seemed to make sense.”
“Continue your work. Examine each panel in turn and see what you can find. Perhaps the answers will come to you.”
Lei looked over at them, and Daine could see her fear and confusion. “Don’t worry about us,” he said, the knife brushing his throat as he spoke. “You did everything you needed to do. Just … do some research. Explain it to me. It’s been far too long since I’ve heard you lecture.”
She smiled slightly at that. “Very well.” She looked up at the central column for a moment. “Each of the crystal spheres represents one of the thirteen planes of existence that are said to exist in concert with our universe …”
To Daine, it seemed as if hours passed while Lei explored the chamber and discussed mystical minutiae. He had hoped that the lecture might lull the drow to sleep, until he remembered that elves didn’t sleep-and however dull the conversation, the soldier watching him seemed as keen and alert as ever.
As Daine himself was struggling to keep his eyes open, the glowing inscriptions on the central column burst into brilliant light. The throbbing hum began, faster, louder, pounding into Daine’s head.
“They’re coming back!” Lei cried.
There was none of the slow build-up that had characterized the departure. A second later, the chamber was flooded with light. Daine could feel the energy flowing through him, pressing against his heart and lungs.
In an instant it was over. The thirteenth sphere had returned. Its surface was glowing a dull orange, and Daine could feel the heat from a hundred feet away. It slowly descended toward the floor, cooling as it dropped. A moment later the sphere opened, and the crystal ramp extended toward the floor. The interior of the sphere was still cloaked in shadows.
“RELEASE THE PRISONERS!” It was Holuar’s voice, yet it was different, stronger and far louder, with an underlying ripple like the crackling of flame. “APPROACH AND BEHOLD OUR GLORY!”
The soldier released Daine, and he raised a hand to massage his throat. The two drow sprinted toward the sphere.
“KNEEL!” Holuar roared from the darkness. “KNEEL AND GIVE HOMAGE, FOR THE MOMENT OF OUR DESTINY HAS COME!”
The firebinders knelt, one to each side of the ramp. Daine’s breath caught in his throat as the shapes emerged from the darkness.
Small shapes. Moving swiftly. Three-pronged wheels of dark wood.
Two boomerangs snapped out of the sphere, each one catching a firebinder warrior in the neck. Even as the soldiers struggled to rise, Shen’kar and Xu’sasar dove out of the darkness. Numbed by poison, the firebinders had barely raised their weapons before the oathbreakers were upon them. Xu’sasar’s twin blades flashed and Shen’kar’s spiked club rose and fell, and the battle was over in seconds.
Within moments, Shen’kar was at Daine’s side, untying his hands.
“What happened?” Daine said.
“Just as you planned,” the dark elf replied. He had released the magical glamour that he’d used to mimic the voice of the high priest. “The shadows we wove hid us from the foe, and the walls of this vessel shielded us from the flame. We followed the instructions of the lady-” he inclined his head toward Lei-“to return with this craft as soon as the firebinders departed. We left them standing upon an island of black stone in a lake of fire. Perhaps they will find the power that they seek, but they shall never return with it.”
“And Gerrion?” Daine said.
“You struck well. The priest healed the wound but did not look beyond the flesh to see the poison that coursed through the veins of your victim. As I promised you, the venom is as slow and patient as Xan’tora herself. By now, your enemy lies dead on the burning shore.”
Daine sighed. He’d never expected the firebinders to sacrifice Gerrion, but he had no intention of allowing the gray man to escape after what he’d put Lei through. My precious honor, he thought, remembering a time when that might have mattered.
“Now we look to your bargain,” Xu’sasar sang. “Holuar is left in this sea of endless flame, but the monolith is now open, and others could follow. Let this place be destroyed?”
“Lei?” Daine said. He pulled his weapons out from under the dead giant, and went to help Lakashtai.
“I don’t know. The power contained in these spheres-even if I can find a way to destroy them, the energy released could devastate the area for miles around-or worse.”
“You will find a way,” Shen’kar said.
The dark elf was still holding his poisoned rod, and his scorpion was perched on his left wrist. His words were fluid and beautiful, but it was clear to Daine that this was a statement, not a request.
“There may be weapons elsewhere in the monolith that could be of use,” Lakashtai said. “Have you learned how to dispel the wards that are blocking the use of mental powers?”
“In fact, I think I have,” Lei said. She’d wandered over to another panel halfway around the vast chamber. “These inscriptions on the walls defend against all sorts of supernatural effects. I think that these crystals empower these enchantments, so if I remove this one …”
A long line of glowing words faded into darkness. The temperature began to drop, and Daine’s breath steamed in the suddenly frigid air.
“I can destroy the heating enchantments. Hmm. It seems the gate system has a rather … chilling effect. Let me try something else.”
A second line of light faded off of the walls.
“Yes!” Lakashtai said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting the air flow out of her lungs. “I can feel again.” She stretched out a hand, rotating slowly in place.
“There,” she said. The central chamber was like a great wheel. The passage to the surface was but one of the spokes, and there were five more tunnels spreading out from the chamber of gates. Lakashtai paused, pointing to the northeast. “This is the way we must go.”
Daine considered. “The wards should keep any more firebinders from following, but I don’t like the thought of leaving this place unguarded. Pierce …”
“I should accompany the explorers, captain. It is possible that the information I now possess will be needed.”
“Go,” Shen’kar said. “Xu’sasar and I will remain and watch from the shadows. We have fought our battle. Now you must fight yours.”
Daine nodded. “All right, Lakashtai,” he said. “Lead the way.”
“So what kills a hundred giants?”
The hallway was cold and dim. The only source of light was the glowing inscriptions on the walls, and Lei’s efforts in the chamber of gates had caused many of these to fade into darkness.
Lakashtai was in the lead, lighting the way with a cone of light from her eyes-an effect Daine still found unnerving. They’d encountered the corpses of half a dozen giants as they progressed down the hall; one wizard was sprawled on top of a long scroll, a sheet of parchment that must have been eight feet in length. They had been able to avoid most of the corpses, but two guards had fallen side by side, and the explorers had to climb up and over the dried remains.