“This way,” Bradok said.
He’d scarcely put the compass away when they came to a second fork. The spear pointed right. Then another fork, and another, and another, each time the spear telling them which way to go.
“It’s like a maze,” Corin said an hour later.
“It reminds me of something I saw once,” Rose said. “Some humans put two pieces of glass together with dirt between them. Then they put ants inside and watched them dig. They called it an ant farm.”
“What are ants?” Omer asked, curious. He was walking up front with the lead dwarves, clutching his rag doll.
“Insects,” Rose said.
Bradok shivered involuntarily at the word, thinking of the dead Disir.
Corin stopped abruptly. “You mean these tunnels remind you of ones dug by insects?”
Rose shook her head. “I just meant that they twist and turn a lot,” she said. “Then again …”
Bradok had slowed and Rose bumped into him.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
The faint light of the open compass illuminated the passage for several yards ahead. Just at the edge of its light lay a glossy black body. Bradok froze. Willing his limbs to move, he lurched forward, holding the compass high.
The light washed over the body on the ground. It had a hard, outer shell with a segmented body and four walking legs. The torso and head, however, were different from the Disir skeleton in Starlight Hall. It was decidedly female, with a line of eight breasts running down its front. The head had a much smaller mouth, and its arms ended in hands with three long fingers. The body was smaller than the other, perhaps a little shorter than the average height of a human. All over the creature’s outer shell were thousands of little cracks, as though it had come under tremendous pressure and tried to shatter but couldn’t.
Bradok felt his arm going numb then realized that Rose had it in a death grip.
“Is it dead?” she whispered.
“Yes, thanks be to Reorx,” Bradok said, seeing the stain left by the vital fluids that had leaked out from the many cracks.
“What happened to it?” Corin said, edging closer.
Bradok kicked the dead Disir with his toe, but it didn’t budge. “I don’t care,” he said, checking the direction of the Seer’s spear. “Let’s just keep moving.”
“Quietly,” Rose said.
“Right,” Bradok said, turning to Corin. “Pass the word: less talking, everyone.”
The sandy passage grew wider and wider until it became a broad avenue. On either side, Bradok could see the bulbous protrusions of eggs buried in the sandy dirt. Each looked about the size of a man’s head. Several of the eggs had broken open, but there were no signs of any young. Two more shattered insect bodies lay at a juncture to a side passage, but there was nothing else.
Bradok could feel his skin crawl as he walked on in silence. Everyone carried weapons but nothing came rushing out of the darkness to meet them. Still, with every step they took, Bradok could feel the tension growing inside of him. He began to think it would be better if they were attacked. As formidable as he imagined the Disir to be, he was afraid of the tricks his terrified mind might play on him.
At that precise moment, a horrible nightmare appeared out of the darkness. In his overwrought state, Bradok cried out in alarm and fumbled for his sword.
“Stop,” Corin commanded, putting a restraining hand on his shoulder. “That one’s dead too.”
The body of a Disir warrior stood there, leaning against the wall of the tunnel, giving it the illusion of life. Its massive jaws dangled open as though it were ready to eat the next thing foolish enough to come near it. The long, wicked blades that made up its arms hung loosely at its sides, dragging in the sand.
Like the others, the Disir warrior appeared to have been shattered by some strange pressurized force.
“What could have done this?” Bradok asked, running his finger along one of the long fissures in the creature’s body.
“Could whatever destroyed Ironroot have struck here as well?” Rose asked.
“I’m grateful for it, whatever it was that killed these nightmares,” Corin said. “We’re among the nests of these creatures, can you imagine what they’d do if they caught us here?”
“I prefer not to think about that, if you don’t mind,” Bradok said. “Let’s go.”
Several hours later, just when Bradok was ready to call a halt, he detected the faint smell of fresh air drifting down from somewhere up ahead. Twenty minutes later, the cavern opened up into a massive, empty hole. The roof of the new cavern extended well beyond their meager light, hiding above in impenetrable shadow.
Without any encouragement, the dwarves staggered out of the tunnel and dropped down on the rocky floor. They hadn’t had much of a rest for the better part of a day. The stretcher with Lyra arrived, and the dwarves carrying her set her down gently before collapsing nearby.
Xurces followed the stretcher, carrying the sleeping form of Lyra’s daughter, Jade. He reverently deposited the girl beside her mother then staggered off to find a place of his own to rest.
“We can’t stay here,” Urlish Hearthhome said in a hoarse whisper.
“Why not?” Corin asked, sitting with his head on his knees.
“Haven’t you fools ever seen an anthill or a beehive?” she demanded.
Bradok and Corin exchanged blank looks, but Rose went pale.
“She’s right. I’ve been thinking the same thing. This must be the core.” She gasped. “The center of the hive.”
The men leaped to their feet, their weapons in hand, and stood there, sweating, straining their ears for a sound, any sound.
They heard nothing. “Whatever killed those others must have destroyed the whole hive,” Corin said with obvious relief.
“Maybe,” Bradok said.
“We shouldn’t stay here,” Urlish hissed.
“Everyone’s exhausted,” Rose said in a whisper. “We can’t go much further right now. Better to rest, at least for a short while.”
“She’s right,” Thurl said, coming out of the darkness on silent feet. “We may have to fight these things eventually, but I’d rather be rested and fresh.”
Bradok quickly checked the compass. The Seer had her cloak wrapped about her, and her spear lay hidden beneath.
“All right,” Bradok said, though the idea of sleeping there made his flesh crawl. “If the compass says it’s safe, then it’s safe.”
“Wouldn’t hurt to make sure,” Rose said.
Thurl smiled, showing his pointed teeth. “I’ll check out the rest of the cavern,” he said. “I can move quietly.” Without hesitation, the ex-assassin melted back into the darkness.
“Let’s make camp here tonight,” Bradok said to the others. “Pass the word for everyone to keep as quiet as possible, though.”
That command wasn’t needed; within minutes, most of the dwarves were fast asleep. Only Bradok, Rose, Corin, Tal, and Much stayed awake to talk things over and divide the watch.
“There are a whole bunch of Disir bodies over there,” Thurl said, materializing close to them so suddenly that he gave them all a start. “But other than that, the cavern’s empty.”
“Have someone wake me for the third watch,” Corin said, heading for his gear.
Bradok reached out and caught the Daergar by his cloak. “Sleep on your sword,” he said. “Pass the word to anyone you trust.”
Corin nodded then disappeared into the semidarkness. Bradok made his way back to where the large passage emptied out into the enormous cave. The rear guard had been set up there, and he smiled to see Rose, Tal, and Thurl waiting for him.
They engaged in small talk for an hour while everyone quieted down. Then, bone weary, Bradok returned to where he’d spread out his cloak and lay down. He thought he had too much on his mind to sleep, but before he knew it, the blackness encompassed him.
He woke what felt like an instant later with Thurl poking him in the ribs with the tip of his boot. Bradok knew that a lot of time had passed. The roof of the cavern, far above, could be clearly seen as sunlight streamed through its wide cracks.