Jus looked up at Escalla, raised his brows, and said, “So didyou look at it?”
“Yep!”
“Can you open it?”
“Nope!” Shrugging, the girl seemed to wonder why Jus lookedso hurt. “Hey, I’m a sorceress not a cat burglar! What did you expect?”
The only other option seemed to be the globes. Polk walked underneath one and inspected it, his face reflected into silly shapes in the silver glass.
“Son, these here are a cryptic puzzle. That’s a classicelement of dungeon design.”
“They’re a trap.” Jus shook his head and approached onesphere. “Any bets? One should have the exit key, and the others will probablyexplode or contain a shower of rot grubs.”
“You miss the point, son!” The teamster slapped Jus on hisarmored shoulder, trying to cheer him up. “Come on. A dungeon is a foe, achallenge!”
With a dire glance at Polk, the Justicar carefully touched a globe. It weighed about as much as bowl of gruel and didn’t rattle when shaken.A light held behind the globe did not shine through. Each of the globes seemed to be exactly the same. There was no way to tell what was inside without shattering one.
Escalla met her friend’s eye and gave a helpless littleshrug.
“What the hell? Pick one and bust the thing!” The girlpointed out one sphere hanging in a corner. “Try this one!”
“Why that one?”
“It feels lucky!” Making a little pirouette, Escallafluttered through the air. “Trust me. I’m a faerie.”
Blowing out a heavy breath, Jus shook his head and approached the chosen globe. He took his sword and gave it a couple of experimental swipes to loosen up his wrists, then slid the weapon back into its sheath.
“Polk, spread a groundsheet under it to catch the contents asthey fall. Escalla, go invisible.” The man waited until all was ready. Hemotioned for Polk to go to the farthest corner of the room. “Stay there.”
The manic sounds of a happy hell hound drifted into their minds. Burn! Monster come, Cinders flame!
Jus shook his head. “You’ve only got three shots. Don’tbreathe flame unless I ask for it.”
Cinders sulked, his tall ears flattening and a dissatisfied mumble echoing in everyone’s mind.
With everything ready, the Justicar moved to stand beside the chosen globe. His feet moved into a measured combat stance, and he took two deep, slow breaths.
An instant later, his sword was out of its sheath, had smashed through the globe, and was already moving in a second cut. The sphere had just begun to fly apart, black shapes still frozen inside, as the Justicar’ssword whipped through the glass a second time.
Shattered glass flew through the air, and flat black shapes suddenly screamed as they exploded from their prison. Unfolding like lethal sheets of paper, they scythed through the air toward the Justicar.
“Shadows!” Jus’ sword blurred toward one of the blackshapes, but the monster simply dodged aside. “Escalla, stay away!”
Three monsters had been in the sphere. One slid to the water’s surface, already cut to ribbons. Jus ducked as another turned itselfsideways, invisibly thin, and sliced at his throat.
The shadows attacked, numblingly swift, their voices screaming like children lost down a distant well. His teeth set, the Justicar swatted at black shapes with his blade, and they rippled like silk sheets as they tumbled, dipped, and streaked across the room. Like flying razors, they hissed and sliced at living flesh, swirling sideways as the black sword came whipping out to slash them.
As the Justicar hammered one shadow aside, a frightened faerie voice twittered from above.
“Jus!”
“Stay back!” His blade ringing as the shadows swirled andspun into the attack, Jus parried each razor cut that sliced toward his flesh. “They can kill you, but they can only hurt me!”
“Jus, get clear! I can shoot!”
“Stay invisible and stay there!”
A shadow ripped a line across the Justicar, but instead of slicing into his flesh, it seemed to incise a wound into his soul. Chill spread into his body. He cursed and whipped his blade in a blinding maze of cuts, and the two shadows flapped backward, tatters flying from their edges as they were sliced and punctured by the Justicar’s blade.
One shadow caught sight of Polk and flew at him with a keening scream. Jus caught the motion from the corner of his eye and whirled, his blade flashing to split the monster in two. Like a sliced bedsheet it coiled and fluttered as it fell, its voice fading as its hellish life-force leaked into the mire.
The final shadow gave a piercing, bloodcurdling scream. Turning sideways into an invisibly thin line, it streaked straight toward the Justicar, ready to shear his soul. One instant, Jus stood in the path of the charge. Escalla screamed in fright, and then suddenly Jus had pivoted aside, his blade whipping down. The lethally sharp sword slit the entire shadow in half. The monster flew past him, swerved to avoid the wall, and then suddenly fell apart. With an echoing wail of horror, the entity peeled into two pieces, its form fading as it disappeared like scraps of mist inside a wind.
With a curse, Jus sheathed his sword. Escalla popped into view, fluttering and anxious as she came down to swirl about her friend.
“Hot damn, man! You are awesome with that sword!” Thegirl blew out a breath of relief and made a face of disapproval. “You shouldhave let me take one. I could have helped.”
“Shadows.” Jus touched at the chill spot where the monsterhad cut at him. “They suck out strength. I’ve got lots, but you’ve got little.Safer to keep you out of their way.”
“You were protecting me like that?” The girl blinked at him,a little smile on her face. “That’s sweet!”
“Yeah.” Jus rubbed at the wound. “Normally it takes about anhour to heal, but here’s a trick they never teach at priest school.” The rangertook a long drink from his canteen of beer. He heaved a sigh, flexed his arm, and simply shrugged away the injury.
Polk nudged at the waters where a shadow had once lain. “Youshouldn’t drink on the job, son. It’s bad form.”
“You drink.”
“I’m the chronicler. It helps my creative flow.” Polk foldedup his arms. “So, have you figured out the cryptic clues? Have you solved thetrap? Come on, time’s a-wasting!”
Among the shards of shattered glass, Escalla found a little key. She took it to the door and touched it to the keyhole. It passed into the lock, turned, and achieved absolutely nothing. The faerie took out the key and looked through the keyhole in indignation, seeing the empty corridor outside the room mocking at her.
“Damn it! It’s the wrong key!” She kicked at the door inspite, but magical force made her foot rebound from the wood. “What are wesupposed to do now?”
They all looked up at the eight remaining globes. Clearly, they were supposed to break the globes one at a time, fighting monster after monster until they wore themselves out. With no humor for the wizard’s littlegames, Jus growled in ill-temper, then flashed a glance from Escalla to the door and back again, then pulled Cinders tight.
He nodded once as he stared at the door lock, then said, “Escalla, can you turn into something really, really thin”-he glanced over atthe portal-“something thin enough to go through the keyhole?”
Pursing her lips, Escalla eyed the door with the air of a consummate shapechanging professional.
“Sure! But why? It still leaves you guys locked in here.”
“Humor me.”
Jus put out his hands, and Escalla did a backflip as she turned into an absurdly long, thin earthworm. She could change her shape but never her mass. Threading herself into the keyhole and slipping swiftly through, she left her clothes lying in Jus’ grasp.
On the far side of the door, the girl had no light. Changing back into her usual form, she cowered nude and nervous in the dark.
“I’m out! What now?”
Jus nodded thoughtfully to himself and said, “Go away fromthe door, then turn around and try to open it.”