Liberator

  “Mother,” Deference whispered. “Take me to the Zodiac’s doors. I think I saw something.”

  “Beth,” Dalath said, “since this human heard our plans regarding Cassabrie, she is likely to try to warn her.”

  “An excellent point.” Beth aimed her snout at Constance. “It seems that you will be first after all.”

  Constance stiffened. With her scorched legs, trying to run away would be futile. “Go, Deference,” she whispered. “Use the ice to shield yourself from view.”

  “But, Mother, I —”

  “Go!”

  An icy spray coated Constance’s vision. Frigid cold plunged through her skin and into her bones. A sense of falling took over, then perfect whiteness.

  Thirteen

  Randall jerked on the rope. The knot was good and tight, fastened securely to a lantern bracket embedded in the lower level stone wall. With the rest of the rope coiled over his shoulder, he reeled it out as he walked around the sharp stakes under the false floor of the Zodiac’s entry corridor. Nearby, a dead dragon lay on the floor. Although he had no ability to interfere, his odor was bad enough to gag a vulture.

  Above, the floor lay open, its two panels hanging loosely under the sides of the hall. He let the hefty rope drop to the stakes and held on to one end. Until a few minutes ago, this rope had hung from the Basilica’s bell tower, but a quick stroke with his blade gave it a new job to do.

  More lantern brackets lined the wall in the upper corridor, spaced apart evenly. He aimed at the bracket closest to the dome room and threw the rope. The end looped over the target, catching it perfectly, and fell back to the lower level. He grabbed the end and pulled it tight. This would do just fine.

  He detached his scabbard from his belt and tossed it into the dome room on the upper level. It clanked, then settled inside. Randall flinched and waited in silence. No dragon darkened the entry door above.

  With one foot on the wall, he grasped the rope with both hands and climbed. When he reached the hanging floor panel, he set both feet on it and pressed the panel against the wall, then walked across it parallel to the wall and toward the dome room, taking in rope as he traveled.

  His leg muscles cramped, and his arms throbbed. The dome room was almost within reach. Just a few more steps.

  When he came to the end of the corridor, he leaned against the wall to his left and studied his position. He faced the right-hand wall with both feet planted on the panel. The right edge of the threshold to the dome room lay about eight feet behind him and four feet above. A push with his legs and a lunging reach should allow him to grab the threshold, but failure could mean a nasty fall and a lot of noise.

  He took in a deep breath. It was now or never.

  Keeping one hand on the rope, he bent his knees, thrust away from the wall, and reached for the threshold. His fingers caught the edge but slipped away. When he swung back to the panel, his shoulder slammed against it.

  As he hung on, cringing, the thud reverberated throughout the corridor. A light flickered somewhere in the passage, fleeting and fast—maybe one of the lanterns disturbed by a draft.

  When the noise settled, Randall again rested, his newly aching shoulder against the back wall and his feet against the panel. So far, no one had come to investigate. Trying again might work, but it might also make things worse.

  “Psst. Randall. Can I help?”

  He looked up at the doorway to the dome room. Deference stood there waving her arms to stay visible. Her glow washed over him, making him feel exposed and vulnerable. “How can you help? You can’t pull me up there, can you?”

  “I can have an effect on physical things for a few seconds. No more.”

  “That might be enough.”

  Deference knelt close to the edge. “What do you want me to do?”

  “When I push back and reach for the threshold you’re standing on, grab my wrist and make sure I get a good hold. Are you strong enough to do that?”

  “I hope so. I’ll do my best.”

  “That’ll have to do.”

  “If it’s all the same to you, I think we should hurry.” Deference’s voice shook with emotion. “The white dragons are getting ready to kill everyone. They already killed my mother.”

  “They killed Madam Orley?”

  As Deference nodded, a sparkle gleamed in her eye.

  “Those monsters!” Randall squeezed the rope, wishing it were a dragon’s throat. “I’m really sorry about your mother, but I’ll do what I can to stop them from killing the others.”

  “Okay.” The tremor in her voice eased. “I hope you can.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Randall bent his knees again. “Here I come.”

  With a hearty shove, he launched away from the wall. He reached for the threshold, but this time his fingers barely touched the edge. A strong grip squeezed his wrist, and he shot upward several inches. He grasped the threshold with one hand, released the rope, and thrust his other hand to the ledge. Something grabbed the back of his tunic and pulled, helping him climb the rest of the way.

  Now on all fours, he looked for his phantom helper, but she was invisible again. “Thank you,” he said between gasps for breath. “I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

  She appeared on the floor well within the dark room, rising from a sitting position. “I fell when I had to let go.”

  “Keep moving. You’re the only light in there.”

  While Deference waved her arms, Randall climbed to his feet, picked up his scabbard, and looked all around for any sign of dragons. Even though they were in a hurry, rushing into danger would ruin everything. “Again, I’m really sorry about your mother.”

  Deference faded away. “Thank you.” Sparks from her voice drizzled to the floor. “I’ll see her again someday.”

  He attached his scabbard to his belt and skulked farther into the room. “Do you know anything about this place?”

  Deference walked at his side, enough movement to cast her glow several feet ahead. “I came here for my Promotion. This is where Arxad told us to write a letter to our closest loved one, and then he gave us something to drink that made me dizzy. I don’t remember anything after that.”

  Randall touched a column that appeared to support the ceiling. If this room had a dome, the room underneath had to be a circle, but darkness hid any other columns that would have given away the location of the center. “Do you know where the Reflections Crystal is?”

  She pointed. “It should be straight ahead. It was glowing when I came for my Promotion, but I think that’s because the dome was open a little ways. It brightened when Arxad spoke something to it, but I don’t know how it works.”

  “Jason told me about that. It brightens when you say something true to it and darkens when you lie.”

  “Then if you want more light, maybe you could tell it something true.”

  “I think we’ll just use your glow. I don’t want to alert anyone. We’ll stay quiet while we’re close.”

  As they walked, a sphere came into view atop a head-high pedestal. Twinkling dots covered the dark surface, like stars in the night sky. Deference stopped, shutting off her light and casting their surroundings in blackness. Above, more dots spread across the ceiling, curving from one edge of the room to the other. The entire chamber looked like a miniature world with stars glowing from horizon to horizon.

  Randall searched for any design that looked like a spear. To his right, a line of bright stars ran from the center toward the edge of the room where two stars on each side of the end formed a point. That had to be it.

  Randall walked in that direction, intentionally making enough noise with his shoes to signal his movement. Deference joined him again, and her glow illuminated their path.

  When he reached the column at the end of the spear, he touched the surface, smooth and cool, probably marble. “I think we’re far enough away to talk now.”

  “That’s good.” Deference waved a hand, giving light to the column. A wooden handle prot
ruded on the side facing away from the crystal. Barely long enough to grab with one hand, it would have been nearly impossible to find in the darkness.

  Randall wrapped his fingers around it and tried to push it to one side, then the other, but it wouldn’t budge. When he pulled down, it moved slowly, as if attached to a chain that lifted a heavy weight. A click sounded, then a low grinding noise, but the room stayed dark.

  “That’s not the dome.” Deference ran toward the entry corridor, her aura illuminating her wake. “Back in a minute.”

  As the room darkened again, Randall kept his hand on the lever. Xenith had warned that this might not be the correct one, so there was no need for alarm … yet.

  A few seconds later, Deference’s light appeared. She glided slowly, her finger tapping her chin. “You closed the floor back there. Maybe you should leave it that way in case you have to get out fast.”

  “Good idea.” As they walked around the room’s perimeter, Deference’s glow guided their way. When they reached the next column, Randall spotted another lever, this one shorter and metallic. He grasped it and pulled down. It moved to a lower position easily, then slid completely out of its socket.

  A new grinding noise erupted, this one from above. A light appeared in a hole at the apex, gradually expanding. The Reflections Crystal brightened at the same rate, as if absorbing energy from the outside. As light filled the room, Randall looked at the lever in his hand. Notched on two sides, it looked like a long key.

  “Something’s wrong,” Deference said. “I feel something pulling me toward the crystal.”

  “Can you resist?”

  Her nodding head appeared. “I’d better not get any closer, though.”

  Randall slid the key into his pocket and scanned the area. With dragons outside, going out the front door wasn’t an option. “Is there a back door, another way to get out of here?”

  “I think so. Arxad led me out, but I don’t remember how. I was so dizzy.”

  “I’m going to test this thing.” Randall strode toward the crystal, but its stinging radiance kept him three paces away. Holding a hand up to shield his eyes, he searched for Deference, but she was nowhere in view. The brilliant light was probably washing out her glow.

  Above, a white dragon flew over the widening hole. It glanced in without landing. Soon the opening would be big enough for it to fly through.

  “Deference,” Randall called, “where are you?”

  “Still next to the column.”

  “Speak loudly enough for the crystal to hear you.”

  “Okay, I’ll try.”

  “Is there an exit besides the one in front, a place a human can walk?”

  “I told you,” Deference shouted, “I don’t remember.” The crystal dimmed, relieving some of the sting.

  “You do remember,” Randall said. “It’s locked somewhere in your brain. Think. Where did Arxad lead you?”

  The white dragon landed on the edge of the widening hole. It snapped its head back as if recoiling from the stinging radiance.

  “Arxad touched something that opened a sliding door. It was wide enough for him to fit through, but just barely.”

  The crystal brightened, increasing the pain. The dragon on the roof called out, “I think someone is down there, but there is danger. Guard the front door. I will try to enter from here.”

  Randall clutched his sword’s hilt. Fighting a dragon alone certainly wasn’t his first choice, but it might end up being his only one. He scanned the perimeter wall. Shelves, benches, and unidentifiable wooden structures interrupted the space. Only four blank spots were of sufficient size for a dragon, and a mural had been drawn on each one — various landscapes that resembled the horizons around the Zodiac. “Did you see mountains?”

  “No.”

  The crystal grew brighter. The dragon flew into the room and landed next to the column nearest to the main entrance. Extending his neck, he took a step closer and bellowed, “Who is there?”

  Randall drew his sword but kept his focus on Deference. “Did you see a forest?”

  “No.”

  The crystal brightened yet again.

  “A river flowing into the barrier wall?”

  The dragon lunged, but a new pulse of brightness made him stop just a few steps away. “Cease this activity immediately, or I will freeze you.”

  The grinding noise continued. As the hole above widened enough to reveal Solarus, the crystal stayed bright. The white dragon crept closer, blinking. “You were wise to stop at my command. Now tell me—”

  “There was a river!” Deference said. “And a wall!”

  “Let’s go! Hurry!” Randall sheathed his sword and ran to the river mural and rubbed his hand across the design, slapping prominent parts of the drawing. “Come on! Open! There has to be a way!”

  Deference ran around the perimeter wall toward Randall. “I’m coming!”

  “Stop!” the dragon shouted.

  A wave of ice spilled over Randall, covering him in a frosty coat. The cold stiffened his arms and numbed his fingers. Lifting a heavy hand, he slapped the wall again, but it felt as if he were swinging a sledge hammer.

  “I’m here,” Deference whispered. “I’ll look for a switch.”

  The dragon shuffled closer. “That was a warning. Stay where you are, or I will kill you.”

  “I think I found it!” Deference said.

  Gathering all his strength, Randall slammed his shoulder against the wall. It slid open, and he toppled through. Sitting with his hands propping his body, he looked back. The dragon stomped toward him, rearing his head. Another storm of ice erupted from his mouth, but as the leading edge of the storm splashed over Randall, the door slid closed, cutting off the flow.

  Daggers of frigid cold plunged into Randall’s body, shooting icy chills through his heart, up his spine, and out to his head, fingers, and toes.

  He fell to his back. Ice crystals crunched all around. Although freezing cold drilled to his core, no shivers broke out. His muscles had locked in place.

  Something thumped on the door. “Human, if you are still alive, hear me. Without help, you will surely die. The ice will slow your heart until it stops. If you are able, tell me how to open this door, and I will spare your life, at least for the time being.”

  Randall tried to open his mouth, but his lips had frozen together. Even drawing in breath was a chore. He couldn’t tell the dragon anything, even if he wanted to.

  “I assume by your silence that you are either dead or incapacitated. So be it.” The sound of swishing followed, then the fading scratch and thump of a shuffling dragon.

  Randall’s heart pounded—once, twice, three times. Its slow cadence sounded like the rhythm of a funeral march. Soon it would all be over, but maybe the plan had worked. Maybe the dome would stay open and draw Cassabrie, and she would use her power to stop the cold-hearted dragons before they could kill too many slaves.

  Closing his eyes, he imagined the process, three white dragons spewing frosty death on diseased bodies. They would become just like him, frozen mummies without hope.

  He let out a sigh, maybe his last breath. Yes, hope was gone. The slaves had hoped for release but were struck down by disease instead. They had hoped for a warrior to come and break their chains, but only a bumbling kid trapped in ice and an old dungeon survivor remained. Everyone else had gone to the Northlands, much too far away to help. All was lost.

  A tingling sensation brushed his face, warm and delicate. It moved to his throat, then to his chest, sending a wave of heat through his skin and into his heart and lungs.

  “Are you alive?”

  He snatched in a breath and forced his lips to separate. “Deference?”

  “Shhh.” As a glowing hand moved over his body, the warmth spread across his abdomen and into his arms and legs. “I’m melting the ice. I’m not physical, but at least I can generate some heat.”

  Randall’s muscles loosened, sending shivers erupting along every extremity. He hugg
ed himself and shook violently. More ice crunched, and water seeped into his clothing, worsening the biting cold.

  “Those shivers are awful. I’ll try to help.” Now fully visible, Deference lay on top of his body, chest to chest, and wrapped her arms around him. Her body’s glow strengthened. Tingling heat flowed everywhere, and Randall drew a long breath. The wetness increased, no longer icy cold, more like a warm bath.

  After a minute or so, the shaking eased. Deference rose and stood at his side, a hand extended. Randall grasped it and rode her pull. The grip snapped loose, but not before he had set his feet firmly.

  “How did you get in here?”

  “I can slide through almost anywhere.” She spread out her glowing arms. “Having no body has its advantages.”

  “Thank you. You saved my life.”

  “You’re welcome.” Her head dipped low. “I wish I could have done the same for my mother.”

  “Ten more seconds and it would’ve been too late for me.”

  She touched his hand. “If you don’t mind, I think we should get going. We might have only delayed the killing.”

  “You’re right.” Randall looked around. They stood in a dim corridor, high and wide, clearly large enough for a dragon. There was only one way to go — straight ahead.

  He nodded into the darkness. “Let’s go.”

  They hustled through the passageway, a steep incline that curved slightly to the right. After several seconds, daylight came into view as the passageway ended in a huge square window with nothing beyond it except bare sky.

  Randall stopped at the opening—a ledge leading to a fifty-pace gap between the Zodiac and the Basilica where a similar window opened into darkness.

  Deference leaned over the edge. “I guess Arxad flew me from here to the Basilica. I do remember floating.”

  Randall knelt and looked down. A heather-covered lawn lay at least twenty feet below, not necessarily a fatal plunge but enough to break bones and rupture organs. A cart filled with hay sat under a tree to the left, much too far to reach with a jump.