Or maybe it was more than weariness. He thought of that slingshot, of the boy’s bones. When he had first read the captain’s journal and envisioned a mission to destroy this mountain, he’d envisioned a stronghold of malevolent witches, a military-like place. It hadn’t occurred to him that children might be here. Families. Maybe Lilah had been right. Maybe he wouldn’t have made the choice that his ancestor had made. Had Major Therrik known about the children? Or had he just assumed he was infiltrating an enemy stronghold, as Vann might have?
“The arrow pointing to the exit is pointing that way,” Lilah said quietly. She pointed toward a tunnel completely blocked by rubble.
“How about the directory?” Vann guessed that was the map-thing that had been hovering in the air when he’d first charged into the chamber with the pedestal.
“Also that way.”
“And that way?” He pointed in the direction they had been heading, the only way that lay clear.
“Laboratories.”
“Great.” That was the direction the clacking claw sounds were coming from too.
“Maybe the labs link up to the corridor with the tunnel that we were in earlier.” Lilah finished her rubbing, folded it, and returned the implements to her pocket. “I’m curious about what the Referatu did in laboratories.”
“I’m not,” Vann grumbled.
Lilah looked at him, her lips turning downward.
He thought about pointing out that there were wolves up there and that his leg ached, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit a weakness to her. No, it was more than that. For whatever reason, she seemed to believe he was a better man than he was. He did not want to disappoint her.
“But I’ll hold the light for you while you look at them,” he amended, twirling Kasandral once and leaving green streaks in the air.
Her lips curved upward. “Thank you.”
He remembered that smile from earlier, as she’d lain under him, her arms wrapped around his back, gazing up at him as if he was something special, not some army brute. He wasn’t sure what he had done to earn that look, but he hoped to see it again. He also hoped to spend much more time pressed together, with her breasts squished delightfully to his chest.
“I’m not sure how to interpret that smile you’re wearing,” she said.
Vann straightened his face. “I was having lascivious thoughts.”
“Ah, that was going to be my guess. Either that or that you were looking forward to battling more wolves.”
“No,” he sighed. “I’m tired of wolves.”
It would be better to deal with them sooner rather than later, and to get out of this dark hole. He saluted her with the sword and strode down the tunnel again, toward the laboratory.
After all the crawling, climbing, and walking they had done, he expected another hour before they reached anything, but the way soon grew clear. Surprisingly so. For the first time, they walked through a tunnel without rubble on the ground and without cracks in the walls and ceiling. Soon, they rounded a bend, where a door came into sight, standing ajar. A lamp crystal, the first working one they had seen in hours, illuminated the hallway ahead of it.
Something dark darted through the open doorway before Vann had a good look at it. Suspecting one of those wolves, he tightened his grip on the sword and lifted a hand to make sure Lilah stayed behind him. Another plaque hung on the wall near the door, and he imagined he could already hear her digging into her pocket for rubbing paper.
Listening for clacking claws, Vann crept forward. Light escaped from the room beyond the door. At least he wouldn’t be fighting in the dark again.
The familiar soft scrapes came from behind the door. The way it stood, he couldn’t see into the room. Or chamber. Or laboratory. Whatever hell awaited them.
He stopped outside and eased the door fully open with the sword tip. A large room lay inside, the walls smooth and gray, the ceiling lit with two of the energy crystals. Tables and desks filled the space, and Lilah made an excited noise when she saw cabinets and shelves full of books, dusty jars, and canisters. Some of the jars still held liquids, and Vann shuddered to think what terrible potions they represented. Something that would turn him into a frog or a rodent, no doubt.
If there had been other options, he would have chosen another tunnel over entering the lab. He didn’t even know if it was worth going inside. Was there another exit somewhere on the other side? Or was this a dead end?
A shadow darted through Vann’s line of sight. A large black shadow.
Kasandral hummed hungrily into his mind, and the blade flared brighter. An urge to leap inside and start swinging filled him.
Vann took a deep breath, asserting his will over that of the sword. He debated on closing the door and walking back the way they had come. There had been those explosions earlier. Maybe Kaika and the others were even now looking for him in the room he and Lilah had originally dropped into.
He looked over his shoulder at her, tempted to suggest turning around. But her eyes gleamed brightly as she peered around his shoulder and into the room. She met his gaze and bit her lip, looking like she wanted to grip his arm and share her excitement over this find with him. She was probably delighted at the prospect of poking into jars of witch potions.
Vann sighed softly to himself. He wouldn’t let her down.
Besides, Kasandral wanted him to advance too. Energy coursed from the hilt and into his hands, thrumming through his body. Its familiar hunger surged through him, demanding that he stride inside and destroy all things magical.
“Wait here,” Vann whispered. “I’ll deal with the wolves.”
“Be careful. I haven’t seen that tattoo yet.”
He thought about pointing out that she could easily take a look at it when he was dead, but that seemed a gruesome response, so he nodded instead and stepped inside.
Vann spotted the two wolves right away. They stood like statues in front of an alcove on the far side of the room, their heads lowered, as their yellow eyes stared into his soul. The first threat, however, came from beside the door.
Something huge, gray, and on two legs rotated toward him, big blocky arms rising, an axe as tall as Vann gripped in its human-like hands. A square jaw opened, revealing two rows of flat stone teeth. The squarish face also contained yellow eyes, glowing yellow eyes. The jaw moved again, and words came out, words like the grinding of rock on rock.
“Access forbidden without an invitation,” the creature spoke, walking toward Vann on those blocky legs, the axe upraised.
“Where do we get an invitation?” Vann asked, not truly expecting an answer.
He stepped away from the door, giving himself room to maneuver while putting his back to a sturdy-looking cabinet. From there, he could see the creature—the guardian?—approaching him, and he could also watch the wolves out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t tell what they were doing—also guarding something—but a curtain partially covered an alcove behind them. He hoped some further enemy wasn’t waiting in there to jump out at him.
“Assistant President Mistress Jyalla,” the towering guardian said in its rock-grinding voice.
“Happy to talk to her,” Vann said, lowering into a crouch. “Where is she?”
The creature paused, its head turning toward the alcove. Hells, there wasn’t a three-hundred-year-old witch back there waiting for him, was there?
“Leave, intruder,” the guardian said, shaking the axe slightly. The ceiling was just high enough to give it clearance.
Vann might have left, if only because there seemed little to gain from engaging in this fight, but he had spotted a second door on the other side of the room, behind tables and work stations. Another way out. Perhaps the way that would take them out of the mountain.
The axe swung down, aiming for his skull.
Ready for the attack, Vann leaped to the side. He expected the axe to slam into the cabinets behind him, the lumbering guardian unable to react quickly to his move. Instead, the weapon halted in m
id-air, turning from a swing into a swipe. The axe whizzed toward Vann’s chest.
He leaped back again, this time whipping Kasandral up to meet the attack. The blades slammed into each other, and sparks flew. Even with all his strength and all his training, the power of the blow nearly drove him to his knees.
He sprang away, not wanting to deflect many more of those magically enhanced attacks. When next he jumped in, he aimed for the axe haft instead of at the blade. It appeared to be wood, so he hoped to cut it in half.
Kasandral flared brightly as it dove for the haft. It bit into the wood, but only slightly. Yellow sparks sprang from the axe where his sword hit. Whatever that weapon was, it was as enhanced as the guardian.
Vann continued on the offensive, launching a barrage of blows at his foe, attacking from several angles. The guardian did not bother to defend itself. It accepted the strikes, none of which did more than chip tiny flecks away from its stone body, and focused on hitting Vann instead. That axe swung for his head again.
“Behind you,” Lilah yelled at the same time as she fired her rifle from the doorway.
Vann blocked the axe before it came close to his head, his joints protesting the abuse, then skittered sideways again, putting his back to the wall. The wolves had given up their guard post and were charging across the room at him.
He might have run back into the hallway, in the hope that all three adversaries would not follow, but he glimpsed Lilah slipping into the room.
“Lilah,” he protested, but he didn’t have time to say more.
The guardian’s axe swung toward him at the same time as the two wolves leaped for his throat.
Vann ducked the axe and jumped sideways, finding a corner to back into as he swung at the closest wolf. Kasandral’s green glow gleamed off black scales as the creature flew toward him. He bashed it in the side of the neck before those jaws could latch onto him. Almost before the blow landed, he was jerking the blade away to deflect the snapping maw of the other creature.
He alternated his attacks, targeting one wolf and then the other, settling into a moment of utter focus as he watched both, trying to do damage at the same time as he parried their attacks. He needed to dispatch them quickly, since the guardian strode toward him again, the axe raised over its head once more.
A crash of glass sounded as something struck the guardian in the back. Vann couldn’t take his attention from the wolves to pay much attention. One came in low, diving for his shin. Vann shifted his grip and drove the point of his sword toward that head, determined not to suffer an injury to his other leg. His aim was precise, and Kasandral’s tip pierced the creature’s skull.
Its momentum carried it forward, and Vann had to jump into the air to avoid being pinned against the wall. The creature howled in pain as it crashed into the spot where he had been standing. Vann yanked the sword free as the other one leaped for his chest.
More glass shattered, and an acrid smell stung his nostrils. He glimpsed smoke coming from behind the guardian’s back, and it stopped its advance. Vann didn’t know what Lilah was doing, but he welcomed the distraction of one of his opponents.
He slashed at the wolf’s face, determined to finish the beasts as quickly as he could. The one that had struck the wall had dropped to its belly, but it was trying to get up. Vann launched a series of quick thrusts and slashes at the one still attacking him. Blade met scale, biting into flesh over and over. The creature howled in pain and fury, and gathered itself for one last leap. It sprang for his head.
Vann dropped, rolling away from the wall before springing to his feet. The wolf sailed past, trying to twist in the air to snap at him as he rose, but he was quick enough to meet its fangs with his blade. Then, as it landed, he slammed Kasandral down onto its spine. The creature yowled, its tail going rigid. Vann hacked at it several more times, then drove the point of the sword into the back of its neck, severing its spine.
Fearing the other one might be rising, he spun back toward it. The wolf had only managed to get its front legs under it. Vann rushed in and finished it with several quick, efficient blows.
When he turned toward the guardian, he found it standing still, its stony flesh smoking from a dozen spots. The axe remained over its head, but the glow in the yellow eyes had dimmed.
He strode forward, intending to attack while it was dazed, but it toppled over backward before he reached it. It landed on the gray floor, broken glass all around it. The axe skidded free from its grip.
“Careful,” Lilah warned from across the room in front of a bookcase full of glass bottles and jars. “Don’t get close. That stuff will burn right through your boots.”
Vann halted. Smoke wafted not only from the fallen guardian but also from spots on the floor.
“What is it?” he asked, curious if she knew or if she had grabbed random jars off the shelves and gotten lucky.
“If I read the formula correctly, perchloric acid, and the label said it had been enhanced. I thought that sounded promising.”
After making sure the wolves were truly dead, Vann skirted the smoking guardian and crossed the room to give Lilah a hug. He decided not to take offense that she peered all about as she distractedly returned the hug.
“I can’t believe this room is completely intact,” she said, touching a dusty shelf. “So many amazing artifacts.”
“Amazing. Hm.” Vann eyed the remains of the guardian, then walked toward the alcove.
“I wonder if some magical reinforcement protected the lab,” Lilah said.
Kasandral’s glow softened, though it still burned brightly, as if offended by all the magic around. At least it no longer hummed with an eagerness to slay things. Still, Vann kept it in hand as he approached the curtain, not sure what else he might find in here.
“Well, isn’t this interesting?” Lilah asked, her voice muffled. Her head was stuck in a box under a desk filled with tools.
Vann paused in front of the curtain. “What?”
Lilah pulled out a sizable scapula, the bone far darker and more stone-like than the skeletons they had found in the tunnels.
“A dragon fossil?” Vann asked.
“A dragon fossil, indeed. There are several in here.” Lilah rubbed her fingers and set it on the desk.
“Are you tingling?”
“Yes.”
“Is it caused by something more than the proximity of my magnetic sexual aura?”
“Possibly.” Lilah pulled a few crinkled and yellowed pieces of paper out of the box. “Hm, I was hoping this might be a diary describing someone’s diabolical plans for magicking up the fossils.”
“What is it?”
“Looks like a shopping list. This one might be a menu from the cafeteria.”
“Maybe a museum will pay handsomely to know what witches ate.”
Vann turned back toward the curtain. He already believed those bones had been placed in the mountain to spook the residents so that the entrance wouldn’t be used and nobody would be around when the military team infiltrated the mountain.
Using the tip of the blade, he nudged the curtain aside. He wasn’t sure what he expected behind it, but what he found was someone’s bedroom.
Enough light came from behind him to illuminate the bed, the blankets still rumpled. If not for the skeleton lying atop the bed and the cobwebs stretching across the alcove, he might have believed it had been abandoned weeks ago instead of centuries ago. No, abandoned wasn’t the right word. The occupant hadn’t left, after all.
When Lilah came over to look, Vann backed away, giving her room to poke around. She eased straight into the alcove, far less daunted by dead people than by claustrophobic situations. Vann’s gaze fell upon the floor in front of the curtain. Hollows had been worn into the stone in the exact spots where the wolves had been waiting. He crouched and slid his fingers over them, finding the stone oily. A few dried black scales dotted the floor. He looked across the room to where the dead wolves lay.
“Is it possible those creatures
are—were—three hundred years old?” Vann asked. “And that they were standing guard all of this time? Protecting this room?”
“Or protecting this woman.” Lilah leaned over the skeleton’s skull. The bones did not appear to have been disturbed—unlike some of the ones in the tunnels, they hadn’t been pulled apart and gnawed on by rodents or other scavengers.
“They never figured out she was dead and didn’t need protecting anymore?”
“Maybe they were given the same command that you gave your sword. Guard.” After a pause, Lilah asked, “Vann?” Her voice had an odd note to it.
He stood and stepped into the alcove. In addition to the bed, there was a table and an armoire. A faded note lay folded in half on the table, and he almost reached for it, but Lilah had stuck her hand into the skull. For the first time, Vann noticed a crack and a hole in the side of it. A familiar feeling of unease came over him. Captain Molisak’s broken skull came to mind even before she fished out the musket ball.
Lilah laid it in his hand. “It seems the guard wolves failed.”
Vann stared down at the army-issue musket ball. It was identical to the other one they had found.
“How could she have been shot?” he asked. “I’ve seen Sardelle deflect bullets with her mind. You can’t just shoot a witch.”
“If she was asleep...”
Vann chewed on that. Yes, he supposed Sardelle would have to be awake to raise a magical shield. That soulblade of hers never seemed to sleep, but he didn’t think all witches had those.
“Still,” he said, “what about the wolves? If they were always around and protecting her, how did they let an enemy soldier get by?”
“Maybe she didn’t consider him an enemy.” She spread her hand toward the bed.
“Him,” Vann said hollowly.
The uneasy feeling in his gut intensified. The musket ball could have belonged to anyone who came on that infiltration mission, and yet, he did not miss the significance of the look Lilah gave him when she stepped toward the table and picked up the note.