Текст книги "Albrek's Tomb"

Автор книги: Mark Forman

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 26 страниц)

Whalen’s letter did little to make Alex feel any better. For the most part it told him not to feel bad about destroying the hellerash because they were already dead anyway. Whalen had little to say about fighting the necromancer, except to give Alex a lot of advice about gathering his power and preparing himself to face the darkness.

Unhappy with the message, Alex tossed it aside and climbed into his bed. Whatever hope he had felt when the geeb first arrived was gone, and he lay awake in the darkness for a long time before drifting off to sleep.

When Alex finally did fall asleep, his dreams were as confused and troubled as his waking thoughts were. They jumped from place to place as if he was searching for something, but he didn’t know what. Twice he woke with a start, looking around wildly as if expecting someone or something to be in the room, waiting for him. The second time it happened, he’d even conjured weir lights, sending them around the room to make sure he was alone.

Lying back on the bed, Alex put out the weir lights and tried to focus on what he was looking for in his dreams. Slowly his mind relaxed, and he felt as if he was lifting off the bed and flying away.

Alex’s thoughts moved out of Neplee and turned north. He felt like a bird, flying back along the path that he and his friends had traveled. Kazad-Syn looked small and inviting as he flew past it, and for a moment he wanted to stop, but he felt an urgent need to go on. When his mind reached the shores of the Eastern Sea, Alex knew where his thoughts were taking him. He moved across the wind-tossed sea into the darkness that hid the dragon.

“Your thoughts are troubled, young one.” Salinor’s deep, steady voice echoed inside Alex’s head.

“Yes, I have much to worry about,” said Alex.

“The necromancer,” Salinor stated.

“You knew about him?”

“Yes, but I did not know you would face him,” answered Salinor.

“I’m not sure I will. Thrang wishes to move on as soon as possible, so I may not face him for some time yet,” Alex explained.

“Sooner would be better,” said Salinor.

“I’m . . . I’m not sure I can face the necromancer,” said Alex, expressing the fear that had been nagging at his mind.

“Doubt can be deadly. Would you run from this challenge?”

“I would rather face it and free the people of Neplee, but I don’t know how, and I’m not sure that I can defeat this evil.”

“Caution is one of your more human traits,” said Salinor with a soft laugh. “It may be useful, I would not know.”

“I want to ask something of you,” said Alex before he could stop himself.

“Ask something, of me?”

“If I cannot defeat the necromancer, if he gains control over me, I want you to come and destroy me. Don’t let me be used by this evil,” said Alex in a pleading tone.

“Yes, I will come,” Salinor agreed slowly. “Though I think there are few things you could not overcome, even though you are still young.”

“Thank you,” said Alex, bowing to the dragon in his thoughts.

“You should return now,” said Salinor, a strange smile curling his gigantic mouth. “Guard your thoughts from the prying of the dark one, and look deeper into what your friend Vankin said in his message to you. If I feel the darkness overcoming you, I will come as you have asked.”

Alex bowed once more, and before he could dream himself back across the dwarf realm to Neplee, he woke with a start. Jumping out of bed, Alex retrieved Whalen’s letter and reread every line of it carefully, pausing on one line that he didn’t remember reading at all.

***

“There’s at least a foot of snow on the ground, and there will be another before we’ve eaten breakfast.” Thrang turned as Alex entered the common room. “If I didn’t know better, I’d ask if you’d conjured up this storm,” he said.

“Not me,” said Alex, smiling at Thrang. “And Nethrom didn’t conjure it either,” he added quickly.

“Well, we won’t be moving anytime soon,” Thrang grumbled. “So I suppose we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

“You know what’s going to happen,” said Alex. “I will go into the mountains and face the necromancer.”

“Madness,” said Thrang, dropping into a chair by the fire. “I’ll never understand wizards, not if I live to be a thousand years old.”

“It is not madness,” said Alex. “It is simply what has to be done.”

“Very well. I’ll ask no more questions,” Thrang said as he got to his feet again. “Besides, there’s no time anyway. Turlock has asked us to join him for breakfast, and we’d better be on our way,” he said as a guide appeared to lead them back to Turlock.

Once more the city was dark and quiet, though there were a few dwarfs moving about this morning. Most of them moved quickly away as Alex and the others approached, but a few stayed and silently watched them pass.

“Our people are not used to strangers,” their guide said. “It has been so long since anyone has come to the city.”

“Do they fear us?” Thrang asked as they walked.

“In a way they do,” the guide answered. “The evil one in the mountains has sent his servants among us before. Now, we have trouble trusting anyone, even those we hold most dear.”

The look on Thrang’s face told Alex all he needed to know. Thrang’s mind had been made up, and even if the weather permitted them to leave, he would insist that Alex try to free the city of Neplee from the curse of the necromancer.

Turlock greeted the company as they entered a small feasting hall. A large, round table had been set up, and breakfast was already waiting for them. Alex thought Turlock looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept in days, so he waited until they were almost done with their meal before asking his question.

“A metal worker?” Turlock asked in response. “We have many metal workers in Neplee, though there is little for any of them to do these days.”

“Who is the best metal worker in the city?” Alex asked.

“That would be Volo Silverforge—”

“Volo Silverforge lives here?” Thrang interrupted. “His work is well-known and much prized, even in Benorg.”

“Where can I find Master Silverforge?” Alex asked.

“I can have someone take you to him,” Turlock answered. “Though I doubt he will be willing to help you. He has taken an oath, and refuses to make anything that might please or aid Nethrom. He has done no work in the past three years.”

“I would like to come along,” Thrang said, glancing quickly at Alex. “If I may.”

“I think I should go alone at first,” Alex said to Thrang. “It will be less imposing, and I may be able to convince Volo to aid me.”

Thrang reluctantly agreed, though Alex could see that he wasn’t happy about it. As soon as they were done eating, Turlock had one of his servants lead Alex through the city to Volo’s workshop. Alex asked the dwarf to leave, and then he stood for several minutes looking at the door and wondering what kind of dwarf Volo Silverforge would be.

Alex knocked loudly on the workshop door with his staff, but there was no answer. Alex wondered if Volo might not be in his workshop, but then he heard movement behind the door. He knocked again. He could clearly hear the sound of shuffling feet behind the door, but the door remained closed. Smiling to himself, Alex raised his staff and knocked a third time.

“Volo Silverforge, if you do not answer your door after I’ve knocked three times, I will blast it off its hinges and turn you into a dormouse,” Alex said loudly.

Slowly the door creaked open, and an ancient-looking dwarf stuck his head out from inside the workshop.

“No need to get angry,” Volo grumbled, looking closely at Alex. “I’m closed for business, so you can take your threats and your knocking someplace else.”

“You prefer to leave the city to Nethrom, then,” said Alex as Volo moved to close the door.

“I prefer to be left alone,” said Volo sharply, opening the door a little wider.

“So your peace is more important to you than your friends and neighbors are,” said Alex, leaning on his staff.

“We are all in the same boat here,” said Volo, opening the shop door all the way. “There is no escape from the curse, and no point in searching for false hope.”

“If that’s how you feel, I must have come to the wrong place,” said Alex. “I thought Volo Silverforge would be the dwarf who could aid me in riding Neplee of its curse, but it appears I was wrong. You should go back to gathering dust like your forge; I will find someone else to assist me.”

“No need to be rude,” said Volo, taking a step out of his shop to get a better look at Alex. “I’ve never had a wizard knock on my shop door before, so the least I can do is offer you tea.”

“Then you are willing to discuss a job I need done?”

“I don’t know about that,” Volo answered, turning back toward his shop. “Come inside and have some tea. I’ll listen to what you have to say before I tell you that you’re mad.”

Alex smiled and followed Volo into the shop, closing the door behind him. Volo shuffled his way across the room and placed a large copper kettle on top of his forge, pumping the bellows a few times. Alex took the chair that Volo offered him, sitting silently while Volo made their tea.

Chapter Eighteen

Necromancer

You’ve been working with Volo for weeks. Are you going to tell us what you’re up to, or are you going to leave us sitting in the dark?”

Thrang was in a bad mood, and for a moment Alex considered telling him what he had planned. Fortunately, Nellus spoke before he had to answer.

“Sitting in the dark is right. If I don’t feel some wind on my face soon, I think I’ll die.”

“The snow is five feet deep around the city gates. The guards have to shovel it away every night and morning just to open and close the doors,” Barnabus said.

“There is little snow once you move away from the mountains,” Arconn said.

“That’s fine for an elf who can move easily on top of the snow,” said Thrang, disgruntled. “The rest of us cannot move so easily. And what were you doing so far from the gates anyway?”

“Looking,” Arconn answered. “Feeling what is there.”

“Elves,” said Thrang, shaking his head and poking at the fire. “You’re almost as bad as Alex. If you don’t want to say what you’re doing, fine, but don’t tell us how nice it is to be out in the fresh air.”

“You asked,” said Arconn with a smile.

“How deep is the snow as you move toward the mountains?” Alex questioned.

“Five or six feet in most places, deeper where it has drifted,” Arconn answered after some thought.

“You had a package with you when you came in last night,” Thrain said, suddenly turning to Alex.

“Yes,” said Alex.

“Then you’re going to face him soon,” said Arconn, stating what everyone else in the room was thinking.

“I was thinking of going today, if the weather is bad,” said Alex, trying to sound hopeful.

“If the weather is bad?” Thrang questioned.

“Bad weather will make it harder for Nethrom to see me coming. I’ll need every advantage I can get.”

“And how will we get up the mountains in six feet of snow and bad weather?” Kat asked.

“You won’t,” Alex answered.

“If you think you’re going alone, you’ve got another thing coming,” said Thrang in a defiant tone. “I forbid you to go by yourself.”

“That is something you have no say in,” said Alex. “But I thank you for the thought.”

“I will come,” said Arconn. “The snow is not a problem for me, and I can help you defeat this evil.”

“No,” said Alex, his tone almost a command. “This is something I must do alone. I know that you would all go with me, even if I did not ask, but I must go quickly and alone. That is the only hope I have to defeat the necromancer.”

Arconn refused to accept Alex’s decision, and none of the others were happy about being left behind either. They all knew they could not go into the mountains in bad weather, not with so much snow already on the ground, but Arconn was inflexible in his decision to go along.

“At least, if you fail, I can bring word to the others,” Arconn argued.

“If I fail, you will see the dragon,” said Alex, reaching for the long cloak Turlock had given him. “There will be fire on the mountains, and you will know the curse is broken.”

Alex walked quickly to the door, wanting to get on with his plan. The others followed him out of the common room, continuing to argue against his decision.

“If we all went, Nethrom wouldn’t know who to attack first,” said Nellus, but unconvincingly.

“And one of us might be able to attack him. Or at least distract him long enough for you to break his power,” Barnabus added.

“No,” Alex repeated. “I must go alone, and I must go now.”

“How will you manage in the snow?” Thrain questioned.

“I will be as the snow,” said Alex. “I will move like the wind and arrive at the necromancer’s cave without being seen.”

“It is too dangerous,” Thrang argued. “Couldn’t you ask your dragon friend to take care of this, or at least go with you?”

“Dragons care little for the troubles of other races, even the good dragons like my friend,” said Alex. “He has promised not to let me be used by the necromancer, and that is as much of a promise as I will ask of him.”

The others were silent as they moved through the city, but Alex knew they were all trying to think of ways to make him change his mind. When they reached the city gates, he was surprised to find Turlock waiting for him.

“Volo said you might be going today,” Turlock said, bowing to Alex. “I thought I would wish you luck, as I have little more than that to offer.”

“It is enough that you have come, Lord Turlock,” said Alex with a bow.

“Is there anything I can do for you before you go?” Turlock’s eyes were full of sorrow.

“Watch after my friends while I’m away,” Alex answered. “One way or another, the curse will be removed from Neplee before I return.”

“Then I will thank you now, and thank you again when you return.”

Alex smiled and walked to the gate. The guards bowed to him before swinging open the giant stone doors, and then stood back to let him pass. An icy wind rushed into the city, snowflakes swirling with it.

Taking a deep breath of the cold, clean air, Alex turned to look at his friends. “I will return as soon as I can. If I am not back before spring, don’t look for me.”

“Don’t say such things,” said Thrang gruffly.

Without another word, Alex turned and stepped into the snow, vanishing from sight in an instant. It was a spell he had been practicing since the first snows began to fall, and he knew it was his best chance to reach the necromancer’s cave undetected. Whalen had warned him about wasting his strength trying to reach the necromancer, and moving up the mountain without fighting whatever monsters the necromancer could send against him seemed like a good idea.

Becoming a gust of wind was not terribly difficult, but it was dangerous. When Alex had first worked the spell, he’d had difficulty returning to his own form. The wind was so free that all of his worries slipped away. It was only when Volo had started yelling at him for almost blowing out his forge that Alex had returned to his own natural shape.

Not wanting to lose himself in the shape of wind, Alex focused his attention on the land around him and began working his way into the mountains. He had only a general idea of where Nethrom’s cave would be, and he was worried it would take a long time for him to find it. He didn’t want to remain a gust of wind for too long, but he also didn’t want to become vulnerable on the mountainside in his own shape; and he didn’t want to start fighting until he had to.

By midmorning he was well into the mountains, and he let his mind search the land around him, looking for any wild creature that might help him find the necromancer. The land was empty, and Alex wondered if it was the winter weather or the necromancer that had driven away the wild creatures. He continued searching as he moved higher and deeper into the mountains.

It was late afternoon before Alex saw something moving in the snow below him, and he drifted closer to get a better look. He stopped himself from touching the creature’s mind when he realized it was one of Nethrom’s undead creations. A giant bear, making its way down the mountainside in winter was out of place, and Alex was glad he had taken the form of wind and could remain hidden. Alex followed the bear’s tracks deeper into the mountains.

When the last gray light of day was fading, Alex stopped in a large grove of trees. He checked to make sure that none of Nethrom’s creatures were nearby, then he changed back into himself. After a quick meal, he studied the trees around him. Slowly he let his mind slip into the thoughts of the trees, and with a simple command, he changed forms once more, this time becoming a giant pine in the middle of the grove.

It was in the shape of the tree that Alex discovered where to look for the cave of the necromancer. The tree’s thoughts were slower than his own, slower than any living animal. The trees were very much alive, however, and they knew things about the undead land around Nethrom’s cave.

When the sun touched the mountainside once more, Alex changed back into the wind. The new day was bright, and the clouds that had covered the mountains for weeks had blown away in the night. It was easy for Alex to see where he was going, and with the knowledge he had gained from the trees, he quickly found the entrance to the cave.

For a moment Alex thought about entering the cave as the wind, but then he thought Nethrom might notice the breeze and possibly capture him before he could change back into his natural form. Instead, he stopped a short distance from the cave’s mouth and returned to his own form on the wind-blown path. He looked around at the crushed and packed snow around him and suspected that Nethrom had recently sent a great many creatures out of the cave.

Moving toward the entrance of the cave, Alex paused. A large treelike creature was rooted in the center of the path in front of him. At first, Alex did not realize what it was. He had only noticed the strange creature because there was no snow or ice on it. As he approached, two great serpent heads swung around to watch him, their red eyes shining brightly in the cold morning air. Without waiting for the creature to attack, Alex sent a ball of fire toward it, but it bounced off, hissing loudly as the fireball sank into a nearby snowdrift. He thought about freezing the creature, but since it didn’t seem bothered by the winter wind, he didn’t think a freezing spell would have any effect. Moving forward carefully, he drew his sword. If magic could not harm this creature, perhaps the edge of his sword could.

One of the serpent heads struck down at Alex as he approached, its reach much greater than he’d expected. Alex spun away, dodging the first head and watching the second. The second head was only a few seconds behind the first, but Alex was ready for it when it came. Sidestepping the attack, Alex brought his sword down directly on the creature’s neck. The head went bouncing across the snow and burst into flame at the side of the path.

Stepping back so the remaining head could not reach him, Alex was shocked to see two new heads growing from the flailing stump. He was facing three heads instead of two, and it seemed he would face more if he continued to attack.

“Hydra,” said Alex under his breath. He remembered the story of Hercules, an ancient Greek warrior who had defeated a hydra by cutting off its heads and burning the necks before new heads could grow. Unfortunately, Alex didn’t see how he’d have time to burn one neck before one of the other heads attacked him. It seemed impossible, and he wondered how Hercules had managed it.

Alex moved away from the hydra, wondering what he should do. It was only a matter of time before Nethrom or one of his other creatures became aware of him. Now that he was so close to the cave, he had to move quickly, but the hydra was something he had not expected. Alex leaned against his staff and looked around the snowy path, hoping to see some clue of how to defeat the hydra. Icicles hung from the rocks on one side of the path, and Alex jumped when he saw his own reflection in them. He looked around to make sure it was only his own reflection and not some other creature moving behind him. Then the idea hit him, and he smiled at the simplicity of it.

Moving forward once more, he stopped just beyond the hydra’s reach. He gripped his sword firmly in his right hand and turned the end of his staff into a blue-white flame. Closing his eyes as he worked the magic, he concentrated on what he needed to do. When he opened his eyes again, he laughed as six copies of himself looked back at him.

The hydra could see the seven different versions of Alex, and its heads began to move back and forth, trying to watch all the images at the same time. The hydra didn’t know which of the figures to attack, and the closer the figures got to it the faster it moved its heads.

The hydra stuck at one of the images to Alex’s left, but the serpent’s head bit nothing but snow and ice. Alex shifted his images, moving them around the hydra slowly and sometimes toward it. The hydra struck a second time on the far side of the path, and Alex knew he would have to wait to launch his own attack.

Five times the hydra attacked Alex’s false images and five times it found nothing. On its sixth attack, Alex struck his own blow, slicing off one of the heads with his sword and holding his burning staff against the bleeding neck before two new heads could replace it. The hydra recoiled from his staff, but the work was already done. Now there were only two heads for Alex to watch, and only two heads to watch the seven images of himself.

Alex continued moving his illusions around the hydra. One head almost managed to bite Alex as he was preparing to attack the other head, but he managed to slip away. The hydra seemed to realize that it had found something real to bite this time, and the second head swung around quickly to attack. Alex distracted the first head by having three of his images rush forward at the same time. He cut the second head from its neck and once more pressed his burning staff to the wound.

The final head spun around wildly, trying to defend its body from the seven attackers surrounding it. Alex almost felt sorry for the hydra, but he knew he had to finish the task. He sent five of his images rushing one side of the hydra, forcing its last head to turn and face them. As it turned, Alex rolled forward, swinging his sword with all his strength, and cut the hydra’s body off as close to the ground as he could. The long neck and head of the hydra burst into flames as it fell, and Alex applied his burning staff to the stump that was left in the ground.

The mouth of the cave was open, but the darkness inside it was forbidding.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Alex waved his hand and his six duplicates faded into mist. He wished he was not alone, but he knew that the danger was too great for any of his friends to face. Taking another deep breath of the cold morning air, Alex stepped into the dark cave and paused, allowing his eyes to grow accustomed to the twilight world he had entered.

The cave was not completely dark, and once Alex was away from the bright entrance, he was a little surprised by how light the cave actually was. Only one path led into the mountain and Alex stepped carefully; if Nethrom was already aware of Alex’s approach, and if he had managed to gather too many undead creatures to defend himself, it might be impossible to reach the necromancer at all.

Alex moved slowly, listening for anything else that might be in the cave with him. All he could hear was the sound of dripping water somewhere ahead of him. He continued on, growing more nervous as he went. The cave seemed empty and quiet, and Alex felt even more worried.

After several minutes, the path began sloping downward, deeper into the mountain, before the cave suddenly opened into a large chamber. Alex paused at the entrance, letting his eyes search the darkness for the enemy he knew had to be there. There was nothing to see, though, only stone and more darkness.

Stepping into the cavern, Alex heard a piercingly high squeak, and he raised his sword in time to block a huge bat flying down from the ceiling to attack him. The bat hit the edge of the sword with such force that it cut itself in two, the halves falling to the floor. Alex looked up at the ceiling and saw to his horror that there were hundreds of the bats hanging upside down and looking at him.

He stepped away from the cavern entrance, hoping the bats would not follow him, and he noticed something even more terrible. The bat that had cut itself in half on his sword was growing slowly into two complete bats, their wings flopping along the ground. Without thinking, Alex sent a jet of flame toward the two half-grown bats, but they only seemed to grow faster in the heat.

The light of his flame seemed to stir the rest of the bats, and he could hear the creatures beginning to fly about the chamber in front of him, blocking his path. He considered for a moment sending more false images of himself into the cavern, but given the number of bats he would have to fight, Alex realized it would be pointless.

Another bat shot into the tunnel toward him. He struck it with his staff, whispering a freezing spell as he did so. To his surprise, the bat shattered into a dozen shining gems. Alex bent down and picked up several gems, and he saw that they were real rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. He did not have time to think about why the bat had shattered into gems because a second bat flew into the cave toward him. Once more Alex shattered it with his staff, and once more the shattered pieces of the bat turned into gems.

Thinking quickly, Alex changed back into his wind form, moving forward into the chamber. The bats seemed to be aware of him, but their sonar couldn’t detect him hidden in the breeze. They flew around the cavern in a frenzy, clustering in circles in front of the passage that would lead Alex deeper into the mountain and barring his path.

Moving to the center of the chamber, Alex thought of the bright cold morning on the mountainside. He whispered the freezing spell softly, afraid to be heard, and as the bat’s movements stilled around him, he spoke another command like thunder. His voice rolled through the cavern, shattering bats and showering him with gems.

Alex knew the thunderclap command would surely alert Nethrom to his presence, but it was the only way he could think of to shatter all the bats at one time. Alex didn’t take time to examine the cavern, now covered in jewels, but hurried forward, hoping that he was ready to face the necromancer and whatever other creatures he still had waiting.

The cave went on and on, and Alex began to worry. He didn’t have any idea how long it would take him to reach Nethrom, and the deeper into the cave he went, the more nervous he became. Suddenly, he stopped short, catching himself against the cave wall as bits of rock flew out from his feet into empty darkness.

He had stopped at the threshold of what appeared to be another chamber, but this one seemed to have no floor. A dim light shone upward from deep below, but even with the extra light, Alex could not see the far side of the chamber. He put his sword back in its scabbard and leaned against his staff. He was breathing hard from his journey into the mountain, and he had to force himself to relax and breathe slowly and think.

As the sound of his beating heart slowed in his ears, Alex heard a new sound, the sound of digging far below him. Carefully he moved toward the edge of the cavern and looked down into the dim light. Far below him, he could see movement, like hundreds of ants digging in the earth. He watched the shapes moving about until he realized what they were. Hundreds of long-dead dwarfs were digging at the roots of the mountain as if that were the only thing they had ever done. Nethrom was using his own dead people to mine for him, and somehow that was more evil than anything Alex had expected. A feeling of rage began to grow inside of Alex.

Alex looked around for some way down to the miners. He did not know what he would do if he reached them, or what they might do to him, but he wanted more than anything to give the dead dwarfs the rest they deserved. The path he had been following turned sharply to his left as it came out of the cave mouth, moving down the face of the cliff. The path was narrow but well made, and Alex hurried down it.

He tried to calm himself as he descended the cliff wall, but his outrage burned inside him like a flame that would not go out. Alex wondered at how evil Nethrom had become, and at how he could have changed so much from the dwarf who had once helped the people of Neplee. That the same dwarf had enslaved the dead of his own people was too much for Alex to understand.

When he reached the bottom of the cliff, Alex turned to face the miners, wanting to speak to them and tell them that he would return them to their rest. He was surprised to find that the miners had all stopped working and were moving toward him like moths to a flame. He gripped his staff, wondering if the undead dwarfs would try to stop him from reaching Nethrom and if he would have to destroy them to end their torment.

“Hail, great one,” one of the dwarfs called out to Alex. “We have heard the clap of doom, and we know our time here is short.”

“You know?” Alex questioned.

“Your coming was foretold long ago.”

“Foretold by who?” Alex asked.

“It is not for us to say,” the dwarf answered. “It is enough for us to know you have come, and that our deliverance is near.”

“Quickly, then,” said Alex, not wanting to give Nethrom any more time to prepare for him than he had to. “Where do I find the necromancer? Which path leads to him?”

“Do not fear, he does not know of your coming,” said the dwarf with what might have been a smile. “We are bound to dig for him, but we are not bound to do more.”

“How could he not know I am here? You heard the thunderclap—” Alex started doubtfully.

“We blocked the sound from passing,” the dwarf answered. “The evil will not know you have come until you show yourself to him.”