Barb Hendee - Through Stone and Sea

Chane nodded once.

Sau'ilahk had no time to ponder how the second Stonewalker came out of a cavern wall. The thunderclap raised by the younger, red-haired one had to be an alarm. He needed to end this and slip away before being forced to flee. And he needed life to feed on.

He rushed the second Stonewalker, as it slashed at him with a wide dagger. Gray-blond hair hung wildly about the elder dwarf's bony face. The blade swept through unimpeded, and his expression shifted to surprise.

Sau'ilahk sank his incorporeal hand through the dwarf's black-scaled hauberk. Elation rose at the tingle of life as the dwarf's mouth gaped.

The old one tried to back away, and Sau'ilahk paced him, wanting to leach as much life as possible. He had not had enough time to memorize this cavern. If exhaustion forced him into dormancy, he would rise in the last place he had awakened.

The elder Stonewalker backed against—into—the wall.

The tingle of life vanished, and Sau'ilahk froze, staring into his victim's face, which was half-submerged in glistening stone.

The stone's texture and phosphorescence flowed over the elder dwarf's features. It began covering his form, armor, hair, and eyes. He became a likeness seemingly carved from the rock.

Sau'ilahk's hand began to harden, as if solidified against his will, trapped inside the stone.

Nothing could hide its life from his touch. Nothing could grip a spirit, especially one such as him. Stunned and horrified, he willed his hand to return to its spiritual state and jerked free, retreating in a rush. He whirled at the sound of grating boots, and the red-haired young one closed quickly.

Sau'ilahk could not help recoiling as another dagger slashed through him.

The young one's eyes widened when the blade did not even ruffle the black cloak. Sau'ilahk swiped at him in turn, hoping to consume this one's life. The dwarf slapped his free hand against a stalactite.

Sau'ilahk's black-wrapped fingers passed straight through his red hair and his face. The young one did not flinch, and Sau'ilahk did not even feel a brief tingle.

"Meâkesagh, yaittrâg vuddidí maks! Chleu'intag chregh; chleu'intag hìm!"

He twisted at the elder's deep voice, catching the meaning of those barked commands too late.

Ore-Locks, block the far exit! Keep to stone; keep to me!

The gray-blond elder stepped forward, his still-carved face pushing from calcified rock. Glistening stone flowed from his features, until he stood fully distinguished from the cavern wall. A rush of booted feet made Sau'ilahk whip the other way.

The red-haired one dodged between half-lit columns and deep shadows, always keeping one hand upon a stalagmite or stalactite. He regained the far opening where he had first appeared.

Sau'ilahk turned fear-fed anger on the bony-featured elder.

… keep to stone … keep to me.

He hissed, and his cloak began to rise. Even if he blinked across the cavern by line of sight, he could not feed on the young one. The elder was the key to Sau'ilahk's failure. That one somehow protected himself and the other through contact with stone. And there was stone here everywhere.

Sau'ilahk had to force one of them to lose contact between flesh and stone.

If the elder died, the younger would be helpless, but turning fully corporeal to fight them would deplete Sau'ilahk's energy. He would not last long. Even if he killed one, to do so quickly would not feed him enough.

He surged rearward, rushing back through three calcified columns.

"Bulwark?" the young one called.

"Hold!" the elder shouted, swerving around a lumpy column.

Sau'ilahk spread his arms wide.

His servitors could do little against enemies who became one with stone. A pure conjury was too slow, and a base summoning was the only choice. He arched his arms forward as the elder Stonewalker rounded another stalagmite. Sigils and shapes formed in Sau'ilahk's sight, but not fixed upon his assailant.

He held them within the vacant space between his arms, and the cavern's air began to shift.

Wind raced in through openings as if the cavern sucked it in. It built into a whirling core within the half circle of Sau'ilahk's arms. The elder dwarf faltered, slapping at hair whipping across his bony face. He growled unintelligibly and charged.

Sau'ilahk clapped his hands together.

A crack shook the cavern as churning air exploded outward. The elder Stonewalker skidded back, and his heavy body slammed into a joined stalagmite and stalactite. The column shattered under his bulk, chunks scattering all about.

The brief hurricane died just as suddenly as it came. Not one fold of Sau'ilahk's robe had been ruffled, but the elder dwarf lay prone and still in the column's rubble.

Sau'ilahk glanced aside in growing fatigue. The younger one was gone from the far opening, perhaps flattened as well. Satisfied, he slid toward his unconscious victim.

The elder rolled over. Shaking off shattered stone, he heaved himself up, not even bleeding.

Sau'ilahk halted in frustration.

At a clatter and scuffing of boots, the younger dwarf clambered back into the far opening.

"Hold!" the elder shouted. "The others are coming!"

An eerie wail rolled into the cavern.

Sau'ilahk peered at every opening, searching for its origin. He knew that sound, and hope drained like his strength. He had been detected. If the black wolf was here, so was Wynn. How had she found her way into the underworld? Had she learned the location of the texts, or even beaten him to them?

Something moved beyond a wide-based stone cone to his right. It was neither of his opponents. It slipped around that tall and broad stalagmite, taking shape in the wall crystals' orange light.

A third Stonewalker, a female, watched him with unblinking pellet eyes.

Sau'ilahk's hiss shifted to a moan. He did not have the reserves to engage three. All he need do was to sink into dormancy and vanish. But he had come so close to his desire.

Another form rushed out of the wall behind the gray-blond, bony-faced elder.

It shot from solid rock like a broad shadow and landed on heavy boots, sending vibrations through the cavern floor. This fourth Stonewalker seemed vaguely familiar, with black hair streaked by gray, and a beard of steely bristles.

Sau'ilahk slowly rotated, tracking his four opponents as they shifted about the cavern. Again he should have fled. But the texts were here, containing secrets he needed—for the means to regain flesh.

The black wolf rushed in beyond the two elder Stonewalkers.

Another warning to flee, but Sau'ilahk's long suffering smothered him.

He would not let that whelp of a sage steal the texts, steal his hope, no matter what it cost him.

Wynn stumbled out of the main passage into a long, low-roofed cavern filled with twisted light. One Weardas bodyguard shoved her against the side wall, and, as the others came through, she looked frantically about for Shade. The dog had bolted ahead, wailing her alarm, so she must be here somewhere.

Shade reappeared, circling back to a protective stance before Wynn, and her eerie wail lowered to a snarl.

Small dwarven crystals spread pockets of wispy orange amid the walls' dim yellow-green glow. Shadows multiplied into a forest of dark silhouettes between the glistening wet columns. Some of those shadows moved.

Wynn spotted two, no, at least three dwarven shapes. One passed into the light of a nearby crystal.

Cinder-Shard stepped into view as all four Stonewalkers faced toward the cavern's midpoint. Wynn followed their attention, and her stomach tightened.

A black figure floated there, garbed in a flowing robe and cloak that shifted and swayed upon a breeze she couldn't feel. It raised one arm, and its sleeve slipped down, exposing its forearm, hand, and fingers all wrapped in black cloth strips.