As I crept closer, drawn by curiosity—or maybe it was the dragon’s influence—the backs of the heads of dozens, maybe hundreds, of dark elves came into view. Some were hooded, and some had their hoods back, their white hair tumbling to their shoulders. The dark elves stood chanting as they faced the massive sculpture and dais. Nobody stood on the dais yet, but a vat of a dark liquid gurgled over a fire pit where a pulpit in a church might have been. Was it blood? Whose? On a table next to the vat rested Zav’s cracked-eggshell artifact and a paintbrush.
The urge to fling myself over the railing to sprint up and snatch it surged into me, and my legs carried me three running steps before I slammed an anchor down on that urge. I planted my hand against the wall, bracing myself before Zav’s compulsion could force me onto the balcony and into a suicidal act.
Val? Sindari spoke into my mind. Back here. This is where I smell the charcoal. There is also blood inside, though not as much as is in that vat.
Though I had to struggle against my will—against Zav’s will—I stepped back. But after only one step, a squirming girl with red hair was brought out, bundled in a blanket and toted on two male elves’ shoulders.
From the balcony, I could only see part of her face, but it was enough to read the terror in her eyes. How had she ended up down here? She was my daughter’s age, maybe a little younger.
I stared in horror. Was she their sacrifice for the night?
21
Val? Sindari prompted again. He faced a metal door, the alchemist’s lab.
Gulping, I forced myself to step back from the balcony and join him. Maybe once we got a sample of the alchemist’s blood, I could find a way to rescue the girl. I had grenades. If I threw them all, was it possible I could slip in through the chaos and reach her? And then somehow find a way back out of that chamber? With so many dark elves down there, it was a daunting prospect, but I wouldn’t let myself give up on the idea. Hopefully, the girl had some time.
I joined Sindari, determination and anger making me shake.
The tunnels were cool, but sweat beaded on my forehead. My throat burned, as if the crimson vapor from that vial had seared off all the cilia and some of the flesh. My lungs were tight, too, affected by the vapor or maybe just unhappy with the mildewy undertone of this place. I was tempted to use my inhaler again, but I was only supposed to do that every few hours, not every twenty minutes. Besides, its soft puff might be loud enough for those keen elven ears to pick up.
I tried to ease the door aside, but it didn’t budge. Once again, my lock-picking charm came to the rescue. After applying it, I slid the door aside easily.
Sindari charged in, almost bumping me out of the way. He flew through the air and smashed into the startled female dark elf turning toward us. Synaru-van? It had to be.
I jumped inside, glimpsing counters full of vials and equipment in a lab twice as large as Zoltan’s as I rushed to close the door, hoping it was soundproof. Especially when the alchemist shrieked a curse and dropped two glass flasks as Sindari plowed into her. They shattered on the cement floor.
Wincing, I threw a deadbolt on the door, though I doubted it would keep out the rest of the dark elves for long, and pulled out Chopper and Fezzik.
Sindari had caught Synaru-van off-guard, and she lay on her back under him, arms and legs pinned under his paws. She struggled and spat in his face, but he was strong enough to keep her down. Numerous tools and pouches were attached to her belt, and I rushed forward to yank them off.
“Sorry to intrude,” I said as she glared daggers at me, “but I’m in need of a sample of your blood and also to know why you and your people poisoned my boss. Oh, and if you already have an antidote handy, that would be great. I doubt that dragon is going to give me any of his blood. He’s super uptight about it.”
She spat at me. I jerked my head back to avoid the phlegmy wad, then patted down the slick oddly-textured black robe she wore to make sure she didn’t have pockets full of weapons.
“You are the Ruin Bringer,” Synaru-van said in realization. “You have delivered yourself to us?” She lost her ire and frustration and cackled.
I liked it better when she’d been spitting mad.
“You were the only one in that organization that my people thought would get in the way of our plans, but we weren’t sure if we could kill you. If we killed your employer, and bribed someone to close your office, we thought you would quit.”
Great, confirmation that Willard had only been targeted because of me.
“But now you’re here in our lair. You’ll never escape.” She laughed so hard that tears came to her creepy yellow eyes.
Someone pounded at the door.
Do you want me to bite her head off? Sindari asked.
Yes, but I didn’t say that. I gripped the mad elf’s shoulder. “If there’s an antidote, tell me, and I’ll keep my tiger from eating you.”
Someone pounded again and tried to shove the door aside. Synaru-van kept laughing. What a nut.
Keep holding her down. I dug a syringe out of Zoltan’s sample kit.
Synaru-van spotted it, and her humor shifted to rage. “You think I’ll let you take my blood?”
“I sure hope so.” I shoved her sleeve up as she renewed her bucking and thrashing against Sindari.
As I struggled to hold her arm down and find a vein, I expected her to fling a magical attack at him—or me—any second. It took three stabs to get the needle into her vein, and she shrieked at the indignation.
“What are your plans anyway? Our office wasn’t even bothering your people.” I hadn’t even known they’d existed two days ago…
She calmed, focusing on Sindari, and I sensed a psionic blast targeting him. There was the attack I’d expected. He shook his head and growled without releasing her.
Shouts came from the tunnel. I only had a half a syringe of blood, but I pulled out the needle and capped it. It would have to be enough.
Synaru-van’s mad yellow eyes turned toward me, and I knew she would launch her next psionic attack my way. I stuffed my syringe in the kit and pocketed it.
The wave of power came not from her but from behind. The deadbolt snapped as the door flew open, banging against the wall.
Sindari lowered his fangs toward the alchemist’s throat, but another wave of pure energy came crashing into the lab. It struck hard, flattening me to the floor and hurling Sindari across the lab. He smashed into a cabinet, breaking open the doors, beakers and flasks tumbling out and shattering all around him.
Mages stood in the doorway.
I swore and shoved myself to my feet, swinging my gun toward them as two dark elves charged in. When I fired, my bullets bounced off invisible barriers around them, ricocheting into the ceiling and nearby cabinets. I switched Fezzik to my left hand and pulled out Chopper, hoping the magical blade would cut through their shields.
A few feet away, Synaru-van reached into the bosom of her robe—why hadn’t I checked there for weapons?—and pulled out a vial. Before I could stop her, she flung it to the floor at my feet.
Holding my breath again, I sprang backward and scrambled as far from the cracked glass as I could. Synaru-van was too far away to reach with Chopper. I fired at her, hoping she wasn’t shielded, as blue smoke writhed from the floor, its tendrils stretching toward me.
One of my bullets sank into her shoulder, and she shrieked, but my victory was short-lived. Invisible energy slapped against my wrist with bone-crunching force, and I couldn’t keep from crying out and dropping Fezzik. One of the dark elves rushed to protect Synaru-van as the other sprang for me.
I still had Chopper in my other hand, and I stabbed like a fencer to keep him back. The blade pierced his shield, and his eyes bulged as the point dug into his chest. For the first time, one of them retreated, scrambling madly back out of reach.
Taking advantage, I reached into my pocket to pull out a grenade. I had the blood. It was time to blow my way out of here. Maybe the ceiling would collapse, and I could climb out.
But even as I slashed and cut my foe, slicing into flesh three more times as I kept him between me and the others, another mage by the door flung a hand up. He had no trouble targeting me around his buddy, and that same invisible power struck me again. It hurled me back against a counter.
Sindari was pinned by magic, one of the mages completely focused on him, but he kept trying to break free. He shook his head, roared, and waded forward, as if against a stiff wind. But two more dark elves ran inside, fingers splayed as they added their power to that of the others. Sindari was knocked back again. His muscles strained under his sleek fur, but even he wasn’t strong enough to fight that much power.
Outside, the chanting had stopped. Would the entire assembly swarm up here to use those torture implements on me? Or would one of them simply shoot me and end it?
My grip tightened on Chopper as two dark elves approached. I vowed to go down swinging.
My chest was as tight as my grip, and I grimaced, embarrassed and furious at the wheezes coming from my own throat. I was a warrior, damn it, not some cripple.
“Do we kill her, Synaru-van?”
The alchemist stood back, a hand gripping her bleeding shoulder, and looked like she wanted to nod vigorously. But she said, “Not yet. I will question her first. We must know how she found a way in and if others know about our entrances. If so, we will have to cave them in and make others. Just tie her up for now. And someone get rid of that slavering tiger.”
Sindari was still straining against the magic, trying his best to get to the dark elves, to protect me from them.
I swung Chopper as one of the uninjured dark elves tried to get close. Before the blade could connect, he twitched a finger, and I flew all the way back to the corner. My face caught the edge of a counter as I crashed down. Blood flooded my mouth as I accidentally bit my tongue, and I crashed to my knees.
The chanting of a spell, not some religious fervor, came from the doorway. My charm didn’t translate the words, but Sindari’s head bowed.
I’m sorry, Val. He knows how to force me back into the figurine.
It’s all right.
I don’t want to leave you. You need me.