A mistake.
The golem reached for him—and all thought of the traitorous little Kryll vanished as the fires once more
consumed Rhonin from within.
Darkness came all too slowly and yet in some ways too quickly for Vereesa. As Krasus had directed,
she had told no one about the medallion's purpose and, at further urging from Rom, had secreted it as
best she could within her garments. Her travel cloak, well-worn by this point, had managed to obscure it
for the most part, although anyone who looked closely would have at least been able to make out the
chain.
Shortly after their return to the party, Rom had taken Gimmel aside and spoken with him. The elf had
noticed both briefly look her way. Rom evidently wanted his second to also know of Krasus's decision
and, judging by the other dwarf 's falling expression, Gimmel had not liked it any more than his chieftain.
The moment the light through the hole vanished, the dwarves began to methodically remove the stones.
Vereesa saw no reason why this rock or that one had to be taken away before another, but Rom's
people were adamant. She finally settled back, trying not to think of all the time wasted.
As the last of the stones were removed, the wizard's voice, sounding oddly haggard at first, echoed in
her head.
The way out . . . is it open, Vereesa Windrunner?
She had to turn away and pretend to cough in order to mumble, “Just finished.”
Then you may proceed. Once outside, remove the talisman from wherever it is you have hidden it. That
will enable me to see what lies ahead. I will speak no more until you and the Aerie dwarf are out of the
tunnels.
As she turned back, Falstad came up to her. “You ready, my elven lady? The hill dwarves want to be
rid of us quickly, seems to me.”
In fact, Rom stood by the entrance even now, his dimly seen form impatiently gesturing for the pair to
climb out into the open. Vereesa and Falstad hurried past him, picking their way up to the widened hole
as best they could. The ranger's foot slipped once, but she managed to regain her ground. Above her, the
wind beckoned her on. She had no love for the underworld and hoped that circumstances would not
send her back there soon.
Falstad, who had reached the top first, now extended a strong hand to help her up. With easy effort, he
lifted her high, then set her standing next to him.
The instant the two exited, the dwarves began filling up the hole. It dwindled rapidly inside even as
Vereesa got her bearings.
“So what do we do now?” asked Falstad. “Climb up that?”
He indicated the base of the mountain, even in the dark of night clearly a sheer rock face for the first
several hundred feet up. Try as she might, the elf could not see any immediate opening, which puzzled
her. Rom had led her to believe that they would see it almost immediately.
She turned to call down to him, only to discover that barely any sign of the hole remained. Vereesa
knelt, then put an ear by the small gap. She could hear nothing at all.
“Forget them, my elven lady. They've gone back into hiding.” Falstad's tone revealed a hint of contempt
for his hill cousins.
Nodding, the elf finally recalled Krasus's instructions. Pulling her cloak aside, she removed the medallion
from hiding, placing it squarely on her chest. Vereesa assumed that the wizard would be able to see in the
dark, else he would be of little aid to them now.
“What's that?”
“Help . . . I hope.” Krasus might have warned her not to tell anyone, but surely he did not expect her to
leave Falstad guessing. The dwarf might think her mad if she started talking to herself.
Everything is quite visible,the wizard announced, causing her to start.Thank you.
“What's wrong? Why did you jump?”
“Falstad, you know that the Kirin Tor sent Rhonin on a mission?”
“Aye, and not the foolish one he mentioned, either. Why?”
“This medallion is from the wizard who chose him, who sent him on his true quest—part of which, I
think, required Rhonin to enter the mountain.”
“For what reason?” He did not sound at all surprised.
“That has not been made completely clear to me so far. As for this medallion, it enables one of those
wizards, Krasus, to speak with me.”
“But I can't hear anything.”
“That, unfortunately, is how it works.”
“Typical wizardry,” the dwarf remarked, using the same tone of voice he had used when commenting on
his hill cousins' deficiencies.
You had best move on,suggested Krasus.Time is, as they say, of the essence.
“Did something just happen to you? You jumped again!”
“As I said, you cannot hear him, but I can. He wants us to move on. He says he can guide us!”
“He can see?”
“Through the crystal.”
Falstad walked up to the medallion, thrusting a finger at the stone. “I swear by the Aerie that if you play
us false, my ghost'll hunt you down, spellcaster! I swear it!”
Tell the dwarf our goals are similar.
Vereesa repeated the statement to Falstad, who grudgingly accepted it. The elf, too, had reservations,
ones she kept to herself. Krasus had said that their goals were “similar.” That did not mean that they
were one and the same.
Despite those thoughts, she passed on Krasus's first instructions to the letter, assuming that he would at
least get them inside. His directions seemed peculiar at first, for they forced the pair to circumnavigate
part of the mountain in a manner that seemed far too time-consuming. However, the wizard then led them
along an easier path that quickly brought them to a tall but narrow cave mouth that Vereesa assumedhad
to be their way in. If not, then she would certainly have a word with their dubious guide.
An old dwarven mine,Krasus said.The orcs think it leads nowhere.
Vereesa studied it as best she could in the dark. “Why have Rom and his people not used it if it leads
inside?”
Because they have been patiently waiting.
She wanted to ask what they waited for, but suddenly Falstad grabbed at her arm.
“Hear that!” the gryphon-rider whispered. “Something coming!”
They backed behind an outcropping—just in time. A fearsome shape strode purposefully toward the
area of the cave, hissing as it came. Vereesa noted a draconic head peering around, red orbs faintly
glowing in the night.
“And there's an even better reason why they've not used that way before,” Falstad muttered. “Knew it
was too good to be true!”
The dragon's head stiffened. The beast turned toward the general direction of the two.
You must remain silent. A dragon's ears can be very sharp.
The elf did not bother to relay that unnecessary knowledge. Gripping her sword, she watched as the
behemoth took a few steps toward where they hid. Not nearly so great in size as Deathwing, but
nonetheless large enough to dispatch her and Falstad with ease.
Wings suddenly stretched behind the head—wings that, with her night vision, the ranger could see had
developed malformed. Small wonder this dragon acted as guard dog for the orcs.
And where was its handler, for that matter? The orcs never left a dragon alone, even one cursed never
to fly.
A barked command quickly answered that question. From far behind the beast came a floating torch
that gradually revealed itself to be in the hand of a hulking orc. In his other hand he carried a sword
nearly as long as Vereesa. The guard yelled something to the dragon, who hissed furiously. The orc
repeated his order.
Slowly, the beast began to turn from where the pair hid. Vereesa held her breath, hoping that the warrior
and his hound would hurry off
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