The Hidden Realm: Book 04 - Ennodius (20 page)

“That was cutting it close,” gasped Ascilius, still breathing heavily. “If Eboria had returned two minutes earlier, she would have had us for dinner. We are out of her reach now, however,” he said, his voice filled with satisfaction.  

“Do not count yourself safe yet my good friend,” said a deep, wonderfully resonant voice that seemed to make the air in the storeroom tremble. “I cannot reach you just now, but do not think you will escape me for long.”

Elerian started at the sound of that voice, for he had not known that dragons could talk. In spite of the frantic motions Ascilius was making to be quiet, he felt an almost irresistible urge to reply. Taking that as a warning, he cast a protection spell over both Ascilius and himself.

The compulsion to speak vanished, but Elerian’s curiosity remained. Before Ascilius could stop him, he sprang easily to his feet and walked to the entranceway, stopping just inside the room.

“We have escaped you twice,” he said loudly so that his voice would carry down the passageway to the dragon. “What is to prevent us from doing so again?”

“Yes, of course,” said the dragon with a comfortable, friendly laugh. “By your scent you are the two who slipped away from me on the plains. I did not take you for robbers at the time. You should have gone in the opposite direction, you know, for you have trapped yourself now.”

“That remains to be seen,” said Elerian. “I would keep an eye on that stolen treasure of yours if I were you,” he taunted.

There was a sudden rumble of anger from the dragon, but Eboria recovered her composure quickly. “Why do you not show yourself?” she asked mildly. “You need not be afraid. I cannot reach you in this small passageway.”

Out of the right corner of his eyes, Elerian could see Ascilius shaking his head no and practically jumping up and down in his extreme agitation. Ignoring the Dwarf, he stepped through the entranceway into the tunnel.

A TROUBLING CONVERSATION

Eboria was lying down before the entrance to the tunnel with just her head and front paws protruding into the opening. Her green eyes glowed like lamps in the darkness that filled the passageway as her great head rested on her paws like that of some enormous hound. Now that he saw her up close, Elerian was struck by how lean and spare her frame was, with muscles like tempered steel lying close beneath the surface of her gleaming hide, which was covered with small green scales that gave it a metallic appearance. A faint reddish glow emanated from her body, as if there was a fire burning behind her emerald scales.

As Elerian stared at her, fascinated, Eboria’s luminous eyes seemed to grow and fill the whole tunnel. A subtle command to walk closer for a better look played about the edges of his protection spell, like a restless wind seeking a crack through which it might enter some stoutly built home. Failing to find any weakness in Elerian’s counter spell, Eboria discarded any attempt at subtlety, increasing the power of her command as she sought to break through Elerian’s shield spell, crushing his will to resist.

“Fool,” screamed the cautious part of Elerian’s mind. “You should have listened to Ascilius. She will eat us now!”

Elerian barely heard that voice. The capricious, sometimes rash part of his nature had propelled him into the passageway. Now, he must deal with the consequences of his actions.

“I must stand fast,” he thought with iron determination, as the pressure against his counter spell grew and grew until it seemed that some enormous weight pressed down on his body, which began to tremble from the strain of resisting Eboria’s attack. Just when he felt that his strength was almost gone and that he must give in, the assault on his shield spell ended, so suddenly that he almost fell.

With steely resolve, Elerian held himself erect. “Give no sign of weakness, or she will renew her attack,” he cautioned himself.

Seeing that brute strength had failed to overcome Elerian, Eboria now turned to subtler methods.

“You have unexpected strength within you,” she said in an admiring voice. “Beneath your illusion spell, I see the form of an Eirian, but I sense that you also have the power to change your shape. Become like me and stay by my side. Serve me, and in return, I will bestow on you gifts of power, wealth, and knowledge beyond your wildest dreams. You can take whatever you wish like a conqueror instead of begging for scraps at the table of kings like a vagabond.”

An image was suddenly born in Elerian’s mind. One moment, he was an invincible, shining gray dragon flying through the skies, the next moment he was in his natural form with Anthea by his side and countless men and women bowing down before him in homage.

“You can have us both,” Eboria said in a low, seductive voice. “Come to me and receive my gifts. Even Torquatus will fear you then.”

In that moment, Elerian could not have said whether Eboria had actually spoken or whether her thought had subtly insinuated itself in his mind. He stared into the dragon's great, luminous eyes for a long moment, weighing her offer.

“He will bend to my will now,” thought Eboria to herself, basking in the warm glow of a hard-won victory, for it seemed to her that the half-Elf must give in at last to the mesmeric charm of her wonderful voice.

“No! I have no wish to be allied with someone like you,” said Elerian clearly and unexpectedly. He shook his head in denial as if to emphasize his decision.

Instead of becoming upset that Elerian had refused her offer, Eboria laughed, a rich, melodious sound that filled the tunnel like the rumble of thunder.

“Why do you judge me so harshly?” she asked in an amused voice. “I am ageless, wise, powerful, and beautiful.”

“You have despoiled an entire countryside, killed who knows how many Dwarves, and it has not touched you at all,” said Elerian harshly. “I sense not the least bit of remorse in you for what you have done.”

“Why should I be concerned with the fate of lesser creatures and their insignificant works,” replied Eboria indifferently. “They are prey or sport for me, nothing more.”

“Every creature must eat, but it is wicked to destroy things because it amuses you,” said Elerian angrily.

Eboria looked bored now. Raising her long, horned head, she yawned, exposing her narrow, forked tongue and a cavernous maw lined with long white teeth, sharp as daggers. Elerian was sure he saw the red glow of hidden fires at the back of her throat.

“I am powerful enough to do what I wish,” said Eboria lazily. “Notions of right and wrong are for the weak and helpless. I am ruled only by my own desires, and I order the world around me as I wish.”

Elerian tensed every muscle as Eboria suddenly thrust her head forward, eyes narrowed from the intensity of her emotions.

“Your mage powers will not save you from me! Join me or your strange flesh, never encountered in all my long years in this world, will serve as my supper like the excellent mare you have already provided for me.”

“Empty words,” said Elerian coldly. He stepped suddenly back into the entrance of the room where Ascilius was waiting, for he was done talking. He half-expected Eboria to launch a plume of flame in his direction, but she laughed again, seemingly not upset at all by his defiance and sudden disappearance. He sensed an undertone of smugness in her laugher that worried him.

“She is concealing something from me,” he thought worriedly to himself, “something which she thinks will give her an advantage over me.”

“Come back. Lecture me some more on the errors of my ways,” called Eboria in an amused, opulent voice.

At that moment Ascilius seized Elerian’s right arm with his powerful left hand, drawing him away from the doorway.

“You just took a terrible risk,” he said angrily, keeping his voice low, his dark eyes gleaming in the faint glow of his mage light with the intensity of his anger. “One should never speak or even look at a dragon. It is almost impossible to resist the subtle fascination of their eyes and voice. They sound so reasonable and their magic is so strong that before you know it, you are walking right into their jaws.”

“I was able to resist her with my shield spell,” said Elerian with a shrug of his shoulders, refusing to admit to Ascilius how close he had come to submitting to Eboria’s will.

“Then you are luckier than many others,” said Ascilius gruffly. “I would not chance it again if I were you.”

“She is more than a beast, you know,” said Elerian, thoughtfully. “She can talk and there is an ancient knowledge in her eyes.”

“Beast or not, you cannot reason with a dragon, only avoid or kill them,” advised Ascilius harshly.

“I agree,” said Elerian to Ascilius’s surprise, for the Dwarf had thought Elerian dangerously enamored with the dragon because of her beauty. “We should distance ourselves from here,” continued Elerian. “I believe Eboria is up to some deception! At the end of our little talk, it seemed to me that she wanted to delay me with her conversation.”

“She cannot squeeze in here,” said Ascilius, shrugging his shoulders to show his indifference. His mercurial nature had undergone another sudden change, for against all hope, he and Elerian had reached and entered Ennodius alive and uninjured. All his doubts and uncertainties had vanished, for he was confident now that he would be able to carry out his plan of rescuing his people and gaining the treasure that Elerian needed to wed Anthea.

“We can ignore Eboria now as long as we stay in the smaller tunnels,” he said unconcernedly, as if the dragon no longer mattered or presented any further danger to them.

Elerian did not voice them, but he still had doubts as to how safe they were from Eboria. Her lack of anger and the amusement he had heard in her voice were strong evidence that she was up to something, but he could not imagine what it was.

Peering cautiously around the right side of the entryway, Ascilius saw that Eboria had vanished. Motioning silently to Elerian with his right hand, he entered the tunnel and turned to his left, walking deeper into the passageway whose walls were clearly visible to both their eyes, illuminated by the dim rays of Ascilius’s minuscule mage light.

“This tunnel serves as a service road for the workshops on both sides of us, allowing the delivery of raw materials and a way of sending out finished goods,” said Ascilius quietly to Elerian, who was walking like a shadow by his right side. “These smaller passageways alternate with larger tunnels, which serve as the main roads of the city. The whole, if it could be viewed from above, would resemble the concentric rings caused by a stone cast into still water. Cutting across the circular passageways are avenues that run to the ramp at the heart of the city, like the spokes of a wheel that run from the rim to the hub. These straight passageways, by design, also alternate in size, with smaller service roads running in between the larger boulevards.

“Besides allowing for the flow of goods and traffic though the city, the smaller passageways serve as a defense against dragons if one should ever enter the city, for as you have already seen, a full grown dragon is too large to enter them. Anyone familiar with the plan of Ennodius can use these smaller tunnels to avoid an invading dragon while still retaining the ability to access almost the entire city. These smaller passageways are one of the reasons why I believe we will find many Dwarves still alive in Ennodius.”

“What is your plan then?” asked Elerian, wondering what Ascilius intended to do next.

“The level where we are now houses all the workrooms and shops in Ennodius,” replied Ascilius. “It should be largely abandoned, but we will search it to be sure. After that, we will travel to the other levels of the city where the storerooms, inns, and living quarters are located. There, we should start to encounter survivors. Once I have assembled them together, we will replenish our food supplies and find a way to leave the city. Before we go, I will also gather treasure for you as I promised at the inn.”

“Will it really be that easy?” wondered Elerian to himself as he followed Ascilius down the silent tunnel. “If so, it will not make much of a hero’s tale. If I manage to return to Tarsius with enough treasure to wed her, Anthea will likely be disappointed that Ascilius and I skulked about in the back ways of the city like thieves in the night instead of trying to drive the dragon away from Ennodius. I will have to make her understand that even an army of men could not overcome a creature such as Eboria.”

Dymiter’s words about a master ring suddenly intruded into Elerian’s thoughts.

“Even a ring of power might not suffice to overcome Eboria,” he thought to himself, immediately. “Besides, once he has gathered his people together, I do not think that Ascilius will want to linger in Ennodius to help me make a ring that may or may not work. He has already shown me the secrets of the red mage fire and has no other reason to delay leaving the city. Dymiter will have to persuade someone else to make a ring. Once I return to Tarsius and wed Anthea, I will have no need of it, for I do not think that I will willingly cross the Arvina again.”

“Can you say the same for Torquatus?” whispered a voice in his head. “He will never rest until he finds you.”

“Torquatus will not easily enter Tarsius,” Elerian assured himself, “especially if I am by Anthea’s side, helping to protect the kingdom.”

“Were you tempted by Eboria’s invitation?” asked Ascilius suddenly, interrupting Elerian’s thoughts. “I could not help but overhear what she offered you.”

“Not a bit,” replied Elerian positively. “It was clever of her to tempt me with magical knowledge, but I have no wish to be like her. Even if I did, I would still not trust any promise she made. She is beautiful but she is also a liar,” he said sadly. “I saw it in her eyes. She would have killed me as soon as I approached her and thought herself clever for deceiving me. She thinks she is above any notion of right or wrong, free to do as she pleases without any consequences to herself.”

Ascilius appeared satisfied with Elerian’s answer, for he fell silent again. Elerian turned his thoughts to his present surroundings. He still had not got any gold in his pockets, and despite Ascilius’s assurances that they were safe now, he still felt that it was best to be vigilant until he discovered the source of Eboria’s smugness.

Now that he was aware of his environs again, Elerian felt at once as if he was walking through a tomb rather than a city. A deep, weighty silence, broken only by the tramp of Ascilius’s booted feet, pervaded the passageway, which was smooth and featureless, except for the evenly spaced, ornate iron fixtures hung from the ceiling at regular intervals and the doorways which pierced the walls of the tunnel at random intervals. Elerian guessed that the brackets overhead had held mage lights at one time, but they were all extinguished now, leaving the tunnel in pitch darkness lit only by the faint rays of Ascilius’s mage light, which continued to hover above his head like a minute firefly as he walked down the passageway. When he glanced down at the floor of the tunnel, Elerian noticed that it was covered with a thick coating of dust, as if no one had walked this way in a long time.

Each entryway the two companions passed was framed by posts and lintels carved out of the stone which formed the walls of the passageway. A name was chiseled into the stone over each lintel. To the right of each name was an iron bracket for a mage light. All of these lights were also extinguished, and Elerian noted with surprise that many of the doors had been split open or torn off their hinges.