Delver Magic I: Sanctum's Breach by Jeff Inlo (read novels website .TXT) 📕

Other evidence existed as well. Vapors rose unsteadily from puddles of dark liquid. The air shimmered in several places with hazy clouds. The floor was hidden, encrusted with a thick fog which crystallized in many areas. And to everyone’s dread, each corner radiated a light from its own source. Collections of small pebbles, no larger than fingernails, gleamed with a greenish orange glow. It reminded them all that the absence of the flame did not constitute the end of all dangers. Most of what the interpreter warned indeed waited within these walls, and it remained as deadly as he explained.

Still, the absence of the walls, the removal of the chambers, constituted a shift from the original obstacle. Lief offered the change a possible explanation for the flames which did not materialize.

“If the walls which separated the gasses collapsed, could this not have caused changes which might explain the absence of the flames?”

“I guess it’s possible,” Stephen muttered. He had stopped at the bottom of the stair case and surveyed the now open space from an even level. “I’m not a scientist. I’m not sure what would happen if some of these gases mixed with each other.”

The thought troubled the elf guard. “Does that mean you are not sure if we are safe where we stand? Is it possible the barrier will not protect us?”

Stephen frowned, but shook his head. “No, I didn’t mean that. I honestly believe we are safe. As long as the barrier remains air tight, I can’t believe anything will hurt us. It’s just that I wonder if any of the dangers exist anymore. The air may be as clean to breathe as the air outside. All the different gases might have neutralized each other, just as it did to the gas which was supposed to ignite on our entry.”

Ryson looked nervously toward the glowing stones in the far corners of the tier. He spoke with urgency. “It looks like there’s at least one thing that’s still dangerous here. The rocks you spoke of still glow. So unless anyone really wants to poke their head out to see if the air is free of poison, I suggest we keep moving.”

“You’re right,” Stephen allowed as he shrugged yet again.

Before they started, Ryson questioned Lauren. “How are you holding up?”

“Do not fear the rocks, delver” the sorceress replied almost laughingly. While she did not wish to respond to the delver, she found his apprehension somewhat fulfilling. “The barrier will hold, and though I am tiring, I will last.”

“Alright.” He dismissed the strangeness of her reply as he urged the rest to move without delay. “If she’s getting tired, we should move as quickly as possible.”

It was Holli who called out one last question. “Stephen, do you know of any traps which we must avoid?”

“There was no need for traps,” Stephen conceded. “The gas and the stones would be enough to stop anyone.”

Holli addressed the entire group with a stern warning. “Still, there are liquids which might prove deadly if we touch them, and the brick walls that still stand remain in danger of collapsing. I suggest you steer us clear of such obstacles. Do not become careless in haste to reach the next level.”

“Very well,” he approved. “I’ll take us down a center path. The door waits at the far end, over there.” He pointed off in front of him.

The faint outline of the door was visible at that point only to the delver and the elves. Their keen eye sight allowed them to cover the great distance. While Lief and Holli could make out only a meager trace of the stone door, Ryson obtained far greater detail, and with it an answer.

“There’s where your flame went,” he announced suddenly.

Stephen, about to take weary steps forward, stopped himself as he shot a confused look at the delver. Indeed, all eyes were now on Ryson, and all waited for an explanation.

He spoke without hesitation. “The door’s damaged. It’s shifted off its hinges and there are scorch marks all around it.”

“Has it been opened?” Holli questioned in a near demanding tone.

“I don’t think so. It looks like something pounded upon it from the other side.”

Holli looked toward Lief. “That is the delver tier.”

Lief responded with equal grimness. “We still have no idea what waits for us there.”

Again, Holli questioned the delver before they proceeded. “What do you think happened, Ryson?”

“It’s hard to say from here. Some kind of force hit the rock door, damaged it, and shoved it from its original position. I guess when that happened, it broke the seal. The flame we expected when we opened this door already occurred around that one. There’s scorch marks all around the cracks.”

Tun became frustrated in listening to this babble and being unable to see that which the delver described. “Let us move forward and we can all take a look,” he demanded. “If there is damage to the rock, it is fitting that my brother and I inspect it as well.”

“That’s a good idea,” Ryson agreed. “I’d like to get a closer look myself.”

They moved forward over the flat rock floor. Stephen led, but there was no true need for his direction. A path through the center of the tier led directly to the door. It contained no obstacles as the gas emitting liquids and the crumbling walls remained off to the sides. They remained grouped together, but not out of fear of a misstep. They wished only to refrain from stretching the limits of the shield that protected them from unseen hazards. They formed more of a haphazard cluster within Lauren’s magical field and abandoned the long snaking line which brought them through the dwarf tier.

The broken stone door called to them as well, both as a mystery and a path of freedom from the stones. As they passed pillar after pillar, and beyond several pools of foaming liquids, it became visible to even the weakest eyed traveler among them. The scorch marks were clearly present and the cracks near the hinges verified Ryson’s earlier report. The last few steps were taken in near trot as all wished to examine the door as well as put this tier behind them.

Tun took an authoritative step forward to examine the damage in the rock. At his grunting request, Jon joined him.

Jon took greater care in feeling the rock and examining the cracks, and he announced his observations to them all. “The force which broke the stone came from the other side. It did not press upon the door directly. It was also not a hammering effect. Whatever it was, it came in the form of a steady stream of great power. The force broke the seal and allowed air to rush through the cracks. Air continues to flow through even now.”

“How long ago?” Holli requested with a calculating expression.

“Recently,” Jon explained. “Within this season.”

Holli nodded her head with approval. She swerved about on her heels assessing their location within the tier. Her eyes cast first to the stone stairway across the rock floor and finally upon the ceiling.

Lief noted her reaction. “You are aware of something?”

“I believe so,” she said firmly, but remained unsatisfied with her visual inspections. “It would be clearer if I knew which direction we faced.”

“We face south,” Jon replied quickly.

“Are you sure? How can you tell from within? With all the tricks played upon us in the tier overhead, it was impossible for me to keep a lock on our direction.”

“I know the path as well as my brother,” Jon answered simply. “I always knew what direction we were headed. I also know the general construction of Sanctum. Even though this door was sealed by the humans, its foundation was built by the dwarves. Trust me, we face south.”

“Then I know the cause of the break in that door,” Holli responded with hard edged certainty. “It is the result of the tunnel which the sphere created to funnel the tainted magic to the free air.”

Ryson’s eyes shot open wide with enlightenment. “She’s right! The breach in Sanctum’s wall was on the southern slope. If the break in the wall went straight to the core it would have to break through the tiers at some point. It must be right beyond this door.”

“That would coincide with my findings,” Jon stated in agreement.

“There is only one way to be certain,” Tun stated almost belligerently and with definite impatience. “Let us open the door and see for ourselves.”

“Wait! That might tell us what we need to know, but we don’t know what else waits for us beyond this door,” Stephen reminded him.

Holli repeated the need for care over haste. “The interpreter is correct. The delver tier awaits us now. We can not be certain of what dangers it holds.”

“And we won’t find out by standing here,” Tun answered obstinately.

It was Ryson that ended the short debate, ended it as he realized the new danger they faced. He took a deep breath, and held it. He waited, as if sampling the air in his lungs. “We can’t stand around here much longer no matter what,” he said with a new sense of urgency. “We’re running out of air.”

Focus came away from the broken door and upon the very air that surrounded them. Many sniffed the air. They sensed nothing different, but they could not deny the logic of the danger. The barrier was airtight. It surrounded them all, ten of them breathing the same trapped air. It would certainly not last indefinitely.

The glow of rocks in a far corner called to them. What they faced became as clear as the greenish orange glow. If they remained within the barrier too long, one by one they would pass out. When the sorceress lost consciousness, the barrier would fade, leaving them open to the dreadful death the rocks offered. If she dropped the barrier to refresh their air, the possibility of poisonous gas overtaking them remained prevalent. And of course, the deadly power of the rocks might wash over them in that single instant.

“We don’t have much choice,” Ryson admitted what they all now knew. “We can’t just stay here. And we can’t take too much time waiting around to figure out what might be waiting for us. We have to open this door and move on.”

“But what if a trap waits just beyond this door?” Stephen offered the dreadful possibility with reluctance, but it needed to be addressed. “Simply plunging forward may be as deadly as waiting.”

Holli took command with a cold, determined expression. “We have no choice. We know death waits for us here, which means we can’t stay. Turning back will not bring us any closer to the sphere, so that is also not a choice. We must move ahead and that means going through this door. We knew we’d have to face the delver tier eventually, and now we must do so. But we will do so with the option that offers us the greatest chance of succeeding. I doubt simply opening the door will cause us danger. It has already been shifted by the passage of force and the seal has been broken. Tun, I want you to open the door while I stand ready at the opening. The rest of you, I want you to move as far back as the force field will permit.”

Nearly everyone submitted, even Tun showed no reluctance at remaining in harm’s way. Ryson, however, protested.

“It shouldn’t be you,” he demanded of Holli. “You should go back with the others. This is my responsibility.”

“I will