Babes in Toyland
Chapter 4
When the brief fog of teleportation cleared, Kara and crew stood in a moss-draped dome of deepest blue stone. Tier upon tier rose above them to encircle the space in walkways. Behind them rose a statue of a horned demon spattered with the refuse of migrating birds. Scant light came down from a cupola overhead.
Wicca stepped down from the platform. "This way. There's a ladder down to the city proper." The group trod a passage too dark to see anything but dancing glimmers at the far end. "Water reflections. Looks like old Stan was right about the flooding." She climbed down the petrified rungs that were slick with mildew, to jump into water about knee deep. A few crates floated near the cave exit, where flood runoff dripped down in a partial curtain.
"Can't we fly to the citadel?" Jili asked, sloshing along with them.
"Unwise," said Caladra, apparently assuming the lead. "One of the rules is not to leave any unknowns behind you." Hands on hips, she looked about in the same awe as the others. The city's walls rose far too high to consider scaling. Across from them, an adobe-like stack of dwellings showed only black, open windows. But the biggest attraction was the nimbus, soaring out of the citadel to form a gigantic disk high in the sky. Its muted roar was audible even from here.
"This way," Wicca said, indicating an alley between the complexes.
"First things first." Jili conjured her skeleton familiar, who raced around in search of mayhem for his sword. "He's a good early warning system. Something has already outraged his sensibilities." The skeleton splashed speedily into the gloom. There came manic screeches and insectoid clicks. One of the monsters galloped into view.
Ug, Kara thought. A giant cave cricket? She always thought they resembled a cross between crickets and spiders. This one was the size of a small bear, with the skeleton in pursuit. Even after the thing was felled, the familiar bashed away, sending up a geyser of water. Then he raced back to the group, pacing and sometimes getting in the way.
It annoyed Wicca. "Come on, Rotboy. Make a hole." She pushed at the sternum, eliciting a sepulchral growl.
"His name," Jili said, is McBurney. It's dignified."
Kara noted his interest in her, the only one he hadn't seen before. "On the other hand, he'll give us away. We don't need a lot of attention." The unlikely quintet waded toward the alley, picking up a regular banging sound. Not far inside the narrow lane, an open window showed another skeleton hammering an anvil for a long-forgotten horseshoe. He elicited no reaction from McBurney, even though he paused briefly to watch them go by. The narrow passage was so dark, they had to navigate by watching the roofline overhead, alerting them to an upcoming turn. At length they came upon the citadel wall.
"This is where it gets interesting," Wicca said in understatement. "We'll have to scale the top. The arena dugouts are a safe place at first. It's when you cross the open space to the citadel that you get noticed." The increased roar of the nimbus brought with it a better view. White apparitions were pulled along in the vortex, grasping toward them with wails of despair. "Lost souls. That's us if we make a wrong move." So saying, she extended her flying staff and invited Caladra behind her. The pair flew to the top. Jili used her magic cord to pull herself up, and Kara simply flew.
They assembled in front of a columned ring where spectators once enjoyed the sanctity of a safe space. It wasn't guaranteed any more. The citadel complex was an Aztec-like pyramid with upper levels increasingly small. The nimbus erupted from the back side. Faint bells chimed, and an eerie cry had the disturbing sound of a baby.
"My kind of joint!" Wicca decided. "Sara, your bogeymen will be in the lower maze level if they're here."
Kara didn't bother to correct her. She was the first to spot milling red lights at the far end.
"Hell hounds," Caladra said. She pulled the big air cavalry sword from her back. "They have a short-range fire breath, but they don't like cold. I suggest we run for it, so as to fight as few as possible." She set out in a sprint the others had to run hard to match. The monsters did indeed see them, and came running, smoke spouting from their nostrils to the sound of infernal baying. Caladra took out her bow, sent three arrows lancing into the pack, taking one down. Jili had vanished in stealth. Another hound wailed from a sword hit out of nowhere. Kara's super cold breath froze half a dozen. Wicca conjured a plasma lance that opened another like a laser scalpel. Still, the survivors came on, but by then, the grop had raced up the broad steps.
"Wait a minute," Wicca said. "Where's Boney Maroney?"
"Probably destroyed," Kara decided. "But Jili can always conjure him again." They crossed a broad portico toward tall metal doors that were partly ajar. From upper levels came the tinkle of chains that sounded like wind chimes.
Wicca went into a combat stance. "Chains? Must be roamers."
Caladra sneered. "Didn't you learn anything at the magic academy? If roamers were near, your hair would stand on end due to their static lightning field." She strode boldly through the doors. A grand chamber awaited, once entirely of gold leaf, now looted and tarnished to obscurity. Smashed furnishings were strewn haphazardly. "Good fighting here. Someone gave an account of themselves."
In the next chamber, which angled downward under high-set windows, they were obliged to tangle with a gaggle of undead who littered the space. These were fairly easier to hack down, but farther along, stained glass windows held a different surprise. Armored knights stepped out of the artwork, wielding glass swords. To shatter one meant dealing with a spray of glass shards. Only a few cuts were suffered, but the group had no healer.
Once the area was cleared, Caladra scouted a dark chamber that required Wicca to summon a mage light overhead. Upstairs balconies promised trouble, though their goal lay below, not above. A loose wood panel in the stair foundation caught the amazon's eye. She made a big enough passage for them all to creep inside. Her sword cleared away spider webs. Having pried the panel back in place, she said, "This is a good place to stop for the night. Kara, let's find out if Dan put in any medical supplies."
Kara hid the magic bottle behind some fallen debris and twisted the cap. As soon as the four were inside, they set out to search the various side rooms. Jili went to the bottom and sat moodily near the lower hatch. Kara joined her, sitting cross-legged. "Caladra is a mystery to me, like all the amazons." Hopefully she could fish for info on the conflict between the two.
"She's from a tree-city race called the Vayonne," Jili began. "They're sought after as warriors, but are too aloof. The only other one outside the culture is Caladra's sister, who took a job in a magic shop. That was a major scandal. The Vayonnes shun her."
"It seems an odd interest for an amazon."
Jili nodded. "It's on the floating city of Astragorn, the biggest luxury hub anywhere. It even has ferry service from the only flying ship still operating." She looked aside in memory. "I made a few grabs, but if I go back, it will have to be in disguise." She studied a vial of greenish goo. "This is ichor from on of the giant crickets. I know somehow it will fit a recipe. It's like they're stored in my mind, but I can't call them up. They only come to mind when I have the ingredients."
Kara didn't want to know what kind of potion such stuff would make. "Why does Caladra hold you responsible for the death of Wayacth's mother?"
"Because I killed her." Jili let the surprise settle. "I was a confused kid being chased by these big girls who were cutting down everything in sight. Eiridne—Wayacth's mom—didn't know my scratch was fatal. But she lived long enough to take down a demon lord. The world is still talking about it."
"And Wicca tried to kill Wayacth?"
"Back then, she fell in with the wrong types, who put her up to it. Now she goes her own way."
Let the past lie, Kara thought. "I'll see what kind of cozy bed I can find. See you first thing."