Alpha Roamer Tango

Chapter 5

Having only their internal body clocks to go by, the team awakened and had a quick breakfast of dried auroc strips, gruel, and hard rolls. They exited the magic bottle to continue the downward trek toward the source of the nimbus, where Kara suspected lay the nidus of trouble plaguing her own world. Encounters were brief but violent, such as a haunted mirror that produced a counterfeit Wicca. But the fake was little match for the combined skill of the others. Finally they exited to the underground aquifer where Wicca had previously come to grief at the chained claws of a roamer. Vision was possible due to luminescent crystals in the stone. A cowled ferryman began poling his boat across toward them.

"We could fly," Caladra said, "but he expects payment, and won't be happy when we return. It has to be something of value to the giver."

The boat ground ashore, the gaunt ferryman moving to the fore, where a high curling prow overhung the banks.

"Allow me." Jili stepped aboard and dropped a vial to clink into the skeletal palm. Payment was accepted, and the ferryman fetched his pole to push off across the narrow river.

Kara guessed what it was. "The bug ichor."

"I can get more," Jili said. She began a watch overhead when cackling laughter reverberated. "Harpies. Be on guard." But the winged menace didn't swoop down on them. Did they have prior instructions? The boat crunched ashore on the far side, not far from a yawning black cave entrance. Wicca summoned another mage light to hover ahead of them. Hammering sounds grew louder as a light appeared in the tunnel.

"What's next?" Caladra asked.

"We never got this far," Wicca said. "I only remember a crypt with a round altar where the priests brought me back. I'd sure like to repay them. Why couldn't they make me a sorceress? That's where the real power is." They came out in a gigantic space where dozens of rods banged up and down on a platform. Reaching the outlet to this space meant running the gauntlet.

Caladra studied the ratcheting rods. "That may be the power source for the nimbus. No one knows what the vortex is for, but there is worry it might expand to engulf the world."

"I can wreck it," Kara offered. "Then again, that might set off events we'd rather avoid." The passage they observed from was long and narrow. It offered no cover from unexpected surprises, like a hatch at the far end sliding up. Out floated a roamer. The red orb's single eye fixed them with hellish anticipation. Its small arms dangled short chains. Already the toothy maw was opening to spit a fireball. Wicca carried Caladra aloft on her staff; Jili used her cord to reel up out of the way; Kara simply ducked. She didn't want an oily mess fouling her suit.

Kara stood before the oncoming foe. "My turn, you animated gas bag." She unleashed super cold breath, but the thing became transparent, having shifted to an interim state.

Caladra and the others came down, having decided to brave the pistoning rods. "That's the alpha variant. It has defenses against its vulnerabilities."

"With me," Kara said, having a plan. If it wasn't timed right, the piston would simply come to a stop on her invulnerable head. They bunched together, taking Kara's cue when it was time to dart to the next open space between the pump rods. The noise was frenetic, and their skin tingled from the power generated by each stroke on the platform. Six rods later, they were safely across.

The roamer stopped and turned toward them. It spat a fireball that collided with a rod, exploding in a spray of fiery goo. Seeing a closer approach was needed, it began to float toward them.

"Tell me I'm seeing things," Wicca said. "Is that thing actually going to . . ."

It did. The third rod smacked down on its head, crushing it into the platform. It let out a mournful hoot that echoed over the noise of the pistons. Successive strikes reduced it to a flat film of burning red membrane.

"No one said they were smart," Caladra pointed out. The exit before them descended to an arena lit by sconces. A bordering circle of columned and roofed spaces offered dubious haven from what must come next.

From the far end came a group of four undead priests.

"That's them!" Wicca shouted. "Let's rumble!" Just as she started to mount her flying stick, the priests each conjured a champion: an armored brute, a huge wolf man, a shaman with a staff, and a witch.

"Is this necessary?" Kara asked. "We can flank them and move through that opening they came from.

Caladra, far more experienced in maze combat, nixed the idea. "They'd only follow. But we don't have to face them outright. The spell casters will only summon hordes of undead. Follow my lead." She ran out to face the enemy, then veered off toward the other side and went between columns. Their enemies came at the run. The witch had already conjured a score of large bats, but these fell to a flurry of spells unleashed as the party ran.

Jili called up McBurney, who charged the enemy with manic glee. Magic rained down on him, but he had time to inflict some sword hits on the wolf man. When he went up in a cloud of black spores, the shaman proved he wasn't undead by gagging on them. Just as quickly he healed himself. As Caladra hoped, the quartet ran after them, trying to get a target bearing. Jili picked up on the strategy. She conjured a glowing ball of light, held it until it was painfully bright, then released the homing star. It flew unerringly into the enemy midst, exploding like a small nova. All four were staggered, but recovered to resume the chase.

Wicca fired off chain lightning as she ran, the energy globes sizzling into the armored knight to knock him down. Still, he staggered erect and came on.

Leery of a trap, Kara used heat vision to stab a burning hole in the wolf man's chest. His loss caused the others to adapt with screening shields. The remaining three were steadily being pummeled by spells thrown back by the retreating invaders, until the knight took a short cut to head off Caladra. She was up to the task, her cavalry sword clashing with that of the knight. Suddenly sheathing her sword, the amazon swung herself up and behind the knight, where she pulled the sword again and rammed it into his neck. Then she set off at a run for the four undead priests.

Wicca explained. "Basic maze tactic. You don't bother with the toadies—you go after the ones pulling the strings." It seemed to work; the priests ran back the way they'd entered the arena, but Caladra wasn't reckless enough to charge into a trap.

Kara had grasped the shaman and hurled him to his doom all the way across the arena. McBurney, summoned anew, had taken the witch from behind. He was wildly chopping what remained until Jili called him off.

"Urk," McBurney said, and went racing after the priests.

"Come on," Jili urged. "He'll spring the first trap for us. Then we'll catch those priests and get to the bottom of this."

Kara hoped so. How much deeper into this maze did they have to go?