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Mariabro
Then he leaped forward and the daemon came forth, smoke forming into powerful legs as it stepped free of the brazier. It raked with its shadowy hands and its head snapped forward to bite at Mariabro
"Gehe
"Fool, I am always hungry!"
Its last word sounded more as a gurgle, as the ranger's fine sword creased its face. In his howl of triumph, though, Mariabro
Or the third.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE RANGER'S JOURNEY
The sound of battle echoed up the corridor and into the main room of the tower. Canthan snarled at the noise but refused to turn away from the tome. He felt certain there were more secrets buried within that book. Energy made his skin tingle and hummed in the air around it. The book was magical, the runes were magical, and he had a much better understanding of how the castle had come about, about the source of energy that had facilitated the construction, but there was more. Something remained hidden just below the surface. The magical runes even then appearing on the page might prove to be a clue.
The ring of steel distracted him. He turned back to see an agitated Pratcus hopping from one foot to the other in the middle of the room. Ellery came out of one tu
"Who?" Ellery asked.
"Gotta be the ranger," Pratcus answered.
Ellery ran toward the sound. "Which tu
All eyes went to the dwarf, but Pratcus just shrugged.
Then from above, Olgerkhan cried out, "Breach!"
The fight had come.
"Just keep them off me!" Canthan growled, and he forced his attention back to the open book.
Another egg fell and broke open, and that made five.
Mariabro
He went into a frenzy, spi
The rattling stopped.
There would be no more than the four standing against him. All he had to do was hold out until his companions arrived.
He sprang forward and charged but skidded to a stop and cut to the side. He used the sarcophagi as shields and kept the clawing, smoky hands at bay.
His smile appeared once more, that confidence reminiscent of the young Mariabro
"Are all of Gehe
The ranger froze. He brought his free hand up to his neck to feel the blood still pumping. A wave of dizziness nearly dropped him.
He had to dive aside as two of the daemons loosed cones of fire at him, and so weak did he feel that he almost didn't get back to his feet—and when he did, he overbalanced so badly that he nearly staggered headlong into a third of the beasts.
"Priest, I need you!" Mariabro
Entreri and Jarlaxle rushed into the room to join the others. Sounds of fighting from above assailed them, and both Entreri and Athrogate started that way.
Then came the desperate call from Mariabro
"Athrogate, hold the balcony!" Ellery ordered. "The rest with me!
Entreri heard Arrayan's cry and ignored the commander's order. In his thoughts, he pictured the doom of Dwahvel, his dear halfling friend, and so overwhelming was that sensation that he never paused long enough to consider it. He sprinted past the dwarf and hit the stairs ru
Then he cut back sharply to the left and leaped up to the slanted stairway railing in a dead run. His lead foot hit and started to slide, but the assassin stamped his right foot hard on the railing and leaped away, spi
He spun as he landed and threw himself into the nearest gnoll mummy, his blades working in a scything whirlwind. Gray wrappings exploded into the air, flying all around him.
Down below, Jarlaxle looked to Ellery and said, "Consider the room secured."
Ellery managed one quick look the drow's way as she sprinted toward the tu
"Which one?" she asked again of Pratcus, who ran beside her.
"Yerself to the right, meself to the left!" the dwarf replied, and they split into the two possible openings.
Jarlaxle followed right behind them, but paused there. Athrogate rambled back from the stairs, trying to catch up.
Torches flared to life as Ellery ran through. A split second later, Pratcus's heavy strides similarly lit the first pair in his descending corridor.
"Which one, then?" Athrogate asked Jarlaxle.
"Here!" Ellery cried before the drow could answer, and both Jarlaxle and Athrogate took up the chase of the woman warrior.
In the other tu
He hit the next pressure plate, turning sidelong so that he could quickly spin around if the light didn't reveal an intersection.
But the torches didn't ignite.
Instead came a sudden clanging sound, and Pratcus just happened to be looking the right way to see the iron spike slide out of the wall.
He thought to throw himself aside but only managed to cry out. The spike moved too fast. It hit him in the gut and drove him back hard against the far corridor wall. It kept going, plunging right through the dwarf and ringing hard against the stone behind him.
With trembling hands, Pratcus grabbed at the stake. He tried to gather his wits, to call upon his gods for some magical healing. But the dwarf knew that he'd need more than that.
Flames licked at Mariabro