Albrek's Tomb

The hydra could see the seven different versions of Alex, and its heads began to move back and forth, trying to watch all the images at the same time. The hydra didn’t know which of the figures to attack, and the closer the figures got to it the faster it moved its heads.

The hydra stuck at one of the images to Alex’s left, but the serpent’s head bit nothing but snow and ice. Alex shifted his images, moving them around the hydra slowly and sometimes toward it. The hydra struck a second time on the far side of the path, and Alex knew he would have to wait to launch his own attack.

Five times the hydra attacked Alex’s false images and five times it found nothing. On its sixth attack, Alex struck his own blow, slicing off one of the heads with his sword and holding his burning staff against the bleeding neck before two new heads could replace it. The hydra recoiled from his staff, but the work was already done. Now there were only two heads for Alex to watch, and only two heads to watch the seven images of himself.

Alex continued moving his illusions around the hydra. One head almost managed to bite Alex as he was preparing to attack the other head, but he managed to slip away. The hydra seemed to realize that it had found something real to bite this time, and the second head swung around quickly to attack. Alex distracted the first head by having three of his images rush forward at the same time. He cut the second head from its neck and once more pressed his burning staff to the wound.

The final head spun around wildly, trying to defend its body from the seven attackers surrounding it. Alex almost felt sorry for the hydra, but he knew he had to finish the task. He sent five of his images rushing one side of the hydra, forcing its last head to turn and face them. As it turned, Alex rolled forward, swinging his sword with all his strength, and cut the hydra’s body off as close to the ground as he could. The long neck and head of the hydra burst into flames as it fell, and Alex applied his burning staff to the stump that was left in the ground.

The mouth of the cave was open, but the darkness inside it was forbidding.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Alex waved his hand and his six duplicates faded into mist. He wished he was not alone, but he knew that the danger was too great for any of his friends to face. Taking another deep breath of the cold morning air, Alex stepped into the dark cave and paused, allowing his eyes to grow accustomed to the twilight world he had entered.

The cave was not completely dark, and once Alex was away from the bright entrance, he was a little surprised by how light the cave actually was. Only one path led into the mountain and Alex stepped carefully; if Nethrom was already aware of Alex’s approach, and if he had managed to gather too many undead creatures to defend himself, it might be impossible to reach the necromancer at all.

Alex moved slowly, listening for anything else that might be in the cave with him. All he could hear was the sound of dripping water somewhere ahead of him. He continued on, growing more nervous as he went. The cave seemed empty and quiet, and Alex felt even more worried.

After several minutes, the path began sloping downward, deeper into the mountain, before the cave suddenly opened into a large chamber. Alex paused at the entrance, letting his eyes search the darkness for the enemy he knew had to be there. There was nothing to see, though, only stone and more darkness.

Stepping into the cavern, Alex heard a piercingly high squeak, and he raised his sword in time to block a huge bat flying down from the ceiling to attack him. The bat hit the edge of the sword with such force that it cut itself in two, the halves falling to the floor. Alex looked up at the ceiling and saw to his horror that there were hundreds of the bats hanging upside down and looking at him.

He stepped away from the cavern entrance, hoping the bats would not follow him, and he noticed something even more terrible. The bat that had cut itself in half on his sword was growing slowly into two complete bats, their wings flopping along the ground. Without thinking, Alex sent a jet of flame toward the two half-grown bats, but they only seemed to grow faster in the heat.

The light of his flame seemed to stir the rest of the bats, and he could hear the creatures begi

Another bat shot into the tu

Thinking quickly, Alex changed back into his wind form, moving forward into the chamber. The bats seemed to be aware of him, but their sonar couldn’t detect him hidden in the breeze. They flew around the cavern in a frenzy, clustering in circles in front of the passage that would lead Alex deeper into the mountain and barring his path.

Moving to the center of the chamber, Alex thought of the bright cold morning on the mountainside. He whispered the freezing spell softly, afraid to be heard, and as the bat’s movements stilled around him, he spoke another command like thunder. His voice rolled through the cavern, shattering bats and showering him with gems.

Alex knew the thunderclap command would surely alert Nethrom to his presence, but it was the only way he could think of to shatter all the bats at one time. Alex didn’t take time to examine the cavern, now covered in jewels, but hurried forward, hoping that he was ready to face the necromancer and whatever other creatures he still had waiting.

The cave went on and on, and Alex began to worry. He didn’t have any idea how long it would take him to reach Nethrom, and the deeper into the cave he went, the more nervous he became. Suddenly, he stopped short, catching himself against the cave wall as bits of rock flew out from his feet into empty darkness.

He had stopped at the threshold of what appeared to be another chamber, but this one seemed to have no floor. A dim light shone upward from deep below, but even with the extra light, Alex could not see the far side of the chamber. He put his sword back in its scabbard and leaned against his staff. He was breathing hard from his journey into the mountain, and he had to force himself to relax and breathe slowly and think.

As the sound of his beating heart slowed in his ears, Alex heard a new sound, the sound of digging far below him. Carefully he moved toward the edge of the cavern and looked down into the dim light. Far below him, he could see movement, like hundreds of ants digging in the earth. He watched the shapes moving about until he realized what they were. Hundreds of long-dead dwarfs were digging at the roots of the mountain as if that were the only thing they had ever done. Nethrom was using his own dead people to mine for him, and somehow that was more evil than anything Alex had expected. A feeling of rage began to grow inside of Alex.

Alex looked around for some way down to the miners. He did not know what he would do if he reached them, or what they might do to him, but he wanted more than anything to give the dead dwarfs the rest they deserved. The path he had been following turned sharply to his left as it came out of the cave mouth, moving down the face of the cliff. The path was narrow but well made, and Alex hurried down it.