EPISODE 62:

RESCUE ATTEMPT

"Didn't we just leave this place?" Vash complained, bitterly. The Wayfarers crouched behind boulders, looking out at the gap in the rock walls that led to the Shadow Temple. Vash couldn't see any evidence of their fight with the Scalebacks a few days before, but he could see a few Nightscales standing guard in the rocks next to the great boulders that framed the entrance to the temple proper. Even from this distance, Vash could see the black-and-white tiles that made up the mosaic of the temple floor.

Murky shadows moved in the wan purple light within the temple. Vash could not see the captives, but being back in the Underlands meant his Dungeon Sense had returned. The feeling he got from within the temple was murky, like a forest shrouded in fog. He could make out the spirits of the nine captives, some shining brighter than others. The Scalebacks were harder to pin down. The temple obscured the monsters' connection to the ley lines. All Vash could make out were flickering shadows that were more confusing than illuminating.

Vash winced and rubbed his temples. A dull ache coursed through his mind, like a claw probing at the hole that Cass left behind.

Whatever's in there is still trying to find a way in. Vash thought. And this time, I don't have Cass to protect me.

Cold tendrils of dread dug into Vash's heart. He remembered how vehemently Jabez had reacted to the thought of the soulstones affecting him. They had never had the chance to 'talk about it later'.

What if we go through all this and he decides I'm too damaged to salvage? Vash thought. We already weren't on the best of terms, to put it mildly.

He glanced over at Corwin, who was studying the temple entrance intently, struggling to put together some sort of plan. "Too many guards to just make a run for it."

"We don't have enough time for a drawn-out fight, either." Galia said, standing a few paces back from Corwin. "From the readings I've done on heartstones, there isn't much preparation required when using living souls to create a Dungeon Heart. Once the captives are in place, the ritual won't take more than a few minutes."

Vash scowled at the noxious structure. "I have an idea. If you five can draw the attention of the Scalebacks, I can get inside using Shadowmeld. I sneak in and try to free the captives and disrupt the ritual."

"Alone?" Corwin asked, a worried frown crossing his face. "You've already tried to sneak in alone twice now, and both times it hasn't gone particularly well."

"I'll go with him." Galia said, reaching into her satchel and withdrawing a heavy journal. She leafed through the pages with practiced ease, quickly finding the page she wanted. "Here it is, Mistwalker. Not as comprehensive as the delver's Shadowmeld, but with all the distractions down here, I doubt I'll draw any attention."

"A rogue and a wizard?" Charity said, her tone heavy with doubt. "Not the strongest members of our party. What if they run into trouble?"

"We don't have much of a choice." Vash said while Galia looked over her notes on the Mistwalker spell. "And if we run into trouble…well, we'll do as much damage as we can, for as long as we can."

Charity frowned, obviously not liking the answer, but willing to stomach it for the time being.

Vash turned to Corwin. "Make enough noise to draw the attention of whatever is in that temple. But don't go for a stand-up fight, keep moving, and meet us inside as soon as you can."

Corwin nodded. "Good luck."

Vash gave him a half-hearted smile of thanks and approached Galia. "Ready?"

The mage closed her book, took a deep breath, then looked up at him. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Let's get going, then." Vash said and summoned Shadowmeld. The world darkened and color vanished, leaving behind shades of gray, white, and black. Cold seeped into Vash's bones and he had to suppress a shudder.

Beside him, Galia returned her book to her satchel, then centered herself with two deep breaths. Her hands moved in a complicated pattern. In a quiet voice, she chanted the word, "Sevis'tisthi." Each time, she completed a part of her pattern. Vash felt the mana build within her, nothing substantial, but he could tell that she was drawing it from the ambient pool rather than her own Core. He knew wizard spells took more time to activate than Talents, since most of them drew from ambient mana. But he'd never really seen it done. She finally drew her hands together like she was closing curtains and opened her eyes. "Imlaeshi Volta."

The words came out soft, but the release of mana felt like a thunderclap. Galia's form grew indistinct, then hazy, her features faded, and she blended into the mist that pervaded the Underlands. "Go, I can follow you using a Mana Tag."

Vash almost asked what that was, but that would break the Shadowmeld. So instead he started towards the temple, keeping to the deeper shadows. Surprisingly, he could feel Galia's presence following not too far behind.

They crossed the open space between the river and the first guards without incident. The Nightscales looked bored and irritated with this duty. As Vash and Galia got closer, Vash saw one of the Nightscales lift its snout and sniff the air, suspiciously.

I really need to figure out how to mask scent. Vash thought, stopping and looking for a place to take cover.

A high-pitched whistle tore through the air. An arrow slammed into the Nightscale's eye. It teetered, stumbling about for a moment, then collapsed with a heavy thud on the stone ground. Vash recognized one of Morwen's arrows.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

She's a damn good shot. Vash thought and moved past the fallen guard. The other Nightscale roared a challenge and charged in the general direction of the other Wayfarers. Vash could feel the pinpricks of other Nightscales and Scalebacks focusing their attention on the sudden attack. He placed them on his mental map, highlighting their position for future reference.

The other creatures were moving towards where the others had been. Vash could already feel that Corwin had moved his group to another cluster of rocks and already had them arranged for an ambush.

Let's hope it keeps them busy for a while. Vash thought, approaching the broad black-and-white tiles that ran the length of the temple sanctuary. At the far end, arranged in a circle around the altar, were bodies of different shapes and sizes. Scalebacks scurried about, busying themselves in their final preparations. A heavy stone stood above the head of each of the captives, and even from this distance, Vash could feel the corruption and wrongness radiating off of them.

Hesitantly, he stepped onto the first tile of the sanctuary. He felt the overpowering presence of the temple swivel in his general direction. But he didn't feel the spike of pain like before, or the sensation that something was trying to crawl directly into his mind. It felt like the temple was investigating a noise, or a phantom touch it couldn't explain.

It can't see me. Vash thought, amazed. Was it just drawn to Cass before?

He didn't have time to ponder these questions. The scrabbling sensation in his mind was still there, and getting more intense. It was only a matter of time before the temple uncovered him if he stayed in one spot.

Vash moved quickly across the tiles, careful to keep his distance from the Scalebacks. Not far behind him, he could feel Galia's presence, though she kept closer to the deep shadows since her camoflauge was not as complete as his.

A howl of rage and pain came from somewhere outside the temple. Vash glanced at his mental map and saw three pale red dots fading to black, and one large red dot suddenly blinked over to pale red.

Corwin and the others are doing some damage! Vash thought, then looked around at the Scalebacks in the temple.

Hisses and growls accompanied a sudden rush to the temple exit. Some grabbed for spears, while others flexed their claws. A group of four dashed off into the cavern, leaving ten behind to guard the entrance. In his mental map, Vash saw Corwin split his force into two and move to other areas. Splitting up the Scalebacks, and sowing confusion.

Only two Scalebacks remained near the altar. Both were preparing what looked like ritual knives.

It worked. Vash thought, not daring to breathe.

The first of the captives was only a few feet away. Vash scanned the area, looking to make sure the remaining two Scalebacks focused solely on their task. He crept up to the person in the gray cloth shroud. Above their head, a heartstone glowed with an almost hungry intensity.

Vash reached down and moved the cloth aside. The face below him was the rogue with a Topknot that he had met at the School of Delvers. Topknot's eyes were closed, though his face was curled in a sneer of anger and disgust. He twitched slightly in his unconscious sleep. Vash thought frantically, not sure what to do.

How do we wake them up? He thought. Cursing himself for not paying closer attention during poison lore lectures, Vash tried shaking Topknot's shoulder.

The delver made a low moan and twitched some more. The heartstone pulsed a deeper purple, bathing Topknot's head in its light. Croaking a question, one of the Scalebacks turned towards Vash, curiosity on its reptilian face.

Vash bit his lip and stepped back, hoping the Scaleback wouldn't notice the dislodged shroud, or the angrily glowing heartstone.

Galia was almost immediately behind him. He heard her take a quick breath, then she whispered in his ear. "We don't have much time. I'm going to try something, but it will probably drop my Mistwalk. Be ready to run."

Vash didn't reply, but braced himself for whatever the wizard was planning to do.

The Scalebacks drifted down from the altar, scanning the area and lifting their snouts to sniff the air.

Damn lizards and their noses. Vash thought. He could hear the rustle of Galia's clothes behind him as she moved her hands through her spell gestures. One of the Scalebacks spotted Topknot's dislodged shroud. It barked a loud warning call.

"Afyn'iso!" Galia called, her voice sounding full and echoing from the power of her spell.

A small point of light flashed above the altar and radiated in a circle, bathing each of the captives in a pale light. Topknot stirred, groggily opening his eyes and staring at the Scaleback in confusion.

Vash glanced back. Galia's obscuring spell fell away, vanishing like mist under the sun.

Other captives moaned and stirred. The Scalebacks hissed, backing away in confusion, not sure what to do. Vash stepped forward and stabbed the closest Scaleback through the throat. Shadowmeld fell away in a rush of warmth and color. The second Scaleback shrieked in fury and came at Vash, its claws extended.

Pivoting and moving the dying Scaleback between himself and its charging partner, Vash kicked the limp body off his blade and into the charging Scaleback's way. It stumbled, getting tangled with the body as it fell. Vash used the moment's opportunity to charge to the flank and attack the creature's ribs. Two quick thrusts and it went down, tangled in the corpse of its partner.

"Get the others up." Vash said, tearing away the shroud that bound Topknot. "We need to move now!"

Topknot rolled up to his knees, shakily. Whatever the Scalebacks had used to knock them out had been powerful. Vash glanced at the far end of the temple. Only five Scalebacks stood in the entryway, Corwin had drawn the others out. Luckily, they had ignored the altar, focusing on events going on outside.

Vash moved through the circle of captives, pulling apart their shrouds and freeing groggy, confused Wayfarers, most of whom he didn't know. One shroud contained a familiar face. The deep brown eyes of Sister Clea looked up at him in confusion as he moved the cloth away from her face.

"Sister." Vash said, giving her a quick smile as he unwrapped her.

"Vash?" Sister Clea said. Her voice came out in a raspy croak. "What's going on? I went to the infirmary to check on Jabez and—"

She trailed off as she tried to remember.

"We're in the Underlands," Vash said, hurrying to the next shrouded figure. "There's no time to explain. A few others are distracting the Scalebacks while me and Galia get you out of here."

Clea sat up, putting one hand to her forehead. She saw the heartstone behind her, glowing an angry purple, shades of color roiling within the crystal.

"You were right." Clea said. "Gods, you were telling the truth."

"Hopefully, you can tell Brother Orban that." Vash said, struggling with the next shroud.

A deep, full-throated roar came from the passageway behind the altar. Vash spun. In the entryway stood the largest Scaleback he'd seen so far. It was a Nightscale, but it was half-a-head taller than the other Nightscales. The creature had jet-black, leathery hide, but light gray scars criss-crossed the scales around one eye.

Vash recognized those scars.

What the hell happened to that thing? Vash thought.

The huge Scaleback stalked into the room. Every step shook the ground. In one hand, it held a spear made of the same black webbing material that stretched between the pillars in the main temple. Vash swallowed hard, not sure where he could run with a creature that size.

"This is most surprising." Came a familiar voice. Vash pulled his eyes away from the gargantuan Scaleback to the other figure standing in the entryway. The skeletally thin scholar regarded Vash with a thin smile that was neither friendly nor pleasant.

"Zakarias?" Vash breathed, feeling his stomach drop.

The scholar spread his hands in welcome.

"I was certain that you were dead."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.