He slipped to the right, sweeping up with the Thinblade, taking one of the overseer’s hands, moving past him, putting the screaming man between himself and the other two overseers, giving him just enough time to sheathe the Thinblade and swing up behind Kiera.
“Hang on!” she shouted.
He was glad he obeyed. The wyvern bounded backward to avoid an all-out assault by ten men rushing toward them, then tipped sideways, falling into a steep dive with the cliff face at her belly before leveling out and gaining altitude, turning gradually back toward Mithel Dour. As they floated over the city streets, Alexander pointed out his target. Kiera nodded, taking the reins of her wyvern and guiding her into a gentle landing on the roof of the mining barracks.
“Thank you, Kiera,” Alexander said.
“I can still come with you.”
“I know, but I suspect that Talia is depending on you to help him carry out his plans against the shipyards.”
“Perhaps.”
“If I have need, I will call,” Alexander said, letting himself slide to the edge of the roof and then drop to the ground, orienting himself briefly before heading across the courtyard and into an office, listening for the wing beats of Kiera’s wyvern as he ran.
He was grateful that the place was vacant. Grant’s betrayal had caused an interruption in the mining business, but it wouldn’t last. The Babachenko probably already had people working on the problem.
Alexander opened the door to his Wizard’s Den and stepped inside, leaving it open and gesturing for everyone waiting inside to sit at the table. He went to his magic circle and sat down, meditating for several minutes while he scouted the way ahead. His reconnaissance complete, he closed the door to his Wizard’s Den and took his seat at the table.
“We have an opportunity. One that could turn the tide of this entire war …” he paused, looking down at the table.
“But …” Jack said.
“I have to keep certain details from you,” Alexander said.
“If that’s necessary, then so be it,” Jataan said.
“No … not so be it,” Anja said. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“I can’t tell you. I know it’s not fair, but it is necessary. I need you to trust me.”
“I don’t like this,” Anja said. “I’m willing to fight right beside you, but I want to know what I’m fighting for.”
“You’re fighting for the Old Law.”
“Not good enough,” Anja said.
“It’s the only thing that is good enough to fight for,” Alexander said.
Anja harrumphed.
“What can you tell us, Alexander?” Jack asked.
“I can tell you that the beings that built this city are still here … they’re dormant, and I know how to wake them up.”
“Beings? What beings?” Anja asked.
“They’re called Linkershim,” Alexander said. “And I think they can help us with the Andalians.”
“So it’s how you plan to revive them that you can’t tell us then,” Jack said.
“Stop guessing, Jack. I can’t tell you and you can’t write about it. If the wrong people discovered this, they could destroy everything … literally. The sovereigns were very insistent.”
Jack nodded, grudgingly accepting Alexander’s explanation. Anja’s frown deepened.
“I expect heavy fighting in the coming hours,” Alexander said. “We’ll be descending into a mine owned by Titus Grant, who just recently escaped from palace custody. He has a number of men in the tunnels we’ll be traveling through, and it’s possible that he’s taken refuge in the mines himself.
“Once we’re through the mines, we’ll enter a vast underground city that was built many millennia ago. The path will be treacherous and there’s no telling what lives down there.
“The Babachenko is aware of our presence in the city, so he’ll be sending soldiers. Our enemies are dangerous. We should avoid them if we can or kill them quickly if we can’t … our objective really has nothing to do with them, except that they’re in our way.”
Alexander strapped on the Thinblade, checked Demonrend, and picked up Luminessence before opening the door of the Wizard’s Den. After everyone filed out into the cramped little office, he closed the door, willing his staff to produce a dim light, just faintly illuminating the room.
“There’s a hidden door on that wall,” Alexander said.
Jack had it open within a minute. “It’s been used recently.”
“Grant,” Alexander said. “He’s the only man I’ve ever met who doesn’t have colors and he can make you not see him.”
“What does that mean?” Anja asked.
“He has the ability to make one or two people at a time just not see him. They don’t even know he’s there, even if he’s standing right in front of them.”
“How’s that possible?”
“You’re a dragon that looks like a girl … you tell me.”
Anja frowned.
“My point is, don’t try to engage him. I can beat him with Chloe’s help, but he can kill any of you and you won’t even know he’s there until you’re dying.”
Jataan frowned.
“He can’t make me not see him if he doesn’t know I’m there,” Jack said.
“Let’s just try to avoid him,” Alexander said. “We don’t need anything from him.”
“Fair enough,” Jack said.
Alexander led the way down the narrow corridor. Not only had it been used recently, but it had been used by a lot of people, and judging from the irregularity of the boot prints, not soldiers. The door at the end of the corridor was closed. Alexander approached it cautiously, extinguishing his light and looking into the adjacent room with his magic. It still didn’t have the range of his normal vision, but indoors, his all around sight could look far enough ahead to let him explore an area with his mind very quickly.
Two men stood guard, one next to the door, the other near a bell set up next to the mineshaft. Alexander opened his Wizard’s Den, ushered everyone inside, closed the door and explained the situation. It took them all of two minutes to decide on a plan and step back out into the corridor.
Alexander verified that the men were still bored and unaware before he threw the door open, stepping forth and raising Luminessence. It erupted brilliantly, filling the cavern with light as bright as the sun, blinding the two men, yet leaving Alexander and his friends able to see clearly.
Jataan raced across the room, moving impossibly fast, closing the distance to the man near the bell in a fraction of a second and hitting him with the palm of his hand in the center of the torso, then tipping the man over onto this back and maneuvering him into a choke hold.
Anja stepped in next, leveling a vicious right-handed punch at the man next to the door, knocking him senseless, his head snapping back and forth before he hit the floor.
Alexander dimmed the light. Lita seemed a little taken aback by the sudden violence, unleashed so overwhelmingly, but she held her tongue. Jataan and Anja tied and gagged their captives.
Alexander knew better. The men guarding this shaft worked for Grant and he was a criminal of the highest order. His henchmen deserved little in the way of sympathy or mercy. There was also the issue of their colors. They were both brigands-probably cutthroats. If anything, Alexander felt like he might be shirking his responsibility by not killing them.
“Watch your step,” he said. “These stairs are old.”
“I’ll say,” Jack said, looking down the mineshaft at the wooden staircase winding into the darkness. “Are you sure they’re going to hold?”
“I’ve been down them once before. They’re mostly solid,” Alexander said, leading the way down the shaft. Aside from the few broken or missing boards, the stairs were rock-solid, no doubt because the bad boards had all been broken when Grant’s men passed this way. He was thankful that the room at the base of the stairs wasn’t guarded or his light would have given them away for sure.
He raised his staff, bringing up the light, illuminating five passages leading from this one hidden shaft. The new boot prints led into a tunnel opposite the one Alexander wanted. He dimmed his staff again, the top shod glowing just enough to light their way and entered the tunnel leading to the central mineshaft. He was relieved to find virtually no evidence of recent passage.