Uldyssian obeyed. An anxious breath later, he collided with what he hoped was the pale figure.
The ivory dagger flashed before Uldyssian’s pained eyes. Before he could react, he heard Rathma chant something.
The dagger flared, blinding Uldyssian. He wondered if he had been duped all along, that Rathma had brought him here at Lilith’s request so that she could humiliate him one last time before he perished.
Yet after that moment of blindness, Uldyssian’s eyesight not only returned, but became normal… something even he, with his powers, had not been able to accomplish. Now he could see well enough to turn from the tunnel.
And what he saw left him dead in his tracks.
The cavern he stood within dwarfed the previous one. It dropped deep below as well as rose high above. Rathma and he stood on what was actually some wide, ancient platform carved from stone. It was several yards long and at the end stretched to each side. Uldyssian realized that if the creatures had driven him much farther to the right, he would have fallen to his doom.
A low wall lined the platform and at the corners were small constructions built like step pyramids. Atop each glowed a tiny—and in this chamber—insignificant light.
The chamber’s own color reminded Uldyssian of a living heart fresh with blood. He only studied that aspect for a moment, though, for that which was the focus of this place now demanded his absolute attention.
It resembled some of the crystalline formations that, as a boy, Uldyssian had found in the small caves at home, but none of those had stood well over a hundred feet high—perhaps even more than two hundred, since the base was too deep down to view—consisting of several monoliths jutting in a dozen different directions. Unlike the formations he recalled, this behemoth had a harshness to its look, with its jagged appearance and frightening crimson color.
Each facet of the gargantuan formation contained thousands of minute ones. From within it emanated not only the illumination that had so burnt Uldyssian’s eyes, but, deeper yet, flashes of multicolored lightning. The overall light from the great crystal not only extended the entire length and breadth of the cavern—itself vast enough to fit the village of Seram and its surrounding lands within at least twenty times over—but looked as if it seeped through the very stone walls.
With each burst of lightning, the formation pulsated and at last Uldyssian understood the source of the “breathing.”
There came another ear-tearing, shattering sound. Uldyssian looked up and for the first time noticed that smaller fragments of the crystal—”smaller” as in only two or three times his height and width—floated around much of the cavern in seemingly random directions. The harsh noise had come from two such pieces colliding. The broken fragments spilled around—and then began to re-form in different designs.
All this Uldyssian drank in in only a few scant seconds. Then, a more immediate and highly grotesque sight took Uldyssian’s attention from the astounding crystal. Four winged furies with heads resembling skinned hounds dove down at him from various points above. The creatures had savage teeth and ears long and wide. Their snouts were fat, with wide nostrils. The only thing the heads lacked were eyes. There were not even gaps where the eyes should have been. It was almost as if whatever had created them had forgone such on purpose.
Perhaps that was not far from the truth. Of what use were eyes in this place, where only Rathma’s magic had enabled Uldyssian to see anything. Of better use were the huge ears and the nostrils, which could ferret out any prey entering.
Each of the beasts had a wingspan of at least six feet, and like the bats they somewhat resembled in shape, those wings were also their hands. Yet, unlike bats, the claws of these aberrations were each longer than Uldyssian’s hand and so razor-sharp that to be cut by them even once would surely cause a gaping, dangerous wound.
Uldyssian cupped his hand. A blue energy formed over his palm. He threw it at the nearest of the fiends.
The blue energy engulfed its target…and vanished in a puff. The winged fury shook its head, stunned but otherwise unhindered. Certainly not turned to ash, as Uldyssian had assumed it would be.
Startled by this failure, he barely recovered in time to re-create the shield. Even that was not as strong as it generally was, and with three—then four—assailing it, Uldyssian began to sweat.
It was Rathma, naturally, who supplied an answer. From farther in, Lilith’s son—his vast cloak seeming to provide him with the same protection as Uldyssian’s barrier—shouted, “Your powers are dampened here! It is the effect of the crystal! You must focus harder, whatever you attempt!”
Cursing the other for not having told him this before they had entered, Uldyssian concentrated more on the barrier. By now, seven of the bizarre beasts fluttered about him, each seeking to shred his flesh. Up close, he saw that they had no true bodies whatsoever. There were the shriveled remnants of a torso and what might have been vestigial legs. The creatures were essentially composed of wings and head. Uldyssian wondered whether they even ate…then decided such a question was one for which he would prefer not to have an answer.
Mouths snapped at his face, sometimes coming much closer than he desired. Forcing himself to calm down despite the frenzied efforts of his attackers, Uldyssian wondered how best to defend himself.
What he had assumed a deadly attack had failed miserably. Uldyssian had to choose well, for when he struck, his shield would also weaken. Even with his recuperative powers, he doubted that he would survive long should even one beast manage a slash.
In the end, there was only one strategy that came to mind, a variation on something he had done earlier. Drawing himself up, Uldyssian took a deep breath…and whistled.
To his own ears—and hopefully to Rathma’s as well—all he did was let out a long, loud, single note. Certain that his efforts would again be muted by the massive crystal, the son of Diomedes concentrated as much of his will as he dared—possibly even more—into the whistle. As he did, he felt a wing brush against his shoulder…
But in the next instant, just as what felt like a claw touched his arm, every winged monster around Uldyssian let out a bloodcurdling shriek. They pulled back from him, then whirled around as if entirely mad. Two immediately collided, but instead of merely separating, tore at each other as they had at the human. Another crashed into the rocky wall of the cavern, then repeated the accident over and over until it finally crashed on the floor.
Three others simply dropped to the ground, where they screeched and shook their heads as if trying to remove something.
“I would not have believed it if I had not witnessed it,” Rathma called in his ear. The cowled figure stepped up next to Uldyssian. “What you did should not have been possible for you in this of all places.”
“I just followed your advice. I just concentrated harder. It worked.”
“It should not have…especially not to this degree. Look around you, Uldyssian ul-Diomed. Look around you and see the truth of that.”
Uldyssian did as he was bade…and his eyes widened at the results of his desperate attempt.
More than three score creatures either flew or lay in states of chaos. Two collided with floating fragments. Several fought furiously with one another, while others on the ground twitched wildly. At least two were savagely biting themselves to such a degree that their deaths were certain.
Then, two in aerial combat dropped. A moment later, some of those on the floor stilled. As Uldyssian looked around, the cavern’s denizens one by one simply fell to the ground…and died.
“I don’t—I don’t understand…”
Rathma shrugged as if it should all make perfect sense to anyone. There was a red scar on his chin and a tear in his garments just above where Uldyssian supposed his heart should be. The creatures had gotten closer to slaying the ancient being than they had the son of Diomedes. “You recalled their similarity to bats, obviously. You imagined that, if you whistled loud and used the power within to amplify it, you would at least injure or confuse some…yes?”