Finally, she pushed the images of the elf she had loved from her mind and tuned in to the mana spectrum. The shadow was there, covering the Heart, smothering its colour, dulling its power. And the effect they'd noticed in the last couple of days was there, and growing too. The shadow was sending out flares of gloom like spears into the mass of the spectrum. She wondered what that meant. So far they had come up with nothing.
At least it hadn't led to any further failures of the Julatsan focus. But it was inevitable that some would come. Every spell they cast took so much more effort, left them that much more drained than they should be. And the problems would be amplified for those casting outside of the college and city.
Pheone stopped walking and gazed down into the perfect blackness that the moonlight could not penetrate, letting her tears fall into its depth. Like the dark below, the shadow was intensifying, little by little, day after day. And every day, the chances of being able to raise the Heart when the elves arrived diminished a little more.
She prayed they would not arrive too late but the abyss was yawning wide.
Chapter 21
The most feared place on Balaia without question, the catacombs beneath the towers of Xetesk were told of in legend and myth, in dark tales and to keep children in bed. They inspired extraordinary exaggeration based on ignorance but some of the invention was shot through with truth.
Here was where the research to which the students weren't privy was carried out. Where experiments on human subjects dragged there by Protectors had been carried out in years gone by. Where contact with the demon dimension was first established and the power of Xetesk enhanced. Where the Circle Seven had exclusive run with their teams of talented adepts in the neverending race for political influence through spell development. And where the Soul Tank lay.
But as they hurried past the guards so easily killed by Auum and Evunn and on into the labyrinthine passages designed to confuse the unwelcome walker, Hirad noted that the descriptions of jagged rock tunnels, narrow and dripping with water feeding underground pools stocked with hideous monsters were far from accurate.
'What do you think we are, savages?' said Denser. 'Left here, Rebraal. Take the stairway down, then left again.'
'Well no, but still. It's a bit smart, isn't it?'
Denser shrugged and followed Rebraal and Auum down the stairs. ‘Idon't know. I've never known it any other way. Just because it isn't the way you heard it was…'
Far from the dank, rough underground horror he'd been led to expect, Hirad was walking through carefully constructed passages the quality of which wouldn't have been out of place in a mansion house. Wide enough for three people walking abreast, the roughly circular corridors had been smoothed with plaster and painted in pastel colours. There were even a few paintings hung on the walls.
The whole place glowed with a gentle blue light and air circulated, keeping the passages fresh.
'Mind you,' continued Denser. 'We haven't reached the depths yet. This is just the upper level. Rebraal, straight on, then hard right. More steps. Wait at the bottom. That's where the fun starts.'
'How do you mean?' asked The Unknown.
'Hold on. Wait until we reach the bottom of these stairs.'
'Ever the man of mystery,' muttered Erienne.
'Yeah,' said Hirad.
The base of the stairs marked a change in the catacombs. Although the light remained, gone were the pleasant decorations, replaced by stark murals and smooth, unpainted rock faces. They stood in a domed chamber, the ceiling eight feet or more above The Unknown's head. Passages led off it in four directions and the air was cooler. It was the first open space they'd encountered since they'd entered.
'We need to stop,' said Denser.
'Why?' asked Hirad.
'Because you all need to understand how this works as far as you are able.'
'So talk,' said Rebraal.
He stood at the head of a group of confused and irritated elves. They were uncomfortable here below ground, beyond anything they could readily recognise.
‘Ithink we've bought ourselves a little time. It's best spent here,' Denser said. 'Rebraal, please relay this as best you can.'
'Whatever you say.' His face betrayed some anxiety.
'All right, listen,' Denser said instead. 'You have to understand the nature of the catacombs. They've been built over fifteen centuries, no one knows exactly what area they cover because there's never been any organisation to their building. Generation upon generation of Circle Seven mages have built as they saw fit, extending their predecessors' areas, digging their own, sealing off what they don't want. Where I have brought you now is the full extent of my knowledge.
'This is what we call a hub room. It's the central point of a Circle
Seven mage's catacomb chambers, in this case, Dystran's. Looks to me as though he hasn't spent too much time on decoration recendy. There are hub rooms all over the catacombs, dozens. Some mages own several. Dystran undoubtedly does.
'Right, direcdy ahead of us is the place we want to be. You can expect alarm wards across most passages in the hub areas but we may not have time to look for them all and disarm them. Doors we need to worry about. Traps are as common as mistrust down here.'
'Isn't there a map of the catacombs at all?' asked The Unknown.
'There's a map room where we're going but it's incomplete because Circle Seven mages are unwilling to admit to everything they've developed. It's like a different country down here. There'll be mages researching down here who barely ever see the Ught of day. I'm sure Kestys is among them right now and he won't be undefended, though whether it's by magic or muscle, I don't know.
‘Ijust want to get across to you what it's like. We could be attacked from any direction, it depends on the knowledge of the mages sending forces against us.'
'Sounds completely ridiculous to me,' said Hirad.
Denser shrugged. 'It's just the way it is in Xetesk. The way to the top is through influence and influence comes from new magical knowledge. That's the currency of political power. Dystran is top dog because he has always been central to the development of dimensional magic and chosen his aides because of their limited life expectancy.'
‘Ilike nothing more than a history lesson, as you know,' said Hirad. 'But right now, all it means to me is that we have to secure whatever area it is you say we have to and keep it secure until you do whatever it is you do. Then we fight our way out.'
'What could be simpler?' said Denser. 'This way.'
He trotted over to the passage directly opposite the stairway. The Raven gathered around him with the elves spreading naturally into the space behind, watching and listening. He held up a hand and crouched, closing his eyes to tune in to the mana spectrum. While he waited, Hirad looked up the corridor.
He could see half a dozen ways off it, up to what looked like a junction a couple of hundred feet away. It looked so harmless but the atmosphere that poured from it felt anything but; he turned to mention it and was confronted by a set of expressions that chilled him to the bone.
Thraun was staring straight ahead down the passage, his pupils huge in his yellow-tinged eyes. Sweat stood out on his forehead and he looked tensed to run. Beside him, The Unknown Warrior had a hand to his head. His mouth moving slightly, his eyes screwed tight shut. He was swaying. And Erienne, like the big man, was clutching at her head, her frown deep and her eyes, boring into the barbarian's, small and scared. Only Darrick looked anything like himself.