No need to kill these creatures now. He and his minions could harvest them just as surely later.
Then, when the time was right, Mog would slay them all.
Mik, Ula, and the rest moved as quickly as they could through the tunnels beneath Lakuda’s villa. Shimmer set the pace, swimming quickly and gracefully despite his cumbersome-looking armor.
The undersea hallways continued to shake as they went. Pieces of coral dislodged themselves from the ceiling, and some of the passages were clogged with great clouds of disturbed silt. Their voyage took them ever deeper into the bowels of the reef behind Lakuda’s villa. Gradually, the hidden corridors began to slope upward.
“Ouch!” Trip stopped.
“What’s wrong?” asked Mik.
“Something hot… in one pocket,” the kender replied.
“What do you mean?” Mik asked.
Trip pointed to one of his vest pockets and mouthed the words, “The diamond.”
“Give it to me,” Mik said.
Trip nodded, fished the artifact out, and surreptitiously handed it to Mik while Ula, Karista, and Shimmer kept swimming.
Mik took the black diamond’s setting. It didn’t feel hot to him, merely somewhat warm. The sensation of holding it brought images of the lost treasure to his mind. He tucked the artifact securely within a hidden pocket in the waistband of his pants.
Swimming hard, they quickly caught up with Ula and Karista. The sea elf gave them a curious glance, and Mik said, “Nothing to worry about.”
Suddenly, the coral tunnel shook more violently than it had before. The floor buckled, and huge cracks appeared along the length of the ceiling. Then, with a deep rumble, the passageway began to collapse.
Chapter Sixteen
Karista Meinor screamed and threw her arms up over her head. Small pieces of coral rained down from the ceiling and bounced off her, scraping her exposed skin. Tiny streamers of blood from her scratches clouded the water.
Mik pulled Trip out of the way of a large coral boulder as it crashed from the ceiling. The floor split into pieces under the rock’s weight. Because they were all swimming, no one fell through the hole. However, as the floor caved in, it undermined the corridor’s riblike wall supports.
The walls gave way and more of the roof collapsed. The holes opened the tunnel to the battle outside, and Tempest’s minions streamed through.
A swarm of predatory fish quickly surrounded the beleaguered fugitives. Mik and the others drew their weapons and slashed at the attacking school. Great clouds of blood soon filled the corridors, attracting even more evil fish.
“Keep going! Keep going!” Ula called, trying to lead the rest down the crumbling tunnel and away from the breaches.
Shimmer followed her, watching the sea elf s back. Small pieces of coral crashed into his armor, but he didn’t seem to notice.
A razorfish got past Mik’s guard and tore a small gash in Karista’s arm. The aristocrat screamed and swung wildly with her borrowed sword. Flailing in the murky water, she sliced across the top of Trip’s knee.
The kender yelped, and the magical seaweed nearly popped out of his mouth.
“Give me that!” Mik said, snatching the sword out of Karista’s grasp with his left hand. With the cutlass in his right hand, he continued to fend off a big Turbidus leech. “Stay calm!”
“But I’m bleeding!” Karista blurted.
“Not badly,” Mik replied, the magic of his necklace projecting his voice clearly. “Stay calm. You okay Trip?”
“Fine…” Trip gasped, nodding. He quickly rolled his pants leg into a makeshift bandage to cover the wound.
The delicious blood proved too much for Mog’s fishy escorts. They left their master’s side and swarmed ahead. Despite the bloodlust building within him, Mog remained hidden.
Ula cursed, then turned to fend off the new threat. She swam back quickly to the rear of the group, dodging a deadly hail of crumbling coral as she went. “Shimmer, this tunnel is going to collapse before we can get through it,” she called. “Can you buy us some time?”
Shimanloreth nodded and, with two quick strokes, moved through the falling boulders to the back of the group. He picked up a huge section of bracing and threw it into the midst of their attackers. Many died, and many others fell back.
Shimmer drew his jagged-edged bronze sword and swung it in wide circles. More attacking fish died in droves, turning the water black with their blood.
Mog crept closer, staying carefully hidden from the humans and their allies.
The beleaguered fugitives retreated. The sharks and their kith swarmed toward them. The tunnel’s final collapse, though, seemed imminent. Columns toppled like ninepins, and coral blocks big enough to crush the whole group crashed down from above.
“Keep swimming,” Shimmer said grimly. “I can hold the rear.”
Mik nodded and led the rest down the corridor. Ula, amazingly quick and agile, helped pull the slower Trip and Karista along. Even so, they barely kept ahead of the ever widening cracks in the walls.
“The tunnel burrows into the reef up ahead,” Shimmer called, bringing up the rear. As he spoke, though, a huge slab broke off the ceiling directly above them.
Shimmer surged forward to meet the falling coral. He grew as he swam, his body expanding like an angry pufferfish. His armor twisted and changed. Huge spikes sprouted from his shoulders, and thick, scaly plates covered his arms and legs.
In moments, the knight filled nearly the whole corridor. He pressed his huge back against the ceiling to keep it from collapsing.
“Move!” he growled, his voice booming like thunder through the swirling currents.
Wide-eyed, Mik, Trip, and the rest darted into the safety of the coral hillside beyond, sparing only a few worried glances back for their savior.
Shimmer screamed in pain and, with one final surge, leaped from the collapsing passageway and into the tunnel beyond. He shrank to human size once more as he darted through the falling debris. Huge blocks crashed down on the pursuing fish, killing most of the evil throng. In moments, rubble blocked the corridor behind the fugitives.
Mik quickly slew the few snakelike Turbidus leeches that had escaped the devastation. “Thanks, Shimmer,” he said, panting and feeling bone-weary.
“Yes, thanks,” Ula said. “We’d all be fish paste if it wasn’t for you.”
Shimmer nodded back. He brushed the silt from his armor and gingerly rubbed his left shoulder.
“That was the most amazing thing ever!” spouted Trip. He was out of breath and looked slightly blue.
“We should keep moving,” Mik said. “That magical seaweed can’t last forever.”
Karista, silt-covered, cut, and bruised, vigorously nodded her agreement.
With pursuit foiled, and the tunnel in no danger of further collapse, they moved quickly into the heart of the huge reef.
No one noticed the green, eel-like shape that wound its way out of the crevasses in the crumbled slabs blocking the corridor. The creature swam forward a short distance and then shuddered and resumed its true shape.
Mog peered into the semi-darkness after the fugitives. There were too many to fight-especially with this strange and powerful bronze knight among their number. He now understood his mistress’ burning interest in the group. Taking care not to be seen, the dragonspawn swam down the tunnel after his prey.
The passageway wound deep into the reef before turning toward the surface once more. The fugitives passed numerous side corridors, always choosing the one that ascended most steeply. Small, bioluminescent creatures inhabiting nooks in the coral walls lit their course, giving the tunnels a pale green glow.
Shimmer, battered and weary looking, led the way. He glanced back now and again to make sure the rest were keeping up. They moved continuously, taking little time for rest. Though it seemed unlikely that either Lakuda’s people or the dragon would he able to catch them, no one wanted to take any chances.