Rift wriggled to get away, then made himself stop. He said tightly, “I didn’t want to leave him then. He was kind to me. He helped me.”
“You’re eager to leave him now.”
Rift sounded genuinely anguished. “I’d been to that colony tree ten times over the turns, I used to shelter there. That court must have been gone for generations—”
Moon let go of him and started down again. Rift’s story cut far too close to the bone. “It was. But they were attacked by Fell. They— We had to move back to the colony tree.”
Rift caught up with him, his claws scraping the wall. “You’re a consort. What are you doing here alone?”
Moon didn’t answer, and Rift froze for a moment in startled realization. “You’re not alone. There are others.”
Chapter Twelve
Not much further down the air shaft, they reached a grate that opened into a small dim room, most of it blocked by the bulk of another stove. Unlike the one on the upper floor, it was giving off warmth, and it smelled faintly of fish oil. “This way,” Rift said, tugging at the grate.
Moon set his claws in a crack in the wall and looked down. The scents of outdoor air still came from below them. “There’s a way out further down.”
“It’s too small. And the warding barrier blocks it, like the big doors on the ground floor.” Rift eased the grate open and climbed out to clamber over the stove. “We have to get to a passage under the tower.”
Moon growled in the back of his throat, mostly in frustration. He believed in the barrier outside the tower. After running into it yesterday, he knew how effective it was. But he wanted to get out of here and figure out where the seed was before Ardan moved it again.
He climbed out after Rift, over the top of the big metal stove. It was hot, but not enough to burn Raksuran scales. The pipes from it led into the dirty patched walls, not up through the ceiling. It might be keeping the air in the exhibit hall dry to help preserve Ardan’s collection.
Rift jumped from the top of the stove to land near the heavy door. He opened it just enough to peer out. Easing up behind him, Moon stretched to see over his head. The door opened into a gray stone corridor, high-ceilinged and a little better lit. They were somewhere under the main stairwell, on the second level. Moon caught the distinctive odor of decay from the stuffed specimens in the exhibit hall.
Rift slipped out and led the way through a maze of hallways, passing closed doors. They came out on a little balcony and crouched to see over the heavy balustrade. It overlooked the shadowy first floor hall, lit by only a few vapor-lamps. They were distressingly close to the angry face of the giant waterling. Its dead, frozen eyes gleamed in the dim light, its fanged mouth a dark cavern.
Moon sensed movement immediately, and spotted one of the bulbous guard-creatures on the floor below. The thing paced back and forth not far from the bottom of the long sweep of stairs, half-hidden by the bulk of the waterling’s tail. Making an impatient snuffling noise, it looked and sounded exactly as if it was casting for a scent, but no one else moved in the shadows.
Rift leaned close and said in a breathless whisper, “Someone’s down there. The wardens don’t appear unless someone comes into the area they’re guarding.”
Rift was right. If the thing had appeared in response to their arrival, it would know where they were. And it seemed certain there was someone near the stairs. Moon whispered back, “We have to get through that room?”
Rift jerked his chin toward the far end of the hall. “The door is behind those stairs.”
Moon motioned Rift to stay back and eased up to perch on the railing, watching the warden pace. This would be tricky. As soon as they killed the thing, it would trigger the appearance of others and likely send some sort of warning to Ardan.
Moon waited until the creature moved out of sight, his view of it blocked by the waterling’s right tailfin. Then he jumped, landed on the waterling’s back, and ran lightly down its body. The decaying scales squished unpleasantly underfoot. Peering over the side of the tail, he saw the guard-creature standing at the base of the stairs. Its arms were out and it was moving slowly forward, as if trying to corner something. Except nothing’s there, Moon thought. At least nothing he could see at the moment.
He made a sharp gesture at Rift. Rift vaulted the balcony railing, landed on the floor, and snapped his wings out for maximum noise. The guard-creature whipped around toward him and Moon leapt to land right on its oversized head.
The creature staggered and roared, clawed for him, and he ripped, tore, and wrenched. Rift hit it an instant later and tore its legs out from under it. The thing collapsed.
Moon shoved away from it, letting Rift finish it off. He turned toward the stairs and the supposedly empty shadow. Cautiously he tasted the air, but between the decaying waterling and the dying creature, scent was useless. But instinct told him something was there, something was occupying space that should be taken up by air.
He lunged forward, slapped at the shadow, and hit solid flesh. A groundling yelped, and suddenly Esom and Karsis sprawled on the steps.
Moon snarled. “So you’re a shaman, too.” The two had been using some sort of spell to conceal themselves. They must have used it to slip away from the guest level in the confusion and flee, while Ardan searched for Moon and Rift. He tilted his head toward Esom. “Is that what ‘deviser’ means?”
Karsis struggled to sit up, shoving her brother off her. Esom stumbled to his feet, “You can’t stop us, we—”
“No time,” Rift told Moon as he shook the creature’s blood off his scales. A clatter sounded from overhead as groundling guards ran across the second level hall to this stairwell. At least two misty shapes forming in the air nearby meant more wardens were about to appear. Rift started toward the curving passage that led under the stairwell.
“Come on,” Moon snapped at Esom and Karsis, knowing if he left them behind, they would point the way for the guards.
Fortunately they didn’t argue. Esom pulled Karsis up and they both ran after Moon.
The passage wound under the bulk of the stairwell, apparently a back way to the service areas behind the hall. Rift stopped at a spot where there wasn’t a door, just a carved panel that looked like part of the wall decoration. But there was a faint line of mold along one edge, showing that there must be something behind it. Rift grabbed the edge, worked his claws under it, and popped it open.
It led into a dark space lit by greenish light that released a breath of dank air carrying a truly foul odor. Rift stepped inside, Moon pushed Karsis and Esom in after him, then stepped through himself.
Moon helped Rift maneuver the panel back into place. There was no lock. He looked hurriedly around the small space. The dim greenish light came from odd little pockets in the stone walls; it was hard to tell if it had been intentionally placed there or was just a lichen or moss that grew naturally. There was nothing to wedge against the panel, nothing to keep the guards from prying it open once they realized it was an escape route.
“We can’t seal it,” Rift told him, low-voiced. “We need to move away, or the wardens will hear us.”
“Can Ardan send those things after us?” Moon asked in Raksuran. They started down the passage, which sloped downward in a long spiral. Karsis slipped a little on the slimy paving but caught Esom’s shoulder to steady herself. Both of them watched Rift warily.
Rift replied in the same language, “He can send them, but he has to figure out where we went, first. They can’t appear out of nowhere. He has to put the guard-spells for them in place. I don’t think he knows about these passages.”