Pug hesitated, hating to leave this in another’s hands, but one complaint he had always had about his wife Miranda was her seeming inability to delegate important tasks to others. Feeling a rush of bitterness thinking of her, he nodded and turned away.
Jim Dasher knew it had been difficult for Pug to let him go. The recent loss of his wife and younger son made him much more protective of Magnus. Still, Jim knew from experience that this was exactly the type of situation where emotion could get you killed.
They had established a plan, and it was the third option that only he, Pug, Kaspar, and Magnus knew of. Three companies of soldiers were assembled and ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
Each was under the command of men whom Pug trusted implicitly, his adopted grandsons, Tad, Zane, and Jommy. Jommy waited in a nice quiet estate on the island of Roldem, with three hundred Royal Marines under his command.
Zane was down in Kesh with half a legion of Kesh’s finest border guards, the dog soldiers; and had control of nearly a thousand men.
And Tad was in Krondor with five hundred more of the Prince’s own, and Kaspar had another five hundred hand-picked shock troops from the army of the Maharaja of Muboya assembled half a planet away with the young magician Jason ready to bring them here.
Any or all of them could be here in minutes. The only critical thing was the one person who must use a Tsurani orb to get back to Sorcerer’s Isle, where a simple order would trigger a full-scale assault on this fortification.
As long as one person could get away.
Jim made his way slowly into the building, and down the circular stairway, which began as a hole in the floor. He kept one hand on the wall on his left, while the other held the cloak around him firmly. The nature of his marvellous garment adjusted in proportion to his movement, but the staircase was barely wide enough to allow someone to pass, so he felt the need to reach the bottom as quickly as possible.
He made five full circles and knew he was approximately thirty feet below the surface, with the bottom still not in sight. Ten more and he saw light, and when he reached the bottom, he estimated that he was easily a hundred and fifty feet below the ground. It would be a wonderful climb back up, he thought, especially if he were being chased.
At the bottom, Jim discovered a large room with ancient stone walls. Another of those damned ancient Keshian fortifications, he thought. His adventure had started at a similar site on the plateau called the Tomb of the Hopeless, and now he found himself in one even more remote and dangerous than that.
Looking around for some idea of what to do, he noticed that only one of the four tunnels held a distant light, so that was the direction he chose.
The tunnel was also made of ancient stone, dry and dusty, but the floor showed the tread of many feet. He still had no concept of what this place was and why the mad magician Belasco and his demon minions had chosen to occupy it, but he suspected he was going to regret the discovery.
Reaching the end of the tunnel he hesitated, clutching his cloak around himself and looking into the room with surprise.
A massive altar, ancient and stained black from sacrifices centuries past, was now stained with fresh blood. Before it knelt three figures, bound in chains and forced to kneel: Kaspar, Sandreena, and Magnus.
Well, at least they’re still alive, thought Jim.
On top of the altar lay the still form of Belasco, his eyes closed. Dead, unconscious, or sleeping, it was difficult to judge.
And standing on the other side of the altar was a slender man, whipcord strong and stripped to the waist. His torso was covered in clan tattoos, and his teeth had all been filed to points. Jim had never seen one before, but still recognized what he was: Shaskahan cannibals were practitioners of particularly dark magic.
Only this time the magic didn’t seem to be intended to destroy the body on the altar, but rather he appeared to be trying to revive it. When the chanting stopped, the Shaskahan reached over and gave Belasco a gentle shake. ‘Master?’ he whispered, loud enough for Jim to make out the word.
From out of the air came a voice. ‘Yes, my servant?’
‘Are you with us again?’ asked the man. He appeared genuinely frightened by what was taking place.
‘Not yet,’ came the answer.
‘What must I do? We trapped those who came, as you told us to. We have them here, bound in chains that stop their magic.’ He looked at Sandreena and Magnus, then at Kaspar. ‘We can spill blood if it will help?’
Dryly, the voice in the air said, ‘Nothing can help.’
Then another voice sounded, and it was as if the winds of hell had been given the power of speech. ‘Let me out of here!’ it commanded, and the body on the altar shook; the Shaskahan pulled back, obviously terrified.
Jim hung back in the shadows, totally uncertain what to do next.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Summoning
THE PIT EXPLODED.