Albrek's Tomb - Forman Mark L - Страница 56

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“You have our thanks,” said Thrang, bowing to Turlock.

Alex and his friends bowed as well and then followed the dwarfs out of the hall. The dwarfs led them quickly and quietly through the city to a series of rooms that had already been prepared. Unlike every other dwarf city Alex had been in, Neplee was dark and quiet. They saw no other dwarfs as they went along, and many of the passageways had no lights in them at all. It was depressing, and Alex began to wonder how many of the city’s people had already been destroyed by Nethrom.

“What is wrong with this city?” Thrain questioned as soon as their guides left them to rest in a large room where there were several chairs and a fireplace. “In my grandfather’s kingdom, no dwarf city is so dark or so quiet, and guests are always welcomed with feasts and excitement.”

“This is not your grandfather’s kingdom,” said Thrang, dropping into a chair.

“This city is like a tomb,” Nellus said, taking a chair close to Thrang’s.

“They have lived for more than three years in fear,” said Alex, his eyes fixed on the fire. “They have forgotten what happiness is. Now they simply live day to day, while death sits on their doorstep.”

“You still wish to stay and face the necromancer?” Thrang questioned.

“I will go with the company,” said Alex without looking at Thrang.

“Then you think me wrong to lead us away from here if the weather holds,” Thrang pressed.

“No, I do not think you are wrong,” answered Alex. “Our quest is to find the tomb of Albrek and the Ring of Searching. Staying here is dangerous. We are honor bound to finish our adventure, so I will do whatever you think best.”

Thrang was about to reply when Arconn broke in.

“Do you think the necromancer will come looking for you?”

“I don’t know,” said Alex. “I have no idea how Nethrom, or whatever he is now, will react to my being here.”

“You don’t really think he would attack you openly, do you?” Barnabus asked.

“I have no idea. I’ve never faced a necromancer before, and I don’t know how powerful Nethrom has become. I think, if he feels that he is strong enough, he will challenge me,” said Alex. “For now, I’m going to bed.”

With that, Alex turned and left the large room, heading for one of the several smaller rooms connected to it. Alex chose a room at random and closed the door behind him. He didn’t know what to think or do, and he didn’t know what answers to give to his friends. The necromancer was already aware of him, that much was certain. What the necromancer would do now that they had entered Neplee, Alex didn’t dare guess.

In the middle of these dark thoughts, Alex heard a sudden popping sound and a loud ding. A geeb appeared on his bed, and for a moment he was too stunned to do anything but stare. When he realized that the geeb could only have come from Whalen, he hurried forward to retrieve the message. Tossing the geeb a small diamond, Alex opened the envelope and began to read.

Whalen’s letter did little to make Alex feel any better. For the most part it told him not to feel bad about destroying the hellerash because they were already dead anyway. Whalen had little to say about fighting the necromancer, except to give Alex a lot of advice about gathering his power and preparing himself to face the darkness.

Unhappy with the message, Alex tossed it aside and climbed into his bed. Whatever hope he had felt when the geeb first arrived was gone, and he lay awake in the darkness for a long time before drifting off to sleep.

When Alex finally did fall asleep, his dreams were as confused and troubled as his waking thoughts were. They jumped from place to place as if he was searching for something, but he didn’t know what. Twice he woke with a start, looking around wildly as if expecting someone or something to be in the room, waiting for him. The second time it happened, he’d even conjured weir lights, sending them around the room to make sure he was alone.

Lying back on the bed, Alex put out the weir lights and tried to focus on what he was looking for in his dreams. Slowly his mind relaxed, and he felt as if he was lifting off the bed and flying away.

Alex’s thoughts moved out of Neplee and turned north. He felt like a bird, flying back along the path that he and his friends had traveled. Kazad-Syn looked small and inviting as he flew past it, and for a moment he wanted to stop, but he felt an urgent need to go on. When his mind reached the shores of the Eastern Sea, Alex knew where his thoughts were taking him. He moved across the wind-tossed sea into the darkness that hid the dragon.

“Your thoughts are troubled, young one.” Salinor’s deep, steady voice echoed inside Alex’s head.

“Yes, I have much to worry about,” said Alex.

“The necromancer,” Salinor stated.

“You knew about him?”

“Yes, but I did not know you would face him,” answered Salinor.

“I’m not sure I will. Thrang wishes to move on as soon as possible, so I may not face him for some time yet,” Alex explained.

“Sooner would be better,” said Salinor.

“I’m . . . I’m not sure I can face the necromancer,” said Alex, expressing the fear that had been nagging at his mind.

“Doubt can be deadly. Would you run from this challenge?”

“I would rather face it and free the people of Neplee, but I don’t know how, and I’m not sure that I can defeat this evil.”

“Caution is one of your more human traits,” said Salinor with a soft laugh. “It may be useful, I would not know.”

“I want to ask something of you,” said Alex before he could stop himself.

“Ask something, of me?”

“If I cannot defeat the necromancer, if he gains control over me, I want you to come and destroy me. Don’t let me be used by this evil,” said Alex in a pleading tone.

“Yes, I will come,” Salinor agreed slowly. “Though I think there are few things you could not overcome, even though you are still young.”

“Thank you,” said Alex, bowing to the dragon in his thoughts.

“You should return now,” said Salinor, a strange smile curling his gigantic mouth. “Guard your thoughts from the prying of the dark one, and look deeper into what your friend Vankin said in his message to you. If I feel the darkness overcoming you, I will come as you have asked.”

Alex bowed once more, and before he could dream himself back across the dwarf realm to Neplee, he woke with a start. Jumping out of bed, Alex retrieved Whalen’s letter and reread every line of it carefully, pausing on one line that he didn’t remember reading at all.

***

“There’s at least a foot of snow on the ground, and there will be another before we’ve eaten breakfast.” Thrang turned as Alex entered the common room. “If I didn’t know better, I’d ask if you’d conjured up this storm,” he said.

“Not me,” said Alex, smiling at Thrang. “And Nethrom didn’t conjure it either,” he added quickly.

“Well, we won’t be moving anytime soon,” Thrang grumbled. “So I suppose we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

“You know what’s going to happen,” said Alex. “I will go into the mountains and face the necromancer.”

“Madness,” said Thrang, dropping into a chair by the fire. “I’ll never understand wizards, not if I live to be a thousand years old.”

“It is not madness,” said Alex. “It is simply what has to be done.”

“Very well. I’ll ask no more questions,” Thrang said as he got to his feet again. “Besides, there’s no time anyway. Turlock has asked us to join him for breakfast, and we’d better be on our way,” he said as a guide appeared to lead them back to Turlock.

Once more the city was dark and quiet, though there were a few dwarfs moving about this morning. Most of them moved quickly away as Alex and the others approached, but a few stayed and silently watched them pass.

“Our people are not used to strangers,” their guide said. “It has been so long since anyone has come to the city.”

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