Part 17 (1/2)

aSound the recall,a Tosig ordered and looked around him.

It wasn't an ideal situation. Rather than being in a snug tunnel, the dwarves were in another large room where the enemy could come at them from all sides.

aLight,a the dwarf long commanded, and the blackness of the cavern gave way to the twilight gloom dwarves prefer to daylight.

As the last of the dwarves scurried back to the safety of their fellows, Tosig's breath caught in his throat. From all sides ragged lines of shambling, twitching undead warriors were converging on the little band of dwarves.

Against human foes it might have worked. But dwarves are tougher than mortals and bonny fighters beside.

aSteady the s.h.i.+eld wall,a Tosig bellowed aHere they come.a As if by instinct, the dwarves crowded into a tight circle two-deep in the middle of the cavern. Those in front dropped to one knee with their round s.h.i.+elds before them. The rear rank shrugged their s.h.i.+elds off their arms and stood behind the protection of their comrades' s.h.i.+eld wall with both hands on their axe shafts.

Heedless of their opponent's new formation, the undead charged. There was no sound save the scuffling of feet on the cavern floor and the breathing of the dwarves. Soundlessly the zombies lurched forward and soundlessly they struck.

Then the cavern erupted in the clamor of steel on steel and dwarven battle cries as the undead warriors. .h.i.t the 128-dwarf Cuisinart.

The zombies might be already dead and hence unkillable, but there are certain practical problems in attacking when one's arms have been lopped off at the shoulder or one's head is rolling across the floor. Further, zombies' muscle control is notoriously poor and this handicaps them in hand-to-hand combat.

The first rank of dwarves was safe, crouched beneath their s.h.i.+elds. The second could swing their axes with full force, protected yet unenc.u.mbered. About the only weapons that could reach over the s.h.i.+eld wall to strike the axe bearers were spears and halberds. But as soon as a polearm extended over the s.h.i.+eld wall, the s.h.i.+eld dwarves would reach up with their axes and hook it, immobilizing weapon and wielder and leaving both open to a counter-stroke by the axe dwarves.

Not that it stopped the zombies. Whole or hacked up they continued to come on in deathly silence, pulling themselves forward to the attack with whatever limbs they had left Again and again they pressed forward and again and again they were cut into ever-smaller pieces.

Finally, when the last zombie had been chopped into pieces too small to be dangerous, the attack stopped.

Tosig Longbeard peered into the darkness, seeking other foes. He was breathing heavily and the gold crown upon his helm was battered and scarred. Already those warriors with healing skills were tending to their comrades' wounds.

aCasualties?a He did not turn to look at his men.

aSix wounded,a Durgrim told him. aFour will be able to walk once the healers finish with them. Two we must carry.a aWell enough then. Anything else about?a aNothing I can sense.a The dwarf long hawked and spat upon the still-quivering flesh of their late foes. aPf.a.gh! Animated corpses. These humans become ever more troublesome.a His second-in-command gestured at the pile of bodies strewn about them. aHuman these were. Yet I am unconvinced a human animated them. The magic was wrong.a Tosig rubbed his chin. This is a matter to be thought upon. Meanwhile,a his voice rose so all his troop could hear, astand up and prepare to march! But carefully now. We know not what else we may find in this place.a The magic detector tuned to Wiz led Jerry, Taj and his group down a side pa.s.sage, through a series of natural caverns and finally to an iron-bound oak door that led off the side of a tunnel.

Jerry pressed his ear to the door and listened.

The wizard behind him, a young man named Elias, checked the magic detector around his neck. aThere is nothing in there.a aYeah! Jerry hissed. aWell, that 'nothing' is breathing awfully heavy.a Elias frowned and tapped his detector on his palm.

Keeping his back to the wall, Jerry reached out and pushed on the door. It creaked, but it swung open smoothly, showing only darkness beyond. Now they could all hear the hoa.r.s.e, heavy breathing.

aWhat do you think it is?a Taj whispered.

aI dunno,a Jerry whispered back, but it's cloaked, s.h.i.+elded and probably nasty.a Taj regarded the door. aSo, do we go in or not?a aIt would be better if we sent something in ahead of us.a He brightened. aAnd I've got just the thing.a A quick call for an Emac, a muttered spell and suddenly there was a fuzzy pink mechanical rabbit standing before them. The rabbit was wearing dark gla.s.ses and carrying a ba.s.s drum. But he also had a boonie rag tied around his head and an awesomely wicked looking weapon slung across his back The rabbit did a quick half turn to orient himself and marched into the dark room, beating the drum.

Four beats later, the drum was drowned out by the roars, growls, snarls and liquid sucking sounds coming from the room. Then the corridor echoed and rang with gunfire and explosions until the watchers clapped their hands over their ears to save their hearing.

Then there was silence. After a few seconds the pink mechanical rabbit appeared out of the smoke. He blew the smoke from the barrel of his weapon, slung it back on his back, adjusted his drum and marched off down the corridor, beating his drum.

A quick peek around the corner showed there was nothing left alive in the room, although there were enough miscellaneous body parts to stock a good-sized zooa”or a terrific nightmare.

aJeez,a said Taj, as he stepped over something that might have been a tentacle and avoided a taloned foot that was still twitching, awhat do you suppose this thing was?a Jerry looked around. aAs a friend of mine likes to say, never ask questions you don't want to know the answer to. Now come on. Let's see if we can find the others.a Well you wanted to the a f.u.c.king hero, Charlie thought. Somehow his definition of a hero's death had never included being eaten alive by sharks. He could just give up, exhale and sink beneath the water, but natural orneriness in him kept him from taking the easy way out.

d.a.m.n! Why couldn't he have gone down with his plane? At least I won't end up a zombie.

The fins drew nearer and Charlie braced himself for what must come. Closer and closer they scythed until he could see the wet sheen on the black flesh of the fins and the smooth ripple of water before them. Barely two yards from him the nearest fin disappeared beneath the waves and Charlie gasped in antic.i.p.ation.

Something broke water in front of him. After a second he opened his eyes to find himself facing a very unsharklike snout with the mouth pulled back in a toothy grin.

ah.e.l.lo,a the dolphin squeaked. Behind the first one, two other dolphins had their heads out of the water.

Charlie goggled. It's a d.a.m.n good thing I'm already wet, was his mad first thought. Then he laughed in pure relief.

aGo home?a squeaked the dolphin. aGo home now?a Charlie doubled over laughing and got a nose full of water. He choked and sputtered and the dolphins moved in to support him under the arms.

aG.o.dd.a.m.n. You guys are Air-Sea Rescue, right?a aGo home,a the dolphin repeated.

aOkay, son, just lead the way.a Supported and pushed along by the dolphins, Charlie headed north, toward the lands of man.

aHey, do any of you boys knowaa He started to sing. aPraise the Lord and pa.s.s the ammunition aa None of the dolphins did of course, but they were apt pupils and not in the least put off by Charlie's cracked baritone. By the end of the first mile they had joined in with their mosquito-buzz voices.

aa praise the Lord and pa.s.s the ammunition, And we'll allll stayyy freeee.a The Executioner's rock ledges were narrow and slippery and the zombies were clumsy. The second dragon misjudged the landing and was swept into the boiling sea before it could correct. Karin saw a dead man's head and a dead dragon's wingtip break the surface before being sucked under the foam. The other undead did not seem to notice.

They couldn't stay here. The rock was so small it would be the work of moments for the zombies to sniff out their cave. Once that happened they could be cooked by dragon fire in their lair. But there was no way to get airborne without being incinerated either.

aDo you have any magic for this?a Karin whispered. Senta shook her head.

Karin nodded and pulled her sword from its scabbard on Stigi's saddle. Senta did likewise.

Karin reached up and took Stigi's bridle. As quietly as she could, she turned the dragon around until he was facing out of the creva.s.se toward the zombies. Senta brought her dragon around. By jockeying and s.h.i.+fting the riders were able to get the dragons squeezed in side by side almost lying on each other but facing out the same way.

aStigi,a Karin whispered as the first zombies came into view, afire.a Stigi needed no encouragement. A gout of flame swept down the ravine, incinerating the first of the undead dragon riders. As Stigi reached the end of his breath, Senta's dragon released his flame, causing Karin to avert her head and Stigi to bridle under the heat.

Twice more the dragons breathed fire turn and turn about and twice more zombies charred, burned and fell backwards into the foaming sea.

But it was a temporary victory and both of them knew it. As soon as the zombies got dragons aloft they would be incinerated in turn by dragon fire from the skies. Indeed, as Karin watched, one of the zombie dragons launched off the rock and flew low out over the ocean, wings beating to gain alt.i.tude.

A tentacle lashed out of the water and swept dragon and rider into the sea.

Another tentacle swept the cliff knocking another dragon and two more zombies into the water. Then another tentacle and another and another lashed onto the sh.o.r.e, seizing dragon and rider alike and sweeping them beneath the foam.

aKraken!a Karin hissed. aKeep still!a As the living dragons and their riders pressed back into the creva.s.se a forest of tentacles lashed from the sea and swept over the island, tapping, probing, searching for prey. The zombies did not scream as they were picked off the rock and dragged beneath the water. Their dragons did not roar. But one by one they were all taken as food for the monster of the reef.

Still the tentacles swept on, feeling for more. Several of them explored the crack where Karin and Senta hid and one of them came so far in that it actually touched Karin.

It took all her will to keep from flinching when the tip of a slimy tentacle brushed across her boot. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip until she tasted blood to keep from whimpering aloud at the creature's foul touch. In the part of her mind that could still function all she could think of was Mick.

The tentacle pa.s.sed on and withdrew down the creva.s.se. There were a few more tentative stirrings and then everything was still, save for the waves and the sea.

At last Karin dared to breathe again and she and Senta looked at each other across their dragons' backs.

aFortuna,a Senta breathed, aLet us be gone from here before something else happens.a Karin could only nod.