The darkness swallowed the dim light of the small globes that Ott had called forth but the Star of Khorra glowed brightly and lit the way. Nafon held his staff high and walked in front of the old man. They had left the great winged snake back at the opening where he would have room to maneuver in case of a sliob attack. On either side of the wizards, over and under them was Mount Noaik. It was a black cinder of rock riddled with openings from volcanic flow. It was a complex maze of tunnels that wound up, down, back and forth through the mountain. A man could become lost and spend the rest of his life wandering through the snaking paths.
As they went deeper and deeper into the tunnel, the darkness became thicker until you could almost feel it laying on your skin. Nafon forced himself to ignore it and not keep trying to brush it away. The darkness was like velvet and the hairs on his arms felt a fur-like touch rub against them. It was as if a giant cat stroked itself against his flesh.
The thin veil that he wore over his head blew fresh air against his face. If he had not worn one, he would have been dead by now. The air was empty here. Thick like a suffocating blanket, it laid upon them like a weight that dragged them down. Ott's steps faltered. Wading through this darkness was like swimming against a current in a swollen stream.
Time ceased to have any meaning in this dead place. Nafon couldn't tell if they had walked for minutes or hours or even days. There was never any change, just rock and dark then more rock. Sound was erased by the black thickness, too. Nafon doubted that they would hear a sliob even if it slithered right beside them. Strangely enough, he was not worried about the giant snails. They could not exist here any more than he or Ott could. This place was death.
The hairs on his neck stood up. No this place was not death, this place was the lack of all life. Suddenly he knew that the Mevix was near. This was the atmosphere that it must have to be above the earth. If he was right, the sliobs were the least of their worries in this place. He was glad that he and Ott had chosen this tunnel and not Quago. At least she was safe.
They moved on and eventually they were hungry. They snacked on dried meat and kept on walking. They couldn't talk. The roar of complete silence drown them out. Nafon's legs began to ache from the effort it cost him just to move. Ott leaned heavily against him. The old man could not go much further. Still the black ribbon wound on and on.
Nafon's legs stirred the darkness and caused ripples to run out from wherever he stepped. Ott sank to his knees and Nafon realized that the old man could easily be drowned in the dark. He pulled Ott back up to his feet and had to rest for a while, he was so exhausted. The old man's robes clung to him as if he had fallen into liquid water instead of liquid dark.
Soon cold began to wrap around them like a deadly embrace. Ott shivered and Nafon put his arm around the old wise one. For the first time, Nafon wondered about the legendary immortality of wizards. Did they really live forever or did it just seem like forever to the short lived people? Ott's hands became cold and more like mineral than flesh. In the dim light of the staff, Nafon could have sworn that the wizard's hands had become like crystal.
Gradually, so gradually that it happened for a long while before he noticed it, the tunnel began to narrow. Time went on and finally Ott was forced to walk before him because they could no longer go side by side. The waves of dark had risen to their waists and literally lapped at them. Nafon knew that they could never return the way that they had come and yet, he doubted that they could go on either. The thick black stuff pulled at them like quicksand.
Then they were in the opening of an immense cavern. Nafon could sense more than see the space about him suddenly. Ott staggered on, out into a lake of dark. Nafon was able to see the old one only by his staff, which seemed to have grown brighter with power.
"And so you have come to do battle with me." a sound that hurt Nafon's ears thundered over the darkness. It was not a voice, yet he could understand it. He could feel the total confidence of the thing. It had done battle with wizards before and it was not afraid.
Ott stood tall and raised his staff which was glowing like a small star by now. In the light, it sat. A great beast with wings, it appeared like a black cougar. All around it was a fine dark crystal. It was entombed totally inside. Its eyes were total blackness that actually blinded from their sheer lack of all light. The cat yawned and showed its huge fangs. They were like black shards of glass.
Ott pointed his staff at the crystal and a white light shot out of the tip where the crystal ball sat as though on a thrown. The light hit the dark glass with an explosion of pure energy. The resulting glare hurt Nafon's eyes and when he could finally see through his tears, he saw the big cat calmly cleaning its claws which were wickedly sharp and pointed.
"Is that the best that you can do, Wizard?" the cat purred ever so confidently. It turned in its crystal womb and sat itself down regally. It darted a look over its shoulder and Ott cried out. The old one doubled over with pain, from his narrow chest a spear of dark crystal protruded. His blue crystal hands pulled the spear free and he tossed it into the lake before him.
"Is that the best that you can do, Mevix?" Ott cried out in a strong voice. Nafon was stunned by the change in the old man. His flowing white beard was so bright that it parted the pools of darkness where it lay. The old wizard stood tall and powerful. His gray eyes had become like diamonds. Flashes of light came from their gem facets. Ott's skin was becoming more and more like blue crystal. His robes floated about him like light instead of the cloth that they once were. The dark lake parted before him.
"So you know me, Wizard?" the cat growled softly. "Then you also know that I am invincible. You might as well leave. If you can." The cat stretched leisurely.
"I am not the one who is going to leave." the wizard said calmly. He pointed his staff and a tree grew in the barren, black sand. The giant cat roared.
"You test me too far, old man." it hissed through glittering black teeth. Ott pointed his staff again and another tree appeared. The dark lake seeped out of the cavern as though someone had opened a drain somewhere.
"Go back to your dark hole, Shadow. Only life is going to grow here." Ott's voice rolled across the cavern like thunder. Sparks of light flew out from his feet. He grew and towered, a bright blue flame.
"Die old man!" the cougar had become a great black eagle. A flash of black light flew out of the deadly eyes and hit Ott in the heart. The old man looked at the dart in his chest with surprise. Then he smiled. He began to blaze brighter and brighter. Soon the cavern was bursting with life. A jungle of plants flourished where there had been only stone. Birds sang, trees bloomed and animals hunted. Above all of this explosion of life hung a bright blue star, beautiful in its power.
The blue light of the new star bounced off the black crystal that encased the un- alive and left it untouched inside its shield. It shifted its shape and flowed into a huge, black snake. It turned its ebony eyes toward Nafon. Its deadly black fangs dripped with venom that sizzled like acid where it fell.
"Are you ready to die, Wizard?" the snake hissed in a hoarse croak at Nafon.
Nafon, whose thoughts were never far away from Quago, suddenly knew that she was in grave danger. He raised his head and spit at the snake in defiance. Then he darted under the cover of the jungle and raced across the cavern where his staff lead him to an opening. He ducked through just as a black light exploded behind him. It knocked him several yards into the tunnel. He jumped back to his feet and ran on. He could hear the hideous, frustrated roar of the Mevix behind him in the cavern, as it realized that it had lost its prey.
He sprinted down the long tunnel, back and forth as it wound through the rock. He skinned his hands on the walls of black cinder and left a trail of blood behind him, unnoticed. His only thought was to reach Quago. He could hear Meib roaring and the echoes bounced around him in his narrow tunnel. From Quago he could feel nothing at all. Fear ate at him and he drove himself faster and harder than ever.
Then he heard a great cry from Telon. He felt the Teliat's death in his own heart. He collapsed against the hard rock wall in his pain. Then he forced himself to go on, although he felt as if he had been mortally wounded himself. At last he stumbled through a crack in between the rocks and fell into the scene of what had been a frightful battle.
On to Chapter 12
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