Chapter 11

We climbed along the ridgeline, circling the quarry with its ghostly inhabitants. PteriDae just floated, but I had to hang on with both hands, my axe tucked back in its sheath, my feet feeling for toeholds. Gaku was springing along right behind the wraith, leaping from ledge to ledge like a young mountain goat. Blaster trailed along more slowly.

The sun was noticeably lower in the sky by the time we reached the first of the cliff openings. Pteri passed by these, ignoring them completely. I sighed, looking longingly at the flat terrain surrounding the openings so close beneath us. I wondered why anyone would dig mineshafts in a quarry, but guessed that the quarrymen had found more than just rock.

After Pteri floated past the second group of shafts, I groaned. "This is no work for a Warrior," I thought, then chuckled at the memory of saying much the same thing while hunting rats. I quickly patted my side, checking my Short bow. I may need it before we are through here, I thought, eyeing the quarry full of spirits.

The last group of caves came up beneath us, not too soon for me. Gaku and Blaster fared well from all the climbing and were first into the shaft that PteriDae was hovering over. I hoped that Gaku had a light spell handy, because we were just in time to see the sun drop down below the edge of the quarry.

The entrance seemed small, which I thought was a good sign, as it was easily accessible from below. It was less likely that one of the Zibongs from the pit would wander into it by accident. Gaku had lit a torch, which illuminated the first chamber, showing many old stone working tools and some stacks of newer weapons and armor.

"Where do you suppose this stuff came from?" I asked Blaster, he just shrugged. None of the stuff seemed to be very valuable. We proceeded into the tunnel.

The second chamber was different. It branched into several smaller tunnels. PteriDae paused just inside the center one, waiting for us. This chamber, too, had piles of armor and weapons in it, somewhat higher quality than the junk outside. I spotted a fairly nice axe peeking out of the pile, though it had no Moon emblem on it like mine did.

Deeper into the side of the quarry we went, sometimes exiting into a chamber, always trusting PteriDae with her chosen direction. The tunnels started to look less man made and more natural. Here and there was a deposit of low-grade crystals, perhaps what attracted the attention of miners in the first place.

At the next chamber, I couldn't resist a stack of arrows atop a pile of equally nice armor.

"Star arrows!" I exclaimed to my companions, "Where did these come from?"

I took the sheath from the pile and put my lighter weight Thorn shafts into my pack. At least I will have first-rate arrows in case we get into trouble.

I chuckled at the thought. Of course we were going to get into trouble! It was only a matter of time.

While I was picking up the Star shafts, Gaku and Blaster halted, waiting for me. Pteri wasn't making any noise, of course, so the faint sound of someone speaking wasn't lost to my ears.

"Douse the light!" I said.

Now in nearly total darkness, we followed Pteri's faintly glowing form. As the tunnel narrowed about us, we started to see a light ahead. A pearlescent glow slowly got brighter until we came to the end of our tunnel.

Opening into a large chamber, we looked down on the floor, where a man stood across a deep fissure. Several normal looking Zibongs hovered around the room, which showed several other entrances. The light came from the glowing Zibongs and also from the object that the man held. In his left hand was a white sword. Made of a dull white metal that seemed familiar, somehow, the ghostly sword seemed to give off a glowing mist, which curled down the blade and around the man's arm. His whole body glowed with this mist, outlining him with the same white glow that surrounded the Zibongs.

Next to me Blaster gasped.

"It is Spellblaster," he whispered to me, "Somehow I knew it. It looks like he finally found the rare item he wanted."

"I guess we have to get that sword away from him," I replied, "If that is the cause of this."

"But how?"

"Not like this, hiding and watching," I said, "We need to get down there."

I slid out of the tunnel's mouth, which had narrowed to a few feet across, to a ledge below the entrance. Working my way down the ledge, I tried to get within leaping distance of Spellblaster, who seemed to be talking to the Zibongs.

"Not enough... never enough... bring me more... much much more." He crooned to the Zibongs, "Ah, now I have you!"

The glow around the Zibong sword brightened and a Zibong moved up behind him. Along the blade of the sword, a spirit formed. Looking like a ghost from the Arena, some poor hapless soul was sucked through Spellblaster's body and into the waiting Zibong. The Zibong seemed to adapt to its guest, stretching out and slightly mimicking the features of the spirit.

"Just a few more... a few more... if only I could control more..." Spellblaster, murmured to his ghost friends.

I had worked my way down to the end of my ledge, but there was too much space between me and the other side of the fissure for me to leap across. I pulled out my bow.

"Put my wife's soul into a Zibong, will you?" I selected a new Star shaft arrow and stretched the bow to its limit, targeting on Spellblaster's chest.

I let it fly. The arrow crossed the gap in an instant, clattering harmlessly at the Mage's feet.

Spellblaster looked up from his work and smiled. His eyes were coated with the strange mist from the sword, giving him the look of a blind man. He saw me well enough.

"Gareth!" He exclaimed, "What an unkind way to greet an old friend! Wasn't hello good enough?"

He laughed and the unjoined Zibongs around him vibrated, sharing his mirth or his madness.

"Nice arrow, too. Didn't you realize that the King's Magic would protect me?" He moved towards me, his pack of Zibongs following behind. When he was directly across the fissure from me, a thought seemed to occur to him. "What are you doing here? Did you come to steal my sword?"

"I am here to fix the King's Magic. What did you do to it?" I tried to locate an exit from my ledge, but the only way across was to jump. Not my first choice.