Ascendancy of the Last - By Lisa Smedman Page 0,40

sending shudders through it. Yet the creature continued to squeeze Cavatina, undeterred by the magical assault.

Cavatina had no air left in her lungs. The ooze forced its way down into her throat. Gagging, she hacked at the thinnest section of its body—the side opposite the spot where Leliana and the male crouched. Cavatina’s knees scrabbled on the acid-slick floor. Had it not been for her spell, her clothing and armor would have dissolved by now, and her flesh with them. Behind her, she could hear the male’s muffled shouting.

The ooze squeezed harder. Spots of bright light crackled in Cavatina’s vision. She felt a rib crack. She thrust again with the sword and felt its point break through the outer skin of the ooze, into the air beyond.

Suddenly, the ooze was gone, vanished back into the Ethereal Plane.

Cavatina sucked in a shuddering breath, exhaled through her nostrils, and blew out the sludge the ooze had left behind. She sang her thanks to the goddess—but couldn’t hear anything. Movement behind her caught her eye: Leliana scrambling to her in utter silence, sword in hand, an astonŹished look on her face. The Protector halted at the edge of the acid slick the ooze had left behind and shouted something—but her words were lost in the magical silence. She switched to silent speech instead.

Where did you come from? Where did the ooze go?

The second question was the important one. It’s ethereal, Cavatina signed back. Be careful. It might materialize again.

Behind Leliana, the male touched his fingers to the floor. He waved, hoping to catch their attention, then signed. Keep still. When the spell wears off, it will be able to feel us moving.

Cavatina glanced at Leliana. He cast the silence?

Leliana nodded. He’s a Nightshadow.

Smart. But where’s his mask?

Later.

The Nightshadow, his ruined eyes staring sightlessly, maintained his vigil, his fingers lightly touching the floor. The three waited—long enough for the acid that was everywhere to dry to a crust. Cavatina would have to renew her protection when she eventually washed it off. But that was the least of her worries. What mattered now was whether the ethereal ooze rematerialized.

It didn’t.

Cavatina realized she could hear herself breathing.

“That was close,” Leliana whispered.

The Nightshadow cocked his head. Nodded. Too close, he signed.

Cavatina was impressed. The male’s senses were sharp. “I think we’re safe now,” she said, speaking aloud for his benŹefit. “If the ooze were going to attack again, it would be on us already. Oozes aren’t intelligent enough to lie in wait.” She crawled to the arch. Leliana followed.

“Where did you come from, Lady Cavatina?” Leliana repeated. “Did you find the portal?”

Cavatina was surprised. “You knew about it, too? How did you get into the room?”

“What room?”

Cavatina realized they must be talking about different portals. “Why don’t you start by telling me how you got here, Leliana. In detail.”

Leliana told a strange story of following a wizard’s conŹstruct into a cavern that wept gray ooze. “It must have escaped from the Pit,” she concluded. “It—”

“Yes. There’s a planar breach.”

“How did you know?”

“I saw it,” Cavatina said grimly. “Finish your report.”

Leliana bowed her head in acknowledgement of the order. She continued her report. It seemed that she and the male, whose name was Naxil, had done battle with a molten ooze—the one that had disfigured him. They’d journeyed to this spot along the route Cavatina had explored, past the now-solidified lava and up the staircase.

“How did you get around the barrier at the top of the stairs?” Cavatina asked.

Leliana held up her hand and nodded at the ring on her finger. “The same way I activated the portal. By touching gold to it—on purpose, this time.”

That explained the golden glow. Cavatina took a closer look at the ring. It looked like an ordinary band of gold. “Is it magic?”

“Its ensorcelments have nothing to do with it. I think that anything gold will activate the portals.” Leliana’s smile faded. She slapped her ringed hand against the blocked archway. “Except for this one.”

Cavatina nodded. Her thoughts were on the archway at the top of the stairs, and the ooze pressing against it. “Let’s just pray that the oozes haven’t fed on anyone wearing gold jewelry,” she said, thinking of the sacrifice she’d seen earlier. “Or the ones that aren’t ethereal will escape too.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Leliana said. Then she shook her head. “But oozes are mindless things. They don’t have enough intelligence to open the barrier on purpose, and the odds of any gold they carry inside them