shower of sparks as Pritkin and Nick simultaneously threw spells at each other. The audience cheered, but it was the final straw for the pterodactyl things, who launched themselves into the air and went screeching toward the fight.
"Casanova!"
"I can't call them off—don't even ask."
"What do you mean? Are you in charge around here or aren't you?!"
One of the creatures targeted Pritkin, clawing and pecking at his shields. The other creature went after Nick, but he fired a spell at it that singed one of its batlike wings, sending it wheeling away over the crowd. It was soon back for more, but in the meantime he'd made it to the next stalactite.
"Not when it comes to security," Casanova said rapidly. "The wards are designed to act independently. There's nothing I can do as long as those two keep tossing magic around!"
I bit my lip and watched the creature attacking Pritkin make a vicious jab with its beak. It penetrated halfway into his shields, then stopped as its head became stuck. It began thrashing around, forcing him to drop to his knees and clutch the beam to keep from being pulled off by its attempt to free itself. Meanwhile, Nick was getting much too close to the exit.
Pritkin managed to focus despite the beating he was taking from the giant wings, and threw a spell at Nick, collapsing the section of catwalk he was standing on. It fell into the moat with a splash and a sizzle, sending up a cloud of steam in its wake and barely missing a Charon that had been a little late docking his boat. I looked up in time to see that Nick had somehow snagged the next section. He pulled himself onto it while fending off his creature with a few more spells, heedless of the crowd watching raptly below.
Pritkin was handicapped by trying not to hit the crowd, but Nick felt no such compunction. Sooner or later, he was going to miss and send a deadly spell into the mass of tourists. I couldn't do anything for Pritkin; I wasn't a mage. But I could possibly get the lights back on and help security clear the area.
"Let's go." I tugged on Casanova. "The kids are probably in the kitchens."
He grabbed me by the arm and we muscled our way to the stairs, since the elevators weren't working. At the bottom we paused by a stained-glass window where a little weak light from outside was leaking in. It didn't help visibility much; I was mostly looking at a long black tunnel where I should have been able to see bright medieval banners overhead, a line of armor going down either side and the room-service kitchens off to the left.
I'd started toward the kitchen door anyway when, out of the darkness, there was a low, slow hiss, like scales sliding against the floor. I froze. I didn't know what it was, but that sort of sound is never good. It coiled along my nerves, making the hairs stand up on my arms.
"I've seen this movie," Casanova said tightly. "Everyone dies in the end."
"Shut up!"
"You don't understand—I know that slither!"
A black mist began sending dark fingers running across the stone of the floor. And everywhere they touched, what little light there was went out. "What is it?"
I could hear him swallow. "The darkness isn't caused by the absence of light, but by the presence of something else. Something that, believe me, you don't want to see."
Yeah, except that dying in the dark didn't sound all that appealing, either. I grabbed him before he could get away, crushing that expensive sleeve ruthlessly. "What. Is. It?"
"I told you—"
"Casanova! There is a very good chance there are children down here. What the hell is out there?"
He didn't answer, just shone the flashlight at the ceiling. The walls in this section were dark wood, but the ceiling was painted white, picked out along the edges in gold scrollwork. The thing was hard to see, as it was also bloodless white. It was clinging to the ceiling upside down, head cocked to one side, watching. It was like a parody of a child, small and half formed, glistening wetly across all its surfaces. It looked blind, with no glimmer of eyes under the skin stretched tight across its sockets, but its head turned toward me unerringly.
"Cassie." It spoke in Pritkin's voice. It sounded sympathetic. "If you don't run, I'll kill you quickly, and I'll leave the kids alone."