a strong mechanical advantage.”
Jymoor gave no answer. She found it hard to believe that anyone could spin the weapon so fast, but she didn’t dare contradict Yeel. They turned to the entrance, and Yeel led the way in.
The scout felt an underlying sense of unease at her first step into the lair. Several black tables squatted under a low stone ceiling, supporting a vast array of arcane paraphernalia. A chill fog swirled at her feet. Jymoor decided the chamber embodied evil doings and dire intent as surely as Yeel’s palace displayed elegance and sophistication.
“Is there danger here?” Jymoor whispered.
“Yes. Most certainly. Why at any moment an earthquake could render this place—”
“I meant something more immediate or…inevitable. Faverhind was of this Meridalae…are there others of that sect here now?”
Yeel shook his head. “Them…no. Faverhind would never let such dangerous acquaintances stay at his home without being around to watch them. They would have engaged us at the same time as he did.”
The conversation failed to distract Jymoor from the fear she felt. She scanned the room again, looking for threats. The items stacked on the tables included ornate totems carved with spiraling, many legged creatures, the flat skulls of humanoids, and black pots with rotten corks oozing fluids of various colors and consistencies.
She stepped closer to the first table, avoiding coming into contact with anything. In the center of the dark wood platform movement caught her eye. A live snake had been woven through hoops in a metal chest, holding it shut. At first Jymoor thought it a single red and black serpent, but as she stared she realized that actually a red snake engulfed the tail of a black snake, and vice versa. The pair formed a long twisted ring that held the chest sealed. As Jymoor watched the black one gave an angry hiss and writhed, attempting to advance its grip on its adversary.
“Seven sons!” she whispered, stepping back.
Yeel scanned the table and spotted the source of Jymoor’s reaction. “You spoke of dangers. Is this one immediate enough to qualify? I believe that the red one is armed with substances toxic to your kind. The poison holds the breath in your chest. Oh, wait a moment, the black creature is deadly as well! Although it doesn’t affect your breathing, its venom tends to reduce the cohesion of your internal membranes…”
“Oh, Lord Yeel, let’s just stay away from there!”
“Hmm…perhaps…although I must admit to some measure of curiosity. What treasure might be concealed within? A means of opening the container must exist…”
Jymoor stepped around to the side of the room, her legs shaking. As she approached one rough-hewn wall, a barrier of mist fell away to reveal a glowing red space beyond.
“We can get back to this,” Yeel announced. “Let’s at least make a rudimentary scan of the entire place.”
The tall man shuffled toward the newly discovered opening. Jymoor saw that he seemed to be moving with increased difficulty in the mountain niche. Yeel grunted and made a face as he approached the adjoining passage, bending his great height down to negotiate the opening. Jymoor followed him through.
The chamber beyond held five or six sources of throbbing crimson light. As they left the shattered opening to the ocean behind in the last room, these glowing points became the only illumination. They looked like red-hot rubies placed in the irregular stone walls.
Jymoor immediately saw the red light reflected in a complex pattern of shiny spheres embedded in a suit of heavy armor hanging from a rope. This room held shelves of wood and a small but intricate bed against one wall.
“I recognize that armor! It belonged to the Crescent Knight! He left on a quest to the Far Coast looking for you and never came back!”
“He must have run afoul of Faverhind or his harapins,” Yeel said, approaching the armor. “This is an artifact of tremendous value. The workmanship is exquisite, the aura is powerful and multivaried. Pearl and iron, would be my guess. Copious star stone, with lavish runic enhancement. A fine treasure to add to my collection.”
“It is amazing. You collect armor as well?”
“Artifacts. Items of rare excellence in engineering and art. Things of singular beauty, power, or craftsmanship. They are usually specialized items, created to effect one specific purpose very well. What of yourself, Jymoor? Do you have any fancies that we might satiate? There are many things for the taking, felwa root here for instance, a yin converter there hanging on the wall, a pot of diamonds on