Song of Dragons The Complete Trilogy - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,256

is evil."

Gloriae shook her head. "No. Animating Stones are only tools. Tools are rarely evil; the men who wield them often are."

"So let's find our man. Let's shove our swords into him."

She began walking down the tunnel, her torchlight dancing against craggy walls held with wooden slats. As she walked, she couldn't help the thoughts that whispered. Our man. Dies Irae. Was he... could he be... her father?

Agnus Dei growled. No. Impossible. True, Dies Irae had raped her mother nine moons before she and Gloriae were born. True, Dies Irae believed that he was the true father, not Benedictus. But Agnus Dei refused to believe.

"I am nothing like him," she whispered, jaw clenched. She had brown, fiery eyes like Benedictus. She had black hair like him, a temper like him, skin that tanned gold like his. And Gloriae... true, Gloriae had blue eyes and golden hair like Dies Irae, but so what? Lacrimosa was fair; Gloriae must have inherited her eyes and hair from her, not Dies Irae.

I will never believe that he's my father, she thought. And even if he is... I don't care. I still hate him, and I'll still kill him. She couldn't wait to thrust her sword into his flesh and watch him die.

Her footfalls echoed down the tunnel. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw statues walking behind Gloriae. She could only see several feet into the darkness; if Mother and Kyrie walked behind, the shadows hid them.

A growl sounded ahead.

Agnus Dei whipped her head forward and snarled. She raised her torch but saw nothing. She stopped walking and stared.

The growl sounded again.

The tunnel shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling and wooden beams creaked. More growls filled the tunnel, and something cackled.

"Time to kill," Agnus Dei said. With a wordless battle cry, she ran into the darkness, swinging her torch and sword.

A beam snapped to her right. A boulder crashed above. Dust rained.

"Come face me!" she cried. Shadows scurried ahead, laughing. She ran toward them, but they fled. All around her, wooden beams snapped, dust showered, and rocks fell.

"Agnus Dei, back!" Gloriae cried behind her. "Turn back."

"I can see them ahead!" Agnus Dei answered. "They're running away. After me, Gloriae!"

She raced into the darkness, leaping over falling stones. The tunnel shook violently. Agnus Dei fell, scraping her knees. She pushed herself up and kept running. She saw a mimic ahead. Its eyes blazed, it leered, and then it turned and fled.

"Come face me!"

Gloriae shouted behind her. "Agnus Dei, the mine is collapsing! Boulders are falling."

Agnus Dei looked over her shoulder and gasped. The ceiling was crumbling, burying the animated statues. Boulders crushed them.

"Mother!" Agnus Dei screamed. "Kyrie!"

Boulders crashed and began rolling toward her.

"Run, Agnus Dei!" Gloriae cried.

Agnus Dei ran deeper into the darkness. Rocks buffeted her back and helmet. A boulder crashed ahead of her. She leaped over it and kept running. More boulders rolled behind. The mimics were gone. She couldn't even hear them laughing anymore.

"Gloriae!"

She grabbed her sister's hand. The two ran together, heading deeper into the tunnel. A beam crashed before them, and dust blinded Agnus Dei. She leaped over the wood and rocks and plunged into darkness. She fell. Rocks rained. Dust filled her nostrils. Statues cried behind her.

"Mother," she whispered.

A rock hit her shoulder, and she fell onto her chest. Gloriae fell beside her.

Her hand opened.

Gloriae's hand slipped from her grip.

Rocks covered her, and Agnus Dei reached out, trying to grasp something, anything.

"Pup. Pup...."

Mimics laughed in the darkness.

Stars shone.

A blow struck her helmet, and her face hit the ground. All sound and light faded from her world.

LACRIMOSA

She had reached the bottom of the shaft, and begun to walk down the tunnel, when the mine collapsed.

My daughters.

Stones fell, beams snapped, and dust rained.

My daughters!

No other thought filled her mind. She raced forward. Debris crashed around her. A rock hit her shoulder, and she shouted. She had to get through. She had to save them.

"Agnus Dei!" Kyrie shouted beside her. He began tossing rocks aside.

"There, move that boulder!" Lacrimosa said. A boulder the size of a man blocked their way. "Help me."

My daughters. No. Please, stars, please, don't take them from me.

She grabbed the boulder and pulled. Kyrie strained beside her. It wouldn't budge.

"Statues of Requiem!" Lacrimosa called. "Do you hear me?"

Had any statues survived? They had all entered the mine before her. Were they all crushed, as dead as the burned mimics?

"Statues, come help us," Kyrie shouted, but they did not emerge from the wreckage. A few more rocks tumbled, and