Darkvision by Bruce R. Cordell Page A

hissing. “Where did you get that?”
    “Why do you care?”
    “The creatures that I dispatched near your travel coach all wore pendants of the same crystal. They were hunting you.”
    “Creatures hunting me?” Ususi laughed, almost relieved. “All right, you’re really off the cliff edge. Nothing is hunting me—I haven’t seen a soul for tendays. I can’t believe a word you are saying, can I?”
    “Why don’t you go out and see for yourself? Perhaps then you’ll cut me down from this confinement and apologize for doubting I spoke the truth.”
    “Why don’t I, indeed?” What she would actually do, she told herself as she slipped carefully beneath the floating form, careful not to become entangled in the snaring magic, would be to pack up the travel coach and drive hell-bent for the nearest big city—Assur, probably—where she could charter a ship.
    With any luck, the vengeance taker would never free himself. But her luck may have been pushed too far already. By all rights, the vengeance taker should have found her and dealt with her without falling afoul of a trap.
     

     
    When Ususi returned to the chamber where Iahn still floated, she merely made a slashing gesture and spoke a magical phrase of negation. The white light faded, and Iahn dropped to the floor. He gracefully spun as he fell and landed poised on his hands and feet, then stood to his full height.
    Iahn broke the silence. “You see I speak the truth. They were trailing you for days. I saw their sign on your trail as I caught up to you in the wilds.”
    Ususi nodded. In her hands were three more chunks of Celestial Nadir crystal, each crudely attached to a leather thong. She said, “There was one more pendant, but it was burnt and crumbled. This truly is Celestial Nadir crystal. Or, as it’s called in these parts, ‘Datharathi crystal.’ “
    “Are you sure they’re safe to touch?”
    “Why wouldn’t they be?” Ususi wondered.
    “These pendants bound the creatures together and provided guidance. Or controlled them. The infernal one drew great strength from his, before it killed him. When I stripped the pendant from one of the still-breathing archers, she died as quickly as if I’d removed her heart.”
    Ususi involuntarily flinched and thrust the pendants out to arm’s length. Yet she didn’t drop the crystals. Instead, she quickly stuffed them into her shoulder bag. She coughed, recovered her dignity, and said, “Perhaps they’ll yield their secrets to me, then. I can probe their nature more fully when I return to my coach. After I clean up the mess those creatures made.” She’d nearly cried when she’d seen what the creatures had done to her home on wheels.
    Iahn nodded. “And then we return to Deep Imaskar. We should get started immediately. Even with your travel coach, it will be a journey of many tendays, maybe a month or more.”
    Ususi swiveled her head and fixed the vengeance taker with a frown. “If things are as dire as you say, then we may not have that much time. I believe I am on the cusp of discovering a new access point into the Celestial Nadir—a local access point.”
    “Here, in this complex?”
    Ususi sighed. “I’m afraid not. But I’ve been traveling south ever since I purchased the Datharathi crystal in Two Stars. That crystal is from Durpar, and even now we straddle that country’s border. It is only a few days’ travel to Vaelan, where we can inquire about the crystal. I want to know who mines it and where the mine is located. The mine is an access to the Celestial Nadir. Of this I am certain.”
    Iahn cocked his head. “If you believe this, why waste time here in this derelict ruin, still dangerous after all these years?”
    “I possess a map that reveals ancient Imaskaran sites such as this one. It seemed reasonable to check out the sites that fell along my path to Durpar. Legends claim that there are twenty gates in all, and I’d like to find every one.”
    The vengeance taker considered.