Slowly Karas backed out of the temple. He'd find a quiet place, report to Qilue-and let her decide what to do next.

CHAPTER 12

Leliana halted the group when she spotted Brindell running back through the tunnel. The halfling's eyes were wide with terror. Unlike a drow, she wore her emotions where everyone could see them.

Brindell skidded to a halt in front of Leliana, her copper-colored hair damp with sweat. "A wave," she gasped, fear making her forget to use the silent speech, "of putrid flesh. It's headed this way, dissolving everything in its path."

"Mother's blood," Leliana whispered. She could hear it, even then. A bubbling, gurgling sound, overlaid with a faint, sizzling hiss. She turned to the mages, several paces behind her, and signaled for them to turn back.

But we're almost there, Gilkriz protested.

According to the map… His hands fluttered to a halt as he stared at something behind Leliana.

Leliana spun. The thing Brindell had spotted was in view. It looked like a waist-deep puddle of bruised fat, wide enough to fill the tunnel from side to side. Veins as thick as legs bulged as it oozed forward-one broke, spraying the tunnel walls with red. Boils rose on the surface of the thing and erupted with wet pops. The monstrosity was still a hundred paces away, but even at that distance Leliana could smell the stench of corruption.

"Join my prayer!" she shouted. "Drive it back."

The priestesses burst into song, lifting the miniature swords that were the symbols of their faith. "By sword and by song, we command thee. By moonlight be driven back…"

The monstrosity surged on, unaffected by the priestess's prayers.

Leliana lowered her holy symbol. If they couldn't stop this thing, they'd be forced to retreat through the shaft they'd just climbed to reach this tunnel. A shaft that led only down. A deep shaft. Before they reached bottom, the monstrosity would be spilling down on top of them.

A streak of frost shot past Leliana's shoulder: one of the wizards, casting a spell. Ice crystals blossomed across the leading edge of the putrid wave, freezing it. An instant later, however, the ice cracked and the monstrosity surged forward again. As it came on, a rat burst from a crack in the tunnel wall just ahead of the oozing mass and scurried up a timber, trying to escape. The putrid mass flowed after it, climbing the wall. The rat shrieked as it was enveloped and dissolved. The timber it had tried to climb fell to pieces and was also consumed.

"Out of the way!" Gilkriz yelled, shoving past her. "Kulg!" he cried, slamming his stiff-fingered hands in front of him as if they were a gate closing.

With a rumble and a thud, the tunnel ahead slammed shut. A wall of solid stone stood where an open passage had been a moment before, blocking the monster's path.

Brindell let out a whooping cheer. "Praise be to Eilistraee! We're safe."

The others were more restrained; they merely murmured their relief.

"That's it, then," Leliana said. She turned her back on the wall. "We'll have to go another…"

She paused. What was that sound?

There it was again. A faint noise, coming from the shaft they'd just climbed.

Tash'kla ran to it and peered down. Another one! she signed-as if maintaining silence would save them. Coming up the shaft!

"Gilkriz!" Leliana barked.

The conjurer nodded. He ran over to where Tash'kla stood and repeated his spell, bringing his hands together. Rock groaned, bulged. The top of the shaft slammed shut.

Brindell glanced back and forth between the blocked tunnel and the plugged shaft. "Now what?"

Leliana looked around. What indeed?

She noticed the human wizard standing slightly apart from the group, intently studying a portion of the tunnel wall. "What is it, Daffir? Have you spotted something?"

He turned, leaning on his staff. "A doorway, hidden by magic." He pointed. "Here."

The dark lenses hovering in front of his eyes hid his expression, but his voice had a strained sound Leliana didn't like. "Where does it lead?"

"To death. And… freedom."

"Whose death?" Gilkriz asked, striding forward. He peered at the wall, his face illuminated by the Faerzress glow.

Daffir shrugged.

"We certainly can't stay here," Tash'kla said. "We'll run out of air." She raised her sword in both hands in front of her; the blade hummed softly. "I'm ready to face death, if it means finding a way past those monsters."

"So am I," Brindell said. She fingered her holy symbol with a pudgy hand.

"Perhaps the divination wasn't a literal one," Eldrinn said. " 'Death' could mean the Crones, and the door may be another route to the Acropolis, hence 'freedom.'" He turned to the wizard beside him. "What do you think, Q'arlynd?"

"Why don't you try opening it, Daffir?" Q'arlynd suggested, moving closer to the other wizard. "Let's see what's behind the door, and decide."

Q'arlynd's eyes, Leliana noted, kept straying to the staff Daffir held.

"Just be ready," she told the others. "Anything could come through that door." She readied her sword. "Go ahead, Daffir."

Daffir balled his hand into a fist, raised it to his lips, and barked a word into it.

Nothing happened. The wall looked as solid as ever.

"I need assistance," he said. "Gilkriz, Q'arlynd, can you aid me?"

The conjurer nodded. So did Q'arlynd, but less eagerly.

"On the count of three, then," Daffir said. "One…"

Gilkriz raised his fist to his lips. Q'arlynd motioned for Eldrinn to step back, then did the same.

"Two…"

The priestesses also heeded the warning. All took a step back.

"Three!"

All three mages spat out a word in unison. As it left their lips, a black iron door became visible. It had no handle, but a knocker shaped like a goat's head hung dead-center on its pitted metal surface. The knocker reared up and thudded its horns against metal with a hollow boom. The door creaked open, away from them, releasing a puff of dust-scented air.

Leliana stepped forward. The top of the door was level with her chest, so she had to bend slightly to peer inside. Even without a prayer of divination, she could feel the tainted chill that spilled from the room. When her eye fell on the statue that stood against the far wall, between two arched exits, she understood why. Like the door knocker, it had a goat's head. Blood-red gems glinted in the eye sockets, reflecting the light from the Faerzress that glimmered from every surface, including the statue itself. The statue had a duergar's squat proportions but stood fully twice Leliana's height, its curving horns nearly scraping the ceiling of the room. Arms folded against its chest, it stared down at a pool of silver that shimmered at its cloven feet: quicksilver.

The priestesses and wizards crowded behind her, curiosity overcoming their apprehension. "What is that?" Tash'kla breathed. "A golem?"

"There's a rune on its chest," Gilkriz said. "A duergar rune. It's faded, but I can still make it out: 'Orcus.'"

Leliana immediately sang a prayer. Behind her, she heard the other priestesses do the same.

"That means something to you?" the conjurer asked.

Leliana nodded. "Orcus is a demon. Prince of the dead. Kiaransalee killed him."

Q'arlynd squatted beside her. "You said he 'is' a demon. Did he rise from the dead?"

"Yes, despite Kiaransalee's best efforts. She not only killed him but conquered his realm-that layer of the Abyss known as Thanatos. Her priestesses marked the victory by naming her chief temple after it. But the demon lord eventually returned to reclaim his realm."

"Did the duergar of these parts worship Orcus?" Gilkriz asked.

"The ones who dug this mine obviously did," Leliana answered. "It's odd, though, that this shrine remains intact. Kiaransalee's followers made it their mission to eradicate all vestiges of the demon prince. Legend has it the goddess worked magic that erased Orcus's name, wherever and however it had been written."