01 Sword Play by Forgotten Realms

Author:Forgotten Realms [Realms, Forgotten]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-04-10T15:07:43.952000+00:00

Chapter 14 Candlemas shivered as he hopped along, as clumsy as a crippled frog. For company, he cursed himself and Sysquemalyn and everyone else he could think of. Especially Lady Polaris, though she'd done nothing especial lately. He missed a step, slid, dropped his foot into a gap with ankle-wrenching agony, teetered, and flopped on his side. His bald head struck hard, so a clotted gash cracked anew. Cursing, almost weeping, he rubbed blood from the sore spot, then levered himself up. Immediately he slipped and fell again, smacking the same spot. Bleary-eyed and gloomy, he studied his unchanging surroundings. The floors and walls and low ceiling resembled a sea of giant glass marbles in all directions. Every surface was a half-sphere an armspan wide. Between them were gaps perversely as wide as his sandaled feet. The cloudy marbles were slippery and could roll in place, yet the only way to traverse them was by hopping from one to another. Often he stumbled, sliding in between them, twisting his ankles and banging his knees. He knew he'd shattered and ground his ankle bones to paste by now, but magic kept them firm and the pain low. So far. His magic could last only so long, and the dull ache was rising. Soon he'd be distracted by it, then tortured. Grabbing a marble with bloody hands, he climbed atop it and gingerly skidded toward a wall. But just before he reached it, it swung away like flotsam on a sea wave. He tumbled and cracked his knee, losing skin to stone. The low glassy ceiling, he'd learned, could dip unexpectedly, and he'd rapped his bald head many times. Cursing feebly, the mage squatted atop a marble and tried to think how to escape. Slowly the marble turned over, and he had to squinch his backside to stay atop. He'd get no rest in this cold hole. Too, he was flummoxed, his thoughts murky. The only thing he could concentrate on was blame and doubt: overwhelming blame for others and himself, doubt of everything. This anti- confidence was a curse too, more magic he was sure, but knowing that didn't banish it any better than ignoring a toothache would make the pain go away. If he hadn't wagered with Sysquemalyn ... If he hadn't attended Lady Polaris ... If he hadn't manipulated the barbarian .. . Hissing, he bit his lip, shook his head until his brain rattled in its pan. He had to think. There was something he'd learned once, a way out, but he couldn't recall it. If only he were smarter. If only ... A flap and squawk, and the raven skittered from above to perch on a nearby marble. Preening its wings, it tugged loose a shed feather. The black pin-feather slid down a marble surface and vanished into the crevices between the orbs. Candlemas tried not to imagine what might lay underneath. "Tough sledding," croaked the bird. "Never mind that," snapped the mage. His breath fogged, for the temperature was chilly.

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