Arrow of the Mist by Christina Mercer

Author:Christina Mercer [Mercer, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-03-12T04:00:00+00:00

“There now. ’Twas only a bit of m’woozy brew, just enough t’get you t’our inner city without knowing how you got here. You’re of the human race, after all.” The female voice sounded far away, as if it echoed through a tunnel.

Lia’s eyes focused on the tiny room and she found her throat dry when she spoke. “The poison you used … the bells or the shade?”

“Ah, you know the dark ones. Give you a hint: Her leaves do reek, and her fruit’ll bite, and she dangles trumpets of vespertine white.”

Lia was in no mood for riddles. She knew the answer, but her head ached and she didn’t want to play solve-the-riddle. The dwarf moved closer, yellow gems sparkling from her beard.

“You were part of our greeting crew, right? In charge of guests? Where’s Wynn, my cousin?”

“In good hands, not t’worry. Like I said, ’twas a simple act of caution.” She handed Lia a mug of water. “Drink this; it’ll help.”

Lia studied the water. It appeared clear and scentless, and her mouth yearned for it. She drank it down, the cool liquid washing the bitter taste from her mouth.

“Your guides are waiting for you.” The dwarf ambled to the door and opened it. Grunts and throat clearing echoed from the hall.

Lia got up from the bed and steadied her footing, and caught sight of her knapsack draped on a stool. The flap of her pack was undone, and she glared at the nosy dwarf before slinging it over her back.

“I’ll see you at suppertime,” her hostess said, as if drugging guests was nothing to blink twice about.

I’d like to try a few woozy brews on her and see how she likes it.

“Mouse holes,” Lia clipped, stooping through the curved doorway where two armored dwarfs met her. Thick beards covered half their faces and they both wore steel chest plates etched with a wingless, two-legged dragon.

Wingless? Like the tree wyrm, more snake than dragon.

“Follow me,” one ordered while the other took his stance behind her. The three strode in silence through the tunnel. Wall torches cast shadows against the stone, and aside from their footsteps, the passageway was quiet. Nerve-fraying quiet.

After endless twists and turns, they rounded a corner and came upon a door bigger than the usual mouse holes. With a nudge from the dwarf behind her, Lia opened the door to a blaze of sunlight. She stepped forward with her eyes shaded to help them adjust, and a shiver crossed her shoulders from the crisp mountain air. Her vision focused and she gasped. A stone courtyard sprawled into a maze of paths winding around towers of quartz. Towers of quartz!

“That’ll do, that’ll do, run along, she’s in my care now.” A dwarf with wild white hair and a beard to match scuttled toward them. Thick eyeglasses hung crooked on his nose and his eyebrows looked as if they might take flight.

The guards turned back toward the tunnel, but stopped at the sound of commotion coming from inside. The door burst open, its wood nearly splintering, and Wynn tumbled into the courtyard.

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