Page 69 of Wizards & Weavers
“It can’t be,” the skeleton said softly. His skull turned, rotating impossibly to look straight behind his back and between his shoulders.
The crack in the wall. Bones broke into a stuttering, awkward run, his skull realigning as he bobbled forward. The four followed suit, Braiden’s heart thumping in his chest. What was going on? Had he misjudged the skeleton’s harmlessness after all?
Bones stopped just short of the gaping crevice, his bony fingers clutching at the wall as he stared in. Skeletons couldn’t breathe, but Braiden could swear he heard the skeleton gasp.
“Now this,” Bones said, peering into the chilly chamber. “This, I remember.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
The skeleton slippedthrough the crevice, his bony feet clattering against icy ground as he walked. Slowly, as if in no particular hurry, or as if held in thrall by what awaited in the chamber. Braiden followed the others as they crowded through the entrance, anxious about what it was that Bones beheld.
The chamber was mostly empty, a smaller version of the cavern outside. The walls here were formed out of pure ice, not a combination of frost and stone. But in the center of the chamber, there it spun, the object of the skeleton’s entrancement.
Like well-carved dice, or a perfectly crafted box, only made entirely out of ice. It was a cube as big as a man’s head, every surface and corner flawless as it rotated lazily in the air, suspended by some unseen force. Streams of mist emitted from its six gleaming faces as it turned, an object so intensely cold that Braiden could feel its freezing pulse even from several feet away.
“It’s beautiful,” Elyssandra breathed.
“It’s dangerous,” Warren said, gripping his quarterstaff tight.
The skeleton gave a bitter laugh. “It’s the rat bastard that killed us all.”
The chill of the chamber penetrated straight to Braiden’s heart. This was it, then. This was the source of the blast.
“Odd things can happen when the elements converge,” Augustin explained, “but this phenomenon is odder than them all. And more dangerous, too. What we see before us is a compressed crystalline cube of the elements, the essence of air and water combined in a single deadly package.”
A cube, of all things. This very thing had tunneled out so many of the dungeon’s passages and opened it up to the surface. Braiden recalled the day he heard the explosion from inside his shop, how the windows had rattled. Now here they were staring at it like a curiosity in a pawn shop. He couldn’t help but shudder.
“This thing may be shaped like a box,” Augustin continued, a lecturing professor, “but note how this chamber has no corners. Observe. It’s as if we’re on the inside of a frozen egg.”
Augustin was right. The shape of the room was imperfect, but every corner had been rounded out with frost, as if smoothed down that way by a team of wintry workers.
“So that’s the object’s sphere of influence,” Braiden said. “This is how far its freezing properties touch when it isn’t actively exploding. This ‘egg’ was cracked open when it built up enough elemental force.”
“Exactly. And then it closed over again once the cube exerted its influence on its surroundings.”
Warren flattened his ears against the top of his head with frustrated paws. “Are you telling me that the Underborough would have been safe if we just hadn’t bothered coming all the way down here? Nibura protect my hide. Grandmother will never let me hear the end of this.”
Augustin clapped the burrowfolk on the back. “Fret not. It’s not as simple as that. This thing is a force of nature, a convergence of elemental might. In time, it would have built up enough pressure to explode on its own anyway. This wasn’t yourfault, nor any of ours. It wasn’t a question ofifthe cube would explode again. It’s a question ofwhen.”
“That’s all well and good,” Elyssandra said. “But exactly how do we stop it from exploding again?”
“That’s the thing,” Bones said. “You don’t.”
Bone scraped against ice as the skeleton shambled closer, holding his hands up to the cube. He stepped away again after mere moments, turning to reveal fingers already encased in ice.
“Things are coming back to me,” the skeleton said. “Like a distant song, and I’m only just remembering the words. I lived in a city. Stone, most of it. Lots of stone. Beautiful. Deep underground. Our miners found something like this, thought it was a magical gemstone. Our wizards tried to harness its power. And then one fine day — a thunderous explosion, a blinding light. And then nothing more.”
Silence hung in the chamber as Bones lowered his frost-covered hands. His bones rattled as he turned to face the cube once more.
“The ancient Hyberidians,” Augustin murmured. “People who lived in great cities beneath the ground. You’re one of them.”
Warren shook his head. “Ancient humans who lived beneath the soil — the grandest mothers spoke of them in whispers. They were long gone before the burrowfolk decided to burrow downward. You must be hundreds of years old.”
“Notthatold, mind you,” Bones said. “I was only entering my thirtieth year before — well, you know. Kaboom. In the final days, our wizards tried to cast spells to ensure our people’s survival.” He looked down at himself, staring at his fleshless form. “I don’t think they intended for any of us to survive like this.”
“That’s awfully sad,” Elyssandra said, “but how remarkable to have a second lease on life. We’re glad to have you with us now, Bones.”
