Page 123 of Red Dragon
The giant bug-lizard didn’t buckle under his weight, not even close. It swished a long, thick tail while using its antennae like whips to attempt to knock him off. He plunged his gargoyle-blade sword into its back, crunching through its scaled carapace.
Several creatures scurried toward the bed from different aisles. Fel met the foremost one with his mace, slamming it down onto their foe’s broad head before it could bite him. Syla pushed her pack up ahead of her and climbed a marble post. What she’d been thinking of as a canopy was rock-solid—marble-solid—but would it be high enough to keep them from the creatures’ reach? Both lizards and insects could climb vertical objects…
As if to answer her question, one scurried up onto a wall to avoid Fel as it continued forward. Like a spider, it wasn’t disturbed by gravity. Its tongue flicked out, and it hissed as its beady black eyes locked onto Syla.
The unnerving steadiness of its gaze as it looked at her was disturbing. Alotof them were looking at her. Even a pair that Vorik had intercepted, forcing them to deal with him, darted glances toward Syla.
At the base of the bed, Fel’s mundane mace smashed into more creatures, knocking them back if he hit hard enough, but it didn’t break through their scales or stop them.
Atop the sturdy marble canopy, Syla and Teyla crouched, not certain how to help. From their elevated perch, they could see past the crystalline formations and tell that dozens of thebug-lizards were heading in their direction. Syla wished she had explosives she could throw at them.
A huge gust of wind battered at her, stronger than any that had yet blown through the laboratory. Syla would have tumbled off the bed if she hadn’t grabbed onto one of the columns. It rose a couple of feet above the canopy, the top open to reveal it was hollow, like the barrel of a canon.
An eerie moan wafted from the back wall, and the lighting in the laboratory dimmed, as if dark clouds had gone over the sun. It still blazed in the blue sky above the canyon, but something affected its brilliance.
Another gust of wind tore at Syla’s hair and clothing and almost knocked her spectacles off her nose. Beside her, Teyla cursed and flattened her hand to her face, afflicted with the same problem.
Syla considered climbing down to be more protected from the wind, but the creatures swarmed the area now, and the lower part of the bed wasn’t that high off the ground. Though still on his feet and swinging his mace, Fel had been pushed back against it.
Several yards away, Vorik plunged his sword into the head of another bug-lizard and looked toward them. He’d already downed four, his raw power and magical blade effective on the storm god’s creations, but there were so many.Dozens.Even though they’d come down different aisles, they were all angling toward the bed. TowardSyla. She couldn’t tell if they were focused on the moon-marked Teyla as well.
One started up what Syla thought of as the headboard of the bed. Teyla dropped her magnifying glass, picked up her sword, and leaned off the canopy to whack it. Though the creatures didn’t dodge or parry, they could take a beating. Like Fel’s mace, Teyla’s blade couldn’t pierce their armored scales. It kept climbing, and she had to draw back to avoid its long dartingtongue. Another blast of wind gusted through the laboratory, and Teyla fell against Syla.
Syla grabbed her pack and pulled out the hunk of ore. As the bug-lizard crested the canopy, she took the glowing teal lump in both hands and cracked the thing on the head. Beside her, Teyla leaned in to jab at the creature’s eye with her blade.
That proved a more vulnerable target, and the sword tip pierced it, thick fluid spattering them as the orb burst. Syla struck the creature again with the ore, the teal glow reflecting off the polished white marble of the bed. The bug-lizard didn’t go flying, but it did fall back to the ground, head and tail flexing as it hissed its displeasure at them.
More creatures appeared in the aisles. How manywerethere?
Vorik must have realized they were specifically after those with moon-marks because he ran and sprang past several, bypassing them to reach the bed.
As another great wind threatened to knock Syla flying, the darkness grew even more pronounced, the sun now blocked out completely. A black cloud formed in the center of the laboratory. Unaffected by the wind, it spread, stretching twenty feet high and equally wide. Something amorphous and vague but undeniably ugly formed in the center, with a pair of glowing red eyes appearing in the middle. The figure made Syla’s stomach twist, and she couldn’t resist the urge to look away.
Who dares intrude upon the storm god’s chamber?came a booming telepathic voice from the center of the cloud.All who are uninvited shall be destroyed.
Was that the storm god himself? Or a magical version of him that had been left behind? It matched what the religious texts said of the gods, that they weren’t themselves human and were difficult to look upon.
“The pillar responded to my touch,” Syla called over the wind that whipped about as she held up the back of her hand. “We thought that was an invitation.”
More creatures started climbing the bed, tongues flicking as they hissed and tried to reach Syla and Teyla. But Vorik had made it to the base and joined Fel. One by one, he knocked away the climbing creatures.
Syla caught him glancing at the amphora that she’d been forced to leave below. Maybe it crossed his mind that he might snatch it while she was distracted, but he might only have been worried that it would be destroyed in the battle. Either way, he put his back to the bed and focused on defending Syla and Teyla.
Who dares intrude upon the storm god’s chamber?the voice from the cloud repeated.All who are uninvited shall be destroyed.
“I don’t think whatever that is has the ability to chitchat,” Teyla said.
“Darn.” A creature coming up a post opposite Vorik and Fel made it to the canopy, and Syla bashed it on the head with the ore. “I was so hoping for a witty conversation with a mad god.”
Though she struck true, the bug-lizard hung on to the bed, and its tongue flicked out, slapping her wrist with burning pain. And the antennae—she’d forgotten about them. One snapped like a whip, and its flexible tip caught her in the jaw.
As she jerked back, fearing the creature would climb onto the canopy and do more damage, Vorik ran around the bed and leaped for it. He ripped it free, and it dropped to land beside him, tongue flicking. Not hesitating, he drove his sword into it.
“Thank you!” Syla wiped warm blood from her jaw and grimaced at her wrist. The tongue hadn’t broken the skin, but an angry red welt stung, and she believed the venom she’d worried about was a real threat.
“You’re most welcome, Your Highness.” Vorik spun to help Fel, knocking aside one of three creatures rushing him at once, trying to take him down so they could climb the bed.
All who are uninvited shall be destroyed,the ugly shape in the cloud said for the third time.
