Crypt of the Moaning Diamond

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Archlis lowered his Ankh to his side as he knelt to peer into the stone chest. "I have my treasure now," he said. He paused, his long fingers suspended, as though he feared that what he reached for would burn him. Ivy took a step forward, to see for herself what he coveted. Before she could lean over his shoulder to see, Archlis drew out a large diamond from the chest. He held it up in an outstretched hand, and the gem shot out beams of light that glittered off of every bright surface. It was as close to being a living thing as a crystal could be, pulsing with brilliance. From the diamond issued the weird moaning sound that had been evident even when the sarcophagus was closed.

Kid backed away from Archlis. Paying no attention at all to Ivy, who was hissing at him to move behind her, Kid stooped and picked up a very large ruby. Rather than dropping it into his pouch, as Ivy expected, Kid drew out a leather slingshot from a hidden pocket. He stared intently at the back of the magelord's head.

Just as Kid dropped the ruby into the slingshot, a cry echoed through the room, a shriek that went higher and became more shrill as the cry went on. "Thief, thief! There you are! Thief!"

Ivy spun around to confront a flameskull rocketing through the door. "Oh blast, I thought we'd broken that thing!"

"Thief. Give me back my tooth!" The flameskull darted at a startled Kid, who tumbled out of the way, dropping his slingshot as he dodged. The flameskull's eyes shot sparks; its mane of green flame swirled and flashed with its fury. Ivy grabbed for her sword and then realized her scabbard was still empty. She snatched at her belt. Her dagger was gone too, dropped when she was fighting with Osteroric. But she still had the glaive. She swung at the flameskull, which made a jeering noise and whizzed out of reach.

Mumchance gave a shout behind her, and Ivy ducked at the dwarf's warning. He had scooped up a handful of rubies and flung the jewels at the flameskull to distract it from Kid. The gems ricocheted off the flying skull, rattling away into the corners. The flameskull spat a ball of fizzing green sparks at them, but it was turning toward Kid even as the spell left its mouth. Both Ivy and the dwarf rolled out of the way of the spell, which fizzled harmlessly in a pile of loose diamonds.

"You have my tooth!" screamed the flameskull. "You stole my tooth!" Kid looked around the room.

"Get rid of that tooth!" shouted Ivy to Kid. "Give it to me." She was wearing the most armor, and if all the thing could do was spit sparks, she stood the best chance of surviving its attack.

Kid shook his head and jumped sideways, clutching at the pouch where he had stashed the flameskull's molar, and drawing the flameskull away from Ivy. The flameskull let out a howl and dived toward him, scorching past Mumchance and almost setting the dwarf's beard alight. Mumchance hopped from foot to foot, cursing undead creatures that wouldn't stay dead. He stooped and gathered another handful of gems, throwing emeralds, sapphires, and one enormous blood red garnet at the flameskull. Each stone hit the bony pate and bounced away. The flameskull barely even glanced at the dwarf before it began to follow Kid around the room again.

"Give me back my tooth!" it screamed as it dived after the little thief. Kid wisely decided to shelter behind the stone sarcophagus, curling his body into a small target-head down, hands and hooves tucked neatly beneath himself. The flameskull zipped after him, almost striking Archlis. The astounded magelord, clutching the diamond to his chest with one hand, swiped at the flameskull with his Ankh. The metal staff rang with a clang against the skull but had no other effect.

"Get it away from me!" Archlis shouted at Kid.

"Give me my tooth!" sobbed the skull and hovered above Kid.

Kid whipped out from behind the sarcophagus, the flameskull in hot pursuit behind him.

"That's it! I've had it with you!" Ivy was still wearing her armored gloves. When the flameskull went whizzing by her, she reached out both hands and snagged it through the empty eye sockets and jawbone. The green flame licked harmlessly at her heavy gauntlets. The skull was a simple catch for anyone who had grabbed a dread or the head of a floating corpse and felt the nose rot off into her hand. Some things just got easier with practice.

"Wwwarghts!" The skull let out a muffled shriek, unable to speak any words with Ivy's left hand wrapped tightly around its jawbone. It tried to tug out of her hands, continuing to make strange gargling noises.

"Careful, Ivy," Gunderal warned. "It's trying to cast a spell."

"Shut up!" Ivy yelled at the flameskull. She held it in front of her and stared into its flickering eye sockets, confronting it with her jutting chin almost touching its naked jawbone.

The flameskull gave an involuntary tremble. Ivy smiled-and it was not a nice smile-and slung the flameskull into the stone box in front of her. Before the magical creature could recover, she slammed the lid of the sarcophagus down. "And stay there!"

Muffled bumps and bangs echoed from inside the box. A puff of smoke came out of the crack between the lid and box. Ivy ignored it. She swaggered up to Archlis, grabbing a stunned Kid by the shoulder and pulled him behind her. The little guy was obviously feeling murderous, but attacking Archlis at this moment might not be the best plan. She thought that she had a better idea.

"Admirable style, my dear," Kid whispered.

"Thank you," Ivy whispered back. "Now stop trying to play hero. If I tell you to throw me a moldering molar, throw it."

"Yes, Captain." Kid sketched a quick bow in her direction. She ignored it, swiveling toward the magelord.

"You!" Ivy said, jabbing a finger at Archlis.

The magelord blinked.

"All right, we have saved you. Destrachans drowned. Flameskull boxed up. Can't ask for more than that from any mercenary," Ivy announced loudly. "So pay up and lead us out of the ruins."

Archlis blinked and slowly turned his head toward her. When he did not reply, she snapped her fingers to be sure she had his attention. Not a flicker. His gaze dropped back to the Moaning Diamond. It was as if the gem were speaking to him, distracting him from more normal concerns and cares.

"Hurry up," Ivy said, pressing Archlis to make his decision- there was a creaking sound coming from the corridor behind them. "Those golden doors behind us won't hold the water out forever. We need to get out of here before the river breaks into this room."

"The river is no problem." Archlis sneered. "Not while I hold this treasure." He fondled the Moaning Diamond in his hands.

"It's pretty," said Ivy. What was the matter with the man? He was like a child with a new toy, aware of nothing else. She wanted to wave both of her hands in front of his eyes to determine if he could see anything besides that stupid diamond. Fighting to keep control, she said, "But there are bigger ones lying all around here."

"Those are just gems. This artifact toppled the walls of Tsurlagol. Even muffled in that stone box, it called the other gems out of the depths of the earth."

"Knew this stuff didn't come here naturally," muttered the dwarf behind Ivy.

"Now I can use its power to unearth all the hidden treasures of the world!" Archlis started forward, hurrying, paying little attention to where he stepped. His feet caused a small avalanche of gems, and he stumbled and shot out an arm. To Ivy's regret, he managed to stay upright. She started to reach a hand toward his Ankh, but Mumchance whispered a warning behind her. Archlis had recovered his balance and was glaring at them, the fingers of one hand white around the Ankh's handle. Ivy did not dare to set him off; they had nothing to protect them from his fire spells. With an oath, Archlis strode past her, kicking at the rolling gems.

"Watch what the Moaning Diamond can do!" Archlis raised the Moaning Diamond in one hand, holding it high above his head. The magelord began to cry out the words of some spell, using the same grating language that he had used with his charms earlier. The ululations from the gem grew louder with each of his shouts.

On the edge of her vision, Ivy saw the wall changing. Without turning her head away from Archlis, she slid her eyes to the side to better see what was happening. A part of the wall at one end of the room began to melt away. It did not crumble with roaring dust clouds, as had the stone chamber walls when the destrachans had attacked them. Instead, the material of the wall seemed to evaporate, as though it were no firmer than mist. Within the widening opening she saw a hidden staircase spiraling upwards.

The smell of clean air was immediately evident to the keener noses in the group.

"It is headed outside," whispered Zuzzara to Ivy.

"What is?" Ivy hissed.

"The diamond. It wants out," Zuzzara answered. "Look! It has found a way out. That staircase leads outside."

"Fresh air," explained Gunderal.

"Even I smell that," her sister elaborated.

With a sweep of his arm, Archlis motioned them all forward to the staircase. His head still bent down to stare into the depths of the Moaning Diamond. The Siegebreakers looked at each other, their eyebrows rising in question. Ivy shrugged and then gave a slight nod. The group silently began the climb upward to daylight. Archlis came behind them, the Moaning Diamond gripped in one hand and the Ankh in the other.

"I thought we were deeper in the tunnels," Zuzzara whispered.

"Wrong again," Gunderal murmured as she drifted ahead of her large half-sister. "I could tell that we were near the surface."

"So what do you smell now?" Zuzzara asked.

With a quick glance over her shoulder, Gunderal whispered, "Trouble, bloodshed, full-scale, all-out warfare."

"Oh good. All stuff we can handle."

Ivy reached out a hand and touched Kid's shoulder. She leaned close to his ear to say softly, "Whatever happens, stay on the far side of me, away from Archlis."

"I can take care of myself, my dear."

To Mumchance, climbing the stairs in front of her, she said, "Get your eye ready." She saw the back of his head nod.

And as she passed Sanval, still held between the two bugbears, she whispered, "Stay alert."

His lips stiff, his face expressionless, he whispered back, "I am always alert."