"Thanks for getting the door, Cormik," Jewel said brightly as she climbed out of the cage. "You're a perfect gentleman."

"I think I've given myself a hernia," Cormik groaned. The gibberlings still cowered under the brilliant magical light. and Morhion took the opportunity to climb off the platform. Something crunched beneath his boot. He looked down and saw that it was an old skull. A human skull. Bones were strewn around the stone slab, along with bits of armor and rusted weapons—the remains of past meals. A glint of silver caught Morhion's eye. Bending down, he picked up a metal cylinder. A wax seal covered one end of the silver tube. Morhion broke the seal, and a curled piece of parchment slipped out. Carefully unrolling the paper, he saw that it was covered with the spidery writing of magic. A wizard's scroll. The spell inscribed there was not one that Morhion recognized. It seemed to have something to do with… feathers.

"Morhion!" Mari cried out. "The gibberlings are getting used to the light."

Morhion looked up, shoving the scroll into a pocket of his vest. Mari was right. Shading their beady eyes with clawed hands, some of the furry creatures were climbing to their feet. Others were already shambling forward. Their hunger was stronger than their fear. A few of the braver gibberlings advanced on Mari and the others, gnashing yellow fangs. Hastily, Morhion cast another spell, and a flurry of blazing purple sparks whirled in the air. The sparks quickly sizzled through fur to the creatures' tender flesh. The gibberlings snarled and rolled, batting their paws against their smoldering pelts.

Morhion quickly moved toward the others.

"Duck!" Mari shouted as he drew near.

Without hesitating, he crouched down. Mari swung her short sword, neatly decapitating two gibberlings who had been just about to pounce on the mage's back.

"We have to get back to the bridge!" Jewel exclaimed, waving a curved dagger to keep a slavering gibberling away from a wide-eyed Kellen.

Morhion concurred, but now dozens of the creatures were braving the light to close in around the companions, and more joined them every second. He slashed his knife at one of the creatures, cutting a mortal gash in its side. In moments the things would overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

"We've got to do something!" Mari grunted as she brought her sword down in a slashing arc. Her blow cleaved a gibberling in two, revealing the creature's inner anatomy, which consisted largely of stomach. Mari slashed again, and Morhion noticed something interesting. Chittering with terror, several gibberlings had scrambled away from a shadow on the cavern wall— Mari's shadow, cast by the magical sphere of light. He wondered…

"Kellen, can you bring our shadows on the wall to life?" he asked quickly. "Make them large, and turn them into frightening shapes?"

Kellen nodded gravely.

"But there's no need to bother with Cormik's shadow, love," Jewel added glibly as she yanked her dagger out of a dying gibberling. "It's already frighteningly large as it is."

Cormik glowered at the impertinent thief, but before he could utter a biting retort, Kellen had lifted his flute and begun to play a haunting melody. Their shadows moved on the cavern's rough stone wall. The five silhouettes expanded, looming like twisted giants as they stretched out long, menacing arms.

Instantly, howls of fear rose from the army of gibberlings. The creatures abandoned their prey as they bit and clawed each other in a frantic effort to escape the undulating shadows.

"Keep playing, Kellen!" Morhion shouted above the cacophony. "It's working!"

"They're not very intelligent creatures," he called out, "but they do remember what they're afraid of. I think they encountered Caledan a few days ago, and now they are terrified of shadows. For good reason."

The gibberlings were dispersing, scurrying into tunnels and crevices.

"Come on!" Morhion shouted. "I think we can make it to the bridge now."

As they pushed their way through the panicked horde toward the stone arch, a stray claw sliced a shallow gouge in Mari's leg. Kellen's face was gray and strained, but he did not stop playing. The shadows continued to writhe threateningly on the cavern wall.

At last they reached the bridge. The narrow span of stone was swarming with fleeing gibberlings, all snarling and scratching in an effort to climb over each other.

"We'll never make it across that," Cormik said in disgust.

"Allow me to clear the way," Morhion replied with mock congeniality. Fluid words of magic tumbled from his lips, and a small crimson sphere appeared in his hand. As Morhion finished the incantation, he hurled the sphere at the bridge. It sped through the air, expanding rapidly into a huge, blazing ball of fire.

The creatures never knew what hit them. The fireball raced along the length of the bridge, igniting everything in its path and exploding in searing flame when it hit the far end. Engulfed in fire, scores of the creatures careened off the bridge, plunging into the chasm like shooting stars. When the smoke cleared, the bridge was empty. Only a thin layer of ashes covered its scorched surface.

"After you, Cormik," Morhion said graciously.

"You're too kind," he replied with a nasty grin as he stepped onto the bridge.

A sharp crack! resounded on the air. The bridge shook violently as a jagged line snaked across its surface. As they watched in horror, more cracks spread out from the fissure. Chunks of stone broke off the edges of the arch, dropping into the void. The bridge was collapsing. Jewel grabbed Cormik's belt and pulled the crime lord backward just as the rock beneath his boots crumbled. There was another sharp, rending sound. All at once, the bridge disintegrated, collapsing into the darkness below.

"The fireball," Mari murmured, gazing at the now-impassable chasm. "The heat of it must have weakened the bridge."

Morhion scratched his chin, giving the others a sheepish look. "Everyone makes mistakes now and then."

"This one was a doozy, love," Jewel commented smartly. "Thanks," the mage replied.

Kellen lowered his flute for a moment. "Morhion," he said breathlessly. "The orb of light, it's fading." He raised his flute and resumed playing.

The others looked up. Sure enough, the ball of magical light Morhion had conjured was beginning to flicker. The shadows on the wall were growing dim. Already some of the gibberlings were creeping back out of their hiding places, eyeing the receding shadows warily as they edged toward the companions. Soon there would be nothing to hold back the horde.

"Hurry, Morhion," Mari said. "You've got to cast the light spell again."

"And I presume you're going to rewrite the rules of magic so 1 can do this?" he replied acidly. "Once a mage has cast a spell, he cannot cast it again until he has relearned the incantation. And something tells me I don't have the time."

The globe of light flickered alarmingly. The shadows were barely visible on the wall now. More gibberlings crept from their holes and crevices, then still more. With grim expressions, the humans backed slowly toward the edge of the precipice, weapons raised. The drooling horde closed in.

Kellen lowered his flute. "There goes the light!" he cried.

Above them, the glowing sphere flickered erratically. In seconds the spell would expire. It was hopeless.

Or was it? Morhion sheathed his knife and drew out thee scroll he had found. He didn't know exactly what the spell did—that would take hours of study to learn—but he had a hunch.

"Everybody, sheathe your weapons and hold on to me!" he shouted.

The others just stared at him.

"Do it!" he commanded fiercely.

Startled, they did as they were told. Morhion wasted no time. He lifted the scroll and began to read the arcane incantation in the fading light. Just as he was speaking the final words, the hovering sphere of magical light vanished in a puff of smoke, plunging the cavern into darkness.