"What-what happened?" she asked, glancing behind her at Wynter. The centaur waved the undead to a stop.

"I-I don't know," the druid gasped. "But there's something ahead. Something…"

Then Brenna and Wynter heard the rush of wings, too, and smelled an overpowering stench. The tunnel ahead gave way to blackness as the flying creatures buffeted the torches out and filled the shaft with their misshapen bodies. The creatures' horrid shrieks filled the shaft, echoing off the walls.

"Darkenbeasts!" Brenna cried, as she saw a myriad of burning red eyes rapidly closing on them. She jumped to her feet, pulling the druid along with her.

In one fluid motion, Galvin drew his longsword and strode forward. Swinging fiercely at the air in front of him, he connected with the lead darkenbeast, slicing halfway through its grotesque neck. Its dead body thudded at his feet, but another creature flew forward to take its place.

The beast's talons stretched toward Galvin's eyes, and the Harper bent his arm across his face to shield them. The gesture allowed a pair of darkenbeasts to fly past him toward the sorceress and Wynter.

The enchantress flattened herself against a tunnel wall, narrowly avoiding a sharp beak. Fumbling through the small bag at her side, she drew out a pinch of coarse powder. Hoping she had found the correct components in the darkness, she began mumbling a series of incoherent-sounding words.

At the same time, Wynter charged forward. Using his bardiche, he skewered one of the darkenbeasts against the ceiling. A second creature closed on him, its beak sinking into his left shoulder. Dropping his weapon, Wynter reached out with his bare hands to capture his arcane attacker, bashing the beast's head against the mine wall. The centaur continued beating the creature until it ceased to move.

Finished with her incantation, Brenna stirred the powder in her hand, then held her palm toward the ceiling. A gout of flame whooshed from her hand and danced along a portion of the ceiling beyond Galvin, catching several darkenbeasts hovering there and lighting up the tunnel. The macabre creatures' wings caught fire, and they cried out in agony.

The Harpers and Brenna ducked, and the burning darkenbeasts flew beyond them, into the waiting grasp of the skeletons and zombies. The rotting flesh and tattered clothes of the zombies burst into flame on contact with the darkenbeasts. Impervious to pain, the zombies struggled with the winged creatures, tearing them apart and dashing their misshapen heads against the tunnel walls.

The darkenbeasts' beaks and claws were wasted on the skeletons, who latched onto the creatures and began pulling at their leathery limbs until no life remained in Maligor's constructs.

At the forefront of the struggle, Galvin continued to slice through the darkenbeasts, suffering numerous minor injuries and scratches in the process. Behind him, he saw Wynter catch one of the loathsome creatures and hurl it to the shaft floor, trampling it beneath his hooves.

In the dark tunnel below, Galvin saw more darkenbeasts, hovering in the shaft, waiting for a chance to join in the fight. The druid realized the numbers eventually would overwhelm the three of them, although the undead could likely hold their own against the creatures.

Edging backward in the shaft, closer to the centaur, Galvin split the nearest darkenbeast nearly in two with his sword, then ducked and pulled his longsword free as another creature dove at him. The centaur reached above the druid's head, smashing his large fist into the creature's side and sending it careening wildly against the shaft wall. It crumpled and flapped feebly, trying to rise.

"Head for the crosscut!" Galvin shouted, barely able to be heard above the sounds of the darkenbeasts' wings and the skeletons' clanking bones. "Hurry!"

Brenna inched her way along the shaft wall and darted into the side tunnel. Wynter fought his way through a half-dozen of the darkenbeasts before he could join her. The centaur squinted to catch some sign of Galvin in the mass of flailing bones and leathery wings.

"How many are there?" the enchantress whispered, staring wide-eyed at the cloud of darkenbeasts.

"Hundreds," the centaur guessed. "There are more down the shaft. Galvin's somewhere out there in the middle of them."

Then suddenly the druid hurled himself through an opening in the wall of skeletons and dove into the side tunnel. Wheezing, he sheathed his longsword and moved deeper into the tunnel.

"We'll follow this passage," he said in a hushed tone. "Maybe it will lead back to the main shaft and we can come at the darkenbeasts from behind."

"And if it doesn't?" The centaur seemed skeptical.

"Then we'll try another tunnel." The druid felt his way along the crosscut, then spied the light of a torch ahead. "We don't have much chance back there," he said, pointing toward the sounds of battle. "The undead are better able to deal with those creatures, anyway. We need to find Maligor."

Ahead, the torch illuminated barrels and buckets lined against the shaft wall, filled with ore. Several picks lay on top of the largest barrel. Wynter examined them and selected the sharpest pick. The centaur, who could not move quickly in the confined tunnel, feared the darkenbeasts would find them, and he didn't want to fight them barehanded again.

The druid discovered another opening just beyond the mined ore and started down it. This tunnel was better lit, and from the discarded picks and buckets along the wall, Galvin could tell it was in the process of being mined. Ahead, he heard the tramping of feet, and he rushed forward, leaving Brenna and Wynter to lag behind.

The tunnel opened into a small chamber. A dozen longhaired miners were loading ore into a stack of crates. They stopped and gaped at Galvin as he hurried inside the chamber. The miners' clothes were worn and soiled, and their skin was pale from working underground.

"We won't hurt you," the druid stated calmly, putting his arms to his sides, away from his weapon. Galvin assumed they were slaves.

"Are there any other miners near?" The druid feared another confrontation.

One of the slaves nodded, then stared beyond Galvin at Brenna and Wynter, who were just emerging into the chamber. "The miners are all over," he said flatly.

"And what about the creatures? The darkenbeasts?" the druid asked, lowering his hands and realizing the miners didn't fear him. "Are those winged creatures all around here, too?"

The slave miner nodded yes.

"How about Maligor? Is the Red Wizard Maligor here?" Brenna questioned.

"Maligor controls the mines now," came the slave's emotionless reply. The gaunt man explained how Maligor and his minions descended on the mine, slaughtering the guards and taking over the complex. "He controls the creatures, the things you call darkenbeasts."

"Does he control you?" she posed.

"We serve Maligor."

The enchantress turned to Galvin. "They're charmed, I think. Just like I charmed the guard in the orchard."

The druid scowled and began to pace nervously. "Has Maligor been here long?"

The slave scratched his head. "A few days," he said after a pause. "Two, three days. Maybe four, but not more than that."

"Where is he?" Galvin demanded, his voice rising.

The slaves backed against the wall.

"Where?" he persisted.

"We-we shouldn't tell you," one answered. "The master would be angry."

"I'm angry. And I'm here," the druid snapped. "Where's the Red Wizard?"

"Deep in the mines," came a slave's monotone reply.

The druid scrutinized the miners. The slaves appeared tired, and they were thin from lack of food. He realized telling them to leave the mines would be pointless. Maligor's servants wouldn't leave, unless, perhaps, Maligor was dead, the druid thought.