"So now we hope that Archlis has another way out," said Gunderal.

"I'm sure that he always did," said Ivy. "He just wanted to get here, and he couldn't with those destrachans in the way. When we drew them off, he came straight here and straight through. He is moving fast, hunting for one particular treasure, or he'd be chipping out part of these walls, wouldn't he?"

"They are good crystals," admitted Mumchance, trailing his fingers along the wall. "Useful for spells-the sort of thing most wizards would want. If it had been me, I'd have slowed down and taken a few with me. Maybe tried to shave a bit of gold off those doors."

"So he's blind to all of this, and set on getting some other treasure out of these ruins," Ivy said.

"Must be. And there's something odd about these walls. Has been since we came down those stairs."

"What?" Ivy asked.

"These crystals shouldn't be here at all. Wrong type of rock for such gems. These come from lower down probably. And they weren't set here by somebody. Not like dwarves studded the walls, if you see what I mean. More like the gems just pushed themselves out of the dirt here."

"There's more earth magic here," agreed Gunderal. "Very strong and very close now."

"I just wish I had not lost my sword back there," Ivy said, pulling the long knife from her belt. It would work for close fighting, but she most certainly regretted feeding her sword to the destrachan. The corridors still blazed with an internal light, and for the first time since she had fallen into the river, Ivy could see clearly ahead of her-no shadows, no darkness, nothing hiding in front of her. It made her exceedingly nervous. Remembering the phantom fungus, she had the queer feeling that whatever you couldn't see might turn out to be worse than what you could.

Zuzzara and Gunderal seemed equally anxious, starting at their own footfalls as they passed through the crystal-studded tunnel. Obviously, they too thought this was just too easy.

Only Mumchance seemed carefree. He was too intrigued by the gems surrounding them on all sides to notice much else. Turning slowly, his real eye gleamed with appreciation of the stones arrayed in front of him, and even the fake eye appeared to sparkle in the light of the corridor. "I'm sure that these crystals were pushed straight out of the earth, called out of it as it were. This was done by magic. Then somebody came along later and made those doors and sealed the place off. And who seals off a terrific source of wealth like this?"

"Somebody who is afraid of the magic down here," said Gunderal with a shudder. "Whatever is here is what buried Tsurlagol before."

"What was it?" Ivy asked. Whatever it was, this had to be what Archlis was hunting-an artifact so powerful that he had led Fottergrim to Tsurlagol and plunged an entire city into war just so he could roam around these ruins.

"Something was hidden here a long time ago," Gunderal said. She pushed her dark hair back from her face and closed her eyes, a small worry line marking a perfect crescent between her eyebrows. She waved both hands with palms upturned, like a seer trying to draw scented incense toward her face. Gunderal swayed twice, and Zuzzara stepped forward to steady her sister. Ivy gestured her back. Gunderal sighed and then opened her eyes. "An object of great power. A gem that calls to other gems and rules the earth beneath it."

"Is it evil?"

Gunderal shrugged. "No more than any other jewel. It is how it is used that has caused both trouble and sorrow. And fear. It was fear that caused them to build the golden doors and lock this treasure away."

"She is more sensible than she looks sometimes," said Mumchance. "Treasure is never evil. But the spending of it-that can cause great wickedness."

"Well, then," said Ivy, "it would probably be best to keep this treasure away from Archlis. Because I feel that he would be a very careless spender of wealth."

The tunnel branched in two directions ahead of them. Both ways curved off into shadows; neither showed a clear path. There were no boot prints on the gem-studded floor, and no visible archways or flickering lights beyond the branching.

Better still, Ivy noted with some relief, no trail of blood or beastly fluids.

"Right or left?" queried Zuzzara.

"Don't see which way." Ivy missed Kid more than ever. "What do you hear, Zuzzara?"

The half-orc cupped her hands around her ears. "Metal striking metal. Somebody in a fight, but no yelling or screaming. Not like a normal fight."

Ivy grinned with relief. "Sounds perfectly normal for a man from Procampur who thinks it is uncivilized to insult his opponents. Which direction?"

"Left," Zuzzara said.

Ivy pivoted on her heel and started down the tunnel that Zuzzara indicated. Her fingers tightened around the handle of her dagger. "Come on, Sanval is down there," she said.

Whipping around a corner, Ivy barreled into the melee. Sanval and the magelord's two bugbears were whirling in the middle of the corridor, stuck in an odd three-way fight with each other. The bugbears were snarling softly, but Sanval, as expected, was fighting with his usual silent expertise.

Ivy was surprised to spot a new foe-two skeletal arms appeared to be floating through the air and spinning around the other fighters, wielding a rusty sword. There was nothing but empty space between the arms where a body and shoulders should have been. Still, when any of them moved, the upper arms drew slightly toward each other, the elbows shot out, and the hands tightened on the sword hilt, exactly as though the arms were attached to an invisible body. Each arm was polished white bone, from shoulder to elbow to wrist to the ivory hands that clutched the rusty sword. This was a creature created by magic, and one that the Siegebreakers knew, and there was something rather comforting and welcome about facing a danger that you understood, rather than one like the destrachans.

"Oh dear," said Gunderal behind Ivy. "More undead."

"A dread!" said Mumchance. "Lousy, lousy dread. I hate dead things that don't stay dead!" Wiggles's ears pricked up, and she gave a happy bark as she spotted the flying bones.

"A skeleton without a head, a head without a skeleton, and now arms without a body. Another undead guardian," Ivy agreed. "Somebody liked to play with bones in old Tsurlagol."

The dread seemed to be guarding a doorway. Each time Sanval or one of the bugbears got too close, the arms would swing the sword. If they backed away, the arms stayed floating in front of the entrance.

"So where are Archlis and Kid?" asked Ivy. "Why didn't that bony thing attack them?"

Gunderal gave a little sniff. She twitched her nose a couple of times to be sure. "No sword on Archlis."

"Lacking a sword is an advantage? So I can march right past it?" Ivy asked. When Gunderal did not reply, and continued to stand with her head tilted back, nostrils flared, Ivy added, "How do you know Archlis doesn't have a sword?"

"Keen sense of smell," Gunderal said.

"You can smell that?" said Zuzzara. "You are kidding, little sister."

"Of course not. I'm that good. I keep telling you that I can smell magic."

Zuzzara gave Gunderal a "big sister" look. "You can smell a missing sword on someone who isn't here?" the half-orc asked.

Gunderal giggled and then admitted, "I can smell an old command spell in this space, and I can see that Archlis and Kid shed their blades." She pointed across the floor. Just outside the doorway lay the magelord's slender sword and Kid's three stilettos. "Kid probably told him how to get around the dread-most likely it has a command on it to attack anyone bearing edged weapons. Kid's good at guessing such things. Remember the dreads that we found under the wizard's tower-the ones that were commanded to attack only dwarves? Besides, watch the arms. Anytime Sanval or the bugbears get near it, it attacks their weapons. It's there as a barrier, but one that would be easy to pass for anyone who knew what its commands were."