Edlyn led them inside, raised her wand, and called out in a loud voice. All around them the torches sprang to life.
They stood inside a chamber that was the largest internal space Dally had ever seen, at least two hundred paces long and almost as wide. The distant ceiling appeared to be polished bedrock. The wall through which they had entered was new stone, but the floor had the same grooved ripples as the tunnel. To their left, perhaps thirty paces away, a vast stone staircase rose toward the city’s clamor. Water spilled down the steps. And the alarm bell continued to sound.
“The time for subterfuge is past,” Edlyn said.
“Speed is everything,” Connell agreed.
Edlyn pointed to the staircase. “It appears that is our only entryway.”
“Other than the way you just made, of course,” Connell added. Not even the distant tumult or the alarm bell could completely extinguish his humor.
Edlyn scurried toward the stairwell. “I’ll go stand guard. You two make all possible haste.”
Dally took a firm hold of Nabu’s shimmering fur. It felt somewhat the same as before the transformation, only now there was an electric bristle that sparked where she gripped him. She reached out to all the dogs and spoke the words aloud. “Stay with Edlyn. Obey her every word. If she commands you to attack, use everything you have to protect us. Stay safe. Remain alert to my signal. Come when I call. No matter how fierce the battle. Come when I call.” She repeated the command three times, then released them with, “Now go.”
All the while the great bell resonated through the chamber, inside Dally’s bones. Doom, doom, doom. She was certain now the sound came from no forged instrument. It was magical in design, fashioned to freeze the invader with dread and woe.
Dally had no response save to raise her wand once more and repeat the spell. Hunting for Joelle’s breath.
Instantly the bell’s clamor was overlaid by a far sweeter sensation.
But there was a problem. A huge one.
Connell saw her dismay and demanded, “What’s the matter?”
The cavern was set up like a gallery. Ornate shelves lined with every imaginable form of treasure stretched out before them. Rows of chests stacked like gaming chips leaned against the opposite wall. The nearest lanes contained hundreds of beautifully carved gemstone statues, many depicting animals Dally could not name. Barrels of ornamental swords with jewel-encrusted hilts. Hundreds of crowns. Thousands of necklaces and bracelets. Rows containing nothing but royal scepters. The treasuries of entire civilizations lost to time and defeat, all on secret display.
“Dally, talk to me!”
She swept out her arm, taking in the whole chamber. “The sense of Joelle’s presence comes from everywhere!”