Malediction (Scars of the Sundering Book 1) Read Free

forward. The metal was part of a digging apparatus,
unattended, yet churning away at the rock. Locked into place the digging bit
spun fruitlessly above dirt just out of reach as it had for ages. It appeared
to be dwarven in make but was a style he had never seen.
    Edric ran up
to it. "Wow, this thing is old. There are a few of these back in the city,
but we don't use them anymore." He ran his hands along the machine.
"These date back to before The Sundering."
    "Wow."
Kale's wide eyes gleamed like a child experiencing the wonder of the first
snowfall. "How does it work?"
    Edric
climbed up on it. "I'm not sure. These are from before my time. The
controls don't look that different than some of the machines we have now. Well,
except it feels different, if that makes sense? Can you feel it?"
    Pancras
reached out and placed his hand on the machine. He felt arcane energy running
through it. "The magic is old. How do the ones you have currently
work?"
    "There's
a bunch of springs, clockwork gears, that sort of thing. I think they draw
power from the Soul Forge, but I don't really know much about that." Edric
pulled a lever. The machine lurched forward, spewing bits of rock and dirt. It
left a gouge in the ground. Edric pulled another lever and the machine turned
toward the bloodmaw pit. It chewed its way forward.
    Edric jumped
off the top of the machine. "Seems a shame to waste such fine
craftsmanship, but I suppose it might do some damage if we let that beastie
chew on it a bit, eh?"
    Pancras
nodded. "I'm sure it will buy us some time. I'm sure that shadow demon
won't be pleased when a giant dwarven machine falls on its head."
    Kale tugged
at Pancras's sleeve. "I don't know. My daggers went right through it like
it wasn't even there. Look! There's another tunnel behind the machine!"
    The
phosphorescent fungus covering the cavern walls and ceiling seemed to lead
toward the tunnel Kale found. They spiraled into the tunnel, making it appear
like a whirlpool dragged them deeper underground.
    Pancras led
Edric and Kale down the tunnel as it curved and descended. The weight of the
earth above them pressed in all around them. The ground shook, and they heard
high-pitched wailing.
    Edric looked
up at Pancras and grinned. "I'm guessing that bloodmaw beast didn't like
the meal I gave it."
    Dirt fell
from the ceiling and smacked Pancras in the head. He shook it off and continued
forward. The ground beneath his hooves became harder. He tapped his hoof
against the ground. The surface felt like metal.
    "Eww!
Pancras, the wall is furry!" Kale recoiled from the wall, bumping into his
friend. The minotaur stumbled into the opposite wall with a squish.
    He pulled
away, bits of the wall sticking to his robes. "We're close to the rift.
See its effect on the environment?"
    The tunnel
grew brighter, and they followed it until they found themselves standing in
small chamber, which at its center stood a glowing slash. Closer inspection
revealed it was a pulsing, writhing river of light, swirling, coruscating, and
hovering about a drak's height from the floor.
    The floor
beneath the rift bubbled and churned, as if the metal were boiling, but Pancras
did not feel heat from the seemingly molten metal. He found it difficult to
look directly at it, though he felt it tugging and pulling at his eyes. Dozens
of shadowy tendrils rose like smoke out of the fissure and pierced the ceiling
of the chamber. A thick fleshy column descended from the ceiling into the heart
of the pulsing light.
    "There!
The bloodmaw is still connected to the rift." Pancras stood before the
swirling miasma and gathered threads of magical energy. He spread his arms,
looking over his shoulder at Kale and Edric. "I'm going to close it.
Whatever happens, you must make sure nothing interrupts me."
    Kale drew
two daggers. "What happens to the bloodmaw if you close the rift while
it's still in it?"
    "It
might be cut in half. It might be ejected all together."
    "Ejected?"
Edric stood next to Kale