Free Dark Sun: Prism Pentad 5 - The Cerulean Storm by Troy Denning Page B

that sent the line drifting straight into the merchant's hands. “If
     you'll tie that off, I'll bring you and your wagon across,” she called.
    For a moment, the man seemed too astonished to reply. Then he dropped down and fastened
     the line to a buttress beneath the road. Sadira smiled and yelled for him to stand back,
     then took the rope in her hand and spoke the words to another spell. A sheet of crimson
     light spread outward from both sides of the cord. Within moments, a red, flickering ribbon
     of luminescence spanned the gap, connecting the two severed ends of the Cloud Road.
    “Come on ahead,” Sadira called. She continued to kneel, holding one hand on the rope. “My
     spell is more than strong enough to hold both you and your beasts.”
    The merchant stared at the scintillating patch and did not move.
    “I'll go across and show him it's safe,” Caelum volunteered.
    “No, I'll go,” said Neeva. She checked her harness to make sure both of her steel short
     swords were readily accessible. “With buttresses slipping from their joining holes and
     gold scorpions disguising themselves as something else, there's something strange here.
     The merchant might be part of it.”
    The warrior stepped onto the bridge and started across. With each footfall, the road
     swayed slightly under her weight. Through the soles of her sandals, she felt a strange,
     pulsing heat rising off its shimmering surface, and she understood the merchant's
     reluctance to lead his inixes onto the unstable road. Even if it would support the weight
     of his huge wagon, coaxing the skittish draft lizards over a hot, vibrating surface would
     not be easy.
    After Neeva had taken a dozen paces, the merchant stepped onto his end of the shimmering
     bridge. The inixes kept their gazes focused straight ahead and pulled the heavy wagon with
     no sign of spooking. As each set of wheels settled onto the road, the pathway swayed and
     undulated beneath Neeva's feet, making her feel as though she were standing on water. She
     continued forward, thinking it wiser to meet the stranger in the middle of the link.
    The man kept his eyes on the road, hiding his face beneath the broad brim of his hat. He
     wore a striped robe of many bright colors, though its vibrance was dulled by a gray
     coating of road dust. His gloves were worn and black, as were his belt and boots. The
     inixes behind him had silver-gray hides, which served to reinforce Neeva's fear that this
     was a trap. Usually, the beasts were covered with a mottled assortment of scales ranging
     from rusty red to murky brown, hues that camouflaged the beasts in the rocky wastelands of
     Athas.
    Neeva stopped at the halfway point. “Hail, trader,” she called. “Have you waited long?”
    The man did not look up.
    “Before you come farther, I'll know the name of the man who wishes to pass over this
     bridge.” She rested her hands on the pommels of her twin swords.
    The merchant continued forward, his hat shielding his eyes. Neeva drew her swords and
     stood ready to defend herself.
    “Speak,” she ordered.
    The man was now so close that she could see that his
    
    
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     clothes were not covered with road dust, as she had j thought earlier. They seemed
     immersed in a pale shadow, j as if he were lurking in some back alley in the Elven Market.
     The same was true of the inixes, for Neeva could now see dim blotches of much-faded color
     on! their hides.
    “Stop and show yourself!” she demanded.
    The merchant raised his arms to about chest height. Though he carried no weapon, Neeva
     took the gesture as a hostile one. She waited for the man to close within two steps, then
     raised both her short swords. The merchant threw his arms up to ward off the expected
     blows. She slipped one blade over his guard and slapped the hat away, baring his head.
    The warrior gasped at what she saw. The man was a corpse, with a swollen tongue protruding
     from between