Free Descent into the Depths of the Earth by Undead), Paul Kidd - (ebook by Flandrel

across its
rump. “Go!”
    With a bleat of fear, the mule sped into the trees, plunging
Polk through a bramble bush. Jus backed away from the stream, his hand on his
sword, trying to cover Polk and Escalla’s backs.
    “What is it? What’s there?”
    “Just run! Just do it!” Escalla felt tears of panic
flood her eyes. “Come on, man. I don’t want to lose you!”
    The girl dragged Jus away, and he broke into a run. He led
the way past Polk and the mule, twisting sideways down a deep gully filled with
leaves that helped cover their trail. They fled past fallen statues, past
another giant’s skeleton, and sped out onto an old road with weeds jutting up
between the cobblestones. Escalla danced in a cold fright, keeping her
companions in the cover of the trees.
    They ran for a mile. Breathing hard, Jus stopped beneath a
broken oak to look behind him. Nothing moved. The world seemed still. Escalla
shot out of the skies, her eyes roaming in fright across the leaves.
    “Jus, if we get separated, meet me at the Hydra’s lair! Just
wait! Wait as long as it takes!” She half tore out of his hands, surged forward,
gave him a kiss, and broke away. “You’re my friends! I’m not losing you!”
    Something unseen flashed through the leaves high above.
Escalla whirled, stabbed a spell into the treetops, and blasted a web across the
trees. Something small and invisible struck the web, kicking and cursing.
Escalla shot aside, invisible again. A line of golden bees hissed from midair to
show her position as she passed. She blasted the branches and tops from trees,
sending a cascade of debris tumbling through the forest.
    Something invisible hovered in the falling leaves—something
that cursed and threw up a shield to ward away the debris. Stabbing upward from
below came another spell, and another of Escalla’s webs hit something full force
and plastered a struggling shape against an old dead tree.
    Leaves jerked as Escalla sped invisibly away—until a vast
wall of fire suddenly thundered upward in her path. Escalla’s voice could be
heard cursing, then cursing again as another fire wall blocked her escape off to
one side. In a sudden flash, Escalla’s invisible body was somehow outlined in
sparkling light as an unseen enemy neutralized Escalla’s camouflage.
    Jus was already running to her aid. He tackled the girl,
balling himself about her as he leaped through the fire wall. Cinders’ pelt
shielded them from the heat. Rolling to his feet, Jus released the girl.
Breaking away, she sped hard and fast through the underbrush.
    “Jus, keep back!”
    A spell stabbed at her from above. Escalla rolled aside, but
the magic had never been intended to hit her. Instead it lanced into the fern
beneath, which instantly sprang into life and caught the girl about the waist.
Struggling, Escalla became visible as she fired a shower of little missiles into
the plants and blew them apart.
    She flung out a hand and scythed a spell into a patch of
empty space. A female scream echoed in the woods, and a small form smashed into
the autumn leaves, flickered, and instantly became visible.
    It was Escalla in mirror-image: small, lithe, blonde, and
winged like a dragonfly. Dressed in white lace, the faerie had a face and hair
that could have been Escalla’s own. With a vicious screech, the newcomer
scrabbled to her feet and threw a killing glance at Escalla.
    Escalla hissed, whipped open her hands, and the blinding
sizzle of a lethal spell flashed into life. The other faerie snarled at her,
matching Escalla’s motion and wreathing herself in dancing electricity. The two
girls were about to open fire, when a sudden imperious voice pealed out from
above.
    “Enough!”
    It was a voice that hit with a tidal wave of matronly power.
On the forest floor, the two young faeries jerked sullenly back as though struck
a blow. Unused combat spells leaked off into the ground.
    “Escalla! Tielle! Cease this at once!”
    A regal