“We found the big statue,” Rachel said.

“Which way is it facing?”

“Toward us, more or less.”

“Proceed in the direction opposite the way the figure is facing, and before long you will behold our destination.”

“There are a bunch of trees that way.”

“Good. The swamp is less deep around the shrine.”

Leaving behind the misty rays of the afternoon sun, Rachel and Dorsio guided the boat under the shadow of tall trees bulging with fungal growths. Only the paddles lapping against the murky water disturbed the silence. There was no peace in the quietness, Rachel thought. Only tension.

Carved pillars and stone roofs began to protrude from the water in abundance. Through the trees and man-made obstacles, Rachel glimpsed the elaborate stonework of an immense structure. More details became apparent as the canoe drew nearer. Crowned by six spiraling steeples, the walls of the edifice were ornamented with crumbling stone tracery. Weatherworn stringcourses underscored rows of narrow lancet windows. Leering gargoyles clung to the building like huge stone geckos. The overall impression was that of a partially submerged cathedral.

A yawning hole in one wall allowed water into the structure. The opening was irregular, as if created by brute force.

“It’s gigantic,” Rachel said. “I see a big hole in the wall.”

“Take us inside,” Galloran instructed. “Orruck awaits.”

“How do you know he’ll be here?” Rachel asked, running a hand across the goose bumps on her arm.

“Like most predators in the Sunken Lands, Orruck is nocturnal,” Galloran whispered. “This is his lair. He has excavated extensive tunnels in the bedrock beneath the shrine. During the day, he’ll be here.”

Rachel and Dorsio stroked toward the opening in the wall, a lopsided arch of broken stone wide enough for several canoes to enter at once. Senses alert, Rachel helped paddle through the uneven gap.

The interior of the shrine contained a single vast chamber. Haze-softened sunlight slanted through the western windows, repeating elongated versions of the window shapes on the surface of the foul water. Deteriorating galleries and balconies projected from the walls, sufficient to hold hundreds of onlookers. Craning her neck, Rachel gazed up at the vaulted ceiling, absorbing the intricate details of the cracked, faded frescoes. She wondered how deep the water was in here. Including the underwater floor space, this cavernous room must have held thousands, which made the silent emptiness all the more disquieting.

In a corner of the room obscured by shadow, on a jumbled island of stone slabs, a flicker of movement summoned Rachel’s attention. Turning to study the haphazard pile of rubble, she clumsily thumped her paddle against the side of the canoe.

“See something?” Galloran guessed.

“A movement in the corner of the room.”

“Take us in that direction.”

While Rachel and Dorsio paddled, Galloran stood and cried out in his raspy voice, speaking Edomic. On the island, a bulky form shifted when Galloran commenced speaking. Though the individual words were unfamiliar, Rachel intuited that Galloran was offering a humble greeting and describing peaceful intentions.

As they drew closer, Rachel observed that the creature Galloran was addressing looked something like a huge walrus, minus the tusks. The corpulent beast reclined on a long slab, fat tail in the water. The creature was about twenty feet long, not counting however much of the tail was hidden by the water. Given the size of the lair, she had expected Orruck to be bigger. Still, it was bizarre to think that the bloated, blubbery creature had once been human. Shifting again, the creature emitted a deep, wet sound, like a cross between a sneeze and a dozen bass fiddles.

“I have returned, Great One,” Galloran said, reverting to English.

Rachel heard no reply, but Galloran nodded as if listening.

“I have lost my sight,” he said. “I brought two companions: my bodyguard, Dorsio, and a Beyonder called Rachel, the most promising Edomic adept Lyrian has seen in many years.”

The creature raised itself off the slab, the bulky body supported entirely by the tail as it moved across the water toward the canoe. “Orruck wishes to commune with you,” Galloran said to Rachel. “If any being can awaken your mind to telepathy, he can. See if you can sense his words.”

Rachel closed her eyes, concentrating. Nothing touched her awareness. “Is it like I hear something?” she asked. “Or maybe just feelings?”

“Think of how you force matter to obey Edomic commands,” Galloran suggested. “Try to listen with similar effort.”

She exerted herself, and suddenly words filled her mind, as clearly as if she had heard them. Most who show real Edomic promise can commune mind to mind. She knew the words had come from Orruck.

The girl only awakened to her abilities scant weeks ago, Galloran replied. She has come a long way over a short time.

A little farther now, Rachel added mentally.

Very good, Orruck responded. This is your first experience speaking in silence?

Yes.

You only began speaking Edomic recently?

I’ve only really been practicing for a couple of months.

I can feel the validity of your words, Orruck conveyed. I would appreciate a demonstration of your abilities. But first, Galloran, have you held to your end of our bargain?

Rachel opened her eyes. The deformed body hovered in front of the canoe, still supported by the tail. Rachel counted at least eight murky eyes spaced around the body, along with several breathing slits. She couldn’t identify a mouth.

Galloran replied soundlessly. Alas, I have not yet disposed of Maldor, though I have been a thorn in his palm. The orantium you entrusted to me has been used exclusively to harm his interests. You will recall that when last we met, my hopes resided in a key word I hoped to recover. In the years since, with the aid of another Beyonder, I have learned that the Word was a fraud.

The creature reared up and bellowed. The entire brown body spread open, not up and down, but side to side, revealing a tremendous mouth fringed with rows of daggerlike teeth. Rachel finally recognized that what she had mistaken for the body was merely the head. What she had taken for the tail was the neck. The impossibly deep roar seemed to proceed from multiple voice boxes bellowing at different pitches. The exhalation carried a humid stench of decay, and the noise reverberated throughout the cavernous chamber.

Why have you returned? Orruck accused forcefully.

Subterfuge has failed. Open warfare is the remaining option. Maldor increases in power every day. I have come to solicit aid in a final attempt to thwart his schemes. I intend to unite the remaining free peoples of Lyrian in a last stand against his tyranny. This strategy represents our final chance to prevent an uncontested reign such as Lyrian has never witnessed. I do not see how we can succeed without more orantium. Mighty Orruck, will you grant me enough orantium to wage war against your enemy?