Kat stepped up next to Thrang, a troubled look on her face. “I will take you to Albrek’s tomb now. The Ring of Searching is there, waiting to be claimed.”
Thrang bowed, surprise and eagerness on his face.
Kat led the company deeper into the city. Alex conjured weir lights, sending them ahead so the path was well lit, but there was little of interest to be seen.
Alex knew something was bothering Kat, but she was silent as they walked through the city.
Kat led them without hesitation, as if she knew the city well. They walked down long corridors, through huge open chambers, and past large empty halls. There was no sign of dwarfs or any other living thing. Alex began to feel nervous, but he couldn’t explain why so he kept his worries to himself.
Finally they came to a wide stairway leading down, the steps covered in thick dust. Kat walked quietly down the steps, turning at the bottom to follow another corridor that led to more steps. Once again, Kat turned down a corridor at the bottom of the steps, and again it led to more steps. There was even more dust here, deep in the dwarf city, and their footsteps sounded muffled as they walked.
After six corridors and six stairways, they reached a huge stone door. A silver ring hung in the middle of the door with several dwarf runes carved on it. Thrang hurried forward and brushed the letters softly with his hands.
“Here lies Albrek, lord of the south,” Thrang said as he read the runes.
“The tomb of Albrek,” Kat said in a sad tone. “He tried so hard to make a success here, but in the end, he failed.”
“Help me,” Thrang said as he began pulling on the silver ring.
Nellus and Barnabus both came forward to help Thrang, and slowly the stone door began to move. Alex stood by Kat, watching as the door opened. He wondered if Thrang had even heard what Kat had said. When the stone door had been moved far enough to allow them to enter, Alex sent the weir lights in ahead of his friends. Thrang hurried after the lights, eager to find what they had all been looking for.
The chamber was large and round. Bookshelves and weapons covered the walls, and in the center of the chamber stood a huge stone sarcophagus covered with runes.
Thrang moved forward and once more brushed the dust away from the runes with his hands. For several minutes he was silent, then he spoke in a slightly shaky voice.
“Albrek’s Tomb,” Thrang said. “He died before his people were destroyed by an enemy they could not fight, but his monument does not say who or what that enemy was.”
“Perhaps these books will tell us,” Arconn suggested, moving toward the shelves along the wall.
“And the ring?” Nellus questioned.
“There,” Kat said, pointing toward one side of the chamber. “It is with his weapons.”
“You should take it, Thrang,” Alex said, following Arconn toward the books. “Put it in your bag for safekeeping, and then help us search these books for some answers.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Thrang said as he hurried to the pile of weapons. “Ah, yes, here it is. The Ring of Searching, just as Thorgood described it.”
“Put it away for now,” Alex said softly. “We need to learn what enemy destroyed Albrek’s people. If we know what it is, we might be able to escape this city. If we don’t know what it is, we’re all in great danger.”
Thrang put the ring in his magic bag and then joined Alex and Arconn by the bookshelf. The books were arranged chronologically, so Thrang pulled a book off the bottom shelf first.
“Brighten your lights a little, if you please,” Thrang said to Alex, opening the book.
Alex changed the weir lights from yellow to white and then looked over Thrang’s shoulder at the book. The pages were in perfect condition, but Alex had trouble reading the runes as quickly as Thrang flipped through the book.
“Ah, here it is,” Thrang said at last, leaning closer to the book. “It says that dwarfs have been attacked outside the city.”
“Outside the city?” Barnabus questioned.
“Let me read,” said Thrang, waving his hand so the others wouldn’t ask any questions.
Thrang bent so close to the book that Alex could hardly see the pages. Instead of trying to read along with Thrang, he stood back and looked at the rest of the books on the shelf. For what seemed like a long time, Thrang said nothing. When he finally snapped the book shut, everyone jumped.
“A thunderbird,” Thrang said softly. “The book says that a thunderbird destroyed Albrek’s people and laid waste to the city.”
“I’ve never heard of such a bird,” Nellus said.
“Nor have I,” Barnabus added.
“Thunderbirds are just a story,” Thrain said nervously. “Something mothers use to scare their children into obeying.”
“Some people think they are legends,” Arconn said. “Others say that such birds did exist at one time.”
“Kat and I both felt something large and powerful fly over us on our way here,” Alex pointed out.
“Will someone please explain to me what a thunderbird is?” Nellus questioned in a pleading tone.
“The thunderbirds were an ancient race of magical, giant birds,” Arconn explained.
“So what’s so terrible about a giant bird?” Barnabus asked.
“Thunderbirds are birds of prey,” Thrang answered. “They hunt and kill whatever they like. Some stories say that a single thunderbird could carry off a horse and rider with one claw and a full-grown cow with the other.”
“Oh,” Barnabus managed to reply.
“But thunderbirds never stay in one place too long, because if they do, they soon eat everything that is there,” Arconn said.
“They might stay in one area if there’s a large supply of food,” said Thrang. “The book says that the thunderbird carried off dwarfs from this city whenever they went outside of the mountain. It says they tried to fight off the bird, but it became enraged and attacked the city. That was when Albrek’s heir died, though the book doesn’t say specifically that he was killed by the bird.”
“What else does the book say?” Alex questioned, trying to remember anything he might have read about thunderbirds.
“Only that the remaining dwarfs were planning to escape,” said Thrang. “They were going to wait for a cloudy day, then head across the plain.”
“None of them made it,” Kat said sadly. “Not a single dwarf made it across the plain.”
“But that all happened years ago,” Nellus said. “The thunderbird wouldn’t still be here, would it?”
“I wouldn’t think so,” Arconn said. “Once there was no more food, the bird would have moved on.”
“Unless it couldn’t move on,” said Alex.
“Couldn’t move on? What do you mean?” Thrang questioned.
“It might have laid an egg,” said Alex. “And thunderbird eggs take a very, very long time to hatch.”
“What is the date of the last entry in the book?” Arconn questioned.
“Just over a hundred years ago,” Thrang answered. “Surely the egg would have hatched by now.”
“That’s true,” said Alex. “But even if the egg hatched, I have no idea how long it takes a young thunderbird to learn to fly.”
“But you can fight it off with magic,” Thrain said. “Or hide us so the thunderbird can’t see us.”
“Thunderbirds have powerful magic of their own,” said Alex. “I’m not sure I can fight it off using magic, and I’m not sure that any illusion I create will deceive it.”
“Then we’re stuck here?” Thrang questioned. “We have to remain in this dead city or be taken as prey by the thunderbird?”
“We made it to the city when it was raining,” Nellus said. “Perhaps we will simply have to wait until the rains return.”
“That will be too long,” Kat said in despair.
“Much too long,” Thrang agreed.
“Then what do we do?” Barnabus questioned.
“First, we go back to the gates,” said Thrang. “Then w
e will decide what can be done.”
They all moved out of the chamber, pausing long enough to push the stone door back into place, and then followed Kat back through the empty city. As they walked, Alex racked his brain, trying to think of some way to protect them from the thunderbird. His magic books had mentioned them from time to time, but the information was incomplete.
“Why are they called thunderbirds?” Alex questioned.
“They can make thunder with their wings,” Thrain answered. “They can make strong winds as well—strong enough to blow down trees.”
“And it is said that they can shoot lightning bolts from their eyes,” Arconn added. “Or possibly from their beaks, depending on which stories you believe.”
“That’s all very well, but we have no real proof that a thunderbird is still in the area,” Thrang said.
“It is near,” Kat said softly, her voice cracking slightly. “Hope may be lost.”
“Don’t say that,” said Thrang. “If we have to wait for the rains, we will, but perhaps we can find some other way of leaving the city first.”
When they reached the city gates, it was almost noon. Alex and the others stood in the shadows just inside the city, looking out across the open plain for a few minutes before anyone spoke.
“Well?” Thrang questioned. “Any ideas?”
“Let me try something,” said Alex, shifting his staff in his hand. “I’ll create the illusion of men on horseback. If the thunderbird is close, it should attack them.”
“We should be ready to flee into the caves,” Arconn suggested. “When the thunderbird finds that it has been deceived, it might come here looking for the source of the trick.”
“A wise idea,” Thrang agreed.
Alex nodded and then focused his thoughts on the illusion he wanted to create. He heard the others gasp in surprise as his illusion took shape in front of them and seven riders made their way out into the sunlight.
“They look so real,” Barnabus said. “I can hear them moving as they go.”
“It has to be real enough to tempt the thunderbird,” said Alex.
They watched as the figures Alex had created out of thin air moved away from them.
After a long moment, Thrang cleared his throat, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, a huge shadow moved across the open fields.
Alex looked up to see a golden bird diving out of the sky.
“Amazing,” Arconn commented. “So beautiful.”
“And deadly,” Thrang added.
But long before the bird reached the illusion, it broke off its attack, shooting back into the sky at an incredible speed.
“It saw through the illusion,” Alex said. “Let’s try this instead.”
He immediately transformed a large rock from the ruined city gates into a living, breathing stag. The stag looked at them for a moment, and then bounded away across the plain.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” Arconn said.
“It’s something I learned on my last adventure,” said Alex. “Though I’ve never conjured a stag before.”
“And this one won’t last long,” said Nellus.
Once again, the thunderbird attacked. This time the giant bird did not break its dive, but quickly snatched the stag from the ground in one huge claw. Watching the bird rise into the air, Alex wondered how many stags he would need to create to give him and his friends enough time to safely cross the plains.
“A pity,” Arconn said. “It was a beautiful stag.”
“But we learned an important lesson,” Thrang added. “We can’t outrun that bird on our horses, and I don’t suppose Alex can create enough stags to keep it busy while we cross the plains.”
“I could try, but I’m not sure it would always go for the stags,” said Alex.
“You haven’t tried using magic against it,” Thrain pointed out.
“No, I haven’t,” said Alex. “I’m not sure how well magic will work.”
“You must try,” Thrang insisted. “We need to know if your magic can drive off the bird. If not, I’m not sure I’m willing to chance the open plain, even if you created hundreds of stags to keep the bird busy.”
“Very well,” Alex agreed. “The bird will be much closer to us this time, so you might want to move back a little.”
As the others stepped back, Alex transformed a large rock into a fat cow. The cow looked at him, confused, and then slowly started off toward the grassy plain. Once more the thunderbird appeared, only this time it hovered just outside the broken gates. As the bird caught the cow in its golden claw, Alex cast a binding spell, trying to freeze the bird to the ground. For a moment, it looked as if the spell had worked. The thunderbird gave a terrible cry of rage as it tried to lift off with the cow but could not. Alex watched in fascination, but then, realizing what was about to happen, he turned toward the cave.
“Run!” Alex shouted.
The others were slow to understand what he meant, but they soon saw what Alex had seen. The thunderbird, enraged by Alex’s spell, had turned to look directly at the cave where they were all standing.
They had barely gone ten feet when a lightning bolt hit the wall of the cavern. A shower of rocks flew off the wall, and Alex and his friends dove to the ground and covered their heads. A second bolt of lighting hit the opposite wall, and a second shower of broken stone rained down on them.
Alex got to his feet quickly and tried to stop the third bolt of lightning with his magic. His spell only deflected the bolt, which hit the mountain above the city gates instead. Knowing how useless his magic was against the thunderbird, Alex removed the binding spell he had cast. The thunderous beating of the giant wings almost blew Alex off his feet, and then the bird was gone.
“It appears that my magic will do us little good,” Alex said, leaning against his staff.
“Then we are trapped here,” Thrang said, standing up. “At least until the rains come.”
“It is too late,” said Kat, sounding close to tears.
“I wonder where the bird goes,” Thrain said, moving closer to the ruined gates.
“Stay back,” Alex warned, but he was too late.
A huge golden claw reached in and snatched Thrain out of the tunnel. Alex turned quickly to restrain the others from rushing out after Thrain. He wondered what he could possibly do to save his friend.
“We have to do something,” Thrang said angrily. “We can’t just let that bird eat him.”
“There is only one creature I can think of that has a chance against that bird,” said Alex, his mind fixing on what he had to do. “I will go after Thrain. The rest of you wait here, well back from the gates.”
“What creature?” Arconn questioned.
“Watch and see,” Alex answered, turning and running toward the sunlight.
When the first rays of light touched Alex, he changed. He was filled with a wild, reckless joy, but his mind stayed fixed on the task at hand. With almost no effort at all, he leaped into the air, his massive wings lifting him higher as his dragon eyes searched for the thunderbird. He spotted it in a second, circling to land on the mountain behind him. Alex let out a deafening roar to attract the bird’s attention, and then sped straight at it, ready for battle.
The thunderbird cried back, accepting his challenge. It spun away from the mountains, still clutching the struggling Thrain in its golden claw. Lightning flashed from the bird’s eyes, hitting one of Alex’s almost thirty-foot-long wings, but it had no effect. Alex felt like laughing at the feeble attack. Instead of laughing, though, he sent a jet of flame toward the giant bird, forcing it to turn sharply in midair. Alex roared again, frustrated at having missed his target and forgetting that the flames could have killed Thrain.
The thunderbird climbed higher in the sky, beating its wings wildly to create a forceful wind. Alex saw that the bird was trying to use the wind to drive him toward the ground, but the wind was nothing to a dragon—it felt like a gentle breeze. Alex climbed higher in pursuit of his enemy
.
The thunderbird broke away once more, flying with all its speed to the north. Alex followed with ease, closing the gap between himself and his enemy. When he thought he was close enough, he sent another jet of fire at the bird, this time hitting its tail. The thunderbird screamed in pain and let Thrain drop from its talons.
For a moment Alex hesitated, wanting to continue the battle. He heard Thrain scream in fear as he fell, and the fear of his friend spurred him into action. He dove after the falling dwarf with blinding speed, gently catching Thrain in his own enormous claw that gleamed with true silver. He could feel Thrain thrashing wildly, terrified but very much alive. He realized that carrying Thrain with him would be too dangerous. He swooped down to the ruined city gates, opened his claw to let Thrain escape, and then returned his gaze to the sky, searching once more for the thunderbird.
The thunderbird was flying south, low to the ground as if hiding.
Alex turned quickly to follow, his desire to destroy his enemy growing. As he left the mountain behind, Alex saw that the land had come to an end and the bird was soaring over the open sea, rising slightly as it flew. The sun shined off the golden bird, reminding Alex just how beautiful his enemy was. He allowed himself to consider the beauty of the thunderbird for a moment, and he slowed his pursuit, but only slightly.
From a distance, he watched the thunderbird skimming over the waves toward a small island several miles from shore. When the thunderbird circled, Alex thought it was turning for another attack, but instead the bird simply landed on the island, as if waiting for him. Alex was puzzled but not worried. If the thunderbird wanted to face him on an island, that was fine; he would destroy it just as easily one way or the other.
As he circled the island, Alex saw that the thunderbird was sitting on its nest. Alex had been correct. The bird had laid an egg and had come back to that egg in a last, desperate hope of protecting it. Alex knew he could destroy the bird and its egg easily, but for some reason he did not attack. He circled the island once more and then brought his own massive armored body to rest not too far from the thunderbird’s nest.
“Change back,” the thunderbird called out in a strange voice. “Take back your natural form.”