Never in Haplo’s wildest imaginings had he envisioned himself standing on a hell-blasted world, calmly discussing geological formations with a Sartan. He didn’t like talking to Alfred, he didn’t like listening to the high-pitched, querulous voice. But he hoped, through conversation, to lull Alfred into a sense of security. Lead him into discussions that might cause him to slip up, reveal whatever he was concealing about the Sartan and their plans.
“Have you seen pictures or read accounts of this world?” Haplo asked. His tone was casual, he didn’t look at Alfred when he spoke, as if the Sartan’s reply mattered little to him.
Alfred cast a sharp glance at him, however, and licked his lips with his tongue. He was really a terrible liar.
“No.”
“Well, I have. My Lord discovered drawings of all the worlds, left behind by your people when they abandoned us to our fate in the Labyrinth.”
Alfred started to say something, checked himself, and kept silent.
“This world of stone your people created looks like a cheese that has been populated by mice,” Haplo continued. “It’s filled with caverns like this one in which we’re standing. These caverns are enormous. One single cave could easily hold the entire elven nation of Tribus. Tunnels and caves run all through the stone world, crisscrossing each other, delving down, spiraling up. Up—to what? What’s on the surface?” Haplo gazed at the cylindrical towers, soaring into the shadows above. “What is on the surface, Sartan?”
“I thought you were going to call me by my name,” Alfred said mildly.
“I will, when it’s important,” Haplo grunted. “It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
“To answer your question, I have no idea what is on the surface. You know far more about this world than I do.” Alfred’s eyes glistened as he considered the possibilities. “I would speculate, however, that—”
“Hush!” Haplo held up a warning hand.
Remembering their danger, Alfred turned deathly white and froze where he stood, body trembling. Haplo clambered over the broken rocks with stealthy ease, being careful to dislodge no small chunk that could fall, rattling, and reveal their presence. The dog, padding softly as its master, went ahead, ears pricked, hackles raised.
Haplo discovered that the street didn’t end, as he had thought, against the sheer rock wall. He found a path running along the stalagmites at the cliff’s base. A hasty and crude attempt had been made to obliterate the path’s existence, or perhaps just slow whatever was coming along it. Piles of rock had been stacked in front of it to hide it. Molten pools of lava made a slip extremely treacherous. Haplo eased himself over the rock piles, following after the dog, who seemed to have an extraordinary talent in picking out safe places for its master to cross. Alfred remained behind, quaking, shivering all over. Haplo could have sworn he heard the man’s teeth chatter.
Rounding the last jumble of rock, the Patryn reached the mouth of a cave. Its high, arched entrance was invisible from land, but could be seen clearly from the seaside. A magma tributary flowed into the cave. On one side of the lava flow—Haplo’s side—the path continued, leading into the cavern’s lava-lighted interior.
Haplo paused near the entrance, listening. The sounds he’d first heard were clearer now—voices, echoing through the cavern. A large number of people, to judge by the sometimes clamorous noise, although occasionally everyone fell silent and one alone continued speaking. The echoes distorted the words, he couldn’t understand what language was spoken, and it had a cadence that was unfamiliar to him. Certainly it was not like any of the elven, human, and dwarven dialects he’d heard on Arianus and Pryan.
The Patryn eyed the cave speculatively. The path leading inside was wide, littered with boulders and broken rock. The lava flow lighted the way, but there were pockets and pits of dark shadow along the side of the tunnel where a man—particularly a man accustomed to moving with the silence of the night—might easily hide. Haplo could probably slip up on whatever and whoever were inside that tunnel, get a close look at them, and from that observation make his plans accordingly.