berated in the sound of the men’s hurried footsteps. The walls
of the tunnel narrowed down sharply, then broadened out again,
a constant change of size and shape. They passed through a
series of underground caverns where the torchlight could not
even begin to penetrate the shadows that cloaked the hollow,
vaulted roofs. A little farther on, a series of crevices opened
before them, several almost twenty feet across. Bridges had been
built to span them, wooden slats connected by heavy ropes, the
ropes anchored in the rock by iron pins. The bridges swayed
and shook as they crossed, but held firm.
All the while they walked, they kept watch for Teel. But there
was no sign of her.
Steff was beginning to have trouble keeping up. He was enor-
mously strong and fit when well, but whatever sickness had
attacked him-if indeed it was a sickness and he had not been
poisoned as Morgan was beginning to surmise-had left him
badly worn. He fell repeatedly and had to drag himself up again
each time. Padishar never slowed. The big man had meant what
he said-Steff was on his own. The Dwarf had gotten this far on
sheer determination, and Morgan did not see how he could
maintain the pace the outlaw chief was setting much longer. The
Highlander glanced back at his friend, but Steff didn’t seem to
see him, his haunted eyes searching the shadows, sweeping the
curtain of black beyond the light.
They were more than a mile into the mountain when a glim-
mer of light appeared ahead, a pinprick that quickly became a
glow. Padishar did not slow or bother to disguise his coming.
The tunnel broadened, and the opening ahead brightened with
the nicker of torches. Morgan felt his heartbeat quicken.
They entered a massive underground cavern ablaze with light.
Torches were jammed into cracks in the walls and floors, filling
the air with smoke and the smell of charred wood and burning
pitch. At the center of the cavern a huge crevice split the cham-
ber floor end to end, a twisted maw that widened and narrowed
as it worked its way from wall to wall. Another bridge had been
built to span the crevice at its narrowest juncture, this one a
massive iron structure. Machinery had been installed on the
near side of the crevice to raise and lower it. The bridge was
down at the moment, linking the halves of the cavern floor.
Beyond, the flat rock stretched away to where the tunnel disap-
peared once more into darkness.
Teel stood next to the bridge machinery, hammering.
Padishar Creel stopped, and Morgan and Steff quickly came
up beside him. Teel hadn’t heard or seen them yet, then- torch-
light enveloped by the cavern’s own brightness.
Padishar laid down his torch. “She’s jammed the machinery.
The bridge can’t be raised again.” His eyes found Sleff’s. “If
we let her, she will bring the Federation right to us.”
Steff stared wildly. “No.” he gasped in disbelief.
Padishar ignored him. He unsheathed his broadsword and
started forward.
Steff lunged after him, tripping, falling, then crying out fran-
tically, “Teel!”
Teel whirled about. She held an iron bar in her hands, the
smooth surface bright with nicks from where she had been
smashing the bridge works. Morgan could see the damage clearly
now, winches split apart, pulleys forced loose, gears stripped.
Teel’s hair glittered in the light, flashing with traces of gold. She
faced them, her mask revealing nothing of what she was think-
ing, an expressionless piece of leather strapped about her head,
the eyeholes dark and shadowed.
Padishar closed both big hands about the broadsword, lifting
its blade into the light. “End of the line for you, girl,” he
snapped.
The echo filled the cavern, and Steff came to his feet, lurching
ahead. “Padishar, wait!” he howled.
Morgan jumped to intercept him, caught hold of his arm, and
jerked him about. “No, Steff, that isn’t Teel! Not anymore!”
Steffs eyes were bright with anger and fear. Morgan lowered his
voice, speaking quickly, calmly. “Listen to me. That’s a Shad-
owen, Steff. How long since you’ve seen the face beneath that
mask? Have you looked at it? It isn’t Teel under there anymore.