The Black Mausoleum (Memory of Flames 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

cisterns were huge.
One vast empty space held by a forest of columns. Skjorl could just about make out the vaulted roof made of hundreds of little domes. Couldn’t see the far walls though.
    He paused for a moment. There had to be another way in. A dragon had come down here to lay, so there
had
to be another way in. A big one. Somewhere or other they must have brought the
roof down.
    ‘Vish. When you were here – how big was this place?’
    Vish shrugged. ‘Huge. They took us on a boat that way.’ He pointed. Skjorl’s best guess was he was pointing towards Bloodsalt Lake. ‘Didn’t see all of it
either.’
    ‘Where did you get in.’
    ‘Up there.’ Except
up there
was nothing but shadows. ‘There’s a passage that used to lead into the old fort in the middle of the city.’
    ‘Any other ways?’
    Vish shrugged. ‘Lots, I expect. The cisterns run all over the city. No one builds upwards here. No tall towers. Nowhere to get the stone, apparently. They all dig down. Every house has its
own cellar. Helps keep it nice and cool. A lot of them have tunnels that lead to the cisterns, if they haven’t all caved in.’
    Skjorl got on with smashing eggs. Tunnels were good. A man could hide in a tunnel. As long as there were no hatchlings in it.
    ‘Skjorl! Movement!’ The shout came from Jasaan, almost down the rope, ripping over the sounds of the axes. He was pointing. At the edge of their light an egg had toppled over.
    For a faint moment Skjorl froze. Movement meant . . .
    Jex and Vish were already running and Skjorl ran too, axes held high. The egg rolled again. Cracked. Jex was a dozen paces away, Skjorl much the same.
    The end fell off the egg. A nose, a head, two eyes, closed and blind. A neck. Skjorl hurled himself across the last few yards. Brought the axe down. Didn’t hesitate. Dragons didn’t
give second chances.
    The dragon opened its eyes. Looked right at him almost like it had seen him once before. And then the eyes closed again and fell back, its neck cleaved apart. Jex and Vish looked at him and
Skjorl looked back. They were all breathing hard but they froze for a moment anyway. Listening.
    Jasaan reached them. ‘Wha—’ A hand over his mouth from Vish.
    They stood in silence.
    ‘What?’ hissed Jasaan.
    Skjorl shook his head. He looked at Jasaan. ‘Get in the harness and get out. Jex, you first. Then Vish, then Jasaan, then me. If we’re lucky, we got it quick enough. If we’re
not, the adults felt it die and we’re done for if we stay here.’
    ‘What?’ If Jasaan could have furrowed his brow any further, his eyebrows were going to touch his nose.
    ‘They didn’t teach you much at Sand then, eh? Its eyes opened. It saw us. Maybe we got it fast enough the big ones didn’t get a warning; maybe we didn’t. Get on with it.
Quick. Smash what you can while you’re waiting and then let’s get out of here.’ Making Jasaan the last man out ahead of him again. Turning into a habit, that was. As if there
wasn’t already enough trouble between them.
    He watched Jex get into the harness. Watched Kasern and Relk and Marran haul him up. For a moment he paused from hacking at an egg. He leaned against one of the pillars that held up the
roof.
    And felt a tremor through the stone. And then another and then another and another. Footsteps. Dragon-sized.
Shit!
    ‘Dragon!’ he roared. Jex was at the top. They were getting him out of the harness. Vish had shouldered his axe, waiting for it to come back down.
    The ground shook. Skjorl felt it through his feet this time. A different kind of shudder. A second dragon. There was one up above them somewhere and now there was one down in the cist—
    ‘Lights out! Now! Then run!’ He fumbled for his own firebox, snuffing the wick with his fingers and never mind how much that hurt. The last he saw was the harness, coming back down
for Vish. The whole floor was shaking now. He could taste dust in the air.
    Sounds of something smashing, of stones