Yoroula whispered, "Do you see those white strands hanging from the mushrooms? Those are the lassoes. Watch for any to move. Start playing like you did last night. "

Tad could see long white strands with an odd-shaped hoop at the end of each hanging from the mushroom caps. They were long because he could see those mushrooms were all easily twenty feet tall.

Tad mentally placed his light above and in front of him in the larger area of the cage, giving it a softer round glow than its normal lancer shape. He started playing his instrument.

Tad reached out with soulmancy trying to sense living creatures beyond his ring of light. He could sense several of the smaller lizards in the plot of giant mushrooms, but he didn't perceive anything else.

He put some of the soulmancy energia into the cittern, thinking of peaceful glades and the comfort he always felt around Bubbles and her flower. He put more energia into the cittern.

Far above him, he sensed it. It was very different than other animals he had perceived in the past. He was confident it had some form of intelligence. It descended in a moment, dropping directly in front of the cage. It was blue, and it didn't look like a spider. He had seen large spiders with fangs in the front; this one had four claw-like teeth. The creature moved them up and down as Tad gazed at it. They looked like they could shear through wood or bone.

The creature only had two eyes and not eight. They were perched high up on its head. It had ten legs, well, eight legs, and two in the front that had what looked like small-clawed fingers on them. Fine and coarse hair strands covered its blue chitinous body.

The creature moved to the left out of his sight, then back and to the right as if looking at the wagon.

It moved forward and stopped before entering at the top of the small ramp to the cage entrance. It stared at him.

Tad continued to play, and he was having a hard time concentrating. The creature was easily two feet taller than him and probably weighed a ton or more. If he could get it into the cage, Yoroula could pull the lever. He could feel the creature hesitate. It wasn't going to come into the cage. It was too smart for that.

Tad sensed something now he didn't expect. Yoroula had moved from the lever and was standing directly behind Tad. He felt something very wrong about the dwarf. He couldn't understand why she was behind him.

The creature chittered loudly, "Murderer!" and sprung directly at Tad faster than he thought was possible. It left the ground and flew through the first opening. Tad brought a soulmancy shield up in front of him and specifically in front of and around his cittern. He had no time to move. The creature plowed into him, flinging him against the back wall of the iron room. It could not get through the smaller gate. It rebounded slightly. Tad sensed wrongness in the small iron room as he was hammered against the far wall triggering the chainring, which brought both cage doors crashing down.

Blood was pouring from Tad's nose, and he coughed, and blood started to flow from his mouth. He couldn't breathe. He was drowning in his own blood.

"Perfect, you did well. Now I'll take this staff, and your tragic tale will end here," said Yoroula, who wasn't looking much like a dwarf in the darkness. Her eyes had a green glow around red centers. Tad was losing consciousness. Yoroula reached out to pull the staff from under Tad, where it was pinned. She wrapped her hand around it and pulled.

Tad was watching darkness close in on his vision as he heard Galadinidú shout in his mind, "Begone thing of darkness!"

With a burst of light and force, the creature Yoroula was thrown across the room, and white light played across her body as it lay on the floor. The spider creature was ramming itself against the cage door, trying to reach Tad. Galadinidú emitted a small sphere of energia surrounding Tad who was lying in a bloody heap on the floor.

The last thing Tad heard was, "Get that damned door open!"

***

Galadinidú

Tad came too when he rolled over, and pain lanced up his back as ribs ground together. There was popping as he felt one rib move back into the cartilage that normally surrounded it. He opened his eyes. He wasn't dead. He saw Galadinidú lying on his chest, and its end was just above his nose as he lay on his back on the cold metal floor. He reached up to touch it.

" Galadinidú, what's going on. " projected Tad to the staff.

"Evil has been thwarted this day. " projected Galadinidú proudly.

"What evil, what happened? " asked Tad as a headache he didn't know he had started to pulse.

"You were injured, and a thing of evil tried to take me. I smote it and projected a shield around us till you healed or died. " said the staff.

"You thought I was going to die? " asked Tad, now nervous as he started trying to move parts of his body, finding everything functional under the heavy bruising across his body.

"I gave you a better than average chance as your head was still attached and brain still functional. I stopped the bleeding, and you regenerated," said Galadinidú.

From across the room, Tad heard his mother Marena, "Tad, are you awake? Oh, bless the stars. Is your staff going to let us touch you? "

Tad rolled his head and saw his mother across the room. She was in the shadow of her flower pot as she held his cittern, which had a giant slash along its finished belly. The flower was glowing, and Tad rolled a bit more to see Bubbles circling the giant spider thing which was now sitting in the middle of the cage with its legs wrapped under it. It was making an odd scruffy noise. Was it purring?

"Galadinidú, do you sense Yoroula near or any other creature like that nearby? " asked Tad as he reached out his soulmancy. He could sense several dozen dwarves stationed around the cage outside, his mother and Bubbles. He didn't sense any other creatures nearby. The spider's mind purred.

"No, she was taken away by the other dwarves who didn't understand how evil the creature is," replied Galadinidú.

"How do you know it was evil Galadinidú? " asked Tad, "also. Can you remove the shield? I'd like to sit up. "

"It was a creature of the void. No truer evil exists. Even the undead hardly compare to this type of creature. It wants nothing but oblivion for all things." said Galadinidú.

The shield winked out, and Tad rolled and pushed himself to a sitting position with one arm, the other holding the staff. Marena barrel across the small room and immediately hugged him.

In a pained voice, "I am ok. That hurts. " said Tad.

"You have no idea how worried I was, blood all over, coming out of your nose when I got here. Look at yourself," said Marena hurridly as she started pushing and prodding on Tad's arms and chest.

Tad looked down. The whole front of the shirt on his chest, where he could see, was soaked in dried blood. He looked back at the floor. Thick blood pooled there, half-dried.

"How?" said Tad as he realized he should be dead right now.

"That ring, when the guards came and got me, they brought me here on lizard back to find you in some magical shield bleeding all over and that ring on your finger pulsing green. It saved you, Tad," said Marena in a hyper-emotional rush of words.

She was talking at speed with the kind of emotion where your mother is telling you that you screwed up by pointing out all the things that went wrong with your ideas.

Tad nodded. He realized if he didn't have Galadinidú or the ring, he would be very dead. He was trying to sort out all the things that happened as he stood up. There was pain in several parts of his body. He cast healing spells then. Over and over till he was exhausted. He kept Galadinidú in his left hand as the healing spell he had was a simple one that could be cast with one hand, making a couple of motions and applying energia. The staff helped him regain his energia faster than he normally would have. He did it a dozen times at least, then just leaned against the wall watching Bubbles circle the giant creature in the cage.

Tad reached out, "Bubbles do you know what that creature is? "

Bubbles responded quickly, surprising Tad, "You helped a murderer, Tad. The creature ate her babies!" Bubbles almost shouted in his mind. Tad had never heard that kind of response before, and she did it in this weird way, like she was admonishing a cat that ate the food off the table.

"Yea, I'm starting to realize that. Does that creature talk? " asked Tad, feeling kind of bad, even though he didn't think he did anything wrong.

"No, Tad, it uses empathy. It can't talk," replied Bubbles, who sounded satisfied with the tone of Tad's reply.

"I heard it scream a word. Are you sure it can't speak?" asked Tad.

Bubbles didn't reply back.

"Well do you know why it attacked me?" asked Tad.

Bubbles took a few moments, "You were in front of the creature it was attacking. You really should be more careful. "

Tad thought that might be the case.

"Marena, we need to get the guards to arrest Yoroula. She isn't what she appears to be," said Tad to his mother, who had taken a seat against the wall next to him.

"They already know. Ararmut is out looking for her now. The guards and the attendant in the infirmary are dead. They tried to take her there to heal her, and the artifact would not let them into the chamber. She must have been playing dead or awoke. She isn't a dwarf, Tad. " said Marena as she handed the cittern to Tad.

He looked down at the damaged instrument, and he was angry. Angrier than he thought possible. He sat there for several minutes, trying to calm down. When he was done, he collapsed the instrument back to an amulet that had a slash across the surface, marring the image of the meadow and clouds. He put it around his neck and continued with the conversation.

"She is a void creature. How do we kill a void creature?" asked Tad, knowing he would not be able to smite the creature even if he found her. At least not for a few more days.

"Magic, powerful magic," replied Marena, who was standing up. She called the guards and asked them to send a runner and tell Ararmut it was a void creature. They should fetch her and Tad once they have found it.

From the cage area, Bubbles projected, "Tad, this poor thing just sent me an image of bodies in the back of this cave. "

Bubbles was upset. She never speaks this much.

Tad stood up and stuck his head out the door of the cage, "Who is commanding here? "

"I'm in am in charge, " said a strongly muscled dwarf in a chainmail shirt with shoulder pauldrons made of iron. He was carrying a shield and a large warhammer.

"The creature in the cage is indicating there are bodies in the back of this cavern. Could you have some of your men search it, please? I do not know exactly where. Avoid those white strands hanging from the mushroom caps. " said, Tad.

"It will be done. " said the Dwarf. He turned and walked back to a larger group of soldiers that were lounging against the entrance gates to give them instructions.

"Mother, what time is it? Did they leave to the dig site yet? " asked Tad.

"They are leaving soon if they haven't already. You were there for hours," said Marena.

Damn it, it was morning when he had been attacked, "I need to go with them. There is something more important going on, and I think that artifact Kettle is in might be the center of it. " said Tad.

"Tad, I'm not going with you. I'll stay here with Bubbles for a while yet. It is probably safer here than anywhere in the Hold till we find Yoroula," said Marena.

"Fine, keep the door shut and latched here. I doubt the creature will try to come through the cage if it wants to get back in here. I'm going to run. " said Tad as he stretched and tried to reach his toes. There was a sudden pop as the rib that didn't feel right went back into place. He took a deep breath and stepped out of the cage.

The dwarf who was in charge was outside the wagon cage again, "I'm sorry I missed your name." said Tad.

"Lord Rockgrip, my name is Heznatin Ingotguard, Seargent at Arms of the Scorpina guards. Most everyone calls me Hazn," said Hazn.

"Pleasure to meet you, Hazn. You can stop calling me Lord or M'Lord or sir. Tad or Thaddius is fine. What are your orders here? " asked Tad.

"I'm to guard the creature, the cage, and Marena while she waited for you to…" he paused. Tad was sure he was going to say die.

Tad nodded, "Well, you need to stay here. I need to get back up front fast. I need to be in that caravan leaving for the dig site. I'm going to be running. It is going to be faster than your guards will be able to keep up with me."

"Sir… I mean Tad. We have four mounts near that would be the best way. I can send a guard with you to make sure you do not get lost. " said Hazn.

"Hazn, I've never ridden one of those lizards before, have him lead me out. I will follow at a run," said Tad. He might not be the fastest runner, but he knew he could easily make it to the lifts in one go.

The dwarf nodded and waved over another guard. A few minutes later, Tad was running down the halls behind a lizard rider. He had three summoned lights, two ahead at intervals and one above. This time they looked like unicorns with manes of fire. Tad had his soulmancy going full-out. He was searching for any presence that wasn't dwarven or in his group, no more surprises.

***