Up ahead, Kyphos saw Zara raise her hand. A golden ring on her finger lit up with a radiant glow, providing enough light to see. As he hurried to catch up with her, Kyphos expected to come to a chamber like the one in Malakai, but was surprised to find himself standing with the sorceress in a long corridor. A series of wide passages, perpendicular to the central corridor, headed out on both sides.

‘What is this place?’ Kyphos asked.

Zara cast him an impenetrable look, continuing her exploration. He followed her into the first of the side passages and immediately saw cages flanking the corridor, stretching all the way to the end, until the passage terminated in a blank stone wall. Within each cage was a skeleton. Every one of them had a gaping hole in its skull.

‘What did you say, sorceress?’ Kyphos asked when he heard her mutter under her breath and noticed that she was scowling.

‘No chains,’ she said.

‘The dragons . . . Why were they killed?’

Zara shrugged and they left the passage, moving into the next. Soon they’d confirmed that all the others were the same.

‘So many,’ Kyphos said. ‘They must have had scores of dragons.’

Zara nodded absently. ‘A hundred or more. Come. We can’t dally.’

She walked briskly to the end of the long corridor and then stopped, lifting her hand to cast light ahead.

Peering over her shoulder, Kyphos saw that they were now at the top of a set of stairs leading downward.

Without another word Zara descended, moving so quickly that Kyphos, with his shorter stride, struggled to keep up. At the base of the stairs they found another golden door, and the sorceress hurried to put her fingers to the symbols, closing her eyes and then making a short grunt.

The golden door swung soundlessly open.

As if triggered by its opening, sudden light poured from behind the door. It was as bright as daylight, and for a moment Kyphos was blinded. He blinked and gradually his sight adjusted.

Zara entered, and Kyphos heard her gasp. He followed, and they both took in the immense hall they now found themselves in.

Orbs of solid gold glowed brightly, fixed to the wall at regular intervals. They revealed a magnificent vault, a gigantic store room, filled with magical items.

Kyphos and Zara walked along a central aisle, passing copper chains in multitudes, hanging from row after row of racks. Sun staffs with devices of gold, assembled on stands, filled an entire section. Wind staffs occupied another stretch, with resonance staffs and fire staffs precisely arranged in order. Along with the staffs were other weapons: swords, spears, and lances.

But then Zara’s footsteps increased as they passed through a gap between the racks and stands. She had her eye on something at the far end of the cavernous store room. Hurrying after her, Kyphos saw that she had fixed her gaze on an arch.