At least the corridor beyond opened up to let him walk upright and put a few more feet between himself and her barbs.

“Another trap,” Ryslind said. This time it was a thin wire stretched across the floor. Jig’s poor vision meant that he couldn’t see it at all, and he felt like a fool as Darnak guided his legs in an exaggerated motion over the wire. Better this than another attack, though. He wondered how much power it took for Ryslind to sense the traps and the hidden passages. Even tracking the Necromancer at all must take an enormous effort. Jig knew nothing of magic, but he assumed a powerful wizard would have ways to hide himself.

“Do you think this is what the Necromancer wants?” he wondered.

“What’s that?” Darnak snapped. He scowled at his map and drew a quick turn, then made a line to indicate the tripwire. “Do I think what?”

“Well, he has to know we’re here. And he probably knows we’ve got a wizard. So wouldn’t it make sense to force the wizard to use up his power before we actually face the Necromancer? That way, when we finally get through this maze, the Necromancer will be able to kill Ryslind like a bug.” Not to mention what the search might be doing to Ryslind’s already questionable sanity. Those dual voices sent creepy tingles down Jig’s back every time the wizard spoke.

“Aye, it’s possible.” Darnak hurried ahead, forcing Jig and Riana to jog to keep up. When they were closer to the humans and their lantern, he slowed his pace again to draw. As he sketched, he explained. “That’s why we all have to be ready to strike. Only two ways for the likes of us to deal with wizards of the Necromancer’s caliber. Run away, or hit him with a rock.”

“I don’t have a rock,” Jig said worriedly. There were no rocks down here. Had he known, he would have taken one from the lakeshore above.

Darnak’s eyes came up to glare at Jig. “Figure of speech. Your sword there’ll do the job. The trick is to take him out before he can use his magic. Hard and fast, and no hesitation. Let him get a spell off, and it’s your death. I’m afraid you’re right about Ryslind being at the end of his rope, so if you wait for him to save your blue hide, you’ll not last long.”