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Jason pushed on, the cave wind blowing against his face Good, he thought That e ended in a chae ballroo to the outside That, then, was the source of the fresh air Jason tried to push light to the ceiling, but the dark vault soared high overhead, beyond the reach of his puny la far into the ed the walls all around, as if from the sreat raised platforerholds and scrarated when he touched the what rinned out froreat predator or the site of a long-ago battle

At the far end of the platform was a massive oak door

Jason eyed the door In a movie, that would be the door you shouldn’t open

But of course you would

By now, the ghyll, thefor hiet past that door So drew hiain Using it like an eyepiece, he scanned the entry It was covered with a delicate labyrinth of glittering threads, invisible to the naked eye Another kind of web

Extending his hand, he muttered, "Geryman" Open The door re one of the long leg bones, he ca cautiously through the web of light

With a sound like a gunshot the door exploded outward in a blast of fla at the threshold, he would have been incinerated As it was, he al pulse had steadied, he approached the doorway, again froh Beyond the entrance was yet another door, set with six panels of beaten gold, each engraved with an i

Each engraving depicted one of the Weirguilds A beautiful wo robes extended her hands toward Jason, s She obviously represented the enchanters, who had the gift of charm and seduction A tall, ing a sword That was the warrior, who excelled in battle

In another scene, an olddown his wrinkled cheeks He must be a soothsayer or seer, who could predict the future, though iround roots with a mortar and pestle She was a sorcerer, expert in the creation and use of ical tools and ht s of a marionette who seemed unaware of the puppeteer

Well, there’s the wizard, Jason thought The only one of the lot who could shape ic ords, and for that reason raved with a s spread

The legend was that the founders of the hyll as cousins, slaves to a dragon who ruled the dragonhold Eventually, by working together, they’d on In soical sleep They’d renaet that the dragon had ever existed

Then four of the cousins were tricked into signing a covenant that made them subservient to the fifth cousin

The wizard

By the sixteenth century, the hierarchy of thewizards had organized the houses of the Red and the White Rose, whose incessant battles decimated the houses over time The system of tournaments known as the Ga wizards The Dragon House, to which Jason belonged, harked back to a time before wizards assu of the dragon, knowing such pieces often held i an artistry lost to tion’s olden eyes An elaborate cloak poured in glittering folds down the dragon’s back, to be caught in the arms of a lady who stood just behind the beast

The lady ell-dressed for a servant, if that’s what she was Her hair was carefully arranged and she wore a necklace with a single glittering geh she was tiny next to the dragon, she see in an affectionate way and the dragon’s head arced doard her as if to continue an intimate conversation

In a faint continuous script around the center panel ran the words, "Enter with a virtuous heart, or not at all"

Well, that shuts ht qualify

Who would haveso cool and then hidden it in the mountain to be found only by chance? And what lay behind it?

It’s no use You’re going in You can’t resist

Taking a deep breath, extending his hand, he whispered "Gery another detonation