Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
(This is a scene that I made a preview of, but I totally forgot about. To be honest, I don’t think I used Curse of the Dark Wind for many teasers. It had a lot of spoiler potential back then. It also had plenty of scenes that didn’t work very well if I took a piece of them because context was lost. Oh well.)
“It may be possible for Fizzle to use the vents to get to the end of the passage,” Timoran suggests, scanning the ceiling for a hole that the drite can fit through. “Once there, he can use his magic to temporarily block the wind. That way we can make a run for the other opening. Do you agree to this plan, Fizzle?”
“Fizzle see way in,” the drite says with a nod. “Be ready.”
He climbs the wall and turns invisible as he slips among the stalactites. Focusing on a faint glow, he swiftly makes his way to the middle of the ceiling. The hole is a tight fit and he freezes every time the Dark Wind rushes a few inches from her feet. He sucks in his tiny gut and scrambles into the ceiling, expecting to be plunged into darkness. The light grows as he wiggles through the narrow tunnel and emerges into a vast chamber. Fizzle slinks along the floor, heading for the sound of trickling water and keeping his eyes on the swirling, glowing forms in the air.
One of the creatures flies low enough for the invisible drite to get a clear look at it. The emaciated humanoid struggles to control its butterfly wings as it coughs up black mist. Patches of blue hair are on its head, the scalp seeping ooze. Fizzle can barely recognize the creature as a pixie due to its haggard appearance and crazed expression. With a thrumming glow of white light, the pixie violently spasms and darts back into the teeming swarm. The entire colony has been corrupted by the Dark Wind, so they are nothing more than feral beasts. As they swoop near the ground, they reveal the collection of bones on the ground.
Using the shifting light of the pixies, Fizzle searches for a way down to the lower chamber. He tries to move quickly, but he clatters the skeleton of an eagle and draws the attention of the crazed creatures. They swarm around him and wait for the invisible drite to make another move, their minds no longer able to see through illusions. Minutes pass before they return to the air and Fizzle continues at a slower pace.
His heart leaps when he sees a gaping hole several yards in front of him, the distant sound of roaring wind rising from the tunnel. The screech of the pixies reminds him to move cautiously because getting trapped in a tight spot with the flesh-eating swarm would be his death. Fizzle is within reach of his escape when he crosses a flowing stream. The sound of his feet padding in the water riles the pixies and they see the running water moving around his ankles. With an echoing chorus of screams, the swarm emits a wave of magic that peels the invisibility spell from Fizzle. The chattering of sharpened teeth fills the air as the pixies spread out to surround the nervous drite.
“Fizzle no want trouble,” he announces, hovering off the ground and spinning to watch all of the pixies. “Fizzle can help. Clear Dark Wind. Then pixies return.”
Leaving a cloud of rainbow smoke in his wake, Fizzle launches into the air and smashes through the swarm. The drite weaves among the stalactites as the pixies blindly follow, many of them crashes into the hanging stones. Another blast of Fizzle’s breath gives him enough cover to double back toward the hole. He stretches his body and strains his wings, but veers away when the pixies cut him off. Many of them are hooting and hurling sharpened twigs as they herd their prey toward the other half of the swarm.
Muttering a quick spell, Fizzle lowers his head and a small shell of force appears in front of him. He bashes through the pixies and hits the wall, creating a deep dent. Fearing that he is about to be surrounded, Fizzle whirls around and fills the air with his magical breath. The sound of screeching and tiny bodies hitting stone causing him to blow the rainbow mist away with the rapid fluttering of his wings. For a few seconds, he can only sit in the dent and stare at the confusing sight before him.
The pixies are fighting amongst themselves with half of them trapped in a hallucination caused by Fizzle’s breath. Bodies plummet to the ground as wings are viciously torn from backs and the victors dive to feast on the fallen. Not wanting to risk his wings, the drite makes his way to the ground and runs over the bones. A few pixies notice him and attack, but he slaps them away with his tail. With a final glance at the carnage in the room, Fizzle crawls into the hole and plunges into darkness. He pokes his head out of the ceiling in time to see a blast of Dark Wind erupt from the wide opening.
