Journals of Nikita Katarina Czigany Kryszka

Book 5.10 Greasy Hydras Can't Jump

2006-08-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

20 Esterealan

While I am not known as a military strategist, it seemed clear to me that lying prone beneath the belly of a nine-headed ice hydra was not an advantageous position for either Ester or the mouse hiding in her pocket. I hastily cast a healing spell on the badly wounded Ester and urged her to relocate as expediently as possible.
“But it can’t see me here!” Ester protested. “We’re safe.”
In a calmer moment, I am going to have to talk to Ester about the definition of ‘safe.’ Unfortunately, now was not the time to reason with Ester. It’s difficult for a mouse to make oneself heard over the roaring of a nine-headed ice hydra. (Or any sort of hydra, really.)
“Aaaaaaaaaah!” Val cried as she charged through the air toward the ice hydra. She stopped, leaping backward as several heads snapped at her. Val might be bold, but she’s not foolish; it’s a subtle but important distinction. Several heads whipped in her direction and breathed deadly cold at Val. Her brightly colored clothes became crusty with frost, but thanks to Jven’s protective spell, Val was unharmed. By the frost, that is. The three heads that bit her were another matter. Val looked rather unwell at this point.
“Ester,” I pointed out, “we’re not protected by Jven’s spell any more.”
“Shhh! It will hear you.”
More quietly that the flashy warrior, Aren jogged up the stairs. He unleashed one of his shadowy daggers from beneath his sleeve and tossed it at the hydra’s neck. The blade pierced the creature, which snorted in annoyance, as if it had just broken a nail. A few drops of blood splashed onto the ice just past Ester’s nose.
Haquia followed Aren’s attack by firing two arrows into another scaly neck. Canliss cast magic missiles and flapped into the corner, safely out of harm’s way. The creature hissed at them with several heads. All in all, the hydra was a very noisy beast.
“Ester, we need to get out of here,” I squeaked. Honestly, I don’t think there was a more dangerous place for us to be except possibly on top of the hydra, but even Ester wasn’t foolish enough to do that.
Sadly, Ester ignore my wise advice (No one listens to me.). She got to her knees and swung her flame sword at the creature’s foreleg. The blade cut deep, sizzling as the fire melted through the ice coating the beast’s scaly hide. It screamed in rage. (Fortunately, it did not collapse; I would have had harsh words for Ester if that had happened.)
“Ester, don’t attract its attention!” I yelled. Much too late, I’m afraid. It’s impossible to reason with Ester once she starts whacking things. It didn’t take a vision to know that Ester was going to be badly hurt in the near future, and I couldn’t heal her from the grave. The only prudent thing to do was retreat. The hydra was unlikely to notice one little, gray mouse, so I scurried out of Ester’s pocket and to the edge of the pyramid. I slid down the sloping ice and flew into the air, where Aren caught me.
“I got ya,” he said. I huddled in Aren’s palm, shivering and pawing in vain at my wet fur. Retreat might have been the wisest course of action, but it certainly wasn’t the warmest.
As my fellow priest tossed another shadow dagger at the hydra from a nice, safe distance, it occurred to me that Aren’s pocket was a much safer place to be than Ester’s. During a battle, at least – I don’t really know who Aren is (yet). Sadly, my favorite pocket to ride in is on its way to Geston.
“The hydra is healing itself!” Ester bellowed suddenly. This was a rather dismal discovery, given that our ability to heal one another was considerably more limited. Jven and I had already used most of our spells.
Ester had noticed the hydra’s regenerative abilities as it stepped away from her, intent on Val. She took this opportunity to cut a large gash in the vicinity of it’s massive posterior. The hydra roared in anger. Three of its heads breathed frost over poor Val, who was, thank the gods, still protected by Jven.
Unfortunately, the hydra was even better at multi-tasking than a busy Torodinite. Even as it coated Val with frost, two more heads turned and breathed frost on Ester, who wasn’t protected by Jven’s magic. Poor Ester shuddered, then screamed in pain as the hydra’s remaining four heads chomped on her. Ester’s blood ran freely over the icy pyramid.
“Hey, Canliss, cast some Grease up there!” Aren yelled. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Perhaps my darkest fears weren’t so paranoid after all – maybe Aren was a saboteur? He could be working for the Flame Brotherhood, for all we know.
Canliss needs no encouragement to cast the Grease spell. Ester shrieked in horror as we heard the all-too-familiar words of the spell, followed by a loud splurt as a pool of grease appeared beneath the hydra. Canliss looked smug, even though the spell had no immediate result other than frightening Ester.
Jven, meanwhile, had cast Sanctuary on herself. She approached Gor, apparently intent on healing him. I would have considered that a waste of divine magic, but it would be nice for the hydra to have something to munch on besides Val and Ester. Ignoring Aren’s startled cry, I leaped out of his pocket to land on Gor’s head. I proceeded to cast a healing spell on him. The barbarian opened his eyes, looking groggy (more so than usual, that is) for only a moment. He leaped to his feet and promptly began foaming at the mouth. Luckily, Jven slapped him with another healing spell before he went charging up the stairs toward the hydra.
Val, still in mid-air, stabbed the hydra and leaped backwards. Ester cut into the beast from the other end, just before Gor arrived to sink his axe into its side. Blood poured onto the ice, yet it looked as if our warriors were just getting started. The hydra’s other wounds had already healed. We didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.
Haquia and Aren pitched in with arrows and phantom daggers, to no avail. Was this creature beyond us? What were we going to do? Our retreat was blocked by a wall of ice.
Even as this worrisome thought occurred to me, the snarling hydra savaged Ester with several heads. The giantess slumped over onto the ice and lay still in a puddle of her own blood.
“Ester’s down!” Val yelled, since many of us couldn’t see the top of the pyramid. (I confess, some of what I have been describing I learned second-hand.)
“Back off everyone!” Canliss yelled. “I’m going to grease the top of the stairs.”
Well, at least he’d warned us for a change. “Canliss,” I snapped, “if you do that, we can not get to Ester to heal her.”
“Never mind,” he said, and cast some more magic missiles. At least he can take direction once in a while.
Ignoring the fact that he was still rather badly wounded, Gor plunged in to the fray, swinging his massive axe at the beast. (Not before the hydra sunk its teeth into him, undoing some of Jven’s and my hard work. Being a cleric is such a thankless job.) Gor got even by chopping into the hydra with his axe, but his pride was short-lived when the wound closed up almost as fast as he’d created it.
Fortunately, Gor had managed to attract the hydra’s attention. As soon as the beast turned away from the unconscious Ester, I summoned a Celestial Saint Bernard and ordered it to rescue her. The dog (who was just as cute as its more mundane brethren but didn’t slobber so much), grabbed Ester’s collar and dragged her to the edge of the pyramid, where they both slid down the icy slope, with Ester’s shadowy tentacles flying in every direction and blood staining the ice behind them. I started running toward them, hoping to reach Ester in time to save her from bleeding to death.
Meanwhile, all nine hydra heads ignored the arrows and shadow daggers sailing past them and attacked Gor. The barbarian staggered but didn’t die. This was probably for the best; Gor was quite useful as a distraction. Realizing this, Jven walked through the air to slap Gor on the back of the head with another healing spell. Unfortunately, we clerics could not heal damage nearly as fast at the hydra could cause it. I hated to admit it, but our odds of winning this battle were looking rather slim.
“Do you think we really have to destroy this thing?” Val asked.
We couldn’t be sure of that without further divination, but retreat was sounding like a pretty good idea. After all, we could always come back and kill it after we’d healed everyone and restored our spells. It wasn’t as if defeating the hydra were beyond our abilities; we’d simply started the fight at a serious disadvantage.
Even Gor could see the wisdom in retreating. Without deliberation, he threw Jven over his shoulder and dove for the edge of the ice pyramid. The hydra lunged after them. One set of teeth snapped on empty air. A second nipped Gor on the shoulder. Jven yelped as they went careening down the icy slope, but I think she was enjoying herself. They reached the bottom and stopped inches short of falling into the lava.
The rest of the group wasn’t about to be left behind. I unmoused and met the Celestial Saint Bernard (His name was Rolf.) in the corner of the ice pyramid and cast a healing spell on her. It wasn’t enough to get her to her feet.
“I need some help with Ester!” I yelled. I certainly couldn’t carry her. Even dragging her would have been a chore, especially in heels.
A shadow fell over me. Aren had moved to stand between me and the hydra. What did he think he was doing? It was a sweet gesture, but Aren was no paladin. And I’m no longer the helpless girl I used to be. I could take care of myself.
Not bothering to get up, Jven crawled across the ice to slap a healing spell on Ester. The giantess opened her eyes just as we heard an anguished roaring from above. Everyone turned as the hydra slipped on Canliss’s grease and slid off the top of the pyramid. Shards of ice flew as it dug in its claws, just managing to stop itself from sliding off the edge. The statue in the corner shattered and plunged into the lava below.
Val, standing in the air just above it, smacked the beast on the head with her rapier. Then she went running through the air to fetch Haquia, who’d gotten herself stuck in the far corner and had no way of escaping without help.
Although we were all happy to see the hydra momentarily confused, there was one problem with this turn of events. (Two, if you count the smugness radiating from Canliss.) The hydra was now just as close to the exit as those of us piled in the corner, and it was closer than Val, Haquia and Canliss. Could we really beat the creature out of here?
“Gor, grab Nikita and run!” Aren ordered.
I backed away and glared at him. Did he think I was a piece of luggage to be hauled around by the barbarian? If our association is to continue, Aren and I are going to have a long talk.
Gor, who didn’t want to save me any more than I wanted to be touched by him, shrugged and ran for the door. We could see the rope bridge swaying under his weight. Unfortunately, once he got to the other side there was only a ten-foot ledge to stand on. It was going to be quite a challenge fitting everyone on that tiny ledge.
“Run for the bridge!” Aren yelled. “I think I can distract it. Just go. Don’t worry about me.”
I stared at Aren in confusion. Apparently, not only does he have the delusion that he’s in charge, but he thinks he’s a paladin. Perhaps we should have the Soltanites inspect him for mental illness.
“Aren, run!” I yelled.
Ignoring me (Everyone ignores me.), Aren strode towards the hydra and cast a spell. A smoky cloud of dark mist filled the corner of the pyramid, obscuring the hydra from view. The beast roared, either in confusion or anger it was difficult to tell.
Hoping to slow the beast down some more, I ordered Rolf, the Celestial Saint Bernard, to attack it. I knew the poor thing didn’t have a prayer of surviving long, but he could buy us some time. As Rolf raced into Aren’s mist, I moused into Ester’s pocket. We heard some barking and snarling amidst all of the hydra’s bellowing.
Ignoring the dog, the hydra charged out of the mist and lumbered toward Val and Haquia. The beast stopped and breathed frost on them. Haquia was still protected, but Val shuddered and screamed in pain.
Canliss, who firmly believes that the only thing better than Grease is more Grease, cast another spell beneath the hydra’s feet. The hydra didn’t seem to notice. At least it didn’t go sliding toward Val and Haquia.
Realizing we couldn’t stand around waiting for the hydra to breathe frost on us, or for Canliss to cause some Grease-induced disaster, we lost no more time retreating. The betentacled Ester turned and ran across the rope bridge. As I bounced alarmingly in her pocket, I could see Gor standing on the ledge ahead of us, chopping at the wall of ice with his axe. Jven, walking on air, ran straight for the ledge, where she drew her cutlass and began helping Gor.
Behind us, Val threw Haquia over her shoulder. Eluding the hydra’s snapping jaws, she climbed into the air and started across the river of lava.
This left only Aren and Canliss in the room with the hydra. I looked anxiously over Ester’s shoulder. If Aren died, I’d never find out who he was. Fortunately, Aren knew that Canliss could take care of himself. He turned and started across the rope bridge. We heard a distant yelp that signaled the untimely passing of Rolf the Celestial Saint Bernard, then the hydra appeared at the cavern opening. The beast stopped to breathe frost on Aren, but my brother priest was still protected. Ester ran back to fetch him and carried him the rest of the way across the rope bridge.
“We should do a lot more leaving,” said Jven, shaking her head at the frost-covered Aren.
“Thank the gods, we’re all safe” I said as we all crowded on the ledge and the end of the rope bridge while Gor, Ester and Jven hacked at the wall of ice.
“What about Canliss?” Val asked.
“Oh, he can take care of himself,” Jven and I replied in unison. We both knew that self-preservation was the six-fingered mage’s specialty.
Gor paused a moment in his ice chopping. “Do you think the hydra will be mad when it notices we’re gone?”
An angry roar came from the distant cavern. “I, uh, think it’s noticed,” said Val.
While Ester and Gor chopped at the ice wall, the rest of us discussed our situation. We couldn’t just run away and leave the hydra here. It smacked of leaving things half-finished.
“So, how do we know if we destroyed the Soul of Ice or not?” Ester asked, even as she kept hacking at the wall.
“We did not,” Aren said decisively. I wonder where he learned to be such a pessimist.
“But we smashed it all to hell,” Ester protested, “just like the child of Stern mother unborn.”
“That’s lifeless child, Ester,” I added hastily, since Val was looking rather alarmed. “Of Stern mother found.”
“Let’s just go back and tell Donar we destroyed it,” said Jven, taking a swig of her whiskey. (I’m sure she was kidding.)

We made it through the wall of ice (an unpleasantly chilly experience) by the time Canliss flew over to join us. He looked dangerously smug.
“I killed the hydra with a Grease spell,” he said proudly.
We all stared at him. The six-fingered mage proceeded to describe how the hydra had jumped from of the platforms between the bridge and the ice pyramid and onto the ledge just beyond the rope bridge. At which point Canliss naturally cast a Grease spell. Then Canliss flew above the rope bridge and cast a Taunt spell. The hydra, which wasn’t all that bright, leaped at him. Canliss gleefully reported how the hydra had slipped on the grease and went screaming into the lava below.
“Riiiiiiight,” Jven and I said in unison. We proceeded to plan how we were going to return and destroy the hydra in the morning.
“What do you mean?” asked Val, who didn’t know Canliss all that well. “He said he killed it.”
“You don’t know Canliss like we do,” said Jven.
“It could happen,” said Val generously.
“I killed it,” Canliss insisted. “I wiped up the floor with that thing. It’s gone.”
“Technically, the lava killed it,” Ester pointed out.
We attempted to plan tomorrow’s assault on the lava, although those who thought Canliss was telling the truth weren’t really into the spirit of things. We did take care of the ice wall. Aren tossed a torch into the grease on the other side. As the wall melted (The rope bridge caught on fire, too, but we had spells to get around the need for that.) We used our remaining healing spells, then we slept inside the rope trick.
21 Esterealan

In the morning, we noticed that all the frost was gone from the walls. After we said our prayers, I sent a creeping shadow to check on the hydra. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it wasn’t there.
“Oh my gods!” I cried. “Canliss was telling the truth. The hydra is gone!”
“See, I told you I killed it,” Canliss replied smugly.
I couldn’t bring myself to congratulate him. I was too appalled knowing that one day I will have to explain to Rhavin how Canliss came to believe that his Grease spell is the cure to all of Hurva’s ills. Honestly, he was cocky before… now he’s going to be insufferable. The whole of Istur is going to be covered in grease before the month is out.
At the moment, we had more impressing concerns. I cast air walk on Val and Ester so they could ferry everyone across the river of lava.
We spent several hours searching the cavern and the pyramid. We found nothing. I don’t know about the others, but I was terribly disappointed. I’d expected an important discovery after destroying the Soul of Ice. But what had we learned? Nothing. We didn’t even know how the Soul of Ice came to be here.
“I know,” I said. “I’ll send a magma mephit to search the area where the hydra fell into the lava.”
“There’s a magma mephit?” Ester asked dubiously.
I nodded.
“Really? Is there a cookie mephit?”
“No, Ester?”
“How about a sock mephit? A noodle mephit?”
“That’s enough Ester.”
“Cast the spell, Nikita,” said Val, smiling. “It certainly the only use you’re ever likely to find for a magma mephit.”
“True,” I said. “They’re not much use for doing chores.”
I cast the spell. Sadly, the mephit found nothing. There was simply nothing to be learned here. After all that effort, I’d expected some sort of soul-shaking discovery. Instead, all we had was two escaped demons and one missing head of a creepy fire cult. Canliss didn’t even get any loot.
There was nothing else for it. We made our way back to the surface to report to Donar. When we reached the warehouse, we saw the demons had left quite a mess behind them.
“This is not our fault,” I reminded the others. I wanted to make sure we were all clear on this, so there would be no confusion when Donar asked about it. I will not be held responsible for demons being loose in Istur.
It was mid morning on the surface. Although we were all happy to see daylight again, the experience was soured by the nonstop bragging from the six-fingered mage.
“Canliss,” I chastised him, “that’s enough. Arrogance is not a charming trait.”
“We all agree with that,” Canliss said unrepentantly.
“So Aren, are you coming to Strand’s with us?” I asked innocently. “Or do you need to get home? You said you lived on…”
Aren chuckled, not taking the bait. “I don’t believe I actually mentioned that. And I do have other obligations.”
“Really? What might those be?”
Aren smiled and didn’t answer.
We’d just rounded the corner of Shadow Lane, bringing Strand’s into sight, when I spotted someone watching us from the doorway of Lightfingered Willie’s house. It was Nunzio, one of Shifty Nicco’s thugs. What in the name of the nine hells was that bastard doing? Spying on me?
There was no time to discuss the matter with the others (especially when one considers their tendency to bicker). I cast invisibility on myself and started towards him. As soon as I vanished, he ran. I followed, but soon lost him in the crowded streets.
I would dearly have loved to know his reason for following me, but I lacked the spells to continue the chase. Knowing the others (well, Jven) would be concerned, I headed back to Strand’s.
As I was passing Daria’s Jewelry Shoppe, I spotted the most lovely sapphire pendant in the window. I just had to see it; it would only take a minute. I suppose it took more than a few minutes… I ended up not buying that, but this fabulous diamond choker that Daria knew I’d just love. We chatted for a bit, as propriety demanded, then I hurried back to Strand’s.
Indeed, hurry is an understatement. I dreaded the thought of inflicting my friends upon whoever was manning the Cloak Room. Why is it that otherwise intelligent people can’t seem to grasp the concept that you’re supposed to stay silent in the Cloak Room? The percentage of people who think that you’ll give in an answer their question if they just keep repeating it with increased volume is astonishing. I suggested putting up a sign, but outvoted by my brother priests who enjoy watching the ignorant become frustrated.
At any rate, I was looking forward to reporting the success of our mission to Donar and Rachel. I’m sure they’ll understand that those two demons who got away weren’t really our fault.

Book 5.9 The Soul of Ice

2006-05-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

19 Esterealan

Once we realized that we couldn’t all fit in one Rope Trick, Canliss kindly offered to cast two (After all, his spell components are cheap). And Haquia volunteered to forgo the Nap spell, since I could only cast it once. Everyone was being pleasant and cooperative… except, naturally, for Gor.
“I’ll stay down here and stand guard.”
I was struck by a perverse stab of jealousy directed at Rhavin and Kariya. Granted, most of our former compatriots were here in Istur with me; and Canliss, Ester and Jven are all good company. Rhavin and Kariya had left town in the company of a ranger with poor bathing habits, an Azkalite (enough said), and a crazy, drunken bard. But I’m certain that the three of them combined couldn’t possibly be as much trouble as Gor.
“That’s it,” I muttered under my breath, thinking fondly of Kariya and wishing I could cast a bolt of lightning. Instead, I raised my hand for everyone’s attention.
“Everyone gather around. We need to establish some party rules. We need to learn to work as a team. That means, if the majority of us decide to do something, we all do it.” I glared at Gor. “Whether it’s sleeping in the rope trick or having lunch, majority rules. If you disagree with that, the Istur Watch can use your help with the battle at the city gates.”
Gor scowled. “I don’t take orders from women.”
I glared at him, thinking how well zombies and shadow mastiffs take orders.
“How many people say that Gor takes orders from women?” asked Val, grinning and raising her hand.
Everyone raised their hands except, of course, for Gor. I opted to ignore him.
Then I glared at Canliss, who was laughing at the stupid barbarian. “Second rule – we do not poison fellow party members.”
“I’ll vote for that one,” said Val.
Canliss had the grace to look ashamed, but I doubted it was sincere. Shame is an alien emotion to the six-fingered mage.
“I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“Very well. If you have any more of that poison, I suggest you give it to someone in the group that’s more responsible than you.”
“I’ll take it,” said Gor.
“Uh, except Gor?” asked Ester.
“Yes, even Gor. At least Gor hasn’t poisoned anybody.” I was trying to be diplomatic, and it was the only nice thing I could think of to say about him.
“I think those will be enough rules for us to get by,” I said. “So Canliss, go ahead and cast the Rope Trick, and I will Nap us.”
Naturally, Gor could not be reasonable. He simply would not enter the Rope Trick. I refused to waste time arguing with him. The rest of us will simply have to behave as a group and treat the barbarian as a random, uncontrollable element, like hail storms and boil-inducing plagues.
Everyone else was just as prepared to give up on Gor as I was. We climbed into the Rope Trick and Napped, leaving the barbarian to his fate. He was alive and standing in the corner of the room when we awoke, much to my disappointment. As we broke our fast and prayed. I wondered how annoyed Donar would be if I came home with a shadow mastiff.
While we waited for Canliss to study his spells, I did my nails and studied Aren. He’s been even more quiet that usual lately. I wondered what he was thinking, but I could not, in good conscience, waste a precious spell to find out. I wonder who he really is? He must be someone I know – I gathered that much from reading his thoughts earlier. And my, er, mousy observations from underneath his robes revealed that he’s definitely male. (Impressively so, but then, from a mouse’s perspective, everything looks large.)
But who is he? He’s certainly not one of my brother priests – they’re all occupied with the zombie siege. So he’s someone I know, he’s not from Strands , and he’s someone able to refrain from murdering Gor for several days now. Who does that leave? Mario would have hit on Val by now. Sammy would never risk his neck down here. Bento doesn’t have the constitution for subterranean travel. Sal would have tossed Gor into the lava at the first insulting word. Just who could Aren be?
While I was pondering this mystery, Val took out our crude map of the area and examined it. She pointed out several areas we could search in the hope of finding an alternate route to the Soul of Ice. It would be tedious work and would eat up valuable time, but it would be worth the effort if we could avoid that ice bridge.
We started with our current location. After all, the presence of several angry demons hadn’t left us with much of an opportunity to look around earlier. We examined the area carefully for an hour, but we found nothing of interest.
We decided to keep looking. Crossing the ice bridge to reach the pyramid would involve a massive outlay of spells before the battle even started. Jven and I could cast almost nothing until tomorrow, which would make getting into any sort of a fight today nothing short of suicide. We had nothing better to do than search for secret passages.
“Canliss, you still haven’t given me that poison,” Gor said as we left the room. I’d been ignoring the barbarian, but he seemed to be following us around. Well, if he wanted to follow us around and kill demons, I wasn’t going to stop him.
Canliss raised his eyebrows at Gor, adopting that expression that he believes makes him look innocent, but which in reality makes him look like a large-eyed puppy who’s just been stepped on. “You act as if I carry an unlimited supply of that stuff around. I don’t.”
“If anyone’s getting that poison,” said Jven, “it’s going to be me. Of the three of us, I’m clearly the most responsible.”
That was certainly true. I left it to Jven to figure out how to extricate the poison from the six-fingered mage. Perhaps she’ll even enjoy the process. I’m starting to wonder if there’s something going on between those two. They’ve certainly been having a lot of whispered conversations when they think no one is paying attention. For Jven’s sake, I hope they are having a fling. It would be good for her. She’s been awfully moody lately; I’ve been concerned that Ravenloft has somehow warped her psyche.
We moved our searching into the garish room with the mirrored tub. Ester helped by hovering over my shoulder, pointing at things. “What about that? Did you search there? What about that brick? Do you think there’s a secret door under that pebble?”
Ester’s ‘help’ is surely the reason that it wasn’t I who discovered that the mirror behind the bathtub was really a door, but the stupid barbarian. We all stopped searching when we heard the creaking of hinges. The central mirror pivoted, revealing an opening. Gor stood beside it looking smug.
“Hey, look,” said Val. “It’s a door.”
“Well done, Val,” I said. I refused to acknowledge Gor’s presence, much less give him credit for such an important discovery.
The mirrored door led to a small, sulfur-smelling room with a door leading in the opposite direction. Gor tromped inside without delay. The rest of us hesitated a few moments – this was as good a way to check for traps as any – and then we followed Gor into the room. Beyond scorched walls and a rubble-strewn floor testifying to an explosion, there was nothing interest in the room.
Canliss seemed inclined to delay our expedition to paw through the rubble. Honestly. The Shadowlord knows that I have nothing against greed, but now wasn’t the time for it. We were here to destroy the Soul of Ice, not fill our pockets. Doesn’t Canliss realize the length of my to-do list? After we’re done saving the city, I have to conquer the zombie hordes, cure the Plague, find Silvio and help him finish his secret mission so Rachel can go home, end the Great Storm, fix Val up with Seregil, find and cure Gil of his unfortunate affliction, help Jven rescue Peregrine (unless she’s lost interest?), find a way to check on Anton, update my wardrobe, learn Aren’s secret identity, scry on Rhavin to make sure he’s okay , and persuade Torodin to let us get married. I don’t have time to stand around while Canliss loots everything in sight.
We watched Gor crunch across the rubble. I stopped Ester from following. “Wait, Ester, we’re checking for traps.”
When nothing exploded, we followed the barbarian to the door. Gor pointed to the rubble and broken glass strewn about and said, “You see, this is what comes of magic.”
“How do you know it was magic?” asked Val.
Gor attempted to think about this, but it proved too difficult. He crossed his massive arms and glared at Val. “It’s not natural.”
“So, this is not a natural mess?” Ester mused.
“I don’t know,” said Val. “All you need is some fire, the right kind of powder, and BOOM -- you have a mess.”
I wasn’t the only one who regarded Val with some interest. I’m going to have to pry into that girl’s background at the earliest opportunity. It sounds interesting.
Gor opened the door without consulting with anyone. As long as the rest of us keep our distance, I have no problem with this. Why waste ‘find trap’ spells when there’s someone expendable who’s stupid enough to open all the doors?
We watched Gor head into the hallway beyond the door. When nothing collapsed, exploded or burst into flame, the rest of us followed. The hallway passed a river of lava, where it ended in a stone wall. While Gor stared at the wall in confusion, I squeezed under his arm (thankful for Canliss’s clean cantrips) and searched. I found a small catch which loosened the wall. Gor, who’d been leaning against it, stumbled forward as the wall opened.
We found ourselves in the library, where we’d nearly been defeated by that horrible creature. We searched for a while, Canliss for personal gain, Jven for clues among the books, and the rest of us for a hidden door. Anything Canliss found he kept to himself (I swear, if he finds a clue and doesn’t share it, I will have Gabriel toss him into the lava.), and the rest of us found nothing of interest.
“These books are boring, Canliss,” Jven complained. “There’s no drinking, no wenching… It’s all fire this, summon that… Gods, I hate these people.”
Unwilling to give up and concede that the ice bridge was our only route to the Soul of Ice, we kept searching. After consulting Val’s map, we went back to the original corridor and began looking for a hidden door.
“What are we doing down here?” Gor asked.
Val blinked at him in surprise. “What are we doing?”
“I’ve kind of lost track.”
“We’re here to destroy the Soul of Ice,” she explained, with a lot more patience than I could muster. I was rather hoping that the barbarian would get bored and leave.
“That’s the glowing thing on top of the pyramid, right?” asked Gor. “It’s probably really big by now.”
“So, who wants ale?” Jven asked.
I frowned, but didn’t rebuke my fellow cleric. Jveltoans aren’t known for their patience, or their ability to find secret doors. Even I didn’t find any secret doors, and if a Torodinite can’t find it, then it isn’t there.
Canliss, who wasn’t really helping, interrupted our search by asking if we wanted to ‘hole up’ for the night. “There are several items I’d like to identify.”
I frowned at him. “Canliss, we’re not done searching. Remember, we have a goal here that does not involve profit.”
“Right,” said Jven. “Canliss is gonna stop looking for a profit, and I’m gonna switch to seltzer.”
After a fruitless afternoon of searching, we were forced to give up our hope of finding a secret door. If there was a route to the Soul of Ice that we’d missed, it involved walking on lava.
“We could just wait,” said Gor. “Pretty soon it’ll be big enough to reach the doorway.”
Giving that remark the attention it deserved, I suggested using a ‘Genius’ spell in the morning to determine if there was a more strategically advantageous route. In the meantime, the party (sans Gor) climbed into the Rope Trick. I watched Aren, who seemed rather preoccupied, and Canliss began identifying magical items we’d acquired during our hard-fought battles (all of which had somehow ended up in his possession.)
His eyes alight with avarice, Canliss started with his “glowing magical staff.” His face fell and he tossed it aside. “It’s a plain quarterstaff with ‘light’ cast on it.”
We all laughed at him. “That’s quite a treasure, Canliss. Are you sure you don’t want to keep that?”
By this point, the rest of us had become bored and tired and gone to sleep except for Ester, who was watching Canliss like an excited child and volunteered to take the first watch. I was surprised when, some time later, I felt someone shaking my shoulder.
“Nikita, Nikita,” Ester said breathlessly, “Look at these.”
I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes. On the palm of Ester’s outstretched hand were three of the tiniest scrolls I’d ever seen, each one bound with a small ribbon.
“Oh, how cute,” I said, gingerly picking them up. They had a rather unpleasant odor to them. “Where did you find these?”
“In the box,” said Ester.
“What box?”
Canliss frowned. “This box.” Reluctantly, he held up a lovely, ivory box. I took it from him.
“This is the perfect size for a pair of earrings,” I said, and I put the box in the pocket. I smiled at Canliss. He probably thought I’d forgotten about his lack of tithing to the Church. As we Torodinites like to say, there’s more than one way to get a donation.
Carefully, I opened the scrolls. The writing was nothing I recognized. I cast ‘comprehend languages’ and learned that each scroll bore the name of a demon. I read them to Ester and Canliss.
“That could be useful information,” said Canliss.
I frowned at him. I could well imagine what Donar would say about the combination of Canliss and knowledge about demons. “It would be impossible to pronounce those names without a spell,” I said. “Such things weren’t meant for human tongues. Besides, it would require more than just the knowledge of these names to summon a demon.”
Canliss took out a book he’d picked up about how to summon demons. There’s another thing I’m going to have to get away from him. He found common, phonetic spellings of the three names in the book.
“Those names will be useful for controlling any summoned demons, won’t they?” Canliss asked. “It says here that those three are glaabrezu.”
The idea of Canliss trying to control demons is enough to keep a person awake nights. “I can’t summon that sort of demon,” I admitted. “They’re very large and powerful. And I’m afraid the names themselves are of limited usefulness to us. They would assist me to banish the demons, but I’d have to have the language spell in effect in order to pronounce the names.”
Once we’d sufficiently indulged our curiosity, I went back to sleep. I was undisturbed until it was time to pray and break our fast in the morning.

20 Esterealan

Canliss shared information regarding what we’d found inside the box with the others as we broke our fast in the morning. Then, after we’d finished our prayers, I sacrificed a precious gem and cast the Genius spell. What, I asked, was our most strategically advantageous route to the Soul of Ice? Sadly, the ice bridge was our answer.
We all regarded each other with some disappointment. But there was no hope for it. No one ever said that saving the world would be easy. Canliss and I scouted briefly. We learned that the cold in the chamber had deepened to the point where it was painful, more creatures covered the pyramid (including two alarmingly large ice lizards), and the Soul of Ice had grown considerably larger. No one looked pleased when we reported this news.
Resigned to our fate, we discussed our strategy. Naturally, the burden of making sure we survived to reach the pyramid fell upon the clerics. Jven would control the roaring winds, without which we couldn’t hope to accomplish much of anything inside the cavern. Jven would also protect us all from the unnatural cold, and I would protect everyone except Ester, Haquia and Gor from evil. (I’d be riding in Ester’s pocket in mouse form, so she would enjoy my protection. Haquia would be standing back from the battle. And I really didn’t care about Gor.) Since Canliss was the only one among us who could fly under his own power, I also opted to use Air Walk on Jven and Val, and Crawling Darkness on Ester and Gor. These spells, combined with the crampons all of us would wear whether we needed them or not, would prevent unfortunate falls that could lead to even more unfortunate tumbles into the lava. I would ride in Ester’s pocket in mouse form, putting me in a position to cast spells and heal Ester without becoming a target. (She has a tendency to pet me when I’m in mouse form, but we all must make sacrifices in the war against evil.)
Once we were all cramponed and outfitted, I moused into Ester’s pockets. We gathered just outside the bridge and began our protective spells. I made sure to cast Crawling Darkness from behind Gor’s back.
“Aaaaah! Get it off! Get it off!” he cried, alarmed when several shadowy tentacles sprang from his body. I looked at him in feigned surprise.
“The gods have favored you, Gor,” said Jven. We all smiled at him, enjoying the barbarian’s discomfort. He tried in vain to hack at the tentacles, looking perplexed when his blade passed through them without harm.
“These are so cool,” Ester cried with glee. She proceeded to taunt Gor with her tentacles until we made her stop. I made myself comfortable in Ester’s pocket. Finally, we were ready to assault The Soul of Ice.
The Soul of Ice now encased the top third of the pyramid. It throbbed like a beating heart, expanding slightly with every pulse. Numerous creatures had gathered atop it, apparently fighting among themselves. Two enormous ice lizards crawled the length of the glowing sphere. Beyond the chaos the blizzard raged, creating tendrils of hissing steam where it met the lava far below.
I studied the Soul of Ice as Ester crawled easily along the ice-covered rope bridge. It was impossible to guess what the creatures on the top of the sphere were doing. Humanoid, but seemingly made entirely of ice with sharp spines and long claws, they seemed to have flattened down a small portion of the top of the sphere. They hopped about and gesticulated, whether in anger or in jubilation it was hard to say. It wasn’t clear whether they were fighting among themselves, or engaging in some sort of primitive dance. Suddenly, an ice mephit appeared to land in the midst of these creatures. One grabbed the mephit and tossed it, screaming, into the lava. Clearly they weren’t all getting along.
Jven cast her first ‘control winds’ spell as we headed across. Thanks to her magic, the roaring maelstrom became nothing more than a gentle breeze. We must have been quite a sight, with the be-tentacled Ester and Gor crawling and Canliss flying, while Val and Jven walked on air and the others followed along with their crampons to keep their balance; yet the hopping ice creatures took no notice of us until we made it halfway across the bridge, Gor and Ester in the lead. Aren and Haquia, following close behind us, made quite a racket with their crampons. Splinters of ice broke loose with their passing, falling like rain to melt, hissing, into the lava below.
The ice creatures on the top of the sphere turned and gesticulated at us when they saw us on the bridge. They seemed disinclined to leave their perch on the Soul of Ice and contented themselves with what I could only assume were rude gestures. They were going to have to do better than that if they expected to impress a group of Isturians. We made it across the bridge as Jven, hanging in the back with Haquia, cast a second spell to control winds closer to the pyramid.
Gor charged/crawled up the steps of the pyramid. As he reached the bottom of the Soul of Ice, the two enormous ice lizards hissed menacingly. Ester charged up right behind him, a process which caused a lot of unpleasant bouncing for the mouse riding in her pocket. She gesticulated with her shadow tentacles, no doubt some sort of rude gesture directed at the ice lizards. The sphere loomed brightly above us, radiating an intense cold that would have been painful if it weren’t for Jven’s protective spells.
Just as Aren and Haquia stepped off the bridge far behind us, the ice lizards lunged at Gor. Both lizard snapped with their long, savage fangs. One sunk its fangs into Gor’s shoulder. Shrugging off the injury, the barbarian began foaming at the mouth, thus proving that he could be just as disgusting as anything with fangs and claws. He swung his blade, stabbing the creature in the side, then again in a scaly leg. Ichor spewed from the wounds (fortunately not in my direction).
Anxious not to be left out of the fight, Ester crawled beside Gor and attacked the second ice lizard. She stabbed the thing in its scaly abdomen with her flaming sword, causing it to lash its tail and bellow in pain.
Meanwhile, Jven calmed the winds in the rest of the cavern, allowing Canliss and Val free range of movement. Haquia shot one of the ice lizards, while Canliss flew towards the Soul of Ice. The creatures milling about on top of the sphere ceased their game of throwing each other into the lava to make rude gestures at the winged man flapping towards them (and they don’t even know Canliss).
Val, walking in the air over our heads, avoided both ice lizards. She headed for the Soul of Ice, which she struck with her blade. A sliver of ice the size of a tooth-pick broke from the icy sphere. Val frowned as it fell into the lava below. Apparently, destroying the Soul of Ice was going to be a lengthy process.
Meanwhile, I began to doubt the wisdom of riding out the battle in Ester’s pocket. I was getting jostled quite a bit as Ester attempted to dodge the frenzied ice lizard; without success, I might add. Ester cried out in pan as teeth grazed her arm, and a claw stabbed dangerously close to her mouse-filled pocket. I clung to Ester’s shirt with my little claws and thanked Torodin that I don’t have a sensitive stomach.
Gor, fighting beside Ester, also got clawed and bit. It looked like he was really getting hurt, but it wasn’t my problem. I couldn’t reach far in mouse form, even if I’d been inclined to help him. If Gor found himself in need of healing, he’d have to ingratiate himself with Jven.
I must admit, Gor and Ester certainly fought well together. The same ferocity that proved so unfortunate in the Soltanite shrine served us well here. They hacked savagely at the ice lizards, scorching them and slicing open their scaly hides. I’m not sure which was more impressive – how much damage our warriors were causing, or how much the ice lizards seemed to be shrugging off. It wasn’t just the big warriors attacking them, either. Haquia shot Ester’s lizard with several arrows, while Val ran through mid-air to slash at the one savaging Gor.
Ester and Gor were also taking an impressive amount of damage, but in their case it was rather more noticeable. When my ride began to sway alarmingly, I cast a healing spell on Ester. My perch in Ester’s pocket was certainly rather convenient for that.
Canliss and Val reported later that more icy humanoids appeared while Ester and Gor batted the lizards. During the battle, those of us occupied at the bottom of the sphere couldn’t really see what was going on up there. We heard the impact, though, when Canliss tossed a pebble at the Soul of Ice, magically turning it to a boulder as it impacted with the glowing sphere. Ice cracked, and the boulder, surrounded by a shower of ice shards, rolled into the lava below.
While steam drifted up from the boulder, Ester stabbed her ice lizard twice in its scaly neck. The lizard fell, sliding off the sphere and into the lava below with a splash. Steam billowed up to curl against the foot of the pyramid.
One ice lizard remained between us and the Soul of Ice. Aren tossed one of his glowing, black daggers over Gor’s shoulder and into the beast. Haquia followed this with two arrows, just as Val slashed the creature then leaped out of its range. (This maneuver looked even more graceful than usual, given that she was walking on air.)
The ice lizard was looking rather battered by this point, but it still managed to slash Gor with its wicked talons, ignoring everyone else. (It was almost as if the lizard had asked us to vote for a target.) Meanwhile, Ester carved a hole in the thing’s side with her flame blade, sending the lizard plunging into the lava below.
This engendered much cheering from the rest of our group, except for Canliss. He was the only one who’d flown high enough to realize that another humanoid ice creature had appeared on top of the Soul of Ice. It was getting rather crowded up there.
“So, uh, should we destroy the Soul of Ice now?” Ester asked.
“Yes,” I urged. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Val, whose impressive martial abilities are quite effective against living opponents, knew that she could to little against the massive Soul of Ice. She walked upward, joining Canliss near the top of the sphere. Too wise to venture in range of the icy mob, she took out a bow and began to fire at the growing crowd of creatures milling about on top of the sphere. Meanwhile, Canliss tossed another boulder. The Soul of Ice cracked, sending more shards raining into the lava below. Despite the damage, the thing continued to grow in time with its rhythmic pulsing.
“Aaarrrrgh!” Gor bellowed, rather more loudly than my sensitive mouse ears would have liked. He began hacking at the bottom of the Soul of Ice with his axe, sending shards of ice raining all over us. Ester joined him. The two of them hacked away with gleeful abandon, gouging and burning a furrow in the massive sphere. I suspect this was an unusual opponent for the two warriors, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. (I must say, though, all that ice hacking was extremely loud. I’m going to have to find myself a pair of mouse-sized ear-muffs.)
From behind us, Aren and Haquia shot arrows and energy daggers at the Soul of Ice. The faint impact of these weapons was barely audible over the hacking of our warriors. Slowly, but with great enthusiasm, they hacked their way up the stairs of the pyramid amid a shower of ice. The cold grew more intense with each step, and I wondered uneasily how long Jven’s spell would protect us from the unholy chill.
Although the Soul of Ice did not fight back, the creatures dancing about on top of it did not remain idle. They either would not or could not leave their lofty perch, but they still found a way to object to our presence. With a snarl, the largest of them grabbed a smaller companion and threw it at Canliss. Squealing in terror, the hapless creature latched onto Canliss’s leg. Although the six-fingered mage beat his wings furiously, the weight of the ice creature began to slowly pull him toward the lava below.
The wisest course of action would have been to divest himself of the creature latched on to his leg. So Canliss, naturally, ignored it. Instead, he cast ‘grease’ on the top of the sphere where all the ice creatures were dancing. Several creatures fell. One slid completely off of the sphere and plunged, screaming, into the lava below. All of the wild gyrating on top of the Soul of Ice suddenly ceased as the ice creatures realized their predicament.
Although the demise of the ice creature was undeniably beneficial to our cause, I fear the consequences of this event will haunt us for as long as Canliss lives. Even after the greasy goblin incident, the six-fingered mage remained insufferably smug about his abilities. Now that the grease spell has finally accomplished something useful, I fear that the inflation to Canliss’s already immense ego will be incalculable. Worst of all, we are never going to hear the end of this. Although my heart yearns to see Rhavin and Kariya again, I dread having to explain this to them.
Well, there was nothing to be done about it. Gor and Ester continued to hack away, digging deeper toward the center of the Soul of Ice. The cold grew even more intense, wearing away at Jven’s protection. While I worried that the cold would soon become hazardous to us, another ice creature went sliding off of the sphere, only to be replaced on top of the sphere by something far worse. Val yelped in surprise as an enormous, insectoid ice demon appeared in the center of the mob of creatures. The thing chittered angrily and seemed to radiate a palpable sense of evil.
While Val stared in horror at the demon, Canliss drifted further down toward the base of the pyramid. Landing, the ice creature who’d used him as a buoy now attacked the six-fingered mage, ripping into Canliss with his claws. Borne aloft by my air-walking spell, Jven came to Canliss’s aid, flanking the beast and drawing her dagger. (I really do believe there’s something going on between those two…) Taking advantage of the distraction Jven provided, Canliss smacked the thing on the back of the head with his staff. While the creature turned to snarl at the six-fingered mage, Jven cast a spell, blasting it with a stinging maelstrom of sand. It screamed and covered its eyes. Canliss took advantage of the opportunity to push it off the pyramid and into the lava.
Meanwhile, Aren tossed his energy daggers from the base of the pyramid, while Ester and Gor continued to hack a path toward the heart of the Soul of Ice. We were now completely surrounded by the glowing, pulsing sphere. Our breath frosted in the air. How much longer would it take our warriors to reach the center? Surely Jven’s spell wouldn’t protect us much longer.
Our companions, meanwhile, faced a very different threat as the ice demon leaped from the top of the Soul of Ice. It landed near Aren, chittering with its massive, icy mandibles. Aren backed away and tossed two of his strange daggers, both of which bounced harmlessly off of the creature’s icy carapace. Val, not one to leave a companion to face danger alone, raced to Aren’s side. She slashed at the demon, but it dodged easily. Val and Aren exchanged a horrified glance; this demon was far beyond our warriors’ abilities, and Jven and I had used all of our powerful spells. There was nothing we could do to stop it.
While two more grease-covered ice creatures fell screaming into the lava, the demon lashed out at Aren. Hearing him cry out in pain, I crawled onto Ester shoulder just in time to see him stagger backwards. He was moving with unnatural slowness, so much so that he was completely helpless before the demon’s onslaught. I was furious. I couldn’t let the demon kill Aren before I even found out who he was. I used my last powerful spell to dispel the magic, allowing Aren to move freely.
As ice rained down on my exposed fur, I hastily crawled back into the dubious safety of Ester’s pocket. She and Gor hacked away. Now we were just a few steps away from the top of the pyramid and the center of the Soul of Ice.
While yet another ice creature fell screaming into the lava, the ice demon surveyed the scene with casual arrogance. We were no threat to it; the demon could do as it pleased. It breathed a blast of killing cold at Aren, Val and Haquia. Aren dodged out of the way, and all of them were protected by Jven’s spell. The ice demon roared in frustration.
“Val, over here!” Jven called. When the air-walking warrior raced over to her, Jven cast a spell on Val. Suddenly Val’s blade crackled with electricity. Grinning, she raced back toward the demon. When she slashed it with her rapier, the power of Jven spell was unleashed, sending waves of crackling energy crawling over the demon’s icy carapace. While it screamed and thrashed Val leaped back out of the way; I could swear she mouthed a prayer under her breath. If the demon came after her, it was unlikely that Val would survive.
Luckily for Val, the demon decided not to bother with us any further. It leaped from the pyramid and sped from the room, creating a wall of ice to block its retreat. Val and Aren stared in astonishment. This was two demons in as many days that we’d unleashed upon Istur. Oh well, it really couldn’t be helped. It’s not as if we could have stopped the creature. (Besides, the first demon was Jven’s fault.)
Doggedly, Gor and Ester continued hacking through the Soul of Ice. Shards of ice rained down around us as our breath steamed in the frigid air. As they reached the top of the platform, I felt Jven’s spell fade and the cold stabbed into me. I shivered inside Ester’s pocket.
“Hurry, Ester!” I squeaked in encouragement, then cast a spell to heal myself.
“Die, lifeless child of stern mother unborn!” Ester cried as she hacked at the sphere with her flame blade. (She tries to remember the Prophecy, she really does.)
“Die, ice, die!” cried Gor, trying not to be outdone. I guess the two warriors just weren’t used to an opponent that couldn’t fight back. It was amazing, really, that they weren’t exhausted by now. But all of their effort was about to pay off. We were nearly to the center of the Soul of Ice. We were about to destroy it. Finally, our mission would be accomplished, and I’d be able to scratch something off of my to-do list.
At the center of the Soul of Ice, a mote of brilliant, blue light pulsed. From it radiated an intense, painful cold like nothing I have ever felt before. Ester, Gor and I all screamed in pain.
“Aarrrrgh,” Gor bellowed, foaming at the mouth in a rather unattractive fashion. He swung his axe, connecting with the pulsing mote of light. Somehow, it seemed to stop the blade in mid-swing, as if it were harder than diamonds. A blast of cold surged from the light, traveling up Gor’s axe and into his body. He screamed and staggered, yet he swung at the light again. A second blast of cold made him sway on his feet.
“Die!” Ester cried. She swung her flaming blade at the pulsing blue light. The blade connected, causing a sizzling flash from the mote of light – to what effect we could not tell. The cold didn’t radiate along Ester’s flaming blade, but the Soul of Ice surrounding us pulsed, sending a painful chill into our aching limbs.
Gor swung at the mote of light and missed. Given his sorry condition, this was probably for the best. Ester struck the mote of light again. It was beginning to fade, but so was Ester. Desperately, I healed myself. (Well, I couldn’t help Ester if I passed out.)
Now that he was close to losing consciousness, Gor started to back out from beneath the Soul of Ice. He was a little too slow. Ester struck the Soul of Ice again. Her blade hissed. The light winked out for a second. Then there was a massive, deafening explosion. Gor was knocked out and went sailing backward to land at the base of the pyramid where the others had gathered.
My own mousy shriek of pain was drowned out by Ester’s. The world tilted as Ester, despite the aid of her shadowy tentacles, fell hard on her back. Even as the entire Soul of Ice exploded into a thousand shards of glittering ice, a bluish-white hydra made entirely of ice appeared directly above Ester. We looked into the belly of a beast as massive as the entire Soul of Ice had been. The chilled air around us seemed to vibrate as it bellowed in rage.
So much for destroying the Soul of Ice and going home. It seemed my to-do list had just gotten longer.

Book 5.8 Demon Battle

2006-05-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

18 Esterealan, continued

Canliss and Val took turns listening at the door. They concentrated for several minutes then stood up, shaking their heads.
“It’s a door, all right,” said Canliss.
Obviously, I was going to have to do all the scouting in this group. I asked them to move aside so I could send a creeping shadow under the door. I planned to follow this with a find traps spell. I’d skip the divination for now – the results were likely to be inconclusive.
Before I could so much as retrieve my spell components, Val grabbed the handle to the door and opened it.
“What are you doing?” I cried in horror.
She shrugged. “What? It’s a door.”
Such recklessness. When Rhavin gets back, I’m going to ask him how he keeps everyone in order so well. I think I’m losing control of these people.
The room beyond was enormous. The eastern wall opened into a pit of lava. Near the opposite wall was a stone well, which looked rather innocuous at the moment. Directly ahead, a large platform was flanked by two huge statues of the strange, ophidian creatures we’d seen before. We could see the bloody footprints we’d followed came from a smaller, now-empty platform in one corner of the room. Four identical platforms, however, were alarmingly occupied. Each one sported a humanoid figure covered in blue-black, metal chains to which bits of glass and jagged metal had been fused. It was impossible to make out their features; only their burning, yellow eyes were visible beneath the tangle of chains. At the feet of each creature was a circle of carved runes, with gold inlays pulsing with magical power. Magical beams of energy connected the chained creatures and the statues in the shape of a pentagram. Well, that settled it – if these weren’t summoned demons or devils of some type, I’d apply for a job at Our Lady of the Dove.
A man wearing the robes of the Brotherhood of the Flames stood in the far corner, near one of the writhing creatures. He was the same mage we’d aided in the battle against the fire elemental when we’d first descended into this horrid, subterranean realm.
The mage grimaced, his wild eyes bulging. His hair was a complete mess. Apparently, summoning demons is hard on one’s toilette. I found it hard to be sympathetic. Honestly, the city is already being besieged by armies of undead, and this mage is down here summoning demons? How incredibly arrogant he must be, to think he can control beings of such evil.
“… because I command it, you gods-forsaken fiend,” the mage screamed at the creature before him as the door creaked open.
“Um, is now a bad time?” asked Ester, poking her head through the open door.
The mage turned to us. His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t look especially pleased to see us. Like a spoiled child, he stomped on the gold inlay of the creature beside him.
“I release you. Kill the intruders and return to the hell from whence you came!”
Well, that’s gratitude for you. We saved him from a fire elemental, and now he was siccing demons on us. Some people have no manners.
The gold in the circle turned liquid, spraying outward as the magic consumed it. The line of power connecting that demon (or devil; I’m going to have to look that up to be really certain which it was) to the statue dissipated. The stench of brimstone filled the air.
The barbarian rudely pushed everyone out of the way and charged into the room. He drew his axe and proceeded to foam at the mouth. In elegant contrast, Val nimbly ran inside and leaped onto the platform in the center of the room, drawing her bow with a flourish. She fired an arrow at the mage. It flew straight and true, only to be deflected aside by some magical force. Almost simultaneously, Canliss cast magic missiles that were similarly ineffective.
“Like we’ve never seen that before,” Aren muttered. “These mages need to get some new tricks.”
I wasn’t sure if Aren should be encouraging our opponent to be creative. He already had demons at his command.
The one he’d already released flung two long, barbed chains at Val and Gor. They slashed bloody lines in the arms of both warriors and fell to the ground at their feet, where they lay like coiled snakes. The demon snarled and strode towards Val, even as more chains erupted from its body.
“Hey, we’re here to help!” Ester bellowed as she ran into the room with her sword drawn. “This is all a big misunderstanding.”
“I don’t think so, Ester,” I told her. “The mage is a bad guy. Go get him.” (Sometimes, Ester needs to be told who is good and who is evil. It’s fortunate she has me to provide direction.)
Quick as a thought and just as quiet, Aren slipped into the room. Familiar-looking blades of black energy glowed in his hands. He looked grim, and understandably so. The mage was resisting our attempts to harm him, and there were far too many demons in this room. We were in for the fight of our lives.
Canliss responded to the crisis by pulling Haquia to the back of the group and fiddling with her arrows for several minutes. I wasn’t sure what those two were up to; I could only hope it would justify all the time they were wasting. I’d like to have a little talk with Canliss, but it wouldn’t do any good. He takes direction only marginally better than Gor.
Meanwhile, the mage ran to the platform housing the nearest chained demon and stomped on the magical circle. “I release you. Kill the intruders and return to the hell from whence you came!”
This pentagram exploded just as the last one had, and another line of force vanished. The demon snarled at Val, its eyes glowing yellow. The mage headed for the next demon, but he paused long enough to cast some sort of protective spell on himself that caused his robes to glow briefly. We could only guess at its purpose.
I didn’t care for the ratio of demon to warrior in the room. I stepped inside the door and summoned Gabriel. The hound archon appeared right next to the mage, and one could practically feel his aura of menace from across the room. The archon showed his opinion of those who would summon demons by stabbing the mage in the stomach with his great sword. The mage cried out in pain -- which, I have to say, was rather satisfying.
Meanwhile, Gor charged the nearest demon. Before he reached it, the creature lashed out with a chain, slicing the barbarian’s cheek open. This wasn’t as satisfying as I might have expected. Perhaps my dislike for Gor isn’t as strong as I thought it was. Certainly, when he proceeded to sink the blade of his axe into the demon’s shoulder, I was pleased that he was on our side. (Not that I’ll ever admit it.)
Despite the obvious danger, Val leaped to attack the remaining loose demon. She darted forward with her rapier, piercing right through the chains, then darted back. Unfortunately, even Val’s grace wasn’t a match for those ten-foot-long chains. She was rewarded for her courage by a chain-swipe that left her thigh bleeding. The accursed demon then flung two of its chains, straight at Aren and me. Both of us were slashed by the sharp chains, which continued to float menacingly in front of us.
“Hey!” I complained. The warriors getting hurt was one thing – that was their job. But I resented this affront to my person. If I wasn’t careful, that blood was going to stain my dress. Aren responded to the attack by launching two of his energy daggers at the nearest demon, which certainly made more of an impact than my complaints. The demon roared in pain as the black, glowing daggers penetrated its flesh, then vanished as if they’d never been.
Meanwhile, the demon who’d assaulted us tried to push Gabriel from their platform, but my hound archon resisted. He stabbed the demon for good measure. I think Gabriel was really enjoying himself; archons were born to fight demons.
The battle continued in its usual, bloody fashion. The demons loosed more chains at us. There were now six independently moving chains and two loose demons in the room. Since our numbers were staying constant, even Gor could see the odds adding up against us.
Ester, apparently deciding to put a stop to the person who’d started all this mess in the first place, charged the mage. He was already beset by Gabriel, and now Ester and the hound archon were flanking him. The mage did what spell-slingers always do in the face of danger – he fled. Specifically, he teleported to the third platform and released another demon. He followed this up, rather smugly I thought, by tossing a volley of magic missiles at poor Jven. The mage had the nerve to cackle with glee.
No, the odds definitely weren’t changing in our favor.
Jven decided to make a dramatic change to the odds. She was looking towards the lava, at the large demon still bound on the platform beneath the natural rock ceiling of the cavern when she cast her spell. Suddenly, the rock ceiling turned to mud. The last thing we saw before the demon sank out of sight was the spark of the magical circle being broken, even as the last of the beams of force vanished. Even beneath all that mud, we could hear the demon roaring, triumphant in its unexpected freedom.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and our warriors battled fiercely against the mage-controlled chain-swinging demons, but they didn’t seem to be making any progress. The loose chains were multiplying, the demons just weren’t dying, and neither was the mage who’d summoned them. Perhaps I could do something about that. I cast dispel magic on the mage, hoping to get rid of some of his annoying protective spells. It must have worked – he looked quite displeased with me. I smiled back at him; it was my turn to be smug.
I wouldn’t have been smug for long, seeing that there was a loose demon heading in my direction. Seeing the danger, our brave Val left Gabriel to handle her former opponent and charged the creature. She slashed at the creature then leaped nimbly back, placing herself between the demon and me. Our friend Val seems to have a sharp mind, in addition to a great deal of style. Nearby, Ester sunk Hilt into her opponent with less style, but equal effectiveness.
Gabriel and Gor both staggered as they were simultaneously slashed by demons. At the same time, two chains appeared out of the mud pile Jven had created on the far side of the room. The remaining demon pulled himself free, looking around him with his glowing, yellow eyes. I prayed to Torodin that he’d decide to attack the mage who’d summoned him. We had rather a lot on our plates right now.
Deciding to deal with the unsavory morsel right in front of him, Aren summoned more of his glowing daggers and slashed at the dancing chain. The chain shuddered and sparked. I frowned at Aren. I could understand him wanting to dispose of the annoying menace, but I felt it was beneath our dignity as priests of Torodin to be attacking inanimate objects. Perhaps I should have a talk with him later.
Jven understood the need to avoid grappling with all the loose chains in the room. She ducked into the corner of the room and cast Sanctuary on herself. Presumably, this would allow her to wade into the fight while still preserving her dignity.
Sadly, the combat tactics of our fellow party members make preserving one’s dignity in the midst of battle difficult in the extreme.
About this time, Haquia and Canliss had finally finished fussing with the archery equipment. She launched an arrow at the mage; there was something glittering tied to the arrow head. It struck the wall behind the mage and shattered. A cloud of gas erupted, briefly engulfing the mage, the demon beside him, and Val. Demons are not affected by poison gas; I could have told Canliss that, if he’d bothered to ask. The mage shrugged off the effects and promptly vanished. Val dropped like a stone at the feet of the raging demon.
“Canliss, what are you doing?” I scolded him. Despite the heat of battle, everyone paused for a second to glare at the six-fingered mage. He tried to deflect blame by pointing at Haquia, but none of us were fooled (especially those of us who remembered the greasy goblins).
The chain before me slashed me across the arm, which did nothing to improve my mood. I could also see that my hound archon was badly hurt. I ordered him to teleport behind me so that I could heal him, but poor Gabriel was slashed so badly by the chains surrounding him that he couldn’t concentrate. I felt bad. Every time I ask Gabriel to come down here and help us out, he gets treated rather badly. Deciding to help him out, I cast Dismissal on the demon he was battling. Sadly, the demon resisted my spell and proceeded to kill Gabriel. I didn’t even have time to apologize before the hound archon disappeared.
“Aarrrrgh!” Gor bellowed. He’d been doing this all during the battle, but it sounded especially loud in the midst of the stunned silence caused by Canliss’s folly. Gor slashed the demon in front of him once, twice. The demon exploded in a cloud of sulfur. Its chains, including the ones that had been bothering Aren and me, disappeared with it. We all cheered (except poor Val). My opinion of Gor is definitely improving – the barbarian does have his uses.
Canliss cast magic missiles at the demon menacing the sleeping Val. They worked this time, but Aren and I still turned to glare at the six-fingered mage.
“Aren’t you going to do anything about that?” Aren asked, pointing at the unconscious warrior.
Canliss, looking rather shame-faced (but not as much as he should have been), rushed over to Val. He retrieved an antidote from one of his many hidden pockets and proceeded to force her to swallow it. This was going to take a while; meanwhile, both Canliss and Val would be vulnerable to the demon looming over them.
Thinking to offer them protection, Aren cast a spell. A cloud of mist appeared, engulfing that entire corner of the room. This may have offered concealment to Val and Canliss, but it also made it impossible for any of us outside the mist to target any spells. I couldn’t even see Jven, who was presumably still trapped in the corner of the room, unable to see. Now, I don’t presume to call myself a military genius, but it seems to be we’re going to have to come up with some more workable combat strategies.
Meanwhile, the demon who’d been freed by the mud slide pulled itself free by means of its chains. It leaped onto the nearest statue and looked about the room with its yellow eyes. We had no way of knowing if it would attack us, attack its fellow demons, go after the mage, or simply sit there and scratch himself. In a way, the demon symbolized our group’s fighting style – toss random destruction into the air and let it land where it may.
Everyone decided to ignore that demon for now; provoking it was clearly unwise, even to the likes of Canliss. Ester and Gor charged into the mist. I heard grunts and slashes as they attacked the demon looming over Val and Canliss. Aren rushed over, suffering the slash of a chain. He pulled the warrior free of the mist and helped Canliss to administer the antidote, a process which involved a great deal of choking and sputtering, but which eventually landed Val on her feet.
Meanwhile, we still had two enemy demons and one of unknown loyalties. I cast Dismissal on the demon that had destroyed Gabriel. This time, the demon succumbed. It disappeared with a satisfying pop of displaced air. I turned my attention to the loose demon perching on the statue. It surveyed us all for a moment, then headed for the door. Clearly it intended to depart and would not trouble us further.
In the short-term, this was a good thing. Our group was wounded and running low on spells. We were still battling a demon, and we didn’t know where the mage was. However, as a responsible cleric I couldn’t help feel a twinge of unease at the thought of the demon running loose in the streets of Istur; I knew what that would lead to – a long lecture in Donar’s office. Using one of my few remaining spells, I tried to Dismiss the creature. It didn’t work, but at least I could tell Donar I’d tried to stop it. (Besides, it was all Jven’s fault.)
With a great deal of effort, our warriors managed to defeat the remaining demon. This left us alone in the room, except, just possibly, for an invisible mage. We spread out, searching for him. I cast ‘detect thoughts’, trying to find some sign of our enemy. I didn’t pick up any sign of the mage, but I did pick up an interesting though from Aren.
I wonder what she’s doing. I wonder what she would do if she knew who I was.
This stopped me in my tracks. Could Aren be someone I know in disguise? Who do I know that would want to conceal their identity from me?
“What’s your name?” I asked him.
Which name should I give her?, came the thought. Aloud, Aren said, “I already told you my name.” He feigned confusion, although not well. My question had surprised him.
Sadly, the ‘detect thoughts’ spell dissipated then. I couldn’t spare another spell just to satisfy my curiosity; especially when he might resist a second attempt at probing his thoughts. What a shame all my telepathy spells require the person’s cooperation. There must be some way to learn Aren’s identity.
Of course, we had more pressing concerns at the moment. Val and Haquia headed in the next room to look for the mage, only to be stopped by a wall of force. The demon-summoning miscreant had escaped us yet again.
We decided to cast the Rope Trick and Nap. This led to another argument with Gor, who isn’t afraid of chain-wielding demons but doesn’t trust extra-dimensional spaces. Our argument was interrupted by Canliss, who’d taken out his spell components and stood there, looking puzzled.
“We won’t all fit in the Rope Trick,” he said. “Not if we pull the rope up to protect ourselves.”
We all stared at Canliss in confusion. We’d talked Gor into a brief appearance in the Rope Trick once before, and we could clearly remember all of us fitting. When we pointed this out, Canliss launched into a lengthy and confusing explanation of the ever-changing nature of magic and how spells were still unstable ever since the Great Storm – it was almost as if the rules of the universe had been changed, and we were only now starting to understand them.
Most of us didn’t follow the explanation, but one thing was very clear. We were trapped down here with an invisible enemy, and we couldn’t all hide from him.

Book 5.7 Thawed Out

2005-12-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

18 Esterealan, Beneath the city of Istur

Well, I must say, that was an unpleasant experience. I dislike being cold to begin with and that…. Perhaps I should do this in order; organize my thoughts, as Donar would say. Let’s see, where was I? Oh, right – the rope trick.

In the morning, Canliss studied while Jven, Aaron and I said our prayers. He returned my notes, and I put them back in my pack.
“By the way,” I said casually, “we really need to get you a new blanket. Yours is much too coarse.”
“Well, it’s warm.”
“But it’s not very soft.”
When Canliss was done studying, I shifted into mouse form. Much to my chagrin, Ester picked me up and scratched my ears.
“Want some cheese? Want some cheese?” She pushed a hunk of cheddar the size of my whole body in front of my nose.
“Ester, stop that.”
Jven’s mouth twitched. Most of the others laughed out loud.
“But you’re so cute in mouse form,” said Ester, who’d given up and eaten the cheese herself.
“Honestly, Ester. Let’s have some dignity.”
Jven did laugh out loud then. It’s hard for a girl to get any respect when she’s in mouse form.
Aaron was quick to smooth things over when Gore awoke. “I apologize for erringly striking you during the battle.”
“I didn’t know you had come to aid us.”
“I understand.”
“I apologize for attacking you,” said Gore. He sounded quite sincere about it, too. I stared at the barbarian in astonishment. Where had all this polite behavior come from? Had Aaron cast some sort of spell on the barbarian when we weren’t looking?
“So how did you come to be here?” Gore asked Aaron.
“The city is overrun with these creatures. I knew you were here and figured you needed assistance.”
“Do you know Nikita?”
“I’ve seen her around.” Well, that didn’t mean much. For all I knew he could have been a regular at the Port o’ Call.
Aaron looked around. “I’ve seen Ester. I’ve seen Canliss around. He’s quite a celebrity.”
“You’ve seen me?” Canliss asked with some concern.
“Oh, come on, Canliss. The winged man doesn’t exactly blend in with the locals.”
“You’re almost famous,” Aaron told him. “I’ve seen your parlor tricks.”
“Oh, those,” Canliss said dismissively. It was the robbing of parlors that he’d been worried about Aaron witnessing. I don’t know why Canliss would care. Everyone in Strand’s Shadows knows he’s a thief.
“You haven’t met Jven?” I asked.
“No, no I haven’t.”
Jven frowned. “You weren’t at the ceremony? The one where Rhavin got his horse.”
“Oh, that Rhavin fellow,” Aaron said in a manner I found somewhat offensive. “Heck, no, I didn’t go to that.”
“It was a very nice ceremony,” I informed him. “The music was beautiful.”
“How did you get out of it?” Jven asked jealously.
“If you speak to the right people, you can get out of these things,” Aaron said. Frankly, I thought he was being rather arrogant. The rest of us priests had to go to that ceremony whether we wanted to or not. (I wanted to, of course.) What made Aaron so special? He wore armor and carried forbidden weapons. He wore the ceremonial robes outside of the temple. Why was he allowed to break so many rules?
“So, you have to know the right people, eh?” said Val. “Isn’t that always the way?”
“So tell me, are you a warrior?” Gore looked confused. For once, I couldn’t blame him.
Aaron patted his war hammer with typical masculine pride in a large weapon. “I am more of a warrior.”
“A Torodinite warrior?” Jven said skeptically. She and I exchanged a puzzled look.
“But I saw you do things that were magical,” said Gore.
“I do dabble a bit.” He ‘dabbles’ in being a priest? That doesn’t imply much commitment to the faith.
“Normally, we aren’t permitted to carry war hammers.”
Aaron shrugged. “You can if you know the right people.”
“Maybe we can get one for you, Nikita?” Ester said with unwarranted enthusiasm.
I shrugged. “Actually, I’m planning to ask for a different exception to the rules on my behalf.” If Aaron can flout half a dozen rules, then surely we can allow one little wedding.
“You mean like armor?”
“No, Ester.”
“Can I see your war hammer?” Gore and Aaron spend several minutes comparing the length and width of their weapons. Well, it was nice to see them bonding, I suppose. Gore even proposed trading weapons, but Aaron wasn’t interested.
“So,” said Canliss, “are we go ready to leave and fight the ice creatures?”
“Perhaps we should share our plan with Aaron?”
“It’s really slippy,” said Ester.
I found that I was rather embarrassed about explaining our plan to Aaron. I hoped he didn’t think it was my idea. “You see, we were planning to --“
“I was going to commit suicide,” Canliss rudely interrupted.
I glared at him. “Canliss, dear, I was speaking.”
“Sorry, please continue.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t interrupt him,” said Gore. “Go ahead, Canliss.”
I glared at the stupid barbarian. “How dare you speak to me like that?”
“Canliss was reiterating the plan.”
“Nikita is far more eloquent than I am,” Canliss said hastily. “Go ahead, Nikita.”
“We don’t need interruptions from people who are afraid of pegs, thank you very much.” I thought I saw Aaron’s mask twitch, but I couldn’t be sure.
I explained our plan to reach the Soul of Ice to Aaron. “The ice bridge is very slippery. Canliss has offered to fly over to the Soul of Ice and smack it with a stick.”
“I thought he wanted to throw a rock at it,” said Haquia.
“I’m going to smack it with a stick if the rocks don’t work,” Canliss explained. He didn’t even have the grace to look ashamed.
“Even Gore thinks that’s a stupid idea, Canliss.”
Gore nodded. “A hammer would work better.”
“I already smashed the stern child of loving mother unborn,” Ester told Aaron.
“You smashed a child?”
“No,” Jven intervened hastily. “It’s a long story. Apparently we smashed the prototype for the Soul of Ice.”
“They took my baby! They took my baby!” Ester screamed in imitation of Madeleine the shrieking ghost. Gore, Val and Haquia looked unnerved by her sudden and rather strange outburst, but Aaron nodded.
“Ah, Madeleine.”
“How do you know that story?” I asked.
“I know someone named Madeleine.” He lied. Ester hadn’t yet mentioned Madeleine’s name. How had this “Aaron” learned so much about us? Yet we knew nothing about him. It wasn’t fair.
“How could you forget Madeleine?” said Ester.
“Do you have any suggestions?” Val asked Aaron.
“Your plan as it is will fail,” he said.
We all stared at him. Honestly. I knew it wasn’t a very good plan, but I thought it was rude of Aaron to put it so bluntly.
“Yes, that’s obvious,” Val conceded.
“We can not all possibly get across the bridge to reach the Soul of Ice.”
“I volunteer to stay here,” said Jven.
“Why do you think our plan will fail?” Gore asked.
“Some of us are bound to fall into the lava.”
“Yes, but some of us will make it.”
We all stared at Gore. There was only one person in the group we’d all be happy to see fall into the lava, and we were looking at him.
“I think we should look for a back door,” said Val. “There must be another way to get there.”
“We should investigate further,” Aaron agreed.
Everyone agreed to this, and we climbed down from the rope trick. The hot, mineral baths understandably excited Jven and we lost Ester’s attention for a while in the kitchen.
There was a small corridor behind the kitchen. It was dark ahead, so Aaron stopped and lit a torch from his pack.
“Don’t you guys have light sources?”
“Nope,” said Canliss.
“I got my head lamp,” said Ester.
“Hmm,” said Aaron. Our only light source was Ester’s tacky headlamp. Now this was embarrassing.
Gore dug through his pack. “I’ve got a torch.” The barbarian was more prepared than the rest of us. Now this was truly humiliating.
We found a round room with crates and barrels stacked along the walls. A well stood in the center of the room. The stones forming the top were silver and engraved with arcane runes. We all walked up to the well and peered at it curiously.
Aaron stopped and cast a spell on the well. “Hmm. It didn’t work.”
“I was going to try comprehend languages,” I said.
“Good idea.”
While I was casting my spell, Gore dipped his water skin into the water before anyone could stop him.
“Gore, no!” Ester yelled.
“Don’t break my spell, Gore,” Aaron yelled.
Oblivious, Gore took a sip of the water. “Mmmm. It’s nice and cold.”
“Ah!” Ester yelped as the sloshing water splashed on her legs. She glared at Gore, who sadly was showing no ill effects from drinking the water.
My spell did not allow me to read the runes on the well, so I asked Canliss to try reading the magic. He cast the spell while Aaron took Gore aside, presumably for a lecture about the dangers of disturbing magical runes. I didn’t try to dissuade Aaron; he’ll lose patience with Gore soon enough.
“The well is some sort of Gateway,” Canliss explained. “It goes to some unmapped lake in the mountains near Tonn.”
“So, it’s a fancy well,” said Haquia.
Canliss nodded. “Or it’s an escape route.”
“If you can breathe water,” said Val.
“I can,” Canliss said proudly. “And so can Jven.”
“That doesn’t really help the rest of us, does it dear?” I wasn’t entirely confident that Canliss wouldn’t abandon the rest of us to save himself, but I had more faith in Jven.
“This may mean that the Brotherhood is active in Tonn as well,” I said.
Val shrugged. “Or they just knew where the good water was. I mean, not everything is a conspiracy.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Much to everyone’s surprise. Jven stuck her head in the water. After a few minutes, she came back up looking wet and happy. “The well is forty feet deep before you reach the portal.”
“Why did you do that?” asked Val.
Jven shrugged. “Just curious.”
“Wait a minute. If the portal is forty feet under water, the Brotherhood must have some way to breathe under water. Or they couldn’t use this portal.”
Knowing that there was an escape route, however odd, was some comfort to us. Who knew what would happen to these caverns once the Soul of Ice was destroyed? We refilled our water skins and moved across the rope bridge beyond the kitchen, but not before Aaron cast ‘endure elements’ on Gore and himself.
Jven gave me a curious look.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Some Torodinites can cast that.”
Ester muttered complaints against Gore the whole way across the bridge. “I can’t believe you just reached across magical writing without asking Nikita or Canliss if it was okay. We are not gonna be roomies any more when we get back.”
Jven an I exchanged surprised looks. We’d no idea that Ester’s relationship with Gore had gone that far.
“Whatever you do,” Jven whispered, “don’t picture it.”
“Well, thanks a lot. Now I can’t help it.” Some images are far more disturbing than skeletal budgies.
The corridor beyond the rope bridge opened up into a wider area that was blocked by a floor-to-ceiling red velvet curtain. This was strange enough to unnerve all of us, so I sent a creeping shadow under the curtain. Several pillars supported the immense room beyond. The pillars were undulating in a flame motif that was really rather tacky.
I made a cursory examination of the room with the creeping shadow. A large dining table made of polished dark wood was set with fine china. The chairs sported bright, orange cushions – positively hideous. Beyond that was a trio of plush red sofas with a table sporting a crystal decanter and glasses filled with an amber colored liquid. There was also a sitting area with several bookshelves, and a large desk, which I recognized at the one from which the Brotherhood mage wrote the threatening letter to the city of Istur. A short flight of stairs led to a bathtub big enough for four people that was surrounded by mirrors on three sides. The bathtub was empty and there was no obvious way to fill it with water. Two thirds of the way through the room, I could see large, bloody foot prints that led from and disappeared into exits blocked by tacky, red curtains on either side of the room.
I described my findings. “The bath tub looked very nice. If only Rhavin were here.”
“But it’s an evil bath tub,” said Ester.
“Ester, bath tubs are never evil.”
“Just decadent,” Canliss said longingly.
“Those Esterealans,” Aaron said disapprovingly. “They’re so stuffy.” I can only assume he was referring to my remark about Rhavin.
“Not all of them,” I informed him.
“Yes. All of them.”
“No, they’re not. You’ve obviously never known any.” Our conversation ended with stony silence on both sides. Clearly, I’m going to have to have the same talk with Aaron as I did with Dante, Seregil, Salvador, and Nysander. Brother priests or no, I won’t tolerate disparaging remarks about my beloved.
For now, I chose to ignore Aaron and joined Canliss and Jven, who were staring longingly at the bathtub.
“Look at it,” I said in wonder. “It’s big enough for four. Although, really, more than two is a crowd.”
Jven shrugged. “If you say so.”
Canliss laughed. I chose not to comment.
The book shelves were disappointing. They seemed to be an eclectic mix of books that were pilfered randomly from the homes of the wealthy. For reasons no one cared to question, Gore took a book of poetry, then mauled the curtains on the canopy bed. Aaron did find a piece of parchment on the desk, but it was blank.
Frustrated by the lack of information to be gleaned from this room, I found myself eavesdropping on Canliss and Jven, who were happily lounging in the ugly, red sofas and sipping brandy.
“Want to come back here later?” Canliss asked Jven.
She scowled. “To the books? No. To the bathtub?...Let me have a little more brandy while I think about it.”
Canliss chuckled. “Come back to the books??? Are you crazy? I was talking about the steaming bathtub!! With some more brandy!
Jven smiled. “Canliss, we may have found some common ground. Want a hit? Or are you going to get your own decanter?” She pocketed the decanter in question. “Obviously, I need to return this to its rightful owner.”
Hmmm. Those two have gotten awfully chummy of late. I’m starting to wonder what really happened when they got stuck in that rope trick all alone together. I’ll bet I can pry the truth out of Canliss.
While the rest of us were amusing ourselves and/or searching for clues, Aaron studied the bloody footprints. He declared them to be significantly larger than Gore/Ester size. Realizing we needed to get moving and find out where these footprints were heading, I tried to round everyone up. Typically, Gore and Ester were goofing around.
“Hey, there’s no heat coming from these pillars,” said Gore, as if we hadn’t noticed this by now.
Deciding to test this obvious fact, the two warriors skewered Ester’s ham and cheese sandwich on Gore’s sword and stuck it in the flames; it did not toast.
“It’s not real flame,” Ester said. “Gore, give me my sandwich back.”
“Come along you two,” I told them. “We’re leaving now.” Honestly, we need to get a little discipline in this group.
Val and Haquia, who were less distracted than the rest of the group were the first to follow the footprints. The blood was smeared, as if something bloody were being dragged along the ground. Val peeked through the red curtain. The glow of lava lit the room beyond. It once was an elegant library, but it was now sacked. Bookcases were toppled over and smashed. Books and padded chairs were shredded. What would do such a thing to a library? It was appalling.
“Hey, I hear something over there,” Haquia warns Val sotto voce. “Could be what made these foot prints.”
“Right.” Val closed the curtain and whispered to the rest of us as we gathered around. Ester changed Hilt to a blade of steel.
Val reopened the curtain and stepped cautiously through. They saw a creature in a room just beyond the library, throwing some metal-bound book into the lava pit. It roared in frustration.
“I think it’s a big frozen one,” Val whispered.
We began moving carefully through the chaotic library. It was hard to get around all the broken shelves and debris. I cast Dispel Evil, thinking to banish the creature – anything that would ransack a library clearly belonged in the abyss. Aaron leaped over a bookshelf into the room where the creature stood, only to land flat on his face. He wasn’t exactly making the church of Torodin look good.
Ester rushed into the room with Hilt held high. She shivered as she swung at the creature. Her blade bounced harmlessly off its icy skin.
“Creepy cold! Creepy cold!” Ester cried out in warning. “It’s an evil corpsicle.”
Gore rushed into the room, leaped over a toppled bookshelf, and fell on his ass right beside Aaron. I suppose it was preferable to landing on top of him.
“This is so undignified,” I complained. You would never see Rhavin behaving like that.
Magic missiles, courtesy of Canliss, zipped into the room to strike the creature in its shoulder. It roared in pain. I heard Haquia gasp behind me; I didn’t turn around to see her lift her bow, only to fall to the ground, covered with ice. Jven examined her. Haquia was frozen solid and didn’t appear to be breathing.
Val, up near the front of the group, leaped nimbly over a fallen bookshelf, launched off Gore and landed beside the creature. She stabbed it and sprang backward. I was relieved to see that someone in our group could fight with style.
The creature roared and swung its massive fists at Ester, who ducked both blows. It was time to end this. I Nikita stepped over Aaron, into the room and reached toward the creature. The last thing I knew was terrible pain.
The rest of the battle I can only piece together from the others’ recollections. I’m told that I gasped and fell to the ground, frozen solid just like Haquia. Aaron made a strangled cry of rage, got to his feet and cast his magic knife-like things at the creature (this time they were black instead of white) – both blades hit. Ester, shuddering, swung again and missed. Ester screamed in frustration. Gore got to his feet, went into a rage, and rushed up beside Ester. Canliss tried to cast a second magic missile and became frozen. Jven cast dispel magic on Canliss, to no effect. Meanwhile, Val leaped forward with her customary flashiness and stabbed the creature, which responded by clubbing both Gore and Ester with its ham-like fists. Finally, Aaron hit the creature with two of his weird daggers and it fell to the ground dead.
“Noooo, “ Ester cried. “I never got to hit it.”
They examined the creature’s corpse. It was humanoid, hairless and sexless with a narrow, elongated head. There was no blood on the creature’s feet – no one knew where the bloody footprints came from. Nobody was willing to touch the nasty creature. Ester and Jven kicked the body aside so they could look over the precipice for the book they’d seen the creature throw into the lava. They saw it about forty-five feet down, stuck on some rocks at the edge of the lava. It was glowing hot.
After Jven cast some protective spells, they lowered Ester down the precipice, with Gore and Val and holding the rope. Jven quenched the area when the rope starts to smolder. Ester successfully retrieved the book, which is entirely made of metal. She dropped it, screeching , “Hot! Hot! Hot!” as she reached the top. She shook off her metal gauntlet, which melted on her hand. Jven healed her. Ester was pleased with her find, but no one could read the book. No one conscious, that is.
When dispel magic yielded no appreciable change, the group decided to soak Canliss, Haquia and myself in the hot mineral baths. They waited for hours, hoping for some change in our strange condition. Sadly, whatever fiendish power had felled us appeared to be more than a match for a hot bath. Our condition did not improve.
My companions felt they had no choice but to take the three of us to Our Lady of the Dove for healing. There, I am ashamed to report, Ester and Gor caused an incident that left a dozen city guards unconscious and caused a few Soltanites to get all huffy. Ester wasn’t the slightest bit contrite about the incident. I had to withhold healing just to get a promise to apologize. I’m so horrified. What has happened to the gentle, sweet Ester I used to know? Obviously, Gor is having a terrible influence on her. I’m going to have to do something about that barbarian. First thing will be to make sure he’s never let inside Strand’s Shadows again – Torodin only knows what sort of chaos he would cause. The big oaf has no respect for the Church.
Luckily for us, Aren (He has corrected me regarding the spelling of his name; I guess I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on my journal.) extricated our overly robust companions from any legal difficulties. We lost no time on our mission, since Canliss, Haquia and I required a full day to recover. That was not a pleasant process. I was horrified when I awoke and found they’d dressed us in pink smocks made of some cheap material, attended by some dim-witted novitiate whose ministrations I was too weak to resist.
Jven rescued us from that rose-tinted hell and took us all to Strand’s Shadows. I believe she explained things to Donar. My memory is a little fuzzy – I was quite ill. Fortunately, we all woke up this morning fully recovered, and we regrouped back here in the lava pits. (Well, I know they’re not really pits, but they’re not exactly cheerful.)
Jven, Canliss and I all enjoyed the hot mineral baths while I used a spell to decipher the metal book Ester had recovered from the lava. It turned out to be the private journal of a man calling himself Huhueotl, which loosely translates from the Ignan to mean “Flame Lord.” (Not terribly original.)
Huhueotl, whatever his real name was, is evidently an extremely arrogant man. His journal bragged at great length about opening up a permanent portal to the elemental plane of Fire. Before long he began recruiting minions in his efforts to burn down buildings, allowing him to plunder the city and fund more magical experiments. Eventually, his purpose evolved into a megalomaniacal plan to take over Istur. This quest for power gained him more recruits, presumably men and women who were as misguided and overconfident as their leader.
The Flame Lord’s research eventually led him to discover the true names of five chitons, which I recall from Donar’s library are a type of demon. This foolish mage learned how to bind these demons to our plane of existence, but he hadn’t yet learned how to control them. This would lead us to the conclusion that the demons haven’t yet been summoned, if proof of Huhueotl’s foolish behavior hadn’t been rising from the lava all around us.
Once the Great Storm hit, this maniac decided that he was going to save Istur. (The man’s arrogance is truly astonishing.) He discovered something he called the Frozen Soul – how he discovered it or why he decided to call it that are not clear from the journal. The man’s writing is terribly murky. He brought the Soul of Ice to his sanctum, planning to destroy it. He failed in this, but he was able to conduct a ritual binding the five devils and use them to contain the Soul of Ice, so that its freezing effects would not extend beyond a radius of fifty feet.
I found one passage of particular interest which I will quote here: Imagine my surprise to find that the Frozen Soul is not a magical item, but is in fact a single mote of ice that exists both in this plane and in some frozen dimension. This leaves open a troubling possibility that if one were to chip away all of the outer item and expose it, one could melt the inner part with just the touch of a fingertip. This is a weakness I must consider before executing my plan.
Armed with this knowledge, we dried off, got dressed, and made our way to library where so many of us had recently been felled. Finding nothing of interest there, we followed the frozen creature’s bloody footprints to toward their point of origin. We all hesitated outside the closed door. What if there were more of those creatures? Were we truly prepared for what awaited us on the other side?

Book 5.6 Cold as Ice

2005-12-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

16 Esterealan, Beneath the city of Istur

Here we were huddling in the Rope Trick until dawn, while just down the hall the Soul of Ice continued to grow. It was frustrating, to say the least. Since we were doomed to an afternoon of inaction, I decided the least we could do was review our plan, about which I had serious misgivings. I withdrew the relevant parchment from my pack and perused it.
“We have here a list of spells we’re planning to cast. There’s cold protection and calm winds coming from Jven, and air walk on the warriors courtesy of myself. I’m to ride on Ester’s shoulder in mouse form. But, if I’m reading my notes correctly, the crux of our plan seems to involve Canliss flying over to the Soul of Ice and hitting it with a stick.”
“Yep, he’s gonna beat on the big piñata of evil,” Jven said, shaking her head at the folly of it all.
“This has to be a mistake. People, surely we can do better than this.”
Jven nodded. Beside her, Val chuckled. “Piñata of evil. I like it.”
“Actually, we haven’t really confirmed that we need to destroy it,” Jven pointed out. “We only asked how to destroy it.”
“Well, Donar’s divination did determine that the Soul of Ice is connected to Istur’s current predicament, and that the Frozen Ones may begin to rise in the city if it isn’t destroyed.”
“For all we know, that might be the preferable option.”
The others laughed because they couldn’t imagine anything worse than the city being over-run by zombies, but those of us who’d been to Ravenloft nodded in agreement. We’d seen worse. (Skeletal budgies comes to mind.)
Val shook her head. “You’re such pessimists.”
“If you’d been to Ravenloft, you’d understand,” I explained. “There really are worse things than hordes of zombies terrorizing the city.
“Ah, but we aren’t in Ravenloft,” Val said brightly. Her cheerful outlook really is charming, even if it is misplaced. I simply must introduce her to Seregil.
“I could do a divination,” I offered, “to find out how destroying the Soul of Ice will affect Istur. It would be nice to gather some more information before we go off to, what was it, hit the evil artifact with a stick.”
“I believe we’re throwing a rock at it,” said Haquia, looking doubtfully at Canliss. I think she was beginning to wonder what she’d gotten herself into.
“Oh yes, I believe there was some mention of throwing pebbles. I don’t like it at all. Not only does our plan seem unlikely to succeed, but it’s rather careless of Canliss’ safety.”
“Well, he did cast grease again. And we told him not to.” Ester shuddered. She has bad memories of that spell. Granted, something unfortunate did tend to happen every time Canliss cast it.
Canliss continued to sit in the corner looking unconcerned and not saying a word. Honestly, I don’t think he was paying attention.
“We should explore this place a little more,” Val suggested. “Find the back door. These kinds of things always have a back door. Frontal assault doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“They have protected it heavily,” I said. “It seems unlikely that there would be a back door. And Gore did say that it was getting bigger.”
“But I already smashed this thing in Ravenloft,” Ester whined. “And when I smashed it in Ravenloft, we came here. If we smash it here, it would really suck if we had to go back to Ravenloft.”
Even we Ravenloft veterans had trouble following that one, so I didn’t blame the others for staring at Ester as if she’d suddenly gone mad. (They should have seen her when she had the tentacle.)
“On the other hand it was warmer in Ravenloft.”
“And the guys were hotter,” Jven added sadly.
“Hey, maybe we could find the ghost boat again!” Ester said happily. For reasons I’ll never understand, Ester really enjoyed the haunted ship of horrors.
“Why don’t we just roll the Soul of Ice down the pyramid and into the lava?” said the big, dumb barbarian.
Ester shook her head. “The spell said ‘smash it or magical force.’ Not magical fire. I think we should smash it.”
I smiled at Ester. I’m so proud that she pays attention to all the clues I’ve divined. And she remembers them, too.
We discussed utilizing a divination spell for a while. I was pleased to see Val and Haquia taking part in the discussion, and making intelligent suggestions. They’re really getting into the spirit of things, although divination as a tool is probably new to them. Many Isturians seem to think it means little more than having your fortune told on Torodin’s day.
Jven moved closer to me and made a whispered comment during this discussion. “I’m also a bit concerned about your safety if the Soul of Ice is destroyed.”
“What do you mean?” I couldn’t understand why Jven might think that the Soul of Ice might threaten me in particular.
“Um, well, as the person best postured to…control undead, you’re the biggest threat to whomever is behind all this.”
“I suppose you’re right. I could divine if destroying the Soul of Ice might be inconvenient for me. Likely anything affecting me would have wider implications anyway.”
Jven nodded. “If we need to be especially careful of your safety, I’d want to know that going in to this.”
I thought it was sweet of Jven to be concerned, and I told her so. Not necessary, of course – I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself. But I’m fortunate to have such a good and loyal friend in Jvennika.
Before we stopped to cast any divination, Val wisely suggested reconnaissance. Divination is a useful tool, but it’s no substitute for some good, old-fashioned looking around. (Nor is it quite as satisfying to one’s curiosity.)
“If we do the reconnaissance first, it might inspire better questions for your divination,” Val added.
“Gore found the Soul of Ice,” said Ester around a mouth full of cheese. “What more do we need to know?”
Val looked doubtfully at Gore. “I don’t think we should rely on just one person’s information.” It was a polite way of suggesting that Gore wasn’t terribly observant.
“Well, Gore couldn’t mistake a pyramid for anything that wasn’t a pyramid,” said Ester. Honestly I don’t know why she defends him.
“Right,” said Canliss. “I’ll cast invisibility and go check it out.”
“Don’t go alone,” Val warned.
“I’ll go,” said Gore.
Val hid a chuckle. “Uh, you’ve already been there. Why don’t we pick some other people? Maybe someone a little more stealthy?”
“Canliss and I excel at stealth. We’d be happy to go, wouldn’t we Canliss?”
“Of course.”
Gore tried to insist that he was stealthy, but we all ignored him.
“Canliss, dear, if you’d be so kind as to get me within seventy-five feet of the creatures on the pyramid, I could cast a spell to learn their vulnerabilities.”
“Just be careful,” Val warned. “You don’t want to attract their attention.”
“We’re perfectly aware of that, Val. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Canliss doesn’t do anything foolish.”
Gore frowned and looked at Canliss. “Are you going to let her talk to you like that?”
Canliss backed up while all the women in the rope trick turned to glare a the stupid barbarian.
“No one was speaking to you, Gore,” I informed him coolly.
“So, Nikita you said we were gonna go scout?” Canliss said quickly. “Good idea. Let’s go now.”
Jven kindly used her powers to protect the two of us from cold. She also cast sanctuary on the both of us, just in case we did attract unwanted attention. I cast a spell to help conceal Canliss, and we climbed down the rope. I moused onto his shoulder, cast a spell to help conceal us, and we set off.
Canliss is fairly adept at stealth, but I think my magic saved us from being spotted. I’m afraid Canliss has become lazy; he’s been relying too much on his magic to conceal him. I’m going to have a talk with him; he’s becoming complacent, and that’s a dangerous attitude for a thief.
The long, tunnel-like area leading to the rope bridge was much as Gor had described him, with one notable difference – ice had spread along the walls like creeping mold. It reminded us both unpleasantly of Meridoth’s realm. I’m beginning to believe that the Soul of Ice is, as we suspected, the very same macabre device constructed with Madeleine Stern’s lifeless child. I fear the events that unfold here beneath the city may have grave consequences not only for Istur, but all of Hurva. A Night of Evil Unbound, the prophecy said. Can we stop it, or is it all inevitable?
Canliss, who isn’t exactly clumsy, soon began to have difficulty keeping his balance on the slippery floor. By the time the cavern began to open up and we could see the glow of lava, he’d slipped twice. I dug my claws into his shirt and hung on for dear life.
Gore’s description of the area was fairly accurate. The cavern was at least a hundred feet across. A blizzard roared far above us, the snow melting and steaming by the time it reached the rope bridge, which was heated by the lava far below. The rope bridge spanned a hundred feet to the giant platform, which blocked our view of the cavern behind it. Smaller platforms to the left and right supported statues of salamanders that were covered in ice.
The huge, stone pyramid was completely covered in ice. In addition to the humanoid creatures Gore described, an enormous ice lizard occupied the top of the pyramid, near the pulsing sphere that was the Soul of Ice. It snapped at the humanoid creatures and flailed its tail, adding to the chaos. The ones thrown by the larger creatures slid helplessly down the pyramid to fall screaming into the lava. At the moment there were only half a dozen humanoid creatures, but even as we watched the Soul of Ice disgorged another one.
The humanoid creatures looked as if they were made from jagged pieces of ice stuck together. The reptilian monster had six legs and shimmered blue and white, with teeth that looked like huge icicles.
Gore was right. Every time the Soul of Ice pulsed, it grew just a fraction of an inch larger.
“Canliss, can we try to get closer? I need to be most of the way across the bridge to cast my spell.”
The six-fingered mage looked doubtful.
“We’ll retreat if it’s too difficult.” While I wanted to get as much information as I could from our reconnaissance, it wasn’t worth risking our safety.
Canliss nodded. He tied rope loosely around both of the ice-covered rope ‘railings’ of the rope bridge. Looping his rope around each wrist, he began inching his way across the bridge.
The second time Canliss slipped, I nearly fell off his shoulder. With the lava steaming far below us, it was clear that further progress would be far too risky. Not only that, it would be impossible for any of our warriors, except possibly Val, to survive the trip across this bridge.
We went back and reported our findings to the others. “There are more creatures coming out of the Soul of Ice as we speak. There’s no way of knowing how many creatures will be on that pyramid by the time we reach it. Nor can we safely cross the ice bridge. I doubt anyone brought crampons.”
“Didn’t think we’d need them,” said Haquia. “We were expecting lava, not snow and ice.”
“If nothing attacks us, we can take our time crossing the bridge,” said Gore, as if it should be easy.
“Canliss was taking his time, Gore. It’s still very difficult.”
We discussed our options for crossing the bridge. I offered to cast Air Walk on Ester, Val & Haquia if necessary. I could ride on Ester’s shoulder in mouse form, and Canliss could fly. Gore was content to walk across the bridge on his on own. No one objected except Ester.
“But if you fall on the platform, you’ll go whoosh down the pyramid into the lava, just like the ice monsters. I can just picture it.”
Val nodded. “I can picture that, too.”
I could also picture it, but I only found it disturbing when I imagined one of my friends falling instead of Gore. I wouldn’t push him into the lava, but I wouldn’t throw myself in front of him, either. Especially not in mouse form.
We set up watches and prepared to rest for the night, but first I wanted to cast a divination spell. As Jven had suggested, I asked how destroying the Soul of Ice would affect me. The answer was closer to her quest it will bring; soon to light it will bear her ring.
I couldn’t hide the puzzlement from my voice as I told this answer to the others. “I don’t understand the significance of the second part.”
“Okay,” said Val skeptically. “That’s one to write down in the old memory book.”
Normally I might have been offended by her dismissive attitude toward divination, but given the response I couldn’t really argue with her.
“Did you lose a ring?” Ester asked.
“No, dear. Only a necklace.” Which I fully intend to get back as soon as I have time to attend to such matters.
“Maybe ‘soon to light’ means soon we’ll be above ground?” Haquia suggested hopefully.
I shrugged. “Perhaps Torodin’s holy assistant is having an off day.”
“Well thanks for indulging me,” said Jven. “I appreciate it.”
“Do you have any thoughts as to what it might mean?”
Jven shook her head. “Not yet. It will probably happen at that ‘ah-ha!’ moment, when we all realize what it meant and it’s too late to do anything about it.”
It seemed a rather negative attitude, but there was a precedent for such things. That’s the unfortunate aspect of divination. We mortals can’t always understand what the gods are trying to tell us until it’s too late.
Hoping that sleeping on things would gain us some insight, we settled down for the night and began our watches. Even though nothing was likely to discover us inside the rope trick, we wanted to keep an eye on anything passing down below.
Val and I were on watch when we spotted someone creeping into the room. It was our mysterious benefactor in the Torodinite ceremonial robes. Strangely, the robes were a little too short for him now. That was odd. Those robes magically alter themselves to fit anyone. I would have thought they were a forgery if I hadn’t seen their magic at work. He was also carrying a war hammer. He didn’t have one before; and such a weapon was forbidden to our order.
“It’s the mystery man,” I whispered excitedly to Val. It wasn’t necessary to whisper since we were in an extra dimensional space, but I did it out of habit.
“What should we do?” Val whispered. “We don’t know if he is evil or good.”
He was passing below us. I shifted into mouse form, cast my paw outside the rope trick, and cast ‘know vulnerabilities.’ Sadly, my spell yielded no information.
I couldn’t stand it. Curiosity was killing me; I just had to know who this person was. He’d helped us before. Surely he was no threat to us.
“I’ll be back,” I whispered to Val.
“Nikita, w—“
I leaped out of the rope trick and landed nimbly on the ground behind the mystery man. I followed him out of the room into an area that we hadn’t yet explored. I tried to see something familiar about the way he walked, but the robes disguised this. Strangely, I did notice a slit in the side of the robes where his war hammer hung.
The man (or woman) looked around for a while, then came back into the room where we’d cast the rope trick. When he paused to examine our tracks, I crawled up his robes and into his pack. I didn’t find anything interesting. There was a blanket that was rather too coarse for my tastes, a scroll case I couldn’t chew my way into, and clothing of indeterminate color (it was dark inside the rope trick.). There was also a bit of cheese and dried fruit. I didn’t find anything that would identify him. No personal items at all; how boring. Well, this was frustrating. Who was this man (or woman)? Why was he helping us, but concealing his identity?
I climbed out of the pack and onto his shoulder in time to see us enter a bathroom. Here I at least learned that our mystery man is definitely male. I also learned that the room we were now in held two bathtubs heated by hot mineral springs. I couldn’t believe we’d missed this. Good heavens, I would have to tell Jven about this as soon as possible. This was a dream come true. Even without desirable male company, a hot bath is one of my favorite luxuries.
We wandered into a small kitchen. A great deal of food was stored here; this was liable to prove a problematic distraction for Ester. Our mystery friend picked up some knives and began to examine them with undue interest.
I couldn’t take it any more. I just had to know who this man was. I didn’t think he’d hurt me. Besides, I could hear Val trying to sneak down the hallway towards us. I crawled onto his shoulder.
“So, what ya lookin’ for?” I said in his ear.
He jumped. I was rather pleased with myself for catching him off guard. Seregil would be so proud.
The man tilted his head to look at me. I waved a paw. “Uh, Sister?”
“Yes, I’m Nikita. What’s your name?”
He hesitated. “It is good that we can talk alone. Where are your companions?"
“They’re all sleeping in the rope trick back there. Except for Val, who’s sneaking towards us as we speak.”
“I will make I brief. I’ve come to help. I know that you can easily find out who I am, but I must ask that you do not.”
Well, this was quite a lot to ask from a Torodinite. Why couldn’t he trust me with the secret of his identity? Should I agree to this request, or not? What would Donar want me to do?
“You can call me… Aaron.”
“Do I know you?”
“As much as you would know another follower of the Shadows.”
“But you’re not a priest. You’re wearing chain mail under those robes.”
If he was disturbed to learn that I’d been crawling under his robes without his knowledge, the mask hid it. “But I am a priest.” He pulled a chain from beneath his robes and showed me one of our blessed holy symbols.
“Who sent you?”
“You needed the help. There are many people in Istur who need my help right now.”
This was no kind of an answer. I wanted to know if Donar had sent someone to watch over me. Didn’t he trust me? I wanted to know how “Aaron” could be a priest, yet he wore chain mail and carried a war hammer. Why should he be allowed to break the rules?
I was not, however, going to alienate a shadow brother who’d come to our aid. Perhaps if I worked to earn his trust, I would find opportunities to learn more about him.
“Why don’t you join us?”
He considered this for a moment. “Very well. I will give you all of my assistance.”
“Uh, why don’t you grab some of this food, first? Ester will be your friend for life if you give her some cheese. We didn’t bring any food with us.”
“You didn’t bring any food?”
Despite the powers of the mask, I could sense the disapproval in his tone. “Well, we weren’t expecting to be down here long.”
“You should always come prepared.”
I wasn’t sure I cared for Aaron’s attitude, but I decided to let it slide for now. I led him back toward the rope trick. “Gore is sleeping right now. We can kick him out if we have to.”
“Gore?”
“The oafish barbarian.”
We said hello to a surprised Val, caught in mid-creep down the hallway. “Our friend, uh, Aaron is going to join us in the rope trick.”
“Well…. welcome, I guess,” said Val. She regarded Aaron with undisguised suspicion.
“Well, I guess this is a welcome.”
We all climbed up into the rope trick.
“Hey, cool mask!” said Ester. “Can I see it?”
“No.”
“Can I see it?”
“No.”
“Can I see it?”
“No.”
“Can I see it?”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
“Ester, stop that,” I said. Ester pouted, but she did stop pestering Aaron. Especially when he shared the food he’d brought.
“Don’t tell her about the kitchen you found,” Val warned him in a whisper. “Or we’ll never get out of here.”
“Everyone, this is… Aaron, my, uh, brother priest.” I caught Jven’s eye and shrugged at here. I was leaning toward believing that Aaron was a priest, but I wasn’t completely sure yet. Jven raised her eyebrows, as intrigued as I was.
I was surprised when Aaron cast a healing spell on Gore. He turned and bowed to me. Well, he was definitely a priest.
“You really didn’t have to do that,” I told him.
“I think I did.”
“Why?” asked Ester around a mouth full of cheese.
“I did hit him first.”
“How do you see through that?” Ester asked. She was still fascinated by the mask.
Some shuffling around ensued, in order to make room for everyone inside the rope trick. We all settled down in our bedrolls. But first, I un-moused and gave Aaron my stack of notes. He settled down to read.
“It’s good to read these first-hand,” he said.
“What do you mean, ‘first-hand’ ?” Had Aaron gotten a hold of my notes before? If so, how? I exchanged a look with Jven, who was regarding Aaron with a certain degree of suspicion.
“It’s good to read them,” said Aaron.
It wasn’t much of an answer, but I let it go for now. I’m looking forward to asking Donar about our mysterious friend. Will he be surprised? Or does he already know that “Aaron” is with us? Honestly, I’m not sure which answer I’d prefer.

Book 5.5

2005-10-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

15 Esterealan, Beneath the city of Istur

As soon as Canliss rejoined us, I provided everyone with a summary of clues regarding our mission. Ester provided everyone with grilled cheese sandwiches – to each according to their abilities. My expert summary of our mission went as follows:

We must find and destroy The Soul of Ice before the dead of Istur become frozen zombies.

What we know:
1. The Soul of Ice is extra-dimensional in nature
2. The Soul of Ice did not cause The Great Storm and surrounding events, but it is related to these events
3. The Soul of Ice is somehow channeling power.
4. The attack on the city by the Frozen Ones corresponded with the fires set by the small fire elementals.
5. Evidence suggests that the Brotherhood of the Flame set the fires
6. We witnessed members of the Brotherhood of the Flame battling a fire elemental and an extra-planar creature that was more comfortable with cold and ice.
7. The Brotherhood’s unfortunate scribe said that many creatures had “gotten loose.” The Brotherhood may have lost control of the extra-planar creatures they’ve summoned.

What we need to find out:
1. What is The Soul of ice?
2. Where is The Soul of ice?
3. How do we destroy it?
4. Who sent the Frozen Ones to attack the city, and are they in league with the Brotherhood of Flame?
5. Who was behind the attack on Istur’s churches, which happened conveniently close to the onset of these fires and zombie attacks?
6. Is all of this related to the “night of evil” from the Vistani prophecy?

“What prophecy?” asked Val, who’d quickly perused the notes according to instructions. Some people can follow orders (unlike certain barbarians I could mention).
“Well,” I explained, “we were in another plane of existence called Ravenloft where this prophecy was unfolding.” I got copies of the Scroll Prophecy out of my pack and handed one to everyone.
“There was a boat,” Ester said.
“A boat?” Val asked in confusion. She was looking at her copy of the prophecy and had probably noticed a certain lack of boats being mentioned.
“It was a Ghost Boat,” Ester explained. “And I got this.” She pulled down the collar of her shirt to show Val her scar. “I got bit on the Ghost Boat.”
Val, who’d never heard of ghosts, nodded at Ester. “Oh, I see,” she lied.
“Ester,” I chided. “Please, I was speaking.”
“Sorry.”
“We had witnessed a sign from the Prophecy indicating that a night of evil was about to happen, and then we ended up back here in Istur. This leads us to the possible conclusion that the night of evil is going to happen here.”
“Oh, okay,” said Val. She looked a little overwhelmed.
At this point, Jven asked Canliss to take a note to Halberto, so her fellow Jveltoans wouldn’t think she’d disappeared again. Really, this was a detail she should have been taken care of before we’d come down here, but one can’t expect a Jveltoan to be organized.
Canliss obligingly flew off to deliver Jven’s note. He’s really quite a patient man, Canliss is.
“Nikita, can I have another copy of the Prophecy?” Ester asked me plaintively.
“What happened to your copy?”
“I gave it to the Azkalites. But it’s okay – they realized how important it was.”
“They did?” I asked doubtfully.
Ester nodded. “They put it in a special drawer to keep it safe. They said that’s where all the prophecies go.”
“Oh, I see.” I handed Ester another copy and advised her not to give this one away. “Special drawer,” indeed. Stupid Azkalites.
We discussed the Prophecy for a while, largely for Val’s edification. I certainly didn’t expect any insight from Gore.
“Wasn’t the lifeless child of stern mother unborn – wasn’t he encased in ice?” Ester asked excitedly.
“Yes, he was.” I was rather proud of Ester for recalling that detail. I described Meridoth’s macabre altar to Val. Naturally, she was horrified.
“We destroyed it,” said Ester. “Do you suppose that’s where the Soul of Ice came from?”
Donar was right – you never do know where inspiration will come from; sometimes Torodin chooses the most unlikely of vessels. “You may be right, Ester. I have been wondering if the Soul of Ice is, literally, a soul trapped in ice.”
“Does that mean we need to keep the Soul of Ice or destroy it?” Ester asked.
“Donar told us we need to destroy it, Ester. Otherwise all the dead in Istur will become frozen zombies.”
“So we should destroy it?”
“Yes.”
Val shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”
“Of course, we don’t yet know how to destroy it,” I pointed out.
“It’s ice,” said Ester. “We’ll melt it.”
“Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to be that simple,” I told Ester.
“Let’s give simple a chance to work,” Jven suggested.
Deciding to overlook Jven’s snide remark, I handed out a description of my various divination abilities. Most people just don’t understand how divination works. I encouraged everyone, even Gore, to think of ways we could use divination to solve our mission.
“Do you think the Flame people and the Ice people are enemies?” asked Ester. “They don’t seem like they should work together.”
“That’s strangely logical,” said Val. She seemed amused by Ester’s attempts at deduction. Still, Ester’s ideas had proven quite valid, so far – sometimes, when one needs to figure something out, persistence is more valuable than intellect.
“It would be nice to know about the power struggle here,” I told Ester. “But I don’t think it’s worth spending a gem. It’s not crucial to our mission. So, does anyone have any questions about how divination works?”
“I don’t know,” said Gore. “But I think we should move all these pegs on the map.”
“No. Donar is going to scry on them, so they’ll know where all the attacks are being planned.”
“Oh.”
I rolled my eyes at Val. Stupid barbarian. He should stop trying to think, and stick to his strengths. Or strength. As far as I can tell, he’s only good for hitting things.
“We should move all the pegs to where the army of the dead is,” Gore said. He actually had the nerve to look pleased with himself, as if this were a brilliant idea.
“No,” said Ester, in the same tone of voice you’d use for a puppy that had just soiled the carpet. “No. No. No.”
“But then –“
“Sit down, Gore,” I said.
“But if we steal all the pegs, then they can’t plan any more attacks. Ha.”
“I think you should get over this sudden obsession with pegs,” Jven told the barbarian.
“And with thinking,” I added.
Ester rolled her eyes. “And he’s the smartest barbarian in the world.”
“That’s right,” said Gore.
“I’ll tell you what,” said Jven. “We’ll point you in the direction your skills will be best employed. And in the mean-time, why don’t you just relax and polish your sword?”
This earned laughter from everyone but Gore. Not surprisingly, he didn’t get the joke.
Some time later, Canliss returned. “I found somebody who can help us,” he said. “She’s an archer. She’s waiting at the other end of the rope bridge.”
I sighed. “Canliss, if you’d told me you were going to bring a friend, I would have made another copy of the clues.”
“Nikita, she doesn’t have any protection from the heat. Can I borrow your Ring of Chill so she can come across?”
“Very well. Don’t get it dirty.” I handed Canliss my ring and he flew back to the rope bridges. Ester, who didn’t think Canliss was enough protection for our new recruit, followed him. They returned a few minutes later with a slender, plain-looking young woman who carried a bow across her shoulder. She looked at us all curiously.
“Canliss, who’s your friend?” I asked.
The woman gave her name as Haquia. She graciously returned my ring. I introduced everyone, since Canliss couldn’t be counted on to observe the social niceties.
“So how do you know Canliss?” I asked.
“I don’t.”
“Canliss!” Jven and I scolded the six-fingered mage in unison. He’d dragged some strange woman down here to help on our quest – what was he thinking? Why didn’t he recruit some of those new paladins at The Word of Law while he was at it – let everyone in Istur think we were desperate for help.
“She wanted to help,” Canliss defended himself.
“Are you here of your own free will?”
“Yes,” said Haquia. “He’s telling the truth.”
“Here, dear. This will get you up to speed.” I handed Haquia a copy of The Prophecy and our mission notes.
“So, we’re gonna go find the extra-dimensional Soul of Ice,” Ester explained. “And save the city.”
“I didn’t mention those details,” said Canliss. “I did tell her about the lava.”
“After I got down here,” Haquia said, rolling her eyes. She was catching on rather quickly to Canliss’s way of doing things.
“Well, we are on an important quest, dear,” I assured Haquia. “We are looking for the Soul of Ice, as Ester said. We don’t exactly know what it is, but we need to destroy it before it turns all of Istur’s dead into zombies.”
“Which would be bad,” said Ester.
“However, if you’re having second thoughts now that you’ve seen the situation, no one would think any less of you for wanting to go back to the surface.” That wasn’t exactly true, but reluctant help is worse than no help at all. It’s almost worse than Gore.
“Well, I do want to help,” said Haquia. She looked dubiously at her copy of the notes. “I don’t know how much help I can be, though.”
“Can you kill things?” Ester asked.
Haquia nodded.
“Well, that’s all right, then.” Ester frowned at Gore. “Some people would rather take a nap than kick ass.”
“Now Ester,” said Jven, “let’s all try to get along.” She looked frustrated, the poor thing. Jveltoans just aren’t used to playing peacemaker; they’re generally more inclined to grab an ale and watch the fight happen.
Now that we were all assembled, we headed off to search for the Soul of Ice. Ester and Val took the lead as we explored further into the complex, leaving Gore and Haquia to guard the rear. I wasn’t sure of Haquia’s loyalties yet, but if she turned out to be untrustworthy, it wasn’t all that far to the lava – and she didn’t look heavy.
“I’m a diplomatic envoy,” Gore explained to Haquia as we left the map room. “I’m also a deputy of the City Watch, and a minister of mysterious levies and fees.”
Haquia looked doubtfully up at Gore and made noncommittal noises. Whatever else she might be, she’s apparently no fool. She knows a big idiot when she sees one.
“I’m a private in the City Watch.” Ester stopped to deliver this important news to Haquia, which was awkward since she and Val were supposed to be leading our little procession. “I’m a private, which is better than a deputy. I got this new badge, see. I’m part of the City Watch now; I’m not doing that silly ministry of meteors thing any more.”
“Ester, focus,” I said. I found myself missing Rhavin and Kariya more than ever. Keeping everyone in line is becoming a drain on my patience.
“I’m just saying,” said Ester.
“So we don’t have a sergeant any more?” asked Canliss, feigning concern.
Ester shrugged. “You guys are just gonna have to figure something out.”
“Are we there yet?” said Jven.
“I’m hungry,” Ester complained.
“Everyone, please, let’s focus on our task. The Soul of Ice, remember?” I glared at Canliss. I don’t know why he looked surprised – he should know better than to encourage Ester like that.
After more effort than such a simple process should have required, we made it to the end of the corridor. It opened up into a room that was the mirror image of the map room, sans map and incriminating documents. Several long wooden tables were covered with tubes and glasses, reminding me very much of Doctor Mordenheim’s laboratory.
“Hey, there were tables like this in front of the lifeless child of stern mother unborn,” said Ester. This comment confused half of the group, but I let it go. I can’t forever be explaining things, and they don’t really need to know all the details in order to be useful.
Canliss immediately pushed his way to the tables to look for anything valuable he could take. The room also contained some rather nice-looking if slightly singed furniture – an antique bed, a writing desk, and a large armoire. While I examined the desk, Val followed Gore over to the armoire. The pretty warrior watched with amusement while the barbarian tried in vain to tie his thick hemp rope around the armoire’s delicate knobs.
“What are you doing?” Canliss asked.
“I’m going to open the ward-robe from a distance,” said the barbarian. “In case it’s dangerous.” Apparently, young children in Gore’s tribe are taught to fear armoires.
“Uh, I’ll just watch the exists then,” said Ester.
“I’ll help,” said Jven. The giantess proceeded to lounge in the doorway and regard the rest of us with a bored expression while she devoured the last of her grilled cheese sandwiches. Jven decided to stretch out on the bed.
Val watched Gore try to make a tiny loop out of his big, fat rope for several minutes. Then, smiling, she moved up beside him.
“Here, let me help you.”
Gore handed her the rope. Ignoring him, she reached past him and opened the armoire.
“No!” Gore jumped back, startled.
While the rest of us laughed at Gore, Val peered inside the armoire. “Nothing in here but cheap pants and plain, black robes,” she complained. Despite Gore’s fears, none of the clothing appeared to be dangerous.
I cast a spell to read the stack of papers on the desk. It seemed to be research on how to open a permanent plane to the elemental plane of fire. It seemed that the Brotherhood was planning to push the Soul of Ice through said fire portal. One of the papers described the location of the Soul of Ice as being the top of “The Holy Pyramid.” The Brotherhood mages seemed to suspect that The Soul of Ice acted as a one-way gateway to the para-elemental plane of ice, which explained the presence of the flying ice lizard we’d seen earlier.
“So they opened up a permanent gate to the plane of Fire to get rid of the Soul of Ice?” Jven asked.
“Apparently.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure that seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“They were also contemplating summon demons to control the fire elementals that had escaped them,” I explained. “I’m afraid these mages were completely out of control.”
“Nobody should summon infernal creatures,” Canliss said, looking pointedly in my direction. I ignored him. I don’t think I need to be taking advice from someone who thinks that Grease and an army of goblins are a pretty good combination.
The desk also contained books that described Gates, summoning creatures, and other arcane subjects. I let Canliss take the books, but only after I made him promise not to unleash a lot of extra-planar monsters on the city. Istur has enough problems right now.
While the rest of us discussed this valuable new information, the stupid barbarian wandered off. None of us tried to stop him. We figured the worse that could happen was that the barbarian might fall into some lava. How could we have known how much trouble he would cause? Torodin save me, why didn’t we keep him on a leash?
Sadly, we failed to realize the ominous nature of Gore’s absence. As the barbarian rejoined us, none of us asked where he’d been. (It wasn’t as if we’d missed his company.) We all filed over to the far side of the room, but the opening led only to a pit of lava which the mages had apparently been using to dispose of refuse. Reckless the Brotherhood of the Flame might be, but they do seem to be resourceful.
Gore spent several minutes digging through the trash at the edge of the lava pit. We all watched him with varying degrees of disgust.
“Okay, I think we’re done here,” Val said loudly after we’d put up with several minutes of this. I’m not sure what Gore thought he was going to find in the garbage; certainly none of us cared enough to ask him.
As we regrouped and made our way toward the next unexplored area, Canliss tapped my shoulder from behind. I turned to see him pressed a glass vial into my hand.
“Nikita,” he whispered. “This is the antidote to that poison gas I picked up a long time ago.”
I had no memory of poison gas, but I seemed the sort of thing that Canliss was likely to pocket. I put the vial in my pack.
“Jven and I also have the antidote. Just in case. I have three vials of the poison.”
Hmm. Apparently, if things went south, Canliss was planning to poison everyone else, including Ester, while the three of us ran for it. Honestly, did he think we’d be willing to do something so foul? I wouldn’t even do that to Gore. Well, this wasn’t the time to discuss it, but I think Jven and I should have a little talk with our six-fingered friend sometime soon. And maybe we should search him when he’s sleeping, and deprive him of any other dangerous things he might be carrying.
The next room turned out to be very large and, to put it mildly, quite messy. Smoldering tables and chairs lay in bits and pieces all over the room. Chunks of the ceiling crashed to the soot-stained floor as we all paused in the doorway, our eyes watering at the smoke. Numerous flaming braziers lined the room, adding to the unpleasant, smoky atmosphere. It didn’t speak well of the Brotherhood of the Flame’s decorating sense. Really, this place was almost unappealing as Meridoth’s frozen lair. Just once I’d like to battle an evil villain who lives in a comfortable home, with art and music instead of fire, ice, and extra-planar monsters.
I shook my head. “This is the sort of thing that happens when mages just open up a Gate and let everything through.”
“And this scares me,” said Canliss.
“The Brotherhood of the Flame wasn’t very careful with fire,” said Gore. He’d probably just figured this out.
We could see several exits leading out of the room ahead of us. A reddish glow came from the exits straight ahead and to our right. The three exits to our left were dark.
“Let’s avoid those two,” said Jven, pointing to the exits with the ominous glow. “I’d just as soon not play around near the lava.”
Ester and Val took the lead, heading into the room along the edge and skirting the crumbling ceiling in the center. Just as the main group of us reached the opening, the brazier to our right exploded in a shower of smoke and sparks. All of us coughed and sputtered. Jven gasped and closed her eyes, blinded by the flash of light. Canliss guided Jven back to lean against the wall, away from the smoke. Behind them, Haquia bent over, coughing helplessly.
There was no immediate sign of our attackers. But, between the smoke obscuring our view and all those large tables lying on their sides, there was a lot of room to hide. Meanwhile, we were all sitting ducks. It was imperative that we take charge of this situation and turn things around quickly.
“Canliss, do something about this smoke,” I said.
“Way to take charge, Nikita,” Jven muttered as she rubbed futilely at her eyes.
Canliss peered through the smoke and stood there, doing nothing. I scowled at him – this was not the quick resolution of the situation that I’d been expecting. I’m afraid Canliss is starting to slack off now that Kariya isn’t around to make him look bad.
Ester and Val yelped and dodged aside as a ball of flame rolled towards them. “Get it! Get it!” Ester cried. Val leaped clear and swung at it with her blade as it rolled past, crackling and shooting sparks.
A second ball of flame appeared, rolling toward Jven, Canliss and myself. The six-fingered mage cursed and pulled Jven out of the way while I stepped nimbly aside.
“What? What?” asked Jven, who was still blind and didn’t understand why she was being manhandled by Canliss.
“It’s a ball of fire,” I explained.
“Oh. Fire bad.” She cast a spell. A sudden burst of rain drenched everyone and everything in the room. Several of the flaming braziers winked out, as did both balls of fire. My hair was ruined, but I suppose it was a small price to pay for our safety.
“Sorry about your hair, Nikita,” said Jven.
“Oh, it’s all right,” I said graciously. Privately, I was hoping that Canliss had a ‘dry’ cantrip handy.
Two magic users poked their heads out from behind two of the overturned tables. The man on the left seemed blurry, while the woman on the right glowed with a strange, violet light. Apparently they’d taken the time to magically protect themselves before ambushing us.
“We’re here to help!” Ester yelled even as Canliss zapped the one on the left with magic missiles. The Brotherhood mage ducked back behind the table; under the circumstances, it was unlikely he’d been reassured by Ester’s comment.
“Aaaaargh!” Gore rudely pushed his way through the rest of us to go charging into the middle of the room. He drew his sword screamed in rage, spittle flying from his mouth -as if he hadn’t been unattractive enough already.
Meanwhile, Ester charged up to the glowing, purple lady mage. Ester cried out in pain as the woman shot a flaming crossbow bolt into her chest. Undaunted, Ester swung her blade. As her blade brushed harmlessly by the mage’s arms, purple sparks shot up the length of the blade to coil around Ester’s arm.
“Hey, that’s cold!” Ester complained. “She used cold on me. She’s evil!”
While Ester was loudly protesting, a third mage popped up behind a table and shot the raging barbarian with a crossbow bolt. Gore didn’t seem to notice, but I wasn’t best pleased. All this damage was going to mean a lot of healing spells after the battle – as if Jven and I have nothing better to do.
“We’re here to destroy the Soul of Ice!” I yelled. “Will you let us pass?” I wasn’t hopeful of a peaceful resolution, but it wasn’t completely outside the realm of possibility. If what we’d read today was true, these mages had no good reason to be stopping us.
Sadly, logic didn’t seem to be the Brotherhood’s strong suit. The purple-glowing magess dodged Ester’s blade and cast two rays of flame, scorching Ester’s side rather badly.
“Ow!” Ester yelled. She was looking rather frustrated, the poor thing. The giantess just wasn’t used to getting beat up by a skinny mage.
Meanwhile, Val nimbly leaped over tables and rubble to land gracefully beside the blurry Brotherhood mage, who turned out to be a halfling. She stabbed him in the shoulder then leaped backward. And she looked stylish while doing it.
Suddenly, the third mage, who must have turned himself invisible, appeared directly in front of me. He held a glowing staff in one hand and wore the standard robes; he was very ugly, with a greenish tint to his skin and teeth that were a trifle too long. As Gore looked over his shoulder in surprise, the accursed mage shot flames from his hands, scorching Jven, Canliss, Haquia and myself. It hurt, damn him, and our clothes caught on fire.
“Hey, I like this skirt!” I complained.
“What the hell is going on?” asked Jven, who was still blind and no doubt resent being set on fire.
“A mage appeared right in front of you,” Canliss explained loudly over all the yelling from those who’d suddenly caught fire and were understandably resentful.
Suddenly, two glowing forces of black energy vaguely in the shape of daggers came flying from behind us. They zipped between us. One vanished, while the other hit the mage who’d set us on fire. The mage screamed in pain.
Surprised, I glanced over my shoulder. I saw a person wearing the ceremonial Shadow Robes and mask – the ones none of us, not even Freddy, would ever consider wearing outside the temple. Nor was it possible to steal such things.
“Who are you?” I called.
The man (or woman) only stepped back into the shadows. Curiosity almost drove me to follow. Who was this person, and what where they doing here? Clearly they’d come to help us, but Donar had no reason to send aid without telling us. Was this person a Torodinite? It seemed likely, but why were they wearing the Shadow Robes and concealing their identity. It was too far to go for a prank, even for Seregil. Those robes were sacred – we don’t wear them outside the temple. It just isn’t done.
Sadly, we were rather too occupied at the moment (not to mention on fire) to focus on the identity of the mysterious stranger. Jven cast her rain spell again. We were now completely soaked, but we weren’t on fire any longer. Jven had also managed to extinguish most of the remaining braziers. Jven, who was still blind, crouched close to the ground, no doubt hoping to avoid more fire spells.
Canliss cast more magic missiles at the blurry halfling. A series of high-pitched curses signaled his success. Haquia, still coughing and sputtering, followed his act with a couple of arrows.
Meanwhile, the mindlessly raging barbarian (well, ‘mindless’ is perhaps a redundant adjective where Gore is concerned) turned around and swung his axe mage who’d just set everyone on fire. Sadly, this mage was also blurred. Gore’s axe sliced through the air where the mage wasn’t standing.
“Gah!” Gore complained with his usual eloquence.
“Aaaaargh!” Ester cried in pain as purple energy shot up her arm. Her blade cut into the mage’s shoulder, causing another outcry. Sadly, from the way Ester was staggering, it looked like the giantess was taking the worst of that altercation. Undaunted, Ester stabbed the woman again. Both women screamed in pain. Ester staggered and nearly fell. Oh dear. This wasn’t good at all. Perhaps we should have stuck to missile weapons where that particular mage was concerned.
Whooosh! The halfling mage spat fire all over Val. She yelped in pain, and perhaps in wounded pride. Nobody likes being spit on.
Clearly, I needed to help out with this situation. Muttering a quiet apology to Donar, I summoned a Fiendish deinonychus to help out Ester. The mage dodged its snapping teeth but yelped as it clawed her shoulder. Sadly, the deinonychus screeched in pain from the cold, purple flames licking all over its body. Well, I wasn’t planning on the creature lasting long, but I was hoping the mage might attack it instead of Ester.
A little too late, I remembered that there just might be a Torodinite behind us who’d just seen me summon a Fiendish creature in violation of temple policy. I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn’t see our mystery guest. Well, perhaps I’d have the opportunity to explain later.
“Aaaargh!” Ester screamed again as the glowing purple mage hit her with another ray of flames. Poor Ester was half frozen and looking ready to drop, I was too far away to heal her, and Jven was blind. This wasn’t good.
“Ha!” Val stabbed the blurry halfling then leaped back out of the way. She seemed to be faring much better than Ester.
Meanwhile, the mage on our end of the room wasn’t finished making a pest of himself. He lashed out at me, smacking me in the head with his glowing staff.
“Hey, that hurt!” I found myself feeling rather resentful of getting wounded. I don’t know how Ester puts up with it all the time.
Two more of the mystic daggers came flying through the air. They brushed past the mage’s shoulder and dissipated. I glanced over my shoulder, but I wasn’t fast enough to catch sight of our mysterious benefactor. While I was looking back, Canliss struck the mage with a volley of magic missiles. It was the first time any of us had wounded him. Haquia, who was still coughing from all the smoke, shot some arrows at him and missed.
“Aarrrrrrrrgh!” Gore swung his great, big axe at the mage. The blade sunk into the mage’s side, leading to a flow of blood that was rather gratifying to see. The mage fell to the ground in a heap. We all applauded except for Jven, who still couldn’t see what was happening.
Poor Ester had taken all of the freezing, purple energy she could stand. She backed up and ducked behind the nearest table, looking rather embarrassed. Retreating isn’t usually part of Ester’s combat repertoire.
The glowing purple mage leaped up, dodging the attack from my deinonychus, and cast a spell. A fireball roared into the room, catching all of us in its blast except for Canliss, who leaped backward just in time to avoid the grasping flames. Jven staggered back against the wall and almost feel. Poor Ester huddled behind her table, whimpering.
My deinonychus had escaped the blast of the fireball. I didn’t want it to die in purple flames just after I’d summoned it, so I called out in Infernal, ordering it to leap over the purple mage and pounce on the nearest target. The halfling looked surprised to be suddenly savaged by a dinosaur, but it served him right for hurting Val – what had she ever done to him?
While my dinosaur was busy, I dispelled the purple energy surrounding the mage. I probably should have done that sooner, but being alternately set on fire and drenched with water had been rather distracting.
“Ha!” Ester yelled happily. “Not so smart now, are you? Now you’re not purple any more!”
Canliss shot the no longer purple mage with magic missiles. Things were starting to look up for our side. Jven regained her sight and healed herself, while Haquia finally stopped coughing. She shot more arrows in the fray, managing to miss everyone in the room. So far her vaunted abilities as an archer hadn’t surfaced, but I’m sure she was just having a bad day.
More shadow daggers came flying into the fray, courtesy of our mysterious friend. One struck the halfling mage, dropping him to the floor. The other hit Gore in the shoulder.
“Aaargh!” Gore bellowed. Really, he was making an unreasonable fuss over such a minor wound.
“Look out behind you!” Gore charged past us, ignoring Jven’s attempt to trip him, and attacked our mysterious friend. Canliss, the big coward, pressed up against the wall to let the raging barbarian get by.
“Gore, stop it, you big idiot! He’s helping us!” I yelled
The stupid barbarian was too far gone in his mindless rage to listen to me. His axe caught our mysterious benefactor a deep blow to the shoulder.
“Who the --- aaargh!” cried the robed person. Gods in heaven, this was his reward for trying to help us? Damn that stupid barbarian.
Sadly Ester, the only one among us who was strong enough to restrain the barbarian, was busy. “Not so purple now are you?” she yelled, and swung at the remaining mage. Her blade slid deep between the woman’s ribs. She slumped to the ground, dead.
“Gore, it’s over! Stop!” Jven yelled.
The stupid barbarian raised his axe to swing again. I couldn’t let this happen. I didn’t want to kill Gore (much), but if he made me choose between him and someone who might be a fellow priest, it was an easy choice. I called to my deinonychus, ordering him to pounce on Gore. Sadly, it managed to leap right onto the blade of Gore’s axe, where it died rather messily.
I was willing to kill Gore if I had to, but I was hoping to startle him out of his rage instead. I cast ‘deeper darkness’, plunging us all into blackness.
We heard Jven casting. Suddenly, we were all strangely calm. Gore was still raging and foaming at the mouth, but it didn’t bother us so much. It didn’t even upset us when Canliss cast ‘grease’ in the hallway.
“Well, at least now I’m not so pissed off about being dragged into this mess,” I heard Jven mutter. In retrospect, I can’t help but wonder why Jven had been so angry. We didn’t drag her down here. Manipulate, yes – but nobody forced her to help us. Certainly she must realize that we couldn’t possibly succeed in the midst of so much ice and fire without her unique, weather-related skills.
“Aaaaargh!” The stupid barbarian was still flailing away with his axe, but between the grease and the darkness, he wasn’t hitting anything.
“Gore, I’m not gonna let you kill him,” I warned. “He’s a Torodinite. He’s here to help us.”
I didn’t want to summon a shadow to eat Gore – especially not when there was a good chance Donar would find out about it later – but I wasn’t going to let him kill a fellow priest. Fortunately, Gore finally calmed down and listened to what we were telling him.
“Gore, he’s a priest of Torodin. Knock it off.”
“But he attacked me.”
“That was friendly fire. It was an accident.”
“Oh, okay,” said Gore.
With a sigh, I dispelled the darkness. While Jven started healing everyone, I ran to the intersection, hoping to find our mysterious friend. There was no sign of him, not even after I cast ‘detect thoughts.’
I didn’t understand why this person would help us and then disappear. Granted, there was a chance Gore might have scared him off, but that misunderstanding could be explained.
“I’m sorry about Gore!” I called. “But if you come back, I’ll heal you.” There was no answer. I was saddened to think that we might have offended our mysterious benefactor. And the curiosity was killing me. Who was this person? I could have used a genius spell to find out his (or her) name, but I knew I needed to save my supply of gems for our mission.
I rejoined the others and explained about our mysterious friend. “He was wearing the ceremonial robes of a Torodinite. We don’t wear those outside the temple.”
“Nobody would be stupid enough to steal those robes,” Canliss said, shuddering. “It would be suicide.”
“Maybe it was an illusion,” said Val.
That was a possibility. But it seemed a strange illusion to pick. If the stranger wanted to gain our trust so they could betray us later, they would have stuck around.
With no immediate way to solve that mystery, I helped Jven with the healing. She’d been busy, so there wasn’t a lot left except for Gore. He was rather badly hurt, but there was the little problem of his distrust of magic. I glared at him and cast my healing spells on Jven and myself.
“Thank you,” said Jven, looking pointedly at Gore. “I feel so much better after magical healing.”
She grabbed the barbarian. “Gore, please pay attention when your party members are asking you to back off.” While she was lecturing, she sneaked in some healing.
I shook my head. “You should have made him apologize first. How is he going to learn?”
“Now you have to listen,” said Jven, healing Gore some more. The barbarian looked confused, no doubt wondering why being lectured by Jven was making him feel better.
Still, Gore was badly hurt, and I couldn’t leave all the work to Jven. “Gore, if you apologize to us for insulting our deities, Jven and I will heal you.”
“But I’ve never insulted your deities.”
“You most certainly have.”
“Gore!” Ester yelled. “Just say it.”
Jven pinched him. “Be careful what you say to Nikita.”
I crossed my arms and glared at him. “A simple apology is all I’m asking for.”
“If I have insulted your deity,” said Gore, “then I apologize.”
I blinked at the barbarian, surprised by the unexpected eloquence. “Very well,” I said, and helped Jven finish healing him. That accomplished, I handed Ester my two remaining healing potions to use in case of emergency.
By the time we were done with all the healing, Canliss had finished looting the bodies. In theory we were ready to move on, but we were all badly hurt. I suggested the rope trick/Nap combination. Not surprisingly, everyone jumped at the idea except for Gore. After the rest of us had climbed up, the barbarian stayed firmly on the ground, regarding the dangling rope with unwarranted suspicion.
“It’s all right,” I told him. “It’s a little room. We’re going to rest here for a while. Now get up here.”
Gore shook his head. “I’ll stand guard down here.”
“Knock yourself out,” said Jven.
“Oh, come on Gore,” said Val. “It’s perfectly safe.”
“No. I’m not climbing up into some magical… place.”
“It’s not magical,” said Ester. “It’s just extra-dimensional.”
Gore would not be convinced. So we all made ourselves comfortable and left him down there to stand guard… or do whatever else came to his feeble, little mind.
I tried to rest, but I couldn’t stop wondering about our mysterious ally. I got out my gems and looked longingly at them. Why is it that there’s always some vital quest that prevents me from using my magic to satisfy my curiosity? It hardly seems fair.
Jven looked at me and grinned. “Don’t even think about it,” she said. Jven knows me well.
“I just want to know who he is.” It occurred to me that we owed him and apology, and I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to make it. I wrote a note, then excused myself to the others and climbed down the rope.
“Where are you going?” Val called.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Take Gore with you,” Jven suggested. “He won’t come up here anyway.”
“Come along, Gore.” I allowed the barbarian to follow me to the map room, where I left a note apologizing to our mystery friend for the rude and unprovoked attack. I turned around only to see that the map was entirely devoid of pegs.
“GORE!” I yelled. “Didn’t I tell you not to move the pegs from the map?”
“I took them so they can’t plan any more attacks,” he said. The insufferable fool had the nerve to look pleased with himself. Now, assuming Donar hadn’t scryed on the map yet, would learn nothing from it. That map could have saved lives, and Gore had dismantled it.
“Get out of my sight.”
“But –“
I pointed to the door. “Get out of my sight right now!”
“But those were evil pegs.”
“OUT! Just get out!”
“Do you want the pegs?” asked Gore. He pulled the pegs from his pockets and handed them to me. Furious, I took the pegs and threw them at him.
“Now get out!”
Gore shrugged and went back to rejoin the others. Gods, I have never been so angry. I really, really wanted to cast a nasty spell on the stupid barbarian, but it would have been beneath my dignity. Instead, I pinned a note for Donar to the map explaining what Gore had done, and I started the painful and laborious process of replacing as many pegs as I could recall. It’s a good thing I’m extremely intelligent – at least Donar would learn something when he scryed on the map.
Ester came walking in a few minutes later. She’d been concerned that Gore had left me all alone in an “evil dungeon.”
Ester looked from me to the map in confusion. “Nikita, why did you take all the pegs out?”
“Gore did this!” I glared at Ester. “Ester, why did you pick him up? The next time you find a big, dumb idiot and you feel sorry for him, just keep walking. Don’t take him home with you.”
Ester looked contrite. “But he said he was the smartest barbarian in the world. I never would have taken those pegs out.”
“I know you wouldn’t have, Ester.”
“Everyone always used to call me stupid,” said Ester. “But now I know what stupid really is.”
“Who called you stupid?” I didn’t like the idea of people insulting Ester.
“Well, people used to be mean when I was growing up. They called me stupid, cause I didn’t figure out things very well. But they stopped calling me stupid after I got real big.”
“When you beat them up?”
She nodded.
“Feel free to beat Gore up any time you like, Ester.”
Ester waited more or less patiently while I replaced the rest of the pegs. It took a long, long time.
“You know,” said Ester, “I don’t think he’s really a diplomat at all.”
“That’s probably the job they give to the people they want to get rid of.”
While we were busy in the map room, Canliss had taken the time to go through all the loot he’d acquired. He handed Rings of Chill to Haquia, Jven and Ester, and he saved me a crossbow. He kept the glowing staff for himself.
After Canliss had sorted this out, some small rocks came flying up into the Rope Trick.
“Gore, eat your fish,” said Jven.
Val poked her head out. “What’s up?”
“I found the icy soul.”
“Really?” Val said unhappily.
“That’s nice,” said Canliss. “We’ll get it in the morning.”
“It’s a big pulsing sphere on top of a pyramid. It’s getting bigger. It’s with all these ice creatures on an island in the middle of a big pit of lava.”
“I can’t believe the stupid barbarian found the Soul of Ice,” said Val. “I’d better go tell Nikita.”
Val came into the map room, where I placing the last of the pins in the map with a little more force than was strictly necessary. I was still seething with anger.
“Uh, Nikita,” Val said sheepishly. “We think we may have found the Soul of Ice.”
“In the rope trick?”
“Uh, well, Gore found the Soul of Ice.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You’ve got to be kidding me? Are you sure he didn’t just find an ice cube?”
Val shook her head. “He said he found a pyramid with a pulsing orb on top.” She described what Gore had told them. Ester was right – it did sound remarkably like the frozen child above Meridoth’s altar.
“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe Gore found the Soul of Ice. Does he even know what a pyramid is?”
“Well, I haven’t verified it,” Val admitted. “But it does sound like it.”
I sighed. I finished the map, and we all regrouped in the Rope Trick. Except Gore, who continued to stare at the rope with distrust.
“Gore, you need to get your but up here. Everyone is out of spells. We need to rest.”
“But if those creatures come after us, I can cut the rope bridge to their island,” Gore protested.
“They can probably fly,” Val countered.
Gore shook his head. “No, they were humanoid.”
Val sighed. “Come on. Get up here. We need to go over this.”
Grudgingly, Gore climbed into the Rope Trick. We all moved as far away from him as we could get. I couldn’t help but notice that the others placed themselves between me and Gore.
“Maybe we should go now?” Ester asked anxiously.
I understood her concern. We needed to destroy the Soul of Ice before it was too late. But rushing in and getting ourselves killed would not help anyone.
We had several hours to kill before we could sleep. So I used one of my precious gems, asking how we could best destroy The Soul of Ice. The answer was “smash it or magic force.”
I told the others. Frankly, I was disappointed. I’d expecting destroying an artifact of ultimate evil would be a little more complicated. Brute force seemed so primitive.
“It’s very cold in that cavern,” Gore warned us. “I wasn’t even inside and I was starting to get frost bite.” He smiled triumphantly. “Aren’t you all glad you have me?”
“Yeah,” Jven said bitterly. “What would we ever do without you, Gore? We probably would have walked right past the Soul of Ice.”
Gore described what he’d seen again, at Val’s urging.
“There’s a big blizzard in the cavern. Lots of wind. A rope bridge over the lava is the only way to the island. The pyramid is eighty feet tall. There’s a glowing, pulsating sphere on top, and it’s getting bigger.”
“Could you see anything inside the sphere?” I asked, thinking about Madeleine’s dead baby.
Gore shook his head. “I couldn’t see inside it.”
“What color is it?”
“It was sort of bluish.”
“And you said there were creatures? Were they undead?” I asked hopefully. Undead I was well equipped to handle.
“No,” said Gore. “They were icy, humanoid creatures. They were all climbing up the pyramid, and the biggest one was throwing the others back down. They were trying to get to the Soul of Ice at the top. Oh, and there were salamander statues on the pyramid, too. They were covered with ice. The ice seems to be spreading – it was covering the rope bridge.”
“So the Soul of Ice is getting bigger while we’re sitting here,” Ester said nervously.
Sadly, there was no help for it. We couldn’t fight our way to the pyramid without spells. We wouldn’t even survive the blizzard Gore had described.
We planned our attack as best we could. I would ride on Ester’s shoulder in mouse form, since she really does need her own personal healer. In addition to keeping the giantess in working order, I would be able to cast spells to banish some of the icy humanoid creatures, and I would be able to summon creatures to aid us. I would also cast Air Walk on Val and Ester, assuming Jven was able to magically calm the blizzard. Jven would also cast protective spells to make sure the cold didn’t kill us all before we’d even gotten started – that was a very important first step.
“And I can cast pebble to boulder,” Canliss piped up.
“Great,” said Val. “We’ll just pebble them to death.”
“And I’ll hit stuff,” said Ester.
"I could fly up to it and smash it with my new staff," Canliss offered, raising the glowing staff for emphasis. Jven and I looked at each other in alarm. This plan seemed to involve more risk to the six-fingered mage than was healthy.
"After I cast 'Sanctuary' on you, Canliss," Jven amended.
“Great,” I said. “We have a plan.” Well, it was sort of a plan, anyway. Torodin willing, it will be enough.

Book 5.4

2005-10-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

13 Esterealan, Strand’s Shadows

Donar motioned for the other priests to disperse, then he ushered me into his office and shut the door behind us. He sat down at his desk and ran a hand through his thick hair. The shadows under his eyes had grown deeper of late. I don’t think he’s been getting much rest. I’m really quite worried about him.
“What happened?” Donar asked. “Canliss told me that you were in dire peril.” He looked at my clean, unruffled and uninjured person and frowned doubtfully.
“Oh, Canliss wasn’t exaggerating,” I assured him hastily. I fear Donar has formed a rather poor opinion of my six-fingered friend, and I felt I should defend him.
“We really were in great danger, but we managed to extricate ourselves from the situation.” I stopped at the sound of people running through the hallways, talking in raised voices. We never speak that loudly outside our own quarters; why, people could probably hear them in the sanctuary. Someone started yelling – that was Dante’s voice. Dear, sweet-tempered Dante, yelling? Something was very wrong. I looked uneasily at Donar.
The door opened (without a knock), and Rico ran in. He’s the youngest of our novices and we often grant him extra leeway for youthful exuberance, but it wasn’t like him to rush into Donar’s office without knocking. He clutched a piece of paper and looked around with wide eyes.
“Rachel?” He asked. Then, not seeing her, he turned and ran out.
Puzzled, I closed the door behind him. “That was odd,” I said to Donar. “Even for Rico.”
Donar sighed. “It’s going to be one of those nights.”
“As I was saying, Canliss wasn’t exaggerating much when he told you that I was in a bit of trouble. We were investigating for that horrid man, Ellis Lorinar – the deputy administrator of mysterious meteorology – I believe I left you a message about him.”
Donar nodded. “It’s not bad for us to garner support among the politicians.”
“Well, I don’t know how important he is.”
“We don’t know how important he is today,” Donar said with a smile.
“You have a point, as always,” I said, smiling back at him. No matter how tired he was, Donar never lost his keen grasp of diplomacy and city politics. If only he were in charge of all of Istur’s churches, we should have no trouble unifying everyone. Really, what has Dougal done since he got here – arrested a few corrupt constables and sent all of his charismatic staff members to Geston. The man is practically useless; not that I’d ever say so to anyone – it would be rude.
“At any rate, last night we were returning from that awful dinner party with Lord Tore Bertini when we encountered some salamader-like creatures torching Backwater Street.”
Donar’s eyes widened. “Did you summon them?”
“No!” I said, offended. “No, I didn’t. We arrived in the midst of an altercation between the city guards and these salamanders. Unfortunately, we were too late to save most of the guards, but we were able to rescue Lorinar. So of course, Ester was there – you know Ester.”
Donar smiled. Everyone loves Ester.
“And there was a lovely warrior named Val, a mage named Bianca – perhaps you know her? She runs that cute, little shop with the cloaks in the window, and there are some silver bracelets that are quite nice –“
“Nikita, focus,” Donar said with a frown.
“Oh, sorry. Well, Canliss was with us. And this smelly barbarian named Gore. Before we knew it, we found ourselves deputized. That’s why I had to leave so early this morning. We had a meeting with Lorinar.”
I explained what the deputy minister had told us, which wasn’t much. “He insisted on someone being in charge to file reports, so we nominated Ester.”
Donar smoothed his mustache, a gesture he often makes to hide a smile.
“Damn it, Seregil, we don’t have time for that!” I heard Dante yelling from somewhere outside. Seregil’s angry response was garbled by the sound of running feet. They’re my two dearest friends in the temple, and they love each other like brothers; I’ve never heard them yell at each other before. What was going on out there?
“Should we go check on that?” I asked Donar.
“I’m sure Rachel’s taking care of it,” he said. I was puzzled by his behavior. Not because Rachel was incapable of handling the situation, but because Donar is just as curious as the rest of us. He had to be wondering what was happening, but he wasn’t willing to spare a moment to ask. Lately I’ve noticed Donar’s often been like this during our little talks – strangely intense, and more than a little grim. Is it just me, or is he like this with the others? I’m going to have to find out, and soon.
“But, that sounded like Dante,” I said. I didn’t want to upset Donar, but it was hard to ignore the chaos outside.
“There is much afoot tonight.”
I waited for him to elaborate. If something was happening that could throw Strand’s into such disorder, shouldn’t we be helping? Surely my news could wait.
Donar frowned. “Nikita, everything in Istur doesn’t revolve around you.”
I have to admit, I was a little hurt by that remark. It sounded like something he’d say to Freddy; Donar has never spoken to me like that before. Clearly, he’s under a great deal of stress.
“I know that,” I said. “But if they need our help…” I stopped, because Donar was giving me his stern look – the one that Seregil imitates so well.
“So, these salamanders, where did they come from?”
“We don’t know. This is Istur – of course, no one saw anything. The guards were all sadly deceased, and Deputy Minister Lorinar – well, he’s an idiot. If there was anything to be seen, you can be sure he failed to notice it.
“But we did some investigating on our own, and Canliss found a warehouse on Leman Street.” More people went running through the halls. Doing my best to ignore it, I described to Donar everything we’d found beneath the warehouse. Donar opened a journal and took notes.
“The lava was quite a problem. We’d already used almost all of our spells when the flaming, crab-like creatures attacked us. I think poor Canliss would have been done for if I hadn’t summoned that dire bat –“
I stopped, remembering a little too late that I’d promised not to summon any more Fiendish creatures. I’m really going to have to try to avoid speaking to Donar when I’m so very tired.
Donar’s eyes narrowed. His eyes are usually a lovely gray color, but I swear they get darker when he’s angry. Salvador once said you knew you were in trouble when Donar’s eyes got like storm clouds.
“Well, the poor hippogriff just expired and fell right into the lava,” I defended myself hastily. “It was really quite pitiful. The dire bat was protected from the heat.”
Donar got up and turned around, staring with sudden and inexplicable interest at the items on his bookshelves. He picked up the round, blue crystal that mage from Tonn sent him and rolled it absently in his hand. I’d been told by Freddy and Salvador that this behavior was a very bad sign, but I never thought I’d see it first-hand. Donar never used to get upset with me quite this much; or so often.
He sighed heavily. “Nikita,” he said without turning around. “You should probably get some sleep. Pray upon the events that happened, get some sleep, then regroup with your friends in the morning and assess the situation.”
“I was thinking of asking Jven for help,” I said.
Donar sat down and finally looked at me. He did not look happy. “That would be the wisest idea you’ve had tonight.”
He didn’t say it was the only wise idea I’d had that night, but it was implied by his tone. I bid him good night and retreated, shutting the door behind me. I’d only gotten a few steps when Dante and Rachel rushed by. I caught Dante’s eye, but he shook his head, indicating now was not the time to talk. They went into Donar’s office and closed the door.
No self-respecting priest of Torodin could have walked away from that. I leaned closer to the door, hoping to find out what had everyone so upset. The door opened, and Dante leaned out of the room. He looked sympathetic, but he didn’t smile, and the lines of exhaustion on his handsome face were nearly as bad as Donar’s.
“Now’s not a good time, Kit,” he said gently.
I was disappointed, but seeing tenderhearted Dante looking so grim had a sobering effect. I kissed his cheek and went in search of someone who could tell me what was going on. Sadly, everyone was gone except Carmen, who’d been stuck with door duty and couldn’t talk to me. Where was everyone? I headed up to my room with a heavy heart.

14 Esterealan, Strand’s Shadows

I prayed, as Donar had asked me. And I tried to sleep, really I did. But my thoughts were troubled. I must admit, Donar’s behavior saddened me. This wasn’t the first time he’d been angry with me, but I’ve never seen him so… frustrated. Ever since I got back from Ravenloft, Donar’s been acting so strangely. I must find out what’s wrong with him. I’d do absolutely anything to help him.
And curiosity gnawed at me. The hours crawled by, and the sounds of chaos outside only increased. What was going on out there? I couldn’t possibly sleep through all this. I got out of bed, dressed, and did my hair. I was in the midst of doing my make-up when Rico rushed in to tell me that Canliss was here to see me. The poor boy was out of breath; he’d been taking and delivering a lot of messages.
“If Donar and Rachel are looking for me, please tell them I went with Canliss.” This was unlikely to reassure them; I was rather hoping they wouldn’t notice I was gone. Rico hastily wrote down my message; there was too much chaos for him to commit everything to memory.
“What’s going on?” I asked Canliss. “I was trying to sleep, but it’s much too noisy.”
“There’s fires everywhere,” said Canliss. “I came here thinking I’d ask for your advice on where I could best help out.
Canliss was asking for my advice? He must want something, if he was willing to suck up like that. Whatever it was could wait. The city was on fire! I had to make sure Chasiya’s shop was safe. I don’t know where I’d go for dresses if The Well-Turned Hell burned down.
“I don’t have any fire-fighting powers,” I said. If I’d had any spells left I might have summoned a water elemental, but I was down to one of my less powerful spells. “But I know who does. And so do you -- Jven.”
“Should we go find her?”
“Yes.”
“If you mouse, I can carry you.”
I obliged. Canliss polymorphed. I waited, expecting him to become some noble beast, like a griffin or an eagle. Instead, he turned into a winged man.
“For heaven’s sake, Canliss. Something a little less conspicuous.”
“This way I can still cast spells,” he protested.
I sighed. “Couldn’t you have learned to cast spells in animal form?” I said as I climbed onto this shoulder. “You look ridiculous.”
Canliss, sadly, did not seem to care. He has no sense of dignity. We took off into the increasingly powerful winds; as if things weren’t bad enough, a storm was brewing.
All was chaos in the streets of Istur. Bells rang, people ran through the streets yelling and screaming, scrambling in every which direction with no apparent sense of purpose. I hadn’t seen people so panicked since Rhavin tried to reassure the villagers in Port d’Elhour.
Several lights in various directions revealed fires burning all over the city. We saw a detachment of the city watch thundering down the street, nearly trampling a group of people and causing further panic in their haste to reach the nearest fire. Clearly we couldn’t count on them to restore order.
Since we were able to soar above the teeming masses in the streets, we reached Ebb Tide quickly. We flew over the mob outside the front door and went in the back entrance. I spotted Halberto passing out drinks to refugees, and I directed Canliss in that direction.
“Halberto, it’s me, Nikita.”
Halberto looked surprised to see me. He wasn’t used to hearing me speak in mouse form.
“Uh, hi Nikita,” he said uncertainly.
“Where’s Jven?” I asked.
He looked around helplessly. “Um, I dunno. She might be helping somebody around here somewhere. I saw her when the ship’s bells went off.”
Jveltoans. They’re sweet, but when it comes to organizing things, they’re about as effective as a candle in a windstorm.
“Well, if she comes back, tell her that Canliss and Nikita were here. We’re going to Sable Street to help with the fires.” This just happened to be the street where The Well-Turned Heel is located, but I didn’t inform Canliss of this. Really, he wouldn’t have been interested.
“Come now, Canliss, let’s go. There’s no time to waste.”
We flew as quickly as we could to Sable Street. The wind was growing stronger, and it was a cold flight. I was quite relieved when we got there to see that Chasiya’s shop was safe, but there were numerous fires that were much too close for my liking. Several bucket brigades were hard at work, but they didn’t seem to be very well organized. I directed Canliss to the fire closest to Chasiya’s shop.
The six-fingered mage proved surprisingly resourceful. He cast ‘Tenser’s Floating Disc.’ Filling it with water, he began dumping it on the flames. Although I was lacking in spells, I was determined to do my part. The rugged-looking men on the bucket brigade were bravely toiling away, sweating profusely despite the frigid weather. I offered them encouragement and wiped the sweat from their brows with my silk handkerchief; it was the least I could do.
After an hour or so of this, I heard someone calling my name. Val approached, looking uneasily at the fire. She didn’t seem wounded.
“Who appointed that damn door guard at Strand’s Shadows? What a waste. He wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“Well, she’s not permitted to,” I said. Poor Carmen; she really hates door duty. Left to her own devices, she’s rather garrulous. “You need to go to the back door if you want to speak to someone. Didn’t you know that?”
I mopped the brow of the nearest man on the bucket brigade. He was rather handsome, but he had an annoying tendency to look down my dress whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Val sighed. “I guess I’ll pitch in with a bucket.”
“That man in the back there,” I whispered to her as she filled a bucket. “The handsome, dark-haired one. His name is Tredian, and he’s single.”
“Oh, right,” said Val. She got in line behind him, winking at me. Well, it was going to be a long, tiring night – we might as well flirt.
“Nikita,” Canliss called. “Do you see anything odd?” This was Canliss’ way of assessing a situation – ask the Torodinite. Mind you, if there’d been a single gold coin in a ten-block radius, Canliss would have seen it even through the blizzard.
I looked around, not at the people trying to put out the fire, but at the edges of the action, searching for someone or something that was out of place. And I did see something. There, on the roof at the edge of the fire, was a tiny, foot-tall fire elemental. The creature danced around gleefully, spreading the fire even further. I tried to point it out to Canliss, but he couldn’t see it. Pausing only to tell Val what I’d seen, I shifted back to mouse form so I could guide Canliss to the spot. He blasted the elemental with magic missiles, destroying it.
“Aaaaahhh!” Poor Val slipped and fell in her attempt to reach the roof.
“It’s all right, Val,” Canliss called. “I killed it.”
She dusted soot from her pants and scowled at him. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. Canliss can be so insensitive.
“Let’s look for more of those,” I told Canliss.
“Let’s go,” he agreed. “Val, follow me!”
I looked over my shoulder. Val just shook her head at the winged Canliss, then ran after us on foot. None of us got far. Canliss was grounded by the increasingly high winds, and Val could only run so far. We stopped at the next fire, which happened to be near the docks. Here everything was much calmer than elsewhere; someone had assembled the best-disciplined bucket brigade in the entire city. From my perch on Canliss’ shoulder, I looked around at the various buildings and ships in flames. (Sadly, The Whale’s Eye Inn was undamaged; I would have happily added oil to that fire, especially if the owner were trapped inside. Well, there will be time enough to deal with him later.)
Val, Canliss and I started looking for the elemental. The first thing we spied as a familiar-looking redheaded Jveltoan. “Look, there’s Jven!” I waved my paws excitedly, but Jven didn’t hear me over the blizzard. I sent Val over to introduce herself while Canliss and I began searching the perimeter of the fire. Eventually I found the miniature elemental hopping around on top of one of the warehouses.
“There it is,” I said in Canliss’ ear. “Go get it.”
Canliss shivered; my whiskers had tickled the inside of his ear. “Where is it? I don’t see it?”
“Oh, come on, Canliss. It’s right up there, where those shingles are starting to burn.”
Canliss started climbing up the building. What was he doing? Didn’t he have spells left? “Canliss, don’t drop me,” I warned him as I dug my claws into his cloak.
He didn’t drop me. But he fell halfway up. I got a very nasty bruise on my right arm.
“Canliss, how can you be so clumsy?” I scolded. I used my last spell to heal my wound, then I shifted back to human form. I stood up and tried in vain to brush the soot from my dress. Canliss owes me a clean cantrip.
Jven came walking calmly over to us, with Val trailing behind her. “Jven, how nice to see you!” I hugged her. I was so happy to see Jven. She was truly in her element; she was using her powers to create springs of water, and it was she who’d organized this calm and disciplined bucket brigade.
“Um, how is Canliss?” Jven asked.
I glanced over my shoulder, to where Canliss was groaning and hauling himself to his feet. He started picking the lock on the door.
“Oh, he’s his usual self,” I said.
Jven looked surprised. “What is his state of repair, sweetie?”
Oh, that’s right. Canliss had fallen, too. “I don’t know. I’m sure he’s fine.” I looked at the now open door to the warehouse. “Oh look, he’s gone inside the burning building. There’s a little bitty fire elemental on top of the roof.”
“Oh, for goodness sake. I suppose if Canliss is heading up there, I might as well go, too.”
“I’ll go with you,” I offered. “But you should know I’m out of spells. It’s been a busy day.”
“Um, you should probably stay here. I wouldn’t want you to singe your outfit; it’s adorable.”
“Oh, all right. Come, Val, let’s help the bucket brigade. Those men look sweaty.”
Val and I helped fight the fire for several long, exhausting hours. The fire blazed, timbers crashed. We looked anxiously at the door, hoping to see our friends return.
“I’m sure they’re all right,” Val assured me. We both winced as a patch of roof caved in.
“Oh dear.” I uttered a quick prayer to Torodin. “I’m sure you’re right. They’ve survived far greater dangers than this. They’re both quite resourceful.”
I could only pray I was right. There was nothing that Val or I could do to help Jven and Canliss. I explained to Val about Canliss’s rope trick spell. We could only pray that they’d managed to cast it. As the long, exhausting night wore on, the fire blazed and the building crumbled. By morning, both Val and I were swaying from exhaustion. There was nothing left of the warehouse but ashes. Nothing stirred.
“Can you find them?” Val asked me.
“Jven! Canliss!” I yelled. There was no answer. “They’re probably praying and studying spells.” I’m not sure who I was trying to convince -- Val or myself. But I knew I couldn’t help anyone without spells of my own. I explained to Val and began my morning prayers to Torodin.
Val helped me to my feet when I’d finished. We were both so tired we could barely stand. The blizzard had finally died, and the sun dawned on a city that still burned in many places. The foul stench of smoke filled the air. Val and I trudged toward the ashes of the warehouse, hoping for some sign of Jven and Canliss.
I was just about to cast a creeping shadow to search for them when Val tapped my shoulder. “Hey look, there’s a hand.”
A six-fingered hand had appeared in mid-air. Thank the gods, they’d managed to hide in the rope trick spell. They climbed down, emerging whole and unharmed. Canliss was looking rather smug, which I thought was rude of him, given how concerned we’d been. But it had been a long night for everyone, so I decided not to hold a grudge.
“I’m so glad you two are all right,” I said.
“We were a bit worried,” said Val. “Not that we could have done anything to help you.”
I frowned at Val. She really didn’t need to admit that.
“We got the fire elemental,” Canliss said smugly.
“Well, let’s go find a place to rest. I can cast the Nap spell on us.”
“We slept all night,” said Canliss.
I glared at him.
“Hey,” said Jven, “there was nothing we could do.”
Well, Val and I certainly needed sleep. We arranged to meet at The Oasis in two hours, and Val followed me back to Strand’s Shadows.

A loose page tucked here inside Nikita’s journal reads as follows:

I found out later from various sources that Gore and Ester had also been quite busy that evening. I’m really going to have to keep a closer eye on those two. Cobbling the tale together as best I can, this is what happened to the two extra-large warriors while the rest of us were fighting fires:
Knowing that they couldn’t expect much help from the city government, the terrified citizens of Istur turned to the temples in their time of need. This was only right and proper, but I’m afraid they were rather disorganized and unruly in their plea for help. All of the temples were mobbed except for Strand’s Shadows. (There are advantages to being perceived as mysterious and otherworldly.)
Ester found herself in Soldiers and Sailors, alone with a crowd of frightened people begging for help. All of the priests had left (no doubt in an attempt to restore order by bludgeoning people). I’m afraid Ester is somewhat used to others taking charge in crisis situations. Her attempts to calm the crowd were somewhat unique. She began by picking up the nearest farmer by the front of his shirt and lifting him up to her eye level.
“I need you, to get those people over there and make them shut up!” She bellowed
I’m afraid that threats yelled by a seven foot tall woman did nothing to reassure the crowd. “Quiet! I need everyone quiet!” Ester continued to bellow, unaware that her shouting was only increasing the corresponding volume of crying and wailing.
Ester was out of her element; brute force was not going to solve her problem. She yearned to go outside and join the fighting (surely somewhere there was fighting), and she prayed for someone to come help her. And someone did come. Unfortunately for everyone involved, that someone was Gore.
Gore rudely pushed his way inside the temple. Ester was easily seen – and heard. “Now YOU! You make them be quiet! YOU – stand with those people over there. All of you, stop milling about! We need more quiet and less milling.”
Gore waded through the chaos to reach Ester. “We need a plan,” he told her. “The first rule of mob management is to isolate the situation.”
(Gore truly is smarter than the average barbarian; he knows several multi-syllabic words. It’s a shame he doesn’t seem to understand their meaning.)
“Right,” said Ester. “Take over.”
“We’ve got to bar the doors.”
This advice was greeted by cries of dismay from the terrified people still trying to push their way into the temple. Who did Gore think he was, closing the doors to a temple?
“But there are still people coming through the door,” said Ester. “Wouldn’t that be wrong?”
“That’s the first rule of mob management,” said Gore. “We have to bar the doors. Then we need to organize our resources. We’ll have them put all their food here in a pile.”
“That’ll be quick,” said Ester, taking a look at the starving, disease-ridden peasants.
“And we’ll have them put their weapons over there.”
“That’ll be quick.”
“And then we can rationally distribute and organize things,” Gore said. He had to yell over all the screaming and sobbing.
“Why don’t we just make ‘em all go in that corner over there?” asked Ester. The press off unwashed bodies was starting to get to her.
The throng of people in the doorway blocked Gore’s attempt to close the door. “Don’t shut us out!” they pleaded. “My sister’s still out there somewhere,” a woman begged. “I can’t find my daddy!” sobbed a little girl.
Gore ignored them and pushed at the door.
“Everybody MOOOOOOVE!” Ester bellowed. The two shut the doors in the face of the panicked crowd. I’m sure Ester felt badly about it.
Ester grabbed a young boy out of the crowd of filthy, rag-covered people. “You, I need your help.”
“O – okay,” stammered the terrified kid.
“Keep an eye out for somebody clean who’s wearing clothes.” She picked him up and pushed him toward the front windows.
“We should organize these people,” said Gore, looking around in disapproval at the crying, starving crowd. The pathetic banging on the closed front doors didn’t seem to bother him.
“I see somebody wearing clothes!” cried the boy whom Ester had appointed as lookout. He stood pressed against the front windows, looking outside. Ester waded through the crowd to take a look. A squire to one of the head Azkalites had come to fetch weapons for his master.
“Why are the doors closed? Open the doors!”
“Open the doors!” cried the mob outside. “Open the doors! Open the doors!”
The smith’s apprentice came running up with freshly made spears and arrows. He looked at the closed doors in confusion.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to be running with those,” Ester cautioned him.
“But, but they need weapons.”
“Open the doors!” yelled the squire.
Ignoring them both, Ester passed the weapons through the bars on the doors. The squire ran off with them, without pausing to tell Ester where the fighting was.
Meanwhile, Ester took stock of the supplies. The quartermaster was nowhere to be found. The refugees needed food and blankets, but the temple’s stores were inadequate and didn’t belong to her. She did manage to stop Gore from devouring everything in the temple’s larder.
“Stop that,” she yelled. “We don’t have enough food to feed the refugees. We need to get these people organized, so we can go outside and start kicking ass.
“I think we should go to bed,” said Gore. “I’m tired.”
Ester glared at him. “We’re not little namby-pamby hide-under-the-bed villagers. Our job is to go out there and kick some ass. We need to find the ass that needs kicking, and kick it.”
“I think we ought to wait till morning,” said Gore. Granted, it had been a while since any of us had slept, but he was being awfully lazy for a big, tough barbarian.
“We need to get these people under control,” said Ester.
“What do you mean?” asked Gore. “We’ve contained the situation.” He gestured to the mob of refugees. Now that they’d been locked inside and had nowhere to go, their frantic scrambling had subsided to the helpless sobs of the depressed and defeated.
“Now you’re thinkin’,” Ester told Gore approvingly. (The very concept is enough to give one nightmares.) “Now we need to organize a javelin brigade.” I’m not sure where she got the idea that a group of half-starved peasants could be formed into any sort of brigade; I really think Gore is having a bad influence on her.
“Are you sure you don’t want to bed down for the night?” Gore persisted.
“No,” Ester yelled. “We have to get out of here.”
“Where are we gonna go?”
“Where all the noise is.”
Gore looked from the sobbing crowd to the closed front doors, where a mob was still clamoring to get in. “You mean you want to go somewhere that’s even noisier?”
Ester nodded. “We gotta find something to fight. We could run to the warehouse and see what’s going on there.”
“The suspicious warehouse?”
“The one with the river of lava under it,” said Ester. “I think that’s pretty suspicious.” Ester dragged Gore off to find the temple blacksmith. He told her that the Azkalite priests had all run out to the tent cities outside the gates, where The Frozen Ones were attacking.
“Yes!” Ester danced happily. She wasn’t really being callous over the poor people being ripped apart by zombies; she was just excited that she’d get to do some fighting.
For reasons known only to herself, Ester felt obliged to leave the crowd of refugees in the temple with instructions. “Okay everybody, listen to him!” she bellowed, pointing at Gore. I’m really going to have to dissuade Ester of this misguided belief that, because Gore insists on calling himself a ‘diplomatic envoy’, he actually knows what he’s doing.
“All right everyone,” said Gore. “Line up alphabetically, in order from oldest to youngest.”
The terrified people in the crowd looked at each other in confusion. At this point they must have been wondering which fate was worse – being attacked by frozen zombies, or being herded by Gore and Ester.
“Gore,” Ester complained. “They can’t read. Okay, now, you, you, you, you and you – line up over there.”
“But, you said listen to him.” A trembling beggar pointed to Gore.
“What’s your name?” said another. “Does B come before C? My name’s Bertrand – how do you spell that?”
“Come on, Gore,” Ester whispered to the barbarian. “We need to get these people organized so we can get out of here.”
“Well, I told them to line up. They’re working on it.”
“But Gore, not everybody can read, you know. Just the really smart people like us. Now, what would you rather be doing – dealing with these people, or kicking ass?”
“I’d rather take a nap.”
Ester glared at him. Gore grudgingly turned back to the refugees, who’d formed something vaguely resembling a line.
“All right, now everyone needs to get a javelin.”
“What’s a javelin?” someone called.
“It’s one of these long, pointy things. I want you to grab one and stick it in anything evil.”
“Gore, no, that’s not what I meant by a javelin brigade,” Ester whispered.
“It isn’t?” As much as I hate to defend Gore, I can understand his confusion.
“No, no. See that boy, he’s going to watch for that squire to come asking for weapons and stuff. We need a line of people from the smithy to the door, so they can pass the weapons to the Azkalite.”
“Oh, well why didn’t you say so? All right everyone, just pass your javelins to the Azkalites.”
The refugees shifted uneasily. “But we don’t have any javelins.” A baby near Ester began wailing loudly.
“Oh.” Gore looked to Ester. “They don’t have any javelins.”
Ester sighed. “You, kid by the door. What’s your name?”
The poor boy cowered. “Arith?” he said uncertainly. He probably would have been willing to change his name if Ester didn’t like it.
“Arith, when the squire comes asking for weapons, the smithy is gonna give those guys all the way at the end of the line some javelins. And they’re going to pass them to you. You got it?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“All right!” Ester bellowed. “Everyone listen to Arith.” Ester grabbed Gore and hauled him out the door, leaving poor, nine-year-old Arith in charge.
Ester and Gore weren’t really sure where the tent cities were, so they made their way to the front gates. They found the Great Gates closed and barred; something I’ve never seen in all my years in Istur.
“Where’s the fighting? They said there was fighting. Where’s the fighting?” Ester asked, jumping up and down in her frustration.
Gore rolled his eyes. “See, I told you. There’s no one to fight. There’s just chaos.”
“We gotta find out where the fighting is,” Ester insisted. She asked the thieves and beggars milling about near the gates, but they just ran away from her.
“Oy!” she yelled up to the crossbow-man perched high up on the gate. “Sergeant Oxshoulders here. Where’s the fighting?”
The man had his back to Ester, with his crossbow trained on the area outside the gates. It can be assumed he didn’t hear Ester over the distance and the howling winds.
“Hey! You! I need a status report of the fighting!”
Gore sighed. “Just have him open the gates. There’s nothing to fight on the other side of the gates; why do you think they’re closed?”
“Duh!” said Ester. “I know that. If there was somethin’ to fight on the other side of the gates, they’d be shooting it.”
Ester bullied her way to the gatehouse. The way to the door was blocked by two portculli. Gore followed along despondently, no doubt dreaming of his soft bed. (I think the other barbarians must have kicked him out for being so lazy; diplomat, indeed.)
“All right, I’ll tell you what we’ll do –“
“Who’s the sergeant here?” Ester demanded, scowling at Gore. I’m afraid her new “power” was going to her head.
“Did you forget that I’m a deputy minister?” Gore countered. The air was ripe with delusions of grandeur.
“My badge is bigger than your badge.” Ester did a little jig in the middle of the street, or so I’m told.
“We’ll gather some of these peasants,” said Gore, ignoring Ester’s claim of superiority. “We’ll give them each a copper piece to go scout outside and report back to us.” How these mythical peasants were going to get through the closed gates or why they’d be willing to sell their lives so cheaply were subjects Gore didn’t care to explain.
Ester, however, managed to persuade Gore that the peasants were unlikely to help them. So the foolish barbarian decided to resume shouting at the crossbowman perched high atop the battlements.
“Hey, what’s outside the gates?!!”
Ester began to echo his cry. Both warriors shouted for several minutes, jumping up and down as if that would make their voices carry over the blizzard. They were both quite disappointed when their little tantrum had no effect.
“All right,” said Gore. “I’ll shoot an arrow next to that guard to get his attention.”
“Nah,” said Ester. “That’s just a waste of an arrow. He won’t be able to hear it. Arrows just go whoooooosh. Who’s going to hear that over a blizzard?”
“We could make it a flaming arrow. He’ll notice that.”
Ester shook her head. “Do you see any fire?”
“Oh,” Gore said sadly. Thank the gods they didn’t have torches. I would have done it for Ester’s sake, but it would have been a chore to convince the city guards that shooting them with arrows wasn’t really an act of treason.
Gore looked around and managed to find a fist-sized rock in the snow. He picked it up and threw it at the hapless crossbow-man. Gore missed.
“Don’t do it like that.” Ester threw and hit the poor man in the back of the head. He yelped in surprise and turned around. No doubt he wasn’t trained to expect an attack from inside the city.
“Move along!” the guard yelled.
“I am Sergeant Oxshoulders,” Ester yelled back. “I order you to give me a report of the fighting in the city.”
The guard disappeared briefly, then returned with two comrades. All three stared down at the two large warriors with varying expressions of disbelief.
“Move along!” yelled the senior of the three guards.
Ester scowled. “Do not make me report you for failure to cooperate with a deputy!” (I’m really going to have to have a little talk with Ester about how much authority her new badge really gives her.)
Finally, two of the guards came down and opened the door at the bottom of the gatehouse so they could talk to Gore and Ester without screaming over the wind.
“Move along! Don’t throw snowballs at the City Watch!”
“I’m Sergeant Oxshoulders, and I need a report of the fighting.” She pointed proudly to the ridiculous badge Lorinar had given her.
The guards peered closely at the badge. “Jvelto’s hairy balls, what the hell kind of badge is that?”
“I’m a sergeant.”
“Sergeant of what?”
“I’m a sergeant deputy of, of the, uh…” She looked uncertainly at Gore.
“Of the City Watch,” he finished.
The guard scowled. “You are not. That’s not a badge of the City Watch. I’m a sergeant of the City Watch. I don’t know what sort of pansy-ass badge of the week that is that you’re wearing. Now kindly move along!”
Gore leaned towards him. “Who are you?”
“I am Sergeant Kendal.” The man glared up at the barbarian. “And I’m the one that’s telling you to move along. Now move along!”
Ester was not inclined to move along, not before she’d gotten to pummel something. “Well, Deputy Lorinar deputized me to be the deputy sergeant. I heard there was fighting, and I need to be there.”
Ester leaned over the sergeant and growled. Well, at least she didn’t pick him up by his shirt.
“I am a sergeant!” Ester yelled. “I’ve got to go do some sergeanting. And there’s nothing here for me to sergeant around!”
The sergeant held a whispered conversation with his two comrades. Apparently they decided that arresting Gore and Ester would be too much trouble; it was easier to simply throw them into the fray, where they would be someone else’s problem. They opened the door and let the two warriors through the inner portcullis.
Sergeant Kendall ushered them onto the battlements. He could have just let them through the gates and been done with it, but no, he had to add to the problem. He took Ester’s badge away, and made them both privates in the City Watch. At this rate, Ester will be replacing the Duke before the week is out.
With this fiasco completed, Ester and Gore were turned loose. The two waded into the battle outside the city gates, where frozen zombies were savaging the helpless people in the refugee camps. The two got themselves nearly killed, then staggered back home, tired, bloody and content.

Val and I ran into Gore and Ester just outside Strand’s Shadows. They were so bloody and bruised they looked as if they’d been trampled by a herd of bison.
“I see you found the fighting,” said Val.
“Good grief, what happened to you two?”
“It was those frozen zombies,” said Ester. “We gotta go back as soon as we get a nap.”
Sighing wearily, I led them in the back door and left them in one of the public rooms. It was only polite that I check in with Donar and Rachel before sleeping. I was rather hoping that they hadn’t noticed my absence, and I said a little prayer to Torodin as I knocked on the door to their office.
The door opened, and Talrien ran past with a message clutched in his fist. Donar and Rachel both sat at their desks. Donar looked up at me and scowled.
“Didn’t I tell you to get some sleep last night?”
“I tried. It was noisy…” I let my explanation trail off, since Donar was having none of it. He was angrier than I’d expected.
He sighed. “There was a reason I told you to get to sleep then, Nikita. Did you think I didn’t have a reason?”
I didn’t know what to say. Usually he only gets this angry with Freddy. “I could cast the Nap spell now. If that’s all right?” I decided not to mention the bloody warriors I’d dragged into the temple. It really wasn’t important.
Rachel sighed. “Some people’s priests.” Well, that was a rude comment. I refrained from reacting to it; seeing me cast dirty looks at Rachel was unlikely to improve Donar’s mood.
Donar dismissed me, and I hurried out of the office. Once we’d finished the Nap spell, I healed Ester and Val. I wasn’t about to heal Gore unless he offered a complete and sincere apology. Besides, I couldn’t very well waste all my spells on healing – that’s what Soltanites are for.
Ester started arguing with Gore that he needed to accept some magical healing, so I took this opportunity to check in with Donar. I knocked on the office door, and Rachel opened it. She made a gesture for quiet, and I slipped inside. The office was in a strange state of disarray, with parchments and spell components scattered everywhere. Donar was clearly in the middle of a long and complicated spell. Rachel sat down and resumed taking notes as Donar continued casting.
I watched them for several minutes while Donar continued casting. Both of them looked haggard. Their eyes were blood-shot and rimmed with shadows. Donar’s hair was a mess, and the unattractive wrinkles on Rachel’s face were even more pronounced than usual. Hadn’t they been getting any rest at all? I was terribly worried about Donar. He’s been pushing himself way too hard.
Finally, Donar finished casting. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “So, have you prayed?” he asked without looking at me. He didn’t sound angry, just completely exhausted.
“Yes. Are you all right? Would you like a Nap spell?”
“Don’t worry about me,” Donar said, as if that were possible. “So, somewhere under the city where you found the river of lava, there is something called The Soul of Ice.”
Rachel handed me her ink well so I could take notes. Naturally I’d brought my quill and journal; a Torodinite is always prepared.
“Somehow, The Soul of Ice is connected to all of this.”
“It’s causing this?” I asked.
Donar shook his head. “It’s not causal. But it’s somehow related to everything that is happening.”
“Do you know what it is?” I asked. Divination is a difficult art; I didn’t know what details Donar might have to offer, if any.
Donar perused his own journal. “No. We know it’s extra dimensional. We don’t know how it got there, and we’re not sure how to get rid of it quite yet. Somehow, it’s channeling power. Our fear is that the people who are dying in the city from disease and hunger are all going to start raising as these Frozen Ones.”
Donar, Rachel and I all exchanged a look. There was no need to put it into words. If hordes of Frozen Ones were raised inside the city walls, Istur would be doomed.
“Do you want us to look into it?” I asked.
Donar sighed and nodded. “Unfortunately, we have no other resources to help you. But you already know where it is, and what you’re dealing with. To be frank, I don’t know if any of the others could survive down there.”
I was surprised to hear him say this. Naturally, I was more than capable of handling this situation, but I’m not the only powerful priest in the temple. I’m sure Luciano or Erisa could have done nearly as well.
“Jven is with us now,” I assured him. “Try not to worry.”
Donar looked grim. “The divinations don’t look good. The city guard won’t hold out much longer against the throngs of undead.”
“Then we’ll hurry. Are you sure you two don’t want a Nap spell?” I hated leaving Donar so exhausted.
“We have no time,” said Donar.
I didn’t argue with him. I did give him a hug. He didn’t get up, but he squeezed my shoulder in gratitude. I nodded confidently to Rachel and left, determined to succeed at any cost.
On my way out, I ran into Dante carrying an arm full of spell components. He looked every bit as tired as Donar and Rachel; Donar has always relied heavily on him whenever things get chaotic. I gave my dear friend a smile and a kiss on the cheek.
“Dante, sweetie, I don’t suppose anyone is around who can cast a few healing spells? My warrior companions are bottomless pits, and I’m trying to save my spells for more important things.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, Kit. Everyone is either sleeping or battling zombies.”
He looked so unhappy, I was sorry I’d asked. I didn’t want to worry him. I patted his arm in reassurance.
“It’s all right. I’ll manage.”
“Wait a second.” He ducked into the supply closet, then returned with a fist full of healing potions. He pushed them into my hands.
“Don’t tell anyone,” he whispered.
I kissed him. “Thanks, Dante. Be safe.”
I picked up some hot cider and bread from the kitchen and returned to my companions – but not before I’d laced Gore’s drink with one of the healing potions. I won’t waste a spell on someone who’s likely to dodge it (especially not before he apologizes), but I was willing to employ a little subterfuge.
I handed out the food. “That’s good,” said Gore happily as the spiked cider healed some of his injuries. “I always feel better after breakfast.”
“We have an urgent mission,” I told everyone what Donar had divined about The Soul of Ice. “We need to act quickly, before the sick and starving people of Istur start turning into frozen zombies.”
“That would be bad,” said Ester. “’Cause there’s a whole bunch of ‘em in the temple of Azkal.”
On that note, we went to The Oasis. Jven and Canliss reacted with understandable alarm when we told them about our vital mission.
“Can’t we rest for one more day?” Gore whined.
I glared at him. “What part of the word ‘urgent’ did you not understand?”
“You are such a coward,” Ester scoffed.
“I’ll have you know I killed more than thirty of these zombies last night,” Gore insisted.
“Really?” I said doubtfully.
“I had to drag his lazy ass out there,” Ester complained.
Jven leaned toward me. “So who’s the… uh… smelly guy from out of town?”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s Ester’s ‘friend.’ I don’t know where she found him; he’s insufferable.”
“What happened to your badge?” Val asked Ester. This led to a long-winded and largely indecipherable explanation of how Ester and Gore became members of the City Watch. While Ester was babbling, Canliss managed a clean cantrip on Gore. Jven and I both thanked him. It was a heart-warming moment. I miss Rhavin and Kariya terribly, but thank Torodin the others are here.
“Will you help us, Jven?” I asked hopefully. “I realize we haven’t had a chance to catch up yet, but the situation is desperate.”
“Okay,” Jven agreed. “But I have stipulations: No mountains on fire.”
“Not a problem,” said Canliss.
“Definitely no mountains,” I added.
“That’s right,” said Ester. “We have to go down stairs.”
“Shh, Ester let me explain.” I ushered everyone outside as I spoke; we were in a hurry. “Underneath a warehouse, we found this secret brotherhood that’s been running around causing a bit of trouble.”
Splash. I turned around to see Gore holding Alanna’s rain barrel, still dripping water into the snow.
“What are you doing?” Ester demanded.
“We need a barrel to carry treasure,” Gore said. He said it proudly, as if this were a brilliant idea rather than the pinnacle of stupidity.
“We are not putting treasure in a barrel,” said Ester. “Now put that back.”
“You don’t have to carry it. You can roll it in a barrel.”
“You see what I mean?” I said to Jven. “He’s insufferable. Completely insufferable.”
Ester settled the argument by smashing the barrel with her sword.
“Ester, that was Alanna’s barrel!”
She looked at me guiltily. “Uh, sorry.”
Jven used a spell to repair the barrel and returned it to Alanna. When all that nonsense had been completed, we resumed our journey to the warehouse and I explained things to Jven.
“We have to find the Soul of Ice and…. do… something with it – Donar will know.”
“We definitely don’t need the barrel then,” said Jven.
“You will help us, won’t you Jven? I’ve really missed you.” This was perhaps laying things on a little too thick, but I was sincere.
“Yeah, Jven,” said Ester. “We need somebody who can cast protection from –“
“Ester, shush. Jven, you’re in your element here. Your powers will be invaluable.”
Jven was starting to look suspicious. “Nikita, you’re sucking up. What are you not telling me?”
“Well, there was a fire elemental,” I admitted. “But we killed that. There were a few… unnatural things. And then there was that river of lava but we really won’t be spending a great deal of time near that.”
“There’s a bridge,” Ester assured her.
“It was a little warm,” said Val, grinning.
Ester nodded happily. “It made grilled cheese sandwiches.”
Jven threw up her hands. “Oh, well that settles it. How can I pass up on grilled cheese sandwiches?”
Nothing stirred as we entered the warehouse, but I had to dispel two walls of force before we reached the first of the rope bridges. This disturbed me; I’m a powerful priestess, but even my spells are not limitless. Still, there was no help for it.
Hot air and the smell of sulphur assailed as I dispelled the second wall. Canliss gave the two rings that we’d retrieved from the statue to Val and me; they would protect us from the heat. Jven cast spells to protect everyone else except the stupid barbarian, who refused her help.
“Everyone stay sharp,” I warned. “Don’t forget about the invisible mage.”
“There are invisible mages?” Jven asked in alarm.
“Oh, did we forget to mention that?”
She scowled. “Where’s the truthful paladin when you need him? There are spiders, down here, aren’t there?”
“No,” I said.
“Well,” Ester said uncertainly, “there were –“
“They were not spiders,” I interrupted. “They were more crab-like in nature.”
“I thought they looked more like spiders,” Ester insisted.
“They were not spiders. But they did rise up out of the lava,” I admitted to Jven.
“They only had two eyes,” said Ester. “But they did suck blood.”
“Ester, shush.”
Val shook her head at Jven. “So you’re afraid of fire and spiders?”
Jven nodded.
“And your friends thought of you first?”
Jven glared at us.
“We really did miss you, Jven,” I insisted.
“Yeah, I’m sure you guys were thinking of me the whole time you were down here fighting spiders over the lava.”
“They weren’t spiders.”
“They kind of were,” said Ester
“Ester shush.”
The rope bridges didn’t look very sturdy, so we headed across two at a time. Well, not quite. Canliss refused to cross the bridge with Gore; he was not unreasonably worried that the clumsy barbarian would knock him off the bridge.
While the rest of us waited tensely for Canliss to make it across, Gore and Ester started their fifth argument over who had dragged whom into the battle against the Frozen Ones. “I miss Rhavin and Kariya,” I said to Jven. “I don’t know what they’re doing right now, but it can’t be any worse than this.”
Jven didn’t argue. We both knew I was right.
We crossed the first rope bridge without incident. We all looked at the blisters on Gore’s skin without much sympathy.
“That must hurt,” I said.
The barbarian glared at me. “I can take it.”
Jven held her nose. “Gods, when you warm him up he smells worse.”
“It’s so nice that Jven’s magic protects the rest of us, don’t you think Val?”
She nodded. “Oh, yes. I’m quite comfortable.”
We left it at that. Gore was going to have to learn to trust magic; apparently he was determined to learn his lesson the hard way.
The rest of us were waiting on the platform at the end of the second rope bridge as the largest of the crab-like, extra-planar creatures rose up out of the lava behind Canliss. This was the one that had paralyzed our warriors with its gaze and carried off the hapless scribe.
“Canliss!” I cried in alarm. If it had been Gore alone on that bridge I would have left him to fend for himself, but I wasn’t willing to risk losing Canliss. I’m fond of him. (Besides, without the clean cantrips, Gore’s smell would have quickly become unbearable.)
I quickly summoned a fiendish dire wasp. The creature immediately turned and grappled it. I didn’t mind; the wasp’s main purpose was to give Canliss a chance to escape – I wasn’t expecting it to last long.
Gore proceeded to fire two arrows into both the extra-planar lava crab and my wasp. Well, now we could be certain the wasp wouldn’t last long.
Jven cast a spell. A bluish, watery tattoo appeared on her face, making her look appealingly exotic. I was reasonably sure that the spell also had a more practical aspect that wasn’t yet apparent. Jven’s not one to be frivolous.
“Aaargh,” Ester ran onto the bridge, conjuring up her flaming blade. Canliss squeezed past her, putting her between him and the creature, then lobbed some magic missiles at it. They streaked along its flaming hide, but they didn’t seem to hurt it much.
I didn’t like this. The creature had carried off the scribe with alarming speed. It could easily do the same to Canliss or Ester before any of us could stop it. I couldn’t let that happen. Praying to Torodin, I cast a spell to Dismiss the creature back to its own plane of existence. It vanished with a satisfying popping sound.
“Hey!” Ester complained.
Nobody else seemed to mind that the awful creature was gone. We regrouped and made it across the third and final rope bridge without incident.
The final bridge let us to more corridors with various doors leading off of them. We explored a supply closet and an empty bedchamber without finding anything of interest. But a large meeting room yielded invaluable information. There was a huge map on one wall, showing a detail of Istur and the surrounding area. Pegs of various colors covered the map; all of the red ones marked buildings that had been on fire last night.
The table was covered with rolls of parchment that were tied in ribbons. Casting ‘comprehend languages,’ I examined them. The scrolls detailed the Brotherhood of the Flame’s plans for their attack on Istur – lists of targets, resources, strengths and weaknesses of the local guard, the army, the Organization, the temples – it was a full-scale battle plan.
“We have to get this information to Donar right away,” I said. “Canliss, if we wait for you here, would you be willing to fly off with it?”
Canliss was amenable. He would have no trouble carrying the scrolls, but the huge map was too large and heavy. The scrolls wouldn’t be as helpful without it.
“Can’t the other priests scry on the map?” Val suggested.
“That’s an excellent idea, Val. But they’re going to need something to help them – an item that they’ll recognize.” I looked through my belongings. Donar would recognize the silver hair combs, but I was reluctant to part with them. However… I lifted the hem of my skirt. Everyone in the temple had made fun of the hideous boots Rhavin had given me in Firestorm peak -- the ones with the mushrooms dangling from the fringe. I love Rhavin dearly, but… well, they were ugly. I put the boots near the map and wrote a note to Donar. (I can always reclaim them later, if they’re still here.)
“He’ll have no trouble scrying on these,” I said.
I replaced them with the high-heeled, thigh-high black leather boots I’d picked up at The Well-Turned Heel. While I arranged my footgear, the others helped Canliss gather up the scrolls and my note. He turned into a giant eagle and flew off.
Waiting for Canliss was stressful, given the urgency of our mission, but it did give me a chance to talk to Jven. I'd been quite worried about her. We sat down at one of the tables and I reached for her hand.
"Jven, how have you been holding up? I'm so sorry about Jveddek."
"Thanks, Nikita," she sighed. "I think Ravenloft is making me paranoid. The old man would have been suspicious about the things going on here, too. Jvothgar...Sara-Ohn...and do you know anything about this Rachel woman that Donar is supposedly sharing power with?"
“Rachel?” I did my best to keep my expression neutral. “She seems very… capable. Donar asked us all to be patient with her. We miss Silvio, but it’s not really fair of us to punish Rachel for that. And I think you’re right to be suspicious. So many of our leaders disappearing or dying at once – it can’t be a coincidence. I’m certain it’s a deliberate attack on the Church, and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it.”
I pulled out my list to show Jven; she’s always been supportive of my penchant for list making. “See, it’s #4 on my to-do list. Although... I’m terribly sorry, Jven, but I may have to rearrange the list a little. Our local problems must take precedence over going back to Ravenloft and rescuing The Endurance.”
Jven’s eyebrows rose as she looked over the list. “You haven’t been able to scry on Rhavin?”
“No,” I said sadly. “I’m afraid Torodin didn’t grant me that spell. I’m planning to pray for it first chance I get. However, I have gotten interesting new powers; I can summon all sorts of creatures. It’s been quite fascinating, really. What about you? Have your powers changed a great deal?”
"Quite a bit," Jven nodded. "I've felt a bit alone in trying to get a handle on how my relationship with Jvelto has changed. Have Donar and Rachel been able to provide much guidance?"
“Guidance? Oh, well, naturally…” I hesitated. This was my friend, Jven; I could tell her the truth. “Actually, their ‘guidance’ has mostly been in the form of criticism. They’ve been a little upset with me ever since Donar caught me summoning a steam mephit to get the wrinkles out of my favorite dress. I – I have to admit I’m a little concerned. Everyone at Strand’s has been acting strangely ever since I got back. Donar was always capable of being stern, but he was never short-tempered before. What do you think, Jven? Have you noticed anything odd?”
Jven chuckled, but she seemed more nervous than amused. "How many mephits are flying around Strand's Shadows? There must be a few of you powerful enough to summon those little guys. Maybe that's making Donar short-tempered."
“No, I don’t think it’s anything so trivial. It must be the storm, and Silvio’s departure, and everything else that’s been happening. He’s under a great deal of stress. And it seems as if he and Rachel are trying to handle everything all alone. I don’t understand it. When we were in Tonn, the churches all worked together. I don’t understand why we can’t have that kind of cooperation here in Istur. Someone needs to take charge. Dougal Wentworth seems to be lacking the initiative, so I think I’m going to have to point him in the right direction. I’ve drawn up a manual for him to follow. Will you come with me, Jven? I’m sure Father Wentworth would be grateful for your perspective.”
Jven paused for thought; she must have been impressed that I’d taken such initiative. "I would have to discuss it with Hal. For me to head straight to Father Wentworth might be seen as undermining him, and he is having a hard enough time with his new authority at Ebb Tide. And, naturally, I would have to familiarize myself with the...forty-seven, you said?...steps of your plan, so I could participate intelligently in the conversation."
Jven’s comments made me realize what a social gaffe I’d been about to make -- and with Rachel so touchy. "Oh, right... I suppose I should check with Rachel. Donar would certainly be grateful if I asked her opinion. Naturally, I'll be happy to have one of the novices make a copy of the manual for you."
I smiled gratefully at Jven. Her comments had helped me to avoid angering Donar again; he doesn’t like it when I’m rude to Rachel. I’ve really missed Jvennika. "It's so nice to be able to talk to you, Jven. Everyone's been so busy at the temple -- I know what you mean about feeling alone. It's not as if I can discuss clerical matters with Canliss and Ester."
"I've missed you, too, Nikita,” Jven said kindly. “Not to mention that I never did hear any more about those nightmares and that 'Ghost Dancer' business. Any more of those, or is Torodin the only one rattling around inside your head these days?"
Now why had she brought up those ridiculous nightmares? "The Ghost Dancer? Why, I'd forgotten all about her. Foolish dreams, nothing more. Such things no longer bother me. I don't even have visions any longer."
"Torodin isn't communicating with one of his favorite priestesses?" Jven looked surprised. I don’t know why. No one has been getting any visions these days; my brother priests are worried, but I’m sure Torodin is occupied with more important matters right now.
"Well, I suppose it might be refreshing to have some privacy in your own head for once,” Jven added.
"Yes, those visions were a bother,” I admitted. “Rather useless, if you think about it.”
Jven looked a little uncomfortable, so I decided it was time to change the subject to lighter fare. “So, do tell me how everyone in Ebb Tide is doing? I heard a rumor that Geralto was having an affair with one of the Azkalites. Is there any truth to that?"
We gossiped about our fellow priests until Canliss returned. Donar had been occupied, so Canliss had left the documents with the secretary. I assured the six-fingered mage that Dante could be trusted to treat them with the importance they deserved; he’s very responsible.
I stood and got everyone back in order. “Let’s go everyone. We have a city to save.”

Book 5.3

2005-10-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

13 Esterealan (continued), Strand’s Shadows

The warehouse seemed eerily quiet now that the commotion of battle had subsided. Only Gore’s injuries, the blackened floors and the lingering smell of smoke remained to prove there’d ever been a fire elemental here. We opened a few of the singed crates surrounding us. At first glance, they contained nothing more interesting than inferior clothing and unscented soap.
Gore peered at a bar of soap – likely he’d never seen anything like it before – then tossed it back in the open crate. “Bah. The other warehouse was much more suspicious than this one. I’m going to check it out.”
Canliss and I exchanged a look. Sal’s boys were not going to tolerate Gore’s poking around. But if the man was hell-bent on plunging into disaster, who were we to stop him? Bianca also left, but she was polite enough to make excuses first.
“I’m sorry, I have to meet a customer at the shop,” she explained. This might have been a lie to cover up a loss of nerve after our battle with the fire elemental, but I doubted it. Bianca seems rather feisty. And many of Istur’s more important business negotiations are conducted in the middle of the night.
Digging through all that refuse to make sure the crates contained nothing of importance promised to be a lengthy and uninspiring task. Canliss, however, has an inexhaustible supply of patience whenever there’s any possibility of financial gain. We practically had to peel the six-fingered mage away from the open crates.
“Canliss, dear, my spells won’t last forever.” He and I were still enjoying the benefits of several spells to aid in concealment, while Val and I were still able to speak telepathically. I gave Canliss the scowl I’d learned from Donar, making it quite clear that it was not acceptable to waste Torodin’s gifts.
“Right,” said Canliss. “Let’s go downstairs.”
Canliss and I went ahead, while Val and Ester followed us a way behind. Val is actually fairly quiet for a warrior, but she wasn’t in the same league as myself, or even Canliss. Besides, Ester would sulk if we asked her to walk behind all by herself.
A withered, blackened corpse lay at the bottom of the stairs. I pulled the hem of my skirt away and gestured for Canliss to check it out while I telepathically communicated this macabre discovery to Val.
“The body is still warm,” Canliss whispered. We looked around at the singed walls and steps. Had the fire elemental come from down here? A corridor with several doors stretched ahead of us. What was this place? I’d never heard of people living underneath a warehouse; judging from his puzzled expression, neither had Canliss.
Three more burned bodies lay in the open doorways on either side of us. Each door led to tiny rooms “furnished” (to use the word loosely) with straw mattresses and battered night stands. The others joined us, and Val helped Canliss search the rooms. They didn’t find anything of interest, which didn’t surprise me. (Val and I shared a disgusted look when Canliss insisted on a thorough search of all the corpses – honestly, did he think people who lived in these conditions would have owned anything worth taking?)
The door at the end of the hallway led to a simple kitchen. With a cry of glee, Ester ran to the counter and began helping herself. “Cheese! Bread! Oooooooh, I can make a sandwich.”
“Ester, shush.” I was searching in mouse form at the moment, but thanks to Torodin’s new gifts I could still speak. Sadly, I don’t seem to get as much cooperation when I’m in that form; it’s hard to really convey a tone of authority when you’re a small rodent.
The door at the far end of the kitchen led to a classroom equipped with desks and a chalkboard. After waiting for Ester to put all the food in a sack, we went in and looked through the papers.
“They were being taught the spell to endure elements,” Canliss informed us after a few minutes of studying the chalkboard.
“I think they failed the test,” quipped Val.
We laughed. Well, I suppose it was uncouth of us to be amused by the burned bodies, but it was a rather witty remark.
Like the stairs and the hallway, the classroom bore its own share of scorch marks. Surely one fire elemental hadn’t done all this?
“So,” said Val, “do we have any protection from fire?”
“No,” I said sadly. I wished I’d taken the time to talk Jven into helping us. Sulking in the temple really isn’t healthy for her, and Jven’s powers would be very useful against our current foe. I think I’m going to have to pay my friend a visit as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
Ester swallowed a hunk of cheese and gave me a crest-fallen look. “You can’t protect any of us?”
“No. That was Jven.” I twitched my whiskers at her. Had Ester thought I was only refusing to cast protection spells on Val because I didn’t know her? Would I ever be so rude? To Gore perhaps, but he’s earned it. Val is rather likable. In fact, I really need to make a point to introduce her to Seregil – I think they’d get along rather well.
Beyond the classroom, we found a door leading to a steep staircase hewn into the rock. I unmoused, because the stairs were much too steep for a small rodent, and cast Creeping Shadow. There was a strange, sulfurous smell coming from down below; I wanted to be able to scout ahead without endangering any of us.
“Canliss, dear, come along.”
The six-fingered mage was intently perusing the students’ notes. “Nikita,” he said. “Hold on. Look at this.”
Canliss had found some sort of memo addressed to ‘the neophytes.’ (This Brotherhood of the Flame certainly is full of itself; couldn’t they just call a student a student? Honestly.) It explained that their final test was to claim their badge of rank from the statue below.
“Oh dear,” said Val. Was she, like me, imagining another group of careless young students wandering around below and summoning more fire creatures they couldn’t control? Or perhaps she just didn’t relish the thought of climbing down all those stairs.
“Let’s hope that we don’t trigger another elemental,” Val remarked as we started down. Normally I would have scoffed at the idea of something like that happening accidentally, but this Brotherhood seems awfully careless. I wouldn’t put it past them to store evil artifacts in the cabinet next to the extra chalk.
“Can you protect us, Canliss?” Ester asked. She was awfully worried if she was looking to Canliss for protection.
“No, I can’t cast endure elements either.”
“Oh,” said Ester. There was nothing else to say, really. We carefully walked down the stairs, sending my shadow creeping ahead of us. It grew increasingly hot as we went down. I was unbuttoning my sable coat when the shadow rounded the last flight of stairs and I caught sight of what lay ahead of us.
At the bottom of an enormous cavern flowed a river of lava; the gods only know from whence it came. Somehow, platforms of stone rose above the lava. Rope bridges connected them. I could see three immediately beyond the stairs, and others stretching out of sight. There was no way of telling how vast this cavern was – the scope of what I could see seemed impossible.
A mage stood on the rope bridge, wearing the robes we’d come to associate with the brotherhood. He waved a staff, sending a ball of flame hurtling toward the otherworldly, reptilian creature that hovered above him. It flapped its enormous wings, gusting hot air over the embattled mage, and breathed ice down upon him. Then it whirled for another attack. I don’t know from which plane the creature came, but the beast could have swallowed a small dragon whole.
“I don’t mean to alarm you,” I told the others in my calmest voice, “but down below is a rope bridge above a pit of lava. There is a mage casting flame spells against… well, I don’t think it’s a demon… I don’t want to be an alarmist. It’s some sort of large, reptilian creature from another plane of existence, and it’s breathing cold on the mage. They’re battling quite furiously. Perhaps we should just leave them to it?” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to find out what was happening, but I hate to interfere in other people’s battles.
“Demons are bad, right?” asked Ester.
“Yes,” said Canliss, whose eyes seemed a little wider than usual. “Demons are very bad.”
“Same robes?” asked Val.
“Yes. I didn’t see his face. The shadow only saw him from behind, so I don’t know if was the same man who sent the threatening note to Lorinar. So, do we want to get involved in this?”
“Yes,” said Ester. “Demons are evil.”
The other two looked less certain. Canliss was probably weighing our odds of survival against the loot he might be able to get from the fire-wielding mage. Val was probably remembering that we had no way to protect ourselves from fire.
Was it my place to make the decision here? As the wisest and most intelligent person present, I suppose it was. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with this new burden of responsibility. I’d grown rather accustomed to Rhavin making all of the decisions. Torodinites generally don’t aspire to leadership roles for a reason; it’s much safer to manipulate those in charge than put oneself in a position to take the blame if things went wrong.
On the other hand, blaming Lorinar for anything unfortunate that happened would actually give that man a purpose. And I was rather curious to find out what was going on down here. Could I really return to my brother priests and tell them I’d left a mystery unexplored?
Then there was the simple reasoning: “We have to fight the demon,” Ester insisted. “It’s evil.”
Canliss sighed. “Lead on, sergeant.”
“We should try to help the mage,” I told the others. “Convince him that we’re on his side, and then we can find out what this Brotherhood is up to. We can always betray him later.”
As we headed down the last flight, Ester and Val pointed out that they had no way to battle a flying creature. I solved that little problem by casting Air Walk on them both. A part of me was a bit resentful that the two warriors would be the first to try my new spell before I’d even had the chance to experiment with it myself; but sometimes a girl has to make sacrifices. It was certainly preferable to charging into the fray myself. I even loaned Val the magic silver dagger Canliss insisted on giving me; Torodin knows I never have a use for it.
Intense heat engulfed us as we reached the first platform at the bottom of the stairs. The air around us steamed, and perspiration beaded on our skin. From this vantage we could see an enormous statue on the platform across the bridge from us – it was one of the salamander-like creatures we’d battled last night. How long have these people been living here, that they’ve had time to install art?
The winged beast flew past the mage, raking his shoulders with its massive claws, then whirled about for another attack. The mage flung a ball of fire at the beast, but blood poured from his shoulders. He staggered as the rope bridge swayed from the creature’s onslaught. I looked uneasily at the lava below. We weren’t going to get much information from the mage if he fell.
“Hey, I’ve made a grilled cheese sandwich!” Ester cried with delight. Apparently she’d stuffed some bread and cheese in her pocket and the heat from the lava had cooked it.
“Ester, focus,” I hissed. I cast a spell, summoning a celestial hippogriff. Immediately its feathers began to smolder. “Oh, dear. I don’t think that hippogriff is going to last long.”
In fact, it raked the reptilian beast once with its claws, shrieked in pain as it was engulfed in a blast of cold from the thing’s fanged maw. The hippogriff plummeted into the lava below, where it disappeared with a disconcerting swiftness.
“Well, that didn’t last long.”
“Huh,” said Val. “Maybe we should retreat soon.”
“My armor protects me from fire,” Ester informed us happily. It wasn’t going to protect her from falling into the lava, but I wasn’t going to point that out. Didn’t want to hurt Ester’s feelings.
“I’m not protected from fire,” Val pointed out. “I can’t go out there.”
“Oh dear. I wouldn’t have wasted the air walk on you if I’d known that. Not that it’s your fault.”
Val nodded. “I didn’t realize it was quite so toasty.”
I sighed. I guess we should have paid more attention to what Ester’s been eating. Heat that can grill cheese can also grill an adventurer.
Canliss flung a barrage of magic missiles at the reptilian beast then hid behind the door. The creature screeched in pain, an eerie, high-pitched scream that sounded more like an old woman than anything reptilian. What was that thing?
Val moved up above us. Standing in mid-air, she shot two arrows at the beast. One buried itself deep in the things’ breast, casing it to twitch and scream in pain. The second arrows bounced off of its scales and fell into the river of lava.
“Aaaaarrgh!” Ester charged through the air and slashed at the winged beast with her flaming blade. The monster roared in pain as the blade scored a bloody gash along its side. Ester looked quite pleased with herself.
Screeching horribly, the winged beast raked poor Ester with its claws. Then it opened its jaws and sang out with a strange, hypnotic cry. Val ran over to stand beside Ester. Both warriors stood completely still, staring adoringly at the beast as if it were their last hope for salvation.
“This isn’t good,” Canliss said needlessly. He had to shout over the constant, ululating cry of the winged beast. He flung more magic missiles at the thing. They scorched the back of its neck, but didn’t seem to deter it. Canliss ducked back around the corner and covered his ears with his hands.
Desperately, I cast a silence spell on the beast, but it shook off the magic and continued its ghastly screaming. Val and Ester stood helplessly beside it. Things looked grim for our little band.
Now that our warriors were captivated by its magic, the winged beast ignored them. It dove at the mage, who blasted the beast with flames. The monster screamed in pain, but still it lashed out with its massive claws. The mage staggered as they slammed into him, then fell from the bridge, screaming until the lava swallowed him.
“Oh dear,” I said.
“I don’t think those are really the right words,” said Canliss. I couldn’t blame him for being unnerved. The two of us and our paralyzed warriors were all that remained to battle that monster. Could we possibly prevail.
Canliss answered the unspoken question with another volley of magic missiles. They blasted into the beasts’ wings. Screaming, it flapped once… twice… then fell into the river of lava.
Ester and Val ran back over to us. Val looked a little singed around the edges, but she wasn’t terribly harmed.
“I guess he’s not gonna answer our questions,” said Ester, looking sadly into the river of lava.
“No, Ester, I fear not.”
“Well, do we cross this bridge and explore, or go back?” Canliss asked of the group at large.
“What we should do,” I said, “is go to Ebb Tide, tell our dear friend Jvennika to stop sulking – you didn’t hear me say that, Ester – over that sailor and come help us.”
Canliss chuckled. “We should go to Ebb Tide and beg her to come help us because we’re in really bad shape, and we really need her.”
“You’re exaggerating, Canliss. We’re not in bad shape. But we could certainly use her assistance.”
“Maybe I should go and grovel,” Canliss amended.
“Why not, dear? You do it so well.”
“Um, Nikita,” said Ester. “I can get you across the bridge if you mouse. We’re already down here and all.”
In retrospect, I can admit that retreat was our only sensible option. But we had learned so little. I simply couldn’t face the prospect of returning to Strand’s Shadows with my mousy tail between my legs and no answers – only more questions. I succumbed to Ester’s enthusiasm and agreed to the plan of running across the bridge. (Besides, the Air Walk spell lasts more than an hour – it would have been a shame to waste it.)
“I could cast polymorph on myself and Val,” Canliss offered, “and we could all hide under Ester’s armor.”
“As long as we never tell anyone else about this plan,” I said. Effective it might be, but it wasn’t very dignified.
“Don’t waste your spells, Canliss,” Val said. “I can run.”
“I’ll carry you, Canliss.”
The plan evolved into me hiding under Ester’s breast plate in mouse form, and Canliss being carried over her shoulder like a sack of meal while Val ran above us. Funny how only the warriors got to preserve their dignity.
We made it across the bridge with a minimum of harm. A stone staircase led into the lava; we certainly wouldn’t be making use of that. We could see rope bridges extending to at least two more platforms, but first we stopped to examine the statue of the salamander. What it lacked in artistic merit it made up for in size – it took a few minutes before Canliss found a hidden compartment in the base. There were two rings hidden inside. They were identical bands of silver set with a single, white stone; they weren’t very pretty. At Canliss’ request, I used one of my few remaining spells to determine that they were both magical.
“I can’t make a blade of ice any more,” Ester whined while Canliss studied the rings. “The ice is all melted.”
“Well, there’s always metal, Ester,” I said reasonably.
Val grinned. “How about ‘Blade of Grilled Cheese Sandwich?” Ester was munching on another one – how much food had she stuffed in her pockets?
“I don’t know how much further we should explore tonight,” Val said dubiously.
“We certainly can’t go too far. At least, not without Jven to assist us in our efforts.”
Val raised her eyebrows. “You think you’re going to convince a Jveltoan to come down here?”
She had a point. Jven was still complaining about being under a mountain that was on fire. Lava was unlikely to thrill her. “We’re going to have to do some lying.”
“Nikita!” Canliss scolded. “We don’t lie to Jven.”
“Hey, whatever it takes,” said Val.
“I won’t lie. I’ll just omit a few details.”
“Can we go to the next platform?” Ester asked.
Val, Canliss and I exchanged uneasy glances. Canliss was looking somewhat badly injured, and I had only a couple of spells remaining. “Well, we do still have the Air Walk spells.”
It wasn’t much of a reason to press on. I think the others were as curious as I was. We ran to the next platform. Halfway across, we saw a young woman running towards us, casting nervous glances over her shoulder. Ester climbed down to the platform to stand beside her. She yelped, startled to find a mouse-carrying giantess suddenly looming over her.
She was a young woman, with a slender frame that was swallowed by the robes that appeared to be all the fashion in the lava pits under the city. She brushed her long, brown hair from her face; it really could have been cut better to frame her features. She stared at us, eyes wide with air as she gulped air.
“Aaaah!” She screamed.
“We’re here to help!” Ester shouted. How much we were capable of helping was open to debate, but there was no point in mentioning that – the poor girl was already terrified.
“What’s coming?” Canliss asked as he jumped down from his undignified perch over Ester’s shoulder.
“They all are,” she said vaguely. “Everything’s finally broken loose.”
“Hell’s broken loose?” I asked. I thought a joke might calm her down, but she just stared at me in disbelief. People just don’t expect mice to be talking.
“What’s broken loose?” asked Ester. “The shelves? Is there something we can fix?”
“I don’t know. I’m just a scribe. I quit. I quit. I don’t believe them any more.”
“Let’s take her and go,” I squeaked.
We turned to run, but we were unavoidably detained. Six dog-sized spider-like creatures with serpentine heads rose up out of the lava and fell upon us. Oh dear, this just wasn’t good. I had few spells left, and I couldn’t reach much further than Ester’s shoulder. Still, I was grateful that at least I could cast spells in mouse form. I cast Aid on Ester; we were going to need every advantage to battle our way to safety.
“We gotta get out of here!” Ester yelled. “Canliss, go for help!”
Floating in mid-air, dripping lava, the creatures attacked. One bit Canliss and wrapped its crab-like legs around him, pinning him. The six-fingered mage screamed in pain and struggled helplessly. What was that thing doing to him? Were those slurping noises? Was it drinking his blood; that was just disgusting.
Val dodged nimbly to the side, her cloak swooshing behind her, but a third creature wrapped its spiny legs around Ester. I climbed a little higher on her shoulder so I could still see.
“I quit! I quit!” The scribe kept screaming. She wasn’t being terribly helpful.
Canliss certainly needed help. A summoned a Fiendish Dire Bat (I know I promised Donar no Fiendish creatures; but that resistance to fire is very useful) and ordered it to attack the beast holding Canliss. The bat snapped at the back of the creature’s neck, drawing blood (or some sort of fluid, anyway).
“Canliss, if you can writhe over this way, I’ll heal you,” I called. I just couldn’t reach very far in mouse form.
“Aaaarrgh!” Ester bellowed. She punched the creature that held her in its spidery embrace. It let go and drifted back down into the lava; we couldn’t tell if it was still alive or not.
“Aaaaah!” The woman screamed. She turned to run, only to stop, paralyzed in mid-scream. Another spider creature had appeared in front of her; this one was larger than the others. Some sort of leader, perhaps?
Val sprang forward, still in mid-air, and carved the creature beside her with her rapier. She jumped back, dodging the thing’s attempt to bite her. If only the others could learn to fight like that.
Screaming, Canliss managed to struggle free of the thing that had imprisoned him. He shot magic missiles into its face, but his hand shook when he did it. The six-fingered mage was badly hurt. I unmoused and used my last spell to heal him while the dire bat swooped down on the creature, biting it.
Canliss’ freedom didn’t last long. The creature bit him and grabbed right back onto him. Canliss screamed in pain.
“I just healed that,” I complained. “Canliss, can’t you learn to dodge?”
Luckily for Canliss, our warriors were having a better time of things. Val and Ester killed one beast between them, then Ester whirled and stabbed the creature holding Canliss. The thing screeched and fell back into the lava, leaving behind a very bloody Canliss.
Meanwhile, the largest of the creatures wrapped itself around the helpless scribe. “Save the scribe!” I yelled. Both Ester and Val turned. Val froze in her tracks.
“Oh dear,” I said.
“Uh, I can’t carry everybody,” said Ester. “Canliss, can you leave now?” Canliss didn’t waste any time. He polymorphed into an eagle and flew out of the cavern.
Just as Canliss left, the largest of the spider creatures leaped off the platform and sank back into the lava, taking the scribe with it. We didn’t seem to be having much luck rescuing witnesses.
Ester finished off the last of the creatures. Then she threw Val over her shoulder and we fled for our lives.
We ran into Canliss coming out of Strand’s Shadows. “I explained everything to Donar,” he said.
“I’ll go explain things to the Azkalites!” Ester bellowed excitedly. That was an alarming prospect, but the Azaklites would just have to translate Ester’s story on their own. I had to go reassure Donar that I hadn’t been eaten by lava monsters.
I rushed into Strand’s to find Donar in the lobby, bellowing orders. My brother priests had spilled out of their rooms, some of them rubbing sleep from her eyes. Seregil, Dante and Nysander were hastily stuffing poker chips in their pockets. Carmen looked like she’d just gotten in from her date with Donatello. (My, that must have gone well.)
Donar’s ran over to me, clearly quite relieved to see me alive and well. He looked me over; I didn’t have a scratch on me. My hair wasn’t even mussed. He rolled his eyes, clearly thinking that Canliss had been exaggerating the danger.
“You can all go back to bed,” he told everyone.
“Um, you might want to hold off on that,” I told Donar. “I have some rather alarming news to report.”

Book 5.2

2005-10-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

12 Esterealan (continued), Strand’s Shadows

Well, this certainly was quite a mess. Dead bodies all over the streets and flaming snake creatures running amok – what was Istur coming to? Still, even though we’d already dropped Affe off at her home, I presumed there were enough of us to deal with the situation. Most of the town guards lying still and blackened on the ground were clearly beyond our aid, but we could save the man trapped under his horse and the two guards who were battling the fiery snake creatures.
“Estereal’s Light, help us!” the man trapped under his horse repeated. (Given the obvious pain he was in, his impatience was excusable.) He was a man in his early twenties, with dark hair and plain, blunt features. He looked oddly familiar. Wasn’t he one of Duke D’Menici’s distant relatives who’d been appointed to some obscure, meaningless government position so he could sit idly at home and collect fees? What was he doing out here in the street, battling fire creatures?
“That’s Ellis Lorinar,” said Bianca. I blinked at her in surprise. How did she know his name?
“Gore, help him!” Bianca pointed at Lorinar. Gore scowled at her. “It certainly would be good for you diplomatically.”
Gore nodded at this. Apparently, he takes his dubious position as diplomatic envoy (or envelope, as Ester would have it) for the Red Lice clan (or whatever they’re called) very seriously.
“By the Light! What a disgrace!” Lorinar yelled. Surely he wasn’t talking about us. I looked at his men lying dead on the ground and gathered that Ellis Lorinar didn’t take defeat well. I hoped he wasn’t referring to the dead men either; that would have been rather callous of him.
Lorinar pounded the ground with a gloved fist. “Damn you faceless bastard! I’ll hunt you down like the dog that you are.”
Hmm. Whatever Lorinar had been doing, he appeared to have acquired an enemy whom he was taking very much to heart. Young Ellis appeared to have misunderstood the intention of his new position; he was actually trying to do his duty, whatever he perceived that to be. How cute.
Well, it would be a shame to just let the poor man die. I leaped out of the carriage, shape-shifted to human form, and ran toward him. As I did, a big, hulking figure charged past me. Gore reached Lorinar, picked up the dead, burned horse, and hauled it off of him. The poor man screamed in pain and spouted a stream of impolite adjectives as the movement dragged his shattered leg across the ground. Good grief, didn’t the stupid barbarian know how to be gentle with an injured person?
Meanwhile, two of the ophidian flame creatures hefted wicked looking spears and stabbed the two guards who stood trembling before them. Both men fell to the ground dead. Well, that was a shame. They’d look so young.
One of the other snake creatures leaped up onto a pile of crates, looking up at the roof-tops even as the crates around it caught fire. Its companion looked around, hissing as it searched for a way to reach us.
“I am Ellis Lorinar,” Lorinar said to Gore through gritted teeth. “I am the administrator for Mysterious Meteorology, Levies and Fees.” Mysterious Meteorology? Graft and nepotism were established Istur traditions, but weren’t they pushing things just a little? Surely a few of the duke’s distant relatives were capable of finding gainful employment?
Lorinar pointed to Gore. “I deputize you to help me. In the name of Duke D’Menici. Get them!”
Oh for heaven’s sake. Deputy Gore. Now this was just getting ridiculous.
While all this was going on, Ester managed to extricate her large body from the carriage. “Blade of ice” she cried, then snarled at the ophidians as her sword steamed in the fire-heated air. Bianca slipped out of the carriage behind her. She raced over to “Deputy” Gore and cast a spell on his weapon. The stupid barbarian frowned suspiciously at her.
“That should make your sword work better,” Bianca told him. “Now get in there.”
Climbing out of the carriage was too blasé for Val. She climbed onto the roof of the carriage, then leaped onto the nearest stack of crates, drawing her sword with a flourish. She certainly looked stylish, but I had to wonder who she was trying to impress? Surely she had better taste than to go after Gore, and Canliss is only impressed by wealth. Maybe Val had her eye on the Administrator of Mysterious Meteorology? Canliss looked meaningfully at his cat, and Corey ran off. “I’ve sent for help from Sal,” Canliss told me. I suppose help from Sal’s boys would have been nice, but I had to wonder how Sal was going to figure that out from a cat showing up at the Port o’ Call and meowing at him. Perhaps there was some other step to that plan that I’d missed.
I reached Lorinar; the poor man was very badly wounded. I held up my holy symbol to begin casting.
“Woman,” snapped Gore, “put away your unnatural magics. I have a healing kit.”
A healing kit? No doubt it contained salves made from dead worms and berries. “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I said. Ignoring Gore, I cast a curing spell on Lorinar, fixing most of the damage. We’d have to drag him to the Soltanites later to have that broken leg fixed. I paused to introduce myself to him, then I studied the snake creatures. They had to be Ignan in origin; it just so happened that Torodin had granted me that language. I never imagined I’d be using it.
“What is your purpose?” I yelled in the strange, sibilant tongue. “Who summoned you here?”
“Manlings who are here must die!” the ophidians hissed. “Manlings make it cold. Manlings are wrong.”
Well, if they were here looking for vengeance, perhaps I could point them in a more appropriate direction? “We are not the ones who make it cold!” I yelled. “The Ismirans make it cold. We have a common enemy.”
“Manlings' world is always cold,” they hissed back.
Well, there was obviously no reasoning with them. I stopped wasting my breath. I probably had a better chance of talking sense into Gore.
The creatures didn’t allow my attempt at communication to interfere with their aggressive tendencies. The one perched on the crates near Val lunged with his spear. She dodged nimbly aside, all the while keeping her balance on her own pile of crates. Meanwhile, a second creature started scaling the stone building on our left. My, the creatures certainly did move fast. The two in the back came charging over the rubble. One headed for the horses, who shied away and screamed in terror. The poor carriage driver was looking rather distressed. Oh dear, that just couldn’t be good. Not that I couldn’t afford to pay for the horses, but allowing the destruction of a carriage I’d rented would probably earn me another lecture from Rachel. Destroying public property is more the Azkalite venue.
“Get out of the way!” The driver yelled. There was a rather large barbarian blocking his egress. And a much smaller Bianca.
“Thank you for healing me, Sister,” Lorinar said graciously. He reached out and took my hand. “I deputize you in the name of Duke D’Menici. Thank you for your help, Sister.”
Well, he certainly had a strange way of expressing his gratitude. What did he think he was doing, deputizing me? Didn’t he know who I was?
“You’re welcome, Administrator Lorinar,” I said. I even managed to sound sincere. And Rachel says I’m not diplomatic.
“Make way for the Deputy Minister of Fees!” yelled Gore, who apparently liked his new position so much that he’d decided to promote himself. He charged between Bianca and me to swing his spell-sharpened blade at the nearest ophidian.
“Aaarrrrrrrrgh!” Gore shouted. He started foaming at the mouth like some sort of rabid wolf. He slashed at the ophidian, cutting into its side. The creature hissed angrily at him.
“I don’t really know him,” I said hastily to Lorinar. The man looked confused, but then he was still in a lot of pain.
“Get out of the way!” yelled the carriage driver. Bianca dodged as the horses pulled the carriage right over Lorinar’s dead mount. There was an unpleasant crunching noise as things broke on the carriage, and the horses galloped away.
“Hey, my horses!” The driver yelled. “Somebody get my horses.”
Oh, for heaven’s sake. Couldn’t he see we were busy? Still, I knew I had to do something. If some beggars ate his horses, I’d never be able to hire a decent carriage again. I mentally reviewed the creatures I was still able to summon. Sadly, the likes of giant owls, black bears and dire bats were likely to panic the horses.
“Canliss, can you get the horses?” I asked hopefully.
“Sorry. I’m out of spells!” he called. I glanced over my shoulder. The six-fingered mage was still sitting in the carriage. Was he planning to sit back and watch the whole battle? Honestly, just because there was no loot to be had, that was no excuse for laziness.
Meanwhile, Administrator Ellis Lorinar tried to get to his feet. He shrieked in pain and fell back to the ground.
“Don’t do that, sir,” I said. “Your leg is still broken.” I had to work very hard at it, but I managed not to sound condescending. Honestly, he was a grown man; couldn’t he figure out that one shouldn’t walk on a broken leg?
“Perhaps you should stay here?” I suggested.
Lorinar began another stream of adjectives which I won’t repeat here. I frowned at him. I was willing to grant him some leniency because of his injury, but couldn’t he see that there were ladies present? Even Gore didn’t curse like that.
Well, at least Ester was having a good time. She bellowed an Azkalite war cry and charged the nearest ophidian. Her ice blade sizzled and steamed as it cut through the creature’s fiery tail. The creature hissed and snarled something insulting in Ignan. Ester, unaware of what she’d just been called, beamed with pleasure.
Bianca cast a summoning spell and a giant eagle appeared. She directed it in Celestial, and it swooped down upon the creature climbing the wall. The snake creature dodged the eagle’s beak, but one claw ripped a bloody hole in the thing’s arm. The creature responded by lashing out at the eagle and wrapping the celestial bird in its flaming tail. The eagle shrieked and beat its wings, struggling to get free.
Meanwhile, Val was looking rather frustrated. Her perch on top of the pile of crates made it impossible for her to leap and dodge in her usual stylish fashion; nor was it likely that the creature hovering at the base of her crates was going to step aside while she maneuvered into a better position. With a sigh of resignation, Val stabbed the creature below her in the head. Perhaps it wasn’t as impressive as Val would have liked, but the attack was certainly effective. The creature snarled as blood streamed into its eyes.
At this point, Canliss finally decided to get out of the carriage. He examined Lorinar’s leg and managed to get a field dressing on it. It wasn’t perfect, but it would allow us to transport the poor man to the Soltanite temple without causing him too much more discomfort.
I must say, Lorinar could have been a little more grateful for Canliss’s aid. He spat another stream of invectives. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
“I’m setting your leg,” Canliss said calmly. I could have told Administrator Lorinar to save his breath; some people just can’t be insulted.
Realizing that the wounded man certainly didn’t need two of us fussing over him, I decided to help out with the battle. I didn’t want to get too close, mind you; I might get soot on my new coat. Fortunately, the summoning spells Torodin had granted me created an easy way to get around this problem. I summoned a dire wolf in to attack the one unoccupied creature, thus preventing it from adding to Val’s problems. I know Rachel and Donar asked me not to summon Fiendish creatures, but this battle was clearly a perfect exception. Creatures that live in hell are resistant to fire damage, and we Torodinites are trained to be practical.
It looked like more help might be in order. The ophidians lashed Gore and Ester with spear and flaming tail. Our two large warriors were getting rather badly hurt. I do wish Ester would be more careful. At least her magical Azkalite armor was protecting her from the flames. Even poor Val yelped as she failed to dodge the lash of a fiery tail; her awkward crate-bound position was making it difficult for her to leap aside as she did earlier in the evening.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely their fault that they were getting injured. Even my dire wolf was taking a beating out there. Those Ignans certainly were upset about the cold weather. I mean, I don’t like it either, but was that any excuse to go stabbing a bunch of complete strangers?
While Val, Ester and Gore battled bravely on, the Administrator with the shattered leg pulled out a hand crossbow. “We can’t let them get away!” he yelled. Then the foolish man, ignoring Canliss’s attempt to restrain him, started dragging his broken body along the ground, closer to the battle. He shrieked in pain, but I felt little sympathy for him. What a complete and utter idiot. No wonder his uncle had been forced to create a useless government post for him.
“What are these creatures?” Canliss asked him, while casually getting in between Lorinar and the fight.
“They’re fiends!” he spat. Quite erroneously, I might add. The only thing Fiendish out there was my wolf, but I didn’t think I should point that out.
“No, they’re Ignan,” I corrected him. “From the plan of fire. They’re quite upset about the cold weather, for which, for some strange reason, they blame us.”
“We believe they were summoned by The Flame Brotherhood,” said Lorinar.
“Who?” asked Canliss, Bianca and I in unison.
“He said The Flame Brotherhood” Gore shouted over his shoulder, while parrying a blow from an ophidian’s spear. That barbarian thinks he’s so smart.
“My horses!” yelled the carriage driver. I confess, I’d forgotten about him. “They’re getting away.”
“Then go catch them,” Canliss advised. Well, he had a point. Who was better equipped to handle the nervous animals than their owner?
Still, I didn’t want the Carriage Drivers’ Guild getting angry at me. I’d have to walk everywhere. I looked hopefully at Ester. She sliced through an ophidian with her steaming blade of ice. The creature exploded in a shower of sparks and ash that rained all over Ester and Gore. Ester leaped forth gleefully to aid the barbarian. Hmm, she was really enjoying herself. I didn’t think she’d be willing to retreat so she could chase down the horses.
Val and Gore were likewise occupied. Val was slashing and parrying (or whatever those rapier moves are called) with her usual elegance, while Gore hacked at the creatures and foamed at the mouth. Neither one was in a position to run after the carriage horses.
I looked hopefully at Bianca, who was busily casting a spell. She sent an acid arrow flying into the melee. It missed the ophidian and struck her celestial eagle, which squawked in pain. Bianca slapped her forehead in dismay.
“Sorry,” she said in Celestial. “Just trying to help.”
“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “They’re very forgiving.”
Meanwhile, I saw Canliss climb the wall to our left. “Canliss, dear, that’s not where the horses went.”
Bianca rolled her eyes. “I’ll get the horses.”
“Oh, would you? That’s so nice of you.”
Bianca conjured a mount, then galloped after the team. I watched enviously, wondering why Torodin didn’t give me the ability to summon something so practical. Not that I would complain, or anything; I’m not an ungrateful priestess.
I summoned a Fiendish dire bat to help out the Celestial eagle, which was still trapped inside an ophidian tail. The bat sunk its claws into the snake creature, which went crashing to the ground. Both snake and eagle cried out in pain, and the eagle vanished back to its home plane. Oh dear. Well, I’m sure the next time Bianca summons it, we’ll have a chance to apologize. Now that I think about it, there’s another advantage to summoning Fiendish creatures; I don’t really care if they get hurt.
“What’s going on?” Lorinar bellowed ungraciously. I was standing in his line of sight, not entirely by accident.
“We’re winning the battle,” I assured him.
“Good work, my deputies.”
I cringed. Deputy, indeed. Well, we’d sort that out later. For now, our three brave warriors, with conjured help both hellish and divine, had their hands full dealing with the Ignan ophidians. The one battling Val lashed out with its tail, knocking the stack of crates out from underneath her. Poor Val fell to the ground among the crashing wood and was smacked hard in the side by the beast’s flaming tail. Val was looking rather badly injured, but she didn’t back down.
“Damn it,” she swore. Pushing broken pieces of crate off of her, she got to her feet, blade in hand. Sadly there was a large barbarian and an even larger Ester in her way. She looked frustrated. These close quarters seemed to be cramping her style.
Despite my assurances that our warriors were doing well, Lorinar refused to sit still and rest like a sensible injured person. He dragged himself closer to the battle and withdrew a tiny hand crossbow from the folds of his cloak. For heaven’s sake, what did the man think he was doing? Recalling our last battle together, I deliberately stood in the man’s way. I might dislike Gore, but I didn’t think he deserved to be shot in the back twice in one night by some well-meaning idiot.
“Perhaps you could stay here, and call out orders?” I suggested sweetly. “Clearly our group needs leadership.”
“Right,” he said, nodding in approval. Honestly, some men are so easily manipulated.
At any rate, our warriors clearly didn’t need additional help. Ester struck with her ice blade and killed her second ophidian. The creature exploded, covering the already soot-covered Ester and Gore with more ash. Funny how Val had managed to stay relatively clean. Gore and Ester looked worse than chimney sweeps.
Gore growled in frustration and used some snow to wipe soot from his eyes. Apparently, there was a limit to the filth he was willing to tolerate.
Poor Ester got stabbed again. Then she managed to dodge as the ophidian with the wolf trapped in its tail tried to club her with it. The wolf was looking rather startled; I don’t suppose it was used to being used as a weapon.
Apparently deciding that he didn’t much care for the idea of being clubbed by a captive wolf, Gore stabbed the ophidian in question with his magic-sharpened blade. The creature exploded, dropping the wolf, and sending sparks and ashes showering over the barbarian, blinding him.
“Gods damn it!” snapped Gore as he wiped soot from his eyes for the third time that night.
“Kick Ass!” Ester yelled approvingly. Gore had blocked most of the soot from reaching her.
“That’s the way!” called Lorinar. “Now get the last one. Get it!” Apparently, this was his idea of leadership. I had a new understanding of the reason for all the dead bodies on the ground.
“That’s leadership, sir,” I said, rolling my eyes. His directives might be useless, but they were preferable to watching the man torture himself by dragging his broken leg all over the alley.
“I’m hungry!” Ester called as she dodged an ophidian tail. “I’m hungry.”
For heaven’s sake, we’d just had a huge meal. Surely even Ester couldn’t be hungry already?
There was only one flaming ophidian remaining. It hissed at Gore and Ester, seemingly unconcerned with the fate of its companions. Suddenly, four magic missiles came soaring down from the six-fingered mage on the roof-top. (Funny, he’d claimed to be out of spells when I asked him to get the horses.) The creature exploded, showering Gore with ashes.
“That’s it!” called Val in a rather decent impression of Ellis Lorinar. “Kill him!”
The barbarian sighed and wiped soot from his face. I dismissed my summoned creatures, while Bianca returned with the escaped horses.
Naturally the important question now facing us was where those creatures had come from. But Ester and Gore were unconcerned with the reason for creatures from the plane of Fire swarming all over Ester. They clasped each other’s hands, congratulating each other in some sort of primitive warrior ritual.
“I’m hungry,” said Ester.
Gore nodded. “Let’s get the meat from that horse.” That horse, mind you, was the one owned by Administrator Lorinar. In case the man had any special attachment to the animal, I moved to block his view as the two warriors started carving the animal into jerky.
“Ew,” muttered Val, and moved over to join me. My, she was badly hurt. I healed her, then moved on to Gore and Ester (while keeping my gaze carefully averted from the bloody horse). I healed Ester, but Gore snarled and backed away when I turned to him.
“You should let her heal you,” Ester said.
Gore frowned. “It’s unnatural.”
Unnatural indeed. Well, I certainly wasn’t about to beg for the privilege of healing the big oaf.
“Suit yourself,” I said. I turned my attention to the carriage. I cast a spell to repair the broken axle. It’s a new spell granted me by Torodin, and my personal favorite; I’ve had a great deal of misfortune in the past where my personal possessions are concerned. (In fact, the first spell I cast when my powers returned was to restore the black and silver cloak Rhavin had made for me. I can’t wait to show it to him.)
While I fixed the carriage, Bianca ran around casting clean cantrips on everyone who needed them. She paused when she saw Gore smearing some foul-smelling paste from his so-called healing kit over his injuries. Bianca sighed.
“For heaven’s sake,” she said, echoing my sentiments precisely. She cast some clean cantrips, banishing both the soot and the nasty salve.
“Hey,” said Gore. Ungrateful brute.
“What were those things?” Val asked Lorinar. “What were they doing here?”
“They were summoned by somebody,” Canliss called from his perch on the roof-top.
“No,” I said, rolling my eyes at the six-fingered mage. What, did he think creatures from other planes of existence just wandered over to Istur under their own power? It doesn’t work that way. (For which we can all be enormously grateful.)
“It was the Flame Brotherhood,” said Lorinar.
“Who are they?” asked Val.
Lorinar didn’t answer her. I had the sneaking suspicion that his information about this ‘Flame Brotherhood’ came from scant evidence and wild assumptions. Some people just don’t know how to conduct a proper investigation.
Taking off his glove, Lorinar held out his right hand, sporting a signet ring. “Hands,” he said. From the deep, authoritative tone, I assumed this to be an order, but it was rather a vague one. Did he want us to hold hands? Put our hands in the air? Really, he should learn to be more specific in his directions, especially for the sake of those unfamiliar with quaint, bureaucratic customs.
“I have two now,” said Ester.
“Paper, rock, scissors,” Val muttered.
Gore was the first to place his right hand on Lorinar’s. Ester tried with her left hand, until Bianca helped her sort it out. The rest of us followed suit with varying degrees of reluctance (except for Canliss, who mysteriously was taking an awfully long time to climb down from the roof).
“What a bizarre ritual,” I whispered to Val. She smiled and rolled her eyes in agreement.
“In the name of the authority vested in me by Duke D’Menici, I pronounce you deputies of the Administration of Mysterious Meteorology.”
I stared at the man in dismay as we all pulled our hands away. Deputy, indeed. I fully intended to be rid of Ellis Lorinar as soon as we dropped him off at Our Lady of the Dove. Let him deputize some Soltanites; maybe he’ll be the first to get some real use out of them outside the bedroom.
“Are we getting paid for this?” Val asked suspiciously.
“Does this mean you’re going to tell us about The Brotherhood of the Flame?” Bianca added.
“You can remove your hand now,” Lorinar told Gore and Ester.
“I mean,” Val persisted, “I’m happy to help out this once, but uh…”
“These are dire times,” interrupted Lorinar, not answering either of them. He pulled a scroll from his cloak and started quoting some lengthy passage involving martial law and ducal authority.
“So what do you need?” Val demanded.
“These are dire times,” Ellis repeated. Honestly, if he used that word one more time, I was going to summon something ‘dire’ to shut him up. “The Duke has declared Marshal Law.” (And I’m certain our beloved Duke has been dying for that opportunity.)
While Lorinar talked in circles, we gathered him up and got him into the carriage. “You should take me to Our Lady of the Dove,” he ordered. Apparently, he was used to deputies who were completely unable to discern that which was painfully obvious.
“Oh, I like it there,” Ester said happily. I blinked at her in surprise. What could Ester possibly have in common with those fluffy, doily-making clerics?
Honestly, this was all just too much to bear. Some evening this had turned out to be: nobleman, an irritating bureaucrat, and now Soltanites. I looked up at the roof where Canliss still stood. Damned if I was going to suffer alone.
“Oh, Deputy Canliss,” I called sweetly. “Would you care to join us?”
“Canliss, it’s safe,” Gore called. “You can come down now.” We all laughed except for Lorinar, who seemed rather lacking in humor (and wit, and style, etc., etc.).
“You guys take him to the Soltanites,” Canliss called. “I’m going to go find out where these things came from.” Oh, sure. It was just like Canliss to take on the task of sneaking through dark, filthy alleys in the bitter cold night and leave me to deal with Soltanites.
“Perhaps we could all meet for lunch tomorrow at The Oasis?” I suggested to the others. “We can skip the drunken nobleman shooting people in the back this time.”
“Great idea,” said Val, smiling.
“We can meet at the Customs House tomorrow,” said Lorinar. I frowned. Did he think that invitation had included him?
“The Customs House, when?” asked Val, who didn’t look any happier about the situation than I was.
“First thing in the morning,” Lorinar replied.
Val grimaced. “How early is that?”
“Just after dawn,” he responded, as if this should have been obvious.
“I don’t get up that early,” I informed him.
“Tomorrow you do.”
I scowled at Lorinar. I didn’t care how many ridiculous titles were given to him by his uncle the Duke. He was sadly deluded if he thought he could order me around like that.
“Isn’t dawn time to go to bed?” Canliss complained.
Bianca grinned. “Oh, just stay up, sweetie.”
“Who can write?” Lorinar asked.
“I can! I can!” said Ester.
“I need you to pen a letter…”
“Uh, Ester is really just learning,” I said.
“She taught me,” Ester said, pointing to me and smiling.
Val chuckled. “I can write.”
“Hmm, right.” Lorinar was having trouble keeping up. “You and you.” He pointed rudely to Val and me. “I need you to pen off letters (Pen off? Who taught this man to speak?) to the Customs House.”
“Aren’t you going to the Customs House in the morning?” I asked reasonably. It was well after midnight; nobody would be awake to read his letters before he got there to explain things in person.
“Right,” said Val. “Why don’t we just…”
“It can not wait,” Lorinar insisted. He pointed to the burned bodies lying all around us. “I need you to write down the badge numbers of these men here.”
“Ew,” Val and I said in unison.
“I need you to record those and write up a report.”
I looked at the barbarian. “Deputy Gore, get the badges off those men.”
“Yeah,” Val said happily. “And then we’ll write down the numbers.”
Gore scowled at me. “Get them yourself, woman.”
“I beg your pardon?” Somebody really needs to teach that boy a lesson in manners.
Fortunately, Ester was more accommodating. She collected the soot-stained badges and handed them to Val and me. Pausing only to exchange a glance of shared irritation at being handed such a menial task at two in the morning, Val started reading the numbers while I wrote them down.
“We should also get word to the temple of Azkal,” said Lorinar. “They were killed in combat.”
“Not it,” I muttered. Val chuckled.
“Oh, I can do that,” Ester said. “That’s where I’m staying.”
“Very good,” said Lorinar. “You should get word to them this night, so the Azkalites can arrange for proper burial.”
“When?” asked Ester.
“This night,” said Lorinar.
“He means now,” Val explained.
Ester persuaded Gore to accompany her. The two of them marched off, happily munching on horse meat.
Lorinar took our names and gave us directions to his office at the Customs House, then we handed him over to the Soltanites. I haven’t been so pleased to part company with someone since we left Doctor Mordenheim’s realm.
Determined to get out of this ridiculous deputy fiasco, I tried to see Donar or Rachel as soon as I got to Strand’s Shadows. Sadly, Donar was sleeping and Rachel was out, so I had to settle for leaving them a note explaining what had happened. Then I joined Seregil, Dante, Nysander and Salvador for a game of poker. Predictably, when I complained about the events of the event, they laughed and started calling me Deputy Nikita.
Deputy of Mysterious Meteorology. Good grief. Praying that Rachel would have a way to get me out of this (after all, it’s all her fault), I penned my journal entry and sought my bed.

13 Esterealan, Strand’s Shadows

I woke up around eight in the morning, which I felt was a reasonable compromise between dawn and a sensible hour to get out of bed. As usual, only Becca and Donar were awake at this hour. Donar was busy, and I didn’t want to disturb him, so I left a message advising him that I would participate in Lorinar’s investigation unless he directed otherwise. Granted, I have more important matters on my agenda, but I didn’t want to offend the local authorities without Donar’s blessing. Besides, I must admit to a certain curiosity in the matter.
After I finished bathing, dressing, and arranging hair and make-up, a few others were beginning to stir. I asked Becca and some of the novices to see if to help me search the library for information about the strange creatures I’d seen last night; our best guess what that the ophidians were some form of salamander. We didn’t find anything on the panther-like beasts, but Becca believed they probably came from the Dark Wood.
It was after nine, then, so I settled down to my morning prayers. I was almost finished when someone knocked at the door. This startled me; we never disturb one another at prayer. I opened the door to find a troubled looking Carmen Longfellow.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, troubled. Carmen is among the most cheerful and easy-going of our novices, and she’s not easily upset.
“There’s, uh, city watch at the door, Sister Nikita” she said. “They’re here for you.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize Lorinar was sending an escort,” I said. Well, that was nice of him. It almost made me forgive him for setting our meeting at such a ridiculous hour.
I told Carmen to have the guards sit in the visitor’s waiting room, then I finished my prayers and donned my coat. I emerged to find four guards waiting for me; that was quite an escort. They were young, probably junior members of the watch, and two were rather handsome. All four stood politely and returned my smile of greeting.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Your presence is requested at the customs house,” said the eldest of the four, a dark-haired Isturian with beautiful, black eyes. “By Administrator, uh… Lorinar.”
“How nice of you to escort me. Shall we be going then?” The four guards seemed rather reticent at first, but I soon had them chatting away as we walked through the snowy streets. They were surprisingly pleasant companions. Really, we Torodinites haven’t done enough to promote good relations with the city guard. I made a mental note to introduce their charming, dark-eyed leader, Constable Renzo to Erisa. And Kristofer, the witty, muscular blond from Reggis, simply must meet Becca; he shares her interest in history.
None of the four men knew much about Lorinar. They answered to Constable Leono and had little interest in the latest new bureaucrat. All they knew of his department was that they were supposedly in charge of stopping The Great Storm. Right, Administrator Lorinar was going to stop The Great Storm – right after Dougal Wentworth puts a stop to all the criminal activity in Istur.
I said good-bye to my new friends after turning down invitations for drinks and finding out where they live for match-making purposes. Ellis Lorinar was waiting just inside the door of the Customs House, tapping his foot with impatience.
“Good morning, Administrator,” I said cheerily, ignoring his evident irritation. If he’d set the meeting for a more civilized hour, he wouldn’t have had to wait.
“Greetings. Follow me.”
Lorinar led me to a room that was small, boring, and filled with uncomfortable furniture. Bianca and Canliss had apparently just walked in and were putting Corey and Rigoletto down so they could roam around. Val, Gore and Ester were seated. Gore and Ester were chewing on strips of something that smelled suspiciously like horse meat. Poor Val was looking irritated and holding her head in her hands. She looked up and scowled when we walked in.
Gore looked at Lorinar and held out a hunk of the horse jerky. “Want some meat?” he asked. Mind you, he was offering the man the charred flesh from his own mount. It was tacky in the extreme.
“Um, I have had breakfast,” said Lorinar. “No thank you.”
“Good morning, everyone,” I said, taking the seat between Val and Canliss. The chair was as uncomfortable as it looked.
“Good morning,” said Canliss and Bianca without enthusiasm. Ester greeted me cheerfully, while Gore scowled and grunted.
“I’ve been sitting in this damn chair for two hours,” Val muttered. She rolled her eyes in the direction of Ester and Gore. Oh dear, she’d probably been listening to what passed for conversation among those two all morning. Next time, we’ll have to warn Val not to show up on time.
Lorinar pointed at Canliss. “Put your hand out.”
Canliss blinked at him in surprise. This was a rather disturbing command for any thief to hear from a government official.
“You disappeared before the swearing in last night,” Lorinar explained. Canliss looked relieve, but he made no move to obey.
“It’s your right hand,” Ester offered sagely.
“What swearing in?” Canliss asked. Oh for heaven sakes, did he really think feigning ignorance was going to work?
“You will be a Deputy Minister of Mysterious Magics and Fees,” said Gore. He chances the name of the department regularly, but since it’s all completely meaningless it hardly mattered.
“Oh, just give him five out of six fingers,” said Bianca.
With resignation, Canliss put out his hand. Lorinar read some lengthy bureaucratic form to which nobody listened except Canliss. (I don’t know why he bothered; even most of us Torodinites don’t speak Hurvan Bureaucrat.)
Lorinar handed out some rather familiar-looking badges. Ester squealed with delight and promptly pinned hers on upside down. I frowned at mine; it was ugly and clashed with my outfit, and my middle names had been left off. I put it in the pocket of my dress.
“These are just for identification purposes, in case… well, just in case.” In case we all ended up lying burned and blackened in the street like the unfortunate souls he’d already led to their deaths. He needn’t have worried; I, for one, had no intention of taking direction from him.
“These look an awful lot like the ones we collected last night,” Val whispered to me with a grin.
“Will these make it easier on us if we get stopped late at night?” asked Canliss, who was anxious to find ways to abuse his new office. If he weren’t so cheap, he wouldn’t have to worry about the new curfew; the guards don’t stop carriages.
“Yes,” said Lorinar. “Provided you are on official business.”
“Why would we not be on official business at that hour?” asked Bianca with an innocent expression. I wonder if she’s had any training as a thespian?
“Exactly,” said Lorinar. “There is much to do. I was in need of new recruits.” Of course he was; he got the old ones killed. “Make sure you wear these at all times, until the mission for which you’ve been deputized is completed.”
He looked pointedly at me, but I did not remove the badge from my pocket. I would not be intimidated by some small-time government official.
“We’ll keep that in mind,” said Bianca. Her badge was also in her pocket, but she’d withdrawn a journal and was pretending to take notes.
“We are looking for someone who calls himself The Lord of Fire,” Lorinar informed us.
“How quaint,” I said.
“Azkal?” Ester asked excitedly.
“Uh, no. But there might be a renegade Azkalite involved; we’re not sure.”
I frowned at him. He was awfully quick to accuse a priest of wrong-doing, apparently with little or no evidence. I didn’t care for that. I made a mental note to mention this to Donar and Rachel.
“What do you know about him?” asked Val.
“He goes by a name that a sage told me is Ignatic in nature.” (I chose not to correct him; the proper term is 'Ignan.')When I explained that I speak Ignatic, Lorinar showed me the name. It was Huhueteotul, which translates roughly to ‘The Lord of Flame.’ A rather dramatic-sounding title, and one that would yield no information via a personal reading spell; the true and complete name is required for such divination.
“All we know,” said Lorinar, “is that this Lord of Flame has a bunch of initiates or servants running around, calling themselves The Bloody Flame Brotherhood.”
“Is ‘Bloody’ part of their name, or just a colorful adjective that you inserted?” I asked with false sincerity. I found Administrator Lorinar’s blunt language rather offensive.
“Please try to be precise,” said Val, correcting the notes in her journal.
Lorinar scowled at us both.
“Last night,” Canliss asked, “those creatures… Were you there when they were summoned, or did you stumble across them.”
“We came across them,” said Lorinar. “I believe we were closing in the whereabouts of The Flame Brotherhood. We must have been close, for those creatures to be nearby.”
Well, that was quite a leap of logic. I realized with dismay that we couldn’t rely on any of Lorinar’s information; too much of it was based on supposition. We would have to start our investigation from scratch.
“What exactly has The Flame Brotherhood been doing?” asked Val.
“They’ve been burning down buildings. Guard outposts. Various government buildings, including a granary.”
“Why are they burning down buildings?” asked Ester. “We’ve burned down buildings before, but it was all for a good cause.”
“And never in Istur,” I added hastily. Lorinar was looking rather alarmed.
“We also received a threatening letter.” Lorinar scowled and ground his teeth.
“Do you have this letter?” I asked hopefully. A physical document would greatly facilitate divination.
“It is filed in the Archives. But I saw the letter. It was delivered by… a flying mouse.” He said this as if a mouse were something distasteful. “The letter said to expect more devastation from The Flame Brotherhood. It was signed by Huhueteotul. I’ve been hunting him for days; last night was my closest success.”
More than a dozen dead deputies was a close success? Oh no, we are definitely not taking direction from this man.
“I’d like to see the letter,” I said.
“We can put in a formal request to the Archival Department.” He dug a form from the stack of papers on his desk. I filled it out, but I had no intention of delivering the thing and waiting for the slow tides of bureaucracy to get me what I wanted. This called for a personal visit to the Archives; odds were good that at least one of the officials there was male and easily influenced. These government types don’t get out much.
“So you wish us to defeat this Flame Brotherhood?” asked Gore.
“Yes. That is our entire purpose right now.”
“Shall we discuss remuneration?” asked Gore. My, that was a big word for a barbarian. I’m starting to wonder if the whole barbarian thing isn’t just an act that Gore is putting on as an excuse to be rude and avoid bathing.
“How do we know that the Flame Brotherhood really sent this letter?” Ester asked.
Ignoring Gore’s question, Lorinar frowned at the giantess. “Who else would have sent it?”
Bianca and I rolled our eyes at each other. Apparently, all we need to do to get away with a crime in Istur is send a note to Administrator Lorinar and sign someone else’s name to it. No wonder the thieves in this town are getting soft; there’s no challenge in crime any more.
“But,” said Ester doubtfully, “anybody can write a letter. Once you know how to read, it’s not hard to write.” Bless her heart, even Ester thinks Lorinar is an idiot. I think the barbarian is way ahead of him, too.
Lorinar frowned at us. “The letter was analyzed by government officials,” he said defensively. Because everyone knows that minor Isturian bureaucrats are the great sages of our time.
“Great,” Canliss muttered.
“So do you know where these people are?” Val asked.
“We think they’re somewhere deep in the warehouse district. Somewhere west of the docks.”
“How do you recommend we find them?”
“We must patrol,” said Lorinar. “And then we can investigate.”
We all stared at him in shared astonishment. Patrol? He expected us to wander randomly around Istur, hoping to stumble across these people? At that rate, we’d find their base if operations because it would be the only building left standing.
Ester scratched her head. “So, we’ve never met any of them, we don’t know who they are, but you want us to arrest them?”
Lorinar nodded. Lovely. Given that Marshal Law permitted the arrest of Isturian citizens merely on the suspicion of a crime, it was rather frightening that Lorinar was encouraging six complete strangers to run around arresting people. We could just forge evidence against some people we didn’t like and be done with the whole thing.
I sighed. “I really don’t think that a random witch hunt is the most efficient way to go about this.”
“We are not hunting witches. We are hunting The Flame Brotherhood.”
“I was speaking metaphorically. Administrator, there are many ways to gain information. Wandering aimlessly around Istur is the least productive of them.”
“We can also collect fees and levies.”
I glared at him. “I am a priestess of Torodin. I do not collect fees and levies.”
“You do while you’re under my jurisdiction.” We glared at each other, neither one willing to back down.
“Surely you have other people who can collect the fees and levies,” Val said reasonably. “People who don’t have our ability to fight these creatures.”
“Of course. Searching for the Brotherhood is our priority, but we might come across fees and levies that need to be collected while we’re looking. It also gives us a reason to knock on doors.”
Canliss and I exchanged a puzzled look. Who was planning to knock? I glanced around at the others. Everyone was looking irritated and squirming in their seats. Clearly we’d gotten all the information out of Lorinar that we were going to get, and precious little that was. There was no reason to continue enduring his odious company.
I stood. “Well, I think we’ve wasted enough of your valuable time, Administrator. We’ll be off on our mission now.”
He frowned. “No. We will go together.”
“No we won’t,” Bianca and I said in unison.
“I’m with them,” Val added.
Deciding that flattery would be more effective than intimidation, I batted my eyes at Lorinar. “Surely you want to leave the menial details to us?”
“We’re here to be the front lines,” said Ester.
“And do the grunt work,” Val added.
“We need you here, Administrator,” I said. “To coordinate our efforts.”
Lorinar thought this over. “Very well. But I expect daily reports from you.”
“Oh, certainly,” we all lied. Everyone stood, anxious to get away as fast as possible.
“Wait. I’ll need to appoint one of you as sergeant,” said Lorinar. “To head up the group.”
Everyone stepped back except for Ester. She beamed happily. “Do I get another badge?”
Bianca gave Ester her badge.
“Congratulations, Sergeant Oxshoulders,” I said.
Lorinar pulled out a stack of forms and handed them to Ester. “You’ll need to fill these out, for your new position.”
“We’ll be about our investigation, then,” I said. “Sergeant Ester will report to you daily.”
We arranged to meet for lunch, then we split up. Canliss was going to investigate the Warehouse district, to locate the place in question. Gore left to.. I don’t know what Gore was doing. Val kindly stayed to help Ester, and Bianca accompanied me to the Archival Department.
I undid the top buttons of my dress and grudgingly put on the silly badge as we took the stairs down to the Archival Department. Manning a desk in the dark and dusty basement, we found a bored-looking young man in his late teens. He was adorable, with dark, curly hair; soft, brown eyes and a sweet, heart-shaped faced. I leaned over the desk, flashing cleavage, and smiled at him.
“Excuse me,” I handed over the form. “Can you assist us, kind sir?”
He blinked at us for a moment, then read the form. “Um, normally it takes several days for such a request…”
I pouted.
“Um, but, maybe… Why don’t you come down with me to the Archives and we’ll look for it?”
“Oh, really? That’s so kind of you.”
We followed him down another stair case to an even dustier basement. I let the young man help me down the stairs and we introduced ourselves. His name was Donatello Innocenzio, and he was distantly related to one of Istur’s minor merchant families.
I used a locate object spell to help find the letter; Donatello was unduly impressed. I don’t think the poor boy gets out much.
He was rather reluctant to let me borrow it. “Um…. I could get in a lot of trouble if someone else comes looking for it, and it’s not here.”
I hated to distress him; he really was awfully adorable. But I needed the letter. “Perhaps I could return it over dinner tonight?” I offered.
“Okay,” he said. We arranged to meet at the Dancing Dragons. As we departed, Bianca rolled her eyes at me and made snide remarks about needing more clean cantrips.
“Oh, it’s just dinner,” I said. “He’s very young.” Too young for me, even if I weren’t involved with Rhavin. Just right for Carmen, though. I was planning to introduce them if Donatello proved to be as sweet as he seemed. Carmen is a lovely girl; they’d look adorable together.

When we gathered at The Oasis, Alanna showed me her new bar stools: black dragon legs. She grinned. “They came with a letter from Temmer?”
“A letter?” I wondered there were one from Rhavin waiting for me at Strand’s Shadows; there’d better be. “Can I see it?”
She handed it over. The letter came from Amril, and was dated the 20th of Torodio. It was very brief:

Dear Alanna,

We picked up these souvenirs for you in Amril. Thought you could use some more stools. We’ll look for some blue ones next.
I accidentally turned the Azkalite’s hair green. Doesn’t that just suck? Other than that, the trip hasn’t been so bad. We did run into some of those frozen zombies everyone is talking about. They’re pretty nasty, and they cause frost-bite. Fire and holy water work well against them.
Hope everything is well with you. Say hello to Hasaan. Don’t go out by yourself at night, and don’t forget to keep the wolfsbane on the window-sills.
Love, Temmer

P.S. There was a gods-be-damned vampire in the shrine. Hurvan made. We staked the bastard. I’m getting drunk.

“That’s all he wrote?” I complained. “What shrine? Where did they find the dragon?”
Alanna chuckled. “That’s all. Maybe Rhavin’s letter will provide more details? The wagon driver had a whole stack of letters from him.”
“I certainly hope so. I’ll let you know what I find out. At least we know they made it to Amril safely.”
Alanna agreed. We’d both been worried; this was not an ideal time for a cross-country trip across Hurva. I do hope Rhavin is okay.
Alanna obligingly provided a pot of water so I could cast Time Pool to view the writing of the letter. Ester was very excited.
“Are we gonna see Jacob again?”
“No, Ester.” I shuddered. “Never again.”
Inside, we saw a man in his mid forties, black hair dusted with gray. He wore black robes embroidered with a flame motif. He was surrounded by shelves full of books, and the room in which he worked was a large cave that was lit by a pool of lava.
That was very strange. There are no volcanoes anywhere near Istur. Was this man conjuring pools of lava just to have a light to read by? He must be rather wasteful of his magic.
As for Lord Salvatore Bertini, a personal reading spell yielded no information. I need his middle names. So I sent a letter to Bertini thanking him for dinner and offer to pray for his good fortune if he could send me his full and proper name. We’ll see what that turns up.
We shared the information we’d gathered over lunch. Canliss had located what he believed to be the correct warehouse; an abandoned building which apparently did not enjoy any Protection. Obviously, we’d wait until after nightfall to explore. Since I had a dinner engagement at six, we arranged to meet around seven. That would be a good time to check out the warehouse.
After lunch, I stopped by Strand’s. Rachel and Donar were unavailable, but there was a thank you note from Tore Bertini and a long letter from my darling Rhavin. Naturally, he told me how much he missed me, and he thanked me for the lovely portrait I’d given him. He assured me that he and Kariya were well. And, unlike the bard, he gave all the details of their adventurers, including horrifying battles against the black dragon and the vampire. This last was very disturbing. Rhavin expressed his concern that beings from Ravenloft are finding their way into Hurva. I suspect that he’s jumping to conclusions, but I don’t know how much of that suspicion is based on wishful thinking. I’ll have to discuss the details with Alanna, and see what she thinks.
Since Lorinar had dragged us all out of bed at an ungodly hour, I made sure to take a long nap before heading to dinner. Donatello turned out to be as sweet, intelligent and well-mannered as I’d hoped. He was rather disappointed when I gently turned down his advances, but he was amenable to a meeting with Carmen. (I couldn’t resist; he was far too adorable to let go to waste.) Young novice Longfellow is just going to adore him, and I’m sure they’ll get along. She’s very attractive (and far less eccentric than her second cousin, the pirate turned choirmaster).
We all met up at the Oasis shortly after dinner. Val, Bianca and I were the first to arrive. After I told Alanna about Rhavin’s letter (except the personal bits), the three of us fed Rigoletto table scraps and chatted amiably. Both women are unattached (I really need to introduce them to Seregil and Dante.), and Bianca owns that curiosity shop I like on Full Sails Street. (I asked her to save that broach in the window for me; must remember to send Fiona to pick it up later.)
Naturally, I told them all about Rhavin. “He’s on a mission right now,” I explained. “I just got a letter from him.”
Val frowned. “But how is that going to work? If you can’t marry, and he’s a paladin of Estereal…”
“It’s working just fine, thank you,” I snapped. I didn’t tell her about my plan to get Torodin to change His mind about the marriage rules. I think it’s best if I keep that to myself for a while.
“You must worry about him,” Bianca intervened. She’s a born diplomat, Bianca is.
“Yes, but he’s in good company. He’s traveling with a most impressive battle mage named Kariya, and Alanna’s friend, Temmer Longfellow, among others.”
“I’ve heard of him,” said Val. “Doesn’t he organize the music at The Word of Law?”
I nodded.
“Oh, they have such lovely services there,” said Bianca. “Sort of gone down hill lately, though.”
“Well, Marius is in charge temporarily.” I explained about Marius. They were quite sympathetic.
Ester arrived some time later. She had a black eye and informed us happily that she’d been playing poker with the Azkalites. Funny; at Strand’s we’ve been playing poker for years, and we haven’t bruised each other once. Trust the Azkalites to turn a simple card game into a free-for-all.
Gore and Canliss were the last to arrive. Canliss immediately took me aside.
“Guess who I ran into in the Warehouse district, pretending to be a Customs Inspector?”
I followed his gaze and gasped in horror. “Not the stupid barbarian?”
“The one and only. And Sal’s boys were watching the place – four members of the Snow Removal Guild. Gore introduced himself as the Deputy Minister of Mysteries, Meteorology, Levies and Fees and demanded to inspect the warehouse. I had to do some fast talking to get Gore away from there before he ended up in the harbor.”
I hesitated. Would Gore ending up in the harbor really be so bad? No, no, I couldn’t be that mean. He was rude and annoying, but he seemed mostly harmless. Besides, Ester would be upset if anything happened to him.
Canliss and I joined the others and sat down by Gore. “Hey, Nikita,” Canliss said loudly, “ Gore thinks it’s a good idea for us to investigate one of the warehouses being landscaped by members of the Snow Shoveling Guild.”
“Oh, no, dear,” I said to Gore. “You see, if there were anything untoward going on in any of those warehouses, the Guild members would have reported it by now. They report to our boss… indirectly. And Lorinar would have told us. So, automatically, you know that if there are snow shovelers in front of a warehouse, you can skip that one.”
“But it was a suspicious warehouse,” Gore insisted.
Ester frowned at him. “Nikita is always right.”
“So what does a suspicious warehouse look like?” I asked Gore. “Did it have shifty eyes?”
Gore scowled at me and refused to answer. But he stopped insisting on going back to that warehouse.
Corey wandered in as we were having dessert. The poor cat looked half frozen. “Canliss, what have you been doing to this poor cat?” I accused him. I put Corey in my lap and fed him some milk and table scraps. Poor, little thing. Canliss should really take better care of him.
We planned as we finished eating. Canliss wanted everyone else to charge in the front door while we sneaked in the back. Naturally, Val objected to this idea. I mean, it wasn’t very nice of Canliss to offer everyone else up as bait. We didn’t even know them that well.
“Formation is strong,” Ester insisted. “We should stick together.”
“She’s right,” I said. “Canliss and I will scout ahead while the rest of you stay hidden in the shadows. Val, if it’s all right with you, I can create a telepathic link between us. That way I can let you know when the rest of you should move forward.”
Canliss handed me a vial under the table. “Nikita, this is the antidote to my gaseous sleeping potion.”
I frowned at him. “Canliss, we can’t put the others to sleep just so we can sneak in without them.”
“No, no. This is so we can escape if we get caught. We’ll be able to get the others to safety.”
I had my doubts about that. If the others fell asleep, I certainly wouldn’t be able to lift any of them. But it wasn’t as if I had any hope of preventing Canliss from causing havoc if things went wrong. I took the antidote and prayed I wouldn’t have to use it.
We stopped, hidden in the alley across the street, as we studied the warehouse Canliss had located and reviewed our plan. Unfortunately, Ester got bored and started playing with Hilt. The Blade of Ice was all well and fine, but did she have to taste it?
“Sthuck, sthuck, sthuck.” We all turned around to find Ester with her tongue stuck to the ice blade, her free arm flailing wildly.
“For heaven’s sake. Ester, what did you do?”
“Sthuuuuuck!” She looked at us with puppy dog eyes. Without her tongue, Ester couldn’t speak the command to release the blade.
Bianca rolled her eyes and cast a warm cantrip to free Ester’s tongue. Val looked uneasily from Ester to Gore, clearly wondering what sort of crowd she’d fallen in with.
“Sergeant Oxshoulders,” I said, “on whom should I cast the telepathy spell?”
“Uhhhhh….”
Val raised her hand. “I volunteer.”
“Excellent choice, Sergeant.” Ester beamed happily, and I cast the spell. “Try to keep Ester from playing with her sword,” I thought to Val. She promised to do her best.
Before we parted company, I handed Val a rock with ‘deeper darkness’ cast upon it so the others could hide. Then I cast shade’s sight, know the shadows, and creeping darkness on myself and Canliss. I cast a spell to check for traps before Canliss magically unlocked the door (Thank the gods Dougal Wentworth got rid of that cursed ring. I’d still like to know how Canliss talked him into it; he won’t tell.)
Before we opened it, I sent my shadow creeping under the door. The shadow found a long, dimly lit hallway with many doors off to either side. There was a door at the end of the corridor, with light and the sounds of battle coming from beyond. I let Val know what I was seeing as I sent the shadow toward that door.
There was a rumble of thunder and a crash of light that made me think fondly of Kariya. My shadow slipped beneath the door to find a man battling a large and angry fire elemental in a large room with crates of varying sizes piled in a haphazard fashion. The man was not the one I’d seen in the Time Pool, but he wore identical robes. He was short and stocky and seemed to be moving under the influence of a Haste spell. He cast something, and t he elemental screamed as green bands of glowing energy wrapped around it. That must be the dimensional anchor spell Donar told me about during our last discussion of the dangers of intraplanar travel.
Hmm. It was hard to tell whose side we wanted to be on, if any, but surely we’d have a better chance of getting information from the human, if we managed to capture him alive. Explaining the scene telepathically to Val, I advised her to encourage the others to attack the elemental and leave the mage to me.
As I heard Val assure me that the others were moving in. “Canliss, I’m mousing in.” I was delayed by some sort of wall of force blocking the entrance. I dispelled it, then scurried inside the big room and hid in the shadows to peer from behind the nearest crates.
“Aaaaaaaaaargh!” The dark-robed mage’s eyes widened as Gore came charging in, waving his sword. And no wonder; there was a wall of force blocking the entrance just seconds ago. I saw Bianca run in behind Gore (with considerably less bellowing) and hide behind some crates on the other side of the room.
Canliss didn’t bother to hide. He stood just inside the doorway and cast magic missiles at the elemental. They zipped inside the flame, and the creature hissed in annoyance. “Dibs on the staff,” Canliss whispered, glancing toward the one held by the mage. Honestly, he’s so greedy. Doesn’t he already have more than his share of the magical items we found in Ravenloft? (All they gave me was a magical dagger; as if that’s useful. I think Canliss and I are going to have to have a little talk about the equal division of spoils.)
“We’re here to help you!” Canliss yelled to the mage. Which might be credible, assuming the mage hadn’t heard the avaricious remark about his staff.
Val came running in and hid behind the crates next to me. “Don’t step on me,” I cautioned. It’s one of the hazards of being in mouse form.
Meanwhile, the mage’s bewildered gaze darted from Gore to Canliss. He was probably wondering why his secret warehouse was suddenly so popular. Given that Administrator Lorinar had been their only enemy up until know, The Brotherhood of the Flame has probably grown complacent.
Ester came charging in, catching up to Gore. The two slashed at the fire elemental. Ester certainly is getting a lot of use out of the blade of ice gambit. Both warriors hacked gleefully at the elemental.
Apparently opting to ignore us for the moment, the mage cast five magic missiles at the elemental. The creature writhed as they entered his glowing form and disappeared.
“Nice shot!” Canliss called.
What kind of compliment was that? Did Canliss think the mage was going to hand over his magical staff to a complete stranger who wandered into his warehouse and started licking his boots? Honestly, one should never forget one’s dignity for the sake of greed. Love maybe, and of course knowledge, but never greed.
The mage suddenly disappeared. Had he teleported? Was he invisible? I nearly cursed in frustration. We couldn’t question the man if we couldn’t find him.
With the mage gone, the fire elemental focused its unwholesome attention on our warriors. With lightning speed, it lashed a flaming maw at Gore. The barbarian screamed as fire licked along his side. Gore really is going to have to break down and beg for some healing soon (with an appropriate apology), or he’s not going to survive our mission.
After mauling gore, the fire elemental leaped gracefully back at least twenty feet. My, the creature is even more agile than Val in combat.
Assuming our warriors could handle the elemental, I cast ‘detect thoughts’ and started mousing around the room. If the mage was still here, I’d find him. I picked up nothing at first, other than violent thoughts from our warriors and some rather impolite phrases from our own mage; I had no idea that Bianca was capable of such language.
Bianca cleverly assisted my attempt to find the mage by casting glitterdust in the area near the door. Canliss glittered nicely in the shadow of the doorway, but there was no sign of the mage.
Canliss sighed heavily. “Nikita, I’m blind,” he called out. “Help, please.” If he hadn’t been so obstinate about tithing, perhaps I might have been more sympathetic to his predicament. As it was, I laughed a quiet, mousy laugh to myself; especially when I detected Bianca’s surface thought: that’ll keep him out of trouble.
Canliss felt his way to the shelter of the nearest crates. Since he was in no danger, there was no need to feel guilty about letting him suffer.
“Out of my way, Gore!” Ester yelled. The two were practically tripping over her in their zeal to reach the fire elemental. Ignoring Ester, the barbarian slashed at the elemental and missed.
Ester almost knocked Gore down as she charged past him to hack at the elemental. The ice blade steamed and hissed. (Between the Azkalite armor and the blade of ice, Ester really is ideally equipped for this mission.) As the blade cleaved the elemental, the creature vanished with a whoosh.
I spent a few more minutes looking for the mage, but I didn’t find him. He must have teleported to safety somehow. It looked like we’d have to find our answers the hard way, by searching this warehouse.

Book 5.1

2005-10-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

12 Esterealan, Strand’s Shadows

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written in this journal; I’ve been spending an awful lot of time in prayer. Let’s see, after we returned home to Istur and discovered that things have gotten rather out of hand since we’d been away, what was the next momentous event?
Oh, of course: the ceremony. My darling Rhavin was finally recognized by Estereal for his years of faithful service, and he was rewarded with a horse. Yes, I know it sounds dull, but paladins do love their animals. (I made sure to pray to Torodin that, if He ever decided to reward me in a similar fashion, I’d prefer a personal assistant who can take dictation and carry lots of packages)
I was very excited about being let out of Strand’s Shadows to attend the service. Donar and Rachel had been keeping all of us cooped up. I was under strict orders not to go outside at all, and I only managed to buy some gifts, a pair of earrings, a few dresses and a sable coat before I was informed in no uncertain terms that I should not have assumed that an exception would be made for updating my wardrobe. An exception was being made, however, for the Esterealan ceremony; in fact, we were all ordered to go. (Some of my brethren were most ungracious about it, and they were duly chastised by Rachel and Donar.) I was thrilled; I hadn’t seen Rhavin in weeks.
Anyway, the ceremony was long, being Esterealan, but the music was quite impressive. Rhavin looked so very happy. Everyone was there, of course, to share in Rhavin’s big day. (I spied Jven in the crowd, but I never got a chance to talk to her. The Jveltoans kept disappearing; honestly, I think they went to a tavern in the middle of the service!)
There was a reception at The Oasis afterward. Between everyone congratulating Rhavin and Donar keeping an eye on me, it seemed like hours before I got a chance to be alone with him. When I spied Donar deep in conversation with Alanna, I took the opportunity to slip outside, where Rhavin was brushing his new mare (again).
I hugged him fiercely. "Congratulations my love. I'm so proud of you. What a beautiful ceremony. Who knew that crazy bard could sing so well?"
"Not I." he chuckled as he returned my hug and planted a delicate kiss on my forehead.
I stroked the white mare’s silky mane. “She’s beautiful. And gentle. Just like you.” I smiled. “What made you name her Dancer?”
"When I saw her standing impatiently at the stables, stepping side-to-side and tossing her head, she reminded me of this girl I know." Grabbing the reigns, he playfully jumped up into the saddle. Bowing from horseback, he extended his hand to me. "Would you like to go for a short ride?”
I took Rhavin’s hand and he pulled me into the saddle in front of him. I leaned back, enjoying the feel of his warm body against mine in this accursed, unnatural cold. The few Isturians not attending the party at the Oasis stared as we rode by. We relaxed and enjoyed the mare’s gentle gait until we finally had a measure of privacy. Then I turned and kissed him properly.
“I’ve missed you,” I said when I could draw breath.
"I know the feeling." He replied. A gust of snow-laden wind quickly blinded us, forcing Rhavin to pull his cape around us for protection. Tossing her head with a snort, Dancer turned and began trotting in a new direction. With the cape pulled tight we couldn't see where we were going, but a few steps later the wind died down and we emerged from the make-shift shelter. Dancer had moved out of the driving wind, to take shelter between a cobbler's workshop and a warehouse. Snow-drifts piled two feet in a few places as Dancer stood in the narrow alley. Rhavin reached past me and tussled the mare’s mane.
"No one would let me visit you,” he said sadly. “Each time I came by I got the same answer." He reached for the reigns and Dancer began picking a path down the alley. "How is your retraining going?"
“Don’t be offended, my love. They wouldn’t let anyone visit. I had to sneak out just to do some shopping. Can you believe it? As for the retraining, it’s no big deal. Everyone says it will take months, but I’m sure I’ll have it mastered in no time. So how are things going at the new shrine?”
"Actually, I've been a little preoccupied. Dou... Father Wentworth, that is, says things are going well. Even with the few windows still boarded up, the building is impressive. Archbishop Kalros will be pleased."
“That’s good to hear.” Personally, I was concerned that Dougal might not be getting the respect he was due from the other Churches. Istur is a far cry from the cooperation I’d seen it Tonn. It made us look immature, and I intended to put a stop to it. But now wasn’t the time to discuss that. I wanted to focus on Rhavin.
“What has you preoccupied, my love?”
"Everything." He answered, shifting uncomfortably in the saddle. "For starters, tomorrow, or the next day, we'll be leaving for Geston. Who knows what the road has in store for us? No one knows enough about Priestess Sara-Ohn's illness to create a cure. Somewhere out there a new goddess threatens us all. I'm sure her manipulation of the weather, is just a start. She's planning something big; even Donar seems worried." Sighing deeply he finished in a softer tone, "And above everything else, I won't have you beside me. Who's going to figure out if we're doing the right things?"
I was appalled at Rhavin’s revelation. “You’re leaving? For Geston? Rhavin, it’s much too dangerous. Haven’t you explained to Dougal that you’re the one who’s going to stop The Fall of the Night of Evil? Surely there’s someone expendable he can send.”
"No one is ... expendable." he replied in almost a whisper. He looked sad, for some reason. "Besides, I have to go and speak with the Archbishop, I want to check on my parents; and of course Kariya will want to find out if her father has made it back to Tonn."
“We should contact the Archbishop,” I conceded reluctantly. “He needs to be updated on The Prophecy. But, Rhavin... I don’t like the thought of you going without me.” I brushed his cheek gently with my hand. “I worry about you.”
"And who's going to keep you out of trouble? Maybe I should have Canliss look after you?" He chuckled.
I gave him a withering look. “Yes, and Marius can keep order while you’re gone.” Rhavin started to laugh, and I silenced him with a kiss that turned steamy despite the cold. When Rhavin finally pulled away, I rested my head against his shoulder. I didn’t want him to go.
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I said.
"On my oath as a Paragon and a warrior of Estereal, I will take every effort in being cautious and diligent to any dangers we might encounter on the road to Geston. When our task is done, I will return to you as swiftly as I can."
I blinked at Rhavin in surprise for a moment. I hadn’t expected him to swear a formal oath. But, knowing he never did such things lightly, I was touched.
“I’ll be counting the days until your return,” I said, and I kissed him again.
"I'm not sure how long the trip will take in this weather but you can be sure my thoughts will be of you always." As he spoke he lightly touched a spot just above his heart. At my questioning look he answered, "I still have the last token you gave. Do you remember?"
I was puzzled for a moment until I recalled the lock of hair I’d given him aboard The Endurance. I’d nothing else to give him at the time, but it was a pitiful gift. “Yes, I do. I’ll have to try to do better next time.” I smiled, thinking of the portrait I’d been sitting for. The artist had done an excellent job. Of course, I’d never have posed nude for anyone with less than sterling talent. I only wished I could be there to see the look on Rhavin’s face when the portrait was delivered.
"My love, it is not the gift that counts, but the act of giving. I cherish every token you've given me. And this one I hold dearer than any of the others because ... it is a part of you. For some reason, I know as long as I have it, nothing will come between us."
I’m not usually so sentimental, but Rhavin’s words brought tears to my eyes. “May the gods protect you, my love, and bring you safely home,” I prayed, and I kissed him one last time.
The sound of Ester's voice alerted us to the audience we were about to have. She and the bard were escorting the choir children back home. The giantess was telling some tale that involved using her tentacle to grab a young boy lifting him into the air. "You've never seen a starfish so large,” she said, while the boy squealed with delight.
We both laughed. “I guess we should get back to the party,” I said regretfully.
People stared rudely when we returned. My brother priests glared at Rhavin, while Donar and Rachel glared at me. I don’t know why they were so angry; they hadn’t told me I couldn’t visit with Rhavin.
After the ceremony, there’s been nothing to relieve the monotony for the past two months. Donar and Rachel expected me to spend my time in prayer and study; much had changed while we were away, and they seemed to feel that I’d fallen behind. In addition to the usual prayer and theology texts, I was given books on the outer planes, undead, astrology, and history to study. Oh, and there’s a magical book on theology and ethics that Canliss stole, which Donar wants me to read.
Well, naturally, I did study the books. I’m a Torodinite, after all, I am curious (and it distracted me from my worries about Rhavin). And naturally I pitched in on the research; we’ve all been scouring the available records and ancient texts for prophecies that might relate The Great Storm or this new, upstart goddess.
But when Donar and Rachel told me to spend my time in prayer, I didn’t think they meant all of my time. After all, I’d been away for quite a while, and there was much to be done. I had loads of personal correspondence to catch up on, and of course I had to make a new to-do list. It’s important for a girl to have goals. Let’s see, here’s my agenda so far:
1. Finish updating my wardrobe
2. Find out from Freddy if Canliss has tithed properly; I really think he’s been taking the Church for granted.
3. Come up with a plan to rescue the crew of The Endurance and use it to cheer up Jven. Her assistance is vital to the plan mentioned in #9.
4. Find out who is behind the mysterious illnesses and disappearances of all the church leaders in Istur and put a stop to them.
5. Solve this little weather problem we’re having.
6. Figure out a way to scry on Rhavin, so I can check his progress and make sure he’s safe.
7. Help Ester and Canliss mend the unfortunate maladies they acquired in Firestorm Peak.
8. Help Canliss get rid of that dreadful ring, but only if I get a satisfactory response to #2.
9. Give Dougal Wentworth a copy of my 47-step plan for establishing Church unity in Istur.
10. Begin a campaign to advance Sal’s standing within The Organization. It’s time for a change of leadership.

Well, I had to rewrite my list here, because Rachel took the other one. Can you believe it? I was just finishing #9 when she waltzed into my room – without knocking, I might add. I wonder if she’s ever been in charge of a proper church before? Honestly, you give some people a little power, and it goes straight to their head.
She picked up my list and read it, again without asking. “What is this?” she asked, the tone of her overly masculine voice indicating clear displeasure.
“It’s a list,” I said, doing my best to sound kind and patient. Honestly, any idiot could see what it was.
She scowled. She does that quite often; it’s causing unattractive lines around her mouth.
“You are supposed to be in prayer, Miss Kryszka.” She always calls me that when she’s upset with me.
“I prayed all morning,” I said. Honestly, I was quite offended. Did the woman think I never prayed?
“All morning? It’s barely eight o’clock.”
“Yes, but I woke up over an hour ago. Becca snores.” I’ve been hinting for some time that I dislike sharing a room, but Donar and Rachel have not been sympathetic.
Well, this led to yet another lecture, which I won’t bother to record here. There was nothing original about it; it was the same as the other dozen or so lectures to which I’ve been subjected since I returned home. Sometimes the lecture would come from Rachel, sometimes from Donar, and sometimes they would gang up on me; but it was always the same lecture: something about humility and devotion and… well, I don’t recall the details.
The point is, I’d heard it before; but I listened again, quite patiently. I’d promised Donar I’d try harder to get along with Rachel. I’d do anything for him; especially lately. He’s been looking quite weary, and I’m terribly worried about him.
When Rachel was done lecturing, I gave her the speech that Freddy, Seregil and I had all agreed sounded the most convincingly repentant. Rachel seemed rather suspicious when I was finished (I knew I should have left out the bit about being distracted by battle flashbacks; that was all Freddy’s idea.), but she left me alone after I promised to pray until nightfall. I did, too; I was pretty sure she’d spy on me.
After six long weeks of this, Torodin smiled upon me and restored my divine powers. This provided quite a diversion, since many of the spells He’d granted me were new and unfamiliar. Naturally, I tried them out. What self-respecting Torodinite wouldn’t?
I was in the midst of my spell practice when I opened the door to someone knocking.
“Nikita?” said Donar, looking puzzled.
“Oh, sorry,” I said, and dropped the invisibility spell. Donar’s attention was caught by the steam mephit hovering around my new gown.
“It’s a steam mephit,” I said proudly.
“I know what it is,” he said. “What is it doing here?”
The steam mephit vanished just then, returning to its home plane. That’s the trouble with summoned creatures; they don’t stick around long.
“It was getting the wrinkles out of my dress.”
Donar sighed and rubbed his forehead. This worried me. “Donar, do you have another headache? Please, sit down.” I pushed aside a pile of unsorted jewelry, books and parchment, making room on the bed.
“Here,” I said, handing him a drink. “Have some cider. It’s warm; I summoned a fire mephit to heat it.”
“Nikita, please sit down.”
Uh oh. It sounded like another lecture was coming. I moved a sack full of shoes from the nearest chair and sat, facing Donar.
“Um, is something wrong?” I asked. I was puzzled. Wasn’t I supposed to be praying and learning about my new abilities? I couldn’t imagine what I’d done wrong.
“Nikita, I understand that you’re excited about your new abilities. But do you really think that Torodin gave you the power to summon beings from the Heavenly planes so they could do your laundry?”
His tone of voice made it pretty clear that I should answer no to that question, so I did. But I guess I didn’t sound very certain of my answer.
“You don’t see anything wrong with it, do you?” he asked with a sorrowful tone. (I feel terrible when he does that. Dante’s been doing it, too, ever since I got home. They keep asking me my opinion about things, then looking upset because it wasn’t the answer they were expecting. They’re both very dear to me, and I wish I could figure out what it is they want from me. It almost seems like they’re mistaking me for someone else.)
“Well, I only used the mephits for chores,” I explained. “They really don’t seem to be good for much else. But I only talked to the other things I summoned.”
“Other things? What else have you been summoning?”
“Well, there was a dog, an eagle, a hound archon…”
“A hound archon!”
“Yes. His name was Gabriel.”
Donar sighed. “Nikita, you do realize that the archons are the angels you’ve read about in the holy texts. The beings that interact with the gods themselves on a daily basis.”
“Yes, I do,” I said proudly. “You gave me those books to read, remember?”
Donar closed his eyes for a few moments; I believe he was praying. I did not interrupt him. When he spoke again, it was to ask me how I’d been feeling, what sort of dreams I’d been having, had I heard or noticed anything unusual lately? He’s been asking me those sorts of questions quite often. What with everything odd that’s happened lately, I believe he and Rachel have been especially alert for any signs or omens that could be sent to any one of us.
We chatted amiably for a while. I was hoping Donar had forgotten about the mephits, but when he stood to leave, he asked me to report to the office after the evening me.
“You, Rachel and I need to have a long talk about the proper uses of summoning spells.”
“Of course,” I said, without asking if Rachel really needed to be there. I kissed Donar on the cheek, which made him smile, and I resumed my studies.

There was quite a long lecture, which ended with my promise that I’d stop summoning creatures in my room; we didn’t want the other priests to get jealous. Not everyone is as powerful as I am. (For the same reason I’ve been asked to stop discussing The Dance of the Dead, which Donar and Rachel believe is some sort of bardic ability. I’m sure they must be mistaken; there have never been any bards in the Kryszka clan.) Also, Donar pointed out that the summoning spells call the same creature each time; whichever one Torodin has assigned to me. He suggested I wouldn’t want to summon them for menial tasks, or they might start to feel taken for granted.
Once all the lecturing was done, there weren’t many spells left that I could practice freely, and things got pretty dull. Besides prayer and services, my only activities were research, and playing chess and poker with my brother priests.
Then there were the funerals. Sarah-Ohn and Jveddeck both perished from their mysterious illness. It was awful, seeing the Jveltoans so down-hearted. I saw Jven at the service, and she cried on my shoulder. The poor thing.
Of course, Sara-Ohn had been perfectly dreadful to me, but still, her death was regrettable. I’m really going to have to find out who was behind these deaths, and deal with them decisively. Clearly it was someone powerful, if they could create an illness even the Soltanites couldn’t cure. But I’m sure I can handle them; even powerful people cast shadows.
We were all distracted a bit by The Festival of Estereal, but the celebration was rather dismal this year. Everyone was depressed after the funerals, food is scarce, and the city is crammed with refugees. Hardly the ideal atmosphere for a party. Even the music at The Word of Law was disappointing; I really don’t think Marius is quite up to the standards set by Temmer Longfellow. I can’t imagine what Dougal was thinking, sending all his most qualified staff to Geston. Perhaps I should have a talk with him.
Anyway, the limited resources at The Festival made it clear that we would need to keep a tighter reign on our resources. I found out from Freddy that Canliss hadn’t tithed at all (Honestly, do people think those offerings are really anonymous?), so I decided to deal with that situation; after all, I’d hate for Canliss to be turned away when he comes knocking at the Shadowlord’s gates some day.
So I sent a very polite note with Alfonso, offering to collect the tithe that he’d forgotten to give and save him a trip to the temple. I couldn’t believe it when Alfonso returned empty-handed except for a hastily scrawled reply saying that Canliss had been “feeding the orphans with his tithe.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Feeding the orphans is a very nice gesture, but what does it have to do with the Shadowlord? I wrote back to Canliss, saying that I was sure the Soltanites would be most appreciative of his efforts, but the Torodinites were rather more in need of gems to use as spell components. I know he has dozens of them. How many did he send back? One. One lousy moonstone, which Freddy said was only worth a hundred gold. I informed Freddy that Canliss is a cheap bastard.
“Adventurers are like that,” said Freddy. “You should never befriend them. They just take you for granted.”
I’m afraid Freddy is needlessly cynical, but he’s right in Canliss’s case. And the man has the nerve to brag repeatedly about what a ‘devoted worshiper’ he is. Hmph. If all His worshippers were so ‘devoted,’ Torodin’s beloved priests would be wearing rags and begging for crusts of bread on the streets.
This is not over. One way or another, I will get a respectable donation from that six-fingered mage, or you can put me in a red dress and call me a Soltanite.

I was not surprised when an invitation was delivered by courier. Everyone in Istur knew about the trial and our supposedly secret mission to Firestorm Peak, and people would naturally be curious. However, this particular invitation somewhat failed to impress me:

Nikita, My Esteemed Adventurer,

Tales of your accomplishments have reached b ears and elicited a spark of interest within me. It has become my habit to invite persons of interest to my home for dinner, and while I normally extend such invitations only to the nobility, I believe your deeds merit an exception. If I am convinced that your reputation is not unfounded, I may have information of interest to you, and perhaps even a business opportunity.

Your attendance is requested at my mansion at sundown on 11 Esterealan. Activities include dinner prepared by my servants and a moonlight hunt of whatever fast natural creature we can find near the grounds. Daylight hunts are far too easy for a man of my skills, and I presume that the same holds true for you. Please respond by the day after tomorrow by courier, letter, or in person.

With gracious intent,

Lord Tore Bertini

Well, his intent may have been gracious, but the letter was as offensive as it was poorly punctuated. “My Esteemed Adventurer” indeed. Even though he’d signed with as Tore instead of Salvatore, clearly intending an informal invitation, I was offended at being referred to as an adventurer, rather than a priestess. What right did this unknown nobleman have to address me so casually?
And a hunt? What could possibly have possessed this man to think that a Torodinite would be interested in hunting? It was hardly a scholarly activity. Besides, my full to-do list didn’t leave a lot of time for dallying with some nobleman whose name meant absolutely nothing to me.
Besides, the whole thing was rather too reminiscent of Duke Evensong for my tastes. I wondered if Canliss had gotten a similar invitation.
At any rate, I quite naturally sent a reply declining the invitation, citing my duties at the temple and pointing out politely but firmly that Torodinites do not hunt. However, Rachel came to me and asked me to accept the invitation. She thought this might be an opportunity to improve the temple’s relations with the local nobility.
I had my doubts, but agreeing with Rachel was certainly likely to improve my relations with her, and it would please Donar. One wasted evening certainly wasn’t too high a price to pay for that, so I accepted, provided I could go shopping. There was a definite lack of proper hunting garb in my wardrobe.
No sooner did I send my letter accepting the invitation, than Dante came to tell me I had a visitor. “It’s your big friend, Ester,” he said, smiling. My brother priests find my friendship with the huge warrior woman rather amusing. I thanked Dante and kissed his cheek. (He seemed to need it; he’s been looking so worried lately, much like Donar.)
Ester was waiting for me in the visitor’s room. I found myself picked up in an enthusiastic bear hug, and I didn’t mind a bit. Ester really is a dear, and I was very happy to see her.
“Nikita, look, look!” she said excitedly. She pointed to her arm, in case I might not have noticed that she was no longer sporting a tentacle.
“That’s wonderful, Ester,” I said. “And I see you have new armor. It’s, er, lovely.” She was sporting a shiny, new shirt of chain mail with a flame motif worked into the armor.
Ester beamed proudly and spun around so I could get the full effect. “And they repaired my head-lamp,” she said happily, pointing to the familiar fire-hazard adorning her head. I’d been trying not to look at it; unhappy memories of being blinded every time I looked at Ester in Firestorm Peak came back to me.
“I see that,” I said. “We’ll have to remember to thank the Azkalites properly for fixing that for you.” (Surely Seregil can come up with a good prank.)
“It matches the armor,” said Ester, pointing to the flames emblazoned on the ghastly lamp.
I was trying to frame a suitable response when a shadow filled the doorway. I turned to see the filthiest human being I’d ever seen. He was a hulking, muscular man maybe a head shorter than Ester. He scowled, lending a further unpleasant cast to his already scarred and weatherbeaten face. Greasy, knotted hair that could easily have concealed a whole nest of pigeons hung down past his shoulders. He was wearing garments that looked like they should still be moving, and I think there were things crawling in them.
“Oh, Nikita, this is my friend, Gore,” Ester said excitedly. “Gore, this is Nikita.”
I made a mental note to repay Dante for not telling me that Ester had brought a ‘friend’ with her. Gore? What the hell kind of a name was that? Then again, I suppose it suited the creature standing in the doorway.
“Nikita, did you get an invitation to the dinner party? Cause, Gore wanted to send the letter back saying we’d come but I told him we should ask your help first, and I don’t know what to wear, and you can do my hair. Oh, this is Gore Garrulous the Third.”
The third? “I see,” I said, doing my best to smile at the big brute.
“He’s my friend. He’s visiting. He’s the, uh, the diplomatic envelope from the Red Bear Clan. He’s visiting Istur. Isn’t that great?”
“I’m sure Istur is much enriched by his presence,” I said, trying to sound sincere. If Gore had been alone I would have yelled for Nysander to come throw him out of the temple, but I was willing to go to great lengths to avoid hurting Ester’s feelings.
“So, did you get invited to this thing?” she asked, handing me a copy of an invitation that was identical to mine except that it was ale-stained and address to “Ester Oxshoulders and guest.”
“I received the same invitation,” I told her.
“That’s great! Nikita’s going, too,” she told Gore, who presumably had already figured this out. He didn’t look that stupid. “Gore knows all about the guy.”
Assuming ‘the guy’ meant Salvatore Bertini, I looked at Gore in surprise. “Really?”
“I’ve been scouting around,” Gore informed me. “I’ve gathered information.”
I looked at the barbarian in surprise as he explained that our host was the nephew of a minor Isturian merchant who’d recently moved here from afar. Apparently the family had ties with House Kolnet, one of Istur’s wealthiest merchant families. Not only had Gore learned more about Bertini than my fellow priests knew, but he was using two and three syllable words. Perhaps he was smarter than he looked?
“So, I take it you’re both accepting the invitation?” I asked, just to be sure. Gore didn’t look like the type who’d be interested in a dinner party.
“Yes,” said Ester happily. “Gore is my escort.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly understanding. I smiled at Ester, happy that she’d found someone special. Of course, I’d have to keep an eye on Gore; if he hurts her, I’ll kill him.
“That’s so nice for you, Ester,” I said. “I’m happy for you. That’s so nice.”
Even Ester isn’t entirely blind to subtleties. She shook her head, then leaned close to me and whispered, “Gore’s not really my type. But he’s new here, and I felt sorry for him.”
“Oh, I see,” I whispered back. “Are you sure he’s not your type? He’s so… large.”
She frowned. “He only comes up to my shoulder.”
Well, so much for romance. “Do you two need help drafting a reply? I’d be happy to scribe it for you.”
Ester agreed, and they both took seats on black, leather settee. (I made sure to get one of the novices to come clean it afterwards, given the state of Gore’s ‘clothing’.) I quickly wrote the reply and promised to have it delivered by courier.
“I’ve never been on a hunt before,” said Ester. “This is so exciting. What should we wear? Are there gonna be horses? I don’t know how to ride.”
“Frankly, I don’t know what kind of nobleman invites a priestess of Torodin on a hunt. But I’m sure we can find something suitable to wear.”
“Will you do my hair like you did the last time?”
“I’d be happy to Ester.”
“And Gore’s, too?”
Gore and I both frowned at each other. “Well, perhaps we could send him to Canliss for some clean cantrips first. Then I’d be happy to do his hair.”
“My hair is just fine,” Gore protested, his deep voice rumbling.
Ester shook her head. “Nikita knows everything about hair. She’ll help you.”
I smiled sweetly at Gore, who scowled back. Perhaps it would be best to leave the hair discussion alone for now.
“Can I wear my new armor?” Ester asked excitedly.
“No, dear. Wearing armor at dinner would be most inappropriate. You may bring it with you for the hunt, but we’ll need a separate outfit for dinner.”
“So I can wear my normal clothes for dinner?” Ester asked.
“Well, no.” I stood. “We’ll find you something suitable to wear. I think this calls for a shopping trip. I know just where we can find some nice outfits. And boots. I saw this lovely pair of high, leather boots that laced up the sides…”
“But I can’t pay you back,” Ester said sadly. The dear woman had donated all of her wealth to the temple of Azkal.
“Don’t worry about it,” I assured her. I’d naturally given most of my money to Strand’s treasury, but I’d saved a tenth of it for shopping. I had nearly two thousand gold pieces, which was more than enough to spend, even in the current economy.
“Come,” I said happily. “Let’s shop.”
Gore snorted rudely. “Women’s foolishness.”
I stopped and favored him with the glare I’d been practicing for Canliss. “I beg your pardon? I must have misheard you.”
Ester frowned at Gore. “I wouldn’t get her mad.”
“Why not?” asked the ignorant brute.
“She’s a cleric,” Ester explained. “She’s really, really powerful.”
“I’m not sure what you’re used to in your part of the world,” I told Gore, “but in the city, we’re accustomed to a little more respect.”
“Don’t worry,” said Gore, “Lord Bertini will give me plenty of respect.”
I considered a withering retort, but I decided not to bother. The idiot was obviously a lost cause. “Let’s go, Ester.”
While Gore followed behind us through the overcrowded streets, I pulled Ester ahead for quiet conversation. “Ester, dear, we’re going to have to have a little talk about the people you’re associating with.”
“I know he’s annoying and all,” Ester admitted. “But so is Canliss.”
“Well, you have a point there,” I conceded.
We visited all my favorite shops. Petros, Chasiya, Giacomo, Speranza, Luigi, Byron and Marcello were so happy to see me that they graciously tolerated Gore’s presence. Business has not been good. The barbarian refused to try anything on, and wouldn’t let anyone measure his bulky frame.
“I will wear these,” he said, indicating the grubby animal skins in which he was attired.
“No you’re not,” I replied. “Not if you truly want that respect you’re looking for. Besides, if you’re not dressed properly, they won’t feed you.” Ester and I both glared at Gore until he settled down and stopped complaining. I didn’t press the point about trying things on; we didn’t really want that until he’d been deloused by Canliss.
Fortunately, I have some experience buying gifts for men, and I was able to pick out suitable clothing that I knew would fit Gore. (I settled for the less expensive clothing for the brute, knowing he’d probably ruin him. I picked out good quality garments for Ester. In addition to those boots I wanted, I found a gown that would go nicely with my new sable coat, and a lovely pair of diamond and onyx earrings for myself.)

Well, naturally I hired a carriage for the evening of the dinner party. (For myself and Ester and her barbarian friend. I was still annoyed with Canliss; he could get there on his own.) Ester arrived in time to be properly groomed, but Gore showed up just as the carriage did. He’d been cleaned, thanks to Canliss, but his hair was still a wild tangle and he was wearing those awful clothes.
“What happened to the shirt and breeches I bought you?” I demanded quite reasonably.
Gore shrugged. “I threw those away.”
That ungrateful brute. “Get in the carriage, Ester. We’re leaving.”
“But what about Gore?” she asked anxiously as we climbed inside.
“He can walk,” I said. “Driver, you may go.”
Ester waved sadly at Gore as we departed.
“Honestly, Ester, that man has no manners at all.” We had a long talk about ways that Ester could teach him some. “Perhaps at the dinner you should refrain from introducing Gore as your friend. He’s really just an acquaintance, upon whom you took pity.”
“Hey, there’s Canliss!” Ester waved cheerily as we passed the six-fingered mage walking along the road. “We should stop and pick him up.”
“He can walk. He needs the exercise.”
Ester protested, but I was unmoved. Canliss had more than enough funds to hire his own carriage if he wanted one. He was turning into quite the miser.
“But he’s wearing nice clothes,” said Ester, confused.
“I’m sorry, Ester, but we are not giving Canliss a ride.” I explained to Ester my feelings about people who claim devotion to the deity without actually demonstrating any, but I don’t think she understood.
The Bertini manor turned out to be a stately edifice with a long carriage drive, nestled in a large expanse of woods. We passed many elegant carriages leaving as we entered. Apparently, the parties were non-stop here. I suppose indolent young nobles have nothing better to do with their time.
Naturally, the guards at the gate asked to see our invitations. Ester looked troubled.
“Nikita, Gore is my guest. He doesn’t have his own invitation. How’s he going to get in?”
“He should have thought of that before he threw his new clothes away.” I had certainly thought of it, when we left him behind.
“I’m bringing a guest!” Ester told the handsome young guard who greeted us.
The confused guard blinked his rather lovely green eyes in confusion. “Is this your guest?” he asked, indicating me.
“No, this is Nikita.” Ester regarded the poor man as if he were some sort of simpleton for not identifying me on sight, even though he’d never seen me before. (I suppose he might have attended a show at the Port o’ Call, but he didn’t look familiar.)
The young guard looked around, in case Ester’s ‘guest’ might be hanging off the back of the carriage. Seeing no one, he looked back at Ester, dark brows raised in elegant query.
“He’s coming after us,” said Ester. The young guard looked disturbed, clearly not sure how to take this remark.
“His name is Gore,” said Ester, which did nothing to ease the guard’s concern. “Gore Garrulous the Third. He come us to here on me (we were sitting in the carriage, mind you), and he’s got a beard, and… What else, Nikita?”
“He smells.”
“No, not any more. Canliss fixed him.” Ester continued on a lengthy description of Gore, until the poor guard had enough and encouraged us to drive on through. I smiled by way of apology. He really was quite handsome (not as cute as my Rhavin, though).
“It’s okay now,” Ester told me in case I hadn’t been paying attention. “The guards will let Gore in.”
I smiled at Ester, hoping she was wrong.
We had to wait for a while as the last of a group of elegant carriages with richly attired occupants departed. “Driver,” asked, “all these carriages… is this typical?”
“Aye there, Sister. There’s always soirees and such up here. Always cartin’ folk to and fro, like there own place isn’t good enough for them to eat in that night.”
“He has dinner parties and soirees?” asked Ester. I explained to the giantess, then I tipped the driver graciously for not laughing. We got out of the courage and were greeted by a well-groomed, older gentleman who had to be the butler.
“Do you have your invitations?”
We handed them over. The butler welcomed us, greeting us each by name. Then he looked at Ester. “Did your guest decide not to join us?” (We could only hope so.)
“He was unavoidably detained,” I said, before Ester could say anything.
“I see,” said the butler, who was too well bred to inquire further. “Very well, this way.”
I was quite disturbed when we were led not into the estate, but around the back. There was a well-appointed dinner table set up on a rear credenza overlooking the grounds. What the hell? Were we going to dine outside like savages?
Three guests were already there, warming their hands near a large bon-fire. One was a short, young woman in rather plain attire. She had fair skin and dark brown hair that might have looked nice if it weren’t pulled back so severely. There was a tall, pretty blonde chatting with her. The blonde was dressed in stylish pants and a blue, silk shirt that matched her eyes. Standing behind the blonde and looking over the table settings was a plain, dark-haired woman who carried, of all things, a sickle.
“We’re eating outdoors in the winter-time?” I heard the blonde ask doubtfully as we approached the bon-fire. I introduced myself and Ester. The blonde introduced herself as Val, and the dark-haired girl as her friend, Affe. The short woman was named Bianca.
“It seems we’re dining al fresco this evening,” said Bianca. “How novel.”
“That’s one word for it,” I said. Val laughed.
Canliss arrived a short time later. He was dressed very nicely. Ester introduced Canliss. I decided to snub him. There was a pretty gray and white cat winding around the mage’s leg.
“Oh, he’s so cute,” said Ester. “What’s his name?”
“Corey,” said Canliss.
Ester, Val and I stooped to pet the cat, who purred with approval at all the attention. I made a mental note to let Donar know that Canliss had acquired a familiar. Mages who abuse such relationships are a pet peeve of his; I could think of few mages more likely to take advantage of a helpless cat than Canliss.
“Nikita, can I change now?” Ester whispered to me. “They’re wearing their armor.” She pointed to Val and Affe, who had both donned light armor over their clothing. Normally, I would have disapproved; but any nobleman who thought it fashionable to dine out of doors in the middle of Esterealan had no right to expect proper attire from his guests.
“Oh, why not,” I said. Ester happily put on her chain shirt, explaining its origins to Canliss. Then she put on the headlamp.
“They fixed the headlamp?” he whispered to me. We exchanged a dismayed look, and I realized I’d have to let go of my feud with him. I’ll get that tithe out of him sooner or later, but there’s no reason to let it dampen our friendship.
“Of all the things Ester lost,” I complained, “why did the Azkalites pick that to repair?”
“So,” said Val, “does anyone know why we’re eating outside?”
“Because it’s al fresco,” said Ester.
Val chuckled. “Well, that explains it.”
Ester gave me a dose of puppy dog eyes and pointed to the decanters wine already sitting on the table. “Nikita, do you think we could have some of that?”
I shrugged. “Go ahead. Since our host is rather lacking in manners, I don’t see why we should behave any differently.” I joined Val at the bon-fire.
She smiled in the direction of Ester, who was drinking merlot from the decanter. “Are you, uh, acquainted with this person?”
“Ester?” I smiled and nodded. “Happily so. She’s a real sweet-heart.”
Ester came over and showed Val her headlamp.
“That’s very unusual,” Val said diplomatically. Affe, standing behind her, snickered and said nothing. She was a quiet one.
Ester explained the helmet’s origins in great and confusing detail. “I bought this from the evil dwarves who lived under the mountain. We were there when it was on fire, me and Nikita and Canliss. And Kariya and Jven and Rhavin were there, too. Kariya had a really smart dog named Ulfie.”
Val raised an eyebrow at me.
“Pet,” I whispered.
“Kariya was a powerful magic person in the army…”
“Army mage,” I whispered.
“She had to leave,” said Ester.
“Important mission,” I whispered.
Val graciously complimented Ester on her garish army, which pleased the giantess to no end.
“So if we’re eating outside,” said Ester, “does that mean we’re going to hunt inside?”
“Usually, you hunt inside,” Val explained.
“If we’re hunting a mouse, I’m leaving.”
Val chuckled. “The invitation did say something about hunting in the dark.” We all looked overhead at the new moon. Aside from the bonfire and a ring of torches, it certainly qualified as dark out here.
Servants came out and started setting the table. They filled glasses with water and wine, and set out dinner rolls. Ester promptly stuffed several rolls in her mouth. I didn’t bother trying stop her.
“I wonder when Master Bertini will be joining us,” said Bianca. There was still no sign of our host.
His absence was making Canliss and me rather uneasy. “Nikita,” Canliss whispered to me, “do you think there’s any chance this will be similar to another dinner party we attended, do you?”
I shuddered. “Don’t even think of it.” I’m afraid Duke Evensong has put a permanent taint on our perception of dinner parties. If there had been a harpsichord present, I do think we’d both have fled.
“Please tell me you came prepared,” said Canliss. “Just in case.”
I arched by eyebrows at him. “I’m always prepared.” I was, too. I had extra make-up with me, and all my spell components.
The servants finished setting the table just as the sun started to set, painting long shadows across the scene. We all stopped and stared curiously as we spied a tall man approaching from the grounds. Our host wore elegant hunting garb, but his boots were filthy. He was tall and slender, with fair skin and shoulder-length hair that was bleached almost white. As he got closer, we could see that he was very young; he couldn’t have been more than eighteen.
He strode up to the table and flashed a smile that reached his clear, blue eyes. “Welcome to my home. Come, sit. Join me.”
He sat, without pulling out a chair for anyone, leaving us to decide for ourselves which seat to take. I rolled my eyes at Val as we all sat down. Servants approached and covered the table with steaming dishes.
There were two empty seats at the table. I was hoping we’d be spared Gore’s company, but he arrived without an apology in the middle of the soup course.
“Ah, good, good,” said our host. He pointed to one of the empty chairs.
“Psst. Psst!” hissed Ester, who’d insisted on saving a seat for Gore. He sat in it, pausing only to favor me with a glare that was supposed to be intimidating, I suppose. I blithely ignored him.
“Pleased to see you….. Ambassador,” said Tore.
I couldn’t hold back a chuckle at that, and I wasn’t the only one. Ambassador, indeed.
“Your reputation proceeds you,” said our host with an amused smile.
“Is there someone else missing?” asked Canliss, looking at the still empty chair.
Our host shrugged. “I send out many invitations to these events. There’s always someone who doesn’t show.”
I eyed the chair and wondered who the lucky slob was. Someone free from Rachel’s well-meaning advice, apparently.
Gore looked smugly at my cleavage. “Kind of cold, isn’t it?” he said unkindly.
“Yes,” I said. I smiled insincerely at Tore. “This is a most… unusual setting for a dinner party.”
He smiled and nodded. “For hearty adventurers, people who have done great deeds. This is perfect, isn’t it?”
“Of course it is,” said Gore. Ester nodded. The rest of us rolled our eyes at each other. Apparently, our host was more accustomed to adventurers of Gore’s mentality.
“Not all adventures are cold,” said Ester. “Some of them are really hot.”
We all looked at Ester with varying degrees of confusion. “Do tell,” said our host.
Ester needed little encouragement. “Well there was this one time, we were under a mountain, and it was on fire.”
“A Volcano?” asked Tore.
“No, it was a mountain on fire.”
“It was called Firestorm Peak,” I explained.
“And when we were in the Desert of Despair,” said Ester, that was also hot.
“That was the Plains of Despair, Ester.”
“But it was hot,” said Ester. She gave a confused account of our adventures to which Canliss and I did not offer explanation. It was more fun for us to hear Ester’s version.”
When Ester’s garbled tale had wound down with an excited explanation of shopping with the evil dwarves, our host turned to the others. “Bianca, do tell us about your days at the University.”
She smiled demurely. “Oh, there’s not much to tell. I was a bit dull, honestly. Well, I suppose I got into trouble once or twice. But everybody does.”
Our host raised his eyebrows. “Do tell.”
“Well, in my younger days I was rather politically active.” Politically active? At the College A’Magigo? What, had she been campaigning to have them admit bards and illusionists? Perhaps Bianca was more interesting than she looked. I wondered if Donar knew her. He generally makes it a point to meet all the mages in town.
“You gonna eat that?” asked Ester. I pushed my leftover pheasant toward her without looking. I didn’t want to accidentally get sight of the massacre happening over Gore’s plate. I’ll bet farm animals have better table manners.
Our host noticed Corey begging for scraps. “Oh,” he said, seeming intrigued rather than disapproving. “You brought your pets.”
I was confused by the plural until I noticed a cute, little ferret poking its nose out of Bianca’s pack. She smiled and fed it a piece of pheasant.
“Pets?” said Canliss, sounding rather haughty. “These are our familiars.”
“Familiar? Is that another term for pet?”
We all looked at Tore, wondering what rock he’d crawled out from under. How could he possibly not have heard of familiars before? Even Gore was looking at him as if he were stupid.
“Familiars help us with our magic,” Canliss explained.
“Oh? How is that?”
“That’s complicated. But they’re very useful.” Canliss stroked the cat’s chin. “His name is Corey.”
At this point, the ferret crawled out of Bianca’s pack and into her lap, where he promptly started munching leftovers from her plate. (He was neater than Gore, I might add.) “Meet Rigoletto,” she said.
I smiled. “Two animals sacred to Torodin. This must be a good omen.” Frankly, I hoped it meant our evening would end early and we could all go home.
“He, uh, likes attention,” said Bianca, as Rigoletto climbed onto the table and started introducing himself to everyone. Our host, clearly a stranger to etiquette, did not protest the ferret’s breach of manners.
“So, Val,” said Tore, “have you had any adventures.”
“Not like these people have had,” she said, pointing to Canliss, Ester and myself. “I’ve been in Istur my whole life. I’ve hired myself out to some of the local families.” She dropped a few names, but declined to mention the details of her work. Evidently, her employers expected discretion.
Our employer tried and failed to get a story out of Affe. I wasn’t sure if she was shy, disinclined to indulge our annoying host, or had the sort of adventures that didn’t bear up well under public scrutiny. This was Istur, after all.
“Have any of you fought dragons?”
“Oooh, we did! We did!” said Ester. At encouragement from Tore, she launched into an account of Sablius in Deception Pass. Canliss and I were obliged to step in and explain a bit, because we didn’t want people thinking we were in the habit of attacking good dragons.
Twice during the story, two older noblemen came out and spoke quietly to Tore. Neither one introduced themselves, which was extremely rude.
“So, Lord Tore,” Val asked once the story had wound down. “Has your family lived here long?”
“My Uncle Lothar was kind enough to set me up on these grounds,” said Tore. “I grew up here in Istur. I had my coming of age party recently. We’ve been having a number of parties.”
“I see,” said Val. “We saw a number of carriages leaving earlier.”
“Oh, that was a boring party,” said Tore. (And this wasn’t?) “That was all the old people.” I realized that everyone at the table, aside from Tore, was in their twenties.
“Did you leave that party early?” asked Val. “We noticed you came in from the grounds.”
“I had to make sure everything was set for tonight.”
“Will we have to ride horses?” asked Ester.
“No,” said Tore. “That would be too easy.”
“Can you tell us more about it?”
Tore smiled. “We were able to get some very good creatures for the hunt.”
“Oh, what sort?” asked Canliss.
“Can’t tell. That would make it too easy. Trust me, there will be some very interesting game.”
“I thought we were hunting,” said Ester, confused.
“We are, Ester,” I soothed her.
“Will you be joining us?” asked Val.
“Yes,” said Tore happily. Oh, that was just great. I was going to have to keep an eye on him. The last thing Strand’s Shadows needed was for some fool nobleman to get himself gored to death while a Torodinite was present.
“What will we be using for the hunt?” Canliss asked.
“What did you bring?” asked our host.
“Ooh! I brought something.” Ester lifted up her pack, pointing to Hilt, which was tucked in an outside pocket.
Our host looked at the bladeless sword in some confusion. “Is it broken?” he asked.
“She can’t tell you,” said Val. “That would make it too easy.”
We all laughed.
“I can’t show you,” Ester said. “Nikita said I shouldn’t take it out during dinner.”
“Oh, let’s see it,” said Tore.
Ester looked at me. “Nikita, is it okay if I take it out?”
I sighed. This dinner party is destroying everything she’d learned about proper etiquette. “Yes, Ester.”
Ester touched hilt to the shard of Last Laugh hanging from her neck. “Blade of steel,” she said, and the blade appeared.
“Wow! That’s a neat toy.”
Ester scowled at our host. “It’s not a toy.”
“Anyone else have anything neat?” Tore asked.
“Nope. Nothing,” the rest of us said in unison. Canliss doesn’t like to share his toys. I don’t own any magical items, and I’d promised not to bring up The Dance of the Dead (although it certainly would have put a quick end to the evening). I can only speculate as to the others’ motives.
As the meal wound down, our host asked us to join him in the study for some sherry. The study was sparsely furnished, and Canliss and I both relaxed when we saw there was no harpsichord. I glanced around while Tore poured the port. There wasn’t a single book in sight. What kind of study was this? I saw Canliss frowning as well; none of the valuables were small enough to pocket easily.
“To the hunt!” Tore toasted us unimaginatively.
The sherry was very good, if a trifle strong. While the rest of us sipped politely from the delicate, crystal glasses, Gore and Tore chugged theirs like dock workers in a drinking contest.
“You’re supposed to sip it,” Ester said in disapproval.
“Oh, come on now,” Tore said to those of us who were sipping. He poured a second glass for himself and Gore. “Come, come; it’s cold out there. We must fortify ourselves.” He topped of everyone’s glasses while he and Gore downed a third glass. Great, we were going to hunt in the dark with a drunken nobleman on our hands.
“Actually,” said Val, “it’s a fallacy that alcohol keeps you warm in cold weather.”
“Oh, posh.” Tore poured a fourth glass for himself and Gore. The rest of us drank very, very slowly. I was surprised when Canliss drained his glass twice, until I remembered he can cast a ‘dry’ cantrip. He’ll do anything to suck up.
After four glasses, Tore’s words were only slightly slurred; and he was no longer subtle in his admiration of the women’s cleavage. He walked unsteadily to a cabinet and pulled down an elaborately carved long bow.
“It’s been ages since I’ve seen a bow that nice,” said Canliss. “That’s a very impressive piece of work.”
“Thank you.” Tore burped. “It was my gran’fathers.”
I frowned at Canliss, hoping this was just innocent admiration. I don’t approve of stealing family heirlooms; they have sentimental value.
“Gather your things,” said Tore. “It’s time.”
I sighed. “I need to change.” I wasn’t the only one. There were ornate screens provided for this purpose. Sadly, Gore and Tore managed to guzzle more port while we dressed. The rest of us exchanged uneasy glances as we followed our wobbling host and the barbarian out into the snow.
When we were all assembled, our host pointed with an unsteady hand. “Out there in the grounds, my servants have just released some animals.”
“What sort of animals?” I asked.
“Animals,” he said, smiling.
“Is it a dog?” asked Ester. “A wolf.”
I rolled my eyes at Canliss. “I am so not using a gem to find out what we’re hunting.”
“It’s your job,” our host continued, “to find it, and get it.”
“It or them?” asked Canliss.
“Oh, smart one,” said Tore, without answering the question. Gods, he was insufferable.
“Get it or kill it?” asked Val.
“I need to have trophies,” said Tore. Well of course. Naturally we preferred the heads of dead animals to decorate our study rather than, say, any books.
“Why are we doing this?” said Val. “What is the job?”
“If you’re good at this, I have work for you.”
“What sort of work?” Val persisted.
He shrugged. “Can’t say. My Uncle, he got a lot of work to be done. He say to take care of stuff for him, and t'is was best way go about it.”
I glared at the annoying, drunken, possibly illiterate young nobleman. The Jveltoans would give up drinking before I’d consent to be an employee of this idiot.
“Is this hunt legal?” Val asked. It was clear from her tone that she shared my opinion of our host.
He shrugged. “We’re on private groun’s. We can do anythin’ we want here.”
Even Canliss and I were uneasy at that. Not that we’re sticklers about legalities, but we’d have to draw the line at hunting, say, refugees. I’ve heard rumors about the way some nobles treat commoners.
“Okay,” said Gore. “Let’s go.”
“Good luck,” I said. I stepped forward to shake Tore’s hand, but not before casting ‘Status’ on him. At least this way, I’d know where he was if he got himself into trouble.
“Don’t worry about her,” Gore said rudely. “She only cares about clothes and stuff.”
Gore and Tore wobbled off into the dark, arm in arm. As if things weren’t bad enough, Ester lit her head lamp. The rest of us appropriated some of the torches sticking in the ground and, with mingled sighs of resignation, followed her.
“I suppose,” I said sadly, “it would be rude to go back to the study and wait for this to all be over.”
“Yes,” said Val, laughing. “I’m afraid it would.”
Canliss offered to scout in owl form, but he let me cast the Status spell on him first. “Can Corey stay with you?” he asked.
“Corey is always welcome.”
Canliss shifted into owl form and flew off into the dense woods. “He does this a lot,” I explained to the others, as we caught up to Gore and Tore.
“Ten gold to whoever spots it first,” Tore cried. This sparked some effort from Bianca, Val, and Affe, who’d otherwise seemed disinterested. Perhaps they were in need of funds.
Crunch. Crunch. Gore and Tore, to no one’s surprise, were making an enormous racket as they stalked their prey.
Bianca sighed. “Maybe we should split up?”
“No, no.” said Ester. “Formation is strong.”
“Who said that?” Val asked skeptically.
“Kariya,” said Ester. “She’s in the army. She knows.”
Val rolled her eyes. “You can’t fight well if you’re in formation.”
Gore turned around and glared at us. “Shhhhh! Quiet.”
“Did I tell you this was my grandfffrrr’s bow?” Tore slurred loudly.
Suddenly uneasy, I held my hand closer to the light of my torch. It was just as I feared; I’d torn a nail. I looked around me, scowling. Was all this underbrush really necessary? Surely we could have carried out this silly hunt in a nice hedge maze; preferably one with benches.
Corey suddenly reached up past my boots and dug his claws into my thigh. Canliss is really going to have to teach the cat a less painful way to get a person’s attention.
“Canliss found something!” I called. “He’s frightened.” This I picked up from the Status spell. It didn’t bode well; Canliss doesn’t have the sense to be afraid of most things.
“Oooh! I see something,” Gore called excitedly.
“Could you be a little more specific?” I snapped. Stupid barbarian.
We heard the whine of magic missiles ahead of us. They flared through the trees into the undergrowth, where shadowy forms were moving. A huge, panther-like thing emerged from the bushes near Gore and Tore. It foot-long fangs and scales along its back. If this was a ‘fast, natural creature,’ then I’m Soltana’s avatar.
“How exciting!” Tore called. “Ten gold for the first blood!”
Two more of the panther creatures emerged, each of them only slightly more ‘natural’ than the many-eyed monstrosities from Firestorm Peak. Where the hell did Tore get these things? Was he really stupid enough to believe they were natural, or was it all an act?
One of the creatures slipped on some grease (I had a pretty good idea where that came from). But the others raced through the underbrush, proving that Tore hadn’t lied about one thing; they certainly were fast.
One of them stopped and let out a long, wailing howl that chilled the flesh and caused the hair to stand up on the back of my neck. Some of the others appeared wide-eyed and shaken. What in the Shadowlord’s name were these things?
With a savage roar, a panther-beast leaped at Gore. It’s claws savaged the barbarian’s arms. Gore rocked on his heels, but that might have been the sherry.
Clearly, we needed some help. I summoned a Celestial giant owl above the panther still hidden in the bushes. Deciding to play a hunch, I called out in Celestial, ordering the owl to employ its ability to Smite Evil. It swooped down and lashed out with its claws. The panther screamed defiance, and there was a flash of holy light.
“These beasts are evil,” I yelled to the others. Evil and unnatural. I looked suspiciously at our drunken host. What was going on here?
“No, really?” said Val. She was still shaking, and obviously trying to bolster her nerves with bravado. You had to admire the girl’s spirit. She leaped forward, slashing at the panther nearest her. Her blade stuck it in the shoulder. Quick as a thought, she leaped back again. Now, there was a woman who fought with style. Behind her, Affe swiftly fired two arrows into the same beast. It seemed this two had done battle together before.
I heard Bianca casting. A web appeared on the central panther. My owl barely managed to get out of the way.
“Sorry,” I called to the owl in Celestial. “These people are amateurs.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaargh!” Gore bellowed. Foaming at the mouth, he stabbed the panther that had clawed him with his spear. The beast screamed as its blood sprayed out in a reddish-black fountain. I looked away from the spittle flying from Gore’s mouth. Really, it was disgusting.
Ester charged past a surprised Val and slashed at the farthest panther with Hilt. Blood went flying.
“There’s one!” called Tore, pointing to the beast two feet in front of him; the one whose claws were wet with Gore’s blood.
“Watch your back, Gore!” I called, but too late. A volley of arrows went flying in rapid succession. Two struck the panther, but one hit Gore in the back.
“Sorry about that,” said Tore, belching.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I said. Gore might be obnoxious, but at least he wasn’t a menace to the rest of us.
Snarling, two of the panthers clawed Ester and Gore badly. Meanwhile, the one trapped in the webs and voiced that unearthly yowl. We all shuddered, but no one seemed inclined to run away. We had a courageous group here.
Gore was looking pretty bad, so I sent my owl over to help him out. It clawed deeply into the creatures side. Meanwhile, I surveyed the battle, looking for another opportunity to strike. Thanks to Ester’s headlamp, the creature fighting her was casting a tempting shadow. Before I could take advantage of that, however, Corey, meowed anxiously and clawed my leg. He was looking behind us.
I summoned Gabriel. The hound archon stood before us, looking like some celestial paladin with his shining armor and glowing blade. Well, except for that dog head. I ordered him to guard our rear.
“There’s one or more behind us!” I warned the others. Our warriors already had their hands full. Val danced around her opponent, jabbing and dodging while Affe plugged it with arrows. Meanwhile, Ester and Gore hacked away in a less elegant, if no less effective fashion. The panthers were all bleeding badly. Thanks to the light of Ester’s headlamp, I could see they’d looked pretty nasty to begin with. The beasts were emaciated, with unhealthy black skin and open sores; they were even more disgusting than the barbarian.
“Oh my god,” I heard Val say. I glanced over to see that Ester had carved some interesting geometric patterns into their opponent. It was staggering.
Still raging, Gore slashed into his beast again and again. Blood flew, and the thing staggered.
“Devil dog!” said he stupid nobleman, pointing at Gabriel. Then that big, drunken oaf shot three arrows into the back of MY hound archon. What the hell? Didn’t that big idiot know that archons are the servants of the gods, and favored companions of Estereal himself? I apologized to Gabriel, not that he was complaining. He was just happy that there was evil to be fought, and I didn’t call him just to chat this time.
“Good thing I’m too much of an amateur to have summoned anything,” Bianca said angrily in Celestial.
“I beg your pardon?” I demanded. It occurred to me that I wasn’t doing such a good job making friends for the temple, but I didn’t care to be spoken to in that fashion, not in any language.
An owl swooped down, then Canliss appeared beside me. “There’s another one coming. It’s about a hundred yards away, sneaking up toward us from behind.”
“Well go get it then,” Ester called over her shoulder. “We’re busy.” She dodged as her opponent slashed at her. To her left, Gore did likewise. My owl swooped in, clawing his opponent. Meanwhile, I sent Gabriel off to hunt down the one that was flanking us. He could see in the dark and detect evil at will, so it wouldn’t be a problem with him.
“What is that thing?” Tore called.
“Our ally,” I snapped. “Quit shooting him, you big idiot.”
“Well, why din’t ya say so,” he slurred. “What sh’d I shoot next?”
I pointed to his foot, but he didn’t notice. “That one,” Canliss called, pointing to the beast still clawing its way out of Bianca’s webs. The nobleman fired a volley of arrows, and the creature snarled in pain.
No matter what Tore was shooting at, he was still a menace. I tried to cast ‘blindness’ on him, thinking even a drunken idiot would know better than to shoot blind, but he resisted the spell’s effects.
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who’d decided it was time to deal with our drunken host. Bianca approached him, casting a spell behind her back. The ties on Tore’s bow unraveled. His quiver fell to the ground, spilling arrows everywhere.
“Oh, here, let me help you,” Bianca said innocently. She bumped into him, knocking him aside.
“Hey,” Tore slurred. “Now’s not the time, sweetheart. Maybe later…”
Ignoring his rude remarks, Bianca pulled more arrows out of his quiver and stood on several more. Any Torodinite would have been proud of her performance. I resolved to put an end the unfortunate animosity that had arisen from the web incident. Tore was a lost cause, but Bianca was an ally worth cultivating.
“Torodin bless you,” I whispered to her. She smiled and winked at me, then resumed ‘helping’ Tore. Looked like we wouldn’t have to worry about him any more.
Meanwhile, Val killed the panther she, Ester and Affe had been battling. I noticed that, while Ester was torn and bloody, Val didn’t have a scratch on her. Hmmm. I wonder if she’d be willing to teach Ester how to dodge? I love her dearly, but the giantess certainly is a drain on clerical resources.
Affe turned her attention to the creature in the webs, shooting it full of arrows. The beast growled and struggled. I was surprised the web was still holding. Meanwhile, Gore was still battling the remaining, unwebbed panther. As he stabbed it in the leg with his spear, Ester charged over, bellowing in. She slashed the beast’s back open with Hilt, revealing its internal organs. It wobbled on unsteady legs. Then Canliss shot some magic missiles. Two struck the one in the webs. Two more hit the wobbling one in front of Ester and Gore. It fell over dead. Both warriors glared at the six-fingered mage with a distinct lack of gratitude.
The webbed creature finally broke free and leaped at Val. This time she was less fortunate, and she got clawed in the side. She grimaced in pain. Affe shot it, and then the giant owl swooped in, killing the beast.
Behind us, we heard the clang of steel and more growling. It sounded like Gabriel had found his prey.
“Nikita, I’m going to go help your friend,” said Canliss. He ran off into the darkness. I ran after him. Poor Gabriel was going to need some healing, thanks to that idiot nobleman.
I caught up to them pretty quickly. I heard running and looked over my shoulder to see Val following me, with Gore not far behind. Gore ran quickly, for such a big man; sadly, he went crashing off in the wrong direction. Stupid barbarian.
Well, to make a long story short, we finished the remaining beast off quickly. And, best of all, I used one of my new spells. Using the shadow cast by the beast, I summoned a Shadow. It attacked, draining the beast’s strength. I wondered uneasily if Donar and Rachel might object to a Shadow, but under these circumstances I didn’t think it would hurt anything Tore wasn’t there, and Canliss and Val couldn’t possibly tell what it was in the poor lighting.
We rejoined the others. Ester had the drunken nobleman slung over her shoulder. She put him down when we returned and told her the last of the panthers was dead. I cast a little bit of healing on everyone; not too much, mind you. I’m a Torodinite, after all, not some useless Soltanite; I couldn’t be wasting my magic.
“Is it time for dessert?” Ester asked.
“Les’ go back for another round of sherry,” Tore said.
“Do you want the heads?” Ester asked. She started chopping them off.
Val and I exchanged a dismayed glance. Not only would we never get to the ‘business proposition’ if Tore kept drinking, but this evening was likely to drag on until dawn.
Well, I’d had about enough. I swayed towards Tore, smiling sweetly and giving him a generous view of my cleavage. “You know,” I said, “I have a spell that will make the sherry taste even better.”
“Really?” He smiled. “Tha’s great. Cast it on ever’body.”
I cast Nap on him. He fell to the ground, snoring. Canliss laughed. The others looked concerned until I explained what I’d done.
“We’ll have to wait an hour, but he’ll be sober then.”
We hauled the idiot into the study. There was nothing to read there, Gore and Canliss drank and the rest of us chatted while Tore slept. We cleaned up and changed, Canliss and Gore got thoroughly intoxicated, and the servants carted off the grisly trophies. We were all quite suspicious of where Tore had gotten the evil creatures, but I couldn’t worm any information out of the servants, not even our host’s full name. I cast ‘detect thoughts’ but all I picked up were inappropriate speculations about the women in our party.
“This evening was such a waste,” said Val. “Is he even going to remember us?”
When Tore finally awoke, he groaned and rubbed his eyes. Must have been one hell of a hangover. Canliss, the big suck-up, handed him a glass of port which he chugged as if it were water.
“Is there any more?”
“No,” we all said, even as Canliss handed him a second glass.
“I guess the evening is drawing to a close now,” I said, much more loudly than I needed to. I gloated inwardly when Tore cringed.
“The servants took care of your trophies,” Val told him.
“So, where did you get those… interesting creatures?” I asked, pretending idle curiosity.
He groaned. “Um… you know… I don’t feel so good. I think I need … something. Good day. Good night.”
He staggered off to his bed.
I sighed. “Well, Ester and I have a carriage. Would the rest of you like a ride back to town?”
With Gore riding up front with the driver, and me sitting on Ester’s shoulder in mouse form, we managed to get everyone inside. (Ester was quite surprised to find that I can speak in mouse form now. Torodin truly has been generous with His gifts.)
We were all starting to doze a bit as we headed back to town. Suddenly, we heard screams. There were bright lights in the distance that looked ominously like flames.
“Driver,” I commanded, “head towards that light.” Unfortunately, a mouse’s voice doesn’t carry well, and Ester had to repeat my command.
The driver was a good Isturian, and he responded to the threat of fire by whipping the horses into a gallop. We came thundering through an alley to find a massacre in front of us. Three constables and numerous town guards lay on the ground dead, their faces stained with soot. Four hellish creatures loomed over them, their bodies vaguely humanoid with muscular, ophidian tales. Their bodies appeared to be made entirely of flames, and their eyes shone with unholy light.
“Estereal’s Light!” cried a voice to our right. A constable lay pinned beneath the body of a blistered and lifeless horse. “Help us!”
“We’re on our way!” I squeaked. A constable in trouble! Now, here was an opportunity to make diplomatic strides on behalf of the temple. What an excellent opportunity. Donar and Rachel would be so pleased.

…to be continued…

Book 4.15

2005-10-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

26 Bonvesti - Strand’s Shadows

Home. At long last, we are back in Istur where we belong. It is good to be back among my brother priests. Funny... I’d forgotten how much I missed them. And seeing Donar again... (A water spot mars the page.) I felt like something broken inside was healed when he embraced me. Well, I’m not some silly Soltanite to get all sentimental, but there is nothing undignified in admitting that I love him dearly. He is a great man, after all. It is good to be at his side again. I’m sure I will be a great help to him in these troubling times.
Unfortunately, our triumphant homecoming has been tarnished by unfinished business back on Graben Island and intolerable conditions here in Hurva. For one thing -- it’s COLD here. That is simply not acceptable, and it’s the first thing I’m going to fix. Why.... Oh dear, I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s the problem with being both supremely powerful and very compassionate -- solving everyone’s problems leaves me with rather a lot on my plate. I can manage, of course, but a mind as sharp as mine has a tendency to race out of control when there’s so much to contemplate. Let me back up a bit. I’m planning to have Dante write my memoirs (he’s very talented), and I don’t want him to get confused. Now where was I? Ah, yes -- The ice slide...

Well, I must say, sliding uncontrollably down a chute made of ice while clinging to a door made of ice – it was enormous fun. (I’ll have to mention it to Dorvin -- I’m sure he could build something here in Istur.) I could tell from the terrified screams behind me that my companions weren’t quite getting into the spirit of things, but I was certainly making the most of the only entertainment Meridoth had offered us. I leaned into the turns, building more and more speed and leaving the others far behind.
“Woo-hoooooo!” I cried for joy as the wind whistled past my ears. What a rush! I was disappointed when I came flying around the last bend and saw daylight ahead of me. The ride was nearly over. I hoped I’d have the opportunity to go back and do it again. I clung to the icy door as it shot out of the tunnel like a pellet out of one of Mordenheim’s pistols. I went flying into the air and sailing across the most enormous cavern I’d ever seen. I had a brief glimpse of scorched and battered walls before I hit the ground with a thud and went skidding towards the far wall. The door slowed down gradually, then bumped against the far wall and stopped.
“That was fun!” I said, standing gracefully and looking back for my companions. The opening to the chute was at least a hundred yards away. I’d flown pretty far. Obviously I’d controlled the ride perfectly. I smiled to myself and determined I would have to do that again.
Rhavin was the first to emerge from the chute. It was hard to tell from this far away, but he seemed rather disconcerted as he was dumped out on his well formed behind. He dug his crampons into the floor and got to his feet. He yelled something I couldn’t make out from the distance and started running in my direction. I smiled at him. I’d have to loan Rhavin the door so he could enjoy the ride properly next time.
It would take Rhavin a while to get across the enormous room, so I took stock of our surroundings. What a frightful mess. The walls were scorched in places, as if Kariya and Canliss had been having target practice in here. How very odd.
I was puzzling over the scorch marks when Kariya and Ester emerged in a tangle of arms and legs. Kariya leaped out of the way as soon as they landed. Ester lumbered to her feet more slowly, but she got out of the way as Jven emerged, cursing a blue streak. I’m much too ladylike to record her words here, but they were all obscene and all directed at the bard. I really think Jven was getting carried away -- we know nothing about Marius’ parentage.
Poor Jven must have been a little too stunned to get out of the way. The bard slammed into her, prompting a painful grunt and another round of cursing from Jven. Marius is a rather portly gentleman, and he wears a great deal of armor. Jven was going to be quite bruised from that encounter. She was certainly put out with Marius. She paused just long enough to heal herself before standing and slapping the surprised bard full across the face.
I decided to let the others sort out their little tiff while I found a way out of here, and I began searching the frosty walls for a secret door. My efforts were rudely interrupted by a sudden avalanche of snow and ice that came roaring down from above us. It struck my companions with gale force, burying them all in several feet of snow. I glanced up, catching a glimpse of a blue-skinned mage standing on a nearly invisible, white balcony -- Meridoth! He smirked at me, the arrogant bastard, then disappeared from sight.
Damn. I spied a conceal door down on our level and I longed to chase after Meridoth to destroy him utterly, but my friends needed me. Canliss and I were the only ones not buried in snow. Since I didn’t have time to search for Canliss the invisible wren, I cast telepathy to tell him what had happened. Then I raced over to where I thought Rhavin would be and began digging frantically through the snow. Canliss asked where the others would be, and I gave him my best guess -- it was hard to tell how far the avalanche had carried them, but Ester’s muffled screams were creating an audible beacon. Canliss landed there, shifted into a badger, and started digging. A spray of snow began streaming out behind him.
Canliss reached Ester and Kariya first, badger claws and Ester’s flame sword being better suited to digging in snow than my increasingly frozen bare hands. “Kill it! Kill it!” I heard Ester cry, followed by a frantic, “Ester, no!” from Kariya. Oh dear. Well, Canliss could handle himself. I kept digging though my hands were numb from cold until I was finally rewarded by the sight of Rhavin’s gauntleted hand. I grasped it and we finished digging him out. He hugged me, getting my silk dress all wet, but I didn’t mind. I kissed him soundly, then joined the others who were beginning to dig for Jven and Marius.
They were both unconscious when we finally pulled them from the snow, but they were alive. Kariya cast her hut spell and we dragged them into it. I explained to the others what I’d seen of Meridoth (Rhavin had spotted him just before the avalanche hit, but he’d had no time to warn anyone.) while Kariya opened up the box. She got out the last of our precious healing potions, and we fed two to Jven and Marius. All the while Rhavin stood at the edge of the hut , looking anxiously up at the balcony.
Marius and Jven both sat up groggily with aid from Kariya and myself. Jven still looked unwell, so I healed her some more with one of my few remaining spells.
“What was that ?” The bard asked.
“It was snow,” Ester answered literally.
Marius blinked a her in surprise. “That was snow?”
Ester nodded.
All right, everyone was alive. We could discuss the blue mage’s rude behavior later. I stood and addressed the group. “Time to find Meridoth and kick his ass.”
“Should I go and do some scouting?” Canliss asked.
I shook my head. “We need to find Meridoth and do it quickly. I don’t think we should split up, and we should get out of his hunting grounds here.”
Given their wounded condition my friends were not enthused, but they knew I was right. Canliss turned into a giant hawk, and I shifted into mouse form so he could carry Kariya, Rhavin and myself up to the balcony first. I scampered back on forth on Rhavin’s shoulder, more anxious than ever to bring about Meridoth’s demise. Bury my friends in snow, would he? Evil bastard. Maybe it was time to find out exactly what effect The Dance of the Dead has on the living.
As Canliss crested the balcony, we saw Meridoth waiting for us.
“Throw me in,” said Rhavin, his hand tightening on his sword hilt and an angry glint in his eyes. Canliss dropped us, then swooped down for Ester. Rhavin began glowing and lifted his blade, Kariya reached for spell components. Furious, and anxious to prevent another ice spell, I leaped from Rhavin’s shoulder. I’d claw the bastard’s eyes out, I would.
Sadly, I was not terribly aerodynamic in mouse form. I squealed in rage as I fell to the ground at Meridoth’s feet.
Holding out a chunk of ice, Meridoth uttered a brief incantation. The ice formed into an enormous, blue claw that struck at Rhavin. He tried to dodge, but the icy claw grabbed him around the waist. I heard Rhavin grunt in pain.
“Canliss, hurry!” I sent telepathically, and explained what was going on up here on the balcony. The shape-shifting mage promised to bring Ester up as soon as he could.
Kariya cast, and webs suddenly filled most of the balcony. I was not stuck, but in mouse form I could not move through them. I shrieked in frustration as I saw Meridoth moving in the webs. He was not the slightest bit hampered by Kariya’s spell, damn it.
Meridoth cast a wall of ice, separating us from Rhavin and Kariya. Gods damn it! I had to do something to stop the madman, but these accursed webs were in my way. I shifted back into human form just in time to spot Meridoth turn and run. Coward! He fiddled with some sort of panel and escaped through a secret door.
Damn. He was getting away! I forced my way through the webs and to the panel. I heard some sizzling sounds behind me -- probably Ester cutting through the ice wall with Hilt. I couldn’t wait for that – Meridoth would escape. It took me no time at all to decipher the door mechanism. (It was rather primitive, really
-- Meridoth had no imagination.) Mentally informing Canliss, I left the door open and raced down the hall after the ice mage.
“No!” Canliss called back. He was probably concerned that I would finish off Meridoth alone and he would not be there to watch “The Revenge.”
“Gotta find him,” I thought back to Canliss as I ran down the corridor. “You’ll catch up.”
“Wait for us to get through,” Canliss sent back. “We’ll get him!”
Ignoring Canliss, I kept running after Meridoth. The hallways back here were a veritable maze of passages, but I trusted my instincts to know which way the bastard had gone. As Torodin was my witness, Meridoth would pay for everything he’d done!
As I ran full speed around the corner, I just had time to spot Meridoth standing in front of me as he unleashed a spray of ice shards in my direction. They blasted into me with a cold so painful it was like being stabbed by a thousand, tiny knives. I stood there shivering, too shocked to move. I could only send a telepathic message to Canliss as Meridoth ran off down the hallway to my right. Gods damn it – he was getting away!
As I stood there frozen, Canliss telepathically contacted me for directions. Good -- they had made it through the ice wall. I sent directions and was soon rewarded by my companions running up to me (except for Jven and Marius, who’d been too wounded to keep up).
They stared in surprise at the shards of ice enveloping me. Rhavin paused beside me, brushing frost from my hair.
“Nikita, are you okay?”
“F-f-fine,” I stammered. I was shivering so hard my teeth were chattering, but I managed to lift my arm and point in the direction Meridoth had gone.
“That w-way.”
Rhavin frowned at me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded. “G-g-get him!”
“Let’s get him!” Ester cried as they ran after Meridoth. Kariya stayed behind to cast a ‘warm’ cantrip on me, for which I was immensely grateful. The two of us soon caught up to the others.
“We can’t just go racing after Meridoth in his own home,” Rhavin was explaining in a firm tone. “He could be around the next corner.”
“Exactly,” said Ester. She was bobbing with impatience, the flames of Hilt flickering and her tentacle flapping about. “Let’s get him. Let’s get him. We’ve got him on the run!”
“He is not on the run,” Rhavin countered, looking pointedly at my frozen eyelashes. “On the run implies that we have done something to him to cause him to flee.”
Rhavin had a point there. Meridoth’s cowardly tactics had left us no opportunity to inflict any damage upon him. Chasing blindly after him gave him the advantage, but we couldn’t just let him get away, either. I came up with a compromise and suggested sending a shadow ahead of us. That way we could run after Meridoth but still know what was around the corner before we got blasted. I cast the spell as soon as my darling Rhavin moved out of the way, and we kept moving.
These labyrinthine passages were no more interesting than the ones in the first section of Meridoth’s stronghold, although they were certainly more confusing. We knew we’d been running around in circles when we came around the corner to find the door we’d just passed through a few minutes ago.
“Damn!” Ester cursed rather uncharacteristically. “We lost him.”
“He could be anywhere,” Kariya concluded. She cast ‘see invisible’ as we paused to look around. I cast a spell to detect extra dimensional spaces, in case Meridoth had pulled something out of Canliss’ bag of tricks and used the rope trick spell to elude us. I was just about to report my lack of success when Kariya suddenly gasped, as if in pain. We turned to see her standing stiffly, her eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?” Rhavin asked anxiously.
Kariya couldn’t respond for a second. When she recovered, she pointed to the end of the hallway and Ester galloped off, her flame blade held high.
“Meridoth,” Kariya explained. “Cold spell.” She quickly cast a warm cantrip to recover.
We heard the pounding of footprints that indicated Canliss the wemic had run after Ester. “Aaaaaaaaaaah!” Ester’s cries receded as she disappeared around the corner. The rest of us ran after them, although we had no hope of keeping up.
We rounded the next corridor to see Jven and Marius flattened against the wall and pointing down the hallway where we could see Ester’s back illuminated by the light of her flame blade.
“Ester,” Rhavin called as we ran after them, “Slow... puff... puff... Slow down!”
Ester disappeared around the corner. We stopped for a second to catch our breath, then ran after her.
“Aaagh!” we heard Ester cry out.
Concerned, we rounded the corner to find an ice-glazed Ester standing in the middle of the corridor, shivering and gripping her flame blade so close she was in danger of catching her short hair on fire.
“R--r-run away,” she stammered. I wasn’t quite sure if she was reporting on Meridoth or offering strategic advice.
“I’m all for retreating right now,” said Rhavin, as Marius offered Ester a drink of that ale he always carries around. “How about a rope trick?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” came Canliss’ disembodied voice.
“So we rope trick,” Ravin said, “watch when he walks by, and I’ll jump on him.”
I frowned at Rhavin. I love him dearly but sometimes he gets a little carried away. “I think that’s a really bad idea.”
Kariya grinned. “You do have that fire breath.”
I thought that was a rather rude thing to say, and inaccurate. Thanks to Estereal’s blessing Rhavin’s breath always smells sweet, and his skin always smells faintly of fresh soap.
Seeing my confused look, Kariya explained that Rhavin had imbibed a potion of fire breathing. So Rhavin was planning to spit on Meridoth? How undignified. Surely that wasn’t in the paladin handbook. I just couldn’t imagine a bunch of well-dressed Esterealans running around spitting on people.
We decided to rope trick on the balcony, so Meridoth would not be able to sneak up on us. I took the precaution of showing everyone how to work the secret door before we closed it. Then, as soon as we explained to the foolish bard that no, we couldn’t bring the folding box into the rope trick, we all climbed up.
Once settled, we were faced with the realization that we could neither nap nor heal due to lack of spells. We were all in terrible shape. Reluctantly, we decided to cast successive rope tricks until dawn. Jven and Marius, both exhausted, fell asleep instantly, but the rest of us had several hours to kill until we were ready to start sleeping. Dozing, actually. Every four hours we had to wake everybody up, climb back down, then get everybody back up again.
(For the record, sleepy wounded Jveltoans are very cranky when they’re told they have to wake up so they can climb down a rope and back up it again. Especially when it happens three times in a row.)
The mages couldn’t study under these conditions, so we
discussed what we knew of Meridoth. I pointed out to everyone that he had been unaffected by the web spell.
“Maybe he’s so cold, he’s slippery?” Ester suggested.
Shaking his head, Canliss got out one of his books and starting studying. Kariya shook her head and quietly confided that it was impossible to memorize spells under these conditions. “Canliss is such a geek,” she whispered, loudly enough to be overheard by the six-fingered mage, who smiled but did not look up from his book.
“We need a way to locate Meridoth,” said Rhavin.
“I could scry on him when I get spells again,” I offered. “If Jven will create water.”
“I could create water right now,” Ester said. “I haven’t gone in hours.”
“Um, no thanks,” I said. I hadn’t heard such a revolting idea since the last drunken party with the Jveltoans. I was sure that Donar had never mentioned urine as an acceptable component in our lessons.
“Not in the rope trick,” Kariya added firmly. Amen to that. We might have plenty of clean cantrips, but that was no excuse to adopt disgusting habits. Perhaps I should teach Ester about etiquette?
Casting rope trick over and over again until dawn might have been the wisest and safest plan, but it was painful in its own way. We took turns waking up Jven and Marius each time we had to climb down. I’m not sure which was worse. The bard was difficult to wake, Rhavin wouldn’t let us push him out, or even slap him. Water in the face (from a skin, not Ester) proved the best method. Jven woke more easily, but had a tendency to strike and curse obscenities at whoever was closest.
Far worse than this unpleasant duty, however, was Ester. The giantess handles inactivity very badly. Each three hour rope trick was filled with endless whining about Ester being bored and explanations from Rhavin that there simply wasn’t room to wrestle.
“Canliss,” I whispered after we’d endured an hour of Ester reading the first two pages of her romance novel aloud, “Don’t you have something to sedate her?”
“I wish,” he replied with a grimace. “But I’m afraid I’d have to stab her.”
Kariya held out her arm. “Here, stab me.”
Sadly, no matter how much we begged, Canliss refused to stab any of us. He really needs to prepare some of that sleeping potion in drinkable form. I entertained Ester briefly with some stories, then Kariya brought us back to the discussion of Meridoth’s elusiveness.
“Maybe you could banish him?”
“I don’t see why,” I replied. “Unless he’s from another plane. Besides, I can’t get close enough.”
Rhavin sighed. “So, how does he keep getting away? He either has something that makes him run really fast, or...?”
“Yeah,” Ester interuppted, “It’s called a head start.”
We all laughed at that, but Rhavin was not convinced.
“I don’t think so. When Ester chased him, she got around the corner and he was already at the other end of the hall. There’s no way Meridoth was faster than Ester.”
“We need some way to track him.” Kariya looked at me.
“Did you get a good look at him? Did you see anything on him for a locate object spell?”
Did I get a good look at him? I’d practically smacked into him before the bastard hit me with his damn ice spell. I offered to cast locate object on his robes. Unless Meridoth decided to run around naked (Which, judging from the brief glimpse I’d gotten was not something any of us would want to see.), that should help us find him.

When the fourth rope trick was finally over, we still had two hours until dawn. We found ourselves in the rather embarrassing position of needing to hide from Meridoth until we could pray for spells. Given our limited spells, the best we could do was have Kariya cast the hut on the balcony, fire trap the door and alarm the hallway leading to it. We huddled inside, keeping watch while Rhavin, Jven and I prayed.
When dawn finally came, Jven and I set about the usual chore of healing our wounded friends while Rhavin kept watch. At some point we’re going to have to arrange for some lessons on dodging. Jven and I have far more important things to do than serve as party medics. Maybe when we get back to Istur we can hire a Soltanite lackey, assuming we can find one who knows how to take orders and doesn’t talk too much.
“So what’s our plan?” Kariya asked when we were finished with all the healing.
Rhavin gave everyone a stern look. “So, everyone agrees that running down the hallway is a bad idea?”
Ester shook her head stubbornly. “I would have been fine if he hadn’t shot that ray at me.”
Jven and Marius looked confused, so Kariya explained everything that had happened with Meridoth.
“Oh,” said Jven. “I was wondering why you guys kept running around in circles.”
“I got this close to him,” said Ester, holding up two fingers a hair’s breadth apart. From behind Ester, Kariya shook her head and held her arms out wide. Jven smiled in understanding and nodded at Ester. If the giantess wanted to believe she’d almost captured Meridoth, we were not going to disillusion her.
Ester waved a tentacle in the air to get everyone’s attention. “I got an idea. We’ll find some of his extra robes like we did in Firestorm and then he won’t know who we are.”
“Um, Ester,” I explained gently, “I don’t think putting on his robes is going to fool Meridoth.”
When we were almost ready to go we sent Marius down to
get Kariya’s box. (We didn’t want to risk anyone important, but we were too polite to say so to the bard.) Kariya pointedly asked Marius to cast from as far away as possible, then she watched with evident distate as the bard levitated downward while playing some frightfully dull tune on his lyre.
“Why do you make him move so far away?” asked a confused Ester.
“Because his spells aren’t safe,” Kariya insisted, tossing her long hair back over her shoulder. “He hasn’t been trained. He just casts his spells willy nilly.”
Canliss looked up from where he’d been studying and coughed loudly. “Um, Kariya, I’d like to remind you ---”
“Oh, I know all about you,” she said, frowning at the six-fingered mage.
Canliss raised his eyebrows. “And I don’t do that stupid stuff,” he persisted.
Well, we all burst out laughing at that -- even Ester. “Does anybody remember some greasy goblins?” I asked.
When Marius returned and we stopped laughing, I cast the locate object spell on Meridoth’s robes. It would last for eight hours, although I prayed to Torodin we wouldn’t be chasing the madman around for that long. As soon as I got a reading, Jven cast protection from cold on Kariya, Ester and Rhavin, and we set off with Rhavin in the lead and me right beside him.
Thanks to my spell, we were able to plot a path through the maze of corridors rather than running around in circles. It wasn’t long before we realized that Meridoth’s location was changing rapidly.
“I told you he could move fast,” Rhavin insisted. He seemed pleased to be proven right, although a rapid-moving, cold-slinging arch mage wasn’t really something for us to cheer about. Meridoth would be a lot easier to kill if he’d stand still. Damned inconsiderate of him, really.
Meridoth did not stand still while we were searching for him. Either he was also looking for us, or he knew where we were. Rhavin and Kariya were engaged in an argument over who had circled whom when we came around a corner and spotted a door. Jven cast “find traps” and declared that there was a magical trap on the door in the form of some sort of glyph. It was rather undignified for an arch mage of Meridoth’s calibre to be resorting to such plebeian tactics. Just goes to show the man had no class.
Ester offered to “take care of the glyph,” which caused everyone to either back away in terror or, in Rhavin’s case, immediately interpose themselves between the giantess and the door. I suspect Ester misconstrued “glyph” to mean some sort of monster susceptible to bashing. I may have taught her how to read, but it’s going to take some time to improve upon her vocabulary.
Not wanting to drop the locate object spell, I politely asked Jven to dispel the glyph. I’d failed to take into account how surly her disposition had grown these last few days.
“Dispelling it is going to buy us nothing,” she said with fervent pessimism. “We’ve had no luck dispelling anything.”
“That’s not entirely true,” I calmly pointed out.
In a display of Jveltoan poor manners, Jven rolled her eyes at me. “Except for that stair case -- that was dumb luck.”
“I beg your pardon,” I protested. Poor manners was one thing, but I felt it disloyal of Jven to insult me like that. In retrospect, I suspect she was jealous because my powers are so much greater than her own. I guess I’m going to have to learn to anticipate this attitude from many people, and learn to make allowances. It is far easier for a person of my stature to be gracious than for ordinary people to overcome their envy.
“Don’t fight,” warned Kariya, looking uneasily from me to Jven. The mage was rightfully disturbed to see a Jveltoan and a Torodinite at odds. It wasn’t proper.
“That wasn’t dumb luck,” said Ester. “That was good luck.”
“Whatever,” Jven said petutlantly. “I’m just saying that the odds are not good that I’ll be able to dispel it. It would be better to just power through it.”
“Can’t we just erase it?” asked Ester.
Rhavin hid a smile. “How about a knock spell?”
Kariya shook her head. “If it’s anything like firetrap, a knock will not dispel the glyph.”
“But we can set it off from a distance,” I pointed out.
“So, uh that leaves me as the target,” Canliss pouted. “And I only have two spells left.”
“Perfect,” said Jven.
“That’s enough to knock it, right?” I added.
Canliss could not argue with that, but he continued to whine about the risk to his personal safety. After all the reckless things he does, now was a fine time for him to be getting squeamish.
“Well, it’s probably a cold trap, right?” said Ester. “Why don’t we just get somebody to open it who doesn’t mind the cold so much?”
“No, Ester,” I said, before Jven could make a rude remark to the giantess. “The glyph could be anything.”
“Actually,” said Canliss, “Having Jven stand between me and the door might work.”
This time both Jven and I glared at the six-fingered mage. He wanted to use a priestess, someone beloved by the gods, as a shield? That was definitely not proper. Perhaps Marius wasn’t the only one in need of a few lessons on religion.
Rhavin managed to reassure the nervous mage by suggesting that Canliss hide around the corner and use a mirror to cast the knock spell. Jven, despite the threat to use her body as a piece of armor, was even willing to cast protection from cold on him. After all this, Canliss finally agreed to cast the spell. (Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t ask someone to hold his hand.)
We all backed up, and Canliss positioned himself so that he could see the door through the mirror. He cast the spell, and we heard a creaking noise as the door opened.
“Get him! Get him!” Ester cried excitedly. Jven grabbed her hand to restrain her enthusiasm while I cast Shadowcloak on Rhavin.
Rhavin and Ester were forced to pause, their eyes watering as the putrid stench of ammonia and rotting flesh oozed out of the open door. Stepping up behind Rhavin, I could see several rows of tables covered with strange instruments and tubes of bubbling fluid reminiscent of Mordenheim’s laboratory. Marble and granite table tops held boxes and crates that contained the gods only knew what.
“Oh no,” Kariya muttered. “He’s not going to tell us his life story, is he?”
“He can’t use my body!” Ester yelled just before I silenced her with the shadowcloak spell. Jven paused to give the giantess as astonished look before casting protection from cold on me.
Rhavin paused in the doorway, blocking our entrance.
“Rhavin, he’s moving,” I warned as I felt the pull of the locate object spell. Rhavin squared his shoulders and rushed into the room with blade drawn. Ester was right behind him, screaming a battle cry that no one could hear through the shadowcloak and holding her flaming sword high.
As we crossed the threshold, the door erupted in a spray of ice crystals. Rhavin and I dodged most of it, but Ester cried out as some of the ice struck her in the face. Her skin turned an unhealthy gray color, and her steps slowed alarmingly as she lumbered behind us.
Unable to see much with Rhavin in front of me, I decided to try to hamper Meridoth and his damn cold-spells by casting darkness on the far side of the laboratory. Just my the spell went off, Rhavin rushed into the room. I had a glimpse of the blue-skinned mage grinning maniacally as he held up some strange, metallic object. It shattered in Meridoth’s hand, enclosing the mad-man’s arm in some sort of glacial coating. He hurled the ice at Rhavin, who grimaced in pain as the ice shattered around him even as he tried to duck behind a table.
Angered at the assault on my beloved, I cast memory wrack to deprive Meridoth of his mind, but the madman resisted me. I cursed angrily and longed to try The Dance of the Dead, but I could not do so here without risk to my companions. Already the others were rushing into the room. I could hear Marius singing and our mages chanting as they readied their spells. I had a glimpse of shadowcloaked Ester running towards Meridoth, mouthing threats that I could only make out by reading her lips.
“You’re in deep shit, Mariu-- Madr--- Meridoth. Deep shit.” Hmm. Perhaps Ester should stick to “Kick Ass” as her standard threat. Her attempts at creativity lack a certain style.
I heard Kariya yell at people to get out of her way even as magic missiles from Canliss went soaring into the room, swerving around Rhavin and into Meridoth. The six-fingered mage had scored first blood. I saw Rhavin smiling as he ducked behind the table to gulp down the much vaunted potion of fire breathing. Undignified it might be, but I must admit I was looking forward to watching Rhavin spit an inferno into Meridoth’s face. It was no more than the bastard deserved.
Suddenly, I felt as if an invisible force was pushing me backwards. I heard the crashing of glass as I ended up backed into a table, unable to move. Ester was backed into a table in front of me, knocking over a bunsen burner whose flames washed harmlessly over the marble table top. This was intolerable. All I could do as I glared across the room at Meridoth was mentally recite all the curses I was too dignified to say aloud.
Unhampered by Meridoth’s foul magics, Canliss sent more magic missiles shrieking into the blue-skinned mage. A thunderclap followed as a lightning bolt lit up the room, smashing through beakers and vials as it blasted into Meridoth, only to follow harmlessly into the ground. I heard Kariya cursing behind me.
Blast. I could not move, but I managed to cast a dictate spell. I wanted to see Meridoth rip out his hair strand by strand, but the pusillanimous mage resisted my magic.
I heard Jven casting, then she shouted a colorful string of sailors’ curses. Apparently, Meridoth was resistant to her magic as well.
Rhavin leaped up from behind the table then. With a gleam in his eye, he breathed fire upon Meridoth. The flames came out as a tiny flicker not much brighter than a candle. I think Meridoth’s beard might have been singed a little. This was the firebreathing
potion Rhavin had been so excited about? It was about as useful as the wemic pottery.
Smirking arrogantly, Meridoth held up his hand, creating a swirling white globe that floated in mid-air. It rushed at Rhavin, then shattered in an explosion of cold I could feel halfway across the room. The beakers and equipment around Rhavin disintegrated and scattered across the already debris-strewn floor. Rhavin’s grimace of pain turned to an angry glare as Meridoth ran to the far wall. He passed his hand across some sort of panel, causing the wall to open, then disappeared through it. The wall closed behind him.
“Get him! Get him!” yelled Ester, who was still struggling vainly against the table.
With one last, anxious glance back at me, Rhavin opened the panel and followed Meridoth out of the room. Kariya and Canliss were right behind him. Still pinned by Meridoth’s magic, all I could do was wish them luck.
“Get him! Get him!” Ester continued to rant, her words audible now as the shadowcloak wore off. Oh great. I was trapped in Meridoth’s laboratory with a bored and helpless Ester. What sin had I committed to deserve this fate? My anger grew as I looked at the tables around me to see not only animal and human body parts, but dead babies. That evil bastard! The sight of those helpless infants infuriated me, but there would be no saving them now. All I could do was vent my rage by leaning back and smashing the equipment on the table to which it seemed I’d become permanently affixed. It was a petty sort of revenge, but it was better than nothing.

Kariya told the story later of how they’d frantically chased Meridoth down a long hallway that seemed to end in a white wall. Undaunted, Canliss cast knock to open the hidden door, and the three of them raced through to discover themselves in Meridoth’s living quarters.
Kariya reported with distaste that the room was a mess, with dirty dishes and books scattered all over the place. Deeper in the room they saw an altar with something suspended in mid-air above it which they could not make out. They had no time to examine it, since Meridoth himself was standing there ready for them. Before they could react, he sent a shard of ice flying across the room towards them. It hit Rhavin then exploded in a shower of ice fragments that chilled the three of them and cut into their exposed skin. Fortunately, Jven’s spell protected them from most of the damage.
Realizing now that her lightning bolt would not affect Meridoth, Kariya settled for magic missiles. She reported with great satisfaction that these had damaged the bastard, and Canliss had happily joined in the assault. They couldn’t tell how badly hurt Meridoth might be -- he already had blue skin; how much worse could he look? The evil man probably bled ice.
Marius and Jven ran into the room just in time to see Meridoth flee, closing the door behind them.
“That was really pissing me off,” Kariya said angrily.
She, Canliss and Rhavin chased Meridoth out the door while Jven and Marius turned to examine the altar. As they peered closer, they realized the suspended thing was some frozen, blue creature encased in ice. Jven shuddered, her eyes widening in horror as she explained her sudden realization that the blue thing was really Madeleine’s dead baby. Meridoth was using the corpse of a dead infant as the source of his diabolical powers. The evil bastard was even more foul than we had ever imagined. Jven warned Marius to stay away from the altar and ran to get me, hoping I would
know what to do about the altar.
I was astonished when Jven ran into the laboratory, wide-eyed and breathless. “Nikita, there’s an altar.. next room... ice..” was all I caught of her panicked explanation.
“Jven, slow down,” I urged.
She took a deep breath to calm herself. “There’s an altar in the next room. There’s an infant encased in ice. It’s Madeleine’s baby. It’s the lifeless child of stern mother found, heralding a Night of Evil unbound.”
“What?” sputtered a confused Ester. “Madeleine? What?”
“We have to destroy that altar,” I told Jven.
“I was about to do that, but I wanted your help.”
At my urging, Jven picked me up and carried me into the next room. It wasn’t dignified, but sometimes you have to sacrifice your pride when you’re fighting evil. We got there to find the sphere of ice spinning above the altar, glowing with an unholy light that illuminated the entire room. I raced towards the altar to cast dispel magic. The spell had no effect. I stood there staring at the spinning sphere in shock, wondering how Torodin could let us down like this.

Meanwhile, the others chased Meridoth down yet another corridor. Rhavin could not get close enough to attack, but both of our mages managed to blast him with magic missiles. Then the evil, blue-skinned, baby-killing madman paused, turning around to blast them with a ray of freezing ice. Rhavin and Kariya leaped aside, but poor Canliss was knocked unconscious.
Enraged at his mistreatment of the six-fingered mage, Kariya hit Meridoth with another round of magic missiles. When Meridoth staggered, Rhavin was able to rush forward and administer the coup de gras with his blade. My beloved was just coming to the realization that he could not carry both the dead ice mage and our
companion when the complex began to shake as if being torn asunder.
“What happened to the rest of you?” Rhavin asked. “I sensed you telling me that Ester destroyed something, then that was it. We rushed to save you only to be knocked senseless by this blinding flash of light.”
It was my turn to explain my own astonishment when a screaming Ester, who’d been released from Meridoth’s spell, rushed into his private chambers where Jven and I were still regarding the altar with horror. Before we could stop her, Ester slashed at the spinning sphere with her flaming sword. I just had time to telepathically send Rhavin my love as the sphere exploded and the entire complex began to shake.
“What happened?” Rhavin sent back.
“Ester destroyed --” was all I could send back as the ceiling collapsed upon us and everything went dark.

We awoke to find ourselves lying on cold ice. We sat up, groaning in pain as all of us were badly wounded. Canliss looked particularly awful and seemed a little dazed. It was freezing cold. We could barely see through the sleet and snow surrounding us. I heard Ulfie whimper
I huddled next to Rhavin and tried to cast a spell to see through the sleet. It did not work. I sensed that I had no access to any of he spells the Shadowlord granted me. I was stunned. Had Torodin abandoned me?
“Jven, can you cast any spells?” I asked. My anxiety deepened when Jven reported the same dilemma. Had we ended up back in Sailor’s End?
Kariya cast her hut spell, dispelling that theory.
Though warm again, Jven and I were both troubled as we all huddled inside. We reported out lack of spells to the others, who seemed trouble by this strange, new development.
There was nothing to do for now but wait out the storm. Grateful for the shelter of the hut spell, we all gathered close while Kariya described Meridoth’s end to us, then I related what had happened with the altar. Though pleased to have disposed of the evil mage, none of us were in the mood to celebrate. We had no idea where we were, or how to get back to The Endurance. Our mission did not end with Meridoth’s demise. There was still the matter of putting three souls to rest and ending the curse upon the ship.
When the storm finally eased up, we looked through the transparent walls of the hut and examined our surroundings. This place was as cold as Meridoth’s accursed isle, but that wasn’t where we were. We could see the masts of ships frozen in the ice around us. And that shoreline in the distance -- that looked familiar.
“It’s Ebb Tide,” Jven gasped.
We were back in Istur! But what had happened? Why was everything so cold? This was wrong.
“Peregrine,” I heard Jven whisper sadly. Seeing her stricken expression, I realized now that she’d gotten very attached to the shy navigator. We had not broken the curse on The Endurance. Peregrine and all the crew were still trapped on board that beleaguered vessel.
Poor Jven -- how awful. Well, I sympathized, of course, but I suspect the separation will be for the best. Jven will come to understand that a priest of Hurva’s Church can do far better than a nearsighted sailor from some backwater plane of existence.
Everyone seemed quite depressed that we’d failed to save The Endurance. (I suppose when I have a spare moment I’ll have to figure out a way to solve that little detail.) For several moments no one said a word -- we just sat there staring in disbelief at the frozen harbor. Then I recalled my nightmare. The plague, the bodies in the streets. I thought of Strand’s Shadows., Dante, Seregil, Freddy and the others -- were they alive? Oh gods, what if I never got to see Donar again? Well, naturally I wasn’t worried, but I was anxious to check in with my temple as soon as possible. It was, after all, the proper thing to do.

Explaining that the Torodinites would be able to tell us what was going on, I led the others across the iceto the docks. (As soon as Ester had hidden her tentacle beneath her shirt -- she couldn’t walk around Istur like that, especially not with all this weird magic going on. People might think she was some hell-spawned demon come to torment them.)
We walked through the frozen streets as quickly as possible, horrified by the frozen bodies we passed as we raced for Strand’s Shadows. What had happened to my city? Who had done this evil thing? I grew increasingly enraged. I would get to the bottom of this and put a stop to it.
“Can we get something to eat?” Ester whined as we passed a group of beggars warming their hands over a pitiful mound of burning rags.
“Later,” I snapped. I needed to get to Strand’s Shadows, make sure my loved ones were safe. If anyone had hurt them, I’d strangle them with my bare hands and then turn them into a zombie so I could torment their corpse.
“But I’m hungry,” Ester persisted as we made our way through the once familiar streets now surrounded by mounds of snow that had apparently been shovelled aside at great expense of effort.
“Here,” said Kariya, handing the giantess some jerky.
Except for Ester, the others were as anxious to find out what was happening as I was.

It seemed to take forever to cross the city in the swirling snowstorm. I wanted to bypass protocol and lead the others in through the priests’ private entrance, but they balked at this plan. Forced to concede that etiquette should be observed even under pressure, I led them in through the front door. I paused when I saw some sort of extra wooden archway hastily thrown up and painted black. It was terribly tacky.
“This has got to go,” I said.
Rhavin patted me on the shoulder. “Now, dear. Calm down.”
Realizing Istur had more serious problems than Strand’s Shadows’ decor, I took a deep breath and led my friends inside. I seethed with impatience as everyone put on their robes and masks, especially when we had to help Ester. To make matters worse, the temple reeked of smoke that issued from some cheap wooden stove and failed miserably to heat the place. It was freezing inside.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked the attendant. Then, realizing that whoever was on duty was not going to break the vow of silence even under such dire circumstances, I marched into the sanctuary. The others followed me, but Rhavin paused to whisper an apology to my brother priest.
The sanctuary was just as cold as the rest of the place. It was crowded, although no services were going on. A few people, worshipers by their lack of blessed holy symbols, were gathered around a pot belly stove, warming their hands. I paused to stare at it. A stove in the sanctuary? What had happened to the usual heating spell?
Leaving the others in the sanctuary, I headed for Donar and Silvio’s study. They would be able to explain what was going on. Naturally I knew that they would both be all right. They’d probably already divined a plan to fix the weather.
As soon as I was through the door, I took off the mask. I stopped in my tracks as Freddy rounded the corner. Why, he looked positively haggard. That wasn’t like him.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked. It was a little harsh, I admit, but seeing my always serene and confident friend looking so dishevelled made me forget my manners for a moment.
“Nick!” Freddy cried, his eyes widening with surprise. He was the only person in Hurva who ever called me that. Knowing he meant it as an endearment, I did not object. Besides, I was pleased when he enveloped me in a bear hug. He’s always been like a brother to me, but it’s rare for Freddy to be so openly affectionate.
I hugged him back, then stepped back to look at him with concern. His hair was unkempt, and there were bags under his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
Freddy held me at arms’ length, shaking his head in wonder as he looked me over. “Thank the gods you’re alive! We thought you died in the mountain.”
I was stunned. They’d thought me dead? How awful. But why would they think that? Surely their divinations would have told them otherwise?
“Oh no,” I said, squeezing Freddy’s hand in a gesture of sympathy. “We took care of all that. Seems so long ago.”
“It was a long time ago,” Freddy said, but he did not seem to be speaking figuratively.
I frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
“It was months and months and months ago,” Freddy insisted. Now, that was odd. We’d only been gone for two months. It was very unlike Freddy to exaggerate.
“Freddy, where are Donar and Silvio?” I asked. “What’s going on here?
I expected him to explain everything. Freddy is very good about getting to the heart of a matter quickly, without leaving out any important details. Instead, he just shook his head and looked at me nervously. Freddy -- nervous. I never thought I’d live to see the day. I didn’t like it.
“Well, Donar and Rachel... It’s Rachel now, who heads the thieves’ sect.”
“What? Where’s Silvio?” I looked at him in alarm. Silvio would never be replaced. Unless something awful had happened . But... Surely not. I hadn’t seen Silvio since... Well, surely he was all right.
“He left when all this started,” Freddy explained.
“What do you mean he left?”
“He got called away.”
I was stunned. Only Archbishop Kalros had the authority to do that. What could be so dire that The Holy Father would need to take Silvio away from us at a time like this?
“There’s been a lot of changes,” Freddy hedged. “I think you need to speak to Donar.”
“I think I do,” I said. At least Donar was still here. The idea of Strands’ Shadows without him was intolerable. I headed for Donar and Silvio’s study. Seeing the door ajar, I opened it and went inside. There was an unfamiliar woman sitting at Silvio’s desk. She was a handsome woman in her fifties, short of stature and very elegant looking, but it was Donar I’d been longing to see. I was alarmed by the sight of the always neat study cluttered with books and papers strewn on every available surface. I’d never seen it this chaotic before. I’d never seen anything at all on Silvio’s desk before, except maybe a cup of tea.
My eyes fell on Donar, who was bent over a heavy tome that so captivated his attention he hadn’t noticed my entrance. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding as I stared through blurring eyes at the graying hairs on his very dear head. Donar was all right. He was better than all right -- he was here. Thank you, Torodin, for keeping him safe.
I noticed that Donar was studying a heavy tome intently. Not wanting to disturb him, I waited patiently for him to finish. The distinguished woman, who’d been sitting close to Donar and peering into the pages with him, looked up. She frowned as she took in my dishevelled appearance, no doubt thinking I was a mere worshiper who’d wandered into the private areas by mistake.
“Excuse me?” she asked, in a tone that I found rather haughty. Before I could think of a reply, Donar looked up from his studies. His eyes widened.
“Nikita!” He crossed the room with an energy that belied the exhaustion I’d glimpsed in his face and lifted me up in a warm embrace. He spun me around, then set me down only to embrace me again. I clung to him and kissed his cheek while tears spilled from my eyes. I said a prayer of thanks to Torodin for not sending Donar away. I think my heart would have broken if I’d come home to find him gone. It was good to see him again.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Donar stepped back, though not quite letting me go, and looked me up and down as if inspecting me for damage. I looked fondly up at him. There were shadows beneath his tear-filled eyes, but he stood up straighter now, as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders.
“Wh -- what’s going on?” I asked anxiously. “Where’s Silvio?” I paused, remembering my manners. “The others are waiting in the sanctuary.”
“Bring them in. Bring them in,” Donar said. I ran back out to fetch the group of people huddling uncertainlynear the door and led them to Donar’s study. I had to reassure them that we had permission, and yes they could take off the masks, but soon we were all inside and I made the introductions.
I found myself staring at Rachel, wondering who she was and how she’d come to be here. Surely she wasn’t going to stay? I caught Donar’s eye and nodded questioningly in Rachel’s direction, but he only gave me his stern look. I had to hide my smile as I sat down. I’d missed that look.
Donar made everyone comfortable and had one of the novices bring hot tea and cider. I spied Marius pouring some whiskey from his flask into his cider. Donar seemed amused, but Rachel frowned
disapprovingly. Did the woman have no sense of humor? If she turned out to be some sort of stuffed shirt, she could haul her ass over to the Esterealan temple and work for Dougal Wentworth.
When everyone was settled, Donar cleared his throat to get our attention. Well, perhaps he was trying to get my attention -- I’m afraid I was scowling rather openly at Rachel. Donar was clearly displeased. I folded my hands in my lap and resolved to be more polite. After all, the woman might have many fine qualities which were not apparent at first glance. Certainly the mess in the study was the sign of a keen intellect. I should give her a chance. In fact, judging from Donar’s expression I should be polite to Rachel even if she turned out to be undeserving. I’d do anything for Donar, and it would cost me nothing to be gracious.
“We thought you all had perished,” Donar explained, “under the explosion that happened in Firestorm Peak.”
“There was an explosion?” Kariya asked, voicing the surprise we all felt. I was still astonished that they’d been unable to divine the truth. Perhaps, in Ravenloft, we’d been shielded from divination spells?
Donar nodded at Kariya. “There was a great explosion.”
“We finished our mission there,” Rhavin assured him.
I nodded. “We succeeded.”
“Yeah,” said Ester. “That’s why it exploded.”
Everyone laughed at that, except Rachel. Oh dear -- the woman really needs to lighten up. Hasn’t Seregil been working on her?
Jven rolled her eyes. “It’s all been madmen and explosions,” she said bitterly.
“May I ask what the date is?” Rhavin asked, while Donar looked curiously at Jven, probably wondering where we’d managed to find a cranky Jveltoan. I’d have to explain later.
“It’s the end of Bonvesti,” he told Rhavin.
Bonvesti? We’d missed summer! We missed the picnics and the swimming and the sailing on Salvador’s boat. We missed Remiére’s Night and Victory Day and my birthday. We missed the whole summer. Someone is going to pay for this.
“So, it took you all this time to get back from Firestorm?” Donar asked us.
“We ended up in Ravenloft,” I explained.
Donar and Rachel exchanged glances. They seemed concerned, but not surprised. I wondered what they’d been able to find out.
“We defeated great evil there, as well,” Rhavin said.
“Well, we certainly encountered great evil,” Jven said bitterly..
I frowned at Jven, concerned by her negative attitude. “We kicked its ass,” I corrected.
“We removed a Lord from power,” Rhavin explained to Donar and Rachel, who were naturally confused by our differences in opinion.
“We didn’t finish,” Canliss said.
“Well, we smashed the altar,” Ester insisted.
“We don’t want to have this conversation now,” Rhavin said, much to my relief. He looked at Donar. “Please, continue.”
“The great storm started a few months ago,” Donar told us. “It came up out of nowhere in the middle of the afternoon. The temperature plummeted to what you see now, so rapidly it shattered glass and crockery. This happened all over the land. After a few days the harbor froze over, and...and then... ” Donar sighed
and looked anxiously at me.
“It’s almost like something out of the journals you wrote. The dead rose in certain places, but they were frozen solid. The people have come to call them The Frozen Ones.”
“They walk the land?” Rhavin asked.
Donar nodded. “It took a while to notice at first, but things are different in the heavens as well. I don’t know where to begin -- there’s so much to tell.”
“My spell books are changed,” Canliss informed him.
I frowned at the six-fingered mage. Who cared about his spell books? We had more important worries.
“All mages’ are,” Donar answered him. He looked from me to Jven. “You will have to spend some time praying in the temples to relearn the spells of the gods. And there is a new power in the heavens.”
“What?” many of us blurted, surprised by this foreboding news. Had the fall of the Night of Evil descended upon Hurva?
“We believe,” Donar explained, “Through the divinations we’ve done that the name is Ismera. She might have powers to rival The One --”
“No!” Rhavin shouted.
I frowned at my beloved. I understood Rhavin’s anger, but I wished everyone would stop interrupting Donar. It was terribly rude.
“She has started to bestow powers to clerics.”
Now this was truly disturbing.
“Is she a good power or a bad power?” Ester asked.
“She is pure evil.”
The giantess shook her head. “That’s bad.”
“Oh great,” Kariya muttered. “It’s like the sign.”
“Many of the clerics of the minor gods have no powers yet,” Donar continued. “There are fearful rumors among the people that those gods might even be dead.”
The gods dead? Surely not. I suspect folks are just getting overwrought. Ordinary people are easily frightened.
“Of course, that can’t possibly be,” Donar assured us. “But there have been sightings of strange creatures across the land.” Donar stopped then, overcome with weariness. I hated seeing him like this. He’s always been so strong. I moved closer and put an affectionate hand upon his arm, which earned me a weary smile.
Rachel picked up the tale then, which earned her a few points in my book. Perhaps she has been a help to Donar in these dreadful times?
“These have been difficult times,” Rachel explained. “I was at a small temple in the wine country west of the capital. When Silvio took a leave of absence when this all happened, I was asked to fill his post.”
Beginning to feel somewhat regretful of my earlier hostility, I gave Rachel a sympathetic look. She had not asked to be uprooted and moved half way across Hurva, and Silvio’s shoes were not easy to fill. I should try to be helpful to her.
“Why did Silvio take a leave of absence?” I asked. I couldn’t help recalling my last return to Istur. I’d never gotten to say good-bye. Would I ever see him again?
“I can’t say,” Rachel replied. “I promised not to say until he returns.”
Until. Not if, but until. That was a good sign.
“So,” said Canliss, “even thought we succeeded, we could have caused this?”
“We did not cause this,” Rhavin and I told him in unison. Honestly, what was the six-fingered mage babbling about? He should stick to his spell books and leave the heady stuff to the Church.
“Was that the fifth sign?” Kariya asked, which prompted Ester to recite the scroll prophecy.
“We did not cause this,” Rhavin assured everyone. “But we will solve it.” I smiled at him. That was well put. Sure, things seemed dire, but we’d have everything set to rights in no time at all.
“It’s not just spells,” Rachel warned us. “Magical creations have been affected as well. The communications system is not working. We’ve not heard from Holdifax and the paladins yet. The capital and Reggis are the only two major cities we’ve gotten word from.”
“Is it snowing like this everywhere?” Kariya asked
“As far as Reggis and the capital, yes. Beyond that, we know not. Our divinations tend to make us believe that is the case.”
“What is the king doing about this?” Rhavin asked. I can’t imagine why. Stopping the fall of the Night of Evil was clearly the domain of the Church, not the government. Besides, if the king hadn’t sent away the most capable adventurers in Hurva, this all would have been stopped months ago.
“The Duke here in Istur has imposed martial law for the time being,” Rachel told him.
“Is it safe to travel the streets in the city?” Ester asked.
“In the city, yes. Beyond that, it is not,” Rachel replied, and she reminded us of the creatures Donar had mentioned.
“Undead?” I asked.
Rachel nodded. “Yes, and possibly creatures from the outer planes as well.”
I frowned. “What sort of outer planar creatures?” I asked, and I described the nasty screeching thingsfrom Firestorm Peak.
“No,” Rachel said, much to my relief. Surely nothing the Night of Evil could dish out would be worse than those.
“We have to go to Geston,” Rhavin declared. I frowned at him. We were sitting in the room with the people most likely to have the answers we would need to correct this mess. Why in the name of all that’s holy would we want to trudge all the way to Geston?
Rachel looked at me. “You are going to have to relearn how to make use of Torodin’s gifts.”
I shrugged. “I have other powers as well...” Then, catching Donar’s scowl, I added, “But all right.”
“Nikita,” Canliss said, “that’s dangerous. It’s for emergency use only.”
“What is?” asked Rachel, while I glared at Canliss. Who did he think he was, telling me what I should and should not do? I think Canliss has grown rather arrogant over the past few months. I’ll have to teach him proper respect for the priesthood.
“We must talk of this at another time,” Rhavin insisted. “At this point we need to figure out what to do about the great storm.”
“Do Kariya and I need to relearn all of our spells?” Canliss asked Rachel. I don’t know what he was so worried about. What’s so hard about learning mage spells?
“Yes, you will need weeks, maybe even months,” Rachel told him.
Ester asked about healing then. Taking in our condition, Donar and Rachel offered to heal our wounds. We were all grateful for this, and I took advantage of their casting to give Donar another hug. He seemed so demoralized, and I wanted to raise his spirits. I did get a smile from him.
“We may need further healing,” said Rhavin with a grimace in Ester’s direction.
“Ester needs healing beyond the Torodinites’ powers,” I explained. “Go ahead, Ester, you can show them.”
Donar and Rachel were both understandably horrified when Ester withdrew her tentacle. To their credit, neither one moved further away from the giantess.
I explained about the creatures in Firestorm Peak. “I learned through divination that the arm needs to be removed and regenerated. We were able to remove my extra eye and heal it. We don’t know about Canliss, who seems to be spitting acid.”
“The Soltanites in town have that power,” Rachel told Ester. “But everyone has been going through a period of transition . Sara Ohn is gravely ill...”
“What?” Rhavin asked. I shared his alarm. Granted, the woman had been unkind to me, but she had saved my life. Besides, it was wrong for a Soltanite High Priest to be suffering from an illness, of all things.
“I do not know if there is another person of her stature who can assist you,” Rachel told us.
“How long has she been ill?” Rhavin asked.
“For about two months. They do not know what is wrong with her.”
“And Father Wentworth?” Rhavin asked.
Rachel and Donar shared a smile that seemed half amusement and half irritation. “Father Wentworth,” Rachel answered carefully, “has taken The Great Storm as a challenge greatly to heart. He is doing things... that he sees to be best.”
I burst out laughing at that. I couldn’t help it.
“That sounds like Dougal,” Rhavin said with a smile that seemed to surprise Rachel. “I mean Father Wentworth.”
“What news of Ebb Tide?” Jven asked.
“Jven was spirited away against her will,” I explained. “But we are grateful for her assistance.”
“More than grateful,” Canliss said fervently.
“I think we might all be dead if she hadn’t been spirited away,” I admitted.
“Yep,” Ester agreed.
“Donar,” Kariya asked, “Since we succeeded in our quest, are we free of all charges?” I don’t know why she was worried. Why should we care about the king’s so-called justice?
“I am not the authority that can answer that,” Donar told her. “Wentworth will know what you need to do.”
“We need to check with him.” Kariya stood, looking at me. “Will you be staying here at the temple?”
“You need to stay,” Rachel answered for me. I frowned at her. The woman might be intelligent, but she showed an appalling lack of manners.
“Is she safe here?” Rhavin asked. I stared at him in confusion. Surely he wasn’t worried about Nicco? If he bothered me, I’d simply create Hurva’s first zombie crime lord.
Donar gave Rhavin an appraising look. “I assure you,” he said seriously, “she will be safe while in our care.”
“There are other parties in this town who wish her harm,” Rhavin persisted.
“I wouldn’t worry about that any more,” I told him.
“Right,” said Jven. “I should be getting to Ebb Tide.”
Donar informed her then that Father Silverscale was missing. The High Priest of Jvelto was lost at sea! I looked at Jven, sharing in her alarm. Jvothgar missing? Sara Ohn sick? Silvio sent away? Someone was deliberately attacking my Church. As Torodin is my witness, I intend to find out who and kick their evil-loving ass.
My friends stood to leave, discussing their plans to look up loved ones and find a place to stay. Muttering about Julian being sent here to research lycanthropy, Kariya assured me that she could be reached through Alanna at The Oasis.
My friends thanked both Rachel and Donar, then took their leave. Rhavin paused and turned to Donar.
“She may be a daughter to you,” Rhavin said quietly. “But she’s everything to me.”
I stared at Rhavin, astonished that he would say such a thing. Not displeased, but astonished. I smiled at Rhavin and missed Donar’s reaction to my beloved’s declaration.
I waved good-bye as my friends donned the masks and departed. I smiled fondly at Rhavin, but given Donar’s presence I resisted the urge to kiss him good-bye.
“After you put your things in order,” Rachel told me, “we need to talk.”
I nodded. Yes, we certainly did. I would have to make sure she was handling things appropriately in Silvio’s absence.
Donar gave me another warm hug, which I returned with enthusiasm. “I missed you,” I whispered.
He smiled fondly at me. “We will give you a few days before we need to talk with you,” he assured me.
I nodded gratefully. I needed to catch up with my brother priests. I bid farewell to the two of them, then paused at the door. I ran back to give Donar one last hug, graciously told Rachel it would be a pleasure to get to know her (I only hope that doesn’t turn out to be a lie.), then raced off in search of Dante and the others. There was so much to be done! I needed to contact Anton, rescue The Endurance, save Sara Ohn, find Jvothgar, get Silvio back here, fix the weather, and put a stop to the armies of undead roaming the countryside.
Maybe when I’m finished I can get in a little shopping.