Chapter 3
Marpenoth 27 1369 DR, Year of the Gauntlet
Willow Kacandra had been a Purple Dragon for only six months when she had been ordered to accompany Lord Tessaril Winter and her company to Shadowdale. She was a thin young half-elf around fifty summers. Her straight red hair that went to the bottom of her shoulders and like her fellow Purple Dragons, she wore shining armor that displayed Cormyr's Purple Dragon on the front.
She stood in an empty rectangular room with two of her fellow Dragons; the bulky half-orc Illiend Manadrows and the one-eyed human Bastal Lourse.
"My friends, I believe we have been separated from the others for too long," Illiend stated in his deep voice. The half-orc drew his two-handed sword and paced slowly around the room.
Willow shook her head at the half-orc's obvious assessment. She had entered Castle Krag with Lord Winter and forty-two other Purple Dragons (among them her best friend Fey), along with the War Wizard Nefaria and Stephen's minotaur slave Sanborn . With each room they had explored, at least one or two of her comrades had fallen to the ruin's monsters.
"We are exploring the ruins and killing the beasts that dwell here," she said harshly as she pulled herself away from her thoughts," just as Lord Tessaril had ordered us to do."
Bastal looked at the half-orc and patted him on the shoulder. "No worries Illiend, we'll get back to the Skull in time for some supper."
Illiend smiled, but then his round green eyes caught sight of three displacer beasts; panther-like beasts that had just materialized in the room. Thin tentacles protruded from each of their backs as their eyes were filled with blood lust.
Willow and Bastal drew their swords while Illiend charged the beasts.
In the throne room that was six rooms down from where the three Purple Dragons were engaged in a life or death battle against the displacer beasts, Tessaril Winter, the Purple Dragon Stephen, and the beautiful dark haired elven wizard Nefaria were discussing their plan on opening the portal that lay one floor below.
Also in the throne room were Feyvara Roxanna and Sanborn. Sanborn was a seven-foot brown haired minotaur who was sold to Stephen during a trip to Calimshan. Feyvara; or Fey as she was known to her friend Willow, was a short and slender young woman in her early twenties, with long blond hair that she kept in a tight ponytail. Together, she and Sanborn were investigating a small area near a wall that bore faded yellow banners. Each banner had a large black Z stitched in the middle.
Leaning close to the minotaur, Fey noticed the worried expression on his face. "I know you're worried about Willow and the others," she said as she scratched his arm. "I'm worried about them too." Fey and Willow had been best friends since the half-elf moved to Eveningstar. Despite the vast age gap, they had spent years together, battling imaginary foes, eventually joining the knighthood together.
The minotaur looked at Fey, about to say something when tiny pebbles rained on his head.
"More gargoyles," Stephen shouted from the middle of the room as he drew his blade. "Is Krag a breeding ground for these things?"
"Maybe or they are one of Krag's defenses," Nefaria said as she and Tessaril ran to the room's entrance.
Sanborn tried to run to his master, as he threw large hands into the air, grabbing a passing gargoyle. The gargoyle beat his wings and clawed at the minotaur, trying to escape. Sanborn's strength prevailed and the minotaur threw the creature right into a smaller gargoyle that was flying in Fey's direction. The young Purple Dragon grabbed her shield from the ground and held it in front of her as both stone creatures collided and their bodies shattered upon impact.
Stephen's eyes looked up, seeing ten more gargoyles descending from the hallow ceiling, immediately attacking the minotaur.
Sanborn let out a scream as three pairs of sharp claws ripped at his face. Letting out a scream filled with anger and pain, the minotaur threw sloppy punch after sloppy punch. He managed to shatter the head of one gargoyle, but he quickly felt the fatigue flowing through his body.
Four feet from the minotaur, Fey swiped her long sword in a high arc, and shattered the head and shoulders of the gargoyle she was fighting. She looked to the door, watching Stephen walk away from the room.
"Coward!" she spat as she ran to help the minotaur. Praying to the Broken god Illmater, Fey aimed her weapon and swung fiercely, cleaving another gargoyle in half.
"Better do die fighting beside a slave, then to flee in battle," she said thrust her shield into the face and chest of a gargoyle that was digging its claws into the minotaur's skin.
From the doorway, Sir Stephen Sivill smiled. The young knight's words had no affect on him.
Closing his eyes, he turned to join Tessaril and Nefaria, who had already begun making their way to Krag's basement.
Upon reaching bottom of the stairwell, the Harpers continued through a large hallway. Along the path, Val and Roland counted six bodies; two that had their insides ripped out, and four that appeared to have been turned to stone. All of them were Purple Dragons.
"Do you think we should check the rooms?" Roland asked Val, indicating the several open doors on both sides of the hallway.
"We're likely to find more corpses than knights," Val answered in a loud voice, which drew everyone else's attention to him. He gave a chuckle as they shook their heads, but then raised Frostburn as a loud scream came from down the hallway.
Wasting no time, the Harpers raced down the hall, entering a room where a wounded female Purple Dragon was attempting to fight off two displacer beasts.
Roland and Val threw themselves in front of the woman while Entreri and Bowie moved around the beasts.
The assassin swung Charon's Claw in a low sweep, severing one beast's tentacles. Before the wounded displacer beast could react, Entreri stabbed Charon's Claw once more, covering both creatures in a thick cloud of ash.
Just as the assassin was completing his movements, Bowie came in fast, slashing his short sword through the thick cloud. He could hear a growl of anguish as his blade ripped through the beast's flesh. He gave another quick thrust of his sword, then pulled back.
When the ash cloud dissipated, the halfling smiled as the displacer beast's corpse lay still on the floor.
"Where did the other one go?" Val asked, watching as the Purple Dragon and Roland were locking eyes with one another.
Olive Ruskettle, who was about scold Roland about saving the loving for later, let out a painful scream as barbed tentacles sliced the skin from her calves. She tumbled forward, getting herself away from the beast, then turned around and lunged at the beast, slicing her dagger and short sword-only to find nothing there.
The displacer beast appeared behind Olive once more, its tentacles ready to strike. The auburn haired halfling quickly turned around in-time, stabbing both her weapons through the beast's eyes throat.
Rouric stepped next to Olive and drove his axe through the back of the displacer beast while Val and Storm drove their respected weapons through the beast's spinal column.
Storm Silverhand looked at the Purple Dragon, whose yellow-green eyes were now staring wide-eyed at the dead bodies of her comrades. "Lady knight, I know this must be difficult, but I most know, are there anymore survivors in the rooms."
"Is Tessaril Winter still alive?" Rouric added.
"I'm not sure," young knight said with a shiver in her voice. "You could check the other rooms...they might be in another level of the castle, but the beholders might have gotten them."
The Harpers exchanged glances, with Storm and Rouric muttering," Beholders?"
The halfling closed his eyes, hearing Sylune's voice. "There is a secret to the lower levels. There are also beholders some of the rooms, as well as more gargoyles. Yet I never knew Castle Krag to be a place where one could find beholders" Once Sylune was done speaking to him, Bowie quickly relayed the information to everyone.
"Not that anyone would want to go looking for one," Val remarked as he examined the bodies of the other two knights.
"Why don't you, Entreri, and Rouric follow Sylune," Storm said as she glanced at Entreri. "We will look for other survivors. And do be careful."
As Storm walked away, Bowie, Entreri, and Rouric left the room.
Catching up, the dwarf gave Entreri a gentle nudge with his shoulder and said," Looks like you have an admirer."
Normally a gesture like the one Rouric had just done would provoke a threat from the assassin's lips, but Entreri merely reflected on the dwarf's words.
Tessaril Winter looked around the vast basement of Castle Krag. Just as with the other rooms, banners and tapestries depicting the symbol of the Zhentarim were scattered all over the wall. At the opposite end of the room, a large mirror was propped up against the wall. Etched along the mirror's golden frame were runes and sigils.
"This mirror," she said quietly," has it always been here?"
Stephen glanced at Nefaria, who wore a wicked grin on her face. "It was said that Jyordhan had this mirror put in moments after Castle Krag's construction was complete," Nefaria answered in a quiet voice. "It was going to be a portal for the Zhentarim to invade Shadowdale."
Tessaril nodded. "And now it will be used to bring Dragons from Cormyr-" The Lord of Eveningstar found her limbs and joints frozen at her sides.
Stephen laughed as he circled Tessaril. "Actually Lady Winter, this portal will be used as Jyordhan intended it to be used. Soldiers will come from Zhentil Keep to invade Shadowdale." He laughed as Nefaria finished weaving the spell that kept the Lord of Eveningstar in place.
The elf shook her head as she stood back and looked at the portal. "I must commend you Stephen. Putting our soldiers and spies among the knighthood sounded difficult, but you managed to pull it off."
"I'm surprised Old Thunderspells hasn't learned of it. Probably too busy chasing apprentice's," Stephen said as he stroked Tessaril Winter's cheek. "What was more surprising was how easily the real Purple Dragons fell to our forces, though they did have some help from the creatures that dwell in this castle.
Nefaria walked over to the mirror. "Preparations for the portal will be made soon."