The three of them returned to Garren's house. There still had been no sign of anyone else approaching, but all agreed that the sooner they left, the better. They took a small footpath northeast, as Vaelasa had directed. The forest obscured everything that lay ahead, but there was one exception. Far away, a massive cliff kept watch; it had a massive hole in its side that looked for all the world like a yawning mouth.
They had been walking for an hour when a small ball of golden light floated towards them, carried on four long gossamer wings, giving no word or sound. As soon as the Company pointed it out, however, it floated ten feet ahead of them, lazily moving as they did, as though finding the way or keeping up with them was no trouble at all.
Now that they were up and moving again, most of the group was in better spirits, especially Minsc. Aerie had nervously mentioned to him, once or twice, that danger was still ahead and behind, and that he might consider being quieter.
"Wriggling and sniffing the air is Boo's job," he said. "We must inspire fear in evil! Quiet tales of hamsters are foolish, but a man and his hamster that tear evil limb from limb? That's scary!"
Aerie cut in, "But Minsc, if you're trying to hunt something, wouldn't being loud-wouldn't that scare it into hiding?"
"There is nowhere that evil can hide from us!" He affectionately stroked his hamster, who had been riding on his massive pauldron the entire time. "And if it tries to burrow, Boo will slip in after."
After several hours through the woods, Llyna led them off the path towards a glen nestled in the forest, where a small stream had patiently cut its way through the layers of sandstone and quartzite and now tumbled over moss-covered rocks and pebbles. No one had passed this way enough to wear down a trail, but the traveling was easy on the right bank of the stream. Ahead, the cliff now loomed above. The massive hole in its side dwarfed all the surrounding trees, its lips much too smooth to be natural. With every step, this hole seemed more like a maw, ready to swallow them whole.
The ominous sight did little to tamp down the group's enthusiasm. What helped matters was that the glen often shielded it from view. In fact, the small stream between the rock was leading them around the mountain and away from this massive, most obvious entrance.
As the day wore on, the group had fallen into an easy pattern of conversation that ebbed and flowed as the path varied. Every now and again, however, Lidia noticed Anomen stealing glances over his shoulder and above them, especially when he thought no one else was looking. She finally spoke up when they had made their way halfway through the glen.
"You see something?" she asked.
"These formations above us would be ideal for an ambush," he said.
She looked up to the lip of the rock. She'd thought the fairy had chosen their path well: the stone was much too tall and steep and the path too narrow for the high ground to be much use to any attacker. The end of the passage through the glen was another matter altogether, and she'd accounted for that already.
"Maybe," she finally said, "but Jaheira and Yoshimo have been scouting ahead and behind. No one has picked up our trail yet." A memory suddenly came back to her: the first few nights away from Candlekeep, she'd barely slept, her nerves strung taut by the possibility of being hunted and captured. "Ever been on the run before? I don't recommend making it a habit."
"I am no stranger to having enemies at my heel. But to have the Order moving against us…" He drew a cleansing breath. "Perhaps, with the rescue of this girl, we could restore some small part of our stolen honor."
"None of this is your fault. I saw Lord Jierdan for what he was and still accepted his offer. When we met the knights, I chose the wrong moment to stop playing diplomat. And I couldn't keep him from taking Iltha. If any of us bears blame, it falls upon me. All you did was defend yourself and the group. When you face your Judgement, the gods will see that, even if mortals refuse to."
"You know of the Test?"
Lidia stared off into the distance for a moment, but kept the weight in her chest out of her voice. "My group and I met Ajantis while he was hunting bandits on the Sword Coast. He spoke of his upcoming trial once in a while. I considered him a friend."
A long silence passed between them.
"I knew him little," Anomen said, "but among the knights of the Radiant Heart Auxiliary he was held in the highest regard. That entire band was, if I recognized their faces aright. Their absence will be sorely felt."
She nodded. "Let's win this one for them, then. Afterwards, fate will do as it wishes."
The Company passed through the glen, then through another stand of forest, and then found themselves in front of a rockface, a wall of grey quartzite studded with lichen. The fairy flew several large rings around a spot on the wall, then flew off with much greater speed than before, until it winked out of sight.
The Company stared for a moment in stunned silence, until Aerie said, "Well, the stories do say that the fey like to play tricks on mortals."
Jaheira said, "This is no trick. Look at this footpath." She brushed away some of last fall's rotting leaves. Sure enough, the undergrowth had been worn away where a large number of feet had gone. "We only have to find what the way inside is. It had better not involve any blasted Dwarvish runes, though."
Yoshimo studied the wall for a moment, then traced out the fairy's path on the rock with his right finger, in the same direction and the same number of times around, beginning and ending in the same place.
With a mighty shudder, a circular outline appeared in the rock. The stone shivered, then formed a perfect hole, tall enough to let even Minsc through.
"Good thinking," Lidia said. "How did you know that was it?"
Yoshimo shrugged. "I admit it was a guess. The first rule of lockpicking, so to speak, is to check that the door is actually locked."