Someone needed to stay behind to hold the door open, and Lidia volunteered. The others left to find a decent hideaway and to tie up the horse, leaving her alone. She leaned against the side of the opening and waited.
The ring was laid into a solid six inches of stone, and the edges shimmered and shifted slightly, never at rest. However, the magic that held the gate open was always constant, never wavering while she leaned against the outer edge of the entrance. All that power had to come from somewhere, even if there wasn't much of it at work. And the longer she waited, the more she wondered if anyone would notice.
Who "anyone" might be was still an open question. Ahead was only darkness. She cast out a thought towards the entrance, but nothing happened. She kept every sense on the alert for any movement or sound, but there was none. She rubbed the small light stone in her trouser pocket, and felt it growing warm in her hand, but she dared not take it out. No need to disturb anything until the others were ready.
Even though it only took the others fifteen minutes or so to return, the time she spent waiting felt much longer.
"Nothing's stirred yet," Lidia told them.
Jaheira held up a small bulls-eye lantern and opened the shutter. Its light was dwarfed by the noonday sun and scattered into the open door. "If the fey have not led us astray, I doubt that will last."
Lidia turned in place towards the group, addressing them all: "I don't know what'll be in there or what we'll face. But the task ahead is clear. Right now, our innocence is a matter of our word against Lord Jierdan's. We may not find evidence here, but our strongest defense is to bring Iltha home. Stay alert ahead and behind. We already have the back door. Let's make this count."
One by one, Gorion's Company crossed the shimmering threshold. Lidia was last to go, following the rest of them inside.
Only a few moments after she removed herself from the opening, the entrance closed with only a whisper. They were plunged into total darkness.
Aerie let out a whimper that was almost certainly involuntary. "I - I don't like this - "
Lidia pulled the light stone from her pocket, its warm white light spilling through her fingers and causing her hand to glow red. When her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she held it aloft, with Jaheira's lantern illuminating the path ahead.
They were in a long tunnel, about the same height and width as the entrance had been, and only wide enough to allow two of the Company to walk abreast at most. Fairly straightforward, as tunnels went, though they'd have to find the end to discover what its purpose was. They moved forward silently and slowly, hoping to stay undetected until the last possible moment.
Which made it all the more startling when a deep voice rumbled from somewhere inside the mountain:
"Come, paladin, and know who has destroyed you, piece by piece."
Lidia stopped in place and held her staff forward, wildly looking for the voice's source.
"Your crime against me will be answered, even as you are ignorant of the deed. Let us play."
The voice silenced, and she was suddenly jolted to reality. With one shake to her shoulder, Minsc nearly knocked her off her feet.
"Great heroes should not stand still while there is a deed to be done!" he declared. "Boo is horrified to think that you've lost your mettle."
Lidia's brow knitted. "Did none of you hear that?"
Yoshimo said, "You were right. Nothing's in this hall, though there are faint echoes from the end of this tunnel."
"No, it was Lord Jierdan. He spoke to me."
That remark brought concerned stares from the others.
"Are you all right?" Jaheira asked. "You got little sleep last night."
"I heard it as plainly as I hear you," Lidia said. "He knows we're here."
They opened a door at the end of the tunnel, and into what looked like a meeting room or parlor. It was carved in almost a perfect square and covered with the trappings of luxury, enough to make one momentarily forget they were still inside a mountain. The floor was covered with a plush purple carpet, and the wall with rich tapestries depicting a tall-spired golden city bathed in golden sunlight. A ring of luxurious couches lined the center, which held a richly carved, gold-leafed table. Several flameless torches gave the entire place a warm, inviting light, causing the tapestries to brilliantly gleam, and the whole place smelled faintly of cedar and sulfur.
But the most outstanding feature in this room were three tall wooden doors, all carved from cedar and meticulously painted. The door to the left bore an image of a woman with golden skin and pitch-black hair and eyes; she gave a seductive smile as one hand beckoned to all onlookers from beneath her dark robes. The door directly behind the Company bore an image of a dragon's skeleton, death-white and with a fierce yellow light shining from the eyeholes in its skull. To the right was an image of the goddess Tiamat: a massive dragon with five heads, each in different colors. From four of the heads came four streams of destruction - one each of ice, poisonous green gas, lightning, and acid. The fifth head, like that of a red dragon, was sinking its teeth into a small gold dragon's neck.
This last door was the one the Company chose first. It led only to another tunnel, of about the same size and shape as the first. The only difference was a small alcove off to the side, which held only a plush purple rug and a wooden cedar wardrobe, which was trimmed in gold and resting on gold feet shaped like talons.
They emerged from the tunnel and found themselves in a massive, rectangular cavern, the work of an army of determined sculptors. Massive pillars shaped like femurs adorned each side, spaced between carvings that looked for all the world like a pattern of scales. It seemed more like a meeting hall than a cave. To judge by the echoes, the ceiling sounded as though it was far above, and the opposite wall far behind. Both the light stone and the lantern bravely shone forth, but their reach was soon swallowed up by the massive size of the place. However, the light was enough to reveal that the cavern was completely empty. The only mark of its resident was an oblong, blackened smear upon the floor.
"Is this - is this where the dragon stays?" Aerie asked. "I hope it isn't out there hurting those dryads."
Lidia said, "I don't think Iltha is here. Let's double back to the parlor."
They went back the way they came, to the wooden door on the other end of the tunnel. As soon as they opened the door, they stopped in place.
"Well done," Lord Jierdan said. He wore only a red velvet robe tied around his waist, and his massive frame barely fit inside the opposite doorway. "I sensed your approach, but I thought I had time to draft one more piece of correspondence. None of my spies ever mentioned that you preferred arriving early."