They stared into the space where the two specters had been, long after the guardian ghosts had disappeared.
Aerie gingerly set the little sack upon the ground. Through the thin burlap, the bones clinked upon the flagstones.
"These spirits failed some duty in life, which is why they serve in death," Anomen said. "That is why they remain on this plane, and they cannot cross to the next."
"Or they won't," Lidia said. "Not until their business is finished."
"There's a statue somewhere that might match what the ghosts were talking about," Valygar said. "No idea where it is, though, or how we'd get around that strange wall."
"What about this other cave?" Lidia asked.
Before anyone could respond, she moved towards the second black curtain, with Azuredge outstretched.
With a hiss and a puff of smoke, the smoky membrane disappeared. All that was left were a few ragged shreds clinging to the edge. All that was inside this cave was a second strongbox and a prisoner.
This prisoner was one of the halflings, a people that was two-thirds of a human's height. She had been ill-treated: she was curled in a corner, wearing a rough brown tunic and shackles on her feet. Under a messy mass of bright red hair, her sinewy arm and a hand of five short fingers shielded her eyes.
The bright light dazzled the prisoner, and it took a moment for her to recover. But when she did, she rose to her feet and took a bow as though she were meeting a dignitary in court.
"Your grace," she said, "I am Mazzy Fentan, a valiant servant of justice and righteousness. As you see, I could use your assistance."
"I know that voice," Valygar said, striding forward. "Mazzy, it's—"
The halfling sprang up, light and swift despite her recent confinement. A fierce look came into her dark eyes, and she pointed a short, accusing finger at the ranger.
"You! How dare you show your face here again!" she declared.
Valygar threw up his hands in protest. "I—"
Upon seeing the look on his face, the halfling composed herself, but the fire in her eye remained.
"Do you understand what it is you've done?" she asked. "They're gone, Valygar. The Shade Lord ambushed us. I would have gladly sold my life with my friends, but the Shade Lord wants me to be his' consort.'" She shuddered.
"I... I'm sorry," he said. "All of them...gone? Patrick, too?"
Mazzy turned her face away for a moment.
"Gods," the ranger muttered. He stood a little less tall than usual, slightly stooped, either from grief or simply meeting Mazzy at eye level. "I should have never..."
"Whatever your reasons for leaving, you would have simply died here, too," she said, slightly softening.
"Mazzy," Lidia said, "you've been through a terrible ordeal. Come with us. We have some food we can spare, at least."
"There's no need for that," Mazzy said. "That strongbox has my gear and the key to my shackles. I am not certain how one could open it."
"I'll... I'll try it," Aerie said.
With a spell, the box opened.
Lidia said, "We've got an injured man with us. For his sake, at least, we should find a resting spot. We might need to stay here or backtrack."
"Or perhaps we can try this," Mazzy said. She leaned over the strongbox and pulled out a thin golden wedge, about six inches across, that appeared to be a third of a circle. The edges of this wedge seemed to shimmer slightly, as though there was some hint of magic about them. Carved into this wedge were two uplifted hands with light beams pouring down upon them.
"What is it?" Aerie asked.
"Come and see," Mazzy replied.
The Company approached the barrier again. It remained unchanged, a glassy echo of the night sky that the Shade Lord had snuffed out.
"This wall isn't the Shade Lord's doing, or so we thought," Mazzy said. "I guess that it was part of the old temple's defenses, long ago. Look."
She held up the golden third-circle. Suddenly, like the surface of a mirror-smooth lake, the barrier shuddered and rippled as though disturbed.
Mazzy stepped through. For a moment, she seemed to be swallowed up by the barrier, but in a moment, her arm appeared again with the token in her hand, seemingly disembodied.
"Here," she said, her voice somewhat muffled. "Someone else ought to take this and go next."
One by one, they passed through the barrier. To Lidia, it was the oddest feeling: though the wall had seemed like unbreakable glass before, it admitted her without a rustle or the touch of a curtain.
On the other side, they found themselves in an antechamber: a square room about thirty by thirty feet square and about ten feet high surrounded by pillars on two sides. This room had been meant to invoke a certain grandeur once, but now was just as tomb-like as the rest of the place was, only more ostentatiously so.
Every decoration that had adorned this place had been stripped, leaving bare granite walls and flagstones. All that remained was a mosaic upon the ground, the stones arranged in the shape of the sun and its rays.
They chose the mosaic as their resting place. No one could say whether the arrangement of stones had actual power against the shadows or merely inspired hope of seeing the sun again. Regardless, no one wanted to linger here long.
Minsc laid out Yoshimo on the ground. His condition had worsened in the hours since they'd left the cave. His face was covered with a thin sheen of sweat, and he wouldn't wake when Lidia called his name. The only promising sign was that his heartbeat was faint but still steady.
Mazzy knelt next to him. "Would that I had a healing touch, so that I could cure this man's ailment."
"We tried," Lidia said. "He got his arm torn up by one of the shade wolves. The wound is gone, but he's only gotten worse. Have you seen anything like this before?"
The halfling grew somber, and after a long moment, she shook her head. "I will pray to Arvoreen that he wins this battle in his flesh."
They settled in to rest for an hour or so. They lit no fire and mostly spent the time tending to their gear or getting a bite to eat by the lamplight. Mazzy gratefully took some food but eating it seemed a somewhat harder task for her. Valygar tried offering words to her once or twice, but he was gently rebuffed.
A long silence passed, until Lidia finally broke it.
"Mazzy, Valygar, I know this is a difficult time," she said, "but I think I need to hear your group's story from the beginning."