"That's the dragon, wasn't it?" Valygar said, folding his arms. "And we'll have to kill it somehow, fighting blind the whole time."
"Not necessarily," Lidia insisted stubbornly.
But she had to admit that catching the dragon by surprise had turned from an idea to a necessity if they were to have any chance. But how could one ambush a creature that thrived in the dark?
Meanwhile, the altar encircled by the statue's arms seemed to come alive of its own accord. The wind rose, the small, flickering flames in the sconces snuffed out, and a column of fire reduced the bones and the sack to ash.
When the fire died, a small, pale ghost of a girl appeared in its place; it was an echo of a body that had died when it was no more than seven years old. The ghost's unearthly gown was a simple dress with a smock over it; the smock was embroidered in the shape of the holy symbol of Amaunator. Her face was round and serene, ageless and weighty in its aspect, labored with the burden of years far beyond her stature.
"Who are you?" Lidia asked.
The girl floated from the altar, flying about each member of the Company as though she were born to the air, saying nothing but appearing to examine them all. She seemed to give Yoshimo an especially hard stare, but what she saw seemed to satisfy her.
Her bare, small, translucent feet appeared to touch the ground. In a thin, high, somewhat echoing voice, she said,
"Amuana was my name.
Before the cold and endless night,
A herald to a blighted fame,
I was called the Child of Light.
The Shade Lord's foe I was to be,
Born that him I might devour.
I raised my hand against his spawn,
Against him, I had not the power."
"Why couldn't you defeat the Shade Lord?" Aerie asked.
The ghost replied:
"The night of Netheril was long
When I was deemed the Shade Lord's Bane,
The Sunlord's might which once was strong
Had already begun to wane."
"How could something like the Shade Lord have been here so long?" Mazzy asked. "Even if Amaunator himself is dead, nearly everything good would see light triumph over darkness."
Amuana tilted her head, then said,
"The Plane of Shadow spreads and grows,
Among the trees and forest, here.
Always spells and wards had glowed
To guard against the darkening fear.
First of one god, then another,
Placed by a diff'rent sister or brother.
These old spells have been cast aside,
With a single scroll they now withdraw.
Light is captive, dark abides,
That was what my guardians saw."
"Those two ghosts," Lidia said. "They must be your eyes and ears, so to speak."
The ghost of the young prophet nodded, floated upwards, half-twirled while suspended in the air, and then she said,
"Badon and Dettseh have faithfully served,
Their spirits bound here, their bones interred.
When all my work on this plane is done,
They will join with the Eternal Sun."
Valygar was listening to the entire conversation intently; his face seemed troubled, but he said nothing.
Lidia turned to the rest of the group. "About those wards. Maybe if we renewed them, we could diminish the power of the Shade Lord and his dragon before having to confront either of them. Is that possible, and might it help?"
"I have neither seen nor felt any signs of warding magic," Anomen said. "Yet such spells are firmly within Helm's sphere. I can attempt to cast them, though it would be a temporary solution at best."
"The wards only need to work long enough for us to subdue the evil here," she replied, "at least until the Order or the temples can put up something permanent."
"I…I guess it could work," Aerie said. "I mean…it's worth a try, at any rate. It might make it easier for whoever comes after us."
"We have time enough," Mazzy said. She seemed somewhat resigned.
Amuana turned to Lidia, floating closer and then upwards. Their eyes locked.
Lidia suddenly felt uncomfortable, as though every secret she carried would soon be brought to light. She could wall herself off from that small face if she wished, but, strangely, that seemed uncharitable. Amuana's thought conveyed a simple question. It was the most childlike thing the ghost had done since she'd appeared. She asked: what are you?
Lidia closed her eyes and allowed the ghost to touch her mind. Amuana maintained her serene bearing the entire time until she finally withdrew.
She left behind something cold in Lidia's hand. Lidia examined it as soon as she opened her eyes. In the dim light, she nearly had to hold it up to her face to see what it was.
Even then, its nature still wasn't clear. It felt like a stone of some kind, the size of a walnut, cold to touch, black as night, drawing in every surrounding ounce of light and heat. It was engraved with a pattern of thorns and swirls. Under closer scrutiny, those patterns began to glow a faint blue.
The ghost seemed pleased at this stone's appearance, and said,
"Though for dragon I am no match
I have strength enough to hide.
If the beast you can't dispatch,
With this stone, elude its eyes."
Then she spoke one more time, as though to herself.
"The crystal above dispelled the dark,
All it needed was a spark."
Amuana glanced towards the room's entrance. She faded from sight, but they could feel her presence still lingering.
"We shall help the nice little girl, right Boo?" Minsc said, breaking the silence.
The hamster squeaked a reply.
Minsc laughed. "Of course she is a ghost! But we will not hold that against her. She is a little girl who needs a brave hero to help, and help we shall!"
"But what kind of help ought we to offer?" Mazzy asked. "Lidia, given the prophet's advice, I would urge you once again to reconsider confronting the Shadow Dragon."
Lidia turned the wardstone in her hand. "But this stone—"
"It won't do us any good if the dragon kills us all." Suddenly, Mazzy turned towards the doorway and raised her bow. She fiercely whispered, "Something's close."
They all turned their ears towards the room outside. The only sound from inside was Yoshimo, who had suddenly awakened and was now crawling towards the room's exit, muttering, "The darkness…the darkness cannot be breached…"
"It's the Shade Lord!" Valygar said. "Hold him down!"
Lidia pulled out Azuredge, ran to the far wall, and pressed her back against the stone, positioning herself by the doorway so that if she turned, she could see into the tiled room. Aerie frantically glanced to and fro, before making her stand near the altar, readying a spell.
Anomen and Minsc rushed to restrain Yoshimo from getting any further towards the doorway, but they were struggling to keep him down. Yoshimo seemed to be filled with unnatural strength, and even with his progress hampered, he made it about halfway across the room, murmuring again, "The darkness cannot be breached…"
Lidia glanced out the doorway, then quickly retreated. Valygar was correct. Floating over the threshold in the next room was the wight inhabiting Merella's body. The Shade Lord passed over the lettered tiles, stretching out a white, bony hand, giving a black-lipped, fell smile stripped bare of teeth.
Suddenly, Valygar's voice intoned: "Manus, potentis, paro!"
A flash of light covered Yoshimo, then settled over his body. He slumped to the ground and remained still, alive but as sick and unresponsive as before.
The Shade Lord paused in place. Beneath the cascading cape of Merella's silver hair, the creature's brows furrowed, as though it were puzzled, puckering the skin on its forehead. It turned, floated back to where it came from, and was soon out of sight.