Chapter 42 Into the Fire

Usual disclaimers: The characters in this story are owned by Wizards of the Coast, Atari, Obsidian, and a whole lot of other people and not by me, except for an occasional NPC and a bear and paladin lovin' ranger. Now with extra bear lovin' and angst.

Deep in a Barrow:

Cillian took one look at his bonded, battered, bloody and restrained by a gigantic hand, and turned to deal with the attacker. He reared up on his hind legs and roared at the woman, a prelude to giving her a sound mauling. Oh yeah, she was gonna get a mauling. A creature that looked like a huge bat swooped down between them. He snarled and swatted at it, and it shrieked and flew up out of reach then flew back to worry him.

The woman's words sunk in through the fog clouding her mind, and Dee flushed scarlet as she realized that the woman mistook her intention when she summoned Cillian. She was lucid enough to understand the woman hadn't hurt her, even if she was a Red Wizard, and though being grappled by the hand was infuriating, it hadn't harmed her either. She called loudly, "Cillian, come, my love." The bear looked from the pest and the stranger to his companion and hesitated for a heartbeat before he dropped to all fours and bounded to her side, where he contented himself with growling at the hand. She turned her head to address the woman. "This is my companion—Cill."

Now it was Safiya's turn to flush as she realized how quickly this meeting could have turned deadly through a silly misunderstanding, and she grumbled that she was a pathetic rescuer. "I'm sorry...but I wasn't told anything about you, so when I heard 'kill'...I thought you were casting a spell at me..." She shrugged sheepishly and dispelled the hand, and Dee dropped to the floor and rubbed her backside with one hand while putting the other arm around Cillian. He still watched the other female and the flying creature warily, growling softly.

After taking a moment to calm the agitated bear, Dee looked up at the woman. "Who are you? What happened? Someone took my sword and the shard in my chest...and my armor, my pack, and...and my boot! What the hells?"

Safiya raised an eyebrow. "You don't know who butchered you? I can't tell you as I just got here myself, but there's some armor lying over here and a cloak." She was about to bend down to hand it to her but she balked at the amount blood on both.

Dee replied testily, "If I knew, I wouldn't ask, would I..." She looked around, peering into the darkness. "Where's Cas? Where are the others?" She looked around again and shouted for her husband, beginning to panic. Cillian sniffed the air but reported no trace of the paladin other than a slight trace of his scent that lingered on her.

Safiya looked around anxiously and shushed her. She spoke slowly as if talking to a child. "Quiet, please! Look, I know you're hurt and confused, but we have to get out of here. Now listen closely. I'm Safiya. Your companions aren't here. You're in a barrow deep under Rashemi soil. All I can tell you is my mother sent me to meet you here and help you get to her friend Lianna in Mulsantir. Trust me, she's going to do some explaining when we get there. But we must make haste. The guardians of this barrow will sense our presence and awaken." Safiya reached a slender tawny hand into a small bag hanging on her belt and withdrew a much larger pack. "I picked up some things I thought you could use. There's a bow and a crossbow with arrows and bolts, and a short sword. I'm sorry, there wasn't time to gather anything else besides a few healing potions." She smiled helpfully and handed the pack to Dee. "I'm not sure you're even strong enough to use any of the weapons from the looks of you, so stay behind me."

Dee looked askance at the woman and muttered, "Yeah, right," as she took it and examined the short sword, giving it a trial swing through the air. She would have to be at death's door before she took up a position behind a mage. "Better than nothin' I guess. I can use both a bow and a crossbow, but I need to clean off my spectacles or I can't shoot very far." She hung the quiver on her belt and frowned as the woman's words sunk in. "Wait, did you say Rashemen? How the hells did I get here, and who stole my sword? Who cut the shard out of my chest?"

Safiya replied in her scolding instructor's voice, "I'm sorry, but as I told you, I don't know anything about your sword or how you got here. Oh, I but almost forgot. I also brought an essence that will add a ice enchantment to the blade. Let me see it." She took it back from Dee and removed another bag from her belt pouch. She opened it and slipped the sword and a glistening silvery essence inside then lay it on the ground and cast what looked to Dee from the sounds and gestures like an ice storm spell. When she had finished, she opened the bag and handed the sword to Dee. It now sparkled with the power of the ice element. "There, that should help if we encounter a guardian. Are you strong enough to go on? Do you need a healing potion first?"

Dee ruffled Cillian's fur then took it back and slipped it in her scabbard and took the potion. "Thanks. My ankle hurts like the hells, but it's healing." She looked down at herself as she stooped to put on her armor. "Gods, I must be a sight." She raised an eyebrow when she noticed that someone had taken her Harpers pin, which had been in a pocket inside her brigandine, and pinned it to her shirt as if to alert anyone who found her of her affiliation. Safiya smirked as Dee fastened it to the inside of her ruined shirt.

She looked around to see if she could spot her other boot and noticed a skeleton behind her on the ground near where she had been lying. She pointed it out to Safiya. "Look there. Odd, isn't it? He looks like he just crawled in here and died. Or mayhap these runes trapped him here?"

Safiya looked down at the skeleton then at the runes. "Yes, perhaps once he got in here the runes prevented him from leaving. I had to dispel them for you to leave. Unfortunately, we don't have too much information on Rashemi runes at the academy, but this one here?" She pointed at one. "It's called 'The Dancing Man,' and it is designed for binding."

Dee drew close to one of the runes and put her hand over the figure. Safiya shouted "No!," but it was too late. The air wavered, and then Dee heard voices then saw a woman with golden skin smiling at her, eyes shining with love, and a little boy laughing and playing. These faded, and she was standing before a gigantic wall full of writhing, screaming people. She dropped weakly to her knees and put her head in her hands to block out the horror.

"What happened?" Safiya asked, her voice full of concern.

"I think I had a vision." Dee explained breathlessly after a moment what she saw to Safiya, but she didn't tell her that the woman in her vision looked very much like her. "Then I saw what could only be the Wall of the Faithless. I don't know what to make of it."

Safiya had no idea either. "It could be memories trapped by the runes. Perhaps they belonged to that unfortunate man lying there or others who have come here."

Kaji flew down from his hiding place near the ceiling and hovered behind Safiya. Dee asked, "Is that your familiar? He's very unusual. My friend Sand only has a cat."

Safiya beamed with pride at Kaji then smiled at Dee. "Yes, this is Kaji. He's a homuculus, and I created him myself. I've made others, but none as good as he. He's my master work." She put her finger to her lips at a loud rumble and looked around nervously. "I fear they've awakened. We really need to get moving."

Dee had no choice but to go with this Red Wizard for now until she could remember what had happened. At least they weren't in Thay; Grobnar had been there once on Harper business and had nothing good to say about that land. Dee looked down at her foot, glad she had worn thick wool socks. "I suppose there's nothing for it but to wait until I get get to the city. Come on, my love. Leave Kaji alone." Cillian chuffed at her and followed after a last snarl at Kaji, who was flitting around the bear just out of reach.

The walked through the winding passageways, and it wasn't long before they encountered the first barrow guardians, huge earth elementals. They were a hard fight, especially because Dee was still so weak that she thought she fought like a novice. Once they fell, Safiya used a silver tool she called a 'shaper's alembic' to withdraw their elemental essences from their remains, storing them in a special container until she had enough to use for enchantments. Dee watched in rapt attention as she explained what she was doing. "Ooh, Sand would love to have one of those. Mayhap I can pick up one for him in the city?"

Safiya pretended not to hear. The last thing she intended to do was turn knowledge of Thayan alchemy over to some foreign hedge wizard.

They stopped to rest for a few moments at a pool of water fed by a stream that ran down from from the surface far above them. Dee sniffed first then tasted a few drops of it and pronounced it safe as she filled her empty water skin. Cillian joined her and they drank deeply, and Safiya and Kaji joined them and refilled the water skin she brought with her. It hadn't occurred to her to bring any extra food for her journey, let alone for another person with a hungry bear. Cillian sniffed a large glowing mushroom and let Dee know it was good for food before he devoured it. She and Safiya weren't that hungry yet though. Someone had camped here before; there was the remains of a fire, and behind a large rock Dee spotted the glint of silver and went to retrieve it. She found a rotting rucksack with a few scrolls in a case still inside it, which she tossed to Safiya, and a book, The City of Judgment.

Dee insisted before they went any further on taking a few minutes for removing her armor and washing off the itchy drying blood in the pool over Safiya's objection, pointing out that the scent of blood would attract predators to them, not to mention insects. "All I need is to make it out of here just to be felled by some Rashemi bug that burrowed into an open wound."

Safiya replied, "Very well, but we should move on as soon as we've rested," then added with a sly grin, "but I agree, you reek." Dee chuckled despite herself and stripped to her small clothes and stepped into the pool, grimacing as she gingerly examined the ugly stitches over her heart, thinking that 'butchered' was an understatement. Safiya chuckled at her lacy beribboned small clothes, so out of place on this tall, muscular woman. "My, those are certainly...dainty."

Dee flushed crimson. "Yeah...My husband likes 'dainty.' He gave me these for my birthday yesterday. At least I think it was yesterday." For all she knew, it had been days, or even months since they left the Keep. She sighed and murmured, "Cas, where are you?"

Safiya felt a keen disappointment at hearing Dee was married that she couldn't explain. She didn't ask about him, but then again she didn't really care to know anything about him. She pondered for a moment where this animosity towards a stranger because of another stranger might be coming from and was at a loss. It was so unlike her.

Safiya knelt to help her rinse the blood out of her hair, explaining that at the academy, and indeed all Thayan schools, no one over the age of eleven has hair, and how one of first lessons students learned was to remove their hair with a cantrip, which was also part of the entrance exam. She could see an ugly fresh scar on her scalp. "You must have taken quite a blow to the head. I wouldn't be surprised if your skull was fractured, which no doubt explains your memory loss." She shook her head. She was no healer, but she could see that either that one or the wound over her heart could have been fatal, and certainly both together should have been. "No wonder you can't remember how you got here."

Dee shrugged. "Either I fell through a portal or someone brought me here. Only thing I can figure is I must be alive because of my ring of regeneration. And Cas has one too!" Remembering that detail gave her hope. She decided the shirt was hopeless though as much from the rip as from the blood stains as she held it up before rinsing it. She sighed, "And I got this from Cas for my birthday too. It's real cotton all the way from..." She flushed as she realized that it was from around here somewhere. "I don't suppose..." She turned her head to look at Safiya over her shoulder. "I hate to ask but...Could you cast that mending cantrip or the one that cleans things? Sand always had those memorized."

Safiya wasn't surprised. "No doubt this Sand had those on hand so he was always immaculate, am I right?"

Dee chuckled in reply. "Yeah, that's Sand, and not one strand of his long silky hair out of place."

Safiya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She had heard tales of how easy it was to impress these warrior types with the simplest of spells. "Put everything in a pile together over here. Better than you catching a chill wearing wet clothes." Dee quickly complied, putting her spectacles, which had a crack in one of the lenses, on top, and stood back to watch in amazement, which only proved Safiya's point to her.

They shared the few morsels that remained of Safiya's food; Dee thumbed through the book while Cillian stood guard. Someone had added annotations in the margins about searching for another book called The Lamentations of the Dead that was to be found in something called 'the death god's vault.' It gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach, but Safiya didn't know what that was. Dee mused aloud that Aldanon wasn't the only scholar who felt free to embellish a book with notes. She examined the cover and saw that it was made out of thick tooled leather. It was a beautiful book and would be a fine addition to her library at the Keep.

But with a sigh, Dee cut the binding and tore the cover apart, ignoring Safiya's shocked gasp. It was just long enough to rest her foot on with a bit of trimming using the dagger. She reluctantly cut a few strips off the bottom of her cloak and used it to bind the book cover around her foot, grinning and holding her foot up when she finished her makeshift sandal. She shrugged at Safiya's bemused smirk. "Beats walkin' to Mulsantir in my sock. Pity about the cloak though. Lord Nasher has the Many-starred Cloaks enchant these for his new knights, and I don't know if I ruined the enchantments."

Safiya raised an eyebrow. "You're a knight?" She didn't recognize the lord's name, but she had heard of the Neverwintan Cloaktower mages, who served the city's ruler. This woman was becoming more intriguing.

Dee replied with a self-depreciating shrug. "I'm a lot of things—a ranger first, and my friend Neesh taught me a thing or two about locks and traps, but I am a knight of Neverwinter too. At least Lord Nasher thinks so, though sometimes I still don't believe it."

They moved on through the barrow, their way lit by Safiya's staff. They hadn't gone far when their path was blocked by two large wolf spirits. The larger of the two snarled at them. "We were aware of your passage below, Red Wizard, but you entered alone." It sniffed with disdain at Dee. "This one bears a wound that should have been fatal, yet you live. But we sense the wrongness about you, something that laid waste to spirits across Rashemen. You will not leave this barrow."

Dee was about to use her ranger's ability to calm animals to try to reason with the wolf spirit, but instead to her horror she felt something fly from deep inside her and force its way out through her mouth. Long ribbon-like feelers reached out with lightning speed and enveloped the wolf spirit completely. They appeared to absorb its essence then instantly retreated back inside her, all within the space of a few heartbeats. The other wolf spirit yelped and ran off as fast as it could. "What the hells was that?," Dee gasped wide-eyed when it was over. Cillian sniffed her and growled and backed away a few steps.

Safiya stared in astonished horror as Kaji screeched and hid behind her. "What did you do? That was neither arcane nor divine magic. I've never seen its like." She wondered again what Dee meant about being "a lot of things."

But Dee looked just as astonished. "By the gods, Safiya, I swear I don't know. But...I feel stronger now. My wounds are completely healed, and my ankle doesn't hurt! But let's get movin' before the other one comes back with reinforcements." For a moment she thought of the skeleton in that binding circle where Safiya found her, and the bile rose up from her stomach as it occurred to her that someone might have deliberately brought here here as a host for whatever had been bound there. She knew from her talks with Ammon Jerro what sort of creatures had to be bound for the protection of those who dealt with them. Her stomach churned. If she had eaten anything more than a few bites, she would have lost them now. But she subdued and banished the thought to a room in the back of her mind and locked it away so she wouldn't have to deal with it for now.

There was nothing for it but to move on. But more than once Dee suspected they were retracing their steps, and then she was sure of it when they came across the remains of a guardian they had already destroyed. Cillian noticed too and let Dee know he didn't understand why she didn't take the lead, so Dee spoke up. "No offense, Safiya, but are you sure we're going the right way? Shouldn't we have found the way out by now?"

Safiya scowled and looked around the chamber they were in, hating to admit that Dee was right. "I know the way! There should be a passage right over there that led up. I think the spirits of this barrow must have closed it off to trap us inside. That's the only explanation. There's no point in digging either, because they can reshape the earth faster than we can move it. We must find another way out or we'll starve to death in here after we eat all of those fungi your bear is so fond of." She hoped her voice didn't betray her nervousness.

They entered another passageway they had missed before in which dirt gave way to a stone floor, which led to a pair of metal doors. Safiya ran her hand over the intricate design on the doors. "This appears to be an Imaskari structure of some kind. Believe it or not, this building was once on the surface. We might find a way out but..."

"But?," Dee inquired as she watched Kaji check for traps. "Yeah, I know, there's no tellin' what's inside there. But mayhap the upper levels are still above the surface." She could tell Safiya wanted to weigh the possibilities, but they didn't have time. Something else occurred to her too. "There could be a portal inside. I think from what I've read of the Illefarn empire that they had contact with the Imaskari people. They used song portals to travel between their cities, so mayhap they traveled beyond too." She didn't wait for Safiya to reply. She turned the latch and pushed the door open as Safiya gasped, "Wait!"

But there was no portal that would lead her home, though Safiya did find an dormant Imaskari golem. She skillfully mixed a salve that would reactivate it as Dee told her about the Illefarn golem at her Keep, blushing as she realized she was beaming at Dee like a first-year mixing her first potion. She studied the workbench, afraid to meet Dee's eyes again. "It can carry anything we find that's salvageable and fight against the guardians on the way out, though the enchantment will fail before we get very far from here."

As they explored the ruin, Dee found a long sword in a room in a display of armor and other weapons. She gave it a few practice swings. In her experience, swords that were fancy enough to be put on display rarely were crafted to be of use in battle, but it was a beautiful blade and well balanced. Yet it was not the Sword of Gith, even after Safiya placed a fire enchantment on it. The fire energy flowed along just under its surface, but it didn't thrum through her with power like her sword. It wasn't the same.

They searched the rooms that weren't closed off by earthen walls, but found not even a window leading out, so they returned to the earthen tunnels and the shrines of dead animal spirits. Eventually they found what was left of an Imaskari library down another hidden passage, but still no way out. They were trying not to despair, but it was looking more and more like they might indeed be trapped in the barrow. They stopped to rest and consider their options, which weren't many.

Safiya kicked the ground in frustration. "Well that's one way of making sure we don't get out of here. There's nothing more we can do unless we could somehow make an offering to appease them. Spirits are capricious beings, and they may forgive our offense if we could find an offering to burn to them over there." She nodded at a large basin carved into a rock.

"It probably doesn't help that we've taken the offerings we've come across and angered them further." But that gave Dee an idea, and she dug through her rucksack. "Something like this pouch of herbs?" Dee had taken it to use to start a campfire once they camped. She grinned at Safiya and placed the pouch in the bowl. Safiya grinned back and used a cantrip to set light to it, and a few minutes later as the aromatic smoke filled the chamber, they heard a rumble and watched in amazement as the earth parted and opened a passage in the wall. Cillian could already smell the fresh air, and soon roots appeared growing down from trees on the surface. Their steps became lighter the closer they got.

They arrived at a burial chamber that was larger than any they had encountered thus far. In the center there was a raised stone platform that served as a final resting place for a massive bear's skeleton. Surely this was where the spirit of the 'god' who ruled this barrow rested. As if it read her mind, the air around them wavered and sparkled with every color of the rainbow then coalesced into the form of a huge bear. Dee stared at him in awe. She had never seen anything so magnificent! His thick snow-white fur on his head and back shone like the sun on fresh snow. He was adorned with a rainbow of elemental colors from the blue of the deepest sea on his feet to the crimson and orange of fire that spread up his limbs ending in golden swirls. Dee's first barely restrained impulse was to bow before him, and Cillian didn't hesitate to do so.

He narrowed his small golden eyes at her and snarled angrily, "What is it that smells so foul and disturbs my slumber?"

Dee swallowed hard. She knew better than to awaken a mortal bear from its hibernation, and here she had awakened a god. She replied reverently, "I am called Dee Farlong, Great One. I have no quarrel with you, god of bears. I am simply a stranger who has been taken far from my homeland. Let us pass, and we will leave this place in peace."

He replied in a deep voice that rumbled like thunder. "I am Okku, king of bears, as your companion knows. In life I ruled the creatures of the world above, and in death I guard this world below. I can smell the foul hunger that wakens in you, even if he cannot. If the little cub understood, he would join me in ending your life. You do not know what you are, little one, but by my oath you will not leave this barrow." Cillian looked from him to Dee hesitantly before he drew closer to his bonded and chuffed at Okku.

Safiya held her staff defensively determined to protect this stranger, though she didn't understand why. "I don't care what you think you smell, bear spirit. You will not have her. Powerful as you surely are, I have shaped and bound things far greater than you."

The bear cocked his head to look at her and growled, "And you, Thayan. Does your ally know the secrets you hide? What grief you bear beyond measure? Bah, enough words! None of you will leave my barrow alive!"

Dee suspected what he meant—the voices Safiya was assaulted by in the lower barrow that she had dismissed as 'nothing.' But she couldn't let herself be distracted by that now. Dee drew her swords and assumed a defensive posture in front of Safiya as Cillian took his place beside her. She said indignantly, "Then we will fight. But you're wrong about me. All I want is to leave this place in peace and go home."

The massive bear charged as Safiya finished a protective spell. Cillian leaped to intercept him and blocked him from attacking Dee directly, though he suffered for it as Okku smacked him aside. He fell heavily and Dee cursed and attacked Okku with a flurry of blows while Safiya attacked him with a missile storm spell and the golem pummeled him with its iron fists. Once they engaged, Dee no longer had any hesitation about destroying the spirit bear. She had tried to parley with him. Now he was simply one more obstacle keeping her from getting home. Finally, after Safiya cast a meteor swarm spell and Dee connected with three more blows of her swords, he glowed brightly then seemed to implode.

Dee's heart was pounding as she spun around looking for him, expecting him to reform and renew his attack. "Did we...kill him?"

Safiya looked around the chamber as Kaji flew up through an entryway that promised to lead them to the surface. "No, because he's already dead. All we do is disperse his essence, but for how long I can't tell you. I suggest we get out of here quickly."

She didn't have to tell Dee twice. Cillian bounded after Kaji, and after a glance back to see if Safiya and the golem were following, Dee sprinted after him. The sun had already set when they first broke the surface, but they took deep gulps of fresh air then headed down a well-worn path which lead them to a dirt road. Using Safiya's mage light and Sand's light coin they traveled quickly in silence until they had put the barrow behind them by more than a few miles. Dee finally broke the silence as they stopped for a drink of water. "How much farther is Mulsantir?"

Safiya studied a map her mother had given her. "I think we must be about here because the road is turning away from the river. It looks too far, even if we were to walk all night. I suppose we may as well make camp. This is as good a place as any, and I need to study my spells anyway." She was also more tired than she wanted to admit.

Dee snorted. "Good as any if you want an ambush. I'll scout ahead." She and Cillian sprinted off over Safiya's objections, who was left wondering how such an impulsive woman had managed to live this long. But before she had walked much further, Dee returned with news of a safe campsite near the bottom of a nearby hill and a pair of rabbits to share that Cillian had flushed out. It was not quite a cave, though it was wide enough that they could all fit inside. It overlooked the road, but was shielded enough by trees so that even with a fire it wasn't visible. And there was a wide, slow stream nearby so they could refill their water skins.

Kaji gathered wood and Safiya made a fire with another cantrip while Dee dressed a rabbit and threaded it on a thick stick and stuck it between two rocks so it hung over the fire. She gave the other one to Cillian, who returned from digging up some large tubers for them to roast. Safiya noted with distaste that the bear had brought them back in his mouth, but she was too hungry to turn them down.

Kaji was not to be outdone and flew high into a nearby tree to pick some golden fruits that they could see even in the dark. He brought them an armload and flew back and cackled gleefully as he tossed some down for Cillian to fetch until he tired of the game. Dee had never seen their like but thought they were some kind of apple, but Safiya told her they were pears. They ate their supper and talked about Dee's home. Dee told her about Casavir, his bright blue eyes, shy smile, and sly humor.

"Isn't it difficult being married to a paladin? You don't seem the type to tolerate the restrictions such a union would require," Safiya said skeptically.

Dee smiled brightly thinking about him. "There are a lot of false notions about what paladins can and can't do. Mostly it depends on the god they serve. I admit it took me a while to get used to him. I'm ashamed to say I used to joke with my friends about whose job it was at the temple to shove a stick up the new paladins' backsides. But I got to know him and discovered what a kind, faithful, gentle friend he was, and then I learned what a generous lover he was. We haven't been together for even a year, but the time we've had together has been golden."

Dee grew quiet thinking about him and looked on the verge of tears, so Safiya tried to get her mind off him by changing the subject. She told her about her academy and about some of her fellow instructors, and some of her best, and worst students. She told her about her mother Nefris and told Dee how difficult she could be at times, no-nonsense and unaffectionate, though Safiya knew she did love her in her fashion.

Dee was struck by how much Safiya's mother sounded like Daeghun, and it gave them another common bond. But she didn't want to think about Daeghun now. She needed to get home, and dwelling on her home and those she loved only made her depressed and distracted her from her purpose. Dee was feeling more at ease with this Red Wizard, and it occurred to her after a while that she reminded her of Shandra. This was a Red Wizard, she reminded herself. It could all be an act to get her to trust her and let her guard down. She knew nothing about her.

Dee encouraged her to talk further by asking questions about her mother, who she was beginning to suspect had something to do with her abduction. For it was becoming clear that was what happened. Being here was no accident of falling through a portal. She turned her attention back to Safiya, who was telling her that her mother was the head mistress of the academy, and had been as long as she could remember. Without thinking because her mind had been elsewhere, Dee said bluntly, "That must have helped, having your mother in charge."

Safiya sat back and said coolly, "If you're implying I didn't earn my position..."

Dee held her hand up as she realized how bad that sounded. "Hold on, I meant nothing of the kind. I only meant...I didn't mean it that way. Forgive me. But when I think on it more, I can see having your mother in such a position must have made it more difficult for you because you had to prove yourself in ways that the other students, and then the other instructors, didn't. And you probably still do."

Safiya put her arms around herself and stared at the fire pensively. Dee had touched a very raw nerve, for she indeed had dealt with those kinds of whispered insinuations and accusations since she was a first year student, and it hadn't gotten easier when she became an instructor. It had cost her friends who didn't trust her not to take a confidence to her mother, as well as lovers. The few times when she had allowed someone to get close to her, it had ended badly when it became obvious she was being exploited because of her loneliness. She sighed sadly. "It's true. Even now I don't know if someone is genuine or only using me to get closer to my mother, and I'm afraid it's made me cynical. But enough talk. We should get some sleep so we can get an early start. The golem can protect us."

Dee hesitated, knowing better than not setting watch shifts, but she was tired, and she had a empty, gnawing feeling that the food hadn't filled. But at least she wasn't suffering the attacks of nausea she had for the past few tendays. She knelt to offer her prayers to Meilikki and Tyr, and added a prayer to Kelemvor that he would allow Casavir to wait for her if he came into His presence before she did. She wrapped up in her cloak and stretched out on the far side of the fire next to Cillian and fell asleep almost at once.

Safiya took out her spell book and selected her spells then lay on the hard ground trying to get comfortable. But she had never slept out of doors like this. She envied Dee her tattered cloak, for she had brought nothing with her other than a peasant dress and head scarf as a disguise. On the few occasions when she had accompanied her mother outside of the academy, they always had slaves and homoculi to attend them while they traveled, and there was always a silk tent at the very least or an inn and a bed to sleep in. And it was cold here too. She hadn't thought to bring a cloak since it was early autumn and warm enough during the day, in Thay at least. But this was Rashemen. There were spells made for travelers' comfort, but she had never had use for those before now. Why hadn't she taken a few scrolls before she left?

And then the rain came, slowly at first, then building to a downpour. She was grudgingly thankful Dee had found them a campsite that was covered as she sat up and stoked the fire then curled up with Kaji.

Back in the Mere:

Karnwyr whimpered. He struggled, but his hindquarters were pinned under a rock. His instinct was to chew his leg off to free himself, but he saw it was more than his leg that was trapped. Bishop groaned when he heard the whimper, surprised he was still alive. But then he hurt too much to be dead. He couldn't see, but he could hear the wolf just ahead of him. Using what strength remained, he was able to wedge one arm and his legs under the slab holding the wolf. He pushed hard and heard and felt something in his leg snap, and he screamed. But the rock shifted, enough to free Karnwyr anyway. Bishop slumped back and groaned loudly as the rock settled on him. Karnwyr inched forward trying to squeeze between slabs of rock. He could smell the swamp air very close. He stopped and whimpered at Bishop, but he heard nothing more from his bonded. He dragged himself slowly outside inch by inch, whimpering at Bishop again from time to time. But the ranger never answered.

Casavir tried again in vain to move the rocks on top of him. He knew he should be dead and free from this agony. But the ring healed him slowly. The trouble was, it didn't heal him enough to counter the damage from the stones pressing on him. It hurt to breathe, and he feared that meant his lungs were filling with fluid. If he could have reached his finger he would have torn the ring off to free himself from what remained of his life. But he willed himself to hang on and pray the others got out and would send rescuers to free him so he could find Dee. The top of her boot stuck out from under a rock, where her foot had been trapped until the monstrosities snatched her away. He stared hard at it to focus his mind on prayers for her to get his mind off the pain.

Grobnar threw himself on top of the construct as a slab of rock slammed to the floor in front of them. He whistled a few discordant notes, and a small door sprung open on its back. He slid inside and pulled it shut just as another slab of rock knocked the golem to the ground. There was just enough room for him to sit with his knees drawn up to his chest, but he knew he could hold on until the ceiling stopped falling. His biggest fear was that the golem would be buried in the debris, but he felt he had enough food and water to hold out for a few days.

Sand completed an incantation and transformed himself into an iron golem. He made himself a shelter by grabbing and muscling one huge slab that was about to flatten him against a wall at an angle. There was just enough room for him to hunker down inside his makeshift shelter and wait for the chaos to end. Elanee screamed as a large slab fell in front of her. Zhjaeve had disappeared from sight. She saw a chance and transformed into a vole, small enough to slip into a gap between the rocks. She spotted the slab leaning against a wall and scurried to it to wait until she felt it was safe to go on. She squeaked loudly in fear as she realized it was already occupied, but then she recognized Sand's features. He whispered her name and extended a hand to her, and she ran up his arm and settled on his lap.

Khelgar sprang on top of the falling slabs and leaped from one to another towards the exit following Neeshka, using his qi power to protect himself from any more falling from above. Neeshka clutched her lucky coin so tightly it left an impression in her hand as she danced gracefully between falling rocks, though her tail almost got trapped once. They saw light and reached a door, tumbled outside, and hugged the ground. After a moment they dared to raise their heads then sat up. Neeshka let out a loud, keening wail as the earth rumbled from the force of the collapse. Khelgar threw his arms around her, and she did the same. When it was over they didn't move, too overwhelmed to let go.

Hours had passed. Sir Nevalle paced in the audience chamber as Kana attended to her paperwork, though it was very late in the evening. Aldanon snored loudly in a chair that had been brought out for his comfort; one of his apprentices dozed sitting beside him on the floor, leaning against his knee. It had been far too long. They must have succeeded because the ominous gloom from the Mere was gone, but their failure to return in the hours that had passed was telling.

Nevalle strode over to Kana's desk and stood looking down at her. He smiled tightly as he noticed she was still looking at the same document that had been before her at least an hour ago. It was the only crack in her cool facade that betrayed her concern. She gave him an inquiring look. "It has been too long, and either they were prevented somehow from using the tome to get back here, or..." Neither of them wanted him to finish that thought. "Therefore, I would like a search party to leave at Lathander's first light. See to it. I must send word of this development to Lord Nasher."

Kana sighed in relief and saluted him crisply then strode out the door to the village. Due to their rank, the newlywed sergeants Starling had been assigned a cottage near the inn. She had been hoping Nevalle would make this decision and had been making plans while she pretended to work. Sargent Bevil Starling was the logical choice to lead the squad because he knew the Mere. She felt bad about sending him away when he and Katriona had just been wed, and it had occurred to her as she crossed the road that she should send two squads.

She shook her head at Daeghun, who looked up at her from fletching arrows by lantern light as he waited for news. She said tersely, "We're sending out a search party tomorrow at first light," and she continued on until she reached the cottage and rapped sharply on the door.

Daeghun nodded in reply as she passed. His pack was sitting beside him. He put away his tools and shouldered his pack. He didn't have the same need to wait for light that the humans had. But then he thought better of it. The rescuers would need a scout, so he waited and entered his reverie under the spreading branches of an oak tree, though he burned with the need to find his foster child, and Elanee of the Mere.