"The dragon asked us to 'give his regards to the woodsman,'" Mazzy said, giving Valygar a hard stare. "Was he speaking of you?"
"He was," Valygar said. "The destruction of the wards, the releasing of the Shade Lord…it was my doing."
The entire group fell into a stunned silence. Suddenly, Mazzy jumped to her feet, her hand curling around the hilt of her sword. "You have been a good friend, Valygar, but this is unforgivable, a disgrace to your name of ranger—"
"It was," he said, looking her in the eye. "I'm out here because I want to set it right."
"Nothing can ever 'set right' my companions' deaths!" Mazzy exclaimed.
"I know it can't. It was never my intent to unleash this darkness, if you're willing to hear me out."
"Then explain yourself," she said coldly. "I reserve the right to draw steel if I find your answer unsatisfactory."
Valygar threw another log on the fire, letting it settle before he spoke again.
Finally, he said, "Here's what happened: Lette approached me about a month ago. She knew that I'd traversed the forest before. She claimed that the old wards were wearing down at the temple and asked me to use a scroll to strengthen them. I looked over the scroll, and it seemed to work the kind of magic that she claimed it would, so I took it without asking any questions.
"I went to the heart of the temple as she instructed and cast the spell from the scroll, but not long afterward, the land was swallowed in darkness. I wondered if the two events were connected, and now…"
Another long, uncomfortable silence passed.
Mazzy sat back down, sighing heavily and rubbing her hands over the fire. "Then you were misled, though I wonder if Lette knew herself what that scroll would do."
"She…works for Baron Metrich, if I remember right," Lidia said. She recalled the conversation she'd had with Moreno shortly before they'd left for this place.
"I mean, it's not…it's not as though he'd plan all this, is it?" Aerie asked nervously. "No one could just…"
"It would hardly surprise me if he did," Anomen said. "Evil takes many forms, and the task of stamping them all out falls to the righteous."
"Of course!" Minsc said, holding up his hamster. "Boo's finely-honed hamster nose will sniff you out, evil! Unless, of course, evil throws pepper behind it, and then Minsc will deliver a heroic butt-kicking to those who would pull such a nasty trick."
Aerie pulled her knees to her chest. "There's…there's the people who died during the attack, the people taken by the Shade Lord, the poor man in Merella's cabin, Yoshimo…how many people need to die here, just for all of this?"
"Wait," Mazzy said. "You mentioned someone in Merella's cabin. What happened to him?"
Aerie shuddered and left it to Lidia to recollect the man they'd found and the grisly fate he'd met. As the story continued, Mazzy's face fell.
"That was our scout," she said. "If we didn't come back, Ekain was meant to follow us and try to discover what happened to us, collect information for the next party—"
"I am sorry," Valygar said. "He raised the alarm, but the Shade Lord got to him before I did."
Mazzy's brow furrowed. "Strange that the Shade Lord himself would venture that far from this place."
"Or that he'd leave something behind," Lidia said. "There were these little braids by Merella's cabin and Anath's cave. I think they had Merella's hair woven into them. Unless…" She had to gather her thoughts for a moment. "Unless it's not a coincidence at all. If he stays connected to this plane through a host body, then it makes sense that he'd use a part of that body as…as an anchor."
"Perhaps the Shade Lord is capable of planting his talismans himself," Anomen said, "but perhaps he requires an accomplice to do it for him."
"We're going back to the idea that someone wanted the Shade Lord's onslaught to happen. Dangerous talk," Valygar said.
"True; we can't speak of it without proof," Lidia said. "But…knowing about the Shade Lord's movements is something we can use. If we seal the portal to the Plane of Shadow, the Shade Lord might be forced to move to those physical links. Maybe he'll even stay out of sight while we dispatch the Shadow Dragon."
Another uncomfortable silence followed.
"Have we determined yet whether our course leads us there?" Anomen asked.
"We're…we're actually going to try killing it, aren't we?" Aerie said. "Mazzy?"
"I suppose we are," Mazzy said. "It's standing directly between us and the source of the Shade Lord's power. A wardstone that hides us from sight is less useful against a creature that walks in darkness. And if the Shade Lord's location can be manipulated…"
She reached for her pack and pulled out a handful of dirty white rags. "When he captured me, I struggled as best as I could, but pulling these from the hem of his gown was all I could manage. If we can use them to ensure he remains away from us, so much the better."
"I like where this is going," Lidia said. "Aerie, do you think you can learn how to use that golden thing?"
"I…I think I can," Aerie said. "It's got elements of both divine and arcane magic working together, but the spells themselves are simple."
"All right." Lidia leaned back on the palms of her hands—she was already tired. But she mustered her thought and strength one last time, then said, "If anyone has a way of resisting negative energy, now's the time to prepare that spell. The dragon seems to breathe it out, and he'll do that first."
"And then?" Valygar asked.
Lidia reached for her journal. "Well, let's come up with a plan."