Chapter 25
We returned to the Myconid camp, and the gnomes regrouped and said they'd return to the city when they had the strength. I presented Nere's head to the Soveriegn, it rejoiced in the camp's restored peace and named us 'Lifebringers'. We decided to return to camp to rest up for the journey into the Shadowlands.
Back at camp I set up Barcus and began to discuss how we will break Wulbren out.
"I thank you for allowing me into your camp. It's well-appointed. Not too crowded. Perfect for thinking. I believe I have a plan to rescue Wulbren." Barcus said.
"Do tell," I responded
Barcus released an embarrassed sigh and said, "Well, clearly our last encounters are a preponderance of evidence that I am a poor adventurer. I cannot save Wulbren alone. But, with your help, I wager I can use my meekness to our advantage."
"I'm not sure I like where this is going," I said hoping Barcus wasn't about to volunteer himself for any unnecessary danger.
"Just hear me out. The cult needs the formulae for runepowder. So they're not going to bat an eye over one more gnome prisoner brought in by a 'True Soul' such as yourself. And they'll lead us straight to wherever Wulbren is held, and I'll have a little something up my sleeve." Barcus said slyly as he pulled out parts to a spherical device.
"What's that?"
"It will be my next invention. A smokepowder bomb, but twice the power in a more controlled mechanism. It'll blow the walls or bars of Wulbren's cage right off, and then you use your highly adept talent in getting me out of trouble to facilitate our escape." Barcus said and while he sounded confident, I could tell he was nervous about the plan.
"Or… you could give me the bomb; I'll ask the cultists where the gnomes are being held and bust Wulbren out," I said placatingly.
"No Mr Dresden!" Wulbren said with a shout then calmed, "No. I can't just… stand by and let you do this for me. I must do this myself. Perhaps if I had before he wouldn't…" Barcus said cutting himself off.
"He wouldn't what?" I asked speculatively.
Barcus huffed, "Perhaps if I had been more assertive when Wulbren was around, he wouldn't have joined the Ironhand gnomes."
"Wulbren's an adult. You aren't responsible for his choices Barcus. And what's your beef with the Ironhand gnomes anyway?"
"My 'beef' as you call it, is that they have only ever been focused on the destructive nature of a gnome's ability to create. This newest obsession with runepowder is the perfect example. Do you truly know what it is?" Barcus asked.
"Other than a big-ass explosive, no."
"Until very recently I thought runepowder was a myth. A substance so powerful it could fell a city- a nation. The Ironhand gnomes have proven the impossible. Runepowder is real and they're going to use it. That kind of firepower can only lead to destruction and ruin. The ruin of whom I can't be certain. That's why I need to find Wulbren. Talk some sense into him before it's too late. Will you help me?" Baucus asked desperation and fear in his voice.
I thought about it. Barcus had a point. Anyone with that runepowder would be a dangerous force to be reckoned with, and while the Ironhand gnomes aren't a threat to me. Angry people with bombs don't tend to think about things like collateral damage or if the ends really justify the means. And that's the best-case scenario if the Absolute get a hold of runepowder, no one will be able to stop them. And… I also had to take my own advice, Barcus is an adult I can't decide his fate for him. If he was willing to walk into the lion's den to get his friend out and try and prevent a catastrophe, all I could do was help keep him alive while he tried it.
"Alright. I'll help you get Wulbren out. But if we're gonna do this, it's on my terms. I tell you to jump. You ask how high. I tell you to hang back. You blend in with the rocks. I tell you to run. You make a break for the hills and don't look back. Got it?"
"I understand. Thank you Mr. Dresden." Barcus said in relief.
"Hey anyone willing to do something this courageously stupid calls me Harry." I responded with a grin.
"Of course. Thank you Harry." Barcus said with a smile. "Now you are aware of the… nature of the area around Moonrise Towers are you not?"
"The Shadow Curse? Yeah, Halsin, the druid told me about it."
"Ah but did you know that shades roam the area of Moonrise. Shades that fear not steel but light." Barcus informed me with feigned enthusiasm.
"Hmm. The shadow-cursed people are weak to light. Makes sense. How bright are we talking?"
"Well, I'm no expert. But presumably, it would take quite a bit of direct light to destroy the fiends. Your half-elf companions' radiant orbs should do some damage."
"That's helpful. Thanks, Barcus."
"At your service." Barcus mused, giving me a bow. We said our goodnights as he settled into a quiet corner of the camp.
As I walked to my own bedroll, an old man in red wizard robes appeared in the camp. The stranger was the epitome of what people imagine when you think wizard. Long white beard, flowing white hair, baggy robes and a wide-brimmed and pointed wizard hat. A part of me flinched momentarily, the man reminded me of the Merlin. The main difference was the eyes, the man who appeared in my camp didn't have the cold, calculating gaze that I'd come to associate with Arthur Langtree, lord and master of wizard bureaucracy. The stranger's eyes were softer, holding the weight of his years with a spark of good nature and humour. When he spoke it was that same spark shone through.
"Woah there, stranger. My apologies for intruding on your environs."
"Elminster?" Gale said as he approached
"The very same, Gale. And a fair bit miffed he is too, finding himself forced to expose his best pair of boots to so many miles of country road on your behalf." Elminster said annoyance in his voice.
"Excuse me? A little in the dark here. Who is this man, Gale?" I asked
"Meet Elminster Aumar. A good friend of mine, but rather more significantly, he's the most famed and respected wizard in the realms." Gale responded.
I stared at the old man. He certainly looked the part, but to be sure I reached out my magical senses. And the power Elminster was producing nearly knocked me on my ass. The magical energies of the world around him seemed to respond to the sage's very breath, ebbing and flowing within him like water in a stream.
Elminster raised an eyebrow at me, "Checking my credentials young man? I'd call you overly paranoid. If I did not know the perils, you have faced… and have yet to encounter." Elminster espoused cryptically.
"If the magic kick in the pants didn't convince me, the vagueness would. Well met Wizard Elminster. What brings you here?" I asked
"I was bid to spare neither time nor my own self to find our mutual impertinent friend. She sent me Gale. You know of whom I speak."
"But why? Out with it Elminster. Please!" Gale shouted.
"Young man, has your sojourn away from Waterdeep washed away your decorum as well as your patience? Nigh a tenday I've gone without honest fare worthy of the name- drank naught but what the sky entitled my thirst. Why, some bread cheese and a glass of wine would appear unto me a feast! Surely you won't begrudge me a mite of rest before I get 'out with it'." Elminster complained.
"Yes, Gale where is your hospitality? We have some rations we could spare." I said half-teasing Gale, half falling back on the age-old traditions of host-guest rite that bound much of the magical community together back home.
"And a great kindness that would be! See Gale? Even in these barren parts, the art of hospitality begets inspired new works if one only keeps up the practice."
"Oh for the love of…" Gale groaned
I gave the old wizard some spare rations and he consumed them ravenously, at a speed that should have been difficult for his age and apparent weakness.
"Mmm, yes, what a delightful wedge of Old Elturian that was. Doesn't do parlay on an empty stomach you know. Makes one's words frivolous when they should be grave. Plenty to digest after all. A good deal to stew over, if you will. Words ladled with import should be savoured so as to better absorb their meaning, wouldn't you agree?"
"Elmister!" Gale barked in exasperation.
"Right, ahem. You see… I, er… ahem. That is to say… Gale m'boy. I've come to address a most pressing matter. I'll speak plainly as I can, forswearing the accustomed frills that decorate my speech. I'm here on behalf of Mystra. The message and the charge I bring you are hers." Elimister spoke, gravely.
A representative of Mystra. What would the goddess want? Is she here for Gale? To punish him for his failures. Or is she here for me, for impeding on her territory? I moved my hand to hover near my staff as I asked, "What does Mystra want?"
"To give Gale a chance at redemption" Elminster responded, along with a private message he sent psychically, "Worry not Harry Dresden. While my lady's irritation over outside casters is well known, she has granted you clemency so that you might help destroy the Absolute in her name."
The message both reassured me and alarmed me, as Mystra's mercy meant the Absolute was a much larger threat than I initially released.
"Mystra would consider… forgiveness?" Gale breathed in disbelief
"She would consider what she considers to be forgiveness," Elminster responded shakily. "Mystra is aware of the misadventures that have befallen you both. She knows of your strife with the Absolute, that most insidious of evils. You must know that the Absolute is more dangerous than you can possibly conceive. It threatens all whom live- even those who are undying. It threatens the gods, the Weave, the very fabric of the universe itself."
So. To recap. I'm going against an ancient sorcerer powered by a fallen angel, mindflayers who can infect any creature with their tadpoles, a cult controlled by those creatures and now apparently a god-threatening force that controls the whole gang. I would be surprised if this sort of situation wasn't just par for the course in the whirlwind of danger my life has become.
"That is why I have come to charge you, Gale, with its destruction. It is Mystra's belief that only you can." Elminster concluded.
"How could Gale… the orb," I said with terrible realisation.
"Precisely," Elminster said with a saddened crack in his voice. "Mystra has granted me the power to stop the clock, as it were, on the orb's rush to overpower you. Instead, you will be able to unleash its lethal combustion at will."
"Interesting. This could be a help or a hindrance- we shall have to see." The Dream Visitor said curiously.
I scowled at the Dream Visitor's lack of empathy and concern for this plan as Elminster continued, "You must find the heart of the Absolute, whatever that may be, and use yourself as the catalyst that will burn it from this world."
"So, you plan to turn Gale into a living bomb! Hells bells I thought you were his friend!" I said outraged.
"He isn't. But Mystra is." Gale said defeatedly.
"It brings me no pleasure saying this, my friend, but such is Mystra's will. Yours must be the sacrifice that will undo the Absolute. And for your sacrifice, you will be redeemed- such is Mystra's promise. With that, I've said my sorry piece, and need only bestow unto thee the charm I was bid." Elmister then raised his right hand with purple energy burning in his palm, "My'Nahastra Mystra'Ryl. E'Deelion Thras'Anas' Thra."
The energy radiated around Gale and settled into the symbol on his chest.
"It is done. Both charge and charm have been committed to your care." Elminster then turned to me, "To you, I commit into care Gale himself. I count on you to shepherd him well on this strangest of journeys."
"I will. And I'll find another way to defeat the Absolute." I asserted.
"Or find another fate altogether." Gale countered glumly.
"Like moons make swell and wane the nescient seas, so too the sky-strewn gods ordain tidal fates of mortal days. But even the waves of fate can be broken upon the shores of will. Farwell, my friend." Elmister said as he disappeared from our camp.
I turned to Gale. His face was a mask of shock, "An audience with Elminster is never less than memorable. I'd have helped to introduce you to him in less dire circumstances, but those are hard to come by these days."
"So Mystra has ordered you to kill yourself. You're not considering accepting are you?" I asked concerned
"Of course, I am. Mystra offers the clearest solution to our problem. All I have to do is find the right place and time, close my eyes, and let go… Then the slate will be clean, wrongs will be righted, the Absolute will be gone and I along with it." Gale said with a worrying calm.
"There had to be another way." I asserted.
"If there was, I'm sure the goddess of magic and the greatest wizard who ever lived would have identified it, but alas… only one solution is offered."
"Gods can overlook things and, on personal experience, even the most powerful wizards can be wrong. Just sleep on it before setting course on a suicide mission." I pleaded.
"Very well. All this strife remains ahead of us for now. The heart of the Absolute must be discovered before I can stop its beating."
We said our goodnights and went to rest, to be ready for our journey into the Shadow-cursed lands.
That's Act One finally done. That took waaaay longer than I anticipated. Thankyou to anyone still reading my little side project. Act Two will be coming soon.