"That is not good enough!" Ravendas snarled. She plunged the stiletto into the priceless tapestry and slashed downward, tearing open a gash that passed directly through the serenely smiling lovers. She threw the knife down disgustedly, her face twisted into an expression of fury and madness. "I want Caldorien now. Do you understand me, Snake? Now! If you fail me again, I personally will cut out your heart." She slumped into a chair. The rage bled from her face, leaving it pale, but the madness still swirled in her blue eyes.
"My lord, I will-"
"Silence," she said broodingly. "Leave me, Snake." She stared sullenly at the ruined tapestry, scratching at the arms of the chair.
"As you wish, my lord."
Snake bowed, drifting from the room. He made his way through the tower to his private chamber. These black moods were overwhelming Ravendas more and more often of late. She was beginning to speak of Caldorien as much as she did of the Nightstone and her ambition to rule all of the Caravan Cities. She was growing erratic in her judgment, and foolish as well. That could put everything in jeopardy. Soon Ravendas would outlive her usefulness.
Snake shut the door to his chamber. He was alone. He took the dim crystal from its wooden chest. It was time to contact the shadevar. Caldorien had escaped the Zhentarim Snake had sent into the Fields of the Dead, but that was hardly a surprise. Their only purpose had been to harry Caldorien. Then the shadevar could do its deadly work. But he needed to contact the shadevar to confirm that it had been successful.
Snake spoke the word that unlocked the magic of the crystal. It glimmered briefly in his hand, then went dark. A frown crossed his thin face, and he repeated the key word. Again there was a faint glimmer, then the crystal went dull.
Something must be interfering with the crystal's magic. Snake tried other spells, all to no avail. It was possible that the crystal's enchantment had faded. It was an ancient device, and such was not an impossibility. Regardless, Snake would have to wait until the shadevar returned to the vicinity of Iriaebor to make direct contact. It annoyed him. but he could not believe the shadevar had failed in its task.
Snake put the darkened crystal away. He had another task to perform. He opened a drawer in an ornate wooden cabinet, taking out a small crystal vial and a thin golden needle. The vial held a thick, purplish fluid. It was telsiak, a rare poison native to the southern empire of Amn. One drop in the blood caused the heart to stop beating instantly.
He dipped the needle into the vial and then, taking great care, slipped the needle into a pocket. He left his chamber and walked softly through the dim corridors of the city lord's tower. He passed a few Zhentarim, who only nodded to him respectfully and did not block his passage. Soon he stood before a door. He carefully unlocked it, pushing the door open. He stepped into the darkened chamber, shutting the door softly behind him.
A child slept soundly in a bed near the chamber's window, bathed in the silvery moonlight. Without a sound, Snake moved to the bed and drew out the poisoned needle. He held it so that the point was a hairbreadth above the boy's small hand. One prick, and the child would be dead.
Suddenly Snake cocked his head, his hard eyes going distant for a moment. He nodded then, a new understanding filling his mind. He put the needle carefully away and slipped from Kellen's room. The boy never woke.
Kellen must still die, Snake knew as he crept softly back to his chamber. But his death could wait. The child might yet serve a certain purpose.
"The gateway is ready," Morhion said to the companions, stepping away from the intricate circle he had laid out on the ground beneath the oak tree. The circle of silvery dust was perhaps a dozen paces wide, and the mage had scattered the interior with wild mint and dandelion. In the middle of the circle were two small pyramids of white stones, set far enough apart that a horse might walk between them. The mage had used a piece of burnt ocher to draw arcane symbols on the stones of the two pyramids, and atop each he had laid a single hawk's feather.
"Below my tower in Iriaebor there is a magical portal," the blue-eyed mage told the others. "It was fashioned by a powerful conjurer who dwelt there many years ago. I have cast an enchantment that links this portal with the one in my tower."
"It looks more like a bunch of rocks and weeds to me," Ferret commented skeptically, his beady eyes glittering.
Morhion regarded him icily. "That is why you are a foolish thief, Ferret, and I am a mage." Estah interposed herself between the two of them, wanting to make certain one of them didn't end up a toad and the other a corpse.
"I'll go first," Caledan said roughly, "just in case there's trouble on the other end." He swung himself into Mista's saddle as the others followed suit.
Caledan nudged Mista into a walk, guiding her toward the circle Morhion had drawn. Mari watched Caledan's mare step into the circle. Suddenly the silvery symbol drawn upon the ground began to pulse with an unearthly light. Horse and rider approached the two stone pyramids, then moved in between them.
Mari gasped.
Mista's head vanished! The rest of the gray mare was still there, Caledan in the saddle, but her head-no, now her entire neck up to her withers-was gone.
Caledan turned around in the saddle to glance at the others, but suddenly he, too, was gone. All that remained were Mista's hindquarters, and in a moment they disappeared as well. There was one last swish of Mista's gray tail dangling by itself in midair between the two small pyramids, and then there was no trace of either Caledan or his mare.
"We must follow quickly," Morhion said. His smooth brow was beaded with fine droplets of sweat; his skin looked ashen. "I cannot hold the gateway open for long."
The companions cast looks of trepidation at each other but did as they were told. One by one they rode into the circle. Mari was first. She swallowed hard and guided Farenth between the stone pyramids.
She felt a sudden chill slice through her. It was almost as if she were riding through an icy cold waterfall, frigid water passing over and then behind her. She felt her heart pound in her chest, and for a panicked moment everything went dark. The rolling plains vanished. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't feel the reins in her hands. She was lost in nothingness and tried to scream but found she had no voice.
Then a warmth broke over her. Her lungs drew in a shuddering breath as her heart lurched into motion once again. Farenth's hooves clattered loudly against a slate floor. She realized she was in a dimly lit circular chamber of stone.
The spell had worked. She was in Iriaebor once again.
She watched in amazement as one by one the others rode through the portal. It was as though they were riding out of an impenetrable darkness into light, but Mari knew it was solid stone, not darkness. Finally they were all through. Estah breathed a sigh of relief as Tyveris mumbled a prayer to his god. Ferret simply looked nauseated.
Caledan seemed to have no desire to tarry at the mage's tower, and soon they were outside, guiding their mounts through the cobbled streets of the Old City.
Iriaebor had grown even more shadowed in their time away. The sun was just now setting, yet already the streets were deserted. All along the avenue, doors were tightly closed, shutters securely drawn against the approaching night. A scrawny, mangy-looking dog slunk across the street. It pawed through a pile of rotten garbage, then moved on, finding nothing edible among the refuse.
"Nice place to come home to," Ferret said, and Mari thought she noticed a hint of sadness in the thief's normally merry black eyes. "I'll ride ahead and warn the rest of you if I see any city guards coming our way." The thief spurred his roan stallion and disappeared into the twilight The companions waited until full darkness before slipping into the garden behind the Sign of the Dreaming Dragon. Even so, Jolle had seen them coming.