"So Bear can't risk going back to Anathar's Dell,' Holly explained. "When your horse shows up there, riderless, there will be a great many questions asked."
"Well, that's a small blessing, at any rate. Where are they taking us now?" Joel asked.
"There," Holly said, motioning with both manacled hands over Joel's right shoulder.
The bard twisted about. They sat on a slope looking down over a vale. On the opposite side of the vale, where Holly had just motioned, was a squat black tower. Hanging in the sky over the tower was a huge chunk of rock shaped like a great hornet's nest.
"That's the Flaming Tower, and the flying rock above it is called The Temple in the Sky," Holly explained. "No one knows much about the rock except that it's supposed to be inhabited by a beast cult. The beast cult ha made an alliance with the people in the tower."
"And who's in the tower?" Joel asked.
"It used to be held by Zhents who followed Cyric, God of Lies, but since Cyric's madness has grown, their power's been slipping. In his last report, Lord Randal said the tower's now held by Zhents who follow Iyachtu Xvim."
"Same as our captors," Joel noted. "So why aren't our captors hurrying across the vale to get home in time for supper?"
"Look harder… at the east side of the tower," Holly replied.
Joel focused on the area Holly had indicated. Ht started with surprise. There, parked at the tower gate, was the floating ship of the Banite pilgrims. The hulking vessel seemed small and fragile next to the massive tower. Joel squinted, but he couldn't see any sign of the pilgrims or the priestess on or near the ship.
"There was some sort of fight going on when we arrived," Holly explained. "The Banites were trying to get in the tower, and the Xvim people were trying Is keep them out. Our captors sent a scout down to find out if it was safe to approach."
"Sounds like the Zhents are spending more time with religious feuds than in conspiring to conquer the Realms," Joel noted.
"It's one small bit of luck," Holly replied. "Before the Time of Troubles, when the Zhents were all united under Bane, their power was nearly unassailable. Since Bane's death, the people of the dales have been given some breathing space." Holly paused, then nodded toward a single rider climbing the hill toward them. "There's the scout our captors sent out," she said.
The rider dismounted before the priest of Xvim. Joel and Holly couldn't hear what he reported, but they heard the laughter of their captors. One of the Zhentilar, a tall woman with a shaved head, mounted her horse and rode over to where Joel and Holly sat. With a practiced smoothness, the soldier leaned over with a pole and snatched up the center of the chain linking the prisoners. Yanking on the chain, the woman barked a sharp command for them to get up and start moving.
Joel fought back his urge to resist. The Xvimists had shown no compunction about injuring their captives, and he wanted to arrive at the tower conscious and alert. Feeling as stiff as a board, he accepted Holly's help getting to his feet, but once standing, he found he could move without pain. Together bard and paladin walked alongside the soldier's horse as she followed her unit down into the vale. They crossed a stream, and Holly and Joel, unmounted, were expected to endure the chill water seeping into their boots. The party followed the stream for some distance before coming to a trail that led up to the tower.
As they climbed the hill, Joel could pick out people on the roof of the tower throwing rocks down on the Banite ship. It was only when the hulking ship's battering ram broke off and its hull rocked perilously close to tipping over that Joel realized the rocks were boulders, and the people on the roof throwing the missiles were giants.
Whoever controlled the Banite ship apparently chose retreat over obliteration. The vessel turned about in place, then floated westward, still appearing majestic despite its damage.
Their captors laughed at the ship and continued up the trail toward the tower, which squatted on the hilltop like a massive spider. A hundred yards beyond the tower lay the edge of the great Border Forest, which, according to Holly, the Zhentarim plundered for the lumber and burned down for the land.
The fortress itself Joel estimated to be three hundred feet square and a hundred feet high. Its black granite block walls were broken only by a series of arrow slits The mortar seaming the granite blocks was the color of dried blood and gleamed in the light of the setting sun like burning coals.
It was the Temple in the Sky, however, that impressed Joel more. A great chain fastened it to the roof of the tower, as if it might float off like a dandelion seed were it not moored, yet its mass was even greater than the tower. The impression Joel had earlier that it resembled a great hornet's nest was strengthened when a flying creature issued from a hole at the base of the rock and darted downward like a busy insect. The creature had the hindquarters of a lion and the wings, head, and claws of a massive eagle. Joel watched it with fascination. Although he'd never seen one before, he realized it was a griffon, a dangerous carnivore which, according to lore, could be trained as a mount if raised from a hatch-ling. The griffon settled on the roof of the tower, and a red-cloaked rider dismounted from its back.
As they approached the tower, Joel found that craning his neck to watch the floating temple became uncomfortable. Moreover, now he had to watch his footing. The ground about the tower was strewn with corpses of Banites and the missiles the giants had thrown at the Banite ship, which consisted of boulders and the fetid contents of the tower's midden.
Scavengers would feast well tonight on the garbage, though they'd have to share with the flies, which were already buzzing about it.
A second patrol of Zhentilar approached and surrounded their party as they steered toward the tower's doors.
Holly was muttering under her breath. Joel glanced in her direction. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes were mere slits.
"Are you all right?" the bard asked softly.
The paladin didn't reply immediately, but held up a hand to bid Joel to wait. A moment later she opened her eyes a little wider and answered, "There is so much maliciousness here it's giving me a headache. None of it is focused in one place-fortunately, I suppose. I was just finishing a prayer to Lathander for his strength."
Joel grunted softly. He hadn't thought of his own god since he awoke. He couldn't imagine how his prayers could be of any use in his current predicament.
The double doors of the tower were some twenty feet high, enough to accommodate the giants, constructed of hardwood reinforced with steel bands. The symbol of Zhentil Keep had once emblazoned the door, but the black and orange paint had long since peeled and flaked away. Nevertheless, Joel could still discern the shadow of a gauntlet and gem on the weathered wood.
The doors opened silently, and their captors rode into the courtyard, dragging their prisoners along. In the darkness that swallowed them, Joel could barely make out his surroundings. They were in an enclosed courtyard that ended before a second large doorway. Once through the second doorway, they found themselves in a dark, wide hallway. The Zhentilar dismounted beside a door that, from the smell of hay and manure, Joel guessed must lead to a stable. The priest of Xvim ordered four Zhentilar from the tower to take charge of the prisoners and follow him to the Godson's audience chamber.
As Joel and Holly were dragged down the dark hallway, Bear fell in step behind them. The priest led them up a staircase, down another hall, and through another set of doors.
Within was a great hall, running nearly the entire length of the fortress, its ceiling concealed in darkness above. The air was cloying with incense, burning torch smoke, and the smell of unwashed human bodies. Something else hung in the air, less substantial, but no less formidable. Joel finally recognized it. It was fear.