"I think so," she replied. "I would know for certain if I could get a look above the trees."
"I think I can arrange something," Daile said a bit mysteriously. Without explanation, the ranger wheeled her horse around and quickly disappeared among the trees.
Kern exchanged a curious glance with the others.
Scant minutes later, Daile caught up with the group. Her cheeks were flushed, and she seemed slightly out of breath.
"I got a glimpse of the spire," she said excitedly. "It's no more than an hour's ride ahead."
Kern gave the ranger a piercing look. "How do you know, Daile?"
"I… I found a pile of boulders and climbed them," she said, but this didn't ring true. However, no one pressed the question.
Before long, the sun slipped behind a mountain, casting a premature gloom over the forest. Finally the pines gave way to rolling alpine tundra, and they espied the pinnacle of stone. It loomed above them, a foreboding sentinel. At the base of the natural basalt spire was a grove of what appeared to be dark, leafless oak trees. But there was something unnatural about the grove.
"I can see through the trees!" Listle exclaimed in surprise.
"Can't you feel it?" Daile asked, shuddering. 'They're not living trees at all. They're shadows. Dark echoes of the trees that used to grow there." She swore fiercely. "An abomination."
"It is the magic of the twilight pool," Evaine explained. "It pervades the very ground here, perverting all it touches. We must be careful."
Kern drew the hammer from his belt. "At least there are no monsters here to block our way."
"You're awfully sure of yourself," Trooper noted cuttingly.
"Do you see any monsters?" Kern asked in exasperation.
"No, but that's not the point." Trooper scratched his grizzled beard thoughtfully. "I remember a man who might not have been as eager as you to ride into that grove."
Kern groaned. "I know you're trying to help, Trooper, but this isn't really the time for one of your long-winded stories."
"Nonsense," the old paladin snorted. "It's the perfect time. This fellow I'm thinking of was a veteran warrior before you were even a mischievous whim in your parents' minds. One day we were riding across the Stonelands some leagues to the east of here when we saw a huge white fortress perched high on a hill. I asked him what he thought of the place. He said to me, 'Well, it's white on this side.'" The paladin paused, apparently waiting for Kern's reaction.
"I don't understand," Kern said with a frown.
"Don't jump to conclusions, lad!" Trooper's bushy eyebrows bristled as if for emphasis. "That's what it means. Believe what your eyes tell you, but only what they tell you, and no more."
Kern nodded, realizing his foolhardiness. It seemed there was still much to being a paladin that he had yet to learn. But there was no more time. They had reached the pool. He would just have to do his best to remember the lessons Trooper had taught him these last days, and hope he had learned enough.
The riders dismounted. On foot, they crossed the gray, snow-dusted tundra to the shadow-filled grove of trees. Evaine paused, shutting her eyes and spreading her arms wide. She winced, a flicker of pain crossing her brow.
"I can feel the power of the pool emanating from among the trees," she said hoarsely. "The entrance to the cavern is somewhere in the grove."
They stepped among the twisted shadow trees.
"I can still feel the suffering," Daile murmured. "Everything that perished here did so in great pain."
Gloom filled the air. Kern could see no more than a dozen paces ahead in the murk. The trees seemed to close in behind them with disconcerting swiftness. It was almost as if the trees had moved to block their escape, Kern thought He quickly discarded the unpleasant notion.
Trooper pulled out an oil-soaked torch, and flint and tinder to light it.
"I wouldn't do that," Evaine hissed.
The old paladin froze, then nodded. "You're right. I doubt they much care for fire."
"Whom do you speak of?" Miltiades asked, but Trooper did not answer.
They continued on.
Listle looked around nervously, her eyes growing wider by the minute. She began to turn her head this way and that. It felt as if someone-or something-was creeping up from behind them. She felt sure of it. The sensation grew stronger with each passing step.
"There's something behind us!" she whispered hoarsely.
"Get a hold of yourself," Trooper growled. "There is magic at work here. Fear lingers on the air, but you have to resist it. We're only as strong as our weakest link. If you succumb, Listle, we're all lost."
She nodded silently, clenching her jaw. She did her best to push the fear from her mind. It wasn't easy, but if the others could manage, she could as well.
A rough, natural wall of stone loomed before them in the gray air. A jagged opening yawned like a gigantic maw. Evaine did not need to say that this was the entrance to the pool.
The attack came without warning.
A ring of shadow trees closed around them, swinging dark limbs ending in sharp, broken branches.
Kern was knocked from his feet and fell hard to the earth. A tree plucked Daile off the ground. The ranger screamed as she struggled to free herself, but more and more branches snaked out to grip her.
A dozen branches reached for Miltiades. He swung at them with his sword, his blade passing right through the shadow substance of the trees. Quickly he scrambled out of their reach. Evaine chanted the words of a spell. A ball of green lightning appeared in her hand, which she hurled at a knot of shadow trees. The lightning expanded as it flew through the air. It struck the approaching trees dead-on, bursting in a brilliant spray of emerald sparks. The shadow trees marched on, unaffected.
"Let her go!" Kern shouted, gaining his feet and charging the tree that held Daile. He swung the hammer at its trunk. Like Miltiades' sword, it passed right through the immaterial substance of the tree.
"How can we fight shadows?" Trooper cried. He, too, was having no luck with his sword, and Gamaliel's claws proved no more effective against the shadow trees.
"I have an idea," Listle shouted. "Everyone, hold your weapons high!"
Kern didn't know what the elf intended, but there was no time to question her. The circle of trees was tightening around them. He raised the Hammer of Tyr into the air. Trooper and Miltiades did likewise with their weapons.
Listle moved her hands in an intricate pattern. Suddenly all three of the upraised weapons shimmered with magical fire. "Now give them a try," she said with a grin.
Miltiades turned to an approaching tree. He swung his sword, cleaving an outstretched branch in two. The tree recoiled in agony, the severed branch smoking. With a cry, Kern hurled himself at the tree that held Daile captive. His blow landed squarely on its trunk. The shadow tree shuddered as crimson flame licked up its dark surface.
It still did not let go of Daile.
Kern swore. The flames would consume her along with the tree.
"Daile, you've got to break free!" he cried.
"I can't!" She struggled frantically, to no avail. The flames leaped higher, until Daile was lost to sight. Kern staggered backward in horror as the tree toppled to the ground. In moments the flames died down and vanished. There was nothing left of the shadow tree.
Daile sat on the ground, unhurt, a puzzled expression on her face.
"How-How-" she began.
"It's illusionary fire!" Listle called out in explanation.
Suddenly Kern understood the logic. "Illusionary fire to burn shadow trees," he said in amazement. "How did you guess, Listle?"