Three times more as they climbed, the stone to Raven-das's right undulated, and a dark, sinuous dragon head rose out to lock its eyes upon her. But each time, the mage blocked the gaze from the dragon of the eastern column of magic. The deadly arc of magic was never completed. The two climbers continued on. A dozen fathoms up, and the top of the wall was in sight.
Then Ravendas heard the mage scream in terror.
"Marnok!" she shouted desperately.
There was an agonizing silence. Finally she heard the mage's voice, faint and quavering. "I… I slipped. But I managed to catch myself."
Ravendas swore. Damn him. He had gotten careless. Suddenly a coldness gripped her gut. The stone to her right was moving, molding itself into a saurian shape. The dragon's head. And this time the mage was not there to break the arc.
"What level are you at, Marnok?" she shouted.
"I'm not sure. My… my rope is tangled."
"Then untangle it! Now!"
The dragon turned toward her. Its eyelids lifted, revealing two thin, blood-red slits.
"I'm at ten fathoms-no, nine!"
There was no time to make certain he was right. Swiftly, holding on to the wall with one hand, Ravendas hauled her rope up to the ninth knot and lashed it around her waist. Grabbing the end, she plunged her hand deep into the wall. She let go of the rope and withdrew her hand. The rope remained embedded in the stone. She could only hope it would hold.
The dragon's eyes opened, and she felt a prickling against her chest. There was no more time. She let go of the wall. A second crimson beam raced around the wall from the east to complete the arc of magic, inches above her head. A sunburst of blazing fire singed her hair as she fell. Then the rope pulled taut, jerking her viciously.
"Ravendas!" she heard Marnok's panicked cry. "There's a dragon to my left-it's turning toward me."
"It's all right-" she started to shout, but then she realized that was not so. The rope had slipped around her waist in the fall. She was too low. She could see another dragon head rising from the wall a dozen feet above her, turning to send its fiery gaze in Marnok's direction.
Ravendas threw her body up the wall, her salve-covered fingers digging furrows into the ancient stone. She couldn't let the foolish mage die. She needed him to reach the top. Just as the dragon opened its eyes, she gripped the wall with one hand and thrust the other upward to block the monster's gaze. She clenched her teeth in effort. Then, after what seemed a lifetime, the dragon shut its eyes and melted back into the stone. With a gasp, Ravendas dug a second hand into the wall, clinging tightly.
"Marnok?" she called out.
The wind whistled as it whipped past the fortress. Finally she heard his voice. "I'm… I'm all right."
Ravendas squeezed her eyes shut. "You'd better be, you bastard," she whispered. "After that, you'd better be."
The sun was just setting as warrior and mage trod where no other had in a thousand years. Like the spokes of a great wheel, eight bridges led from the top of the wall to Gur-thang's central tower, arching over the murky abyss below. Despite their grueling climb, Ravendas and Marnok moved swiftly across the northeast span. They reached a portal hewn of dark, gold-flecked marble. Quickly they discovered it was locked. However, there was a small scraping of magical salve left at the bottom of Marnok's jar. He spread the last of it on his hand. Then, with a grunt, he plunged his entire fist into the door. His brow furrowed in concentration as he moved his fingers inside the thick stone.
Ravendas heard a faint click.
Marnok grinned at her, pulling out his hand. "I think that should do it."
She leaned hard against the marble slab. There was a hiss of cold, dry air, and the door swung inward. The two stepped inside. An acrid tinge stung her nose, the smell of old magic. Marnok conjured a purple sphere of magelight in his hand. After a few dozen paces, Ravendas realized the passage was tracing a spiral, leading them gradually toward the center of the tower.
'The spiral is a symbol of power," Marnok said softly as they went.
"How so?" Ravendas whispered back.
"The labyrinthine shape of the spiral attracts magic, even as it entraps it," the mage explained.
"Entraps it?" She did not like the sound of that.
Marnok nodded. "Yes. And the stronger the magic, the stronger the spiral's bonds become." His eyes glowed strangely in the eerie light. "Power can be a prison, Ravendas."
"You're wrong, mage," she countered harshly. "Power is what sets one free."
Marnok gave her a curious, almost sorrowful look, but said nothing.
Abruptly the corridor ended. The two found themselves standing on the edge of a circular shaft. A staircase hovered in the middle of the shaft without any apparent means of support, spiraling up into the shadows above. The intruders paused, sitting for a moment to gather their strength before the final ascent.
"So, mage, why the Zhentarim?" Ravendas asked then.
He looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're both going to a great deal of trouble to join the Zhentarim. You know my reasons. But it occurred to me that I don't know yours. And I think you owe me that by now."
He licked his lips slowly. "Power," he said quickly. Almost too quickly. "What other reason is there?"
Ravendas frowned. "Somehow that isn't the answer I would have expected from you, mage. I would have thought that you-" Abruptly she halted. She could see it clearly in his green eyes. He was lying. "Bloody abyss," she swore softly. "You don't want to join the Zhentarim. That's not it. That's not it at all!"
He hung his head, his shoulders slumping.
'Tell me!" she whispered harshly.
Slowly, he drew something from one of his pouches. The deck of cards. "Yours isn't the first destiny I've read," he said quietly. "You see, for the last year, I've been following the cards, frying to find my own destiny. First the cards led me to the ruins of a wizard's tower, where I discovered the jar of salve, and then to the library where I found the history of these mountains. After that, the cards led me to Dark-hold. Always they led me on, as if I were caught in some great spiral myself. And now…" He pulled a single card from the deck.
"What is it?" Ravendas asked intently.
"You didn't want to see your fate." He handed her the card. "Well, this is mine."
She turned it over. Blue magic sparked along the outlines of a dark, knife-edged spire. The Tower.
"I came here hoping to find my fate, Ravendas." He reached out and gently touched her hand. "And perhaps I have."
Before she could say anything, he stood and moved toward the spiral staircase. Shivering, she followed. For a heartbeat, the card glimmered on the floor where she had left it. Then it lay dark.
"Let's finish this," Marnok said. He leapt off the edge of the shaft, his cloak billowing behind him, and landed on the staircase. Lithely, Ravendas did the same. She drew her sword as they ascended, but nothing assailed them from the surrounding darkness. The stairway ended, and the two stepped into a circular chamber. Silver moonlight spilled from crystalline windows high in the domed ceiling above. A basalt pedestal stood in the center of the chamber. On it lay a small, pale object. Eagerly, Ravendas moved forward, but the mage grabbed her arm.
"Careful," he hissed. "There is magic here."
She nodded, halting a half-dozen paces from the pedestal. Leaning forward, she peered more closely at the object that rested upon it.
"That's it?" she said in disgust, her voice reverberating off cold stone. "That's the wondrous Finger of Ckai-el-Ckaan?"