"So am I," Brindell said. She fingered her holy symbol with a pudgy hand.
"Perhaps the divination wasn't a literal one," Eldrinn said. " 'Death' could mean the Crones, and the door may be another route to the Acropolis, hence 'freedom.'" He turned to the wizard beside him. "What do you think, Q'arlynd?"
"Why don't you try opening it, Daffir?" Q'arlynd suggested, moving closer to the other wizard. "Let's see what's behind the door, and decide."
Q'arlynd's eyes, Leliana noted, kept straying to the staff Daffir held.
"Just be ready," she told the others. "Anything could come through that door." She readied her sword. "Go ahead, Daffir."
Daffir balled his hand into a fist, raised it to his lips, and barked a word into it.
Nothing happened. The wall looked as solid as ever.
"I need assistance," he said. "Gilkriz, Q'arlynd, can you aid me?"
The conjurer nodded. So did Q'arlynd, but less eagerly.
"On the count of three, then," Daffir said. "One…"
Gilkriz raised his fist to his lips. Q'arlynd motioned for Eldrinn to step back, then did the same.
"Two…"
The priestesses also heeded the warning. All took a step back.
"Three!"
All three mages spat out a word in unison. As it left their lips, a black iron door became visible. It had no handle, but a knocker shaped like a goat's head hung dead-center on its pitted metal surface. The knocker reared up and thudded its horns against metal with a hollow boom. The door creaked open, away from them, releasing a puff of dust-scented air.
Leliana stepped forward. The top of the door was level with her chest, so she had to bend slightly to peer inside. Even without a prayer of divination, she could feel the tainted chill that spilled from the room. When her eye fell on the statue that stood against the far wall, between two arched exits, she understood why. Like the door knocker, it had a goat's head. Blood-red gems glinted in the eye sockets, reflecting the light from the Faerzress that glimmered from every surface, including the statue itself. The statue had a duergar's squat proportions but stood fully twice Leliana's height, its curving horns nearly scraping the ceiling of the room. Arms folded against its chest, it stared down at a pool of silver that shimmered at its cloven feet: quicksilver.
The priestesses and wizards crowded behind her, curiosity overcoming their apprehension. "What is that?" Tash'kla breathed. "A golem?"
"There's a rune on its chest," Gilkriz said. "A duergar rune. It's faded, but I can still make it out: 'Orcus.'"
Leliana immediately sang a prayer. Behind her, she heard the other priestesses do the same.
"That means something to you?" the conjurer asked.
Leliana nodded. "Orcus is a demon. Prince of the dead. Kiaransalee killed him."
Q'arlynd squatted beside her. "You said he 'is' a demon. Did he rise from the dead?"
"Yes, despite Kiaransalee's best efforts. She not only killed him but conquered his realm-that layer of the Abyss known as Thanatos. Her priestesses marked the victory by naming her chief temple after it. But the demon lord eventually returned to reclaim his realm."
"Did the duergar of these parts worship Orcus?" Gilkriz asked.
"The ones who dug this mine obviously did," Leliana answered. "It's odd, though, that this shrine remains intact. Kiaransalee's followers made it their mission to eradicate all vestiges of the demon prince. Legend has it the goddess worked magic that erased Orcus's name, wherever and however it had been written."
"And yet this rune remains," Gilkriz said. "Maybe we should close the door," Eldrinn blurted.
Q'arlynd stared at the room's far wall. "I'm wondering where those corridors go, myself. I don't know if any of you has noticed, but they're not glowing. The Faerzress ends at the wall on each side of those arches. I think they're portals."
"Go ahead and try one, then," Gilkriz suggested, his voice silky. "We've got diviners to spare."
Q'arlynd bristled. His fingers twitched.
"Enough," Leliana reprimanded. "I've made my decision: we're going to seal this room and take our chances with the putrid ooze. As Gilkriz pointed out earlier, we were almost at the Crone's cavern when-"
"Madam," Daffir said, his soft voice interrupting her. "Please stand aside."
Leliana turned. "What is it, Daffir? Do you see something?"
"Yes. My destiny."
He moved closer to the door and peered inside. His head tilted, as if he were glancing at something the others couldn't see. Then he nodded. He straightened and handed his staff to Eldrinn, startling the boy, then ducked down low and entered the room.
"Stop!" Leliana cried. She grabbed for his robe, but missed. "We need you. You're the only one who…"
Daffir crossed the room with swift, purposeful strides.
"Protectors," Leliana barked. "Stand ready."
The priestesses lifted their swords and touched holy symbols.
Without so much as a backward glance, Daffir entered the corridor to the left of the statue and vanished.
Several moments passed.
Gilkriz broke the silence with a snort. "Diviners," he muttered. He waggled his fingers beside his temple. Crazy.
Leliana expected a retort from Eldrinn or Q'arlynd, but the pair had drawn apart from the others. She could see Q'arlynd's arms moving-he was saying something to the younger wizard in rapid, silent gestures-but his back was to her and she couldn't see his hands. The boy's eyes widened. Then he nodded. He clutched the staff with both hands and drew it to his chest protectively.
Leliana caught Gilkriz's eye. "Seal that door," she ordered. She was just about to find out what Q'arlynd and Eldrinn were up to when Qilue's voice sang out in her head.
Leliana, I have news. Karas has penetrated the Acropolis. He's discovered what the Crones are up to.
Gilkriz was casting the spell that sealed the door, his chanting a distraction. Leliana clapped her hands against her ears to block it out. She listened as Qilue described what Karas had discovered: a massive orb of voidstone at the heart of the Acropolis, guarded by a ghostly Crone. And that wasn't the worst of it.
Judging by what Karas described, the Crones are attempting to open a gate to the negative energy plane, just as they did in Maerimydra, Qilue told her. And I fear I know what they're trying to bring through it. An army of undead, commanded by a vampire minotaur. The legions of the Death Heart.
"The Death Heart," Leliana repeated, her voice tight.
We must stop them. This time, we won't have the help of the Guardians. And Cavatina…
The voice stopped.
"Qilue?" Leliana asked. "Are you still there?"
The others had fallen silent. They stared tensely at Leliana.
Cavatina is beyond my reach. I fear the worst.
Leliana felt, rather than heard, Qilue's anguished sigh.
It's up to you, Leliana. You have to find a way to take the Acropolis. To halt what's happening before the Crones spill an unholy blight upon this world.
"The Nightshadows aren't with us," Leliana said. "They went another way. And we-"
So Karas told me. You'll need reinforcements. I'll be sending others through the portal, but I want those of you who are already there to move on the Acropolis at once. Karas said he could already see shapes moving inside the voidstone. It already spat out one monster. It won't be long, now, before the gate cracks open.
Leliana wet her lips nervously. "Lady," she ventured. "Will you be leading the reinforcements?"