“Don’t you care about them?” she asked. “Don’t you think they might be worried about you?”
“As my original statement conveyed, I am eager to find them. Brendis and Nowhere are my associates, and very valuable ones. However, I assure you I won’t greet them with a tearful embrace when we find them.”
“Your associates?” Miri could hardly believe what she was hearing.
“Of course. We cooperate together to accomplish specific tasks for which our particular skills are well suited. Each of us brings different strengths to the group, and we cover each other’s weaknesses. It’s a lucrative line of work, and we divide the profits equally. It’s not so different from a trading venture. I can’t imagine what else I would call them.”
“Friends? You trust your life to them.”
Sherinna shrugged. “The same is true of partners in any sort of high-risk venture.”
“And what would they call you?”
“The same thing, I imagine.”
“Even Nowhere?”
For the first time, Sherinna’s perfect composure slipped, just a fraction. “What do you mean?”
Miri smiled. “The look in his eyes when you’re around doesn’t say ‘associate’ to me.”
Sherinna’s face froze, and Miri felt the temperature in the temple drop. “Enough,” she said, and Miri could see the eladrin’s breath in the suddenly frosty air. “I have no need to be chided by a half-elf child with stars in her teary eyes. Demascus promised to help me find my associates, so they and I can continue the task set before us. As soon as he has fulfilled his end of the bargain, I shall take my leave and hope that our paths never cross again.”
A sudden flare of light and warmth drove away Sherinna’s chill as Demas stepped between the two women, his face stern. “That’s enough, wizard. Miri may be young, but I have seen more proof of her valor and strength than I have yet seen from you. I am proud to call her a dear friend, and I can’t stand by and let you insult her.”
Miri’s heart sang as the wizard’s frosty glare softened. “I am sorry,” Sherinna said. “Perhaps I am more concerned about my associates than I was willing to admit, and my concern has shortened my temper.”
“Let us find them, then,” Demas said, “if only that we may part ways sooner.”
Nowhere stepped out of the rowdy tavern, and a bottle smashed on the cobblestones by his feet. Without a glance back, he hurried out of the alley, smiling broadly. When he reached the thoroughfare where he was to meet Brendis, his eyes lit on the Sword of the Gods first. Even in the cosmopolitan streets of the City of Doors, Demascus stood out like a troll at a banquet. Sherinna and Miri walked beside him, one on each side.
“Sherinna!” he called, and changed course to meet them. He saw Sherinna’s face brighten, then she brought it under control and shot Miri a dark glance. What was that about? Brendis emerged from an alley across the street, and Nowhere waved to catch his eye.
“You found us,” he said as he drew near enough to be heard. The group met in front of a potter’s shop, but Miri stood a few paces away from the others, her gaze fixed on Demascus. “What happened?” he asked.
“The portal was unstable,” Sherinna said. “As soon as the cultists had passed, it started to close. Before it did, though, the far end of the portal—the one in this city—started to slip. For each of you that went through, your destination fell back a significant distance. I suspect even Brendis never saw the cultists.”
“That’s right,” the paladin said.
“Sherinna and I used our magic to stabilize the portal and hold it open,” Demascus said. “Then we set about collecting our … associates.”
“The Sword of the Gods drew on Ioun’s wisdom to lead us, first to Miri and then here,” Sherinna said. “His abilities really are uncanny.”
“We could use those abilities,” Brendis said. “Are you still interested in chasing those cultists?”
Demascus glanced at Miri. “Our mission has failed,” he said. “Ioun sent us to Bael Turath to destroy the Staff of Opening before it fell into evil hands, but we were too late. I would like to correct that failure.”
Miri scowled and looked away from the group. For that matter, Sherinna didn’t look too pleased at his words.
Brendis smiled, apparently oblivious to the two women. “We believe they’re on their way to put that staff to use. If Sherinna’s right, and I have no doubt that she is, the staff you seek incorporates a shard of the Living Gate. They plan to use that shard to open a doorway into the prison of the Chained God.”
“They seek to free the Undoer,” Demascus said.
Nowhere shuddered as a chill shot through him. He hadn’t heard that title before, but it brought to mind the sense of a dark god unraveling everything, reversing mortal achievements and bringing plans to ruin. He glanced at Sherinna and found her eyes on him. She looked distracted, and he gave her a quizzical smile. She looked away.
“We believe they’re heading for Pandemonium to perform their ritual. So Nowhere has been asking around, trying to find out where you go if you want to get from the City of Doors here to the howling wastes there.”
“Ioun will lead us,” Demascus said.
Nowhere bit his tongue, fighting down the urge to say something pointed—or draw his dagger. He couldn’t deny that Demascus’s gifts were useful, but did he have to be so sanctimonious about them?
The Sword of the Gods struck him as the worst kind of zealot—the kind of follower who never learned to stand on his own feet because he trusted the gods to hold him upright. And then had the gall to reproach others for not living as he did. He thought he understood why Sherinna didn’t look pleased that Demascus wanted to tag along on their adventure.
Miri turned to Sherinna, though her eyes were fixed on the ground. “I—I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to chide.”
So they had fought—that explained the tension in the air and the angry glances. Sherinna looked taken aback, but quickly regained her composure. “No, I’m sorry if I insulted you,” she said.
“Together, then,” Brendis said, beaming around at his companions. “Demascus, lead on.”
The Sword of the Gods closed his eyes and took one firm step. Then his eyes opened wide in shock. He clutched his hands to his ears and fell to his knees.
“Demas!” Miri cried, rushing to his side. “What is it?”
The Sword of the Gods stared blankly as if he hadn’t heard. Nowhere searched the street and what he could see of adjoining buildings, looking for a fleeing assassin or some other explanation for Demascus’s sudden collapse.
“Demas!”
“I’m all right,” he said at last. “I saw the doorway we seek, but I cannot lead us there.”
“Why not?” Brendis demanded.
“I … There was a scream, and …”
Nowhere gaped at Demascus. He’d never seen the Sword of the Gods at a loss for words or appearing anything but supremely confident, but something had shaken him.
“It’s all right,” Nowhere said. “I can get us to the portal.” He drew a silver charm from his pouch, a depiction of a bent spiral—the Elder Elemental Eye. “I even got us a key.”
Pain convulsed Albric’s body, shattering his focus and making the image within the gate shift more rapidly. He looked down and saw the Progenitor completely covering his lower body, and he could feel it starting up his spine. He couldn’t feel his legs at all, and he realized that his left leg was liquified—a column of the silver-scarlet liquid supported his body.
“Albric!”
Jaeran’s voice jolted him out of his shock, and he forced his attention back to the gate. The image stabilized again, showing the gleaming streets of a celestial city. A moment later it shifted to a range of brooding mountains, then a castle with soaring spires, its walls fluttering with blue pennants.