"Yes, and this is one of the reasons why," Baylee said. "I could have come alone or with Cthulad and mapped these areas, then set up a proper expedition. I didn't get to do that, but I'm not going to allow those men's lives to be thrown away."
"You make this sound like I had a choice in the matter," Cordyan said. "Don't you think anyone else can feel as deeply driven to do their duty as you obviously feel you are to do yours?"
"That's not the point at all."
"That's exactly the point as I see it."
Baylee blew out his breath and finished tying the extra rope around his waist. "This is hardly the place for such a discussion."
Xuxa telepathically agreed, then chirped in angry frustration. Now is not the time to get caught up in other thinking, the azmyth bat counseled.
Tell her that, Baylee said. I believe I just told you both.
The ranger ignored the retort and started out on the narrow trail. He kept his long sword unsheathed in his hand. He guessed the distance to be something over forty feet.
At the other end, he selected a stone that appeared strong enough to take the weight if any of the Watch members fell over the side. He cupped his hands and shouted back at Cordyan. "Have the men tie on, then start them across. Ten feet apart."
The watch lieutenant was staring at her sword. In the dimness, even across the distance, Baylee saw a circular glow in the sword hilt.
The ranger sensed rather than heard the movement behind him. But he was too late to do more than avoid the bulk of the blow. He saw the grinning drow face, followed by two others as they filled the open mouth of the next cavern. Knocked off-balance, Baylee fell over the side into the chasm. In the long shadows below, it looked like nothing was beneath him.
"Baylee!" Cordyan screamed the young ranger's name as she watched him plummet. The Shandaularan coin glowed brightly in her sword's hilt At the same moment that she spotted the drow warriors on the opposite side of the open chasm, she heard men behind her yelling.
"Hook horrors! Hook horrors!"
Cordyan glanced back, watching the shambling figures closing rapidly from behind. The creatures stood nine feet tall. A thick, mottled gray exoskeleton covered them, tough enough to turn most sword blows and glancing arrow shots. Their front limbs ended in foot-long hooks capable of slicing through leather armor easily. Their back legs held huge feet with three splayed and clawed toes. A vulture's wedged-shaped head sat atop the shoulders, possessing a hideously curved beak and multifaceted eyes.
Cordyan tapped two men closest to her. "Hold the trail."
They nodded and settled into place with their swords.
"Calebaan, can you do something about those beasts?" Cordyan asked. She peered through the gloom and watched the wizard as he stepped forward to confront the first of the insect-like creatures. The chittering and clacking of the hook horrors punctuated the anxious conversation between the men. Cthulad took up a stance slightly in front of the wizard and bared his sword.
A moment later, a shimmer left Calebaan's fingertips. Then a solid wall of stone formed, cutting off the trail from that direction, running straight into the walls surrounding the cavern. In the next heartbeat, the first heavy blows of the hook horrors started pounding against the wall.
Cordyan turned back to look for Baylee, but did not see him in the darkness. A crossbow quarrel slammed into the rock near her. She fell into hiding beside the rock.
"The wall's not going to hold," Calebaan called up. "The hook horrors are starting to break through!"
Krystarn Fellhammer pulled her piwafwi about her and tugged up the hood. With the cloak's magic, she disappeared from the rear guard of the drow warriors.
Shallowsoul had sent her to intercept the humans and kill them, but she doubted he would be watching her. Without warning, the caverns quaked again. Huge chunks of the ceiling fell, bouncing all around her. She had to dive forward to avoid being flattened by a boulder the size of a firbolg.
No doubts remained in her mind that Shallowsoul was at the root of the earth shudders. She couldn't imagine what the lich was doing, but she thought she had a way to find out.
Standing beside a wall after the earthquake subsided, she took the crystal ball from her cloak. Activating it, she peered into the library.
The lich stood in front of a maze of whirling gems that floated in the air before him. She listened to him chant, not recognizing any of the words. The gems-sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds-all swirled faster, gaining speed. Then they smacked together. Instantly the earth shook around Krystarn.
And for a moment, the library shivered and disappeared.
Fear seized Krystarn's greed in its cold, greasy grip, shrinking it as the certainty filled her. Shallowsoul had discovered a way to take the library from the prime material plane where Faerun was located to another plane of existence. Either that, or he'd had a way all along, but didn't want to use it till after he recovered the shipwreck-or until humans had found the location of the library.
She waved a hand over the crystal ball, changing the focus and filling her head with thoughts of Chomack.
A moment later, the image cleared, showing the hobgoblin chieftain and his tribe. They numbered almost a hundred now. Chomack had continued to win converts or beat joiners into submission. He'd also managed to kill three human and elf adventuring parties and seize some of the weapons they had, further adding to his power.
At the moment, Chomack and his tribe hid in a cavern not far from the hallway where Krystarn kept her quarters. "Chomack, Taker of Dragon's Teeth," she said softly.
The hobgoblin chieftain looked up, not quite finding her gaze with his own. "What?"
"And are you ready?"
"By Maglubiyet's good graces, yes."
"I will join you in minutes. There will not be much time after that." Krystarn ran through the twisting tunnels before her. Lloth willing, Shallowsoul would be too involved with his own machinations to discover hers.
She thought nothing at all of leaving her drow warriors there to die if need be.
Baylee watched the light eclipse as the chasm closed overhead.
He released his lantern, not fearing losing it because it was secured to his arm by a strap. Working from memory, he pulled a thin rope from the gnomish workman's leather armor. He shook it out, watching it move on its own.
Baylee! Xuxa called, winging after him.
The ranger ignored the azmyth bat as he flicked the rope at the chasm. He said the command word that activated the magic in the rope, watching as it jerked and suddenly fastened itself to a projection on the wall.
He hung on as he reached the end of the rope. The braid slipped through his hand at first, then he clamped on tighter after the immediate descent had been slowed. Coming to a full stop, it still felt like his arm was being yanked from its sockets. He held on to the long sword with the other, barely able to keep it in his fingertips.
He slammed against the chasm wall opposite the side with the; trail on it. His breath whooshed out of his lungs, and he lost another few inches on the rope. When he had his breath back, he sheathed the long sword and climbed the rope to the chasm top.
The drow didn't notice him from their position, concentrating their crossbow fire on the humans they had pinned down.
Baylee slipped his quiver over his shoulder and opened it. He assembled the long bow and strung it quickly, gathering up a fistful of arrows. He pulled the first one back smoothly, letting the fletching touch his ear as he lined up his shot. Then he released.
The heavy flight arrow smashed into the draw's chest, penetrating the chain mail shirt the warrior wore. He crumpled without a sound. By that time, Baylee had two other arrows in the air.
One of them took the drow behind the first through the neck. The second missed its target as the drow warrior ducked back to safety.