The death made Galaeron wonder what had become of his sister, Keya. The last he had heard, she was doing well with her pregnancy and also as a warrior, joining Vala's men on hunting forays and claiming half a dozen tails for her own belt, but that had been before the mythal fell. Could she be one of the bodies lying down in the meadow or perhaps the one he had just watched plummeting out of the smoke? He longed to try another thought sending, but knew that would be foolish. Assuming she remained alive, there was a good chance that she was fighting at the moment, and the distraction of an unexpected thought popping into her head might well prove fatal. Galaeron could only hope that the moment of fleeting terror he had experienced the first time meant she was still alive-and that his intrusion had not changed that
"How long will the phaerimm remain at each other's throats?" Khelben asked.
"A tenday, at least," he answered, "but not much longer. Their internal squabbles are swift and deadly."
"A tenday." Khelben's discouragement was hard to miss. "What then?"
"By then, they will have settled matters and prepared their individual defenses." Galaeron did not like the drift Khelben's questions were taking. They will be impossible to root out"
The Shadovar did it at Myth Drannor," Khelben countered.
"At the cost of their other ambitions in Faer?n," Vala pointed out. "And there were only a few dozen at Myth Drannor. Here, there will be hundreds."
Khelben sighed and said, "We have lost Evereska." His fist thudded into the ground, raising a small cloud of ash and dust. "It will be all we can do to contain them in the vale."
Though Galaeron did not share Khelben's despair, he remained silent, ordering his thoughts and summoning to mind all he knew about the situation in Evereska. He had an inkling that matters were not as hopeless as Khelben thought, but whether that feeling was due to Melegaunt’s wisdom or his own need to undo the terrible mistakes that had led to the fall of the LastHome, he could not say.
Vala laid a warm hand on his forearm and said, "I'm sorry, Galaeron. You did everything you could."
Galaeron started to say that he had not yet done everything, but he was cut off by the soft crackle of a teleport spell. He glanced over his shoulder to make certain the new arrivals were who they expected and saw a gray cloud rising two terraces above. Laeral and the others lay on the ground, spitting soot and blinking confusion from their eyes.
"Hold your spells, miladies," Khelben called to his fellow Chosen. "We're safe enough for now."
The sound of Khelben's voice seemed to draw Laeral out of her afterdaze. She glanced into the bottom of the valley, and her face fell.
"Goddess help us!" she gasped. "We're too late."
"I think not," Galaeron said, finally convinced that the inspiration he felt was more than his own desperation.
He rose and motioned for Laeral to bring the others down, then took a length of shadowsilk from his pocket and began to wrap it around his little finger, fashioning it into a small cone.
"We have come just in time."
Khelben rose to his knees and pulled Galaeron back down.
"Have patience, elf. We'll save as many Tel'Quessir as we can, but first we must plan."
"The best way to save my people is to kill the phaerimm in their city."
Galaeron went back to fashioning his cone.
Laeral and Khelben exchanged knowing glances, and Khelben said, "This isn't your fault, Galaeron. It was Melegaunt who freed the phaerimm, not you."
That's right," Storm said. Having recovered from her afterdaze, she was jumping down onto the terrace with Galaeron and the others. "We know how the Shadovar think, now. They planned ail along to make the phaerimm everyone else's problem. I'd bet my hair that Melegaunt breached the Sharn Wall where he did on purpose. What better way to lure the phaerimm out of Anauroch than to offer them Evereska's mythal?"
"If it was indeed an accident, it worked to the Shadovar's advantage," Galaeron agreed. He finished his cone and carefully removed it from his finger, then set it aside on a stone. "But I am no innocent in this. I was warned many times about Melegaunt, and still I brought Shade into the world."
"You can't blame yourself," Aris said. He was sitting on the back wall of the terrace, leaning over to cup a hand beneath one of the thousand springs that had once watered the terraces of the Vine Vale. "They would have found another way."
Galaeron raised a hand to forestall more forgiving words, and said, "I'm not seeking absolution… nor am I speaking out of guilt"
"Then out of vengeance." Laeral phrased this as a fact, not a question. She glanced at Storm, then added, "I know how I would feel, were my sister down there and I unable to contact her."
"If I was seeking vengeance, I would not want your help." Galaeron could see they were still afraid his shadow might be influencing him, and he had no doubt it was. That did not mean he was wrong. "I am talking about victory, not retribution. Hear me out. If you don't like what I say, IT! not hold it against anyone who chooses to remain behind."
Khelben scowled, clearly unhappy with having someone else assume the leadership. Still, he listened patiently. When Galaeron finished, his frown turned thoughtful, and he looked to the other Chosen.
"What do you think?"
"Simple plans are the best," Storm said. "This one is simple, IT! give it that"
"Perhaps too simple," Laeral said. "What's s to stop the phaerimm from seeing through it?"
"The arrogance of the phaerimm themselves," Galaeron answered. "They won't believe anyone capable of defeating their spells of clear-seeing."
Leaving the others to consider the merits of his plan on their own, Galaeron started to fashion another cone out of shadowsilk. After a moment, Aris removed a stone from the terrace wall and shaped it into a small bowl with two quick strikes of his hammer, then filled it with soot from a charred log and used the spring to moisten it When he began to smear the resulting paste up his legs in thick black stripes, Vala cocked a doubtful eyebrow.
"You're a little large for camouflage," she said. "Don't you trust Galaeron's magic?"
"I trust Galaeron," Aris replied. He glanced at Galaeron and gave a grim nod. "But given who we are going to attack, I think it wise for one of us to use no magic. Besides, stone giant camouflage is better than you know. The number of times you have walked past one of us and not known it would surprise you."
"Nothing surprises me anymore," Vala said. She dipped her hand in the bowl and leaped up on the terrace behind Aris. "Bend down, and IT! do your neck before we go."
"Then you've decided to go as well?" Laeral asked.
"Have to. My men and our darkswords are down there." She peered around Aris, looked down at Galaeron, and added, "And I really need to see how this turns out."
Her words made Galaeron ruin the shadow cone he was pulling off his finger. She was probably alluding to the promise she had made to slay him if he ever fell completely under the sway of his shadow, but there was a warmth in her tone that made him hope that she might forgive him, that there might still be room in her heart to love him.
Continuing to hold Vala's gaze, Galaeron began to wrap the shadowsilk around his little finger again. At the same time, he whispered the incantation for a spell of thought sending and began to speak to her in his mind.
Vala.
Her jaw dropped, and her sooty hand came off the back of Aris's bald skull.
Before we go, I want to apologize for leaving you behind, Galaeron said. I'd understand if you never forgive me, but I hope you can.
Vala's eyes softened.
There's nothing to forgive. The choice was mine, and I knew what could happen. She returned to camouflaging the back of Aris's head, adding, But I am torn up, Galaeron. Inside.