The Crimson Gold

by Voronica Whitney-Robinson

  What I’m trying to ask, Tazi said, is how can you be doing this? How can you be inside my thoughts?

  Oh, Justikar replied, that. Centuries ago, my kind was ruthlessly enslaved by illithids. We developed a limited, mental ability over time because of it.

  This might come in handy, she told him after a moment.

  I think it already has, he shot back at her.

  Tazi smiled ruefully and nodded slightly in wordless agreement.

  One thing, she added. Next time you suspect poison or something like it, why don’t you just tell me instead. She rubbed her stomach lightly. The dwarf, however, didn’t say another word.

  Later that Night

  Tazi and Justikar sat in their room, without speaking. Just as the dwarf had said, the poison in their food made him somewhat ill. He had wretched into a chamber pot violently upon their return. Tazi moistened a cloth and offered it to him after he had emptied his stomach contents into the container. But he had pushed the offer aside and dragged his sleeve across his mouth.

  “At least this rag has some uses,” he grumbled, referring to the gaudy tunic Naglatha’s men had provided him with after the griffon attack. “Are you going to vomit, too?” he asked, and Tazi thought he might actually be concerned for her.

  “No, I’m fine,” she thanked him.

  “Good. I’m not doing her bidding alone,” he replied.

  So much for concern, Tazi mused.

  And they sat in silence, waiting for the black-haired wizard to make an appearance. In fact, they sat for several hours waiting for Naglatha’s return. Neither spoke, and Tazi used the time to mull over what she had seen during the evening’s events while she sat in the windowsill of a trompe l’oeil, one leg dangling over the side and the other propped up against the window frame. She glanced over several times to the dwarf, but he simply sat hunched over on the small stool, his hands planted firmly on his thighs, a dour expression on his face. She wasn’t sure if he was angry or perhaps contemplating the fate of his brother.

  He’s probably more eager to go than I am, Tazi thought. At least I am fairly confident my family is safe right now. He knows nothing about his brother, other than he lost contact with him.

  She started to ask him about his sibling when Naglatha quietly opened their door.

  “Good,” she said without preamble, walking over to stand between where they were seated, “you’re both here.”

  “As if we had a choice?” Tazi quipped.

  “You didn’t,” Naglatha replied easily, “but that didn’t stop you before, now did it?”

  Scrutinizing their “host’s” face, Tazi could see a rosy stain across Naglatha’s cheeks. Tazi wondered if the wizard had imbibed too much of the wine at dinner, or if the flush was from the excitement of her anticipated success.

  “What now?” the duergar demanded, and Tazi felt sure it was impatience to find his brother that was weighing on him. She believed he wanted to proceed more than anyone else in the room at that moment.

  “Now is when you go get me those spells, little man,” and her tone turned deadly. She regarded the dwarf coldly.

  “It’s time, then?” Tazi asked her in an attempt to turn her attention away from Justikar. If she was drunk, then chances were her actions would be even more unpredictable than they had been previously, and Tazi knew Justikar was only alive because she had asked it. Naglatha hated the duergar, and Tazi was unsure if that hatred was for him alone, or if her dislike spilled over to anything dwarven. She didn’t want to find out.

  Naglatha turned back to Tazi and said, “Yes, it will have to be tonight. Tomorrow, Szass Tam will hold his council,” she said, “and after he beats it into us all again that we must continue to make trade our highest priority, he will find a way to politely evict us one by one.” She sighed deeply. “I don’t think this chance will come again,” she added, “not for a very long while.”

  “Then” Tazi asked, “where do we start? You’ve mentioned his book of spells several times, but you haven’t given us an exact location.”

  “That’s because I can’t,” she replied simply.

  “Helpful,” the dwarf spat.

  “Do you have an idea where to start?’ Tazi asked, redirecting the wizard from the duergar.

  “There is a chamber I know of just beyond the banquet hall that descends into the lower depths of the Citadel,” she told Tazi. “Follow it down. Supposedly you will find rooms of fabulous jewels and metals below. Not far past them will be the chamber that contains one of Szass Tam’s vast collections of spells. There,” she breathed deeply, “you should see his prize book. Take it, or take as many of the spells that you can. But bring them to me.”

  “Not much to go on,” Tazi replied. “And I’m certain there will be guards on so valuable an item. Not asking for too much, are you?” she inquired, unable to contain her sarcasm any longer.

  Naglatha walked up to where she sat so nonchalantly and gripped Tazi hard under her chin. “I never said it was going to be easy,” she hissed. “If this was meant to be a simple task, anyone would do.” She released her biting grip on Tazi’s flesh with a jerk and smiled again.

  “I suggest that if you—” she paused and fleetingly looked at the dwarf as well and corrected herself—“if both of you want your freedom, bring me what I want. If you can’t do that, then I recommend you die trying. It’s that simple.” She strode over the door and tossed a look back at the two. “But I have great faith in you, Thazienne. I know you like I know myself, and I am certain you will do well.”

  Before she left, Tazi pushed herself off of the windowsill and called out, “Any weapons for us?”

  “My dear Tazi,” she replied, “it is not as though you’re venturing out unarmed.” Tazi kept her face blank, but she feared Naglatha knew of her golden dagger. “You’ve got him, after all.” She smiled broadly and pointed to the dwarf. “You chose him, you know. Hopefully you won’t regret the decision.” And she left.

  Tazi looked at the closed door and shook her head. She turned to Justikar and nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  It was simple enough for them to slip through the few passageways they were already familiar with and make their way to the corridor leading up to the banquet hall. Once more, they found themselves slinking down the array of exotic armor. Tazi slowed and reached out to touch a thin rapier that rested in the gauntlet of a statue of armor.

  “Take it,” the dwarf whispered. “You know you’ll need it.”

  “Someone might notice,” Tazi replied.

  The dwarf ran a hand appreciatively over a large war axe, before pulling it free from its stand.

  “Tonight, they’re all going to be too busy plotting who to kill next to notice these missing items.”

  Tazi shrugged and reached for the rapier. “And I suppose if they do find that they’re gone, they’ll only watch their own backs.” She noticed the thin, chainmail gauntlets and after a brief hesitation, she took those, too. They slipped over her own leather gloves like a second skin, and she marveled at how light and flexible they were. She could see the duergar was equally impressed with his new weapon. He yanked a leather strap off of another piece of armor and strapped the axe to his back. For the first time since they had met, Tazi saw that Justikar look comfortable.

  Tazi took a page from the dwarf’s book and stole a scabbard for her weapon as well. With the rapier fastened to her side, Tazi suddenly realized she had missed the familiar weight there. She found that even she breathed easier now with the unusual steel next to her hip. She walked no less quietly, but straighter than she had since her auction. For a fleeting moment, she entertained the notion of trying to escape.

  It will take Naglatha at least the night to notice I’m missing, she calculated. I could be in Eltabbar by morning and perhaps get some kind of word out to my family before the black-haired witch could do anything.

  But even as she considered it, Tazi tossed the idea aside. Naglatha could have some magical means here to send out a mes
sage or even gain access to a gate to take her or those two fat slaves of hers to Selgaunt. And she twisted her head to look at Justikar.

  He so desperately wants to find his kin, she considered a little sadly. I know how important blood is, and I’d like to help him, too.

  She shook her head to free her mind and caught up to Justikar, who peered into the banquet hall from the entryway.

  “All clear,” he whispered. She wondered for a moment why he didn’t use his thoughts more to communicate, but she figured it was probably a taxing feat and one that he saved for extreme emergencies. Or he might have been trying to reach his brother; she wasn’t sure which, but she didn’t know and he hadn’t told her. That exact situation reminded her once more that she and the duergar had only the most tenuous of alliances. She still wondered if he would be there to cover her if her back was truly against the wall.

  They moved past the deserted table, now bare of its finery, and found the corridor opposite it, precisely where Naglatha said it would be. Surprisingly, there was no trap on the door, and Tazi suspected there might be some magical ward on it. But her quick investigation revealed none, and the dwarf agreed with her. Tazi was surprised, given how powerful Szass Tam was supposed to be. Not for the first time, she debated if the absence of magic here meant he had his energies focused elsewhere. There was a faint light farther down, and the uneven flicker made Tazi think there were some torches at least partially illuminating the passageway. She knew she wouldn’t need the dwarfs darkvision, at least for the moment, so she drew her new sword. Tazi shifted it in her grip once and noticed the balance was very good for a weapon not made specifically for her. It wasn’t as finely crafted as the dagger, but she knew the steel, if it was indeed made from steel, would be more than accurate. She took the lead.

  The passageway started out as many of the others had within the Citadel, finely carved and resembling a typical hallway, albeit one that steadily sloped downward. But as they passed farther into the depths, the passageway slowly lost its finished look. The decorated and covered walls became sparser until finally only the bare rock was visible. Even the stone lost its smoothness, and as the passageway curved to the right, the walls had returned to their natural, unfinished state. Tazi nodded to the dwarf that they were on the right course. She saw how closely he regarded their surroundings, scanning from one side to the other.

  Tazi was tensed, straining to hear anything that sounded amiss, realizing she couldn’t be sure of her surroundings. As they descended, she expected to come across some sort of guardians and was surprised they hadn’t seen any. When the tunnel took a sharp turn to the right again, she turned back to ask Justikar a question. But the dwarf had stopped to study something in the rock wall that had caught his attention.

  “What is it?” she asked him.

  “That zulkir that everyone fears must come down here a lot,” he replied.

  “Why do you say that?”

  The duergar grabbed Tazi’s free hand and guided it over to the wall. He pulled her gauntlet off and laid her bare fingers on the surface.

  “Do you feel those?” he asked.

  Under her fingertips, Tazi could feel cold, hard lumps no bigger than her thumb. But in the fading light of the nearest torch some feet behind her, she could barely see the white twinkle that had so fascinated Justikar.

  “Some people call them ‘lich weepings,’ but most know them as Kings’ Tears,” he explained. “There’s a fortune in this wall alone,” he finished, and Tazi could hear a touch of avarice in his voice.

  “Maybe another time,” she told him and replaced her glove and gauntlet. “I think I need you to take the lead now. The torches have all but run out,” she told him. “There’s a slight, greenish glow ahead, but it’s very faint. I think I’d trust your vision better.” She wiped her forearm across her brow, suddenly very aware of the growing heat.

  Justikar padded past her and looked at the walls that cast the emerald glow. He shook his head at what he found.

  “Ormu,” he told Tazi.

  She had run across the moss before, but never in such large quantities. But, while there was still a healthy portion that lived, much of it had dried to a crisp brown and died.

  “This looks like it has been burned,” she told the dwarf.

  He nodded in agreement. “And recently, too. I think there must be something graver to the tremors those Red Wizards kept harping on.” He moved in front of Tazi, and together they continued down the narrow pass.

  Steam hissed out from several fissures in the rocks, and Tazi became increasingly aware of the danger all around them. She blinked hard as her sweat stung her eyes and didn’t see the nearby threat. She was nearly scalded by a geyser of boiling water, but the duergar yanked her out of the way right before it blew.

  “How did you know?” she asked him, breathing hard.

  “You have to listen for it. I can’t explain it better than that.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she admitted gratefully.

  “I’m not,” he groused, and Tazi smiled at him. At least he’s consistent, she laughed to herself.

  They were continuously on guard but came across no signs of anything living. In a relatively low tunnel, wide enough for them to walk abreast, Tazi spotted a small pile of what looked like white sticks. But she recognized them for what they were: bones. She raised her weapon higher, though she knew they were not fresh remains. Tazi reached down for one of them, but the dwarf knocked her hand away. She was about to snap at him when the realization dawned on her that they might be the bones of his brother. Her face softened some.

  Justikar bent down and gingerly lifted one bone close to his eyes. He turned it around thoroughly and sniffed it. His nose crinkled up, and he threw the skeletal remains to the ground.

  “Stinks,” he told her. “Trog bones.” She nodded and knew he was both relieved and frustrated that they were not his brother’s.

  “Judging by those teeth marks,” she added, “something feasted on these creatures not too long ago. But where are they?”

  “Maybe the heat has something to do with it,” Justikar replied. “Drove them away or something.”

  “Maybe,” Tazi responded, less certain.

  They walked farther and came to a split in the tunnel. “Any ideas?” Tazi asked the dwarf.

  Unexpectedly, he pulled at the shoulder of his tunic and ripped his right sleeve off, tucking the torn cloth in his belt. Tazi could see that a series of black marks covered his arm. He held it up and consulted the designs. “We go left,” he told her.

  “What kind of map is that?” she asked.

  “My brother’s,” he replied curtly. “Just before he left, he had this map tattooed onto his arm, figuring it was the best place to keep it.”

  “So did you,” Tazi pointed out the obvious. “I thought you said it was your brother who was the dreamer.”

  “He is,” Justikar answered her seriously. “I’m the one who has to clean things up.”

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized, not exactly sure why she should suddenly feel so sad for him.

  He shrugged, and they went farther into the depths, certain that Szass Tam’s cache of arcane knowledge would be along the same route his brother had taken, the only viable path through the depths below. Perhaps because they had come across no obvious threat as yet, Tazi and Justikar became sloppy. Perhaps the growing heat and steam obscured their vision and other senses. For whatever reason, neither of them realized just what they were literally walking into.

  “Justikar,” Tazi began.

  The duergar turned back toward Tazi just as a tremor shook the tunnel. Before he could respond to her, though, the walls appeared to suddenly collapse around him and immediately obscured the dwarf from her sight. Tazi herself was knocked flat.

  “Justikar!” she cried. As she struggled to regain her balance and blink the dust from her eyes, she couldn’t comprehend how a portion of the passageway had closed over him so quickly. There appeared to be
only a few stones between them, but Tazi couldn’t make out any large boulders that could have trapped him so completely.

  “Tazi!” she heard him cry in a muffled voice. She crawled over on her knees toward him. When she reached the large pile where she had heard his voice emanate from, she tried to move the debris away to free him. But even as she searched with her hands, she couldn’t get a good purchase on any of it. She pulled off her gauntlets, and Tazi was startled to feel something that was not quite rock under her hands. The lump shifted at her touch, and Tazi heard the duergar scream in pain.

  “Hold on,” she called to him and drew her rapier. Acting on a hunch, Tazi slashed at the mass and was not really surprised when a strange, viscous fluid oozed from the gash she had inflicted. She did not expect, however, to hear Justikar cry out as though he had been cut, too.

  She raised her arm back and prepared to slash at what must’ve been a monster, but never got the chance. A tentacle, thicker than her own forearm, encircled her waist with lightning speed. Before Tazi could counter the attack, she was lifted bodily and felt herself slammed into the tunnel wall. Dazed, she could see that the lump that covered the duergar had begun to ripple slowly, and she suspected that the creature, whatever it must be, was beginning to digest him.

  “Hold on,” she called out again. Though the tentacle had encircled her waist, and it held fast, her arms were still free. Tazi had not released her hold on her rapier even when the creature had smashed her into the passageway. She managed to raise her weapon, point down, with both her hands high into the air. With a deep grunt, she slammed the weapon down and stabbed the tentacle close to where it joined the main body. The blow was so strong that the rapier actually impaled the tentacle to the tunnel floor. Tazi was able to pull away the wounded appendage from her waist and free herself from its limp grasp. She scrambled over to where she thought Justikar was still trapped. She called out his name but received no response, and she began to dread that she might be too late.

  As she turned back to retrieve her rapier, Tazi saw a portion of the war axe the dwarf had stolen from the halls above suddenly pierce its way through the center of the creature’s body. Tazi grabbed a flap of flesh and began to pull. She groaned with the strain as she pulled. The dwarf popped his head out, and Tazi could see that he looked mostly none the worse for wear. Between the two of them, they managed to tear a wide enough opening for Justikar to extricate himself. He tumbled to the passage floor in a messy heap, and they both lay panting quietly for a few moments.