City of Torment as-2

by Bruce R Cordell

  Now he needed to go even farther, and in a direction that didn't exist in the world.

  Normally he had to leave his cloak behind as a bridge if he wished to access the Lord of Bats's home. He didn't have that luxury at the moment-his enemies would simply follow him to his sanctuary.

  The Dreamheart warmed further, becoming like a live thing shuddering in his grip. It gave him what he asked for, enough strength to use his cloak as a door to another plane.

  Raidon cradled the relic in the crook of one elbow, then bent to gather up Anusha. Before he managed her weight, Raidon reappeared in the vault's doorway, with Captain Thoster only a step behind.

  It almost looked like the captain was reaching out, trying to restrain Raidon. But the monk leaped, too fast for the captain. He was a streak in the air whose leading point was a flying knee, rigid like a ship's prow. The monk held Angul straight over his head so that the blade's flame streaked the air with cerulean fire.

  The half-elf s brutal knee caught the warlock in the chest. Pain splintered Japheth's awareness and tore Anusha from his grip.

  He tried to mouth a curse, but the blow emptied his lungs of air. The savage force tumbled Japheth and the Dreamheart into the waiting void of his gaping cloak. He fell headlong through a one-way portal to a place beyond the world.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Year of the Secret (1396 DR) Veltalar, Aglarond

  Raidon cracked his knuckles, one after the other. Angul was plunged point first into the vault floor, simmering. He stared at empty air where the warlock had escaped into a collapsing portal mouth formed of his own shadowed cape. Holding the Dreamheart. He stared as if wishing alone could bore that portal open anew.

  "He's slippery like a fish off the hook," said Captain Thoster. The pirate stood looking down at the girl Anusha, one hand scratching his chin as he considered the sleeper. "Japheth'd give up his mind to the relic for this one, eh? She doesn't look like anything special. He called her Anusha in the grotto."

  Seren, standing in the vault doorway, said, "He was hiding her aboard the ship all along. How macabre."

  A low growl sprang up. A dog, large and black, advanced on the captain from the vault's corner.

  "Blackie!" exclaimed Thoster, his eyes lighting with recognition. "What're you doing here? I thought the crew threw you overboard!" The pirate approached the growling beast, his hands proffered for the dog to sniff.

  "Your hound is a poor guard-it took up with the ghost girl here quick enough," Seren said. "Dispatch the disloyal cur."

  The captain shook his head, laughing at the mercenary wizard's suggestion. "I think I might have a treat, Blackie," he crooned to the dog, one hand searching through his voluminous pockets.

  Raidon watched without really seeing, as canine and man were reacquainted. His thoughts were elsewhere.

  Once again, the aberrant relic had avoided destruction through the warlock's interference. The object had obviously corrupted the man as it had corrupted Nogah.

  It was Raidon's own fault. The Dreamheart had lain before him, fully vulnerable. The Blade Cerulean was poised, vibrating unswerving conviction through its hilt into Raidon's soul. Why had he hesitated?

  Because the Dreamheart looked at him. In that look a momentary connection formed, and Raidon saw through the eye. As the golem of Stardeep had warned him, he saw down into the mantle below the world and glimpsed awakening Xxiphu. Beslimed creatures, sluggish yet with eons of sleep heavy on their tentacles, swam through drowned crannies and crept along purple-lit tunnels leaving trails of mucus. Malevolent and vile, they converged on a cavity high in the city's crown painted with glyphs in colors Raidon's eye couldn't resolve. The creatures… the aboleths, Cynosure called them, gathered in that arcane cavity. They were performing a ghastly ritual.

  And over all, a great bulk frozen in stone was stirring.

  The Dreamheart's foul vision dazed Raidon long enough for the warlock to make good his treacherous escape.

  "You don't look well," came Captain Thoster's voice. "But not half as upset as Japheth looked when you knocked him into the dark, eh?"

  Raidon opened his eyes and turned to regard Thoster, but he did not speak.

  Seren scowled and said, "Is there anything you don't find funny, Captain?"

  The captain sighed. "Oh, come. Yes, our ship is holed and we're taking water, I know. But we ain't dead, are we? We got something from all this running around." He pointed to Anusha. "If Japheth cares so much for this lass, then we got ourselves a fair bargaining chip. He kept hold of the Dreamheart for her. He'll give it up if we threaten to rough her up."

  "Hmm," Seren replied, nodding slowly.

  "No," Raidon murmured, tired at the mere thought of the captain's banal suggestion. "Anyway, it's too late." He stood, avoiding using Angul's hilt to pull himself upright. "Things have gone too far."

  "What's that mean?" asked Thoster, who was feeding another dried piece of fish to the dog.

  "Japheth, the great kraken Gethshemeth, and Nogah before them handled the Dreamheart too much. I told you it was but a piece of something terrifyingly larger. A.. creature."

  Thoster shrugged. "So?"

  "So this monstrosity, this… Eldest aboleth, is already partly roused. Its children, less potent but also less sleepy, are coming awake within the bowels of Xxiphu. Even now, those already awake perform foul rituals to fully animate their stony father. If the aboleths succeed, you can say farewell to Faerun as you know it."

  The conviction in his voice shocked even Thoster to silence.

  "All hope's lost? Even if we get the Dreamheart now?" asked Seren.

  "A threshold has been passed. What I saw in the eye when its gaze locked with mine…" Raidon shook his head.

  "The ritual has already begun. To disrupt it, we'd have to go straight to the source. In Xxiphu, if I plunge Angul into the heart of the entity to which the Dreamheart belongs, that might finally slay it."

  "Might?" asked Seren. Raidon didn't answer. Instead, he said, "So forget Japheth. His part in this is done. We need to figure out how to reach Xxiphu, and soon."

  *****

  Hazy layers of smoke squeezed tears from Raidon's eyes. The clink of tallglasses, the shouts of patrons, and the clack of magically animate devices in the room across the hall were maddeningly loud. The sword sheathed on his back tugged this way and that, distracting the monk further.

  But Thoster wouldn't talk options until they retired to the Lorious's frantic saloon. The captain's eyes twinkled as he watched well-heeled Veltalarans indulge in ales, wines, pipes, and lit bundles of rolled leaves. Thoster's hat perched high on his head. The man obviously enjoyed the attention of his ostentatious dress at least as much as he enjoyed keeping an eye on a few of the staff who flirted shamelessly with him. The captain seemed unfazed by the idea of seeking Xxiphu. Which was suspicious. Raidon just didn't have the mental energy to decipher Thoster's game right then.

  Seren completed their triangle, but her head was buried in a tome she'd liberated from Japheth's suite. Her dark hair hung down just above the yellowed pages, hiding her eyes and face. The wizard ignored the babble of the saloon well enough to read, or at least gave a credible semblance of doing so.

  Raidon watched her, as if he might find his own focus in the studious lines of the woman's shoulders and neck.

  She was enthralled with the miniature library Japheth had accumulated. She'd selected a few choice tomes and scrolls and tucked them away into her satchel.

  To what end, though? Did Seren really care that the Dreamheart's constant handling had finally done its damage? The wizard was just a breath away from abandoning Raidon, despite her grudging acceptance of the terms Raidon had offered her on the ship.

  But did it matter? Perhaps the situation was beyond their ability to influence. If Cynosure were still functioning, Raidon might have transported himself directly into Xxiphu. But that was a wish that wasn't going to be granted.

  "You've had your ale, Captain," the monk said, his v
oice raised to break through the babble of a dozen others.

  "Can we discuss the idea you mentioned back in Japheth's suite about salvaging the situation?"

  "I've had one cupful. That ain't enough to quench my thirst!" Thoster grinned, tossed off the contents of a tankard still a quarter filled with tawny liquid, then burped. His eyes followed the progress of a dark-haired woman across the saloon.

  "If the Eldest is fully roused, ale and wenching will be the least of your needs," Raidon said.

  The captain guffawed, then pointed. "Here comes your drink. Maybe that'll soothe your sour disposition."

  A server, a halfling, stopped at the table. He deposited a tea service before Raidon. Though surprised to see the steaming pot, Raidon tapped his fingers in thanks.

  "You ordered this for me?" he asked Thoster.

  The captain nodded. "You were busy in Japheth's suite."

  When the captain and the wizard had gone on ahead to secure a table, Raidon stayed behind to make certain the dog and the sleeping woman were in good health. He'd explained to Thoster they might yet have need of Anusha. Also, the sword had not wanted him to waste time caring for the woman and beast. Whenever Raidon recognized a "greater good" impulse from Angul coloring his attitude, he tried to take the opposite tack.

  Raidon poured a steaming cup and sipped. Warmth filled his mouth and descended to his center. The sharp, green odor and tingling heat did indeed calm his agitated state. He inhaled deeply and caught the captain's eye.

  Thoster grinned but refrained from further comment.

  The server also set upon the table another foaming mug for the captain and a crystal goblet filled with purple liquid for Seren. Thoster immediately grabbed up his tankard and downed a goodly portion.

  Seren looked up from her tome and said, "Raidon, do you remember your promise? You will devote yourself to gathering a lord's treasure when we're done with all this?"

  "You have my word," agreed Raidon.

  She nodded. "Good. These tomes and scrolls from Japheth's suite-they're not a bad down payment"

  The monk nodded, then said, "We need to descend to Xxiphu, it's too late for half measures. Do you know how we can burrow down into the earth to reach the city?"

  "Halruaa used to have flying ships," interjected Captain Thoster. "But those are destroyed, save for a scant few." "What good would that do us?" snapped Seren. "We need to sail the solid veins of dirt and stone below the world. None of those Halruaan craft had that ability."

  "Did you ever fly one?"

  "They were called flying ships, not burrowing ships, idiot," Seren retorted.

  Thoster paused, considering, and took another pull at his ale. He mumbled, "I was hoping you could whip us up some magic sails for Green Siren, or somesuch."

  Seren rolled her eyes, then paused. "Hmm. Well, I can't do that. But perhaps… something"

  "What?" asked Raidon.

  She glanced at the captain. "You remember those albino fish in the pool on Gethshemeth's island? The ones swimming around in that cave where the black dragon ambushed us?"

  Thoster nodded.

  "When I arrived," said Raidon, "that pool was drained and all the fish in it were dead. I met the dragon. He called himself Scathrys. I left him alone… but Anusha managed to hurt him somehow."

  "Really?" Seren asked, then shook her head. "Never mind. Do you remember the fish, Thoster?"

  "Aye," Thoster said. "Them and everything else in that accursed room. They were eyeless slivers darting around, each one aglow. At the lip of that pool, Nogah and my first mate died "

  "Before she died, Nogah said the fish were rune-scribed creatures," Seren said. "In their presence, she said one could walk the depths of the sea floor as if strolling a green meadow."

  Thoster wiped foam from his face and said, "Hmm, perhaps my mind was elsewhere. I don't remember all that. Mayhap because of the kuo-toa trying to kill us?"

  "Typical. Well, I know those fish. I remembered an account of similar creatures described in the great library in Silverymoon."

  Raidon nodded, recalling his one visit to that gem of the north during the decade he spent hunting aberrations.

  "Does Silverymoon survive?" he wondered.

  Seren shrugged. "How should I know? I fled the enclave and gave up the red robe…" a Red robe?" Thoster prodded.

  "Forget that. What's important are the rune fish. They school in the Elemental Chaos, swimming through boiling earth and fire like regular fish through water. They're called gleamtail jacks."

  "Elemental Chaos, aye, I know that place," said Thoster, though his tone indicated he was being sarcastic. "Odd Gethshemeth was keeping them."

  "Not at all. They are naturally adept at slipping between boundaries. The great kraken wants to do the same- maybe that's why it was able to spend so much time breathing air instead of hiding beneath the waves."

  "How does this help us, Seren?" interrupted the monk.

  She raised her hands as if in supplication. "Are you an idiot too? If we can secure for ourselves a school of gleamtail jacks, or perhaps just one or two larger specimens, we can use them in a ritual. A ritual that would send us on a trip beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars and even into the earth itself." The wizard's eyes glittered at whatever image played behind them.

  "How likely are we to achieve that?" Raidon wondered. "Seems like a difficult ritual to perform. In my understanding, extraordinary rituals require extraordinary preparations. We've made no preparation."

  "That's where you're wrong, Raidon." So saying, Seren produced from her satchel a bone scroll case. She unscrewed the end and tipped out a dried, smelly shape about the size of Raidon's thumb. It was limp and flaking with rot.

  "Hey!" protested Thoster, pulling back his tankard.

  "A rune fish," Seren proclaimed, as if showing off a crown jewel.

  "This is from Gethshemeth's island?" Raidon asked, pointing at the dried thing lying on the table.

  Seren nodded. "I had to have one."

  "You were grubbing for one of these here fish as we got ambushed by Gethshemeth's pet kuo-toa?" demanded Thoster, real heat in his voice. "No wonder we got strung up on the yardarm. You weren't doing the job I paid you for!"

  Seren narrowed her eyes and replied coolly, "You'd be dead now without my help on that damn island.

  Anyhow*you're no longer my employer. Raidon is." The captain stood, leaving his mug behind. He said, "I'll be across the way. I've got a hankering for some cards."

  Raidon and Seren watched Thoster leave.

  The wizard snorted. "Don't let him fool you, Raidon. He's not mad. He's been itching to lose his coins in a game of chance since we came down here, now he has an excuse."

  The monk returned his gaze to the dried fish and said, "So how does this help us, specifically? Can you use it in one of your workings?"

  "All things find a use in time," she replied, then said, "Yes. With a little research, and with this specimen in hand, I should be able to modify a summoning ritual and commandeer a school of gleamtail jacks."

  "Then we can travel to the aboleth city. I can use my Cerulean Sign to navigate."

  "Yes, down to Xxiphu. At least we'll have the comfort of our cabins on Green Siren. Until we arrive at our destination and are promptly killed and eaten by monsters."

  "I have Angul and this," said Raidon. He touched his chest. "Two weapons forged to fight aberrations. We are not the ones who will die."

  She studied him a few more moments. Raidon met her scrutiny with a serene expression. He wondered if she was having second thoughts.

  Seren shrugged and said, "Come on, let's go see about purchasing the ritual I need. Someone in Veltalar sold Japheth all his books. They should have what I'm looking for."

  Thoster was absorbed in his cards. Raidon and Seren left him to it while they questioned Lorious patrons. They asked who in Veltalar sold potions and old tomes, and they learned such wares could be had at Rose Keep, a trade enclave on the edge of town.

  A Red Wi
zard enclave. Raidon frowned. He'd been attacked by Red Wizards in the Dragonjaw Mountains years earlier.

  Seren was taken aback too. She said, "I should have guessed"

  "Guessed what?"

  The wizard only shook her head.

  Raidon wondered if the trade compound operated beneath the law, but the patrons of the Lorious described the place in an open and nonconspiratorial fashion. Their tones didn't suggest they were passing on illicit information. The monk would have detected otherwise.

  The two of them circled back to Thoster.

  "You ready?" Seren said.

  "Not hardly! I'm winning. I'm holding on to this hand," said the captain. His eyes didn't leave the fan of cards he clutched.

  The monk said, "We'll be back in a few hours." The captain grunted.

  Raidon and Seren walked out of the Lorious into the streets of the city. Clouds drizzled light rain.

  As they strolled, Raidon said, "I thought Red Wizards were enemies of Aglarond and anyone not loyal to Thay."

  Seren frowned and said, "That was before Szass Tam seized power. Don't you pay any attention to politics?"

  "I was frozen in amber for a decade," Raidon said.

  "You were insensible for a decade after the Spellplague, right? Szass Tam launched his treachery before the Year of Blue Fire, when you still wandered Faerun killing monsters."

  A word stirred in the recesses of Raidon's mind. Something… zulkirs? Yes, the zulkirs-what the lords of Thay were called. They had turned on each other. One claimed the power all had once shared. Or something like that.

  He hadn't paid such news much attention, as it hadn't had anything to do with his own situation.

  Since he had awakened in the Spellplague's wake and learned about Ailyn's fate, his curiosity had grown even more circumscribed. Passions and interests that once drew him seemed pointless. Normally his focus was enough to sustain him.

  He sighed and said, "Let's pretend I know nothing, as you suggest. How is it Red Wizards sell magical wares openly in Veltalar?"

  Seren's lips thinned. "Before the troubles, Thay sponsored embassies all around the Sea of Fallen Stars. Each one supported itself by bribing local officials and by providing enchanted wares at just below market prices.