“Don’t you think it’s hoopy?”
“It’s hoopy.” The Justicar managed to reach a finger up and place it on the girl’s lips. “Now shush.”
After long miles of travel, the tunnels had suddenly become more chill. The scent of fresh water filled the air—a strangely clean, refreshing scent. With the tunnels echoing more and more loudly to the rush of a nearby stream, Jus shrugged the girl off and loosed the sword Benelux in its sheath.
The sword cleared its voice in prim suspicion. What is it?
“A river.” Jus found the sword vaguely annoying, but then again, he found a lot of things vaguely annoying. “Fresh water, fairly clean.”
Excellent! Brimming with satisfaction, the sword seemed to glow. Perhaps we might find a trading establishment—a tavern, a town, even a small port—where more suitable garments might be purchased, something fitting your new status as companions of the magic sword.
“Is she still blathering?” Escalla flew over to slap the sword’s sheath. “You know, for someone who tolerates unicorn art, you sure are free in handing out fashion advice!”
Young lady—Benelux gave a cool sniff—there is a certain element of the common about you.
“Oh, ain’t too much about me you could call common!” Somehow Escalla managed to strike a sultry pose whilst in flight.
Polk rummaged around in his belt pouch for something to eat. “Yep! The girl’s got class!”
“Class!” Escalla pinged her finger against the sword. The girl patted the scroll case that now hung between her wings. “Spells and wings, and a figure that sings. No one touches the faerie!”
Jus planted himself flat against an outcrop of rock, cautiously peering around a corner toward the unseen darkness ahead. Without looking back, he forestalled an angry retort from the magic sword.
“What was on those scrolls you found back where you caught that beholder?”
The girl beamed as she patted the scroll tube that hung between her wings. “A few cool spells! Earthy kinda ones. Flesh to stone. Stone to mud. Pass wall. All pretty hoopy, huh?”
“Are they useful?”
“More or less. I’m gonna copy some of them into my spellbook, so I need to make ink. Can you let me know next time we find a trickle of water or something?”
Jus nodded his chin forward at the underdark. “How about that one?”
The passageway had grown more dank, and clean moisture had cleared away much of the phosphorescent moss. Before the party ran a vast, dark rushing river that filled the caverns with a glorious surge of sound.
At the far side of the river, perhaps a hundred feet away, the passageway continued on toward the drow city—and according to the locator needle, toward Escalla’s slowglass bauble.
The river flowed powerfully, icy cold and pitch black. It blocked all possible progress. Escalla simply hovered and stared. Polk blinked, and Private Henry edged fearfully closer to the water until physically yanked back from the edge by Jus’ powerful hand.
Escalla blew out an annoyed breath and planted her fists upon her little hips.
“Well poo!” The girl shook her head. “You know, I have got to find a way to make you people fly.”
There was no bridge, and the powerful current meant that there was no way to simply swim across. Escalla unshipped her wand, checked the charge and made a dissatisfied little noise.
“No way I can make an ice bridge all the way across. I’ve only got two more shots with this thing if I’m lucky. Remind me to recharge it when we get home.” She whirred upward, deliberately keeping well above the water. “I’ll go over the other side and just take a look. Maybe there’s a really big drawbridge or something.”
The faerie disappeared in the dark. Anxious about letting the girl go alone, Jus kept a grip on the hilt of his sword and paced the banks. In the river, a fin briefly broke the surface—a fin from a fish that must have been at least thirty feet long.
After a while, drifting faintly above the roar of the water, Escalla’s distant voice came from the dark. “Hey, guys! There’s some kinda giant fish man over here!”
Jus surged forward to the edge of the riverbank in alarm. “Is he attacking you?”
“No!”
“What’s he doing?”
“Knitting lace. He’s pretty good!” Escalla’s voice could barely be heard over the rush of water “All right, he’s seen me. He looks like he wants me to talk to him!”
Pacing, the Justicar bellowed hard to make himself heard. “Don’t get too close!”
“Jus, he’s a fish. I don’t really think I want to swap addresses or anything.”
While they waited, Polk finished gnawing on a spider leg and Cinders sucked loudly on a piece of old coal.
Finally Escalla called over to them from the other bank, “He’s saying something! I can’t figure it out.”
“What?” Jus pushed Cinders’ back from his helm, trying to hear the girl properly. “Don’t you have a spell for translating languages?”
“Well duh! Be handy if I’d bothered to memorize it!”
“Why didn’t you memorize it?”
“Well, excuse me!” True to form, Escalla lost her temper. “Since everything we’ve met so far has tried to eat us or enslave us, I kinda thought spells for blowing things up might be a bit more useful!” After a moment, the girl called back again. “All right, he’s offering to ferry you guys over if you pay him.”
Jus gave a puzzled frown. “How do you know that?”
“Because he’s standing in a big boat and shaking a money box at me!” The faerie’s temper was never good when she was being harassed. “Just get some money out and get to the damned shore!”
Polk looked at Jus, who looked at Henry. Cinders looked happy, and the sword lacked the ability to show much of an expression at all. With a mutual shrug, the party walked down the harsh gravel beach and waited by the shore.
A shape swiftly materialized out of the gloom. A large, flat barge drifted across the current. Standing at the rear and plying a single oar loomed a titanic, vicious looking creature that set the whole party on guard.
Fully eight feet tall, the creature was a monstrous humanoid fish. A huge jaw crammed with fangs gleamed sickly yellow in the light. The creature stared at its passengers out of eyes the size of dinner plates. The scaled horror was powerful enough to shove its boat across the river without the slightest show of strain.
The boat grounded against the gravel with a crash. Hovering well out of reach of the fish man, Escalla gave her friends a gleeful wave.
“Guys, this is Thoopshib the ferryman!” The faerie gave an amazingly false smile. “Thoopshib, these are the guys. Guys, keep smiling and just start putting money in the box until he looks happy.” The faerie wavered. “Well, happier, at least.”
A money box was presented. Digging into the loot gathered from the lich, Polk produced a handful of money. The fish man walked awkwardly over to the shore, its whole massive frame alive with an impression of carnivorous strength. A clawed hand held out a money box, and Polk fussily counted platinum coins into the box one by one until the monster seemed satisfied.
The sum offered was probably sufficient to buy a boat of their own. Thankfully, no one saw fit to mention the fact. Jus stepped onto the barge—watched closely by the creature, who recognized a being at least as deadly as itself—then helped Polk and Henry climb aboard.
Cinders sniffed the reek of fish and seemed gloriously happy. Kuo-toa fish! The dog’s manic grin gleamed as little flames wisped from his nose. Big stink! Very tasty! Fish scream when burn!
There had been very little arson in Cinders’ life of late. He wagged his tail in anticipation. Fish live in school. One fish, two fish, red fish, burn fish! Burn-burn-burn-burn-burn!
“Let’s not burn any boats while we’re still on them.” Jus kept his voice low, his face calm and his hand near his sword. “Just get ready to blast it if it tries to rock the boat.”
With Escalla flying cover overhea
d, the ferryman would hardly dare. Henry shot a glance at the faerie, then looked back at the savage ferryman and tried not to stare.
“What is it?” the boy asked.
“Cinders says it’s a kuo-toa,” Jus replied.
“A kuo-toa?” The boy swallowed. “How does he know?”
“Cinders is a hell hound. He’s been around.”
Private Henry shot a nervous glance toward the grinning Cinders. “I thought hell hounds were evil?”
“He’s not evil. He just needed a good home.” Jus gave one of Cinders’ forelegs a pat. “But he’s right. Fish fear creatures that use flame.”
The barge surged forward through the water, heading toward the far bank.
Private Henry looked about nervously and cleared his throat. “Sir?”
“Yes.”
“What’s a kuo-toa?”
The Justicar carefully avoided looking at the ferryman, while keeping the creature very clearly in the corner of his eye. “That is. They’re often assassins—very, very dangerous.”
From above the boat, Escalla gave a snort. “Assassins, huh? Masters of poison? Like cone shells?”
Jus looked up at Escalla with a shared smile. “Exactly.”
The barge grounded at the far bank, and the passengers hastily removed themselves onto the shore. Escalla thoughtfully watched the kuo-toa and raised her hand to give it a friendly wave. The creature actually seemed to like her. It spoke—its voice huge and guttural—and nodded its head at her in apparent approval.
Jus was kneeling in the river gravel, looking at a broad swathe of footprints trailing up from the ferry and into the tunnel mouth. Escalla, Polk, and Henry immediately came over to watch the ranger at his work.
“Tracks?”
“Human—two hundred or more, probably chained at the ankles. See the short steps?” Jus touched the gravel and watched it slide. “This is only about three hours old.”
Trying to emulate the Justicar, Henry inspected a footprint of his own—this time the mark of a slim drow boot. “Is it the hostages from Sour Patch?”
“Has to be.” Moving two hundred captives along the main tunnels had left constant spoor. “No troglodytes with them anymore. They’re being driven by drow.”
Escalla knelt beside Jus and pulled out the locator needle, which still pointed resolutely to the northwest. The girl shrugged then put the magic trinket away.
“Well, I gather there’s more like Mister Thoopshib here just a ways along the tunnel.” The girl returned another wave from the ferryman. “You know, he seems pretty happy for a carnivorous assassin.”
“He likes you.”
“Yeah. How about that?” Escalla frowned. “Matter of fact, I think he thinks he knows me.”
The party turned and regarded the kuo-toa, who stood staring at them with his unwinking fish eyes.
The light dawned somewhere deep inside Polk’s skull.
“You mean he’s seen another faerie? He’s met the murderer as he passed this way?”
“Got it, Polk!” Escalla tapped her chin in thought. “He obviously thinks we’re one and the same.”
“Guess you all look the same to him, huh?”
“No accounting for eyesight.” Escalla brushed back her shimmering blonde hair. “This is getting interesting. Come on. Let’s see if I’ve got any other friends just down the lane.”
* * *
The long passageway continued, now chilled by the breeze that flowed from the icy river. Other paths joined the main tunnel, and the air took on a distinctly fishy smell. Only Cinders seemed pleased. The rest of the party wrinkled their noses and tried not to gag as the reek thickened until it almost brought tears to the eyes.
Flying cautiously beside Jus, Escalla’s tall ears pricked up at the same moment that Cinders gave a warning growl. Far down the passageway, lurching shapes began to appear. Escalla turned invisible as the remainder of the party faded into hiding against the tunnel walls. Looking over her companions, the faerie moved carefully down the tunnel to investigate the oncoming shadows.
A dozen fish men walked along the passageway in a weird hopping gait. They were led by a vast, powerful kuo-toa, its skin a ghastly white, and its hide covered in thousands of knotted scars. The creatures’ huge eyes flickered to stare at the invisible faerie, and the fish creatures instantly readied their harpoons.
With her cover somehow blown, Escalla dropped her invisibility. Hiding behind a stalactite, she poked her head out and examined the kuo-toa, then cautiously waved her hand.
“Um, hello.”
She had a fireball spell ready to make instant fish fry, but much to her surprise, the kuo-toa leader gave a croak of something almost like relief. The creature lowered its weapon—almost certainly defusing a spell of its own—and lifted a hand toward Escalla in a grave gesture. The beast held out its hand with its middle fingers separated into a v-shape.
Always affable when allowed, Escalla copied the gesture with her own small fingers and repeated, “Hello.”
Eight feet tall, fanged and clawed, an eater of human flesh and a drinker of blood, the kuo-toa leader bobbed its head in deference. The girl tried to make a placatory gesture, and the other fish men sank down in ritual obeisance.
From the corridor behind Escalla, Jus’ voice called out calmly and quietly, “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. It’s more kuo-toa.” Escalla kept her face affable, motioning to the fish creatures in what she hoped was a friendly way. “There’s about a dozen of them, and they’re getting along with me just dandy. Everyone come out and be perfectly calm.”
The kuo-toa leader gurgled something to its followers, and the fish men resumed their ungainly march down the passageway. On seeing Escalla’s companions, the creatures saluted casually with the middle fingers of their hands spread wide, a salute both uncomfortable and strangely silly. Jus gravely returned the gesture. Polk and Henry did the same, and the creatures continued on their way toward the river and the ferryman.
Jerking with ill temper, the sword Benelux gave a cold growl. Kuo-toa. Assassins! Murderers! We should find their nest and eliminate them all!
“We have a prior task.” Jus settled the sword through his belt. “Racial genocide is not my mission.”
Do you call yourself a warrior for law?
“No. I’m only interested in Justice.” The Justicar took Escalla onto his shoulder as he spoke. “These fish men have done nothing worthy of my attention.”
From Jus’ shoulder, Escalla stretched and yawned.
“Hey, Spiky! Ease up!” Escalla peered down at the sword. “You’ll get wrinkles. You have to expand your emotional horizons. Make a promise to tell yourself a few jokes in between kills. It worked for me!”
Benelux merely seethed.
Jus tugged at Escalla’s foot, quietening her down as the tunnel opened out into a titanic, echoing cave. An open space more than a hundred yards wide yawned in the gloom. A weird blue light swam like reflections in an ancient sea, and an alien world took hold upon the underdark.
A sinister, stepped pyramid arose at the center of the cavern. The mound served to raise a horrible idol high above the cavern floor—a blood spattered thing shaped like a naked woman with the head and pincers of a lobster. The claws were opened in the same gaping salute used by the kuo-toa in the halls. A still-bleeding human heart was wedged into one of the claws, and an ocean of blood seemed to have poured down the pyramid. Guarding the approaches to the idol were kuo-toa priests and warriors, creatures who even now tore the eyes and organs out of human victims who had slid lifeless down the blood-soaked stairs.
Escalla stared, quite ashen, and felt her skin turn strangely numb. “Now they may have just crossed the line.”
Private Henry crept forward, staring at the shrine—the corpses and the fish men feeding wetly on their prey. The boy’s hands gripped more tightly at his crossbow.
“Human sacrifice… ?”
“Human sacrifice.” Jus seemed to swell, his huge, bris
tling frame turning carnivorous and savage. To the Justicar, no crime was worse than preying on the weak. The kuo-toa suddenly seemed in need of Judgment.
Escalla saw Jus’ stance and felt a cold chill of panic as she expected him to begin slaughtering the kuo-toa. There were a dozen in sight, but countless carved doorways opened onto temples, barracks rooms, and even palaces.
“Jus! Deep breath! Don’t go all apocalyptic on me!” The faerie whacked Jus across the helmet. “I need to clear my name here! This is a prime place for evidence collection!”
“I know.”
“Kill fish later. Help disturbingly attractive yet strangely innocent faerie now.” Hastily ushering the group into cover behind an outcrop of fungi, Escalla gathered Henry by her side. “Henry, Spiky, brief recap. Yours truly here has been wrongfully framed and accused of a crime. We’re here to prevent a miscarriage of justice and protect one of the world’s most priceless beings from harm—namely me!”
Do tell. Benelux seemed to glow with pure sarcasm. Who would ever have placed you as a criminal?
“Hey! This is serious!” Escalla whacked at the swords sheath. “A faerie cavalier has been offed, and whoever did it is a faerie who likes using the underdark as a private holiday home. Whoever murdered Cavalier Tarquil used a marine cone shell. If these fish men down here are an assassin cult, this is probably the place the cone shell came from.”
Brilliant. The magic sword gave a sniff. With wisdom like that, you should bottle it.
“I’m warning you!” The faerie faced the sword, her antennae stiff and her little fists balled. “I can still find a rust monster! So just shut up and keep your eyes open for evidence. We’re looking for clues—anything to show that someone’s been getting his murder equipment from the kuo-toa!”
Hmph! The sword gave a droll little sneer. Such as a signed receipt in triplicate? “One cone shell, please return by Godsday.”
“Sounds ideal.” Escalla gave a snort, then hitched up the belt of her little black dress. “Jus, if you had a lending library for cone shells, where would it be?”
Descent into the Depths of the Earth Page 22