by Mel Odom
Calebaan turned to her, his face only slightly amused because worry showed in there as well. "And what do you propose to do?"
"With Piergeiron's blessing," Cordyan said, "I'll sail after him."
"Why?"
"Because what he knows could offer a threat to Waterdeep," she said stubbornly.
"It has been nearly two tendays since Golsway was killed here in Waterdeep. There have been no further evidences of any threat to this city at all."
"Just because you don't see it, don't think it's not there."
"I suppose that is the stance you're going to take with Piergeiron and Senior Civilar Closl."
"Yes." Cordyan glanced up at her friend. "Do you think it will work?"
The watch wizard nodded. "Maybe. But I don't know whether to be wishful for you that it does, or wishful for you that it doesn't. Baylee Arnvold is not sailing a safe course at the moment. Those two dopplegangers back there are mute testimony to that. Someone wants him dead."
"I know, Calebaan, and I should hate to hear of that happening." Cordyan walked back to the hitching post where they'd left their mounts.
"You like this young man, don't you?" the watch wizard asked.
Cordyan felt her face color and she didn't dare look at her friend. "He is a brave, good man from what I have seen."
"That's not what I asked."
That's the only answer that I'll give you, Calebaan. Anything else is for my thoughts only."
"Then you should not wear them so apparently on your sleeve."
"You think you know so much, then tell me where Baylee is right now and what it is that he seeks."
Calebaan only laughed, which infuriated Cordyan even more.
"You missed dinner last night."
Baylee took his plate from the mess hall and crossed the deck to sit with Ciwa Cthulad near the middle of the cargo vessel. The morning had brought rough seas, and eating in the galley hadn't seemed a good idea. Xuxa hadn't liked the idea at all.
The justifier sat on the rise of deck just above the cargo hold, his plate held before him. Sailcloth cracked and popped overhead. Sailors scurried through the rigging, dropping and adding sheets as orders were carried out.
"I didn't know I would sleep through the whole night" Baylee dropped into a cross-legged position in front of the old ranger. He balanced his plate on his knees, piled high with wheat cakes, bacon and breakfast steak, fried potatoes, and two oranges. He'd had to pay the cook a few silver pieces above his boarding passage for the extra fruit.
"Evidently you needed it. I know you didn't sleep well on the journey from the forgathering."
Xuxa flew to a net of ship's rigging over Baylee's head and remained within reach. She waited politely as he peeled the first orange and sectioned it out. He broke the first wedge in half and offered it up.
Thank you, she said as she took the offered bit of fruit. She chuckled contentedly as she began to eat.
"I offered her dinner last night," Cthulad said, "but she deigned not to eat, chancing instead to await you."
Little did I know you were going to sleep away your life last night, Xuxa chided.
Sorry. Silverware appeared to be something of a luxury aboard Kerrijan's Hammer. Baylee rolled up the first wheat cake, all smothered with butter and honey, and ate it. The wheat cake, after spending the night without food, seemed as good as any he'd ever had. "She meant no offense."
"Oh, none was taken. She explained how she felt and I graciously accepted her decision." Cthulad smiled at the bat. "I sat with her and kept her company. She is quite eloquent."
"There are times," Baylee admitted, "when you can't get her to shut up." He took a strip of bacon in his fingers, broke off a tiny piece, and offered it to. Xuxa.
The azmyth bat lapped at it with her tongue. She wouldn't eat the meat out of preference, but she did like the taste of the grease.
"She seems quite concerned about your relationship with a young woman named Jaeleen," Cthulad said.
Baylee dropped his hand away from Xuxa. She made a frantic grab and managed to snatch the bacon morsel from his fingertips. "That has no bearing on our present course," Baylee pointed out.
“True." Cthulad finished the last bite of his wheat cakes. 'Tell me about Uziraff Fireblade, the man we are going to the Moonshaes to meet."
"He considers himself an explorer." Baylee made a grimace of disgust. "But he is little more than a freebooter who sometimes strikes the skull and crossbones to do a little trading with those who wish to purchase certain discoveries he's been fortunate enough to discover."
"I wouldn't think a man of Fannt Golsway's reputation would deal with such a man."
"When it comes to antiquities," Baylee said, "those are the people an honest explorer deals with most of the time. Grave robbers. Tomb raiders. Body snatchers. Thieves. And killers. You run the gamut of the bottom of all Faerun when you seek to uncover the past. And you have to deal with them all."
"Why?"
Baylee sopped up more honey with another wheat cake and popped it into his mouth. "Because those are the people who generally get into areas that you haven't been able to get into yourself. Some of the regions they make discoveries in are sanctioned, and explorers are viewed only as interlopers. They take things that are better left to museums and true collectors."
"For a price?"
"Yes. If you have a collector with a deep purse, those grave robbers know they can get a lot of gold pieces from someone who really wants a particular piece."
"I've heard some say that the work of an explorer is only one step removed from a grave robber," Cthulad said.
Baylee started to take offense.
He is only asking, Xuxa said, seeking to better understand how you see yourself.
Forcing himself to relax, Baylee said, "In some respects, I suppose the comparisons are inevitable. We operate from the same deep purses. The grave robbers demand the money after they've made the discovery. Explorers ask benefactors to put the money up ahead of time, wheedling and pleading, and showing as much of the information as they dare so that it is not stolen and used by someone else. In the end, all the items that are worthwhile and are recovered end up in the same museums and collectors' hands. Only the prices differ. A thief won't care about the history that goes with a particular piece, but an explorer will learn from it first before passing it along. In fact, many of an explorer's discoveries will be of things that are not of gold or silver. Codices to a forgotten language, for example."
"So it wasn't unusual for Golsway to deal with someone like Uzi-raff?"
"No. In fact, most of the business we did involved dealings with people like him. And much worse." Baylee handed another section of orange to Xuxa. "There are some who lure a willing buyer into a remote location to close the sale, then kill him and seek out yet another buyer."
"When we see Uziraff, will we be able to trust him?"
"If we don't let him out of our sight."
"He has a crew and a ship?"
"Yes."
Cthulad made a sighing noise. "Have you considered the fact that there are only two of us…”
Three, Xuxa added.
"Three," Cthulad corrected himself, "of us who are walking into this pirate's den to strike a deal with him?"
"There is no one else to deal with," Baylee stated simply.
"It will be hard to hold him accountable to any bargain we may strike. Unless you know something I don't."
"If we try to hold him accountable by force," Baylee said, "hell know he has something worth a great deal. It would make him even harder to bargain with."
Cthulad gazed out over the open sea for a time. "I'd feel better if we had a small group of battle-hardened men."
"If that were the case," Baylee said, "we wouldn't even find Uziraff."
"What is it Uziraff has?"
"The location to a shipwreck that happened during the Flight of the Elves from Myth Drannor," Baylee explained. Then he embellished the story, bringing in all the
details of Faimcir Glitterwing that Golsway had told him.
When he finished, Cthulad said, "Evidently the library is guarded by someone with a lot of power. Even if you are able to divine the library's location from something in the shipwreck, there remains that to consider."
"I know," Baylee said. "But I'm working on this expedition only one miracle at a time."
"Perhaps it would be better to ask for help from Waterdeep. They have shown an interest. And I've some knowledge of Lord Piergeiron."
"You know him?" "We've met."
Suspicions filled Baylee's head. Xuxa?
His thoughts are unreadable to me, the azmyth bat responded. But everything I can sense about him and his reasons for joining us are nothing but good and honorable.
"Lord Piergeiron would undoubtedly be interested in your mission," the old ranger went on.
"I prefer to chart my own course for the time," Baylee stated evenly. "Gifted as Lord Piergeiron may be in other matters, this is my field of experience."
"I understand perfectly," Cthulad replied. "I only sought to offer an alternative that may be more palatable at a later date."
"We'll consider it then," Baylee said. "Until such time, I still have to find Uziraff."
"Shouldn't we have overtaken Kerrijan's Hammer by now?" Cordyan Tsald asked, shading her eyes as she peered out over the Sea of Swords.
"Thirteen hours to be precise," Westalfe Sternrudder replied. The dwarf captain stood beside Cordyan on the specially built box in the prow of his ship that gave him a higher perspective than his short size would normally have provided. He was thick-bodied and able, with a square-cut black beard and a weathered, pinched face. "And we lay fallow for two days early on in this venture, as I'm sure you recall, while waiting for the winds to become more favorable. There was every chance that Kerrijan's Hammer wasn't so encumbered by fate." He patted the railing of the ship with genuine affection. "Tsunami Dancer is a proud ship. She'll do fine by you in the end. You'll see."
Cordyan gave up staring across the blue-green expanse of sea. She hated traveling by ship. The only way to truly see the world was from the saddle of a horse. "How far out from Caer Callidyrr are we?"
"Another two or three days," the dwarf captain answered, "should see us in the anchorage. Even if Kerrijan's Hammer wasn't mired in the windless sea as we were, we should arrive within a few hours of her. One way or the other."
Cordyan excused herself and walked back amidships.
'Troubled?" Calebaan asked. He sat in the shade of the main mast, reading a tome of magic that was written in a language Cordyan had no comprehension of.
"No," she answered irritably.
Calebaan closed the book, using a cloth ribbon to mark his place. "You received this ship when you asked Lord Piergeiron."
"Somewhat reluctantly, it seemed to me."
"Yet here you are." The watch wizard paused. "There are times in your life, Cordyan, when you just have to trust to the gods."
"I would," the watch lieutenant agreed, "except that I know there are those among the gods themselves who would only see evil wrought. Cyric casts a long shadow these days."
"So you see Cyric's hand in this?" Calebaan seemed slightly amused.
"Stuck aboard this ship this past tenday, especially with the two days of lackluster sails," Cordyan snapped, "I've had time to see this pursuit from all sides."
"Don't give up on your ranger," the watch wizard counseled. "From the time I knew him, and from the stories Ciwa Cthulad knew of him, Baylee Aravold is quite a resourceful man."
Cordyan silently hoped it was true. But then, she knew the enemies the ranger had were also quite resourceful.
Krystarn Fellhammer's eyes ached from constant staring at the crystal ball Shallowsoul had charged her with. She had used her contacts among the docks of Waterdeep to find out all the ships that had left within a few hours of Baylee Arnvold's disappearance from the city. It had been twelve days, and she still could not believe so many had left at that time, nor that she had been through them all, yet hadn't found the ranger.
Still, he was one man among a whole crew. It would have been easier searching for a party rather than an individual.
She silently damned his soul once more, and leaned back from the crystal ball. She stood and crossed the room to the wine flask in the corner, pouring herself a small drink.
Shallowsoul had allowed her to bring the crystal ball to her rooms within the subterranean complex, convincing Krystarn that the lich was indeed concerned about the ranger's actions. She couldn't understand why. The Moonshaes were a long distance from the depths beneath Myth Drannor.
The crystal ball, though, was a blessing. When she had brought the device through the dimensional door leading to the library, she had felt within the crystal ball the resonance that opened the door. After working on it for a time, she felt certain she might be able to open the door with a spell of her own, triggering the release of the magic Shallowsoul already had in place.
But a more proper time awaited. She was beginning to think it might be in her best interests to see that Baylee Arnvold did in fact arrive at Myth Drannor, providing a diversion for the lich.
The twisted path of her plan delighted her. It was the first of any sort that she'd found with any hope of achieving her own goals. Mother Lloth willing, she could soon act like a true drow for the first time in over four years.
She returned to the crystal ball and peered into the glass. It was still tracking the latest ship she searched. She waved a hand over it, thinking of Chomack, Taker of Dragon's Teeth and Chief of the Sumalich Tribe.
The crystal ball clouded for a moment, then opened again to an image within the vast caverns outside the library area. The hobgoblin chieftain was locked in battle with another hobgoblin.
Krystarn watched in growing fascination as the hobgoblin chieftain cracked his whip across his opponent's face, wrapping the strands about the other hobgoblin's head. Then he lunged in with his short sword, knocking aside his opponent's axe and burying the blade in the hobgoblin's heart.
With a shudder, the other hobgoblin dropped to the cavern floor.
Chomack stepped back, holding his bloody sword aloft in victory.
Opening her perspective of the view offered, Kiystarn saw that the hobgoblin chieftain was surrounded by nearly four times as many hobgoblins as the day she'd found him. Evidently the one-on-one fight had been for the control of the tribe recently encountered.
"Chomack," Krystarn said into the crystal ball.
The hobgoblin chieftain stared up, searching. "What do you want?"
The other hobgoblins drew their weapons and stepped back. Some of them yelled for Chomack to take cover.
"I look in on you today," Krystarn said, "only to offer my congratulations. Your tribe has grown."
"Because I am strong enough to take them," the chieftain roared back.
A ragged cheer broke from the ranks of the hobgoblins. Many of them beat their swords against their shields.
"I also remind you of your promise to me," Krystarn said.
"I will keep it," the hobgoblin growled. "As long as you keep your end of the bargain."
"Chomack," Krystarn said, thinking of the gold and silver that must be secreted away in the library, "I shall give you even more than I promised." She waved over the crystal ball and picked the next ship on her list. Its name was Tsunami Dancer. She had scried it twice before, feeling an empathy within it when she'd searched for Baylee Arnvold.
20
"Uziraff Fireblade is in the back, but I wouldn't go in there if I was you."
Baylee looked at the whiskered barkeep behind the scarred counter of the Fickle Mermaid. The place was one the ranger vaguely remembered from a time when he and Golsway had been through the area to talk to Uziraff before. The decor was bawdy, featuring a few dozen carved mermaid statues in various forms of debauchery with mermen, humans, and even unicorns. All of the statues had been glued to whatever surface they sat on to keep th
e tavern's patrons from walking off with them.
"And why not?" Baylee asked.
"He's talking business with someone."
From behind the door to the barkeep's left came the sound of blows being struck, leaving no illusions about what was going on.
“Talking?" Baylee asked. "Or listening?"
The barkeep gave an evil grin. "Uziraff owns the Fickle Mermaid. I don't think anyone could make him listen in here."
Baylee walked around the end of the bar as someone groaned in pain.
The barkeep reached for a belaying pin he kept under the counter. He fisted it and came at Baylee. "I told you stay out of this."
Before the man knew it, Ciwa Cthulad had his long sword at the end of the man's nose. "Unless," the old ranger said in a calm voice, "you wish to learn to start breathing through your ears, step away."
The barkeep went cross-eyed looking at the unwavering sword tip. Conversation across the rest of the bar died as heads turned to the counter. A few men got up, their hands going to their hilts.
"Gentlemen," Cthulad said, addressing the crowd, "I assure you taking part in this would be your greatest mistake. I will kill the first man to interfere with us just to let the ones who follow have no surprise what their fates may be."
"This isn't exactly the quiet kind of entrance I had in mind when we came here," Baylee said in a low voice.
"You dealt the play when you threw the dice," the old ranger replied. "You could have waited till Uziraff was finished with his business."
But Baylee couldn't have, because he thought he knew what kind of business it was that Uziraff was conducting. He watched as the men in the bar stood their ground, wary of Cthulad's sword. Baylee placed his hand on the doorknob and found it locked. He knelt and used a set of lock picks he carried with him, then passed through.
The room on the other side of the door looked nothing like the rest of the bar. A few books lined one wall, a hodgepodge of subjects, titles, and authors. Baylee doubted that Uziraff had read any of them. Niches held other vases and objects d'art, none of them worth much, actually on display in the room for their visual impact. Twisted creatures held men in their grip, sometimes even whole ships. A model of a treant held two humans in its branches while fire surrounded its base.