Either the third use was truly charmed or the bard's request of Lady Luck had fallen on sympathetic ears.
The wand spat out a glowing red sphere no bigger than a pea that streaked down the trail into the midst of the Zhentilar patrol. Then the pea burst into a fireball so powerful the force of the blast knocked Joel off his feet.
Complete silence fell over the woods as every living creature, seen and unseen, took a moment to wonder at the blast. Then the silence broke as the charred corpses of the Zhentilar patrol and their horses thudded to the ground. Birds in the trees overhead began twittering loudly, as if mistaking the fireball for a second sunrise.
Joel picked himself off the ground. He took a few steps toward his vanquished foes, but the sight of the carnage and the stench of burning flesh was too terrible to bear. He turned about and loped down the trail after Holly.
Two
Still mounted on Butternut, the girl came riding back toward him with the first Zhentilar's horse in tow. 'I heard an explosion,' she said, 'What happened?'
'They're dead,' Joel whispered.
'All of them?' Holly asked. 'All the ones who were chasing us,' Joel replied. He patted the side of the Zhentarim horse for a few moments, making sure the beast was steady, then swung himself into the beast's saddle. 'Are you all right?' Holly asked. 'You're not injured?' Joel shook his head from side to side, then studied the girl for a moment. Her arms and tunic were splattered with the blood of the last Zhentilar she'd killed and from the wounds she'd received from the first Zhent patrol, but she didn't seem the least bit unnerved.
'I suppose this is all business as usual for you Daggerdale folk,' the bard commented dryly.
'If by business as usual, you mean, do we defy invaders to our lands whenever we can, then the answer is yes,' Holly replied coolly. 'To do anything less would be inviting the fate of Teshendale, conquered by the Black
Network and now only an empty chair at the Dales Council. As it is, the Zhent soldiers harass our citizens, their orc mercenaries raid our herds, and their puppet rulers force our lord into exile. If you plan to travel through Daggerdale, you had best get used to our 'business as usual.' ' Having said her piece, the girl clucked her tongue at Butternut and rode off down the trail.
Joel sat still for a moment, stunned by the girl's tirade, but after some reflection, he convinced himself he hadn't really said anything that could give offense. There was more than the reputed Daggerdale unfriendliness behind Holly's outburst. Her words had a defensive and rehearsed sound, as if Holly had said it before or had wanted to say it to someone else for a long time.
Joel dug his heels into the ribs of the Zhentilar horse and soon caught up with his guide.
'Correct me if I'm wrong,' the bard said as his horse drew up alongside Holly's, 'but I sense I've just caught an arrow meant for someone else.'
The girl lowered her eyes, and Joel knew he'd hit the mark, but he also knew that wouldn't necessarily gain him any points with her. It would be up to him to bring some civility back to the conversation.
'I didn't mean to imply you or your people had no right to defend yourselves,' he insisted.
Holly looked up at him. 'I know that. You're right about my speech being meant for someone else. Someone I met said something that really made me angry, but I couldn't think what to reply until the next day. I've been thinking about what I said to you for days now, repeating it over and over, wishing I could go back in the past and answer the person who made me angry. Pretty foolish, huh?'
Joel laughed. 'Not really,' he replied. 'We've all done that before. So who was this scoundrel who slandered the honor of the Daggerdale folk?'
'Some stupid Cormyte serving as an envoy to Shadowdale. He said we were a ruthless, mean-spirited people. Elminster and Lord Mourngrym didn't pay any attention to him, but he made me terribly angry. I wasn't sure how much respect he warranted, so I didn't reply, Then I felt stupid because I'd lost the chance to show Shadowdale how loyal Daggerfolk are to their dale.'
'Elminster and Lord Mourngrym probably admired you all the more for your self-discipline,' Joel assured her
'Do you really think so?' Holly asked with surprise.
'Well, having never met the gentlemen, I can only guess based on what I've heard about them. Sharp words are never wielded so skillfully as silence. So what business did one so young have with such powerful men?' the bard asked curiously.
Holly grinned at him but said nothing.
Joel laughed. 'Well, now that you've demonstrated your mastery of silence, perhaps you will deign to move on to the art of small talk. I'll try another question. Where'd you get that curved blade of yours?'
'It was my father's blade,' Holly explained. 'He was from Zhakara. That's far to the south.'
Joel nodded.
'When he was a young man, he put on a cursed ring and was teleported to the north, where the Zhents captured him. He was a slave of the Zhents for years. So was my mom's brother, Burl. My dad helped Uncle Burl escape, so Uncle Burl brought dad to Daggerdale and introduced him to my mother.' Holly looked away into the woods and added, 'They all died in an orc raid last year-my mom, my dad, my Uncle Burl, my grandma Harrowslough.'
'I'm very sorry,' Joel said.
'Me, too,' Holly whispered.
They rode in silence for nearly a mile. Joel thought of his own mother and father. It would probably be years before he saw them again. He hoped his reunion with them would be more pleasant than his departure had been. His parents couldn't understand his decision to leave the barding college in Berdusk to join Finder priesthood and go on a pilgrimage. Joel began humming a tune his mother and father often sang together.
The trail left the woods finally and headed out into rolling meadowlands covered with high grasses and wildflowers.
'Something's coming,' Holly hissed in an urgent whisper. She slid down from Butternut's back.
The bard dismounted beside her. 'What is it?' he asked. 'More Zhentilar?'
'I'm not sure,' the girl replied. Her brow was furrowed, and she looked more anxious than she had when she was surrounded by the Zhentilar. Holly pointed to a line of trees to the west. 'We need to take cover,' she insisted.
Joel followed the girl into the tall meadow grass, tugging the confused horses behind him. Young saplings lined the edge of a shallow gully; Holly slid down the gully and Joel followed. Butternut balked until Holly splashed a stone in the small stream at the bottom of the wash. Eager for water, the mare picked its way to the bottom and began to drink thirstily. The Zhentarim mount soon followed. Joel could just pick out the trail they'd left behind, but for the most part, the grass had closed back up after they passed through.
Joel trusted the girl's instincts, but he was unable to squelch his curiosity. Leaving the horses and Holly behind, the bard crawled back the way they'd come until he could peer through the tall grass at the trail beyond.
Whatever was coming had frightened more than just Holly. The woods that he and Holly had just exited erupted with an alarmed chatter. A moment later flocks of birds soared out of the trees and flew overhead. Five deer bounded down the trail and into the grass, the lead buck settling only a few feet from the ravine where Holly and the horses were hidden.
A minute later a great procession of people emerged from the woods. There had to be a hundred at least, peasants mostly, their heads bowed down, mumbling incoherently, their feet shuffling in the dirt, kicking up clouds of dust. Four young men and two young women in poorly tailored acolytes robes of red and black carried banners of crimson, emblazoned with a black hand They chanted, louder and more clearly than the peasants, so that Joel
