appeared. It expanded, forming a window in its center as sounds of ringing steel and battle cries filled the air.
'A gate!' Ghleanna exclaimed.
Corran and Durwyn rushed over. 'To where?' Corran asked.
The window elongated to the size of a door, allowing brief glimpses of the combatants. A besieged fighter stumbled into view, overwhelmed by an unseen opponent. 'By all that's holy, help us!' he cried.
'That's Athan-one of the adventurers Elminster sent to Myth Drannor.' Ghleanna cried. 'They must be in trouble!'
The border of the gate flashed and hissed, like a flame being extinguished. The window winked. When their view returned, Athan could no longer be seen. The sounds of battle continued, mixed with cries of the dying. Just outside visual range, a terrible moaning commenced.
'We must aid them!' Corran started toward the gate.
'Are you out of your mind?' Kestrel asked. No way was she stepping into some sort of magical portal. If the sorcery didn't swallow them up forever, they'd only be spit out into the middle of whatever was happening on the other end.
'We're not supposed to leave our post.' Durwyn said.
'This is more important,' Ghleanna answered. 'If Athan's band fails, all Faerun could be lost! Make up your own minds, but I am going.' She stepped into the gate. It flashed violet light, obscuring both the mage and the Myth Drannor scene from view.
'She's crazy,' Kestrel declared.
'No-she's honorable and committed to a greater good,' Corran retorted. 'Something a rogue wouldn't know anything about.'
She glared at Corran. 'So follow her, then!'
The gate hissed and sputtered, its light turning pale blue, then a sickly green. The window began to shrink.
'I will-and so will you!' So quickly she couldn't react, Corran grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the gate.
She shouted her objection, but the sound was swallowed up by a vacuum. She found herself surrounded by black nothingness, the extradimensional space seeming to stretch to eternity. Corran still held her arm in an iron grip. Involuntarily, she grabbed his elbow just to have something solid to hold onto. They floated, propelled only by the momentum with which they'd entered. Far in the distance, she could see the battle scene in Myth Drannor taking place through a window.
A window that was closing.
They were going to be trapped in here! A frightful rumbling surrounded them as the window ahead wavered. Suddenly, the space didn't seem so vast anymore. In fact, it felt close. Her chest tightened as she gasped for air. The rumbling repeated, accented by flashing golden light from either end of the portal.
Corran turned toward her, mouthing words she could not hear. She didn't need to hear them-they were the same words running through her own mind.
The gate was collapsing.
CHAPTER TWO
Helpless, Kestrel and Corran bobbed along, unable to speed their progress toward the shrinking exit. They were near enough now that they could see the broken cobblestones of the street where Athan's band fought, but at this rate they'd never reach it before the window closed.
Kestrel's mind raced. They needed something, some fixed object, off which to push.
Or pull.
It was a long shot, but it just might work. She shrugged out of her backpack and brought it around so that she could dig through it with her free hand. In the wan light coming from the exit, she groped through the contents until her fingers brushed against a metal claw.
Corran saw her withdraw the grappling hook and nodded in understanding. He maneuvered her ahead of him to give her a clear shot at the window, then shifted his grip to her waist to free both her arms.
She'd never made such a long throw before, but they were running out of time. She cast the hook. Unencumbered by air resistance, it sailed through the exit and caught hold of an upturned cobblestone. Thank the gods!
She began to pull herself forward. Corran released her and also grabbed the rope. As the portal rumbled and flashed orange light, they desperately pulled themselves hand over hand, the rope trailing behind them as they reached the exit. They tumbled through. Kestrel rolled to an abrupt stop, striking a solid object
A body.
She sat up, quickly assessing the scene. Three more bodies-all of them motionless-lay sprawled in the street. A band of five orcs scavenged two of the corpses.
They'd arrived too late.
'Get your filthy claws off them!'' Ghleanna shouted from behind her. She turned in time to see the mage lift her hands and send three bursts of magical energy speeding toward the snouted humanoids.
The orcs dove to the ground, but the missiles corrected their course and hit three of the creatures. One orc, struck in the head, died instantly. The other two suffered chest wounds but managed to climb back to their feet, axes in hand. With a cry of retribution, all four remaining orcs now rushed Ghleanna.
Kestrel rolled out of their path, yanked a dagger from her boot and threw it. The weapon caught one of the orcs in the neck. Her victim sank to its knees, but with a series of inhuman grunts, it struggled to its feet. Tightly gripping its short sword, the beast staggered toward Kestrel. Its eyes held the expression of a mad animal.
Kestrel bent to reach her second dagger. A second hit would finish off the humanoid. Before she withdrew the blade, however, the orc collapsed.
She glanced around to see whether any of the remaining orcs approached. Corran, who'd landed several yards away when he tumbled out of the gate, had engaged two of the beasts. The skill with which he deflected the orcs' blows bespoke the superior training of a nobleman. He fought with controlled, precise strokes that countered his opponents' brute swings.
A thunderclap boomed so loud that it shook the street. Kestrel spun to discover the sound came from the gate, which now wavered violently and glowed flaming red. The rope attached to her grappling hook still trailed inside. What would happen to her tool if the portal shut with the rope still inside? The gods only knew when they might need it next
A quick glance toward Ghleanna, who was releasing another volley of sorcerous missiles, indicated that the mage held her own for the moment. Kestrel grasped the rope and tugged.
It was stuck.
She pulled harder. The rope remained taut, but she could feel vibrations along it coming from within the gate. What was going on inside?
A moment later, a familiar figure tumbled through and landed at her feet Kestrel yanked the rope out of the portal. Within seconds, the gate shuddered and imploded, disappearing from sight. At the same time, the sounds of combat ceased.
She offered Durwyn a hand. 'I thought you weren't going to leave your post?'
He grasped her arm and rose. 'I got lonely.'
She looked toward Ghleanna and Corran, who had dispatched the last of the orcs. 'I can think of many places I'd rather seek company than here,' Kestrel said, turning back to Durwyn. 'We're lucky we even made it.'
He nodded toward her grappling hook. 'I saw you and Corran ahead of me and grabbed the rope as soon as I could. That was quick thinking on your part. I never would have made it out in time.'
'None of us would have.' She harbored a bellyful of resentment toward Corran. How dare he force her into that malfunctioning magical gate, nearly killing them both? She shuddered to think of her fate had she been trapped inside during the final implosion.
Durwyn joined Corran and Ghleanna, who were checking the fallen adventurers for signs of life. Kestrel hung
