'It's dangerous up here, too,' Tavan whispered angrily. 'Or hadn't you noticed, Lady Amber?'
'The orc can't get past the guardian,' Amber said.
Tavan and Toran climbed back up to the landing beside the arched entrance and looked back into the crypt. By the light of the torch Amber had thrown, the children could make out at least five orcs hovering at the doorway at the opposite end of the crypt.
The orcs were grunting and growling at one another as if they were arguing about something. Finally two of the orcs entered the crypt and began moving slowly across the length of the stone chamber as silently as cats. They were dressed in shabby, torn clothing, but they were both armed with swords.
They're going to get us,' Toran hissed.
'No. Look,' Amber said, pointing toward the crypt's ceiling.
The shadow of a great wyvern, even more silent than the orcs, floated along the ceiling and hovered over the trespassers. Suddenly a great shadowy tail plunged downward twice-a quick stab into the back of each orc.
The orcs howled and fell forward stiffly, without any effort to break their fall. A shadowy wyvern's neck and head snaked down over its kill, lifted one of the orcs in its huge maw, and bit it in half with a sickening, crunching sound.
Pars began to cry. Amber covered his eyes, whispering, 'Don't look, honey.'
The orcs who had remained standing in the doorway screamed and shouted in their own language, but they made no effort to rescue their companions. Unfortunately they didn't leave, either, but stood eyeing the children at the other end of the room with hatred, waving their swords threateningly.
From the stairs where he stood transfixed with the other children, Gory murmured, 'Uh-oh.'
'I think we have another problem,' Olivia said.
Amber looked down the stairs. Climbing up toward them were several black-scaled creatures with white horns and tails like rats. Amber recognized them as kobolds, monsters at least as vicious as orcs. They were no taller than Pars, but they held loaded crossbows, aimed directly at the children.
'I guess this is the proverbial rock and a hard place that Uncle Giogi's always talking about,' Lumen muttered.
Inspired by the thought of his father, Gory declared, 'Enough is enough!' He drew himself up to his full height and shouted down at the kobolds, 'We carry the goddess Tymora's blessing. If you know what's good for you, you'll flee now.'
The kobolds tittered and guffawed. The one in the lead drew himself up to his full height and, in a broken version of the common tongue, replied, 'We carry blessings of Beshaba. We ask her kiss you with misfortune, you die.'
ACT THREE SCENE 2
Joel awoke drenched in sweat and anxious. He'd dreamt the Wyvernspur children were trapped in a cave by foul monsters. They had called upon Tymora, but Tymora's Luck was gone from the Realms, leaving them helpless. The bard shook his head. Selune had said she would check on the children, but perhaps his warning had come too late. Of course, it was possible that the dream had nothing to do with reality, but Joel doubted it. He rolled over, praying that Selune was able to do something for Finder's mortal family.
Soon after falling back asleep, the dreams returned. Joel dreamt of the earthquake in Tymora's garden. In his dream, however, the birch tree fell on top of him instead of away from him. He tried to push the trunk off his body, but it was soggy and rotten. A section broke off, leaving his hands covered with slime.
After several more attempts, Joel managed to wriggle out from beneath the tree.
'Joel,' the tree called.
Joel whirled about. Buried within the rotting tree trunk was Finder. The tree fell away from the god. Then Finder began to age until he was an ancient, toothless old man. Joel gasped.
'Find Beshaba,' Finder said. 'Take her to the Spire.'
'Is she here in Gehenna?' Joel asked. 'And why the Spire? How do we get there?'
Finder didn't answer Joel's question. The god's flesh fell from his skeleton. Then the skeleton's mouth clacked, 'Barghests use fear.'
The ground began to shake once more, until gradually
Joel realized it wasn't the ground shaking. Emilo was shaking him awake, calling his name.
'I'm awake,' Joel said, some unknown fear making his heart pound and bringing him to instant alertness. 'What's wrong?' he demanded of the kender.
'It's Holly,' Emilo explained. 'She started muttering to herself. Then she cried out, 'Danger! Run!' and ran off.' Emilo pointed deeper into the canyon.
Joel shivered despite the hot air. 'There's something wrong here.' His breathing grew very fast. 'There's something terrible. Something dangerous all around us,' he declared. With a rising sense of panic, he rose quickly to his feet, only to be seized with sudden, overwhelming fear. He started to run down the canyon and disappeared in the darkness.
Emilo shook his head with confusion. The bard had left in such a hurry that he'd left the finder's stone lying on the carpet. The kender was just about to wake Jas when it occurred to him that the winged woman might be better off left sleeping. Instead, he scooped all the party's gear into the center of the flying carpet. Then, with the finder's stone clutched in his hands, he ordered the carpet to fly after the terrified bard and paladin.
Joel ran pell-mell down the canyon, heedless of whether Emilo and Jas were following or were left behind and equally heedless of what lay ahead. He tripped over something metallic and sprawled across the rocky ground.
Joel rose to his hands and knees and looked around, A plume of molten lava shot into the sky on the slope overhead, and by its light, Joel was able to see what had impeded his flight. Holly lay on the ground nearby, unconscious but breathing.
A moment later something pounced heavily on Joel's back and sent him sprawling again. When he looked up, he was face-to-snout with a growling wild dog with glowing red eyes and horrible breath.
'N-N-Nice doggie,' the bard whispered cautiously. He debated in his mind whether he should back away slowly or flee outright. His courage returned to him, however, and he held his ground, unwilling to abandon Holly to this beast. Before his eyes, the dog transformed into a giant humanoid with a flat face, broad nose, pointed ears, and sharp teeth and fangs. It resembled some sort of overgrown goblin, except its skin had a strange purplish color. It raised a huge fist covered in a spiked gauntlet.
Joel could feel his heart racing, and a surge of energy rushed through his body. He ducked, but not fast enough. The gauntlet struck him in the side of the head with the force of a heavy club. Aware that his life depended on it, Joel spent several moments fighting against the darkness trying to claim him. In the end, he lost.
When he regained consciousness, the bard found himself lying on his stomach, his feet and his knees bound together and his hands tied behind his back. Holly lay beside him, similarly trussed with what appeared to be torn strips of blue fabric. The paladin was awake now, glaring at their captor.
About twenty feet away, seated beside a bubbling pool of lava, was the giant goblin who'd hit him. It was tearing strips of cloth from Joel's cloak and dangling them over the lava. When a strip caught fire, the barghest would shake it until it was about to burn his fingers, then drop it in the lava pool, where the cloth made a brilliant flash before finally incinerating completely.
'What's happening?' the bard whispered.
'We've been captured,' Holly whispered back.
'I can see that,' Joel muttered. 'By what? I seem to have misplaced my Volo's guide to Gehenna.'
'It's a barghest,' Holly explained. 'Remember? Finder mentioned them when he was telling us about Gehenna. They can shapeshift into wild dogs.'
Joel recalled the last words Finder spoke in his dream. 'Barghests use fear,' he quoted.
'Yes,' Holly said. 'They can cast several different spells, including those to effect the emotions of their prey.
