made too late.
'Caledan is not the kind who ever forgives betrayal,' Morhion said. The mage did a surprising thing then. He reached out and touched her hand gently.
'Yes.'
They were silent for a long moment. 'Tell me,' she finally dared to say.
The mage stiffened. 'This is something of which I have never spoken, not to anyone,' he said gravely. 'Never did I think there was one who might understand.' His gaze flickered to her dark eyes. 'Until now.' Mari could not help but shiver.
The mage went on. 'After Kera's murder, there was but one thought on Caledan's mind: vengeance. It was an obsession that gradually consumed him. He followed Ravendas as she fled to the Zhentarim fortress of Darkhold in the Far Hills. Somehow he managed to slip through the Darkhold defenses. This is no small feat, for these are many and perilous.' A note of admiration edged Morhion's voice. 'But far greater dangers awaited him within the fortress itself. He had gone to meet the spider in her lair. It was a confrontation he would never survive. Of that I had no doubt'
Morhion sighed, sipping some of the pale wine. 'I followed him. Such was my decision. I allowed myself to be captured by the Zhentarim, and they took me to Ravendas for questioning. Then I revealed to her that Caledan was within the walls of Darkhold, intending to slay her.'
'Did she reward you?'
'Yes,' the mage said. He smiled bitterly. 'She allowed me to keep my life. As the guards escorted me from the keep, I cast a spell of enchanted sleep upon them and got away. With the aid of my magic, I was able to find Caledan. He was hiding deep among the foundations. I told him what I had done. He was furious, yet he did not try to kill me-not then. Perhaps it was because, until that moment, we had been the closest of friends. Of course, that is no longer so.'
'But you were trying to save him, weren't you?' Mari asked. 'You knew that you couldn't convince him to leave Darkhold unless he realized it was hopeless to attack Ravendas in her lair.'
'That is so. But the truth is, he wished to die, Harper.'
Mari stared at the mage. Morhion paused momentarily, then went on. 'He knew he would never be able to slay Ravendas and then escape Darkhold, yet that suited him. He wished to join Kera in death. I denied him that wish-I forced him to choose life. For that he has never forgiven me.'
'How did you escape Darkhold?' Mari asked finally.
Morhion gave a slight start. For the first time Mari thought she understood the mage's expression. In his eyes was the look of fear.
'Tell me.'
The mage's countenance turned impassive again. 'Long before I journeyed to Darkhold, I had learned in an ancient tome of a black spirit that was said to haunt the caverns beneath the keep. Darkhold has a long history, Harper, stretching back through the centuries. It was built long before the Zhentarim ever set foot within its walls. Once it marked the southernmost border of a kingdom now long forgotten.
'In life, this spirit had been a knight of that kingdom, a man named Serafi. He had sought to usurp the throne, but his plot was discovered, and he was sentenced to death. Such was the dark power of his ambition that even in death he knew life, and so he was doomed for all eternity to drift through the caverns beneath Darkhold, craving that which he might never attain.
'I realized that, if anyone knew of a secret way leading out of Darkhold, it would be the undead spirit of Serafi. By means of a dark spell I summoned Serafi to me. He agreed to reveal to me a secret route through the caverns that led out of the keep. It was by means of this underground passage that Caledan and I escaped from Darkhold. But there was a price.'
'A price?'
The mage lifted an arm. Slowly he drew back the sleeve of his gray robe. Mari gasped, clamping a hand over her mouth. The mage's forearm was crisscrossed with fine, pale scars. She looked up at him, her eyes wide.
'Such is the fate of the restless dead that they are envious of the living,' the mage said. For a moment, there was a trembling in his voice, and again the fear in his eyes. 'Once each month, when the moon is full, the spirit of Serafi comes to me and drinks of my fresh, hot blood. Such is the pact I made with the vaporous spirit in payment for the knowledge he imparted to me.'
Mari shuddered. 'When will the pact end?' she managed to gasp. She felt ill.
The mage's eyes grew icy once more. 'When I die.'
The shadows of twilight crept through the narrow streets of the Old City like ghosts. It was time to go. The companions readied themselves as best they could in the warm firelight of the common room.
As Caledan adjusted his swordbelt, he saw the Harper and Morhion exchange a meaningful look. Something has happened between them, he thought, clenching his hands into fists. He swore softly under his breath. Yet why should whatever went on between those two be of concern to him?
'I wish I were going with you, wife,' said Jolle regretfully as he hugged Estah close. His broad, usually cheerful face was troubled.
'You have two rather good reasons to stay,' Tyveris said as he picked up Pog and Nog and tossed them, shrieking with laughter, into the air before setting them back down.
Mari spoke then. 'Once Tyveris and I begin freeing the prisoners, guards will most likely be summoned to the dungeons. The tunnels beneath the Tor should clear out. With luck you will be able to find the entrance of the crypt of the Shadowking.'
'Don't worry about me, Harper,' Caledan growled. 'You do your part tonight, and I'll do mine. After that, I never expect to see you or the Harpers again. You can save your meddling for somebody else. I've had enough of it.'
For a moment the proud look on Mari's face wavered. She cast a brief glance at Morhion, her dark eyes troubled, then turned her gaze back to Caledan and thrust her chin out defiantly.
'Let's go, then,' Tyveris said gruffly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
They kept to shadowed lanes and dim alleyways, hoping to avoid any confrontations with the Zhentarim. A silence hung over the city. There was not a trace of wind. It was as if the city itself knew that its fate hung in the balance this night and was holding its breath.
They were near the rear wall of the Temple of Selune when two dark forms suddenly separated themselves from the shadows of an alcove to join the companions. Caledan started to draw his sword in surprise, but Ferret's hand on his arm stayed the action.
'These are friends,' the thief hissed.
'Well met, Ferret,' one of the thieves, a slender, dark-haired woman with large, catlike eyes, whispered.
'Greetings, Kyana,' Ferret answered the woman.
Kyana spied the big Tabaxi. 'What is this?' she asked mischievously. 'A disciple of Oghma sneaking around the city like a common criminal? A rather large disciple of Oghma at that.'
Tyveris's face darkened. 'I was a warrior long before I was a loremaster, thief,' he said dangerously. 'Don't forget it.'
Kyana tapped her cheek thoughtfully. 'Very well, I won't.' She turned to Mari. “Talim and I will be going with you into the dungeons.' She nodded toward the other thief, a young man-hardly more than a boy-with a mop of red hair. Mari started to protest, but Kyana held up a hand. 'No arguments, Harper. If you want to use our entrance to the dungeons, you have to play by our rules. Besides, you're going to need some help springing all those locks on the prisoners' cells.'
Kyana led them down a dank, foul-smelling alley. She stopped at a peeling wooden door, knocking three times before pausing, then twice after that. After a long moment the door opened. Caledan felt eyes watching them from all around.
Kyana led the way into the ill-lit building. There were numerous thieves inside, but it was difficult to count them all, for they kept to the shadowed corners. Kyana paid them no heed as she led the companions down a flight of rickety stairs into the basement The small stone room was littered with broken crates and rotted furniture. Against one wall slumped an ancient oaken wardrobe. Kyana opened the wardrobe's doors. Inside was blackness,
