face was twisted with desire. Kellen hesitated. 'Open it,' Ravendas repeated, her voice more harsh. The boy winced and knelt before the box. Slowly, he reached out a small hand and opened the lid.
Shadows leaped forth.
Kellen screamed as he fell backward. Around the box whirled a small maelstrom of rippling shadows. Caledan almost thought he could glimpse faces amidst the swirling tatters of darkness. They were forlorn faces, hopeless and hateful, faces of death.
'To touch the shadows which surround the Stone is to die.' Snake proclaimed.
Ravendas did not appear alarmed. 'Play, my son,' she instructed. 'This is the time for which you have prepared all your life. Play your song. Make the shadows disappear They will do your bidding, if only you play.' Kellen stood frozen, clutching the reed pipes tightly as he stared at the whirling shapes of darkness.
'Remember what I told you, Kellen,' Caledan called out, his voice cutting across the wail of the shadows. 'You don't have to do this, not if you don't want to!'
'Silence!' Ravendas yelled.
Kellen cast a desperate look at Caledan. Then he turned his round face toward his mother. The pipes slipped from his fingers to fall against the hard stone.
'I won't do it!' he said. His voice trembled. 'I won't pipe the shadows away!'
Ravendas cast a venomous look at Caledan. She knelt before Kellen, gripping his shoulders cruelly. 'Listen to me, my son,' she said in a cloying tone. 'I am your mother. You must obey me. If you do not, there will be a price to pay And do you know what that price will be?' Kellen's eyes widened in horror. 'That is right, my son. I will kill Caledan-your father-even as you watch.' She stood and folded her arms. 'Are you prepared to pay that price, Kellen? Or will you obey me?'
Kellen hung his head. Caledan's companions, even Morhion, stared at him at this revelation. Finally Kellen looked up at Caledan. There was a deep sorrow in his eyes. Kellen knelt to pick up the pipes and lifted them to his lips.
You don't have to do what she says, Caledan wanted to shout out again, but he knew it would be no use. He had become the weapon Ravendas now wielded against the boy.
The sweet notes of Kellen's song seemed muffled at first as if the ancient air was trying to subdue them. But as Kellen played on the music grew in clarity and strength. Caledan felt his skin tingle. He recognized the power of the shadow magic. It ran in the blood of his son even as it did in his own veins.
The whirling maelstrom of shadows slowed, then began to fade In moments the darkness surrounding the box was gone. All could now clearly see the object that lay within. It was a rough, uneven Stone, unusual only because it looked so completely ordinary. But Caledan had no doubt of what it was. Even from this distance he could feel the pulsing of dark energy emanating from the thing, washing over him in sickening waves. It was the Nightstone.
'They want to go on, Tyveris,' Kyana said softly. She and the monk stood slightly apart from the mass of prisoners who huddled in the dim dungeon corridor. Not two hundred paces down the passageway was the dungeon's central chamber-and the Zhentarim.
'By all the gods, they'll be killed, every one of them,' Tyveris rumbled as quietly as he could. Tyveris cast a glance back at the cityfolk. They stood in the corridor, their faces pale, their hands gripping their weapons tightly. 'If we head back to the thieves' entrance now, at least some of these cityfolk will be able to escape,' he growled.
Kyana shook her head. 'They're not going to retreat,' she said fiercely. 'Look at them, monk. These folk are ready to fight. All you have to do is give the word.'
'I can't,' Tyveris said, shaking his head. His dark eyes were mournful behind his spectacles. 'Maybe Mari could have, but I cannot.'
Then we have no hope of driving the Zhentarim from the city,' Kyana said flatly.
The two returned to the crowd of prisoners. However, when Tyveris told them of his intention to turn back, a burly man with the calloused hands of a blacksmith stepped forward.
'Begging your pardon, sire,' he said hesitantly, 'but I don't think there's any here who want to turn back.' The crowd murmured in agreement. 'You see, it wouldn't be right for us to escape while all the others are still caged up like so many animals. Besides, we've had enough of Cutter and her guards.' He shook the stout cudgel he gripped in his hand. 'We've acted like frightened pups long enough. Now's the time to fight'
Tyveris opened his mouth to protest, but the sound of quickly padding footsteps stopped him. Talim pushed his way through the crowd of prisoners, breathing hard.
'There are a dozen guards patrolling the corridors not far from here, and they're headed this way,' the young thief said hoarsely.
Tyveris groaned in dismay. They couldn't get back to the thieves' entrance without fighting the patrol. And if they did that the other Zhentarim were bound to hear the noise and rush to join the fray.
'It seems your decision has been made for you,' Kyana said, watching Tyveris carefully.
Tyveris was silent for a long while. Finally he spoke. 'To the stairs,' was all he said.
Tyveris was forced to admit that when the cityfolk rushed into the dungeon's central chamber it was a glorious moment. 'Iriaebor!' the prisoners cried as they raised their weapons high. 'For the Thousand Spires!'
They poured down the ramp which led into the large, circular chamber. Those prisoners who bore crossbows loosed a rain of bolts down upon the Zhentarim from the high walkway that circled the room.
Yet the Zhentarim had been warned there would be a battle that night and were not caught unaware. A few fell with arrows quivering in chest or throat, but far more blocked the flurry of deadly bolts with wooden shields. The rest of the prisoners streamed into the chamber, and the room erupted into chaos.
Abruptly two score prisoners came rushing out of one of the cell blocks, knocking several spear-wielding guards aside. Talim was with them. Somehow the wiry young thief had slipped past the guards and freed the prisoners. They dashed into the chamber, grabbing weapons from fallen Zhents or fighting with the very chains that bound their wrists. Even so, the battle-hardened Zhents pushed them back with almost comic ease.
It's not enough, Tyveris realized, standing numbly on the edge of the battle. They have the hearts of lions, but their hands are those of merchants and artisans, not warriors. He tried to say a prayer to his god, but his lips were unable to form the words. Already the cityfolk were faltering. In minutes, it would be over.
The battle surged before him. A prisoner, a young woman hardly more than a girl, was clumsily brandishing a rusty sword, fending off the hard blows of a grinning guard. Even as Tyveris watched, the sword spun from her hand to clatter against the slate floor. The Zhent's grin broadened luridly as he readied a killing blow.
Forgive me, Oghma, my god, Tyveris said inwardly. Forgive me, Tali, my sister. This is something I must do.
Tyveris let out a roar of fury as he leaped forward and grabbed the young woman's fallen sword. Tyveris swung the blade with lightning-quick skill. The Zhent's grin faded as he slipped off the blade and into a pool of his own blood.
Tyveris stared at the corpse dully, but he did not drop the sword. There was no more time for prayers or regrets. Now was the time to fight.
He reached down a powerful hand to help the young woman to her feet. Her eyes were filled with gratitude.
“Here, you're going to need this.' He pushed the blade back into her hand. She nodded fiercely. Tyveris bent down and pried the saber from the guard's fingers.
'What's your name?' he asked the young woman.
'Erisa, sire,'
'All right, Erisa, I want you to stay by me,' Tyveris rumbled. With his bare hand, Tyveris ripped the livery-the azure river and silver tower with Ravendas's crimson moon above-from the fallen guard's jerkin. He hastily tied the piece of cloth onto the end of a broken spear he found nearby, fashioning a makeshift standard. 'May Oghma and all the gods grant us strength this night,' Tyveris said solemnly. As Erisa watched in wonderment, the symbol of the crimson moon suddenly burst into flame, flared brightly, and then went dark. At the same time the outlines of the river and the tower, the traditional symbols of Iriaebor, began to glow with an unearthly silvery light.
'You're going to be my standard-bearer, Erisa,' Tyveris said, handing the stunned young woman the banner. 'Hold it high for all to see. And do not let the standard fall, not at any cost'
Erisa stared at the glowing banner for a moment, then nodded, lifting the standard high. 'I won't fail you,
