rock of the cavern floor. One moment they stood in a circle of yellow light, caught in the middle of a furious battle against monstrous predators; the next, he and Illyth stood alone in the darkness, listening to the sounds of a far-off battle.
Illyth recoiled in panic and cried out. Jack quickly caught her hand again.
'Shhhh,' he said quietly. 'We're safe. I took the opportunity of the ropers' attack to abandon the Warlord's expedition.'
The girl panted in the darkness nearby. Her breathing slowed after a dozen heartbeats, and her hand stopped shaking. 'I understand,' she whispered back. 'Jack, they'll come for us as soon as they finish with those- things.'
'They might,' he admitted, 'but we will be hard to find. And it may be that Jelan has no further use for us and does not wish to spend the time tracking us down.'
Illyth fell silent for a moment. Her hand gripped his tightly. 'Jack,' she said, 'Could you please make some light? I don't like this.'
'It's not wise, Illyth. Even a glimmer might be seen from a long way, and remaining inconspicuous is our best defense at the moment.'
'I know, but… what if something like those ropers, or worse, is waiting out here in the darkness?'
Jack shivered despite himself. 'Very unlikely,' he lied. He looked around, and noted a faint glow of green in the distance. 'Look, over there. I suspect that the mythal lies in that direction, and the lakeshore as well. We will head in that direction and then backtrack toward the stone platform from there. I'll have you out of here in an hour or two, and you'll have an adventure of your very own to write about in your journals.'
'Are we going to abandon the wild mythal to the Warlord?'
'Illyth, what else are we supposed to do? She's leading a dozen extremely skillful and ruthless mercenaries, including a very powerful mage and a couple of top rank swordsmen. And Jelan herself is quite competent, too. There's only the two of us. Our best move is to get out of the way and hope that she doesn't find what she's looking for down here.'
'Still, I feel that we ought to be doing something,' Illyth protested.
'We'll notify the proper authorities the moment we get out of Sarbreen,' Jack promised. 'Now take my hand, and try to be quiet. We should keep moving.'
Jack and Illyth spent the better part of an hour picking their way carefully through the darkness, listening for any signs of pursuit by the Warlord's party-or the telltale sounds of some abominable monstrosity native to the Underdark preparing to make them its next meal.
Although he knew it might be dangerous, Jack relented and created just a tiny glimmer of light, no brighter than candle flame, and used his magic to send it dancing ahead of them, illuminating dimly their path. Fortunately, they encountered nothing more dangerous than strange-looking lichens and odd, spikelike fungi sprouting from beneath heavy round boulders, and even then Jack gave the subterranean growths a wide berth.
The sounds of battle from the Warlord's encounter with the ropers had long since died away, but not before a pair of thunderclaps and a blast of searing white flame had blasted through the darkness hundreds of feet away. Jack decided that the wizardry probably meant that Jelan's party had eventually bested their attackers, since ropers weren't known to use lightning bolts to finish off their prey. The question was, what had the Warlord decided next? Had she ordered a search for Jack and Illyth, or had she continued on toward her goal?
'Jack, look. I think that stalagmite looks familiar.' Illyth broke his train of thought, tugging on his sleeve and pointing. A towering peak the size of a castle turret rose above them, vanishing into the darkness. 'The stone platform came to rest nearby.'
'Illyth, we've passed a dozen just like in the last hour,' Jack said. 'How do you know?'
'I have a good sense of direction,' the noblewoman replied. 'I think we're near the platform.'
Jack was inclined to argue the point, since he had been unsuccessfully trying to find that very spot for most of the last hour by navigating across the dark, featureless cavern floor, but he decided to indulge her. 'All right, but let's be careful. Jelan may be lying in wait for us here, since she knows that this is our route back to the surface. I'll render us invisible as a precaution; keep hold of my cloak, or we'll never find each other again!'
Illyth agreed with a nod, and Jack worked the spells. The magic came swiftly and easily to him, another sign that the wild mythal was nearby. In the darkness, it was hard to tell if anything had changed or not, but Illyth clung tightly to the hem of his cloak.
'This way,' she said.
Jack allowed Illyth to take the lead and followed her around the huge rock spire. At first he thought she'd missed her guess, but the square level came into view as they rounded a shoulder of the rock.
The platform was missing.
'Oh, dear,' said Illyth. She shivered and pulled closer. 'How are we supposed to get back up to the top again?'
'It might be a blessing in disguise, when you consider that the chamber above might be filled with angry gargoyles,' Jack mused. 'Of course, I have no idea how we can get back home otherwise.' He looked up into the darkness overhead, trying to guess how far they'd descended on the levitating platform. A small globe of yellow light hovered far above, sinking toward them as Jack watched. He nudged Illyth and pointed before remembering that he was invisible and his arm could not be seen. 'Look up. The platform's coming back down, and someone with light is riding it.'
'The Hawk Knights?'
'It could be. I doubt that the Warlord has had time to return here, ascend, and start to descend again. Let's find a good place of concealment and await their arrival. If nothing else, we need to use the platform when the current riders are done with it.'
Jack drew her back a little ways behind the rock, and they settled down to wait. The platform descended quickly, dropping hundreds of feet in no more than two or three minutes. It slowed and stopped soundlessly atop the square plaza in precisely the same manner as before.
Five figures stood atop the stone, encased in a dome of blinding light: Zandria, the Red Wizard; Marcus and Ashwillow, Knights of the Hawk; and the thieves Anders and Tharzon, knights of the post. Jack blinked in surprise.
'This is an unexpected alignment, to say the least,' he muttered.
'I recognize the two Knights of the Hawk,' Illyth whispered. 'They're the ones who arrested you at the Blue Lord's theatre. And I saw the Red Wizard at your trial, but who are the other two, and what are they all doing here? Are they friend or foe?'
Jack realized that he honestly could not answer the question. Not only did he not know, he didn't even have a good guess. Marcus and Ashwillow would arrest him on sight. Zandria's reaction might be anything. And with Anders and Tharzon, it all depended on how much they resented his shadow-twin's humiliating assaults. But… even if all five wanted him dead on the spot, they had no quarrel with Illyth and might be counted upon to get the noblewoman out of the Underdark and back where she belonged.
'We will present ourselves and hope for the best,' he told Illyth.
Before she could ask another question, Jack stepped out from behind the rock and dropped his spell of invisibility. 'Good day, gentle persons,' he called. 'I must confess I am glad to see you all!'
All five whirled to face him, weapons ready. It was clear that they'd seen no little fighting recently, and their reactions were almost comical. Jack was careful not to smile. He gestured toward Illyth and then approached the light. Anders seemed relieved to see him, but Tharzon scowled darkly. The dwarf was clean-shaven, the first time Jack had ever seen him thus. Marcus and Ashwillow advanced on him, weapons drawn; Jack decided to blunt their attack before it began.
'If you are looking for the Warlord Myrkyssa Jelan, she is not here. We had a falling out, and she proceeded without us. But I can show you where she went, and I am afraid she is up to no small mischief.'
Marcus wasted no time. 'Where is she?' he demanded.
Jack pointed toward the dim green haze, far off in the darkness. 'A short march from here you'll find a subterranean sea, and the Warlord somewhere out on or under its dark waters.' He looked over the two knights
