the evil that has overtaken the castle.'
Kestrel stifled a groan. Cleanse the Mythal and defeat a bunch of insane cultists-as if doing so were as easy a picking a fat nobleman's pocket.
'Something troubles the little bird,' Caalenfaire said.
Kestrel wished he would stop calling her that, but she wasn't about to tell him so. 'This whole mission troubles me. 'Cleanse the Mythal.' 'Seize the power of the Mythal.' How are we supposed to take control of something we can't see or touch?'
Caalenfaire consulted his bowl once more. 'The Path dims now. It twists.' His voice seemed to span a great distance, not just the boundary of death but the march of time. 'Still, the signs are clear. You must get up from under. Beyond the Circle, find Harldain Ironbar. You can enter his tower in the House of Gems only from the surface. Harldain is your ally. Heed well his counsel.'
Volun's voice also seemed to be fading from the present. 'To reach the Heights, you must unseal the Circle of Mythanthor. You have seen it-a great golden circle in the floor, in the uppermost part of the dungeons. You need the Ring of Calling to unseal the Circle. Master, look into your bowl. Can it tell you where the Ring of Calling lies?'
'I am looking. It is unclear. They are Veiled Ones now, and their shadow darkens anything they might touch or any place they might go. There are many possibilities. The Tulun Wall… the Corridor of Salg… but first they should try the Room of Words in the Onaglym. Yes! But look-Resheshannen!'
'Master has spoken the Word of Oblivion. When you find the ring, use this word to release it from its once- proud bones. Wear the ring while standing in the Circle.'
Ghleanna bowed. 'We thank you, Master Caalenfaire and Volun. You have lent our quest new direction.'
'The sword, Volun, the sword,' Caalenfaire murmured. 'Now that their path lies in shadow, they need it more than ever.'
'Oh, yes-Master has a gift for you. Examine the scrying pedestal in the main hall. An arrow will guide you. And Master says the little bird should fear not Loren's Blade. It carries no curse.'
Kestrel started at the unexpected announcement about the magical weapon she'd acquired from Athan's band. How had the diviner known she harbored doubts? The returning dagger had not even come up in conversation.
Caalenfaire seemed to have lapsed back into a trance, and Volun's eyes had gone dark. One at a time, the adventurers retreated down the stairs. Anxious as Kestrel was to depart, she hesitated to turn her back on the ghost and thus found herself the last one standing on the balcony. As she finally turned to go, the diviner's tremulous voice broke the stillness once more.
'The bird of prey feels under attack.'
Kestrel froze. Why, oh why, had he singled her out? Slowly, she faced him. 'I thought I was 'talibund.' What do you know of me?'
'You do not share the others' idealism. You speak uncomfortable truths… I know something of that.'
She grew warm, her hands trembling with nervous energy as if she'd been caught red-handed at some shady activity. Could the old ghost see straight into her soul?
'There is one in particular with whom you clash.'
Corran. As if on cue, the paladin's voice floated up to them. 'Kestrel?'
'Coming!' she called, not taking her gaze off the spectral wizard.
'Be of two minds but one heart,' Caalenfaire said, his image fading from view and his voice seeming to echo from some far-off place. 'Do not let conflict between you threaten your mission. It is too important.' With that, the ghostly diviner and his familiar faded away altogether.
Kestrel paused to catch her breath before heading down the stairs. The apparition's words had left her feeling exposed, as if all her thoughts and emotions were on display for anyone to see. She shook her shoulders in an attempt to shrug off the sensation.
By the time Kestrel rejoined the others, they had already begun to examine the base of the scrying pedestal and had located a rune shaped like an arrowhead. Jarial had followed its point until he found a crack in the marble, which he'd traced to outline a secret panel. Kestrel tried to pry it off but ultimately had to give up and let Ghleanna cast an opening spell upon it
Corran reached in and withdrew a gleaming silver long sword. He held the blade reverently, testing its weight and balance. The weapon seemed almost an extension of the paladin's own hand, so smoothly did it arc and thrust under his command. As Kestrel watched him swing the sword from side to side, Caalenfaire's final words echoed in her mind.
''Tis a magnificent weapon-light but sturdy-the finest I've ever held.' Corran swept the blade through the air one more time, then offered its jeweled hilt to Durwyn. 'Care to test it?'
The guard hefted his axe. 'Nay, this is my weapon. I'd hardly know what to do with a long sword.'
Corran shrugged and offered the blade to Kestrel. Though she could defend herself with a sword in a pinch- hell, she could defend herself with a frying pan if she had to-her swordsmanship wasn't nearly worthy of such a weapon. 'Keep it, Corran,' she said. 'You wield it much better than I ever could.'
He gazed at the blade a moment more. 'I shall call this sword 'Pathfinder,' that it may help us find our own way to defeat Mordrayn and the Pool.'
They did not tarry longer. The diviner's cryptic hints and warnings had created a sense of urgency in them all. As the parly headed back to the Rohnglyn, Kestrel fell into step beside Durwyn. 'little bird,' he said absently.
'What?'
'Caalenfaire called you a little bird. So did Preybelish. I just realized why-they were referring to your name.' He stopped and regarded her quizzically. 'Why did your parents name you after a falcon?'
Kestrel stared at him. They'd just learned from a spooky diviner that a dracolich and some mad cultists were trying to take over Faerun, and he was asking about her name? 'They didn't.'
'But a kestrel is a-'
'I know what a kestrel is,' she snapped. 'My parents didn't give me my name. I got it from the man who found me as a baby after they were killed.' Her tone softened as she thought of Quinn. He'd been passing by the burned-out house and heard her hungry cries coming from the root cellar where her parents must have hidden her before brigands put arrows in their chests and set the cottage ablaze. 'He said when he first saw me I reminded him of a falcon because he'd never seen such fierce eyes in so little a person.'
She flushed, self-conscious at having revealed the personal story to a group of people she barely considered allies, let alone friends. Durwyn had caught her off-guard. No one had ever asked about her name before. As she looked away from Durwyn, she caught Corran regarding her pensively. Yes, she was a ragamuffin raised by a rogue stranger-she'd probably just confirmed every low opinion he held of her.
She noted Ghleanna's gaze on her also. The sorceress, however, regarded her not with condescension but with understanding. Her expression surprised Kestrel-the half-elf had seemed reserved until now, except on the subject of Athan. Perhaps her missing lover made her empathetic to the losses of others.
They reached the dancing lights of the Rohnglyn. Just before Jarial touched the golden sphere to take them back into the dwarven dungeons, Kestrel glanced up at the balcony once more.
Caalenfaire and Volun reappeared. For the first time, the diviner gazed at the party instead of into his scrying bowl, his face careworn but hopeful.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Outside the entrance to the House of Gems tower, the body of the cult sorcerer Kestrel and her companions had defeated lay undisturbed. Either the cultists had not passed through the door to the Room of Words since the party was last here or they had stepped over their comrade's body as if it were no more than a piece of litter.
To the group's surprise, they found the tower door unlocked. It opened into a single round room about thirty feet in diameter, a curved stone staircase spiraling up the far wall. The chamber was empty of furnishings or occupants.
'At last a lucky break,' Durwyn said as he strode forward.
'Wait!' Kestrel grabbed his arm. The cultists were no fools-and neither were dwarven engineers. She studied
