She assessed her surroundings. The cache lay on the other side of the strangers, but their focus seemed to be on the pool itself. If she moved very quietly and kept to the shadows as she circled around, she might manage to reach it without arousing the group's notice. The exposed stairway was unavoidable, but if she didn't take a chance she could grow old waiting for the trio to leave.
'Lord of Shadows preserve me,' she muttered. She crept to the stairway and slowly descended, hugging the wall to make as much use of the thin shadows as possible. When she reached the bottom, she started her cautious circle toward the rock pile. As she padded, she eavesdropped on the party's conversation.
'So Elminster thinks this has something to do with goings-on in Myth Drannor?' the guard asked. 'What does the ruined elven capital have to do with us?'
'From what he explained to me, he has suspected for weeks that someone has created a new Pool of Radiance there,' the woman said in a hushed tone. 'Now with Phlan's pool reawakened, he's all but certain. Even as we guard this site, he's trying to contact a party of adventurers he sent there to investigate. If they do find a new pool, they will destroy it-and whoever created it.'
'You sound sure about that,' the paladin said. 'Those ruins have a reputation for eating adventurers alive.'
'These are not ordinary adventurers,' the woman replied. 'Elminster hand-picked them, and they bear the Gauntlets of Moander-artifacts created specifically to destroy such pools. They will succeed where lesser parties would fail.'
Yeah, right, Kestrel thought She'd heard her share of tales about thieves lured to the ancient elven city hoping to find untold riches in its ruins. She'd heard very few tales of thieves who'd actually returned. Elminster better have sent a score or more adventurers into that den of doom.
She made it about halfway to her goal before her foot slipped on some rubble. Damn! To Kestrel's ears, the telltale scuffling sounded loud as a thunderclap.
'Who's there?' the guard called out. All three of the figures now peered in her direction. 'Show yourself!'
Kestrel paused, torn between trying to elude them and attempting to brazen it out. Before she could make up her mind, the hooded woman raised her hand, palm facing Kestrel's direction, and murmured some words the thief couldn't understand. A spellcaster! Kestrel turned to escape whatever sorcery was about to be hurled at her…
… And a moment later found herself unable to budge.
She tried to fight the magic, but her body refused to respond. Her feet, arms, even her mouth could not move. She was stuck in a half-twist, half-crouch, helpless to defend herself. Heart hammering, she watched the trio make its way toward her.
The paladin reached her first assessing her from head to heel. 'A thief, by the look of her,' he said with obvious distaste. 'Identify yourself!'
The sorceress approached. 'She can't speak until I release her from the spell.'
Gods, but Kestrel hated wizards! She'd not only lost control of the situation but of her own body. How long was the witch going to keep her like this? What did she plan in the meantime? Her vulnerability made Kestrel want to scream.
The paladin nodded toward the guard's short bow. 'Train that on her.' When the guard complied, the knight of Tyr unsheathed his long sword, pressed the tip of it beneath Kestrel's chin, and met her gaze. His eyes were as gray as his steel and just as cold. 'Don't try anything foolish.' He lowered the blade but kept it drawn.
She wouldn't. If the paladin didn't cut her down first, Phlan's guards were known to be quick to release a bowstring. Accurate with their aim, too-though at this range, the fighter could be blind and still hit her. Kestrel's agility and weapons couldn't help her now; she would have to rely on her wits.
The wizard spoke a command word, and Kestrel's body sagged. The rogue caught herself from falling and stood upright to face her captors.
'Who are you and what are you doing here?' the paladin demanded.
She considered lying but decided a modified version of the truth might ring more genuine in the holy warrior's ears. 'My name is Kestrel, and-'
'Kestrel!' The guard lowered his bow. 'You're late!'
'I–I am?' She glanced from one member of the trio to the next. The paladin still regarded her warily, but the mage appeared suddenly guilt-stricken. The guard actually looked as if he were greeting an old friend. Did she know him-all of them-from somewhere?
'Er… yes. I am late,' she stated boldly. 'I apologize. Profusely. Didn't mean to keep you waiting.'
'We weren't so much waiting as concerned,' the guard said. 'I thought maybe you arrived before us and something happened.' He removed his helm, revealing coarse blond locks, a square jaw, and a neck thickly corded with muscles. 'My name's Durwyn. Like you, I volunteered to stand watch here.'
Volunteered? When in her life had she volunteered for anything? A sense of dread swept her. 'Just… um, when did you volunteer for this duty, Durwyn?'
'Last night. Elminster told my commander that you and two others would be here today.'
Damn and double-damn Nat's firewine! She'd actually gone to see Elminster and now couldn't remember what transpired. What in the world had she gotten herself into?
The paladin cleared his throat to draw her attention from Durwyn. 'Tell me if you would, Kestrel, what you were doing skulking about if you indeed came to stand guard with us?'
A fair question, but his tone chafed nonetheless. The inflections of his voice suggested noble birth. Holy warrior or not, if he thought she'd tolerate arrogant condescension very long, he was sorely mistaken.
She lifted her chin. 'Spying on you, of course. You don't expect me to put my trust in people I know nothing about, do you? I was trying to judge what sort of folk I'm to work with.'
'Honest ones. Which, I imagine, is more than we can expect from you.'
She bit back the retort she would have liked to let fly. Paladins of Tyr, if indeed that's what this knight was, were known for their self-righteous sense of honor and justice. Rogues avoided them like the gallows. 'You mind tossing me your name between all the insults?'
'Corran D'Arcey, Defender of Tyr the Even-Handed, and third son of Baron Ethelred D'Arcey of Sarshel.'
So, she'd guessed correctly. A paladin of Tyr and a blue-blood. She held his gaze without blinking, determined to show him that his titles did not intimidate her. 'I'll just call you Corran for short.'
'And I'll just-'
'Aren't we supposed to be guarding a pool here, Corran?' she asked.
The rebuke silenced him for a beat. 'Yes, we are,' he said tightly. He sheathed his sword and strode back to stand nearer the water.
In the awkward quiet that ensued, Durwyn shrugged and followed him.
Kestrel was disappointed to be left standing with the sorceress and not the guard. Durwyn seemed kind but not particularly bright-the perfect source to pump for more information about what she'd gotten herself into. The spellcaster, on the other hand, made her nervous.
The mage, who had not yet spoken to Kestrel, drew back her cowl. By her gold-flecked blue eyes and slightly pointed ears, Kestrel guessed her to be of partial elven descent. Moon elf, judging from the bluish tinge to her ears and chin. 'I am Ghleanna Stormlake,' she said. 'Had I known your identity, I would not have thrown that spell.'
Kestrel could not tell whether Ghleanna's words held contrition or criticism. Was she supposed to have strutted into the tower declaiming her name?
'Apology accepted,' she said, whether one had been offered or not. Then, deciding Ghleanna could prove informative, she added, 'I should have arrived on time.'
The mage's lips formed a half-smile. 'Elminster told me you might have a… headache… when you awoke.'
Kestrel felt her face grow warm. She'd not only been drunk but also obvious about it. No doubt the wizard had taken advantage of her compromised state to coerce her into this volunteer duty. She thought of the conversation she'd overhead as she arrived in the cavern earlier. 'Elminster seems to tell you a lot of things.'
'I am one of his apprentices. When he left this morn to investigate tidings from Shadowdale, he asked me to keep an eye on events here in Phi-'
A crackle of energy suddenly rent the air. Not ten paces away, a floating, glowing ball of white light
