There was no dust storm to blame this time. Some other force was at work here. He needed to find out what.
“I’m going to the training grounds,” Ashok told Skagi. “I need to see how the snakes got out of their cages. Uwan will demand answers once he hears of this.”
Skagi nodded. He took the snake’s head from Ashok and peeled back its mouth to touch its fangs. Ashok thought he was looking for venom, but then Skagi clenched the snake’s head in his fist. Fangs punctured his flesh. Streams of blood sluiced between his fingers and ran down Skagi’s arm. The snake’s eyes burst. Its skull crumpled into an unrecognizable lump in Skagi’s grip.
Tossing the savaged corpse aside, Skagi said calmly, “I’ll come with you.”
He didn’t wipe the blood from his hands.
CHAPTER THREE
Deep within the caves, most of the shadow beast cages sat empty. Olra had expected to fill them with the spoils from the caravan run-they were clean and ready with strong locks and new enchantments. One of the Camborrs-Ashok recognized him as Olra’s assistant-hurried up from the back of the cave to meet them.
“I heard,” he said tersely before Ashok could speak. “Ikemmu lost a fierce warrior today.”
Ashok nodded brusquely. “Take us to the snake cages,” he said, “now.”
The assistant led them over to the south corner, where a set of smaller cages had been crammed in one on top of another at waist height. The bars were evenly spaced, no more than three inches apart. “We had them both in the lower cage,” he said.
Skagi flicked the cage door with the back of his hand. Metal clanged, and the door swung back on its hinges. “Cage’s unlocked,” he said disgustedly. “Who opened it?”
The assistant faced them squarely, his head up. “I opened the door,” he said.
Skagi took a step forward, but Ashok put his body between the two of them. “Why?” he asked calmly.
“The snakes attacked each other,” the assistant said. “We thought at first they were fighting for territory in the small space. When they wouldn’t stop, Olra ordered me to put them in separate cages.”
“And that’s when they escaped,” Ashok finished for him. “They’d already gone mad. You couldn’t have stopped them.”
“I could have died trying,” the man said.
Skagi grunted. “So could the rest of us.”
“I’m sure Uwan will want to speak to you,” Ashok said. “As Olra’s assistant, you’re the best choice to replace her.” He said nothing about Olra’s final wishes. He would never be able to take the Camborr’s place, no matter how long he trained.
Skagi paused by the row of cages. “Footprints here, small ones,” he said. “Olra’s?”
The assistant shook his head. “The Lady Ilvani’s,” he said. “She came earlier, before the snakes escaped.”
“Ilvani was here?” A strange feeling crept over Ashok, a dread awareness. He remembered how Ilvani looked after the caravan attack, the terror in her face. The dust on her clothes.
She’d been out on the plain when the panthers went mad.
“Did she say anything?” Ashok asked.
“Nothing,” the assistant said. “She just walked among the cages.”
“And right after that the snakes went crazy,” Skagi said. He looked at Ashok, and Ashok knew they were thinking the same thing.
“We have to find her,” Ashok said, “before something else happens.”
They hurried out of the caves and returned to the huts, where a group of Guardians lingered to help put the forges back in order. Skagi asked them if they’d seen Ilvani, but none of them had.
“I’ll check her chamber,” Ashok said. “You go to the wall-tell Neimal to spread the word among the Guardians to be on the lookout for Ilvani, and tell her to seal off the caves. No one goes near the beasts until we find out what’s going on.”
“You really think she’s the cause of all this?” Skagi said grimly.
“I don’t know,” Ashok said. “As long as we keep her away from the beasts, we should be safe.”
“I’ll tell Neimal,” Skagi said.
Ashok ran to Tower Athanon. He found Ilvani’s chamber empty. A search of the tower turned up nothing, and none of the shadar-kai he encountered had seen the witch. Ashok checked the training yard and even ventured into the trade district where the markets were busiest.
He ran up and down the streets, dodging vendors hawking goods from all across the mirror world of Faerun. The scents of the market-exotic spices, meats, and thick perfumes-mingled with his blood and sweat. The humans, halflings, and dwarves shot him curious or alarmed glances as he ran past and were quick to clear out of his way. He stopped several of them to ask about Ilvani, but none of them had seen a shadar-kai that looked like her anywhere in the market.
As a rule, the other races in Ikemmu showed deference to the shadar-kai as the defenders of the city that sheltered them and made them wealthy, so the people answered Ashok’s questions swiftly and with apologies for not being able to aid him.
Defeated, Ashok headed back to the wall. He had to hope the guards found some trace of her, but he also knew that if Ilvani didn’t want to be found, she would not be, and there was nothing he could do to root her out.
When he got to the wall, one of the Guardians signaled him. At once he teleported to the top of the wall. Neimal waited for him.
“What news?” he demanded.
In response, the witch drew her sword and faced the portal. Flames shot up the blade with a sudden brilliance that dazzled Ashok’s eyes, and the portal activated.
“Ilvani is out on the plain,” Neimal said.
“On the Shadowfell? You let her go out there alone?” Ashok said sharply.
Neimal’s expression turned black. “Your message to detain her came too late. She asked to leave, and I have no authority to prevent her from coming and going as she wills. But you,
Ashok forced his temper in check. “I think Ilvani is in danger.”
“So Skagi informed me. I sent him to find you. Ilvani won’t answer the guards’ entreaties that she come back through the portal. They don’t want to have to force her, and neither do I,” Neimal said. She pointed with her sword at the active portal. “Go to her. She might listen to you, but you should know she’s not alone out there.”
“What?” Ashok cried. “Who’s out there?”
“The guards spotted the nightmare out on the plain within sight of the portal,” Neimal said. “It’s not the first time, either. They’ve heard its screams many times.”
If Ilvani and the nightmare came together, there was a good chance the beast would be affected by whatever caused the other creatures to go mad. Ashok’s insides twisted at the consequences of such a meeting. Ilvani’s magic was strong, stronger than that of any wizard he’d seen in Ikemmu, but the nightmare was a force of nature, the embodiment of the harsh, unpredictable Shadowfell landscape.
It was very possible they would destroy each other.
For the second time that day, Ashok came through the Shadowfell portal at a dead run. Sounds assaulted him-the roar of the constant wind and, above that, a distant, keening scream he knew well. He couldn’t see the nightmare for the clouds of dust drifting on the wind, but he knew the beast was close by. The portal guards stood at their posts, but they fidgeted nervously, their eyes fixed on the horizon. They were all warriors of Tempus-a threat to their city should have made their hearts beat with wild anticipation, for to them there was no greater glory than dying in defense of Ikemmu and Uwan, the Watching Blade.
The nightmare’s scream changed all that. It had the unearthly power to foster terror in the hearts of the
