was that it was the ill luck of his birthright. He kept the sword and the hook naked in his hands.
The warehouse doors were open, revealing the confusion roiling out in the street as more mercenaries arrived and had to fight their way through the fearful crowds fleeing their homes. Lightning speared the sky, but there wasn't a storm cloud to be seen.
'These barrels get wet,' Sonshal called out as he clambered into the back and sat, 'all we're going to be doing is riding to our deaths. They get hit by that damned lightning those wizards are throwing around, and we'll go even quicker.'
'I hear ye.' Khlinat laid the reins across the backs of the horses in a practiced snap. The team hit the end of their traces at once, starting the wagon off quickly.
Sonshal cursed, warning about the barrels.
'Gangway!' Khlinat called at the top of his voice. The horses' hooves struck sparks from the cobblestones and the thunder of their passage cannonaded between the tall buildings on either side of Bindle Street. 'Wild horses! Clear the street!'
People dived to the sides of the street, some of them just ahead of being trampled. Khlinat handled the horses expertly, slapping the reins and urging them to greater speed. The ironbound wheels whirred against the cobblestones.
Jherek braced himself, holding fast to his weapons and praying to Ilmater that their headlong rush hurt no one, and that they arrived in time to save something of Baldur's Gate.
Pacys's fingers twitched for the strings of the yarting. The music crescendoed in the old bard's head. He mapped the words and the rhythms, finding maddening pieces and partials of the lyrics that formed the song. The oppression and the sound of the battle didn't daunt his spirits or send fear into him at all. He felt more alive than he had in decades. His soul thirsted for the knowledge and the answers that he was certain lurked around the next comer.
He held his staff in both hands as he ran through the crowd in the street. He felt their pain of loss, their uncertainty of fear, and he worked it into the lyrics running through his mind as surely and skillfully as a silversmith working an intricate inlay assignation.
The music changed pitch, becoming the champion's song again when he heard the rough voice farther down the street.
'Clear the damned street, ye deaf lummoxes!'
The sea of people and mercenaries before Pacys parted. The music paralyzed him, stronger than he'd ever heard it before. He spotted the dwarf over the horses' laid-back ears as they pulled the wagon. Then his eyes rested on the young man beside the diminutive teamster.
Pacys knew he'd never seen the young man before in his life, but he felt he knew him with greater certainty than he'd experienced at any time in his long life. This was the one Narros had spoken of, the one who would challenge the Taker that brought death and destruction from the sea.
'Get out of the way, old man!' the dwarf roared, slapping the rumps of the horses yet again.
Getting his wits back about him, Pacys dived to the side, rolling to get more distance. The wagon thundered past him, and he memorized the cadence of the ironbound wheels across the cobblestones, figuring out how he could bring that sound to life with his fingertips against the yarting's bowl while strumming the strings with his thumb.
The wagon took the next corner and drove toward the harbor.
Pacys pushed himself up, watching as the wagon disappeared. Without a second thought, he pursued, running as fast as he could. When he turned the corner, he came face-to-face with the first of the sahuagin who'd battled their way farther into the city.
The bunyip roared out in the harbor as the lead sahuagin ripped trident tines toward Pacys's face.
Laaqueel followed Iakhovas through the darkness, the sounds of the battle out in the harbor far behind them now. She'd lost track of how many twists and turns they'd taken, how many other passageways they'd passed by, how many corpses they'd climbed over. She hated the enclosed atmosphere of the tunnels, especially the way she had to remain partially slumped over now that they'd wended their way more deeply into the undercity.
'Hold up,' he ordered.
She froze in place, a prayer to Sekolah on her lips as she held ready the gifts the Shark God had given her as his priestess.
The globe floating behind Iakhovas's left shoulder pushed a dim jade glow across the distance, becoming brighter. At first Laaqueel didn't see the big man at the other end of the tunnel, then the glow crept over him.
He was tall and big-bellied, possibly the most massive surface dweller Laaqueel had ever seen. He looked even more so because of the way he was hunched over in the tunnel. Unruly red hair sprouted out from the sides of his head but nothing grew on top. He kept his beard shaved from his cheeks and upper lip, but it grew long and thick from his chin, hanging midway down his chest. He wore a dark red cloak over a sleeveless leather vest, high- topped boots and dark brown breeches.
'Lord Iakhovas,' the big man rumbled.
'Captain Vurgrom,' Iakhovas greeted, moving closer. Laaqueel was aware of the shimmer that took place around Iakhovas and guessed that he was altering his image again to fit the other man's perceptions.
'Quite a party you're throwing up above,' Vurgrom said.
Laaqueel studied the man further, taking in the gruff manner and the tattoos that decorated his thick, beefy forearms. She knew from the cut of his clothing and the boots that he was a seafarer, and she guessed from his presence in the hidden tunnels that he wasn't there for good reason. He reminded her a lot of the other pirates Iakhovas had recruited for the attack on Baldur's Gate.
'I trust everything went well,' Iakhovas said.
Vurgrom shrugged, the casual gesture made even harder by the tight confines of the tunnel. 'I never cared much for river travel. Give me the openness of the Sea of Fallen Stars every time. The overland trip from Ilipur is not something I'm looking forward to repeating.'
'You have the device I asked you to get?' Iakhovas asked.
'Aye.' Vurgrom reached under his vest and took off a silver necklace that held a leather pouch. 'Kept it close to my heart for safekeeping.' He took the pouch from the necklace and dropped it into Iakhovas's outstretched palm.
'What of the man who had it?' Iakhovas asked.
'I did for him,' Vurgrom said. 'Split him from wind to water and left him like a grand buffet for the fishes to feast on. They'll not find him.'
Iakhovas poured the contents out into his palm. The light of the hovering jade globe revealed a twisted metal piece no longer than Iakhovas's forefinger and less than half that wide. He closed his fist around it, covering the runic markings before Laaqueel had a chance to see if she could decipher them. 'Very good, Captain Vurgrom.'
'I lived up to my end of the bargain,' Vurgrom said. His piggish eyes were surrounded by thick scar tissue, and the reflected light in them gleamed shrewdly.
'As I shall live up to mine.' Iakhovas put the trinket away in his cloak, then removed a heavy coin purse and tossed it to the captain.
Vurgrom caught the purse with an ease that was surprising for one so bulky. He unfastened the drawstrings and emptied it onto his thick palm.
The glowing globe heightened its illumination a bit more, but the change was so gradual Laaqueel didn't think human eyes would notice as quickly as she did. Sahuagin eyes were meant for dim lights, though hers handled bright light better than her kin's did.
Red, green, blue, and amber fires burned inside the gems Vurgrom held. 'Cyric's blessed avarice,' the captain said in a thick voice, 'that's a king's ransom there, Lord Iakhovas.'
'You may think so,' Iakhovas said, 'but remember you well that even those baubles are but a pittance against what I'm prepared to offer you should you maintain your loyalty to me.'
A small man came around from behind Vurgrom and fitted a jeweler's glass to his eye. He picked up a ruby, sapphire, diamond, and emerald in quick succession, eyeing them against the light of the glowing globe. He gave a short nod, never taking any of the gems from Vurgrom's sight, then nodded again and stepped back.
