Descent into the Depths of the Earth

darkness ahead. Without looking back, he forestalled an angry retort from the magic sword.

“What was on those scrolls you found back where you caughtthat beholder?”

The girl beamed as she patted the scroll tube that hung between her wings. “A few cool spells! Earthy kinda ones. Flesh to stone. Stoneto mud. Pass wall. All pretty hoopy, huh?”

“Are they useful?”

“More or less. I’m gonna copy some of them into my spellbook,so I need to make ink. Can you let me know next time we find a trickle of water or something?”

Jus nodded his chin forward at the underdark. “How aboutthat one?”

The passageway had grown more dank, and clean moisture had cleared away much of the phosphorescent moss. Before the party ran a vast, dark rushing river that filled the caverns with a glorious surge of sound.

At the far side of the river, perhaps a hundred feet away, the passageway continued on toward the drow city-and according to the locatorneedle, toward Escalla’s slowglass bauble.

The river flowed powerfully, icy cold and pitch black. It blocked all possible progress. Escalla simply hovered and stared. Polk blinked, and Private Henry edged fearfully closer to the water until physically yanked back from the edge by Jus’ powerful hand.

Escalla blew out an annoyed breath and planted her fists upon her little hips.

“Well poo!” The girl shook her head. “You know, I have gotto find a way to make you people fly.”

There was no bridge, and the powerful current meant that there was no way to simply swim across. Escalla unshipped her wand, checked the charge and made a dissatisfied little noise.

“No way I can make an ice bridge all the way across. I’veonly got two more shots with this thing if I’m lucky. Remind me to recharge itwhen we get home.” She whirred upward, deliberately keeping well above thewater. “I’ll go over the other side and just take a look. Maybe there’s a reallybig drawbridge or something.”

The faerie disappeared in the dark. Anxious about letting the girl go alone, Jus kept a grip on the hilt of his sword and paced the banks. In the river, a fin briefly broke the surface-a fin from a fish that must have beenat least thirty feet long.

After a while, drifting faintly above the roar of the water, Escalla’s distant voice came from the dark. “Hey, guys! There’s some kinda giantfish man over here!”

Jus surged forward to the edge of the riverbank in alarm. “Ishe attacking you?”

“No!”

“What’s he doing?”

“Knitting lace. He’s pretty good!” Escalla’s voice couldbarely be heard over the rush of water “All right, he’s seen me. He looks likehe wants me to talk to him!”

Pacing, the Justicar bellowed hard to make himself heard. “Don’t get too close!”

“Jus, he’s a fish. I don’t really think I want to swapaddresses or anything.”

While they waited, Polk finished gnawing on a spider leg and Cinders sucked loudly on a piece of old coal.

Finally Escalla called over to them from the other bank, “He’s saying something! I can’t figure it out.”

“What?” Jus pushed Cinders’ back from his helm, trying tohear the girl properly. “Don’t you have a spell for translating languages?”

“Well duh! Be handy if I’d bothered to memorize it!”

“Why didn’t you memorize it?”

“Well, excuse me!” True to form, Escalla lost hertemper. “Since everything we’ve met so far has tried to eat us or enslave us, Ikinda thought spells for blowing things up might be a bit more useful!” After amoment, the girl called back again. “All right, he’s offering to ferry you guysover if you pay him.”

Jus gave a puzzled frown. “How do you know that?”

“Because he’s standing in a big boat and shaking a money boxat me!” The faerie’s temper was never good when she was being harassed. “Justget some money out and get to the damned shore!”

Polk looked at Jus, who looked at Henry. Cinders looked happy, and the sword lacked the ability to show much of an expression at all. With a mutual shrug, the party walked down the harsh gravel beach and waited by the shore.

A shape swiftly materialized out of the gloom. A large, flat barge drifted across the current. Standing at the rear and plying a single oar loomed a titanic, vicious looking creature that set the whole party on guard.

Fully eight feet tall, the creature was a monstrous humanoid fish. A huge jaw crammed with fangs gleamed sickly yellow in the light. The creature stared at its passengers out of eyes the size of dinner plates. The scaled horror was powerful enough to shove its boat across the river without the slightest show of strain.

The boat grounded against the gravel with a crash. Hovering well out of reach of the fish man, Escalla gave her friends a gleeful wave.

“Guys, this is Thoopshib the ferryman!” The faerie gave anamazingly false smile. “Thoopshib, these are the guys. Guys, keep smiling andjust start putting money in the box until he looks happy.” The faerie wavered.“Well, happier, at least.”

A money box was presented. Digging into the loot gathered from the lich, Polk produced a handful of money. The fish man walked awkwardly over to the shore, its whole massive frame alive with an impression of carnivorous strength. A clawed hand held out a money box, and Polk fussily counted platinum coins into the box one by one until the monster seemed satisfied.

The sum offered was probably sufficient to buy a boat of their own. Thankfully, no one saw fit to mention the fact. Jus stepped onto the barge-watched closely by the creature, who recognized a being at least as deadlyas itself-then helped Polk and Henry climb aboard.

Cinders sniffed the reek of fish and seemed gloriously happy.Kuo-toa fish! The dog’s manic grin gleamed as little flames wisped fromhis nose. Big stink! Very tasty! Fish scream when burn!

There had been very little arson in Cinders’ life of late.He wagged his tail in anticipation. Fish live in school. One fish, two fish, red fish, burn fish! Burn-burn-burn-burn-burn!

“Let’s not burn any boats while we’re still on them.” Juskept his voice low, his face calm and his hand near his sword. “Just get readyto blast it if it tries to rock the boat.”

With Escalla flying cover overhead, the ferryman would hardly dare. Henry shot a glance at the faerie, then looked back at the savage ferryman and tried not to stare.

“What is it?” the boy asked.

“Cinders says it’s a kuo-toa,” Jus replied.

“A kuo-toa?” The boy swallowed. “How does he know?”

“Cinders is a hell hound. He’s been around.”

Private Henry shot a nervous glance toward the grinning Cinders. “I thought hell hounds were evil?”

“He’s not evil. He just needed a good home.” Jus gave one ofCinders’ forelegs a pat. “But he’s right. Fish fear creatures that use flame.”

The barge surged forward through the water, heading toward the far bank.

Private Henry looked about nervously and cleared his throat. “Sir?”

“Yes.”

“What’s a kuo-toa?”

The Justicar carefully avoided looking at the ferryman, while keeping the creature very clearly in the corner of his eye. “That is.They’re often assassins-very, very dangerous.”

From above the boat, Escalla gave a snort. “Assassins, huh?Masters of poison? Like cone shells?”

Jus looked up at Escalla with a shared smile. “Exactly.”

The barge grounded at the far bank, and the passengers hastily removed themselves onto the shore. Escalla thoughtfully watched the kuo-toa and raised her hand to give it a friendly wave. The creature actually seemed to like her. It spoke-its voice huge and guttural-and nodded its head ather in apparent approval.

Jus was kneeling in the river gravel, looking at a broad swathe of footprints trailing up from the ferry and into the tunnel mouth. Escalla, Polk, and Henry immediately came over to watch the ranger at his work.

“Tracks?”