Changing tactics, the tren dropped its shield, spun away from its attackers, and fell forward onto its hands. This sudden motion tilted the globe forward. Running on all fours, the tren set the globe spinning toward the open door. The wooden lintel groaned and shuddered as the encased tren pounded through.
Danilo raced out into the street after it, with Arilyn close behind him. She quickly passed him as they wove through the morning crowds. Not that their passage was hampered overmuch-the tren's flight took care of that. Passersby ran screaming from the weird sight. Horses shied and reared, pawing the air and whinnying in terror. A cart overturned, spilling a load of cabbages onto the cobblestone. Danilo kicked one out of the way as he ran.
'The magic won't hold long,' he managed, hard-pressed to keep up with the more agile half-elf.
Even as he spoke, the green globe dissipated like a child's soap bubble. The freed tren scuttled down a side street, its former quarry in close pursuit.
Suddenly the creature stopped and hunched over. Its massive arms corded as it strained upward.
'I don't think so,' Arilyn muttered, running straight for the tren.
Before Danilo could guess her intent, she leaped at the creature without pausing to draw her sword. She landed so that she was nearly face to fang with the tren and standing on whatever it was trying to lift. Dan glimpsed the gleam of steel in her hands, then saw her knife flashing toward the tren's heart.
The tren's muscles bunched and heaved. Lock and hinges gave way with a shriek of metal, and the sewer cover burst free. The tren straightened abruptly, sending Arilyn tumbling up and over its massive shoulder. Danilo noticed that her knife was no longer in her hands.
The sudden movement had spoiled her aim. The tren turned back and tugged the weapon out of one shoulder.
Contemptuously it flung the knife aside, its long black tongue flicking out as if to taste the half-elf's scent.
'Mine,' the creature rumbled in dire promise, then dropped into the sewer tunnels below.
Arilyn was on her feet and starting down the ladder before Danilo recovered from the shock of her bold attack. He let out a colorful oath and strode toward her. 'What now?'
She looked at him as if he'd turned as green as the tren. 'We follow.'
Danilo regarded his fine suede boots and groaned. They were new and as good as ruined, but there was no help for that. Arilyn would go, whether he accompanied her or not.
Danilo had heard much about the sewers of Waterdeep. Part public necessity, part hidden highway, they wove an intricate web under the city. This was his first direct experience with them, and much of what he saw was surprising. Some tunnels were finished with care shy;fully dressed and fitted stone and might well have been corridors in some castle or dwarf's stronghold. Others were simply dug into the rock. Twists and turns were frequent, and in moments he had lost all sense of direc shy;tion. Nor was this the only level. More than once the stone floor gave way to iron grating. Stones kicked by their passing fell far to land sometimes with a muffled click of stone on stone, sometimes with a splash. Water marks rose high on the wall, indicating that the tunnels were flushed. After what seemed to be hours wading through ankle-deep sludge, Danilo concluded that it was high time for another such cleansing-provided the mysterious powers who handled such things didn't mind waiting until they had vacated.
'At the risk of sounding ignorant,' Dan said, his voice muffled by the hand he held clasped over his nose, 'pre shy;cisely how are you tracking this thing? Surely not by scent! What are we looking for?'
Arilyn stopped at a cross tunnel and considered her path. 'I'll let you know when I find it.'
'Oh, splendid,' he said, throwing up his hands in dis shy;gust. 'In all fairness, my dear, I should inform you that the mood is now thoroughly broken.'
The half-elf nodded absently, then strode forward to study some marks on the wall. 'This way.'
Danilo sighed and fell in behind. 'What are we fol shy;lowing?'
'Trail sign. The tren who attacked us was a clan leader. He left marks to direct the rest of the clan.' She darted a somber look back over her shoulder. 'They met here earlier and split up to attend to different tasks.'
'Thoughtful fellow to lead you right past those marks,' Dan commented. 'A trap, perhaps?'
'It's possible,' she admitted, but her pace did not slow. Dan shook his head and followed.
They slogged down the tunnel to its end, then climbed a ladder out into the city. This one did not lead them into an alley but into a narrow, dark passage that rose straight up.
Arilyn gritted her teeth in annoyance. 'A garbage shaft,' she said shortly. She tapped at the fresh claw marks on the stone. 'Up we go.'
The shaft was a long one. Climbing it was slow going, for the stone was smooth and the blocks tightly fitted. They tested each possible handhold or footrest carefully, for often what appeared to be a small stone ledge was nothing more than an accumulation of caked-on powder. Danilo soon began to suspect their destination from the scents and substances that layered the stone.
'The good news,' he gritted out as he hauled himself up to the next secure handhold, 'is that this is not a privy shaft.'
Arilyn glanced back at him. 'That much I already knew. What's the bad news?'
'Unless I very much miss my guess, this is a wizard's tower,' he said grimly. 'You'd better let me go in first.'
She nodded and let him take the lead. Before much longer, he caught sight of a faint, fading blue glow in the tower ahead. It beckoned them on, grim evidence of a magical battle waged-and most likely lost. Danilo re shy;doubled his efforts, hoping to get to the unknown wizard while there was still something left to save.
Finally he reached the ledge. He cautiously peered over the edge, alert for attack from either a triumphant tren or an angry wizard.
The room was silent and empty. Danilo dragged him shy;self over the ledge and rolled onto the floor. He reached down and pulled Arilyn up into the room, then turned to survey the tower.
It was a well-equipped study, octagonal in shape. Neat rows of vials and boxes and pots filled the shelves that lined four of the walls. Several small tables had been clustered about. These had been overturned in the struggle, their contents tossed onto the polished stone floor. A faint, acrid scent, like that left by a hundred bolts of lightning, lingered in the air-evidence that defensive magic had been cast. However, there was no sign of the tren, or of the wizard who had fought him.
Arilyn's eyes were sharper. She strode forward and kicked away some of the debris. 'Look at this,' she said in a grim voice, pointing.
He came forward and swallowed hard. A severed human hand lay on the ground, palm up, fingers curved as if in a final gesture of supplication.
'It's a sign,' the half-elf explained in a flat, even voice. 'Tren eat their victims, unless their employer wishes to leave a warning or message. Then they leave a single hand or foot.'
'There is a ring on the hand,' Danilo pointed out.
She prodded the grisly thing with her boot, turning it over. The hand was pale as bleached bone and slightly freckled. A few red hairs on the lower finger joints stood out starkly against the pallor. The ring was gold, and on the rose-colored quartz was engraved a small, leaping flame surrounded by a circle of seven stars.
'Mystra's symbol,' Arilyn commented. 'That accounts for the wizard.'
The ring was familiar. Danilo crouched down for a better look. He gingerly found the clasp and opened the hidden compartment. As he'd expected, the outline of a wizard's tall-peaked hat was engraved into the inner lip. The hidden compartment was empty.
He stood up. 'I recall what you told me of last night's overheard conversation. It would appear that Maskar Wands was more right than he knew when he named the dream spheres as dangerous toys.'
When Arilyn sent him an inquiring look, he pointed to the severed hand. 'That is-or strictly speaking,
Five
A premonition raced through Arilyn like a winter chill, or the shadow of a passing ghost. 'You think Oth
