The Ring of Winter

stormed out of the meeting in Shadowdale, and still the Harpers haven't tried to take the pin back. I wonder why.

Anyway, Pontifax and I have finally brought Kaverin to justice. As usual, though, he has turned even his punishment to his advantage.

Since his henchman had been put to death for actually murdering Rallo, the court could not impose the same fate upon Kaverin for the same crime. (Like many of the city-states along the Dragon Reach, Ravens Bluff has a pretty skewed idea of justice.) They decided instead to chop off his hands. How civilized. And when they did, just an hour ago, Kaverin laughed. His hands were lying in the dirt, bloody and twitching, and he laughed.

Pontifax was right-the man is insane.

Before the clerics appointed by the court to heal up Kaverin's wrists could do their duty, the mage who had been serving as his lawyer throughout the trial muscled past. In his hands, he held two blobs of black stone. When the mage touched these to Kaverin's gory wrists, they transformed. Still chuckling madly, Kaverin held his new jet-black hands up for all to see.

Before he walked away-he was free now that the punishment had been exacted upon him- Kaverin pointed one stony finger at Pontifax and me. Not very subtle, but we got the threat quite clearly. He blames us for his conviction. Rightly so, too.

Sooner or later, we're going to hear from Kaverin Ebonhand again. If we do, I'll make sure no mage in the world will be able to save him.

Five

Port Castigliar was a sorry excuse for an outpost. It consisted of seven tin huts, two small plots of vegetables, a large but ramshackle supply depot, and a graveyard. The latter was more densely populated than the land for five miles in any direction.

As Artus and Pontifax stood on the narrow stretch of beach, watching the ship's boat from the Narwhal unload its cargo of food, cookware, knives, and weapons, they could not help but wonder if they'd come to the right place. 'Are you certain this is where Theron said we should land?' Pontifax asked, wiping his rain-soaked hair out of his eyes.

Artus scowled. 'I have the map right here,' he said, then patted his pack. 'My journal may have been stolen, but I was smart enough to keep the map with me at all times.'

Pontifax stared uneasily at the Narwhal. The galleon waited impatiently in the deep waters off Port Castigliar, anxious to move on to more substantial stops in Refuge Bay. The lowering sky was dark and threatening, promising worse than the downpour already underway. 'Quiracus might have disembarked before we got to the deck this morning,' the mage offered absently.

Artus grunted. The crew had half-heartedly searched for Master Quiracus. Not only was the elven first mate wanted for questioning concerning his attack of Artus, but he was next in line to take command of the Narwhal. When no sign of him had been uncovered, it was decided he had fallen overboard in the battle with the dragon-turtle-decided, that is, by the newly risen Captain Nelock. Actually, Nelock had made it quite clear he hoped Quiracus never surfaced, and he did all he could to keep the hunt subdued. Even if he had found the elf hiding somewhere aboard ship, Nelock would have offered him shelter, just so long as he disappeared at the first port.

For their parts, Artus and Pontifax believed the elf to be alive. When the explorer discovered his journal had been stolen-pocketed by Quiracus during the turtle attack, one of the ballista crew had said-he concluded the elf must be after the Ring of Winter. Either that, or he was working for someone else who quested after the ring. That possibility worried Artus the most.

'Well, let's show enough sense to get out of this rain,' Pontifax said. 'I don't think we're going to catch our elusive adversary by drowning here on the beach.' He hefted a pack to one shoulder and started toward the sprawling supply depot.

Artus grabbed the other two packs. Dragging them along, he hurried after the mage. 'If we press on after the ring,' he said wearily, 'Quiracus will show himself sooner or later.'

'Quiracus or the blighter with whom he's so gainfully employed,' Pontifax corrected.

They wrestled their packs into the warehouse. The building appeared dilapidated from the outside, with pocked and scarred tin walls and a haphazardly constructed straw roof. Inside, however, the depot more closely resembled one of the finer shops in Suzail or Waterdeep. Row after row of neatly stacked boxes rose two stories to the waterproof thatch. Everywhere Artus looked lay jars full of buttons, cloth sheets lined with needles, spool after spool of thread, tunics and boots and cloaks, crossbows and swords and arrows. Each shelf was numbered, with a narrow strip of pegboard rising up to the tallest.

'It's cool in here,' Pontifax whispered. After the humidity and the warm rain, the cold made him shiver.

'And the floor was clean, too, before you dragged in those sodden packs,' came a voice from the polished suit of armor standing at attention next to the door. It spoke in the trade tongue known as Common. 'Don't you two know to wipe your muddy boots?'

The armor shuddered, and a child ten winters old walked from behind it. Like many Chultan natives, his skin was the dark brown of fertile earth and his black hair was cropped close. He wore short pants and a loose shirt, both tan and spotlessly clean. 'Well?' he asked, gesturing with his polishing cloth to the wet muddy footprints.

'Oh, er, sorry,' Artus stammered. He and Pontifax stepped back to the stoop. 'We're here to purchase supplies and to hire a guide and some bearers.'

But the boy's attention was on a large package that had fallen into the nearest aisle. 'Zrumya!' he shouted. 'Pick up in row two, level six!'

From high in the rafters came a shriek, followed by the flutter of wings through the chilly air. A monstrous bat, as large as a man, tumbled down and darted crazily between the high stacks of boxes. Finally it landed with a thud in the aisle, right on top of the fallen package. Using the claws located at the joints in its wings, it slid the bundle into a pack strapped to its chest. Then, with slow, spiderlike movements, the bat crept across the floor and began to climb the shelving. It hooked its claws into the pegboard and made it way to the sixth shelf, where it unloaded its cargo. Job done, the bat fluttered back to its perch.

The boy turned back to study Artus and Pontifax for a moment. 'Father!' he shouted, then disappeared between a high row of boxes.

The boy's father appeared at the end of the long aisle running from the door to the back of the warehouse. 'Pay Inyanga no mind,' the man said. 'He is trying to prove to me he loves the store so he can inherit it some day.'

Despite this, Artus opened the door and kicked as much mud off his boots as possible before treading across the clean planks. Pontifax removed his shoes completely. The old mage smiled at the stern-faced boy, who had returned with a bucket and mop. 'It's our mess,' Pontifax said, holding up a hand. 'Allow me.'

He muttered an incantation. Instantly a blue light limned the mop, then it jerked out of the boy's hand. As the child stared, it cleaned up the mud and swabbed the whole area in front of the door. Finally the mop floated back to the bucket and lowered itself into the now-grimy water.

'I used to sweep up my father's store when I was your age,' the mage said kindly. 'There were lots of times when I wished someone would come along and make the broom do the work itself.' He patted the boy and hurried after Artus, his bare feet peeking out from under his long brown robe.

'This is Ibn Engaruka,' Artus said when the mage reached the long, low counter that ran the entire length of the warehouse. The owner nodded politely, though his face was an impassive mask. The young boy resembled him closely, from the broad nose to the hard-set jaw. Even the clothes they wore were alike.

Ibn gestured to the wet patch near the door. 'It has been years since magic has blessed this place,' he said stiffly. 'I was just telling your comrade here, a local sorcerer used to trade magic for goods. He placed some enchanted gems under the floorboards to keep the store cool. That keeps my foodstuffs from spoiling so fast, do you see?'