Tiep did ask, 'Any idea what happens next?'
Dru shot an inquiring glance at Sheemzher before answering. 'They're not talking much and I'm no better at understanding goblin than I was this morning, but Ghistpok's inside working himself up for some sort of trance- ordeal. When he's ready, I think we all follow him down to the chalk circle.'
'People dance, good sir,' Sheemzher explained. 'Ghistpok talk Beast Lord. Beast Lord talk Ghistpok.'
'They dance, they drink, too, don't they?' Dru scowled. 'A bunch took off into the mines a while ago.'
'Wine there, yes. Sheemzher think people not drink much wine anymore, good sir. Zhentarim gone long time. Wine gone, maybe.'
'Or maybe we follow a tribe of drunken goblins to the egg chamber. Outhzin's been chipping away at his spear all evening. I guess that's a good sign.'
'Good sign, yes. Grouze brother Outhzin. Very angry. Same Sheemzher when Sheemzher lose Elva. All good now. All good for good sir, yes?'
'So long as nothing happens before midnight. I need time to study. I've been light all day. I don't want to go below this empty. While you're both here, though, let me show you how these work-'
Druhallen pulled a pair of Rozt'a's heavy leather gloves off his belt. Tiep knew they'd been enchanted as soon as he saw them and clutched his hands behind his back.
'I can't wear them,' he said quickly. 'My jinx is tingling.'
'That's good to know, but I was counting on Sheemzher to climb back up atop the egg-if you're up to it?'
'Sheemzher climb, good sir. Gloves or not gloves, Sheemzher climb.'
'When you're up there, clap your hands twice before you grasp the scroll. I've put an unbinding into the leather, it should help pull the scroll free and keep the flareback from burning your hands. You understand?'
The goblin nodded.
'And you, Tiep: two claps, then pull.'
'They're not going to do me any good.'
'I'm asking you to remember how to kindle the enchantment, in case someone forgets.' Dru's glance darted to Sheemzher and back again.
Tiep's heart skipped a beat, and not because the goblin might forget his instructions. 'Dru? What do you mean, Dru? You're sounding like you're not going to be in the egg chamber…' His voice trailed off. 'What's going on, Dru?'
His foster father shrugged. 'I don't see myself there, so I'm being careful.'
'What do you mean you don't 'see' yourself. You haven't-you know-had a vision or something?'
'No visions, Tiep.' Dru tried to laugh; the attempt wasn't entirely successful. 'Not even close to a vision. When I cast an enchantment that's tied to a future act, sometimes I get a flash of that act. Most of the time I don't; most of the time, I'm not there when the spell kindles, so why should I get a flash? This time I'd expected to be there when this unbinding kindles. In case I'm not-two claps, then pull. All right?'
'Yeah,' Tiep muttered. 'You're sure everything's going to be all right?'
'No one's ever sure, Tiep. That's why I'm being careful. I've told you and Sheemzher. I told Rozt'a before she went down for a nap. I could wish I had more time, more gloves, but wishes don't count. You sticking close until we head below with Ghistpok?'
'You're sure we're going in with him?'
'That's the plan right now. I told you; no one's ever sure. Settle in. Grab a nap, like Rozt'a's doing. I need to rest my mind.'
Tiep went through the motions of settling in amid the trash piled up behind the old Zhentarim headquarters. He closed his eyes. Usually he had no trouble falling asleep-the exhausted innocence of youth, Galimer called it. Sleep wasn't waiting for him in Dekanter. Maybe he was growing up.
He thought of Manya and Pulsey, the girl he'd met in Llorkh, and Basienne, who was prettier than both Manya and Pulsey together and might be waiting for him in Scornubel, if he was lucky enough to get back to Scornubel. He thought of Galimer, too, and how close they'd be to Parnast and Manya when they got to Weathercote. Then he thought of Amarandaris and how cold the air in Dekanter had gotten.
The goblins were still singing and drumming, though not as loudly or rapidly as before. It was good to know there were limits. The camp was quiet enough that Tiep could hear Dru whispering nearby. He cracked an eyelid-in case his foster parents were having an actual conversation-but it was just Dru preparing himself for the Underdark with his fists clenched and his eyes squeezed shut. When push came to shove, spellcraft demanded a lot from the wizards who practiced it. Tiep was long past the days when he mourned the vocation he couldn't have.
Druhallen had worked up a sweat by the time he'd finished preparing his spells. His hands shook just a little when he folded his box. Tiep wondered what he'd studied, but wasn't bold enough to ask. It was like asking someone if they wore undergarments to bed. When Dru glanced his way, Tiep closed his eyes again and feigned dreams.
He didn't have to pretend for long. The drummers and singers kicked up a sudden racket. Dru gave both him and Rozt'a a gentle shake to awaken them.
'Ghistpok's come outside. They're all headed down to the chalk circle. We're under way.'
For a man who hadn't slept, Tiep was both stiff and groggy. He yawned mightily but couldn't get enough air into his lungs to shake off the lethargy.
'You can stay behind,' Rozt'a suggested when she saw him struggling.
They were always suggesting that, as if he were still a child and not up adult responsibilities. 'I'm coming. I'm ready.'
'Then keep moving. Sheemzher, what are they singing about now?'
The goblin song had changed. It had words, now, though it was still mostly drone and entirely sour.
'People calling Beast Lord, good sir. People say, Beast Lord wise, Beast Lord good, Beast Lord come-' Sheemzher lapsed into a bit of goblin so-called melody.
'That's enough,' Dru chided.
Starlight revealed an easy path from the Zhentarim headquarters to the chalk circle. Dru didn't have to waste a light spell, if he had one to spare. The goblins had arranged themselves on the chalk: males surrounded by children, then females. Those males with the largest family rings clumped closest to the black standing stone. Those with fewer, sat farther away.
If Sheemzher had had only Elva and six children, then Sheemzher had sat on the circle's very edge.
While Ghistpok anointed the stone with various oils, wineskins the size and shape of rats were passed from one harem to the next. Everybody took a sip, even the children. The males took several, but nobody got as much as a goblet's worth. Within minutes, they were on their feet swaying and droning again.
'Doesn't take much to get a goblin drunk,' he commented.
'They're smaller,' Rozt'a chided.
Dru had a different perspective, 'They could be adding something to their wine. Mushrooms. I imagine they get quite a crop of mushrooms. There are mushrooms that will have you looking at the sky and seeing green.'
When all the goblins had had their wine and mushrooms, and all of them were swaying together, the drumming started again. If there was a rhythm to their pounding, Tiep couldn't detect it, though something kept the goblins moving together rather than crashing into one another as their dance grew steadily wilder. The trick Tiep had used earlier-deep breathing to thwart the drumbeat rhythm-failed against this new assault. His heart pounded, and he found himself gasping for air.
Sheemzher was completely gone, hopping about and waving his arms like the rest of the goblins. If the goblin was only pretending to be drunk, he was doing it very well. Slowly it occurred to Tiep that the goblins weren't particularly inebriated or performing a traditional dance, they were entranced and imitating perfectly the moves and gesture their chief, Ghistpok, made as he circled the glistening black stone.
He shared his insight with Druhallen, to whom it came as no surprise. Maybe it was the noise and the heart- stopping irregularity of the drumbeats, but Dru seemed a bit entranced himself. When Ghistpok stiffened and started screaming in goblin, Dru didn't seem to care. Rozt'a was the one who shook some sense back into Sheemzher.
'What's he saying?' she demanded of the glaze-eyed goblin.
'All well now. All mistake. Grouze mistake,' Sheemzher crooned. 'People wrong, all wrong. Beast Lord say, come, come now, see the truth. No egg. No bugs. No slaves. Come see. Ghistpok come. People come. All come to
