The mercenary tore a rag from the hem of his robe and bound up his wound, cautiously glancing around to make sure the battle had roused no one. Apparently the Zhentarim guards kept a loose watch-or they were drunk on raki-for no one came to investigate the disturbance. Garmansder sheathed his sword and disappeared into the night.
Taking another bite of his pomegranate, the commander stared at the bound merchant, who did his best to preserve an air of detachment. At last, the commander gestured, and a small, glittering knife rose from the table and moved slowly forward in the air, hovering in front of the helpless merchant"s face.
"What would the Bedine like back first from their spy?" he mused, nibbling on his pomegranate.
"His ear? His nose? His upper lip?"
The knife swayed and dived through the air, humming. It whirled around the merchant"s head, snipping a lock of hair from his brow.
"I know," chortled the commander. "An eye. That"s it. To be followed by more ... interesting parts."
The knife drew back and prepared to plunge into Avarilous"s left eye. The merchant, watching beyond the knife to the commander"s face, saw the stream of pink juice dribbling from his lips turn suddenly red. The knife dropped to the floor with a clatter as the commander, a bite of fruit still caught between his teeth, fell stiffly forward, facedown on the floor.
Through a narrow slit in the tent stepped Garmansder, holding a stiletto. He kicked the body of the commander aside and sauntered over to Avarilous, who glared at him.
"Well, you took your sweet time. Were you going to let me lose an eye? Or did you just find it funny to wait that long before doing anything?"
" "Thank you, Garmansder. Thank you for saving my life." That"s how you say it, Avi. It"s quite simple, really."Garmansder"s blade made short work of the ropes, and Avarilous rose, ma.s.saging his wrists.
"We haven"t time for nonsense. Someone will be missing him soon. We"d best be about our business."
The tall man stirred the body of the late commander with his foot. "Did he tell you anything?"
"A good deal. Here"s a piece of practical advice for you, Garmansder, if you ever decide to become an agent of evil. When you have your enemy in your power, just kill him and get on with it. I don"t know why it is that servants of evil simply can"t resist the temptation to gloat. It"s a very bad habit, one they should get out of Garmansder nodded. "It"s basic human nature, I suppose. He wanted to tell someone how clever he was, and it didn"t matter if that person was a friend or an enemy. I was hoping my guard might tell me after I was kind enough to deliver the Zhents a Bedine spy, but he was pretty vague. I must not be as persuasive as you."
Avarilous had been searching the tent swiftly, his fingers flying everywhere, turning out boxes and bags. His eyes, glittering with a hard light, were drawn back into his head, and the shadows played over his stout form. A rivulet of sweat coursed down his forehead. Garmansder too was looking about, lifting tapestries and cushions with swift, decisive movements.
"How did you get away from the guard-Draka, or whatever his name was," Avarilous asked.
"Not too difficult. We shared some raki, and he began showing me the excavation site." He shrugged. "Last I saw of him, he was trying to learn to fly." He gestured toward the body. "Can we make this look like a murder? There doesn"t seem to have been any love lost between any of the guards and their officers."
Avarilous ignored the question and countered with one of his own. "How much did you see of the excavation?"
"Some. After Drashka went for his flight, I wandered around. It"s deep and very impressive. They"re using smokepowder to open up some of the more difficult bits. The whole thing"s a bit on the shaky side though."
"Meaning."
"It would be a great pity," observed Garmansder absently, "if anything happened to the scaffolding.
Probably bring the whole thing down around their heads. I know I wouldn"t care to be in there when it happens."
Avarilous cursed softly. "Where in the Nine h.e.l.ls could he have hidden it?"
"Ah. I don"t know. By the way, what exactly are we looking for? More of those amulets?"
The merchant shook his head. "The amulet"s not important. Even if it weren"t damaged, our late friend there couldn"t have done much with it-not as much as he thought, anyhow. Controlling sandstorms in the desert isn"t much of a feat compared to the kind of magic the Shadovar are throwing around these days. No, there has to have been something else. Something he might not even have been aware of...."
Garmansder gave his companion an odd look as his voice trailed off. "What d"you mean? Surely he knew what he was looking for or if he"d found it. You make it sound as if he wasn"t the one in control."
Avarilous stopped. "I"m not at all sure he was. In fact, Fm sure he wasn"t. He was too stupid, for one thing."
"Oh, come on! If stupid people couldn"t control matters, half the cities of Faerun would be leaderless."
"No, my point is that even if he"d found a powerful magical artifact from Netheril, I didn"t get any sense from him that he"d really know what it was or how to use it. Someone had to be pointing him in that direction. I wonder who."
A shadow fell across the entrance to the tent, and Lieutenant Tha.s.s entered. His hand rested on his scimitar, while his eyes calmly took in the details of the scene before him.
Garmansder was the first to break the tableau. He dived to the left in a swift roll that brought himstanding to Tha.s.s"s right, a knife in his hand. The lieutenant pivoted and swept a foot around in a savage kick that struck Garmansder"s wrist with a crack of snapping bones. The tall man gasped in pain as the knife flew and stuck in a wooden chest, quivering. At the same moment, Avarilous twisted to his right and hurled a dagger. It barely missed Tha.s.s"s shoulder, slicing through his dark jerkin and clattering to the ground.
Without a pause, the lieutenant cartwheeled behind Garmansder, drawing his scimitar in a single fluid movement. One arm came up clutching the tall man"s broken wrist. The other held the scimitar"s point just behind Garmansder"s ear.
Avarilous caught up the knife that earlier had almost taken one of his eyes. His hand flashed back to throw it then halted abruptly as he saw his friend held hostage.
There was silence, broken only by another soft groan from Garmansder.
Tha.s.s spoke first.
"Very good. I didn"t think you"d figure things out. Your reputation is well justified, Avarilous."
"Thank you. Now suppose you release my friend, and we sit down and talk things over."
Tha.s.s laughed. "I think not. This arrangement suits me very well. But by all means, let us talk. I gather you have been wondering what it was we found here."
Avarilous pursed his Ups. His forehead wrinkled in concentration. "I don"t think it"s an object. If it had been, you wouldn"t still be here. You"d have taken it, killed your friend the commander, and brought it to whomever you"re working for. Who is that, by the way?" Tha.s.s shook his head, smiling. "Go on." "If it"s not a thing, it"s more likely to be a place." Avarilous"s eyes narrowed. "You"ve found ... a way down.
A way down into one of the Buried Realms!"
"Excellent!" Tha.s.s shifted his stance slightly to match a careful movement of Avarilous"s to the left.
"A road leading to a h.o.a.rd of magical power left from Netheril. We"ve just uncovered a bit of it thus far, but once it"s open, there"s no telling what we might find."
Avarilous nodded. "I see. That gives me a clear idea of who"s behind you. You"re working for-"
A series of yells and screams from outside interrupted him. The earth shook beneath their feet, jarring them. Garmansder used his good hand to take advantage of the interruption, driving an elbow into Tha.s.s"s gut, doubling him over. He ducked himself as Avarilous"s knife whizzed past, burying itself in the lieutenant"s neck.
Blood spurted, as the tent swayed in a sudden wind. Both men fought to keep their feet. The rumbling intensified.
"Earthquake!" gasped Avarilous. Garmansder shook his head as he fell to his knees. "Not exactly,"
he shouted over the tumult. "I set a couple of smokepower charges near the scaffolding with a long fuse.
It looks like n.o.body found them."
Avarilous glared at him. "You idiot! Are you trying to get us killed?"
"No," his friend snapped, "I"m trying to get us out of here! Suppose we go. Now."
He looked at Tha.s.s, lying half-conscious on the floor of the tent in a pool of blood. "Shall we finish him?"
The decision was made for him. A wisp of darkness spread beneath the lieutenant. It grew in size until it was a pool of blackness. His body became shadowy and indistinct then disappeared altogether.
Slowly the blackness faded.
Avarilous turned toward the entrance. "Come on!"
The two men raced across the oasis, Garmansder doing his best to cradle his broken wrist. Their camel was tugging frantically at his tether and had succeeded in pulling its stake half out of the sand.
Other beasts milled about, their grunting adding to the commotion that filled the air as black-robed Zhents shouted and slashed angrily with their whips at Bedine workers. From what Avarilous could see, the Bedine had taken the opportunity to rebel against their masters, and dozens of small battles had broken out across the settlement.
From where the excavation had been rose a thick column of black smoke, partly masked by clouds of dust thrown up by the cave-in. Avarilous had little time to marvel at the results of his companion"s sabotage. Already he could hear frantic shouts from the direction of the commander"s tent that told himtheir escape had been discovered. He boosted Garmansder atop the camel, cut the tether with a slash of his knife, and leaped up himself.
A Zhent rushed at them, blade swinging. Avarilous pulled back on the camel"s reins, and the beast reared, striking out with its heavy hooves. The Zhent fell with a crushed skull, and the pair of escapees galloped forward. Slowly the shouts and confusion faded behind them.
They rode for several miles before Avarilous insisted upon stopping to bandage Garmansder"s wrist, tying it up with a stick to keep the bones rigid. The tall man endured the operation without complaint, though his eyes dilated with pain as the merchant manipulated the bones into place.
When they were remounted and trotting on their way, Garmansder said, "So Tha.s.s was working for the Shadovar."
Avarilous nodded. "Yes. They seem to be looking for access to the magic of the Buried Realms, though I don"t know for what purpose. In any case, we should probably be glad we stopped them."
"We?" growled Garmansder. "I think I deserve the credit here." They rode in silence for a mile, and he said, "What are you going to tell Bin-Daar?"
"Nothing." Avarilous half turned in the saddle. "As far as he"s concerned, we eliminated his problem.
That should be worth the price he offered."
"So we keep this information to ourselves."
"Not at all." Avarilous was looking dreamily at the horizon, where the sun was setting, a flaming ball of orange and yellow that turned the desert sands to gold. "Information, my dear Garmansder, as I have never ceased to explain to you, is the most valuable commodity in this world. One merely has to know what to do with it."
"Uh huh. What are we going to do with this bit?"
Avarilous shrugged. "One thing. Possibly another. I hear Waterdeep is lovely this time of year, and I"ve always been curious to meet Khelben Arunsun."
end