Ascendancy of the Last - Lisa Smedman [118]
He glanced around the empty forest, wishing a priestess would materialize. Any priestess.
He started as a voice spoke to him. Seldszar's voice, clear and distinct, as if the Master of Divination were standing by his side. "The others are here. We're ready to teleport. Have you found a replacement?"
Q'arlynd squared his shoulders. "I have."
* * * * *
"Are you certain she's inside?" Laeral breathed.
Cavatina tensed. She wished Qiluй had taught her human "sister" the art of silent speech. "I'm not certain of anything," she whispered back. "But the trail of corruption led this way."
Laeral would have to take Cavatina's word for it. Skilled in woodland lore the mage might be, but she lacked the training to detect the subtle signs of a demon's passage: a wilted leaf, a strand of web twisting in the rot-scented breeze, the scuff of a claw on bark. Cavatina had followed the trail through the jungle to this spot. Just ahead, through a thick screen of trees and vines, she could see a blur of white-the tangle of spiderwebs that draped a hill in the jungle. It reminded Cavatina of a trap spider's lair. From somewhere within came a sound like a harp. The notes were jumbled and shrill, and the tempo kept changing, as if the player were uncertain of the melody, rushing through some parts and struggling with others.
"Keep watch," Cavatina whispered. "While I pray."
Laeral cast a spell, and Cavatina felt a protective screen of magical energy crackle to life around them. She touched the holy symbol at her throat and hummed. "Eilistraee," she. implored in a voice no louder than a breath, "hear my prayer. Guide my footsteps through the dance that is to come, and answer my song. Is Lady Qiluй within the ruin ahead?"
A voice, sweet enough to bring tears to Cavatina's eyes, sang into her mind. Yes.
"How can we get her out of there?"
Cavatina felt her goddess's hesitation. You can't.
Despair filled her. She heard Laeral's breath catch. The other female must have read the disappointment on her face.
"Is there no one who can save her?" Cavatina implored. "Not even you, Dark Maiden?"
A host of possible outcomes blurred through Cavatina's mind. She had a sense of pieces moving across a sava board too rapidly to follow, as some unseen force tested first this move, then that. At last they stilled. Eilistraee's reply came, in a voice tinged with a profound sorrow. If Ao so wills, it shall be.
Cavatina startled. What did Ao the Overgod have to do with this? As she pondered what Eilistraee's answer might mean, she felt the goddess slip from her mind, silent as a shadow.
Cavatina glanced up at the moon. Selыne wore her half-mask this night, and seemed to be staring down at Cavatina. Waiting. Her cold scrutiny tempered Cavatina's determination. "Go," she whispered to Laeral, "swiftly, to each of Eilistraee's shrines. Gather as many of the priestesses as you can. We must perform the exorcism here."
Laeral glanced around the gloomy forest. The air was thick with the stench of rot and mold, and in the distance, the night twist tree wailed its anguished refrain. "But isn't this the worst possible-"
"This is where it must be done," Cavatina said grimly. "Eilistraee has decreed it."
Laeral stood. "What will you do while I'm gone?"
Cavatina nodded at the web-shrouded mound. "I'm going inside."
"Shouldn't you wait until-"
"There may not be time," Cavatina said firmly. "Besides, I hunt better alone."
Laeral nodded. "Keep me alerted to everything you see. Speak my name, and I'll hear what follows."
Cavatina agreed.
Laeral spoke an incantation that whisked her away.
Cavatina rose to her feet. Her first impulse was to stride in boldly and challenge whatever foes might be within, but then she glanced at the wooden sword in her hand and nearly laughed. No, she decided, sheathing it. She'd take a page from the Masked Lady's new songbook, instead. Slip in quietly,