Pool of Radiance_ Ruins of Myth Drannor - Carrie Bebris [107]
Corran removed his helm. He ran a hand through his dark locks, grasping the roots at the back of his head and closing his eyes. He looked as weary as Kestrel felt.
“We need not defeat them all,” said Ghleanna. “We just have to get someone on the ledge to touch the sapphire and speak the Word of Redemption.”
“Destroying the gem is only our first objective.” Corran opened his eyes and let his hand drop to his side.
“Afterward, we still need to defeat Mordrayn to get the Gauntlets of Moander and destroy the pool.”
“Not to mention deal with the dracolich if he makes an appearance,” Kestrel added. Her collarbone tingled so much she could barely stand still.
“He will,” Athan asserted. “If Mordrayn summons him or we harm her, he will come.”
Corran knelt and traced a representation of the pool cavern in the dust, marking the positions of the pool, Mordrayn, the sapphire, and the cultists. “Ghleanna is right about the gem being our first priority. We must create a distraction to enable one of us to get up on that ledge. There’s a section of dry floor between the pool and the ledge wall.” He glanced up from his tracings. “Kestrel, do you-”
He stopped short staring at her. She squirmed under his scrutiny. “What? What is it?”
“Your invisibility is wearing off.”
Kestrel looked down at her body. It appeared translucent, like those of Anorrweyn or Caalenfaire, but solidified more each second. A glance at the others showed Faeril reappearing as well. Only Durwyn-cloaked by the original invisibility spell, not Ghleanna’s modified version-remained unseen. Kestrel swore under her breath.
“No matter,” Corran said calmly. “Better now than unexpectedly during battle. We’ll work around it.”
Somehow, in the face of everything, Kestrel found Corran’s matter-of-fact tone reassuring. For all their differences and the grief he’d given her, the paladin had proven himself a valuable comrade-in-arms. She wondered if the party ever would have made it this far without Corran’s steadiness and faith in their cause. Certainly not if it had been left up to her.
Corran drew an X in the dust. “We are here. I suggest five of us create a distraction in this part of the cavern-” he traced a circle-“while one person skirts the perimeter and scales the wall to reach the gem.”
At the party’s nods of agreement, Corran continued. “This room provides both cover and a good view of the cavern. Faeril and Ghleanna, cast as many spells as you can from here until the range of your remaining magic forces you to move to more exposed ground. Athan, Durwyn, and Kestrel, once the cult realizes where the magic is coming from, the spellcasters will need your defensive help. With luck and Tyr’s favor, I will have reached the sapphire by then.”
Kestrel frowned. Corran darting through cultists and scrambling up a wall? She was far better suited for the assignment than the brawny paladin. Once again he was underusing her skills. “Corran, that ledge is at least forty feet high. I’m smaller and lighter, not to mention more experienced at this sort of thing. I can scale it in half the time it would take you.”
“That’s true.” His gray eyes met hers. “But Mordrayn will be waiting for whoever reaches the top.”
Well, of course she would. That went without-
Kestrel’s thoughts stopped abruptly as she realized the paladin’s motive. He was taking the most dangerous assignment upon himself. Looking back, she realized that many of their arguments had arisen because he had tried to sacrifice his own safety first.
“I know she will,” Kestrel said. A week ago she never would have volunteered for the job, never would have put herself at greater risk than she had to-certainly never would have offered to face an evil archmage alone. Still they could not fail, and she knew in her heart that of them all, she had the best chance of reaching the sapphire. “This is my battle, too. Let me fight it to the best of my ability.” As she spoke, her collarbone vibrated so hard it ached. Had she just written her own death