Pool of Radiance_ Ruins of Myth Drannor - Carrie Bebris [12]
Kestrel read the passage aloud. When she finished, Ghleanna turned to Corran.
“I saw no gauntlets when we examined the adventurers,” the mage said, a note of panic in her voice. “Did you?”
“No, but we weren’t looking for them, either,” he said. “Let’s check again.”
Their search yielded several vials of bluish liquid, a plain, battered silver ring sized for a woman’s hand, an assortment of weapons, and numerous other provisions-but no Gauntlets of Moander.
“Well, we will just have to tell Elminster what happened and let him worry about it,” Kestrel said. She turned to Ghleanna. “So go ahead and do your thing.”
The mage regarded her quizzically. “My thing?”
“You know,” she prompted. “Conjure up one of those gate things so we can get out of here.” As much as she hated the thought of trusting another magical portal, twilight approached, and she was even less enamored with the idea of spending the night in this haunted city overrun with the minions of some unknown foe.
Ghleanna was silent a moment. “I cannot do that, Kestrel,” she said finally. “I have not the power.”
“What do you mean?” A sick feeling spread through her insides. “We’re not stuck here, are we?”
“You’re welcome to try to find your way out of the city and walk home,” Corran said. “As for me, I choose to take up this party’s mission. The cause of good cannot afford the time it would take us to reach Elminster. We must instead pick up where these fallen worthies left off.”
Kestrel stared at him. The paladin really had an over-inflated sense of his own honor. Fallen worthies, indeed. Did anyone actually talk like that?
“Yes, we must!” Durwyn exclaimed.
She closed her eyes. Of course Durwyn would follow the knight. He was lost without a commander, and apparently he’d settled on Corran as his new one.
“I’m glad you both agree,” Ghleanna said. “I would have taken up this quest alone if I had to.”
Kestrel sighed. Was she alone possessed of sense? “Aren’t you all forgetting a few facts?” she asked. “Our foes already defeated the original party-we’re fewer in number and less prepared. Even if we do manage to find this new pool, what are we going to do when we get there? Skip stones across it? The bad guys have the gauntlets.”
“But we have the advantage of surprise,” Corran said. “They won’t be expecting a new party so soon. We can figure out the rest as we go along-we haven’t even read the whole journal yet.”
She bowed her head, rubbing her temples. They were insane. All of them. They would end up dead, and they wanted to take her with them.
Yet would she fare any better trying to make it out of the city, through the forest, and back to civilization alone?
“Kestrel, you were really smart back there in the portal,” Durwyn said. “We could sure use your help.”
As if she had a choice. Get killed here or get killed trying to leave here. Nonetheless, if she was stuck on this suicide mission, there was one thing she wouldn’t tolerate. She looked up at Corran. “No more insults from you.”
“Agreed.”
She glanced at Durwyn and Ghleanna. “All right then.”
Ghleanna responded by suddenly raising her palms and hurling a spell at her. Kestrel dived to the ground. “What the-”
A burst of light appeared about ten paces behind her, followed immediately by an inhuman cry. A hideous creature stumbled out of the shadows, clutching at its eyes. The thing appeared to have once been human but now was a disfigured shell of its former self. Sharp, elongated teeth protruded from its mouth like fangs; the nails on its withered hands had grown into talons. Its dried-out flesh, visible through tattered clothing, hung tight on its bones.
“A ghoul!” Corran drew his sword and attacked. His first blow severed one of its skeletal arms. Black liquid spewed from the stump. Sightless, thanks to Ghleanna’s spell, the ghoul could only blindly lash out with its remaining claw in defense.
Durwyn joined