Pool of Radiance_ Ruins of Myth Drannor - Carrie Bebris [31]
“But Corran said-”
“Yeah, I heard him.” Though Durwyn looked to the paladin for guidance, Kestrel didn’t waste a second glance on either man. She was the best person for this job and she didn’t care what His Holiness had to say about it. She withdrew her lock picks from their beltpouch and went to work on the padlock, which opened easily in her expert hands. Then she defiantly went inside the cell with Corran and the mages. Let Durwyn keep watch.
The captive looked up expectantly as they entered, hope flitting across his broad face. “Are you here to free me?”
“Yes.” Kestrel knelt beside him and examined his irons. The shackles, too small for his meaty wrists, chafed the skin but had not yet broken it “You’re not magically bound, are you?”
“No-at least, I don’t think so.”
“Then I’ll have you out of these in no time.”
Ghleanna came forward and also knelt at the prisoner’s side while Kestrel worked on the lock. “How long have you been held here?” The half-elf smoothed matted brown hair away from a nasty-looking cut on his forehead. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. That sorcerer makes plenty of threats, but so far he’s only smacked me around.” Kestrel sprung open the wrist irons. He shook his arms to return the blood to his hands. “I believe I’ve been here two days or so. They knocked me out when they captured me, so I’m not certain.”
“They?” Corran prompted from across the cell. He poked his head out the door to signal their success to Durwyn.
“The scarred mages. I’m not exactly sure who they are. Some sort of cult. You can’t miss them-they all have one mutated hand. My companions and I never learned what they were all about but I think we got too close to finding out.”
Kestrel shuddered involuntarily as she worked to[1] release the leg irons. There were more of the tattooed, clawed figures?
“Your companions-” Ghleanna began hesitantly. “Was a man named Athan among them?” Though the half-elf used a casual tone, Kestrel noted her grave expression.
The fighter had been watching Kestrel’s progress on his chains, but now turned to Ghleanna with upraised brows. “You know Athan?”
Relief washed over her features at his indirect confirmation. She leaned forward excitedly. “I knew several in your band-Allyril and Loren as well.”
“We came here to aid your party but arrived too late,” Corran added. He offered the prisoner a hand as Kestrel sprung the lock on his leg irons.
Enlightenment spread across the prisoner’s features. “You’re the guards we tried to contact in Phlan! Thank the gods-there’s still hope.” He took Corran’s hand and pulled himself upright. “My name is Emmeric. We doubted that magical gate would open, but desperation made us try. Did any of my companions survive?”
Corran shook his head. “We found four bodies.”
“I didn’t recognize any of them as Athan,” Ghleanna added.
Kestrel studied the female wizard. The half-elf mentioned this Athan person repeatedly. Even now, her brows were drawn together in concern. Did Elminster’s apprentice share more than a passing acquaintance with the missing adventurer? Was he a paramour? Of course-why hadn’t Kestrel noticed before? Such a connection would explain the mage’s eagerness to jump through that unstable gate and take up the fallen party’s mission.
“There were six of us,” Emmeric said. “I don’t know what happened to Athan. The cultist who’s been interrogating me hasn’t mentioned another prisoner. I suppose he could have escaped alive, but the way those scarred mages were throwing spells at us, and other cultists-fighters-attacking…” He shook his head in resignation. “Even Athan couldn’t have held them off forever. I hate to say so, but it’s quite possible that there wasn’t enough left of him to be found.”
A stricken look crossed Ghleanna’s features before she turned her face away. Oblivious to the half-elf’s distress, the men continued their discussion. Kestrel decided