Pool of Radiance_ Ruins of Myth Drannor - Carrie Bebris [9]
A crackle of energy suddenly rent the air. Not ten paces away, a floating, glowing ball of white light appeared. It expanded, forming a window in its center as sounds of ringing steel and battle cries filled the air.
“A gate!” Ghleanna exclaimed.
Corran and Durwyn rushed over. “To where?” Corran asked.
The window elongated to the size of a door, allowing brief glimpses of the combatants. A besieged fighter stumbled into view, overwhelmed by an unseen opponent. “By all that’s holy, help us!” he cried.
“That’s Athan-one of the adventurers Elminster sent to Myth Drannor.” Ghleanna cried. “They must be in trouble!”
The border of the gate flashed and hissed, like a flame being extinguished. The window winked. When their view returned, Athan could no longer be seen. The sounds of battle continued, mixed with cries of the dying. Just outside visual range, a terrible moaning commenced.
“We must aid them!” Corran started toward the gate.
“Are you out of your mind?” Kestrel asked. No way was she stepping into some sort of magical portal. If the sorcery didn’t swallow them up forever, they’d only be spit out into the middle of whatever was happening on the other end.
“We’re not supposed to leave our post.” Durwyn said.
“This is more important,” Ghleanna answered. “If Athan’s band fails, all Faerыn could be lost! Make up your own minds, but I am going.” She stepped into the gate. It flashed violet light, obscuring both the mage and the Myth Drannor scene from view.
“She’s crazy,” Kestrel declared.
“No-she’s honorable and committed to a greater good,” Corran retorted. “Something a rogue wouldn’t know anything about.”
She glared at Corran. “So follow her, then!”
The gate hissed and sputtered, its light turning pale blue, then a sickly green. The window began to shrink.
“I will-and so will you!” So quickly she couldn’t react, Corran grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the gate.
She shouted her objection, but the sound was swallowed up by a vacuum. She found herself surrounded by black nothingness, the extradimensional space seeming to stretch to eternity. Corran still held her arm in an iron grip. Involuntarily, she grabbed his elbow just to have something solid to hold onto. They floated, propelled only by the momentum with which they’d entered. Far in the distance, she could see the battle scene in Myth Drannor taking place through a window.
A window that was closing.
They were going to be trapped in here! A frightful rumbling surrounded them as the window ahead wavered. Suddenly, the space didn’t seem so vast anymore. In fact, it felt close. Her chest tightened as she gasped for air. The rumbling repeated, accented by flashing golden light from either end of the portal.
Corran turned toward her, mouthing words she could not hear. She didn’t need to hear them-they were the same words running through her own mind.
The gate was collapsing.
CHAPTER TWO
Helpless, Kestrel and Corran bobbed along, unable to speed their progress toward the shrinking exit. They were near enough now that they could see the broken cobblestones of the street where Athan’s band fought, but at this rate they’d never reach it before the window closed.
Kestrel’s mind raced. They needed something, some fixed object, off which to push.
Or pull.
It was a long shot, but it just might work. She shrugged out of her backpack and brought it around so that she could dig through it with her free hand. In the wan light coming from the exit, she groped through the contents until her fingers brushed against a metal claw.
Corran saw her withdraw the grappling hook and nodded in understanding. He maneuvered her ahead of him to give her a clear shot at the window, then shifted his grip to her waist to free both her arms.
She’d never made such a long throw before, but they were running out of time. She cast the hook. Unencumbered by air resistance, it sailed through the exit and caught hold of an upturned cobblestone.