Pool of Radiance_ Ruins of Myth Drannor - Carrie Bebris [99]
When he did not answer immediately, she thought he’d dismissed her idea in disgust. A moment later, she heard his quiet, hesitant voice break the stillness. “Tyr, if this humble servant has found favor in your eyes, grant me light that I may see our path clearly.”
A ball of brilliant light appeared in Corran’s palm, nearly blinding Kestrel with its sudden brightness. She blinked rapidly until her pupils adjusted, then looked at Corran. The paladin gazed at the glow in wonder.
“He answered.” Corran glanced up to meet Kestrel’s eyes. A smile, the first they’d ever shared, stole across his face. “He found me worthy. He answered.”
In the blaze of Corran’s holy light, they found Ghleanna, Faeril, and Durwyn lying nearby, unconscious but alive. The brilliance woke Ghleanna almost immediately. The two others soon followed.
The tunnel’s collapse had dropped tons of impassable rubble at both ends of the passageway, leaving the party in a cavern about a hundred feet long littered with piles of rock and dirt. They now stood at the far end, debating whether magic would blast through the rockslide or cause a further collapse. Corran and Faeril were optimistic, the others skeptical.
Kestrel shivered. She didn’t care to experiment with sorcery but saw no alternative. They couldn’t dig their way out, and if they didn’t do something they’d starve to death-or perhaps suffocate first.
She shivered again. If she didn’t know better, she’d say a draft crept along her neck.
Turning, she left the others to their debate and scanned the cavern. The tunnel walls were lined with debris, some of it piled quite high. A craggy hollow in one corner shadowed the ceiling from Corran’s light. She picked her way over to that side and scaled the heap of stones.
“Kestrel, where are you going?” Corran called.
“Don’t you feel that draft?” She crawled into the crevice. Sure enough, early morning light filtered through a hole not quite two feet in diameter. “Here! It’s an opening to the outside!”
She reached up to grasp the edges of the hole and pull herself out. To her shock, she found her right hand grasped by a larger one. A moment later, familiar blue eyes peered down at her. “Need a lift?”
“Athan!”
With just one hand, he pulled her out of the cavern. They stood at the base of a cliff, with Castle Cormanthor looming high above them. The warrior appeared fully healed. No trace of injury or pain marred his features. He’d also shaven and washed away the dried blood and other physical evidence of the cult’s torture. New armor-a suit she remembered from Harldain’s hoard-made the strapping man appear even larger than he had before. A gleaming two-handed sword hung at his side.
“How did you find us?”
“By Mystra’s grace, I think. I was skirting the castle base, seeking a way in, when I heard you call out just now. I never would have noticed that hole otherwise.”
She looked around for some sign of the sorcerer. “Is Jarial with you?”
He shook his head. “Beriand has been fending off near-constant attacks in Faeril’s absence. Jarial stayed behind to defend him.” Kestrel noted that Athan now wore the ring of regeneration Jarial had received from the baelnorn. “He sent these along, too.” Athan gestured toward the Staff of Sunlight and Ozama’s boots lying at his feet.
The rest of the party appeared below. Athan lifted Ghleanna out next, giving his sister a proper hug-now that his ribs were healed-before helping Faeril squeeze through the narrow space. Durwyn had to widen the hole for himself and Corran to accommodate their broad shoulders.
Once all had emerged, Athan explained Jarial’s absence to the others. “He said to give the staff to Faeril. Lena or Kestrel, I thought the boots would fit one of you best.”
Kestrel nodded to the sorceress. “Take them.” While Ghleanna donned the footwear and the cloak her brother had borrowed, Corran asked Athan whether he’d found a weakness in the castle’s defenses.
“Nay,” he replied. “The entrance is