Pool of Twilight - James M. Ward [72]
"Perhaps you should not focus on your bonds, Listle," Miltiades suggested.
Her small, elven nose wrinkled. "Wait a minute. I understand! The bones holding me may be animate, but the stones aren't." Her ruby pendant flared brightly. Without warning the elf sank backward into the stone wall of the alcove. Long moments passed.
Abruptly, Listle stepped out of a basaltic column carved with twisted gargoyles.
"Ugh!" She said disgustedly. "That was definitely not pleasant! You really wouldn't believe the stuff that accumulates behind walls in places like this." She hastily brushed bits of dried cobweb and ancient grime from her green tunic. "Now, let me see what I can do about these uncooperative bones, Kern."
However, try as she might, none of Listle's spells and no amount of tugging could break the scabrous bonds.
"All right, Kern, there's one last thing I can try." Listle took a deep breath. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but I don't think I have much choice."
"Listle, what in the world are you talking about?" Kern asked in exasperation.
"Just hold on tight. And whatever you do, don't let go."
Her ruby necklace glowing, Listle disappeared into the floor. Kern wondered what the unpredictable elf was up to. Moments later, he found out as two slender hands reached out of the stones behind him and jerked him backward-right through the solid surface of the wall!
It was far worse than any nightmare. Kern could feel the rock passing through his body with a hideous, slithering sensation. Solid stone filled his heart and lungs, almost choking him. It was horrible. After what seemed an eternity, Listle hauled him up through the catacomb's floor. He gasped for breath. The others stared in surprise.
"Next time just let me starve to death, Listle," Kern said, shuddering in revulsion. "It couldn't be any worse than that." He hauled himself to his feet as the elf slumped weakly against a column, her face alarmingly pale.
"Listle, are you all right?" Miltiades asked in concern.
She nodded. "I'm fine. Really."
"Are you sure?" Kern asked. He reached out to grip the elf's shoulder, but his fingers passed right through her.
"I said I'm fine!" Listle snapped, stumbling away from him. "Do you hear me? Now why don't you see to the others with that precious hammer of yours?" She retreated into the shadows.
Kern gaped at his hand. Had it simply been his imagination? He wondered if the others had seen what he had seen. But no, he realized, his body blocked their view.
Shaking his head, he turned his attention to his companions. One blow of Primul's enchanted warhammer was all it took to shatter the skeletal bonds. In moments, Daile, Miltiades, and Sirana were free. Listle stepped from the shadows to rejoin them.
It was only then, as they all stood together, that Kern realized one of the companions was missing. He had been so preoccupied with their predicament that he had not noticed until now.
"Daile," he asked the young ranger with a frown, "where is Ren?"
The look in her eyes made his heart stop. He watched her with growing dread.
Daile swallowed hard, stumbling over the words. Her voice was bleak. "We were attacked by a fiend outside the guard tower," she finally managed to say, her voice trembling. "He slew it, but it… it…" She drew a ragged breath. "My father is dead," she said quietly. "Ren o' the Blade is dead."
Miltiades hung his head. "Then this day Faerun has become a darker place indeed."
* * * * *
"Now where to?" Daile asked, sticking a pair of arrows into her leather belt.
Not a quarter hour before, Daile had broken down in tears as she told the story of her father's death. Now a cold light shone in her eyes, and there was a grim set to her jaw.
"This way," Kern said, pointing in one direction. He wasn't sure how to get out of the catacomb, but it was almost as if he heard a faint trilling in his mind, showing him the way.
"You hear the voice of