Son of Thunder - Murray J. D. Leeder [74]
Ardeth said, "Thank Geildarr for our escape." She reached into her robes and produced a small black gem. She dropped it on the ground and it shattered as if it were glass. "Alas, we'll be forced to use our feet from here on."
"Thank Geildarr indeed!" Royce thundered at Ardeth. "If not for his petty rivalries, there'd be five Antiquarians alive now instead of two!"
Gan stepped forward, lifting the axe just slightly. Ardeth placed a hand on his arm to stop him.
"Spare me, hobgoblin!" Royce shouted. "I'm not going to kill your mistress today. Your glowering and brandishing of that battle-axe didn't intimidate Leng. Why didn't you just bury it in his brain and be done with it?"
Gan snorted and stood up straighter.
"Gan was only doing what I asked," Ardeth said. "Don't blame him."
"Oh, I don't," Royce said. "I blame you and Geildarr. If you wanted Leng dead, we could have devised a plan to slaughter him and hide every trace, if you had only told us."
"Why did it have to be the Unicorn Run?" asked Gunton. "Why did he have to die there?" A quieter soul than his leader, his anger manifested in red streaks spreading across his cheeks and a slight tremor in his voice.
Ardeth said, "We wanted him to choose his own death. It would look better to Fzoul that way. Also, Geildarr wanted Leng to have a death of… sufficient grandeur."
Royce laughed madly, the sound echoing off the high mountains surrounding them. "It had grandeur, that's for sure!" He made a fist and banged it against his leg. "And we were just expendable pieces in his scheme?"
"You're mercenaries," said Ardeth. "You are, by your nature, expendable."
"They were all fond of you," Royce said. His eyes were moistening and his voice broke. "Your pretty face, your graceful walk… these things put us off guard. But my vision is clear now. Asmodeus's soul is no darker than yours." Unable to stop the tears for his dead companions, he fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.
"I had hoped we might avoid the heights of the Star Mounts," said Gunton, staring accusingly at Ardeth. "Our mountaineering equipment was mostly destroyed when Leng set our camp ablaze. What remained was in Bessick's pack. It now lies at the bottom of the Run."
"I lived all my life in the Graypeaks," Gan proclaimed. "I know my way through mountains. I will lead the way."
Ardeth looked around. "Which of these is Mount Vision?" she asked. "The Sanctuary should lie to the east of it."
"Well, I'm guessing that we're somewhere deep inside the Mounts…" Gunton surveyed the terrain and finally pointed out a distant peak rising over a group of smaller mountains, its tip vanishing into cloud and haze.
"Somewhere beyond that one, I should think."
"Probably ten days' travel at best," the hobgoblin estimated. "Assuming that passes exist."
"We'll need to keep a low profile," said Gunton.
Royce bolted to his feet. "We're still speaking about doing Geildarr's bidding? What makes you think Gunton and I will go along to find this Sanctuary now?"
"You'll still be rewarded if we succeed," Ardeth said. "All the more for your fallen comrades. And if you disobey Geildarr, you'll spend the rest of your life dodging Zhentarim assassins. Moreover, we're stranded here. Gan can survive here better than any of us. This is no time to separate."
Royce cursed, but he knew that her logic was undeniable. This time he had no choice but to do what she said.
"It wasn't supposed to happen this way," Ardeth admitted. "I