Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [63]
"Olive? Olive Ruskettle is in Shadowdale?" Akabar asked in amazement.
"She was in the tower," Grypht explained, "I teleported there, prepared to cast a tongues spell to explain my presence, but Kyre disrupted the spell and convinced others to attack me, so I fled. I managed to find Olive, but I was unable to speak with her. I talked with her friend-a bard, as tall as you are, very arrogant. He would not tell me where Champion was. He professed he needed proof that I was a friend of Champion's, but I think he did not want me to find Champion at all. Kyre interrupted us and scooped me into her soul trap. I thought she must have killed Olive and the bard, but now I believe they escaped, for this stone points out the halfling's location." The saurial held out the yellow crystal.
"The finder's stone!" Akabar said. "Dragonbait lost it in Westgate. How did you find it?"
"The bard had it. I found the stone in Kyre's boot, so I assumed she had killed the bard and Olive. I was using the stone to search for Champion, but it could not discover him for me. By accident, I thought of Olive, her clever fingers and brash nerve, and the stone sent out a directional light immediately. I couldn't believe my luck, or the halfling's, either. She had escaped from Kyre, something I would not have managed without your help."
"But how did the bard get the finder's stone?" Akabar asked.
"He said he created it. He used its magic to speak with me," Grypht explained.
Akabar's brow furrowed. The bard had to be Nameless. It was possible that he did create the stone. He was known as the Crafter as well as the Nameless Bard. Then Akabar found himself wondering why Nameless had kept Dragonbait's location from Grypht. Did he have some reason to distrust Grypht? Then it occurred to the Turmishman that he still hadn't found out about Elminster. "What did you do to Elminster?" he demanded. "He disappeared before you left."
"I transferred him to my tower and took his place," the saurial explained. "It was the only way I could absolutely guarantee my safe magical arrival here."
"Do you know the trouble you caused? Everyone thought he'd been kidnapped,"
Akabar said.
"My apprentices were instructed to greet him and apologize for the inconvenience. He was free to leave at any time. He is a great wizard, with the power to travel between planes. I scried for Olive for some time, waiting for her to approach such a one so that I did not strand anyone in my world."
"If Elminster was free to leave, why hasn't he returned yet?" Akabar asked.
"He hasn't?" Grypht asked in return.
Akabar shook his head.
"Oh, dear," the saurial said softly.
"Oh, dear!" Akabar exclaimed. "Is that all you can say? You snatched Elminster from his home to another dimension just to guarantee you had a safe arrival and could find Dragonbait."
"It is imperative that I find Champion. Our people's very existence is imperiled. I must have his help if I am to save them."
"Why? What's wrong with your people?" Akabar asked suspiciously.
"The minions of Moander from the Abyss have come into our land and enslaved them all. Only my three apprentices and I remain uncaptured. The others have been marched forcibly through the plane of Tarterus and into this world. The Darkbringer is using them to recreate a body to use in the Realms."
"Moander," Akabar whispered and shivered. "So my dreams did not lie. It is returning."
"You, too, are an enemy of the Darkbringer?" Grypht asked.
"I have come north to destroy it," Akabar said with a quavering voice.
"Then you tread a dangerous path, Akabar Bel Akash," the saurial said. "For of the Darkbringer's minions in your plane, Kyre the bard was the least, and yet she nearly destroyed you."
9
Finder's Workshop
Olive knelt down beside the bard's unconscious body on the cracked stone floor of Finder's ruined keep. She pulled a vial of healing potion from her knapsack and uncorked it. Though the draft would have no effect on the poison in Finder's body, it would take care of his bleeding crossbow bolt wounds. There was a chance it would