The Lost Library of Cormanthy - Mel Odom [87]
Zyzll frowned. "I don't trust her."
"She's a drow," Tweent said. "Don't trust her. She won't be offended. In fact, she may feel quite honored." He smiled. Trying out a new face's emotional range was one of the greatest things about having a new body.
"Suppose we kill him here and now," Zyzll asked, "and we go to meet the drow tonight but she doesn't show?"
"Don't forget," Tweent said. "Once we kill this man, we'll know most of what he knows. It could be we'll know enough to find her and make her pay."
"Perhaps." Zyzll cut his eyes toward the human in the booth. "There is something else, though."
Tweent raised his eyebrows. It was a favorite thing of his no matter what face he wore. "What?"
"We've not yet decided who gets to become this man."
Producing one of the shiny new gold coins paid them by the drow, Tweent spun it high into the air. "Call it then, cousin."
*****
"Baylee, if you breathe a word of this to anyone, you're going to be buried in would-be adventurers seeking a quick fortune."
The ranger knew the thought-specter of his old mentor was exactly right.
"You will find Uziraff Fireblade at one of his usual haunts in the Moonshaes," Golsway said. "He knows nothing of the elven ships that went down in the ocean somewhere near where the pictograph was found. He did not give me the location or the circumstance of how it was recovered. I did not want to tip my hand too early. But when you show up on his doorstep, he's going to know."
I have never liked that man, Xuxa said, making an unpleasant clucking noise. She had tapped into the thought bottle's contents through her telepathic link to Baylee's own mind.
Baylee only half-listened to the azmyth bat. In his mind he was already planning his meeting with Fireblade. He had no love for the man either, and was surprised that Golsway had even had anything to do with him. Uziraff Fireblade was a full-time pirate and part-time archeologist, learning just enough to let him know when he could demand extra money for the return of an object he "found." Golsway had worked with the man in the past, but had never enjoyed the experience. Fireblade was a braggart, but he was an excellent swordsman with the twin cutlasses he carried.
"The trail won't end there if you follow it carefully enough," Golsway said. "But if it does, I'm sure what you can recover from the wreck will more than pay for itself. My only hope is that some of the books will survive in some form after all these years of being on the ocean floor."
Baylee hoped so too. The thought of it almost made him too excited to sit there.
"And now," Golsway said, "it is time for me to go. But before I do, I wish you Mystra's favors in this endeavor or in any other that you choose to undertake. Take care, my son, and know that if I can, I shall watch over you."
Golsway's final words echoed in Baylee's ears as the old mage faded from his view. He sat back in the booth, gazing at the silver flask in his hand.
The waiter brought his meal to the table, and he ate with more appetite than he expected. The pain over the loss of Golsway warred in him with the excitement of the elven ship sitting on the ocean floor awaiting his arrival.
The first thing we're going to need to do, Baylee told Xuxa, is find a ship heading for the Moonshaes.
In these waters, the azmyth bat responded, that will be easy enough. Trade ships go back and forth all the time. Money and supplies are another matter.
Baylee finished his plate and pushed it away. He nursed the single glass of wine he'd taken with the big meal. I'll go see Madonld, Golsway's law-reader. If Golsway intended for me to make this expedition, he'd have left money for me. He gazed out at the green sea, wondering if he could book passage on a ship sailing this afternoon. He didn't relish the idea of getting back out on the ocean. Even the short trip up the Sword Coast had tested his compatibility with sitting inert