The Queen of Stone_ Thorn of Breland - Keith Baker [71]
Thorn considered the equipment laid out before her. She was wearing the black and gray uniform of the hunter that she’d stolen the night before. She studied her hands. Her bracers were fully extended, the interlocking plates of blackened mithral unfolded to cover her forearms. Ghyrryn’s axe was hidden within her right glove, and the mystical book was in her left. Thorn still wasn’t sure what she’d need it for, but until she found Harryn, she couldn’t leave it behind.
She wound a coil of lightweight silk rope around her waist. She expected to leave through the latrines, and in all the stories she’d heard of Harryn Stormblade, none had involved descending down sewers; she guessed that he’d need all the help she could provide. Next she fastened her dark cloak over her doublet, brushing her hand across the hidden pockets to make sure everything was in place. Thunderstone, poisons, darts, the bottled spiders and other oddities she needed to work her spells … the basic necessities of life.
Sitting on the bed, Thorn picked up Kalakhesh’s notes and studied them again, making sure she memorized the proper path. She’d made Jharl take her to a latrine when they’d passed Sheshka’s quarters, not because she needed to use the privy, but so she could identify it—placing it within the context of the goblin’s sewer map.
With a little deduction, she’d found a line that led directly into the medusa’s private chambers. This luxury was a relatively recent addition to the network, and according to Kalakhesh’s notes, it was too small even for a goblin to crawl through.
Luckily for Thorn, he’d provided another solution. She’d found a few glass vials wrapped in the rags in his sack. Between Steel’s analysis and the goblin’s notes, Thorn concluded that drinking the liquid would transform her into a ghostly, mistlike form—allowing her to pass through the pipes as if she were pure gas. The effect wouldn’t last for long, but it would be enough to reach the medusa’s lair. This was powerful magic, and it was a lucky find for Thorn. Kalakhesh had been saving these supplies for a desperate situation. But Thorn couldn’t imagine a greater need … and she wouldn’t have to justify using the potion to some goblin quartermaster.
Thorn picked up Steel. “So, faithful advisor. You told me before that you could offer protection against the gaze of a medusa. What’s the secret?”
You’ll need your masking bag, Steel said.
“This doesn’t sound like the magical solution I was hoping for,” Thorn said. She reached into a pocket of her cloak and produced a black silk bag. The hood was used to restrain prisoners; it was placed over the head and then secured with drawstrings, preventing the captive from observing his surroundings.
Steel’s next words confirmed her fears. When you have subdued Sheshka, you can use the masking bag to eliminate the threat of her gaze.
“Yes … but I was hoping for something that would protect me from medusas and basilisks while I was subduing her.”
Steel’s voice was a calm metal whisper. For the first stage of the mission, you will wear the masking bag yourself.
“Because …”
If you cannot meet the medusa’s gaze, her power cannot affect you.
Thorn laughed. She couldn’t help it. All the tension that had been building over the last day burst out of her. The sight of the basilisk chewing on a fleshy finger, the tension with Drego, the disturbing encounter with Sora Katra … for a moment, she let it all float away.
Eventually, the stream of mirth slowed to a trickle and stopped completely. “So,” she said. “What’s the plan?”
For the first stage of the mission you will wear the masking bag yourself.
Thorn had taken Steel’s calm statement to be part of the joke; it was the voice of the straight man telling the perfect punch line. But it wasn’t as funny the second time, especially when Steel still didn’t see any humor in it.
“But won’t that make me blind?” she said. Perhaps she was missing something.
Of course. That is the purpose of the bag.
“Set aside