Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [53]
"We may as well see what's there," Jas said.
Joel nodded. If there wasn't a cave, or it didn't lead to Beshaba's realm, at least then Emilo would realize he'd been duped.
There was indeed a cave. The opening was at the base of the hillock where they had camped. Overhanging rock had sheltered the cave entrance so it hadn't been blocked by the avalanche. The entrance was wide but very low. Jas and Joel had to duck to enter. They could hear water dripping, and deeper within the cave a shallow pool glittered, reflecting back the light from the cave entrance.
Jas touched Joel's arm and pointed. A human figure sat half hidden in the shadows of the cave, staring into the pool of water. Suddenly the shadowy figure rose, shape-changed into the form of a human man wearing armor and wielding a sword, and dived into the water, disappearing completely from sight.
"It's times like this when I really miss Holly," Jas whispered. "With her paladin ability to detect evil, she could warn us whether or not we should get any closer to that creature, whatever it is."
"In a place like this where everything is evil, Holly would have a ringing headache by now," Joel countered.
Seemingly unconcerned with the possible dangers, Emilo walked into the cave and approached the pool of water.
"Emilo," Jas called out in a warning tone.
"I can see him," the kender said excitedly. "This pool must be a portal to another place. He's in another room, fighting another man." The kender gave a little gasp. "No, wait. He's fighting himself."
Joel and Jas moved deeper into the cave. The limestone ceiling and walls glistened with water, and tiny crystals glittered all along the floor, crunching under their boots. Jas and Joel found they could stand up, though Joel's head brushed the cave roof in spots. Farther back in the shadows, they could see about twenty small, furry bats hanging from the ceiling.
Joel and Jas joined Emilo beside the pool of water. On the opposite side of the water's surface were two identical men, dressed in identical armor, fighting with identical swords. The adventurers couldn't hear the combat, but they could see that one man was gaining the upper hand in the duel. The room surrounding the men was a gaudily decorated bedroom. Joel would have guessed it was a visitor's room in a festhall, but where in all the worlds the room was, he had no way of knowing.
The bard knew what it was he was seeing, however. "A fetch," he whispered.
"A what?" Jas asked.
"It's an evil creature that dwells in the Abyss," the bard explained. "There's a creepy Turmish song about fetch that explains why Turmish law prohibits large mirrors. Fetch attack through portals that lead to mirrors in the Prime Material Plane, taking on the forms of their intended victims. Their attacks drain the life energy from their victims. Then the victim is dragged back to the Abyss, where he becomes another fetch. There's one thing that bothers me, though. Fetch are supposed to be invisible to all but their victims."
"Perhaps we can see him because we're on his home plane," Jas suggested.
"That could be," Joel agreed. He pulled out the finder's stone to illuminate the rest of the cave. The cavern didn't appear to extend back into the mountainside more than ten yards. Joel saw no evidence of passages that went any deeper. Sirrion's "passage" was a dead end.
The bard glanced back into pool. On the opposite side of the portal, four more armed men came running through a door into the room where the two fetch fought. Although they couldn't see the fetch, the armed men surrounded the fetch's victim, presumably their companion, with a circle of swords.
Joel whirled around. "We've got to get out of here before the fetch flees back through the portal," the bard insisted.
Joel's warning came in time for Jas and Emilo to retreat to the entrance, but the fetch reared out of the watery portal and splashed to the shore between Joel and his avenue of escape.
Upon spying the bard, the monster smiled coldly. Suddenly Joel found he was looking at himself. The fetch had