Venom's Taste - Lisa Smedman [49]
Arvin saw her head tilt as if she were listening to something-a good sign. An instant later, her expression softened. “Thank the gods you came after us,” she gasped. “I told Gonthril that sending just two of us was a bad idea, but he wouldn’t listen.” She tucked the flask back into her pouch and tied it shut.
“I’m glad I found you in time,” Arvin said. Seeing her wet clothes clinging to her almost hipless body and noting that the belt that held her scabbard was much too large for her, he revised his estimate of her age to late teens. She was awfully young to be adventuring down in the sewers. Even with a chaperone.
“I’m glad you found us, too,” she said. Then she shuddered. “Poor Urus. That thing …”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Arvin said. “Have you?”
“No. Whatever it was, I think the cleric was on his way to feed it,” the woman said, a grimace on her face. “If I hadn’t had my father’s sword…” She shuddered again then stared blindly up in Arvin’s general direction. “Have we met?” she asked. “Or are you in a different arm of the Secession?”
Arvin made a mental note of the word-it sounded like the name of an organization, but it was one he’d never heard of before. “We haven’t met,” he answered honestly. “My name’s Arvin.”
“I’m Kayla.” She glanced around, squinting as she tried to penetrate the absolute darkness. “I can’t see anything-can you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then you can help me find my way out of these gods-cursed sewers. I need to get back to Gonthril and make my report. He’ll be glad to hear we were right about the clerics being down here.”
“Good work,” Arvin said, playing along. Gonthril was, presumably, the leader of whatever group this woman belonged to, and he seemed to be interested in the Pox-interested enough to send people into the sewers to search for them. Why was anyone’s guess.
“Gonthril asked me to keep an eye out for someone while I was down here,” Arvin told Kayla. “A dark-haired man whose eyebrows join above his nose. Have you seen him?”
“Who is he?”
“Someone who might be able to help us,” Arvin said, keeping his answer deliberately vague.
Kayla shook her head. “I haven’t seen him.”
“How long have you been down here?”
“Since Sunset. We tried to enter the sewers earlier, but the militia were everywhere.”
Arvin nodded. She’d been in the sewers quite some time, then. “Did you see any other clerics besides the one with the basket?”
“No.”
“How did you know where to find him?”
“We didn’t,” Kayla said. “It was just Tymora’s luck. We were snooping around in the sewers-we’d seen one of Talona’s clerics come down here earlier. When we spotted the opening that led to the hidden corridor, we decided to follow it.”
“I see,” Arvin said, disappointed. Though Kayla had been forthcoming, she hadn’t told him anything about the cultists that he didn’t already know. Perhaps others in her organization would know more.
One thing was bothering Arvin. “That second fellow-the old sailor-why did Urus shoot him?”
The mention of her companion’s name started the woman’s lip trembling. “He attacked us.”
Arvin frowned. “Are you sure the old man wasn’t just trying to escape-to get by you?”
Kayla shook her head. “He was with the cleric. When Urus and I surprised them in the chamber, the cleric shouted at the old man to attack us and started casting a spell. I was able to stop him before his prayer was complete, but the old man managed to bite my arm before Urus could shoot him. He ran off while Urus was reloading… and that thing showed up.”
Arvin frowned. “The old man bit you?” he said.
“You don’t believe me?” Kayla shoved up her sleeve. “Look.”
Arvin stared at the crescent-shaped bite mark on her wrist.
“His bite was venomous,” Kayla continued. “He must have been yuan-ti-one that could pass for human in lantern light. If it weren’t for this, I