David Cook: Uneasy Alliances

The two men, pirate and politician, stood behind the bloodforge. From within his robes, Garkim drew a small bejeweled knife. Swiftly he slashed his palm, and then held out the blade to Ingrar. The youth accepted the knife and made a cut in his own hand. The two maimed hands clasped each other, their blood mingling. Then Garkim and Ingrar slowly lowered their palms to the bloodforge. A brilliant flash lit the sky and water. From empty air stepped figure after figure. With sudden shock, Noph realized that each was a duplicate of the strange man he and the paladins had fought in their rooms in the palace.

The bloodforge army surged forth, a seemingly endless stream of warriors, to assemble in serried ranks upon the causeway. Now Garkim lifted his hand from the forge. His eyes were shut and his lips unmoving, but all present felt the mighty psychic cry from his mind.

Warriors! Go forth! Cleanse this city of the fiends who infest it! We, Lord Garkim and Lord Ingrar of the bloodforge, command it of you!

From the throats of the forge army came a single ululating cry. They rushed forth, bearing down upon the fiends. From the creatures of the Abyss came a hellish shrieking. They gave way before the forge warriors, and in moments the plaza was emptied. Bands of warriors pursued the tanar'ri down the narrow streets. Their screams and wails echoed dimly into silence as the light from the bloodforge faded. Ingrar and Garkim stepped back, opening their eyes.

Trandon broke the silence that followed. He looked at Kern and Noph. "Shall we return to Waterdeep? I'm anxious to see Entreri stand before the judgment of Piergeiron. And when the Paladinson is done with him, I know some people in Cormyr who'd like to speak with him."

Kern nodded. "That's assuming, of course, that the others fulfilled their part of the quest. If they haven't succeeded in capturing the doppleganger, who knows what we'll find when we return?" He looked at Sharessa. "What do you think we should do about her?"

"Why don't you ask her?" Before Trandon could speak, Shar stepped forward. The sun shone through the broken roof on her face and caught the highlights in her raven hair. Her clothes were torn and tattered, but she still wore them with a kind of careless energy and panache. She looked at Noph and smiled. "How's your head? I tried not to hit you too hard."

"Okay," mumbled Noph. Shar suddenly made him feel uneasy, and he didn't know why.

The female pirate turned to Trandon. "I'm staying here. I suppose you could drag me hack to your part of the world, but what would be the point? You've got him," she said, pointing to Entreri, "and I daresay I could do far more good here. These two"-she gestured to Ingrar and Garkim-"are going to need a good sword to knock some law and order back into this place. Isn't that right, boys?"

Ingrar smiled shyly. He suddenly looked much more like the young pirate Noph had first met at the fountain. "That's right, Shar. I guess we do."

Shar blew a kiss in Noph's direction but didn't wait to see if he responded. She was already looking appraisingly at Garkim, as if wondering what sort of women he liked.

Noph turned to Kern and Trandon. "All right," he agreed. "I'm ready to go home."