Bruce Cordell - City of Torment

"You don't look well," came Captain Thoster's voice. "But not half as upset as Japheth looked when you knocked him into the dark, eh?"

Raidon opened his eyes and turned to regard Thoster, but he did not speak.

Seren scowled and said, "Is there anything you don't find funny, Captain?"

The captain sighed. "Oh, come. Yes, our ship is holed and we're taking water, I know. But we ain't dead, are we? We got something from all this running around." He pointed to Anusha. "If Japheth cares so much for this lass, then we got ourselves a fair bargaining chip. He kept hold of the Dreamheart for her. He'll give it up if we threaten to rough her up."

"Hmm," Seren replied, nodding slowly.

"No," Raidon murmured, tired at the mere thought of the captain's banal suggestion. "Anyway, it's too late." He stood, avoiding using Angul's hilt to pull himself upright. "Things have gone too far."

"What's that mean?" asked Thoster, who was feeding another dried piece of fish to the dog.

"Japheth, the great kraken Gethshemeth, and Nogah before them handled the Dreamheart too much. I told you it was but a piece of something terrifyingly larger. A.. creature."

Thoster shrugged. "So?"

"So this monstrosity, this… Eldest aboleth, is already partly roused. Its children, less potent but also less sleepy, are coming awake within the bowels of Xxiphu. Even now, those already awake perform foul rituals to fully animate their stony father. If the aboleths succeed, you can say farewell to Faerun as you know it."

The conviction in his voice shocked even Thoster to silence.

"All hope's lost? Even if we get the Dreamheart now?" asked Seren.

"A threshold has been passed. What I saw in the eye when its gaze locked with mine…" Raidon shook his head.

"The ritual has already begun. To disrupt it, we'd have to go straight to the source. In Xxiphu, if I plunge Angul into the heart of the entity to which the Dreamheart belongs, that might finally slay it."

"Might?" asked Seren. Raidon didn't answer. Instead, he said, "So forget Japheth. His part in this is done. We need to figure out how to reach Xxiphu, and soon."

*****

Hazy layers of smoke squeezed tears from Raidon's eyes. The clink of tallglasses, the shouts of patrons, and the clack of magically animate devices in the room across the hall were maddeningly loud. The sword sheathed on his back tugged this way and that, distracting the monk further.

But Thoster wouldn't talk options until they retired to the Lorious's frantic saloon. The captain's eyes twinkled as he watched well-heeled Veltalarans indulge in ales, wines, pipes, and lit bundles of rolled leaves. Thoster's hat perched high on his head. The man obviously enjoyed the attention of his ostentatious dress at least as much as he enjoyed keeping an eye on a few of the staff who flirted shamelessly with him. The captain seemed unfazed by the idea of seeking Xxiphu. Which was suspicious. Raidon just didn't have the mental energy to decipher Thoster's game right then.

Seren completed their triangle, but her head was buried in a tome she'd liberated from Japheth's suite. Her dark hair hung down just above the yellowed pages, hiding her eyes and face. The wizard ignored the babble of the saloon well enough to read, or at least gave a credible semblance of doing so.

Raidon watched her, as if he might find his own focus in the studious lines of the woman's shoulders and neck.

She was enthralled with the miniature library Japheth had accumulated. She'd selected a few choice tomes and scrolls and tucked them away into her satchel.

To what end, though? Did Seren really care that the Dreamheart's constant handling had finally done its damage? The wizard was just a breath away from abandoning Raidon, despite her grudging acceptance of the terms Raidon had offered her on the ship.

But did it matter? Perhaps the situation was beyond their ability to influence. If Cynosure were still functioning, Raidon might have transported himself directly into Xxiphu. But that was a wish that wasn't going to be granted.

"You've had your ale, Captain," the monk said, his voice raised to break through the babble of a dozen others.

"Can we discuss the idea you mentioned back in Japheth's suite about salvaging the situation?"

"I've had one cupful. That ain't enough to quench my thirst!" Thoster grinned, tossed off the contents of a tankard still a quarter filled with tawny liquid, then burped. His eyes followed the progress of a dark-haired woman across the saloon.

"If the Eldest is fully roused, ale and wenching will be the least of your needs," Raidon said.

The captain guffawed, then pointed. "Here comes your drink. Maybe that'll soothe your sour disposition."

A server, a halfling, stopped at the table. He deposited a tea service before Raidon. Though surprised to see the steaming pot, Raidon tapped his fingers in thanks.

"You ordered this for me?" he asked Thoster.

The captain nodded. "You were busy in Japheth's suite."

When the captain and the wizard had gone on ahead to secure a table, Raidon stayed behind to make certain the dog and the sleeping woman were in good health. He'd explained to Thoster they might yet have need of Anusha. Also, the sword had not wanted him to waste time caring for the woman and beast. Whenever Raidon recognized a "greater good" impulse from Angul coloring his attitude, he tried to take the opposite tack.

Raidon poured a steaming cup and sipped. Warmth filled his mouth and descended to his center. The sharp, green odor and tingling heat did indeed calm his agitated state. He inhaled deeply and caught the captain's eye.

Thoster grinned but refrained from further comment.

The server also set upon the table another foaming mug for the captain and a crystal goblet filled with purple liquid for Seren. Thoster immediately grabbed up his tankard and downed a goodly portion.

Seren looked up from her tome and said, "Raidon, do you remember your promise? You will devote yourself to gathering a lord's treasure when we're done with all this?"

"You have my word," agreed Raidon.

She nodded. "Good. These tomes and scrolls from Japheth's suite-they're not a bad down payment"

The monk nodded, then said, "We need to descend to Xxiphu, it's too late for half measures. Do you know how we can burrow down into the earth to reach the city?"

"Halruaa used to have flying ships," interjected Captain Thoster. "But those are destroyed, save for a scant few." "What good would that do us?" snapped Seren. "We need to sail the solid veins of dirt and stone below the world. None of those Halruaan craft had that ability."

"Did you ever fly one?"

"They were called flying ships, not burrowing ships, idiot," Seren retorted.

Thoster paused, considering, and took another pull at his ale. He mumbled, "I was hoping you could whip us up some magic sails for Green Siren, or somesuch."

Seren rolled her eyes, then paused. "Hmm. Well, I can't do that. But perhaps… something"

"What?" asked Raidon.

She glanced at the captain. "You remember those albino fish in the pool on Gethshemeth's island? The ones swimming around in that cave where the black dragon ambushed us?"

Thoster nodded.

"When I arrived," said Raidon, "that pool was drained and all the fish in it were dead. I met the dragon. He called himself Scathrys. I left him alone… but Anusha managed to hurt him somehow."

"Really?" Seren asked, then shook her head. "Never mind. Do you remember the fish, Thoster?"

"Aye," Thoster said. "Them and everything else in that accursed room. They were eyeless slivers darting around, each one aglow. At the lip of that pool, Nogah and my first mate died "

"Before she died, Nogah said the fish were rune-scribed creatures," Seren said. "In their presence, she said one could walk the depths of the sea floor as if strolling a green meadow."