Lisa Smedman - Storm of the Dead

"Madam," Daffir said, his soft voice interrupting her. "Please stand aside."

Leliana turned. "What is it, Daffir? Do you see something?"

"Yes. My destiny."

He moved closer to the door and peered inside. His head tilted, as if he were glancing at something the others couldn't see. Then he nodded. He straightened and handed his staff to Eldrinn, startling the boy, then ducked down low and entered the room.

"Stop!" Leliana cried. She grabbed for his robe, but missed. "We need you. You're the only one who…"

Daffir crossed the room with swift, purposeful strides.

"Protectors," Leliana barked. "Stand ready."

The priestesses lifted their swords and touched holy symbols.

Without so much as a backward glance, Daffir entered the corridor to the left of the statue and vanished.

Several moments passed.

Gilkriz broke the silence with a snort. "Diviners," he muttered. He waggled his fingers beside his temple. Crazy.

Leliana expected a retort from Eldrinn or Q'arlynd, but the pair had drawn apart from the others. She could see Q'arlynd's arms moving-he was saying something to the younger wizard in rapid, silent gestures-but his back was to her and she couldn't see his hands. The boy's eyes widened. Then he nodded. He clutched the staff with both hands and drew it to his chest protectively.

Leliana caught Gilkriz's eye. "Seal that door," she ordered. She was just about to find out what Q'arlynd and Eldrinn were up to when Qilue's voice sang out in her head.

Leliana, I have news. Karas has penetrated the Acropolis. He's discovered what the Crones are up to.

Gilkriz was casting the spell that sealed the door, his chanting a distraction. Leliana clapped her hands against her ears to block it out. She listened as Qilue described what Karas had discovered: a massive orb of voidstone at the heart of the Acropolis, guarded by a ghostly Crone. And that wasn't the worst of it.

Judging by what Karas described, the Crones are attempting to open a gate to the negative energy plane, just as they did in Maerimydra, Qilue told her. And I fear I know what they're trying to bring through it. An army of undead, commanded by a vampire minotaur. The legions of the Death Heart.

"The Death Heart," Leliana repeated, her voice tight.

We must stop them. This time, we won't have the help of the Guardians. And Cavatina…

The voice stopped.

"Qilue?" Leliana asked. "Are you still there?"

The others had fallen silent. They stared tensely at Leliana.

Cavatina is beyond my reach. I fear the worst.

Leliana felt, rather than heard, Qilue's anguished sigh.

It's up to you, Leliana. You have to find a way to take the Acropolis. To halt what's happening before the Crones spill an unholy blight upon this world.

"The Nightshadows aren't with us," Leliana said. "They went another way. And we-"

So Karas told me. You'll need reinforcements. I'll be sending others through the portal, but I want those of you who are already there to move on the Acropolis at once. Karas said he could already see shapes moving inside the voidstone. It already spat out one monster. It won't be long, now, before the gate cracks open.

Leliana wet her lips nervously. "Lady," she ventured. "Will you be leading the reinforcements?"

I… can't. There are… matters here I have to deal with.

"So be it, Lady," Leliana said. "We'll do what we can."

May Eilistraee lend strength to your sword and harmony to your song. Farewell.

Farewell? The word carved a hollow in Leliana's gut. Did Qilue have so little faith in her that she was already counting Leliana as lost? For the space of a heartbeat, Leliana regretted ever volunteering for this mission. Then anger eclipsed fear. She would prove Qilue wrong. She would do it. Take the Acropolis and destroy the voidstone. Without reinforcements.

And if she failed, well, dying wouldn't be anything new. She'd already given her life for the Lady once before. She smiled grimly, remembering the battle in the Misty Forest.

The others were waiting. Leliana steeled herself. Swiftly, she relayed what Qilue had just told her. "Lady Qilue has ordered us to attack the Acropolis and destroy the voidstone. She'll send reinforcements, but they probably won't make it in time. Which means it's up to us." She stared at the wall Gilkriz had plugged the tunnel with. "We're going to have to fight our way past that monster."

The other Protectors nodded grimly, their expressions matching her own.

Gilkriz took a deep breath and stared at the wall he'd conjured. "Let me know when you're ready." He raised his hands.

"Wait!" Q'arlynd said. "There may be another way to reach the Acropolis."

Leliana turned. "What way is that, Q'arlynd? Spit it out."

"I have an idea, Lady, inspired by the combined magic we three wizards just utilized to open the door." He gestured at the wall. The door, closed, was once again cloaked by illusion.

"Go on," Leliana said.

"You'll be utilizing positive energy to destroy the voidstone, correct?"

"That's the general plan. With Eilistraee's blessing, enough of us will get close enough to it to do just that."

Q'arlynd actually smiled. "What if I told you I could get all of us to the Acropolis?" He snapped his fingers. "Like that."

"I'm listening."

Q'arlynd slapped a hand against the wall. "The only thing preventing me from teleporting us into the cavern that holds the Acropolis is the Faerzress. There may be a way to counter it, however."

Gilkriz's eyebrows rose. "Suddenly you're an expert on Faerzress?"

Q'arlynd smiled. "When I lingered behind at the Moondeep, I conducted an experiment. I attempted a teleport. Faerie fire didn't erupt from my body, as it did back in Sshamath, but from the cavern wall that I… inadvertently touched. From within the Faerzress. The touch of my body somehow drew it to the surface of the rock. I think the problem lies within us-some unique link we drow have to Faerzress energy, which in turn is fed by negative energy. We draw the Faerzress in, somehow, and release it as faerie fire. It would therefore follow that, if we can fill our bodies with positive energy, we can force the Faerzress out. Then I can-"

All at once, Leliana saw what he was getting at. "Teleport us all to the Acropolis," she said, finishing his thought for him.

"Exactly."

"All very well, in theory," Gilkriz said in a dry voice. "But Q'arlynd's never even seen the Acropolis."

"I studied the map and heard a detailed description of the temple. For me, that's enough."

Leliana nodded. "I think it's worth a try."

The others nodded. All except Gilkriz, who stood with his arms folded, fingers drumming restlessly against his sleeves.

"All right then." Q'arlynd shrugged back his piwafwi and flexed his fingers. "Eldrinn, stand next to me; I may need your assistance with the spell. The rest of you, form a circle around me and link hands. As I finish my casting, I'll touch one of you, and we'll all go together."

"Eldrinn's a novice," Gilkriz protested. "What help will he be?"

"That's where you're wrong," Q'arlynd said. "Eldrinn's assisted my teleports before. He knows exactly what to do, and when. Just join hands with the others, Gilkriz, and you'll come along. Unless…" Q'arlynd arched an eyebrow. "Unless you'd rather remain here, snug and secure behind these lovely walls you just conjured, until it's all over and we can send someone back to fetch you."

The conjurer's nostrils flared, but he joined the circle. "I still don't believe this will work," he muttered.

"You haven't seen me teleport." The wizard nodded in Leliana's direction. "She has."

Gilkriz said nothing.

"Just be sure," Q'arlynd instructed the priestesses, "to maintain the flow of positive energy even after we reach the Acropolis. Hold it for at least a moment or two. Otherwise, we may miss our mark. If we land off target, we could wind up in solid stone. And that would be, well… unfortunate."