Кейт Новак - Song of the Saurials

“Just this once,” Finder agreed with a chuckle. He took Alias’s hand and they began the song.

The first two verses went without a hitch, but as they began the third, Alias’s voice began to trail off, although her mouth still moved. Finder stopped singing and stared at the swordswoman. From the way Alias rocked back and forth and stared unblinkingly at the cave wall, Olive and Akabar could tell the swordswoman had gone into a soul-song trance. Finder and Grypht were listening to her intently. The cave became awash in the scents of violets and roses, and Olive realized that Alias was singing in saurial—singing with terror and despair.

The swordswoman began to shout in Realms common, “Release me! Release me! Release me!” Then she gasped and swayed and snapped out of her trance. “Dragonbait!” she cried out. “They’ve captured Dragonbait!”

Finder looked quickly at Olive. “Where is Dragonbait?” he demanded.

“He said he wanted to scout the vale,” the halfling replied, cursing herself for leaving the paladin alone.

Grypht put a hand on Alias’s shoulder. Olive supposed he’d said something, for Alias calmed slightly.

“The soul song was mostly Dragonbait’s song,” the swordswoman explained. “He followed Coral into the saurial camp.”

“Who is Coral?” Akabar asked.

Alias looked at Grypht. “Coral was Dragonbait’s lover, wasn’t she?” she asked the wizard, though she was already certain of it from the soul link she’d just experienced.

Grypht nodded. “Once she was. She was also a priestess of the goddess of luck before Moander captured her. She’s the Mouth of Moander now, the most powerful minion the god has in the Realms.”

“The last part of the song came from her, not Dragonbait,” Alias said. “Moander is keeping such a tight hold on her mind that her thoughts are hard to understand, but I know she doesn’t want to live. She’s begging for her goddess to release her from life before—” Alias gasped again. “Before Moander makes her kill Dragonbait! Moander plans for her to sacrifice Dragonbait to enslave my will! We have to free Dragonbait before it’s too late!” Alias cried, rising suddenly to her feet.

“They can’t sacrifice the paladin before Moander is resurrected,” Finder said, standing and grabbing hold of Alias’s arms before she rushed off and did something foolish. “And they can’t perform the sacrifice without you. Stay put, and when Breck gets back from Shadowdale, we’ll rescue Dragonbait.”

“There isn’t time to wait for Breck to get back!” Alias insisted. “They have the seed! They’re going to resurrect Moander tonight! We have to stop them now!”

Akabar turned pale, and Grypht muttered an oath under his breath.

“How did they find the seed?” Olive asked. “Only this morning they expected Finder to go look for it.”

“I don’t know,” Alias said, “but Coral told Dragonbait that Moander will be resurrected tonight. If we hurry, we have a chance of reaching Dragonbait before then. Coral’s keeping Dragonbait in a hut warded with a glyph.”

“Alias, there are only five of us against over a hundred saurial minions,” Finder protested. “A lot of those minions are spell-casters. Even with Grypht’s and Akabar’s magic and the spells I have in the finder’s stone, we don’t stand a chance.”

“We would if you used the piece of para-elemental ice in the finder’s stone as Akabar suggested,” Alias said. Her voice rose excitedly. “It could put most of the saurials into a torpor, and Grypht and Akabar could handle anyone it misses. Then we could just walk in and get Dragonbait. We could find the seed, too, and destroy it. It would be centuries before Moander could get back the energy to return to the Realms.”

“Alias, I’m sorry about Dragonbait,” Finder replied softly, “but it’s not my fault he was captured. You’ve got to keep away from Moander so the god can’t enslave you again.”

Alias looked at Finder with astonishment. “What are you saying?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’m not going to destroy the finder’s stone,” Finder answered calmly. “Maybe the reinforcements Breck brings can manage to rescue Dragonbait.”

“If we wait too long and give the minions a chance to resurrect Moander,” Alias protested, “the god will suck Dragonbait into his body and we’ll never be able to rescue him. We have to use that ice, Finder.”

“No,” Finder said determinedly.

“Finder, we’re talking about Dragonbait!” Alias shouted. “How can you turn your back on him after all he’s done for you?”

“Alias, try to understand. There’s nothing like this stone anywhere in the Realms. I made it. If you destroy it, I can’t make another.”

“Give me that stone!” Alias demanded, lunging for Finder.

The bard just barely managed to sidestep the swordswoman, and Alias fell into the ferns on the cave floor.

Akabar reached out to grab the bard, but Finder had drawn his dagger and thrust it out in front of him. The mage retreated hastily. “I curse your stone!” the Turmishman said hotly. “May it bring you no joy. May it be your death.”

Olive shuddered. A curse was bad luck.

“Olive, over here!” the bard barked, pulling out the stone.

Olive shook her head. “I’m staying here, Finder,” she said.

For a brief moment, the bard looked shocked and hurt. Then he snapped, “Fine. Have it your way.” He sang out an E-flat and vanished in a yellow light.

Alias stood in the mouth of the cave watching the sun sink into the desert beyond the vale. Although there was no sign of movement from Moander’s new body, she kept imagining Dragonbait being swallowed by it, lying trapped inside the god’s body. In her mind, she pictured the cage Moander had used to imprison her last year, when the god had tortured her with its lies and tried to seduce her into its service with the promise of freedom. She didn’t regret trying to take Finder’s stone from the bard, and she was still furious with him for his selfishness, but she wished he’d come back. They could use him, with or without the stone.

Olive sat beside the swordswoman, idly throwing rocks at trees. She was regretting staying behind. It was a grand gesture, but if she’d gone along with the bard, she might have been able to talk some sense into him. Now he was no doubt feeling self-righteous and getting himself into some other trouble. She missed him already, and she was afraid she’d never see him again.

Akabar and Grypht were in the back of the cave. Grypht was rehearsing Akabar in the use of the saurial command word that triggered the wand of frost he’d given the mage.

The four of them had worked out a strategy to sneak into the vale, free Dragonbait, and hit as many saurials as possible with the cold magic they had at their disposal. Grypht would hide their forms and scents with magic. In order to disguise the warmth of their bodies from those saurials who could detect heat, Akabar had suggested that they go at sunset when the day’s heat rising from the ground would mask their own warmth. They could have left ten minutes ago, but Alias had wanted to wait a few more minutes in case Finder changed his mind.

Finder had been gone for an hour. If he didn’t return in the next few minutes, they’d have to leave without him.

“He’s not coming back, Olive,” Alias said.

Olive sighed and tossed another rock at a tree twenty feet off, hitting it dead center. “Not in time, anyway,” the halfling said.

“I can’t believe he wouldn’t help us,” Alias said. “Why won’t he give up that stupid stone?”

Olive shrugged. She’d been trying to understand that herself. “Before you came along,” she said, “the stone was Finder’s crowning achievement. He can’t really take all the credit for you, though, like he can for the stone. The stone is a little like his life. He can never make another one. It’s one thing to say his songs and his daughter make him immortal, but in the end, his songs will change, and you aren’t him. He’s never going to get another chance to live.”