James M. Ward The Pool 3 Pool of Twilight

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dragon who had sought to control the pool of radiance in the ruins thirty
years earlier.
The two ioun stones settled onto Daile's bow and embedded themselves in the
wood with a faint click.
The longbow hummed brightly in the ranger's grip, then was quiescent once
again. Daile nodded in understanding. The magical stones were her father's
last gift to her.
She lowered her bow, her shoulders stiff and square. "From now on, I am Daile
Redfletching," she said grimly.
The others nodded dumbly, alarmed at the ferocity in the young ranger's voice
and the coldness in her eyes. Without a word, Daile turned to make her way
back to the campfire.
The companions ate a cheerless breakfast of dried fruit and flatbread by the
scant warmth of the fire.
Miltiades, who had no use for food, instead drew a small brooch from a leather
purse. The brooch was wrought of gold and set with a single clear gemstone.
"Evaine gave it to me," he explained to the others, "so that we might
communicate with each other. I
think she would care to know that you have gained the hammer, Kern. As well as
the sorrowful news about
Ren."
The skeletal paladin whispered the word of magic Evaine had taught him that
activated the brooch. The crystal flashed, and an image appeared within its
facets. The image showed a snowy, wind-scoured crag rising high above a range
of jagged peaks. There was no sign of Evaine anywhere.
"Where is she?" Kern asked with a frown.
Miltiades shook his head. "I do not know. If she still possessed the brooch,
she would know I am calling her."
"She must have lost it," Listle said worriedly. "But where? Unless mountains
have a habit of growing over-night, I don't think that's the forest around her
dwelling."
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"Those are the Dragonspine Mountains," Daile said, peering into the gem. "I
recognize them from the map that Evaine created with my father's help."
Miltiades uttered another magical word. The gem went dark. "This can only mean
one thing. Evaine has jour-neyed into the mountains."
"But why?" Kern asked.
Listle's eyes widened in realization. "Don't you see? She intends to destroy
the pool of twilight! Ridding
Faerun of the pools is her life's quest." The elf swore sharply. "We should
have known she would try something like this."
"Well, maybe Evaine knows what she's doing," Kern offered. "After all, I don't
think there's anyone who knows more about pools within a thousand leagues of
here."
"That is true, Kern," Miltiades replied. "But no matter how wise Evaine may
be, she cannot realize that
Sirana is drawing power from the pool. I doubt she expects to face another
sorceress, let alone a half-fiend mage who is in league with the magic of the
twilight pool." The skeletal knight's breastplate shuddered.
Kern would almost have thought it a sigh if Miltiades had been in the habit of
breathing.
"Then we have to go after her, to warn her!" Kern stood.
Miltiades raised a gauntlet, halting him. "You forget, Kern. The Dragonspine
Mountains are nearly a tenday's ride from this place. With her scrying spells,
Evaine will certainly discover the pool before we reach her, no matter how
hard we ride. Indeed, she may have already located it."
Kern hung his head in despair. "We have to warn her somehow," he said without
much confidence.
"I think I might be able to arrange something," Listle said, hurrying over to
her leather backpack. "I
found these yesterday while I was wandering around the maze in the ruins.
Something told me they might come in handy."
She pulled two cylindrical objects from her pack. With a flick of her wrist,
she unrolled one of them. It was a bright, intricately patterned carpet.
Kern eyed the carpet skeptically. "Maybe I'm missing something here, but I
fail to see how a rug is going to solve our problems."
Listle snorted with annoyance. "Sometimes you have absolutely no imagination,
Kern." She snapped her fin-gers, and abruptly the carpet rose several feet off
the ground, its golden fringe fluttering. "These are flying car-pets!" Listle
hopped onto the hovering carpet while the others watched in amazement. The elf
positively beamed. "What in the world would you do without my help?"
"I shudder to think," Miltiades said, a note in his dry voice that might
almost have been amusement.
Their decision was made easy for them. While Kern wanted nothing more than to
hurry back to Shal and Tarl, he knew they must go to warn Evaine.
"I suppose this means we'll have to leave you behind," Listle said sadly,
stroking the muzzle of her gray pony.
"I don't think you need bid your steed farewell, Listle," Miltiades said.
"I wish you were right, Miltiades," Listle answered glumly. "But somehow I
doubt the horses will fit on the magic carpets."
"We'll see," Miltiades replied mysteriously.
The undead paladin whispered something into the ear of his magical white [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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