Holy Opposites 31

Chapter Twenty-Two:


	Axio looked over the two drow in his office.  They certainly carried themselves like adventurers.  Luanea was wearing classic Eilistraeean War Cleric armor, with enchanted chain mail and a bastard sword.  The glittering silver metal of her armor was glamoured, so she could render it matte black in an instant.  The center of her chest was decorated by a tabard with an elaborate image of Eilistraee dancing nude in the moonlight, with a sword hanging between her hands.  Above the tabard’s collar was a coil of thin black fabric, which she could release with a flick of a strap to cover her torso and render her invisible in the darkness.

	The other drow he knew well.  Doshellas was a ranger, and a very good one, who had been born in the upper tunnels of the Underdark and been enslaved for his troubles.  Clerics of Corellon had captured him from his owner and released him into the care of Leliana Vrinn, a priestess of Eilistraee.  He was quiet and dour, but it was as much an artifact of his former enslavement as much as his natural personality.  His armor was the darkest green, which looked black in the depths of night or underground.  Both looked like they were more than capable of putting up a proper fight if called on to do so, which he knew they had in the past.

	“Welcome, my friends,” Axio said warmly, rising to greet them.  “I’m glad you assembled on such short notice.”

	“We’re glad to help,” Luanea said in the same tone.  Doshellas simply nodded.

	“Any time, Axio,” he said, almost silently.  Even after decades of freedom and independence, he still had problems raising his voice.

	Cavria leaned back against the wall.  Doshellas was built like a mountain climber, which he probably was, and Luanea somehow made wearing full chain armor attractive and fashionable.  Both looked like they were kitted out for bear.  “So you’re both ready for tomorrow, I see,” she put in.

	Luanea nodded.  “We are.  We always keep some of our wargear ready for use in case we have to travel into the Underdark.”

	Cavria grinned.  “So why wear it today?”

	“Practice.  Making sure it still fits,” Luanea said glibly.

	“So, you’re both in need of a briefing,” Axio said, pouring them both water.  “Please sit and we’ll go over it all.”

	The four of them sat at the desk, and Axio spread out the list of victim names.  “All right.  Our target, as best the Watch can tell, is a hidden chamber on the higher fourth or lower third level of Undermountain.  The chamber is supposedly connected to the city itself by at least one sending circle, and possibly some means of transit.  After all, it seems unlikely they travel all the way to Undermountain every time they steal a child.”

	Doshellas gripped his armrests.  “No,” he said faintly.

	“Therefore, our task will be to infiltrate the Undermountain complex and make our way to that level,” Axio continued.  “Fortunately, Luanea tells us that that’s more or less where the river Sargauth lets through into Skullport, so we can move through there.”

	“We can stop in the Port if we need help, and to complete our own errands,” Luanea put in.

	“Right.  So where is the rest of your underground team?” Axio asked.

	Doshellas shrugged.  “Busy.  Distracted.  Rescuing people.”

	“Oh, they’re helping people get away from the demonic outbreak in the Underdark?” Axio asked.  “Hmm.  Well… we’ll be careful,” he said unhappily.  “Anyway, we can make our way up the river into the Slime Den, and then skirt our way through the old dwarven tunnels towards the parts of Undermountain that were revealed when Halaster died, and the old portal network broke down.”

	“Seems reasonable.  How long do we have?  Undermountain is vast,” Cavria pointed out.

	“It is, yes, but the Watch is going to be watching all the known egress points, as will the Blackstaff,” Axio said.  “We’re no mere party of adventurers, either.  I have faith that we’ll get there at a decent clip.  The Watch isn’t timing themselves against us.”  His face clouded.  “Of course, time is lives, now.  They’ve already started sacrificing the children.”

	The ranger grimaced.  “Why wait?” he asked.  “We can just go.”

	“I know, I want to,” Axio said.  “Is there any chance that your allies underground will return before then?”

	“No,” Luanea said.

	Axio let out a long breath.  “All right, then.  I was planning on leaving tomorrow morning, after we’ve all slept.  Any objections?”

	“No, we should be rested,” Cavria said reluctantly.  “There’s no sun to guide us underground.”

	Both drow nodded.  “All right,” Axio said.  “Bright and early.  We’ll meet at the entrance to the Sea Caves in the morning.  I’ll bring as much money to cover the fees of the Keepers as we can.”

	“I can cover my share,” Doshellas said.

	“Good, thank you,” Axio said in relief.  The Church of Ryaire was not flush with a glut of cash.  “I’ll bring my magic compass with me.”  He stood and reached over to shake the hands of the two drow warriors.  “Thank you both,” he said firmly.  “I really appreciate you taking this risk for me.”

	“And for the innocent,” Luanea said.  Doshellas nodded in silence.


	Suivi groaned aloud.  What in the utter living fuck were those Watch doing?

	The entire rookery building and the abandoned store below were still seething with Watch.  There had to be fifteen or sixteen Watch just that he could find.  Every inch of the upper floor was covered in wizards and Watchmen, inspecting it all.  The wreckage that had fallen into the streets was gone, swept away into the alley out back.

	Suivi had been orbiting the building for hours, trying as hard as he could to avoid walking in front of it.  The Watch may have looked silly, but they had real fighters amongst them, and engaging them would have been suicide.  Now, his patience was gone.

	Embersson broke off the surveillance and walked off to the bookstore where Toller had erected his gate.  He stormed upstairs and walked back to the false wall.  “Vortese,” he bit off, and the wall faded away.  He walked down the hall, avoiding the tiles he knew to be trap triggers, and burst into the altar room.

	Toller looked up, surprised.  “Suivi!  I told you to lay low-”

	“Not now, Toller,” Suivi bit off.  “The Ryairans are coming.  They found the sending circles in the farm and the rookery.”

	Toller’s face darkened with anger.  “I see.  Well.  I suppose it’s better that I know,” he said coldly.  “Fine.  Hide.  Hide somewhere at the outer edges of the city, somewhere far away from me and the organization.”

	Suivi’s eyes narrowed.  “Oh, of course.  And how will we re-establish contact?  The Ryairans are attacking the Undermountain because they thought you’re there.”

	Toller clenched his teeth.  His appearance was just as jovial and rosy-cheeked as ever, which made it all seem so incongruous.  “Of course they are,” he said bitterly, which certainly confirmed Suivi’s suspicion that that was, indeed, where they were standing.  “Good.  Thanks for telling me.  I’ll send to you when we need you.”

	Suivi nodded.  “All right.  Good luck, I suppose.”  He turned to leave and froze.  “What…?”

	A slimy bundle of tendrils was sliding across the ground behind him, silent and disgusting.  The thing, whatever it was, was tugging the mangled remains of a human body into a swinging door built into the wood paneling of the wall, about knee-high.

	“You’re dismissed, Suivi,” Toller said curtly.

	Suivi stared.  The body was maybe three and a half feet tall, at the most.  “Right.”  He tugged his hood up and left as quickly as decorum allowed.  What had he gotten himself into?


	Axio rose from his bed, as rested as he could be under the circumstances.  He stumbled into the bath, rubbing his aching eyes.  The first rays of the sun weren’t up yet in his window, but morning was coming.

	He scrubbed his body down and scraped the fuzz off his face, grumbling to himself about underground fighting and sailing being unnatural.  He washed his face clean and stared blearily into the mirror.

	He squinted as he noticed something awry.  Was there a smudge on his eyes?  He walked back into the bedroom and lit a candle, then walked back into the bathroom and peered into the mirror.

	Axio nearly dropped the candle into the water.  His eyes weren’t smudged, they were just simply different.  His light blue eyes had been replaced with what looked like faceted blue gemstones, but his vision was the same!  He set the candle on the edge of the bowl and gingerly probed his left eye with his hands.  Sure enough, the slightly yielding orb of flesh was gone, replaced by a cold piece of stone.

	He let out a frightened sound as he registered the change.  “What?  What in the world?” he managed.  “Ryaire, what is this?”


	Cavria was just finishing her own morning rituals when she heard somebody walking quickly through the halls of the rectory.  She poked her head into the hallway, making sure she had her amulet on.

	“Axio?” she asked, baffled.  He rounded on her, and she recoiled.  “What?  What happened to your eyes?” she demanded.

	“I don’t know!” he hissed.  She winced at the genuine fear in his voice.  She had never heard him so unnerved.

	“Hey,” she said urgently, shutting the door behind her.  “Hey, be calm.  Let me see.”

	Axio stooped over, opening his eyes wide.  Sure enough, the meat was simply gone.  The little gems inside swiveled slightly, turning and moving in the sockets like normal eyes, but they were just dead stone.

	“Okay,” she said, thinking furiously.  “Can we get to an apothecary or a magical healer before we meet up with the others at the Caves?”

	Axio let out a shaky breath.  “We can see my grandfather; he’s got a ton of experience with healing.”  His voice was getting rougher by the moment, and it showed in his words.

	“Okay, we’ll go see Solen,” she said, trying to calm him with her tone.  She was scared too, but now he was the one needing her to be calm.