Chapter 23: The Valley of the Tombs
"That was hardly necessary, I believe," Ajantis told Edwin even as he healed the acid burn on the wizard's shoulder. They had met another mage, one that researched the summoning of jellies. Edwin had requested the summoning spell, and the wizard had promptly summoned two mustard jellies and attacked them. Both jellies and the wizard lay dead at their feet, but they had all learned to respect the jellies' secretions.
"How was I to know he would react like that? (Just look at my poor robe!)," Edwin said sourly.
"Eddie, I don't think you would have given him the spell if you were in his shoes," Imoen pointed out.
"I think we're better off without it, anyway," Ember said. "I'd rather not have jellies following me around."
"Boo does not like the jellies either," Minsc said. "Hamsters can only attack with sharp, pointy teeth when they are not sticky."
"He wouldn't be so cute either if he were all stickied," Imoen said and scratched Boo's chin. The hamster squeaked contentedly.
"The mage carried these scrolls," Kivan said. He'd examined the mage's corpse and found three spell scrolls in a bag at the mage's side.
Imoen took the scrolls eagerly and glanced at each one. "Sorry, Eddie, none of them are summons or charms. This is burning hands, and this looks like web, and this ...it's some form of evocation."
Edwin grabbed the edge of the scroll and pulled it towards him. "Lighting bolt. The smallest child in Thay could tell you that! (Although she does make progress, for a barbarian.)"
Imoen smiled sweetly at the wizard. "I heard that. Thanks, Eddie."
"You heard nothing, and do not call me that! (How many times must I tell her...)"
"Whatever you say, Eddie. So, if every child in Thay is familiar with that spell, I suppose you already know it?"
Edwin mumbled in response.
"What did you say?" Imoen asked.
"There are more important spells than that," Edwin muttered.
"So you don't know it, then."
"No."
Imoen grinned and handed him the scroll. "Here. You can show me how you memorize it later," she said. Edwin's eyes lit up, and he quickly put the scroll away in a satchel.
Ajantis watched the exchange with a frown. "Miss Imoen, are you sure it is wise to give him such a spell?" he asked as soon as Edwin was out of earshot.
"Well, I don't want that spell. I've read about it; people who try using it usually end up frying their allies, or even themselves, if they are dumb enough to try using it indoors. That's why it's usually only seen in stationary traps. And Eddie does know his stuff when it comes to fire spells and conjuring spells, so I doubt he'll do anything stupid with it. Don't look at me like that; even though you don't trust him, I do. Enough to give him spells like that, anyway."
"Why do you keep calling him Eddie?" Ember asked.
"Because it annoys him, of course!" Imoen grinned wickedly.
---
As it turned out, the mustard jellies were not the only acidic creatures in the valley. They had only traveled a mile or two onwards when they were attacked by a pair of ankheg. The giant creature had burrowed up from the ground right in front of Minsc, and only quick thinking had prevented casualties; Ember and Ajantis had each distracted one of the beasts while the others attacked with arrows and spells. Ember had been able to dodge the creature's acidic blasts and had suffered nothing worse than a few scratches from its mandibles, and Ajantis's armor and shield had protected him from the brunt of his ankheg's onslaught. It served me well, Ajantis thought as he looked at the charred and blistered lump of metal which was all that remained of his shield, which his father had presented him with on the day he joined the Order. Father would be well pleased to know his gift saved me on this day.
Ajantis placed the ruined shield gently on the ground and walked to the outskirts of their temporary camp. Minsc and Kivan were busily stripping chitin plates from the dead ankhegs; the creatures were rare, but the materials rarer, and Imoen had suggested that the smith in Beregost might be able to to craft it into armor. Ember was standing beside them, holding open a burlap sack that had previously held their blankets and watching intently as the two rangers worked on the segmented ankheg carapaces. Imoen and the Thayvian were kneeling on a blanket some twenty paces away from the ankheg carcasses. The wizard had grumbled about the proliferation of acidic creatures in this valley, but had quieted down now. Evidently, he was scribing the spell Imoen had given him, while she watched the process. A flask of water and a napkin holding a few morsels of waybread and cured meat lay on the blanket beside her; the remains of a hasty meal.
Ajantis turned away from his comrades and assumed a guard stance, facing the valley ahead of them. It was the least he could do, and it had the added benefit of not having to see the wizard, he admitted to himself. It saddened him to see the bad influence the Thayvian had upon the young ladies. Imoen was spending more time with him than was good for her in the pursuit of magical knowledge - if he had managed to get Xan to stay with them, he would have attempted to turn her tutelage in a more wholesome direction - and Ember...
He sighed quietly. Whether or not the others had noticed her transformation, there was a large difference between the wide-eyed girl he had met on the Coast Way and the woman who had unceremoniously looted the mercenaries they had killed that morning. She had had a sweetness about her, a pragmatic innocence; those qualities were fading from her, only to be replaced by a ruthless edge, and it pained him to watch it happen.
The bounty on her head and her increased exposure to death must take some of the blame, of course, but she would no doubt fare better without such unsavoury companions as Edwin Odesseiron. By Helm, his skin all but crawled only to look at the man! He did not understand how the others could ignore the undercurrent of selfish avarice that pervaded everything the wizard said and did. He tried his best to counteract the wizard's evil influence on both the young ladies, to guide them true when he felt the Thayvian led them astray, but so far his efforts appeared to be to no avail.
Something moved in the distance.
A man was running down the length of the valley, heading in their direction. Ajantis drew his sword and waited. "Halt! Who goes there!" he called out when the man was within hearing range.
The man skidded to a halt. "Please no... don't let him get me... please..." he stammered, half out of breath.
Ajantis lowered his sword slightly. "Settle down sir, just settle down. No one here is going to hurt you. Tell me what your problem is," he said in a gentle tone.
The man stared wildly at him. "You! You can take it to him! Here! Give it back!" The man fumbled a dagger with a black blade out of his pocket, and thrust it into Ajantis's hand.
Ajantis studied the blade. It was sharp, very sharp, and black as night. There was a sense of evil about it.
"That looks unpleasant," Ember said; the others had clearly noticed the commotion and had gathered behind him, Ajantis observed.
"It holds powerful magics, certainly," the wizard said.
"Probably nothing good, though," Imoen said, eyeing the blade suspiciously.
At least they still see ill in the blade and not just the power it must hold, Ajantis thought with a tinge of relief. "Where did you get this blade? Whom should I return it to?" Ajantis asked the man, who was still quavering and panting in front of him.
"A cave!" the man exclaimed. "It's but a short ways east... the dagger lay in a chest... I took it... oh by all that's good, I must have disturbed its slumber with my foolishness, for a voice like the grave screamed at me from the walls! Please! I shall go mad if it is not returned! Take the dagger to the cave..." The man burst into tears.
Undead, Ajantis thought. He must have disturbed a tomb in which they found no peace. For their sakes and his, we must put them to rest. "Never fear," he told the man, "we shall return the dagger for you."
Ajantis secured the dagger to his belt while the others finished their business. The wizard was long done with his spell and had merely been talking with Imoen by the time the man showed up, and Kivan and Minsc were all but done with the carcass. They were soon headed eastwards, guided by the very nervous man, who had calmed down enough to tell them his name was Hentold.
"There," Hentold said, pointing nervously towards a cave on a sheer, rust coloured cliff face. "I.. I dare go no further." A horrid screeching and caterwauling could be heard even from outside.
"Wait here," Kivan told Hentold. They lit some torches and carefully entered the cave. They spotted the chest Hentold had told then soon enough; in addition, they could see two ghouls behind it, groaning menacingly and lurching towards them. Behind Ajantis, Imoen stifled a scream.
Ajantis wasted no time. He put one hand across the eye of Helm that was embossed on his chestplate, and stretched the other forward in a warding gesture. "Begone, in the name of Helm!" he shouted. The ghouls hesitated, and one of them backed away. The other was struck in the chest by two arrows, then Minsc charged, bellowing about ranger and hamster justice putting the nasty undead to sleep. Ajantis's attempt to turn the ghouls had left them weakened, and they were no match for the living group.
The cries for the dagger continued unabated even as the ghouls fell and crumbled to dust. Rest in peace, poor souls, Ajantis thought, then focused on the source of the screams. Their task would not be over until they had eased its suffering as well.
"Return unto meeeeee! RETURN!!!"
It appeared to be coming from behind a large stone, which evidently held a tomb behind it.
"Be ready," Ajantis whispered. "Minsc, Kivan; help me move the stone."
"I can help too!" Ember said, and stepped forward even as the rangers did. Ajantis opened his mouth to protest, then closed it; in truth, the young lady was not much weaker than he himself was, and would probably be able to assist in moving the rock.
"Miss Imoen, wizard; be ready. We do not know what we will face," Ajantis said. Imoen nodded grimly in response; the wizard huffed impatiently.
With their combined efforts and Minsc's immense strength, the stone was soon loosened. "Roll it aside... NOW!" Kivan cried. Everyone heaved, and the stone rolled aside.
"Thief will pay with DEATH!! RETURN!! RETURN the dagger!!"
It was no ghoul; it was something much more dangerous. The creature that loomed over them was half translucent, with eyes that seemed to glow with rage. A revenant. By Helm, can we battle something this powerful and hope to win?
The revenant seemed to glare at Ajantis. "Dagger!! You have the dagger. Give to ME!!"
"What... what dagger are you talking about exactly?" the wizard stammered nervously behind Ajantis. "(I must know what we are surrendering!)"
"The dagger... of he who murdered me... the dagger of Alatos... kept from me, to mock me... return the DAGGER!" the revenant howled.
That wizard will be the death of us all! Ajantis hurriedly pulled the dagger from his belt and held it out. "Take your dagger!"
The revenant grasped the weapon. Its eyes lost their glow, and a delighted expression formed on its ghostly face. "At last... the dagger...." it gasped, holding the weapon to its breast.
Ajantis reached for the hilt of his sword, but he soon saw there would be no need for it. The gods are with us. And with him.
Before their eyes, the lost soul crumbled to dust, the weapon that had once killed him crumbling along with him.