Descent into the Depths of the Earth (30 page)

“Find the murderer, Faen.”

“It is a very large universe, Ushan.” Lord Faen fluffed out
the pages of his book again. “Still, I am continually amazed at the things that
turn up when you least expect them.”

The underdark was unpleasant—wet, stinking, mold encrusted,
and the phosphorescent light tended to make peoples teeth look violet. The sorry
thing to say was that after a few days, Jus almost felt used to it. From time to
time, noises far ahead gave warning hints of danger. The party hid themselves in
side caves, screened by one of Escalla’s illusions as slow moving drow caravans
plodded past. There were occasional monster tracks and occasional patches of
deadly molds that Jus simply spotted and avoided. If one moved carefully and
cleverly, it was quite possible to survive.

For a while. A very little while. Some of the monster tracks
were…
impressive.

For her part, Escalla seemed relatively unconcerned. Dressed
in her latest attempt to make proper clothing out of black drow silks, she sat
cross legged atop Jus’ head making herself a pair of long, fingerless gloves.

“Look, guys! When it gets warm, drow silk actually stretches!
This stuff fits sheer.” The girl leaned over to look joyously into Jus’ face.
“Isn’t that hoopy?”

“Yup.”

New clothes had kept Escalla fascinated for at least half an
hour—half an hour that would have been better spent scouting for danger up
ahead.

“Don’t you think it’s hoopy?”

“It’s hoopy.” The Justicar managed to reach a finger up and
place it on the girl’s lips. “Now shush.”

After long miles of travel, the tunnels had suddenly become
more chill. The scent of fresh water filled the air—a strangely clean,
refreshing scent. With the tunnels echoing more and more loudly to the rush of a
nearby stream, Jus shrugged the girl off and loosed the sword Benelux in its
sheath.

The sword cleared its voice in prim suspicion.
What is it?

“A river.” Jus found the sword vaguely annoying, but then
again, he found a lot of things vaguely annoying. “Fresh water, fairly clean.”

Excellent!
Brimming with satisfaction, the sword seemed
to glow.
Perhaps we might find a trading establishment—a tavern, a town, even
a small port—where more suitable garments might be purchased, something fitting
your new status as companions of the magic sword.

“Is she still blathering?” Escalla flew over to slap the
sword’s sheath. “You know, for someone who tolerates unicorn art, you sure are
free in handing out fashion advice!”

Young lady
—Benelux gave a cool sniff—
there is a
certain element of the
common
about you.

“Oh, ain’t too much about me you could call common!” Somehow
Escalla managed to strike a sultry pose whilst in flight.

Polk rummaged around in his belt pouch for something to eat.
“Yep! The girl’s got class!”

“Class!” Escalla pinged her finger against the sword. The
girl patted the scroll case that now hung between her wings. “Spells and wings,
and a figure that sings. No one touches the faerie!”

Jus planted himself flat against an outcrop of rock,
cautiously peering around a corner toward the unseen darkness ahead. Without
looking back, he forestalled an angry retort from the magic sword.

“What was on those scrolls you found back where you caught
that beholder?”

The girl beamed as she patted the scroll tube that hung
between her wings. “A few cool spells! Earthy kinda ones. Flesh to stone. Stone
to mud. Pass wall. All pretty hoopy, huh?”

“Are they useful?”

“More or less. I’m gonna copy some of them into my spellbook,
so I need to make ink. Can you let me know next time we find a trickle of water
or something?”

Jus nodded his chin forward at the underdark. “How about
that
one?”

The passageway had grown more dank, and clean moisture had
cleared away much of the phosphorescent moss. Before the party ran a vast, dark
rushing river that filled the caverns with a glorious surge of sound.

At the far side of the river, perhaps a hundred feet away,
the passageway continued on toward the drow city—and according to the locator
needle, toward Escalla’s slowglass bauble.

The river flowed powerfully, icy cold and pitch black. It
blocked all possible progress. Escalla simply hovered and stared. Polk blinked,
and Private Henry edged fearfully closer to the water until physically yanked
back from the edge by Jus’ powerful hand.

Escalla blew out an annoyed breath and planted her fists upon
her little hips.

“Well poo!” The girl shook her head. “You know, I have
got
to find a way to make you people fly.”

There was no bridge, and the powerful current meant that
there was no way to simply swim across. Escalla unshipped her wand, checked the
charge and made a dissatisfied little noise.

“No way I can make an ice bridge all the way across. I’ve
only got two more shots with this thing if I’m lucky. Remind me to recharge it
when we get home.” She whirred upward, deliberately keeping well above the
water. “I’ll go over the other side and just take a look. Maybe there’s a really
big drawbridge or something.”

The faerie disappeared in the dark. Anxious about letting the
girl go alone, Jus kept a grip on the hilt of his sword and paced the banks. In
the river, a fin briefly broke the surface—a fin from a fish that must have been
at least thirty feet long.

After a while, drifting faintly above the roar of the water,
Escalla’s distant voice came from the dark. “Hey, guys! There’s some kinda giant
fish man over here!”

Jus surged forward to the edge of the riverbank in alarm. “Is
he attacking you?”

“No!”

“What’s he doing?”

“Knitting lace. He’s pretty good!” Escalla’s voice could
barely be heard over the rush of water “All right, he’s seen me. He looks like
he wants me to talk to him!”

Pacing, the Justicar bellowed hard to make himself heard.
“Don’t get too close!”

“Jus, he’s a fish. I don’t really think I want to swap
addresses or anything.”

While they waited, Polk finished gnawing on a spider leg and
Cinders sucked loudly on a piece of old coal.

Finally Escalla called over to them from the other bank,
“He’s saying something! I can’t figure it out.”

“What?” Jus pushed Cinders’ back from his helm, trying to
hear the girl properly. “Don’t you have a spell for translating languages?”

“Well duh! Be handy if I’d bothered to memorize it!”

“Why didn’t you memorize it?”

“Well,
excuse
me!”
True to form, Escalla lost her
temper. “Since everything we’ve met so far has tried to eat us or enslave us, I
kinda thought spells for blowing things up might be a bit more useful!” After a
moment, the girl called back again. “All right, he’s offering to ferry you guys
over if you pay him.”

Jus gave a puzzled frown. “How do you know that?”

“Because he’s standing in a big boat and shaking a money box
at me!” The faerie’s temper was never good when she was being harassed. “Just
get some money out and get to the damned shore!”

Polk looked at Jus, who looked at Henry. Cinders looked
happy, and the sword lacked the ability to show much of an expression at all.
With a mutual shrug, the party walked down the harsh gravel beach and waited by
the shore.

A shape swiftly materialized out of the gloom. A large, flat
barge drifted across the current. Standing at the rear and plying a single oar
loomed a titanic, vicious looking creature that set the whole party on guard.

Fully eight feet tall, the creature was a monstrous humanoid
fish. A huge jaw crammed with fangs gleamed sickly yellow in the light. The
creature stared at its passengers out of eyes the size of dinner plates. The
scaled horror was powerful enough to shove its boat across the river without the
slightest show of strain.

The boat grounded against the gravel with a crash. Hovering
well out of reach of the fish man, Escalla gave her friends a gleeful wave.

“Guys, this is Thoopshib the ferryman!” The faerie gave an
amazingly false smile. “Thoopshib, these are the guys. Guys, keep smiling and
just start putting money in the box until he looks happy.” The faerie wavered.
“Well, happier, at least.”

A money box was presented. Digging into the loot gathered
from the lich, Polk produced a handful of money. The fish man walked awkwardly
over to the shore, its whole massive frame alive with an impression of
carnivorous strength. A clawed hand held out a money box, and Polk fussily
counted platinum coins into the box one by one until the monster seemed
satisfied.

The sum offered was probably sufficient to buy a boat of
their own. Thankfully, no one saw fit to mention the fact. Jus stepped onto the
barge—watched closely by the creature, who recognized a being at least as deadly
as itself—then helped Polk and Henry climb aboard.

Cinders sniffed the reek of fish and seemed gloriously happy.
Kuo-toa fish!
The dog’s manic grin gleamed as little flames wisped from
his nose.
Big stink! Very tasty! Fish scream when burn!

There had been very little arson in Cinders’ life of late.
He wagged his tail in anticipation.
Fish live in school. One fish, two fish,
red fish, burn fish! Burn-burn-burn-burn-burn!

“Let’s not burn any boats while we’re still on them.” Jus
kept his voice low, his face calm and his hand near his sword. “Just get ready
to blast it if it tries to rock the boat.”

With Escalla flying cover overhead, the ferryman would hardly
dare. Henry shot a glance at the faerie, then looked back at the savage ferryman
and tried not to stare.

“What is it?” the boy asked.

“Cinders says it’s a kuo-toa,” Jus replied.

“A kuo-toa?” The boy swallowed. “How does he know?”

“Cinders is a hell hound. He’s been around.”

Private Henry shot a nervous glance toward the grinning
Cinders. “I thought hell hounds were evil?”

“He’s not evil. He just needed a good home.” Jus gave one of
Cinders’ forelegs a pat. “But he’s right. Fish fear creatures that use flame.”

The barge surged forward through the water, heading toward
the far bank.

Private Henry looked about nervously and cleared his throat.
“Sir?”

“Yes.”

“What’s a kuo-toa?”

The Justicar carefully avoided looking at the ferryman, while
keeping the creature very clearly in the corner of his eye.
“That
is.
They’re often assassins—very, very dangerous.”

From above the boat, Escalla gave a snort. “Assassins, huh?
Masters of poison? Like cone shells?”

Jus looked up at Escalla with a shared smile.
“Exactly.”

The barge grounded at the far bank, and the passengers
hastily removed themselves onto the shore. Escalla thoughtfully watched the
kuo-toa and raised her hand to give it a friendly wave. The creature actually
seemed to like her. It spoke—its voice huge and guttural—and nodded its head at
her in apparent approval.

Jus was kneeling in the river gravel, looking at a broad
swathe of footprints trailing up from the ferry and into the tunnel mouth.
Escalla, Polk, and Henry immediately came over to watch the ranger at his work.

“Tracks?”

“Human—two hundred or more, probably chained at the ankles.
See the short steps?” Jus touched the gravel and watched it slide. “This is only
about three hours old.”

Trying to emulate the Justicar, Henry inspected a footprint
of his own—this time the mark of a slim drow boot. “Is it the hostages from Sour
Patch?”

“Has to be.” Moving two hundred captives along the main
tunnels had left constant spoor. “No troglodytes with them anymore. They’re
being driven by drow.”

Escalla knelt beside Jus and pulled out the locator needle,
which still pointed resolutely to the northwest. The girl shrugged then put the
magic trinket away.

“Well, I gather there’s more like Mister Thoopshib here just
a ways along the tunnel.” The girl returned another wave from the ferryman. “You
know, he seems pretty happy for a carnivorous assassin.”

“He likes you.”

“Yeah. How about that?” Escalla frowned. “Matter of fact, I
think he thinks he
knows
me.”

The party turned and regarded the kuo-toa, who stood staring
at them with his unwinking fish eyes.

The light dawned somewhere deep inside Polk’s skull.

“You mean he’s seen another faerie? He’s met the murderer as
he passed this way?”

“Got it, Polk!” Escalla tapped her chin in thought. “He
obviously thinks we’re one and the same.”

“Guess you all look the same to him, huh?”

“No accounting for eyesight.” Escalla brushed back her
shimmering blonde hair. “This is getting interesting. Come on. Let’s see if I’ve
got any
other
friends just down the lane.”