Pathfinder Tales--Reaper's Eye

by Richard A. Knaak

  At that moment, a cloud of dust rose up from the pattern. Even as Shiera stepped back, the small dust cloud expanded to eye level. Slowly, the cloud turned in on itself, creating an odd spinning motion that at first made it hard for Shiera to keep her eyes on it.

  Without warning, the dust in the middle separated. In the gap left in the wake, murky forms took shape. Shiera leaned near, trying to make them out.

  The nearest one began to coalesce … and revealed itself to be none other than Daryus Gaunt. Seeing the renegade crusader caused a wave of guilt to wash over her, even more so when the rest of the vision revealed he was a bound captive on the back of a horse. In front of him rode a scowling Raffan, who did not look at all like the perpetually nervous figure Shiera knew. It did not take her long to also realize that the two traveled deep in the Worldwound.

  Daryus. Without thinking, she reached out her hand to him, the fingertips actually touching where the image floated.

  Thoughts and images raced through her mind with such force that she shook. She saw the world through Daryus’s eyes, saw him as he fought pitborn in Kenabres, fled from former allies in his crusader order, and journeyed into the Worldwound.

  She also saw that, all the while, his greatest concern had been finding her.

  Shiera pulled her hand free. Shaking, she tried to digest what had just happened. Somehow, she had been able to reach into the man’s thoughts and memories, if only for a moment. Yet it had been enough to let her see more about Daryus than she could have learned in a year of traveling with him.

  And what she saw renewed her guilt. Shiera swallowed. While she had been concerned about Daryus, in a vague way, her desire to find the lost temple-city and the mysterious tomb had far overshadowed it. True, a part of her had suspected he was capable of taking care of himself—she had hired him to protect her, after all—but …

  Admit it. You saw him like the rest of them, like Galifar and his mercenaries. You thought he’d just mark you as lost and head back to find another client. And so you treated him the same way.

  She watched for a moment more as Raffan led his prisoner on. Behind the betrayer and locked in a cage was Daryus’s curious pet.

  As she watched, Shiera grew more and more frustrated to see Daryus helpless. She angrily slapped the image in the dust cloud.

  Some of the dust separated, then became a series of floating symbols.

  Shiera forgot all else. She quickly studied the symbols—seven in all—and tried to match them with what she knew of the ancient script. Four or them made no sense whatsoever, but three hinted at other markings she had seen for the concepts of time, place, and movement.

  She touched the one she denoted as time, but nothing happened. Attempts at the other two met with the same lack of results. Biting her lip in thought, Shiera tried touching the four mysterious symbols.

  Not until the fourth one—the one in the center—did anything happen. Then, all seven symbols turned a bright silver.

  On a hunch, Shiera touched the marking denoting time once more. Now, it flared red.

  The dust altered course, spinning in the opposite direction. The image swelled in size and seemed to sharpen.

  Not at all certain what she was doing, but fascinated by the results thus far, Shiera touched the symbol for movement. When she did, two smaller symbols separated from it, one in front and one behind.

  “Let’s try this one,” she muttered, tapping the smaller marking closer to her. It turned bright green, which she took as a good sign.

  Simultaneously, the symbol she read as “place” shifted to an orange glow. Shiera knew that something was imminent, but knew not what. She suspected that if she touched the orange mark, there would be no changing her mind afterward.

  Shiera touched it.

  The dust cloud swelled, taking on an iridescent shimmer. She had to quickly step back or be engulfed.

  The vision of Daryus and Raffan grew with the cloud. The image became more detailed, almost lifelike, as if what she saw now took place just before her and not miles away.

  Then she heard the snort of the horse.

  Stunned, Shiera stared, unable to believe what she had just done.

  Daryus, Raffan, and Toy had just been transported to Uhl-Adanar.

  * * *

  It struck Daryus first in the form of a strange nausea and sense of displacement. Next, he became aware of Toy leaping up and down in the cage in clear glee. Daryus had no idea what was happening, but if the familiar was pleased by it, it boded no good.

  Daryus struggled with what was left of his bonds just as Raffan, too, became aware of the change coming over all of them. The younger man twisted in the saddle, his ire aimed not at Daryus, but at the weasel.

  “What have you done?”

  Toy snickered. “I have done nothing! Fate is with me and neither with you nor Master Grigor!”

  Daryus freed his hands. In doing so, he attracted Raffan’s attention. The other man’s eyes widened and he reached into his pouch.

  Daryus’s horse snorted—and the Worldwound gave way to the vast interior of some sort of church.

  Both mounts were understandably upset. Daryus had to fight to keep his under control. Raffan also struggled, an effort hindered by Toy, who made monstrous hissing sounds clearly designed to add to the horses’ fear.

  “Daryus?”

  The voice cut through everything else. Gripping the reins as tight as he could, he peered in the direction of the call.

  A startled Shiera stared back at him. Daryus’s relief at finding her was tempered by Raffan’s angry shout and Toy’s renewed hissing.

  He turned back to find Raffan rubbing his hand where a set of red marks indicated a small animal had bitten him hard. Toy was no longer in his cage, the weasel clambering around their shared horse.

  Raffan spurred his horse forward, sending it stumbling down the dais and dislodging Toy, who tumbled onto the floor.

  Raffan urged his horse down the narrow corridor between two sets of pews. Daryus glanced at Shiera, who seemed safe enough, then gave chase.

  Daryus did not want to leave Raffan loose wherever they were. He followed the other man through the chamber and out the two large doors. The temple-city beyond startled him only briefly, confirming what he had thought the moment he had seen Shiera in the chamber. Despite everything, she had found Uhl-Adanar.

  Raffan raced across the vast courtyard stretching beyond the building. The combined clatter of both horses’ hooves resounded through the otherwise silent temple-city. Both mounts struggled on the hard, somewhat slick surface. Raffan’s animal slipped twice, but Daryus could not gain ground, his own horse sliding to the side as the two riders reached the curved end of a pathway.

  Then, Daryus’s mount stumbled for no reason that the former crusader could at first fathom. A moment later, the horse slowed. Its breathing grew ragged.

  “Come on, damn you!” Daryus did all he could to urge the animal forward, but instead it started to wobble to the left. Seeing that, Daryus quickly leapt off.

  Barely had he done that than the horse fell to its knees. It let out a snort, then rolled onto its side.

  Scurrying over to the stricken beast, Daryus put a hand on its chest. The horse breathed normally. When Daryus checked closer, he spotted the small dart at the base of the neck.

  Whether the dart had been intended for the animal or Daryus didn’t matter. What did was that Raffan had made good his escape, at least for now. Daryus had every expectation that the other man would not go far. It was dangerous enough that he had to worry about the witch and Toy—now he had this third threat looming over Shiera and him.

  Shiera. Daryus had left her behind on the assumption that she would be safer where she was, but now he wondered if he had made a mistake.

  He had left Shiera with Toy.

  * * *

  The scene that had so rapidly unfolded before Shiera had left her breathless. Through the ancient artifact, she had actually transported two men on horseback f
rom far away to right in front of her.

  The symbols had faded away once Daryus and Raffan had appeared. The dust now settled back in and around the wolf pattern. As a test, Shiera repeated what she had done the first time, once more creating the cloud and then summoning the symbols. The ease with which she was able to recreate her earlier success made her confident enough to experiment.

  It could not have been by accident that she had summoned up an image of Daryus. Shiera was certain that her desires had something to do with what vision revealed itself, but when she concentrated on Daryus, what she got instead was another view of the Worldwound.

  Frowning, she adjusted the symbols, then tried a second time. The vision shifted from the Worldwound to the temple-city, but just before Shiera could congratulate herself, it shifted back.

  “It has to be due to my thoughts,” Shiera muttered to herself. “How else could I have done it before?”

  She took a deep breath and tried one more combination of markings, then pictured Daryus as best she could. The Worldwound faded away, replaced by the temple-city. Gritting her teeth, Shiera peered into the vision, demanding that it remain as she desired.

  Even so, once more it returned to the Worldwound. Frustrated, Shiera struggled with the symbols, trying to summon up some more mundane, distant things, such as her home in Nerosyan or the site of Amadan Gwinn’s last dig.

  Each time, the Worldwound took prominence again. At last, Shiera stepped away from the cloud, which continued to swirl and mock her with the image she did not want.

  “Be that way about it, then,” she snapped. “I have more important things to do.”

  Shiera stepped from the dais. While she had not seen much of Uhl-Adanar, she believed from the glimpses she’d had that the temple-city was large, but not too large. She doubted that a man on horse would need more than a quarter hour to ride from one end to the other, if even that much. If there was another entrance or exit, it would probably be hard to locate, which meant that Daryus would probably end up turning back quickly, Raffan or no Raffan.

  “He’ll be fine,” Shiera told herself. “He won’t mind if I go on.”

  “Rest assured, he will come back in his own time,” a smooth voice quietly remarked from her right.

  Whirling, Shiera looked for the speaker. However, all she saw was row upon row of pews.

  A small head popped up near one set of pews. Toy gave her that one-eyed stare, nose twitching.

  “But you do not truly need him, now that you have me.”

  The voice was Toy’s.

  “I can help you find all you seek, Shiera Tristane.” The weasel jumped up onto the back of one pew. He cocked his head. “You are clever, otherwise I would never have told that fool Raffan to seek you out. Now, you and I will find the tomb.”

  Shiera swore as she eyed the creature. “You … you’re a familiar, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, bravo! Long did I search among those of your calling for one with your cunning, your adaptability.”

  “Where’s your mistress … or master? Daryus is no wizard, and you have to have one … don’t you? Don’t—” She shook her head as the answer came to her. “No … you’re his familiar? That damned witch’s?”

  Toy chuckled. It was so human a sound that Shiera had to blink.

  “Ah … now that is a tale I should really tell you…” The weasel opened his other eye.

  Shiera stepped back as the demon orb burned bright.

  “For I think that soon he will find us … and then the fun will begin…”

  23

  SEARCH FOR THE TOMB

  Grigor smiled as he located the Pathfinder’s find. With the two pitborn anxiously waiting behind him, the witch touched the mechanism.

  The world shifted. The ruined chamber vanished.

  Grigor stood in the midst of a vast courtyard in what he knew instantly could be nothing but Uhl-Adanar.

  He drank in his surroundings, heart pounding as it had not since he had slaughtered the last of his treacherous kin. Only one more step remained. Grigor knew better than anyone what would be found in the tomb. The Pathfinder likely only knew a hint of the truth, or else she would have turned and put as much distance as possible between herself and Uhl-Adanar.

  He turned to give orders to the pitborn … only to have the pair stare fearfully at him. Grigor touched his face, felt a familiar texture, then pulled back his gloved fingers to inspect them.

  Large flakes of dry—almost mummified—skin covered much of his glove.

  Swearing, the witch looked around for a reflective surface. The nearest one proved to be the water in a large fountain. Striding over to the fountain, Grigor quickly leaned over and studied his face.

  His skin was crumbling to dust. Already, he had sunken cheeks and a crisscross pattern of lines over the rest of his visible face. The area he had touched now had a dark gap in it where a hint of his cheekbone could be seen.

  The transportation spell has affected my own work! Straightening, the witch looked around. Immediately he spotted the building he suspected was his best choice for locating the tomb.

  “Follow!” With the pitborn trailing behind, Grigor headed for the edifice. As he walked, he reached into one pouch and pulled out the dried eye belonging to Toy.

  I know you are near, my treacherous little pet! Show me where you are …

  He held the eye before him. As he did, he saw through it a towering chamber and in it, a female figure. Shiera Tristane.

  “So … there we are.” Replacing the eye in the pouch, Grigor readied his staff. “Be prepared.”

  * * *

  “What are you talking about?” Shiera tried not to stare at the weasel’s tainted eye. “Your master is here? You are talking about that witch with the staff, right? Grigor?” She kept her weapon pointed at Toy. “I’m no puppet for you and your master—”

  “Not my master anymore, not after his betrayal to our patron!” The familiar leapt from pew to pew until he perched right in front of her. He shut the foul orb, then continued, “But, yes, that is Grigor Dolch, and he is near and coming nearer! He would have what you would find in the tomb, have it to make him not only whole again, but stronger than ever! He would have the Reaper’s Eye!”

  The Reaper’s Eye … “You mean the Eye of Tzadn?”

  Toy chuckled. “Tzadn or the Reaper, they are the same, but the Eye is all that matters! With it, it is said, the Reaper gives his favor … and that is what Master Grigor needs! He needs a new patron before his past sins catch up!”

  Shiera only understood a fraction of what the weasel said, but what was important was that the witch who had surprised her in the other ruin was still after her—or rather, the tomb. She recalled Grigor’s words, that Shiera had essentially done his bidding in getting this far. “He said he was responsible for me finding the temple-city. What did he mean?”

  “Ah, Grigor cannot take all the credit! You would have followed a few false trails—not by your own fault—if not for my efforts!”

  She grimaced. “Is that so? This story should be a very interesting tale.”

  The weasel looked back and forth, which caused Shiera to instinctively do the same. “Grigor sought out a clever Pathfinder … well, more than one, but others, they foolishly lost their lives. You proved more worthy, though, with my help…”

  “Your help? How magnanimous of you! I’ve done this all on my own—”

  “Oh, yes! Oh, yes! All on your own!” the familiar agreed quickly. “I sought only to balance things out against the forces working to distract you from your desires!”

  Shiera had just about had enough of the familiar. “What forces? What do you mean?”

  The weasel’s nose twitched. “Have you never noticed how whenever you found a clue to your quest, something else would come along to steer you from your course?”

  Shiera thought about the various directions her search had turned. “The path to knowledge and discovery is often a meandering one.”

  “Yes,
so the others said. But those impediments were not always by chance, Shiera Tristane! Think about it! Think how no one has ever even heard of the god Tzadn or found this temple-city before!”

  “The Worldwound created a great upheaval. Much knowledge of the past was lost.”

  Toy snickered. “Yes, there is that … but there is also that the priests of Uhl-Adanar worked hard to keep him hidden! Grigor sought Uhl-Adanar long before you were even born, before he had even betrayed out patron, yet with all at his command, the temple-city and the Reaper’s Eye remained hidden! This was not by chance. This was by intent!”

  “You’re saying that the ancient priests here put together some great spell to protect the location?”

  “So it would seem. Yet you, despite everything—and with my good assistance—triumphed in the end! Triumphed in great part because you did not use magic to seek it, but rather your mind alone. That was the ancients’ trick. They knew spellcasters would come for the tomb, and so made the tomb forever invisible to the works of magic. How clever is that? To find the tomb of a magic thing, you could not use magic yourself!”

  Her mind raced. “You seem to forget that I’ve not actually found the tomb yet. You could be completely wrong … not that I want you to be, at least in that regard.”

  “But you will find it, you will—” The weasel abruptly paused. He quickly looked to the entrance. “No! He was swifter than calculated! Hurry! Flee from here! Flee! It is—”

  Breaking off, Toy slipped from his perch. Shiera readied her crossbow just as the doors flung open seemingly of their own accord.

  Grigor, the staff held before him, smiled as he sighted her. “Ah! There you are! You have my sincerest admiration, but circumstances demand that you locate the tomb of Tzadn immediately or I will be forced to treat you to tortures learned from a demon lord.”

  In response, Shiera fired.

  The bolt should have struck true, but it stopped only inches from the witch. Grigor Dolch, his smile reminding Shiera of nothing less than the eternal smile of a corpse, watched as the bolt dropped harmlessly to the floor.