So many battling impulses occupied Anusha, she couldn't honestly say how she felt. And the influence pulling at her wasn't making it any easier to think!

It horrified her that Japheth would bind himself to the very thing trying to consume her soul. But seeing him standing, clear eyed and in command of his body—and apparently flush once again with potent magic... she couldn't deny it fueled a tiny flame of hope.

"Anusha?" he asked, and held out his hand. "Take me to the Eldest, and I will remove your focus from its mind.

But we must be quick. Each hour that passes, more and more of its scattered thoughts return to it. Soon the dreaming thing will rouse, and then it'll be too late."

Anusha exclaimed in dismay, "The tide has me again!"

Yeva leaped for Anusha and grasped her arm. But the mottled woman's own flesh began to steam, on the verge of falling into so many formless motes.

Japheth's eyes widened. He lunged, but his hands passed through her. Anusha felt herself being swept away, just as she had been on the balcony.

The warlock said, "Not again!" and uttered a series of syllables, each one forming a pulse of blue light. The points of illumination spun themselves into a chain of light that snapped around her and Yeva.

The crashing blare of the undertow instantly quieted. Anusha imagined she felt the solid floor of the tunnel beneath her feet once more. Yeva's skin and clothing ceased their dissipation.

"That..." said Japheth, "was close."

The ephemeral cord of light faded away, but the psychic undercurrent remained bearable. However, it was not gone.

Anusha shuddered, then took a deep breath. The warlock couldn't have shown her any more clearly that he retained his mind. If he hadn't taken his new pact, she'd have been no more.

More than anything else, she just wanted to believe him. In the end, that moved her more than reason or odds.

She took his hand, imagining hers solid enough for him to hold. He said, "I can only hold you back for a little while."

"Then come," Anusha said. "Yeva and I found a route out of the nursery."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The Year of the Secret (1396 DR) Xxiphu, Lower Capital

Raidon advanced down a rounded tunnel, Angul naked in one hand. His Cerulean Sign insulated his mind against the sword's overweening ego. Mostly.

Silvery grass filled the corridor, growing on the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. It was like grass in shape only, the blades seemed slightly metallic. When a peculiar wind gusted down the corridor every few spans, the rustling blades made a sound like the ringing of thousands of tiny bells.

Seren and Thoster walked abreast a few feet behind the monk's lead. Four crew brought up the rear.

Thoster absentmindedly clutched at the amulet hanging over his coat.

Seren's fist was tight around her wand. Instead of the white sari and sandals she normally wore, the wizard was dressed in a heavy red robe and black boots.

Raidon had noted the wardrobe change, but made no comment.

When they came to an intersection, Raidon paused. He turned and said, "Let's take a moment before we continue."

"Sounds good," said Thoster. The man requested a pack from one of the crew and opened it. He produced biscuits and watered wine and shared them around.

"Hey, Seren," said the captain as everyone nibbled on their small repast, "I was meaning to ask you before... what's with the red?"

Everyone turned to watch the wizard.

Seren said, "My regular clothes are too light for trudging into who knows what we'll find in here. This old robe is much better suited for tunnel crawling."

"Really? Because if I just ran into you on the street and didn't know any better, I'd think you were a Red Wizard."

Raidon realized Thoster was right. She was accoutred just like one of that feared arcane order.

Seren frowned. "Don't worry about it. I happen to like the color red."

Thoster chuckled. "Oh, that's rich."

Seren said, "Don't make me regret helping you earlier, Captain."

Thoster raised a hand in surrender.

"Anyway" Seren said, "I am a Red Wizard, even if Thay wants me dead and the others won't have me. I didn't choose to leave the fold, they left me! So... get used to it, Thoster. And you too, Raidon. I'm not going to hide who I am any longer."

The captain said, "Yeah, but a Red—"

Seren interrupted, "Maybe you should consider following my lead, Captain."

Thoster's face colored. He suddenly seemed very interested in his biscuit.

Raidon knew he was seeing the surface of some secret the wizard and the captain shared. And he supposed the wizard was suffering from some sort of personal trial, probably brought to a head by their run-in with the bounty hunter. He considered digging deeper to find out what it all portended. It bothered him that he wasn't more interested.

It is unimportant, sent Angul. Our quest takes precedence.

Raidon agreed. He swallowed the last of his small meal and stood, brushing his hands on his coat. "Let's go."

*****

The vegetation thickened as they moved deeper into Xxiphu, becoming denser and higher. Finally Raidon was wading through growth that reached his waist. Each step was something of a struggle.

It reminded him of a time, back before the Spellplague, when he'd taken little Ailyn out to the country to enjoy the day. How she'd loved running through the long grass in the meadow. She would get lost in it, but jump every so often just high enough—

"This route you've selected for us, my Shou friend," said Thoster, "puts me in mind of a three-legged cat on deck during high seas."

"I don't even know what that means," muttered Seren.

Raidon paused, allowing the wisps of his past to evaporate. He said over his shoulder, "It looks as if the grass thins out ahead. Regardless, I sense this is the quickest way to the Eldest. This is the way we proceed."

The captain swept off his hat and executed a mock bow, his face just avoiding the top of the grass. "After you." Raidon didn't waste breath telling the captain he could return to his ship if he was unhappy with their route. He resumed trudging down the vegetated corridor.

The Cerulean Sign reacted strongly to the grass—but it reacted nearly as strongly to the stone walls of the corridor and even the air. In Xxiphu, few things were not tainted.

As the half-elf promised, the grass thinned out, coinciding with a widening in the corridor. A silver bulb sprouted in the center of the area from a particularly thick piece of grass... actually more like a stem than a blade. The pod was just larger than a man, though its exact dimensions were not fixed, it gradually thickened and thinned, contorting like quicksilver in slow motion. Raidon saw his features distorted in the bulb's undulating body. He concentrated on it to the exclusion of everything else, and the Cerulean Sign cooled.

"Stay clear of the bulb," Raidon said. "It's possibly dangerous."

"Hells, do you really think so?" said Thoster. "I thought it was just a boil on a halfling's ass."

Raidon's back muscles twitched, a movement too small for anyone else to notice. The captain's constant wiseacre comments were beginning to wear on him. He knew the privateer was being willfully facetious, but he replied anyway, "If you value your life, stay clear. I sense this growth is set here as a sentry—it's not a random weed."

So saying, Raidon began to edge around the expanded space in the corridor, giving the bulb as wide a berth as he could.

 Seren moved to emulate him. "At least the grass is shorter here," she said.

Thoster chuckled to himself a moment, then followed. The crew member "volunteers" brought up the rear.

Halfway around the chamber, the Sign's temperature dropped more precipitously.

The monk had the distinct sense through the spellscar that something abominable approached from the direction they were headed. Raidon held up his hand, calling a halt. He looked back to make eye contact with the others and put a finger of his other hand to his lips. He hoped the captain would refrain from his mocking comments, if just this once.