"There's no one here," thought Selana. "How many more rooms like this are there, do you suppose?"

"Probably two or three," Tas replied, cocking his head to the side. A fat beetle scurried up the stones on the side of the window, heading for a small crack in the mortar. Tas peered closely at it, which obviously alarmed the beetle as it sped away to the safety of the crack.

Tas spread his wings. "We'd better keep moving."

"Wait!"

Selana's warning caught Tas halfway through his takeoff. Trying to stop himself, he wound up instead tumbling off the window ledge inside the jail. He flapped frantically but to no avail, thumping harmlessly into a pile of moldy straw on the floor.

"Hurry," cried Selana, "you must see this!"

With straw still stuck in his feathers and more than a little irritated, Tas flitted back up to the ledge. "What is it?"

Selana's voice, even though transmitted directly to Tas's mind, still shook with excitement. "Look down in the cloisters leading back to the main tower. The bald-headed man in red robes. It's the mage! And do you see what's on his wrist?"

Tas's sharpened eyes locked onto the fellow at once. He had pulled a warm vest over his robes.

"He's probably returning from taking Flint and Tanis to the dungeon," muttered Tas. The kender-bird's sight traveled down the man's arm. As it swung, the sleeve drew back, revealing a coppery band.

"You're right! It is the bracelet!" cried Tas. Even at this distance, he was certain it was the piece of jewelry Flint had crafted for the sea elf; he could see every line and stone on it. "Let's fly over and get it from him!"

"How?"

Tas thought for only a second. "We'll turn into bears and bite his hand off!"

Selana shuddered. "That's disgusting. And dangerous. Although we may look like bears, we would still have just the strength of a sea elf and a kender, and we would be forced to fight many guards, not to mention his magic." She shook her head. "No, we have to follow him and find a more subtle way of getting the bracelet from him, in a more private place." Selana had no idea where that might be or how it might happen, especially since the effects of the potion could run out at any time.

"We can't just go flying around inside the castle," argued Tas. "Someone would try to catch us or chase us out." He glanced down at the mage, who was rapidly disappearing. "We'd better think of something fast."

"Do as I do," instructed Selana quickly. "And don't even think about eating me." Amid a tiny shower of purple sparks, the sparrow turned into a fly.

"There's something I hadn't thought about being!" exclaimed Tas. It might be interesting, he said to himself. The kender-bird closed his eyes tightly and concentrated. Sparks flew and suddenly he felt very tiny indeed. As he opened his eyes, he felt dizzy, seeing dozens of images across his line of sight. He might have stumbled, if not for the six legs holding him up. He spent several moments sorting out his vision. The first thing he managed to focus on was Selana buzzing away toward where the mage was headed. Breezes dashed him about as he launched himself into the air.

"Slow down, Selana," Tas complained, straining to keep his sight on her ahead of him. "I can barely see where I'm going, and I sure can't see very far."

"I hadn't counted on this vision problem," agreed Selana. "We're bound to get used to it eventually. In the meantime, try to stay close. And whatever you do, don't think about being something else now."

"All right, but if we don't catch up to him soon, we'll lose him in the keep."

The massive, central stone structure/which was no more than a dark blob in the background of Tas's vision, was nevertheless getting steadily larger. Suddenly, the featureless gray shape resolved into stones. "We're too far to the left," cried Selana. "The door from the cloister is over there, to our right." Both flies veered sharply to the right, paralleling the wall while keeping it within sight.

It dawned on Tas that with his eyes looking straight ahead (which seemed to be the only way they could point), he could see the stone wall to his left, Selana straight ahead, and the blurry outlines of the jail and courtyard to his right. He could concentrate on any portion of that field of vision without turning his head or eyes. "Once you get the knack of it, this isn't so bad," he said to himself.

Then he began wondering what to do with his legs. As a bird, it had seemed natural to tuck them under his body. At the moment, all six were dangling beneath him, swaying uselessly. Tas pulled them up tight against his abdomen. No, he thought, this doesn't feel right either. He resolved to pay more attention to flying insects in the future.

"Please stop that," begged Selana. "You're distracting me terribly. Remember that everything you think is echoing in my mind."

"Well, pardon me for thinking," Tas muttered, realizing too late that this comment, too, was being broadcast to Selana.

"Have you noticed how fast we're traveling?" Now that he had a good visual reference along the wall, Tas was amazed at how quickly they flew. Before Selana could answer, Tas realized they were in the cloister, right next to the door where the wizard had headed.

"It's closed," thought Selana. "Can we squeeze around it or under it?"

"We don't need to. Look behind you."

Out of the blurred distance strode their man, bald and wearing a robe. Tas shivered at the hideous sight of the wizard's missing right eye, the lid forever sealed shut by scar tissue.

"We beat him!" the kender whooped. "We were moving a lot faster than I thought.

"Quick, get to the wall by the door. When he opens it, we'll follow him through."

Both flies settled onto the stone wall at waist height moments before the heavy door was dragged open. A blast of cool air washed across them, then the mage was past and through the door. Both flies streaked in, Selana colliding with the human's robe as he stopped and turned to pull the door shut. With a thud it sealed out the light, leaving the trio in a dimly lit hallway.

Selana thrashed from side to side, trying to escape from the heavy folds of the wizard's robe. At last she broke free, but clung to the outside edge, riding along unnoticed as the human strode down the hall, past doorways flanked by dripping candles. Tasslehoff buzzed along behind, trying to count the doors he passed in case he needed to follow this route again.

His count was disturbed by Selana's mental urging. "Tasslehoff, land on his back. Then you can't get lost."

While this seemed like a good idea to the kender, he quickly realized it was easier thought than done. The fly's form was not nearly as graceful as the sparrow's, and the mage's back was constantly in motion. His clothing flexed and heaved with every step. Tas's first pass missed by many inches. On his second approach, he rammed into the churning surface and was knocked away. "It's too hard," he protested. "I'm losing count of the doors."

The wizard stepped through a doorway and onto a set of stairs that wound up and to the left. As they climbed, Tasslehoff became aware of how tired he was growing. Obviously, he thought, flies don't have much stamina. His wings ached, and he was very hungry. The hunger, he realized, was something new; flies must burn up food awfully fast. He considered looking for something to eat, but his recollection of the things he had seen flies eating quickly changed his mind. He decided to wait until something palatable appeared, then he would turn into something that could eat it.

Now they neared the top of the stairs. The mage stepped through the open doorway and turned left. As Tas raced after him, he collided with something invisible and stopped dead. He tried to move his wings, but the right one was stuck. The left one buzzed futilely, then it, too, brushed against something and stuck fast.