There was no sign of the dracolich Pelendralaar. Yet.

Kestrel listened closely to the sounds emanating from the cavern. The sapphire-at least she thought it was the gem from this distance-emitted a low hum. The cultists droned in time with the stone's pulsations. Though Kestrel couldn't distinguish the arcane words, they resonated with blasphemy.

She backed away from the opening, her heart racing. This was it-their only opportunity to destroy the Pool of Radiance. There would be no second chances.

"We are so outnumbered I don't even want to think about it," she said as she and Corran returned to the others. "The cavern is filled with cultists. And all of them stand between us and Mordrayn."

Corran removed his helm. He ran a hand through his dark locks, grasping the roots at the back of his head and closing his eyes. He looked as weary as Kestrel felt.

"We need not defeat them all," said Ghleanna. "We just have to get someone on the ledge to touch the sapphire and speak the Word of Redemption."

"Destroying the gem is only our first objective." Corran opened his eyes and let his hand drop to his side.

"Afterward, we still need to defeat Mordrayn to get the Gauntlets of Moander and destroy the pool."

"Not to mention deal with the dracolich if he makes an appearance," Kestrel added. Her collarbone tingled so much she could barely stand still.

"He will," Athan asserted. "If Mordrayn summons him or we harm her, he will come."

Corran knelt and traced a representation of the pool cavern in the dust, marking the positions of the pool, Mordrayn, the sapphire, and the cultists. "Ghleanna is right about the gem being our first priority. We must create a distraction to enable one of us to get up on that ledge. There's a section of dry floor between the pool and the ledge wall." He glanced up from his tracings. "Kestrel, do you-"

He stopped short staring at her. She squirmed under his scrutiny. "What? What is it?"

"Your invisibility is wearing off."

Kestrel looked down at her body. It appeared translucent, like those of Anorrweyn or Caalenfaire, but solidified more each second. A glance at the others showed Faeril reappearing as well. Only Durwyn-cloaked by the original invisibility spell, not Ghleanna's modified version- remained unseen. Kestrel swore under her breath.

"No matter," Corran said calmly. "Better now than unexpectedly during battle. We'll work around it."

Somehow, in the face of everything, Kestrel found Corran's matter-of-fact tone reassuring. For all their differences and the grief he'd given her, the paladin had proven himself a valuable comrade-in-arms. She wondered if the party ever would have made it this far without Corran's steadiness and faith in their cause. Certainly not if it had been left up to her.

Corran drew an X in the dust. "We are here. I suggest five of us create a distraction in this part of the cavern-" he traced a circle-"while one person skirts the perimeter and scales the wall to reach the gem."

At the party's nods of agreement, Corran continued. "This room provides both cover and a good view of the cavern. Faeril and Ghleanna, cast as many spells as you can from here until the range of your remaining magic forces you to move to more exposed ground. Athan, Durwyn, and Kestrel, once the cult realizes where the magic is coming from, the spellcasters will need your defensive help. With luck and Tyr's favor, I will have reached the sapphire by then."

Kestrel frowned. Corran darting through cultists and scrambling up a wall? She was far better suited for the assignment than the brawny paladin. Once again he was underusing her skills. "Corran, that ledge is at least forty feet high. I'm smaller and lighter, not to mention more experienced at this sort of thing. I can scale it in half the time it would take you."

"That's true." His gray eyes met hers. "But Mordrayn will be waiting for whoever reaches the top."

Well, of course she would. That went without-

Kestrel's thoughts stopped abruptly as she realized the paladin's motive. He was taking the most dangerous assignment upon himself. Looking back, she realized that many of their arguments had arisen because he had tried to sacrifice his own safety first.

"I know she will," Kestrel said. A week ago she never would have volunteered for the job, never would have put herself at greater risk than she had to-certainly never would have offered to face an evil archmage alone. Still they could not fail, and she knew in her heart that of them all, she had the best chance of reaching the sapphire. "This is my battle, too. Let me fight it to the best of my ability." As she spoke, her collarbone vibrated so hard it ached. Had she just written her own death sentence?

Corran searched her face for a long moment. Respect lit in his eyes. "All right, then."

At his words, the tingling in her collarbone subsided, and with it her fear. Courage washed over her, chasing away the shadows of self-doubt and cynicism, filling her with the belief that victory was indeed possible. Despite the incredible odds, they might just pull off their mission.

She regarded the paladin with a mixture of surprise and new understanding. This must be the aura of which Ghleanna spoke-the reason the others had followed Corran almost without question from the beginning. The sorceress had been right. Until now, Kestrel had never allowed herself to feel it.

Their circle broke up as each person made individual preparations. Ghleanna readied her spells, Faeril and Corran offered devotions to their gods, Durwyn arranged his arrows near the doorway for easy access. Athan paced impatiently, eager to wet his sword with cult blood.

Kestrel withdrew a small pouch and sprinkled white powder onto her hands. The chalk would help her maintain her grip as she scaled the wall. Her rope and grappling hook hung from her belt, but she hoped to find enough natural holds in the rock to free climb. Mordrayn might be entranced now, but once the sorcerers set off their fireworks, Kestrel didn't want to risk the archmage kicking her grappling hook loose while she dangled from a rope.

She went to the doorway once more and studied the cavern, plotting her course. Fewer cultists gathered on the west side of the pool, but approaching the ledge from that direction required her to leap over a stray arm of the vile amber liquid. The east side held no water trap but twice as many human obstacles. She would dart west.

Behind her, Corran drew near. "Don't let even a drop of the pool touch your skin," he cautioned.

She gazed at the insidious lake, recalling the horrible fate of the bandits she'd observed in Phlan. "I've seen what it can do."

He leaned on his sword and cleared his throat. "I was thinking… perhaps I should follow you to the ledge. In case the cultists spot you. And so that when you face Mordrayn-"

"No." She turned toward him, struck by the look of genuine concern she discovered in his eyes. "You will slow me down, Corran. Or attract attention." Besides, she preferred to work solo-at least, she always had before. As tempting as she found his offer to cover her back, she shook her head. "If I'm to succeed, I must do this alone."

Reluctantly, he nodded his agreement. "After you destroy the sapphire, the rest of us will close in as quickly as we can."

Quickly enough to save her from a cruel death at the archmage's hands? Standing here with the paladin, she actually believed it was possible. "I'll see you there."

"Take care, Kestrel."

She shrugged. "Always do." But as she walked away, she cast one last glance at her former adversary. "Corran," she called. The paladin turned. "You, too."

Kestrel slipped out of the antechamber and slunk into the nearest shadows. Though Ghleanna had cast a hastening enchantment on her, she crept down the slope slowly, relying on stealth instead of speed. Once she reached the outer wall of the cavern she stuck close to it, darting from shadow to shadow as she made her way toward the ledge. And Mordrayn.