"Well, we did find you," Xaphira said, "and Vambran here is going to get us inside the estate, right?"

Vambran nodded grimly. Having heard Kovrim's full tale-Houses Matrell, Talricci, and Pharaboldi were all pooling their resources to fund a professional army and launch an attack on one of the other city-states in old Chondath-he was more fretful than ever about getting back to their family. If Dregaul was actively courting the other two Houses, that meant he was aware of a great many things that he hadn't been letting on. And the fact that Grand Trabbar Lavant was keeping the whole alliance a secret seemed to suggest that not everything was on the up and up, which Vambran obviously already knew. It was then just a matter of how hard the heads of the three Houses were going to work to keep everything quiet. How many more deaths would there be before all was said and done?

At the same time, the thug leader's cryptic words and maddening disappearance were also weighing heavily on the lieutenant's mind.

How could he know about it? Vambran wondered. And what did he mean about already working for him?

The thought gave Vambran a cold sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"Vambran," Xaphira said. "Are you listening to us?"

"Hmm?" the mercenary said, coming out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I was thinking. What did you ask me?"

"We were just discussing the fact that we don't really know the state of things at the house," Kovrim said. "It might behoove us to let you go in first, playing innocent, and see just what's happening."

"No. Remember," the lieutenant replied, "the leader back there admitted that the three heads of the households were gathering to seal the deal. And with his escape, I fear we may be too late to-"

Vambran, help me! Denrick has taken us prisoner! They have the house guards on their side. Jaleene and I are tied up in my rooms-

Vambran nearly stumbled as the words echoed in his mind.

"Hang on, Em. We're coming. Stay strong," he replied. To all the puzzled faces around him, he said in a tight voice, "All hell's broken loose. Em's been taken captive by Denrick Pharaboldi. The house guards have been turned. Dregaul may be part of it. We have to hurry."

And he took off in a near sprint.

"Vambran, wait." Xaphira called from behind. "Now, more than ever, we need a plan."

When he wouldn't stop, she called after him, "If you just go barging in there without knowing what's going on first, you're only going to risk their lives."

The mercenary officer closed his eyes and grimaced as he slowed his pace. He knew his aunt was right. He just couldn't stand the thought of delaying any longer. He stopped in the middle of the street and hugged his own arms, bending over and breathing hard, trying to regain some composure.

If only I hadn't run off, he berated himself. If only I had stuck around long enough to get a better read on Denrick. Damn it!

He mentally screamed, punching at the air in frustration and pacing around in a circle.

The rest of Vambran's companions caught up to him. Xaphira took him by the shoulders, forcing him to stop pacing and look at her.

"Stop blaming yourself," she told him, looking him directly in the eyes. "You have done everything possible to fight this, and now, whether you realize it or not, you're in a better position to put a final stop to it once and for all."

"This is where your military training must come to the forefront," Kovrim said. "Now is the time to put your skills and resources to work. We can surprise them, but only if we keep our heads."

"They don't know we're coming," Horial said as he and Adyan gathered in with the rest of them. "They think only you're likely to come back."

"Assuming they don't know I defeated the thugs that were after Uncle Kovrim," Vambran argued. "The leader got away and could easily warn them, and he said that he had some sort of mental connection with his superior, that he would have known if something was going wrong at the estate. That link very well could have worked both ways."

"Maybe," said Xaphira, "but he vanished before the Sapphire Crescent showed up. So even if the conspirators know that the three of us might be on our way, they still don't know that the platoon is coming, too. We've got to use that to our advantage."

Vambran considered their words, looking for anything he could anchor his emotions to and find some calm. He realized they were right. They had the element of surprise, but they had to make sure they could use it correctly. What they needed, he decided, was some on-the-sly scouting.

"We've got to get a peek inside the house, and maybe around the grounds, and see just how bad it really is," the lieutenant said.

"I can do that," Xaphira said. "Since I know the place, I can scout everything out without the chance of getting lost or cornered if something goes wrong."

Kovrim nodded and said, "All right. But I have another idea that might help. Xaphira can look for a way to get me and the mercenaries inside the walls without being seen. In the meantime, Vambran, since you would like very much to get up there now and check on your family, especially Em, let me do something that will get you there quickly and without notice."

Vambran was all for it and readily agreed.

As the group neared the Matrell estate, they finalized their plan. Kovrim began to pray, taking a talisman out of his robes and clasping it tightly as he closed his eyes. He uttered the words of a sacred prayer to Waukeen, then touched Vambran. When Kovrim opened his eyes, he looked at his nephew.

"You now have the ability to walk on the air," the priest said, gesturing for Vambran to try it. "Just imagine that you're walking up a steep hill, planting your feet on the air in front of you."

Vambran took a tentative step forward, trying to visualize himself following a sloping path upward. His foot settled solidly on something invisible maybe two feet off the ground. The mercenary took another step, and another, and suddenly, he was standing at a level higher than his companions' heads.

"This is magnificent!" he said, taking a few strides more. "What wonderful magic."

"You can walk levelly or come back down, just by imagining it," Kovrim explained.

Vambran strolled along for several steps, hovering a good fifteen feet above the street, then he began to descend, just as his uncle had described.

"How long will it last?" the lieutenant asked Kovrim.

"More than an hour," the priest replied. "Plenty of time to get high in the air and walk in well over the grounds without being spotted."

"But remember," Xaphira warned her nephew, "you are not invisible up there, and the moon is bright tonight. You should try to go in from the south side, where the garden is the most overgrown."

Vambran nodded.

"I'm going to Em's rooms, first" he declared. "If I get into any trouble, I'll send up a flare."

Everyone else wished the mercenary luck, "We'll be working our way in from a different direction," Kovrim said. "I don't have a way to contact you when we begin, but I think you'll know when we set our plan into motion."

Vambran shook hands with them all and set out. He tried to stick to the shadows as much as possible, gaining altitude quickly by imagining the slope as being quite steep. Very soon, he was high in the sky and looking over the grounds of his own home, trying to figure out a way to smuggle himself inside without being seen. The irony was not lost on him, but he spared no time worrying about it. Instead, when he was satisfied that he was far enough over the ground that no one would be likely to spot him, Vambran leveled off in his walk.

He took a quick glance around and, despite the urgency of his goal, had to stand for a moment and simply appreciate the beauty of the entire city spread out before him. Arrabar had always been an amazing city to the mercenary's eyes, though he usually only gazed across it during the daytime. At night, it took on a different but no less enchanting demeanor, with its twinkling lights spread out in undulating waves across the gentle hills stretching from the perimeter walls down to the bay. The water there glowed in its own right, the shimmering light of the bright, nearly full moon glimmering across its glassy surface. It was a magnificent city.