He had only three man-o-wars left now, two of them-the Free Wind's Fury and the Leaping Hart-with minor damage, and they had the apparent hatred of the gnomes of Ironpiece. As inconsequential as they were in the grand scheme of things, the gnomes certainly had their usefulness. It was a poor start. Nonetheless, the elves had an armada, nearly undamaged. They had cloaking helms. They had magical weapons and superlative wizardry, though the pyramid's master might prove itself an equal if it were an undead monstrosity. The elves had punished the orcs badly in the first round, killing their capital ship.

The elves also had the report of the helmsman and wizard Vallus Leafbower, made to the Imperial Fleet at Evermeet, on Toril. That report on Teldin Moore and his cloak was worth at least as much as any other advantage.

"Mirandel," said the admiral, turning and walking from the windows to the battlewizard's chair. The battlewizard's eyes were drying, her mourning for her sister's death at the Unicorn's Wing's helm set aside for now. The admiral reached for the heavy crystal ball in her hands, and she carefully gave it to him. He raised the globe and studied its depths. He had used one of these once.

"I cannot use the crystal again this day, my admiral," the battlewizard said. Her green eyes were framed by her long white hair. "Contact with the other ships during the battle has exhausted my talent for now."

"I did not mean for you to use it," said the admiral, walking away with the ball. "I mean to use it instead." He picked up a stool, then returned and placed it a few feet from the battle-wizard, sitting so as to face her. He looked into the crystal ball with a thoughtful gaze.

"I am about to reveal some things to you that have been kept secret by the Imperial Fleet for some weeks now," the admiral began. He looked up from the globe and at his battle-wizard, who sat in expectant silence. "You are aware that I have developed an interest in a human named Teldin Moore, who arrived on the Rock a few days ago on the hammership we were trailing. You were present when I spoke of the history of his cloak and gave him directions to Ironpiece and places beyond to aid his search for the Spelljammer. I believe our battle has proven that there are others who are also interested in the cloak of Teldin Moore, and those forces are as dangerous as any we could hope to meet."

"My admiral," interrupted Mirandel. "Is it not possible that the humanoids were already on their way to attack Iron-piece, and we were merely in their way?"

"No. The humanoid fleet has neither transports nor landing craft for armies. There are few worlds known to be inhabited by orcs or other lower humanoids in this sphere, and none of them have achieved spelljamming ability. The humanoid fleet originated from outside this sphere, but it is probably-supplied from a base within. Its presence on an intercept course with the hammership Probe could not have been coincidence." Cirathorn smiled, "I cannot believe that more than two dozen humanoid ships would waylay a hammership out of a sense of common piracy. I cannot prove it, but I believe they were after Teldin's cloak, too."

"How can you be sure, my admiral?"

"The cloak is valuable to many others already," said the admiral, looking down at the heavy globe again. "The lying neogi, several groups of pirates, and the mind flayers of the world Falx also seek this cloak. If some reports are to be believed, perhaps even the arrogant reigar are seeking it. All such forces have been able to locate the cloak, through either spies or some other means." He gently tapped the crystal ball with a fingernail. "This is the means."

The battlewizard frowned and appeared confused. "My admiral, if seeking the cloak were merely a matter of looking into a crystal ball, I would think the cloak would have been discovered many centuries ago."

"I agree, but there was one element missing. The key was discovered by an elven wizard named Vallus Leafbower, who was once the helmsman of the Probe before it landed on Toril. Vallus had once been allowed to touch and examine the cloak. With the assistance of another elven wizard in the city of Rauthaven, he found that, after scrying for the cloak in a magical mirror, he was able to find it and its wearer with ease, without the need for a spell or device. The key was to touch the cloak before divining its location with magic. Some connection is made by the touching, and it lasts beyond normal magical limits once the scrying contact has been made. Vallus knew, without failure, where Teldin Moore was at any time, and he was even able to track the man while he was disguised by the powers of the cloak. Vallus delivered a warning to Teldin to go to Evermeet and speak with the Imperial Fleet there. Teldin Moore chose to ignore that advice, instead fleeing into wildspace."

Cirathorn looked at Mirandel with cold eyes. "I do not know if scrying upon the cloak involves any sort of risk. Vallus Leafbower's discovery was felt to be important enough to deliver to as many Imperial Fleet regions as possible, using every sort of spell and ship available. The admirals of every sphere were warned to look for a human of Teldin's description, one who always wore either a cloak or a silver necklace. If Teldin should appear, and if his story matched in some part the events that Teldin Moore related to us at that dinner, then we were to give him every assistance to his goal, with the encouragement to allow the Imperial Fleet to transport and protect him.

"You recall that some weeks ago I warned you and the rest of the staff to look for such a person. The sentry at the embassy door had explicit instructions to admit anyone who answered to this human's description and asked for the assistance of the fleet. I took a chance that if Teldin Moore were to appear on the Rock of Bral, he would come without disguise and would be in need enough to give us his trust. The gods blessed us, and that is why we are here now."

The battlewizard licked her bloodless lips. "Is it the will of the gods, or merely your own, my admiral?"

The admiral gave her a faint smile. "Am I so transparent, my eyes like windows to your own? I do want that cloak, though I will not stoop to bloodshed to obtain it. Surely you know of the old poems, Mirandel, of the Cloak of the First Pilot, and the legends of the Spelljammer. Why do you think I want the cloak?"

She swallowed. "Power," she said quietly.

"Exactly," said the admiral. "The cloak grants control over the Spelljammer- the largest, most powerful, and most dangerous ship in existence, a ship that some legends say once belonged to our people, Mirandel. A ship against which no evil could stand. A ship with which we could bring the Imperial Fleet's rule to all worlds in all spheres."

The woman's face was very pale. "My admiral," she said in a small voice. "There are tales of the Spelljammer, which you must have heard as well, of the curse it casts over all who try to take it, and the evil that befalls those who even see it."

"We have already fallen into evil times," the admiral said bluntly. "We will have worse times to come. The neogi have almost certainly handled the cloak in the recent past, as so many of their ships are now following the cloakbearer's trail. The mind flayers are probably using spies. Some neogi may have been captured by other forces and are being forced to lead their new masters to this ultimate treasure. Vallus Leaf-bower reported that pirates off Krynn were able to locate the gnomish sidewheeler on which Teldin traveled, and no one knows how they were able to find him. Now, with these humanoids, we will face enemies beyond counting, foes who have many reasons to hate us just because we are elves. I assume they are on Teldin's trail, too."

The admiral looked into the green eyes of his battlewizard. "We could turn away from Teldin Moore and his cloak," he said. "Our people have always been willful and have done as they pleased. We could save ourselves and say the Imperial Fleet be damned, and only I would suffer for it, and perhaps not even then. Who could say?"