Pathway

The king wiped his mouth and pushed his chair a little away from the table. 

"I see you have some sense in your head too." 

He stood up, moving restlessly around the table. "It's true Myria is under attack. Yaomo and yaoguai scouting patrols and small advance forces of slaves and monsters target our outposts, each assault more aggressive than the last. They spread out the attacks in order to take advantage of our inferior numbers. We're losing even small skirmishes, forced to seal off tunnels to prevent access to the city, letting them drive us back behind our stone doors. We're as rats herded to one big hole. They're just waiting for the right time to bring their wrath down on us." 

The king slammed his fist on the tabletop, rattling the cups and bowls, spilling his own wine cup.

"Why attack you now?" 

Chang Chang asked. 

"Your underground city has stood for centuries. What do the yaomos and yaoguai gain by mounting this offensive?"

"We captured one of their advance scouts," 

Laggarma said. 

"What little information we've been able to get from him tells us they're after an artifact, a powerful sentient item that channels arcane power. Sound familiar?"

"The Arcane Script Sphere," 

Ju Feng said, understanding at last. 

"Small wonder you were so suspicious when we told you we sought the item as well. In truth, we know little about it."

"That much is clear." 

The king said. He righted his wine cup but left the red stain untouched on the table. 

"The Arcane Script Sphere is an heavenly treasure. It contains a piece of the dead divine Mystra. A small piece, mind you—a sliver of memory and personality, but even a fragment of a divine holds terrible power, for it also contains a bit of her Silver Fire, which it imparts to wielders the divine deems worthy. With power such as that, it's likely you could shatter the greatest energy and tame the wildest magical powers."

Chang Chang swallowed, her throat gone dry as dust, but it was not the king's promise that the sphere could calm her wild magic that rocked her so. At the mention of the lost divine of silver-fire blood magic, Chang Chang felt a stirring in her gut, a sharp excitement. So much of her life would have been different, had the divine lived. The need to see the artifact, to touch an object connected to the divine of blood mystical arts, flared in Chang Chang. Would she feel that connection, however faint, with the lost Mystra? Would the Silver Fire truly stabilize her energy, prolonging her life? Since they couldn't cultivate like the soul and body cultivators.

Glancing at Ju Feng, Chang Chang saw the same desire that she felt lay bare on his face. She cleared her throat, and he schooled his expression. But not before Mith Barak saw it. 

"Perhaps we have something to offer each other." 

The shrewd king said before continuing. 

"I will not allow the Yaomo demons to herd and slaughter us. I've fought them for centuries in the Night Wars and always beat them back, but I don't have the numbers to drive them off any longer. There will be war, and I need warriors willing to fight for this city. You risked your lives fighting the yaomos alongside my kind, the dawnaxes. A family I respect a great deal."

"You want us to fight for Myria?" 

Chang Chang hadn't expected this—the proud dwarves, Obrin and the rest, asking for help from people like her? A child in many ways? Who was just at the lowest level of power?

"Not just in the battle that's coming," 

The king said, and when he looked at her with those shrewd silver eyes, Chang Chang felt a stirring of unease in her gut. 

"I want your particular talent: your mystical arts."

"No, your lordness." 

Ju Feng said immediately. 

"That would defeat the purpose. Her wild energy is what's killing her."

Chang Chang held up a hand to stop Ju Feng's protests. 

"What do you mean?"

"I told you we'd captured a yaomo scout," 

King Laggarma said.

"I pulled information about the enemy's plan from his mind, but still he hides secrets from me, protected by powerful magical arts. The only force I know of that's strong enough to penetrate this barrier is the Silver Fire, but as I said, the Arcane Script Sphere only confers this power on those it deems worthy. No one in this city has been able to call on it. You are human, a practitioner of the Art, and you seek the sphere for a worthy cause. It's possible the artifact might grant you the power. If so, you could use it on the yaomo for me."

"We don't know what the Silver Fire might do to Chang Chang." 

Ruen argued. 

"And it would probably kill the yaomo anyway."

"A risk I'll take," 

King Laggarma said.

"But one I won't," 

Ruen said. 

"Not where Icelin is concerned."

"I have much to offer in exchange." 

Laggarma said. 

"What if I gave you the Arcane Script Sphere? You would have the Silver Fire and perhaps the means of curing an artscar."

That shut Ju Feng up, but Chang  leaned forward, eying the king warily. 

"Why would you be so generous, gifting us with an artifact that the drow would invade your city to obtain?"

"Because my city stands on the verge of annihilation." 

King Laggarma said. His voice shook, and his silver eyes blazed with rage. 

"If I don't find out what the yaomos are plotting and find a way to stop it, my people will die. I'm willing to sacrifice a great deal to keep that from happening."

The king fell silent and looked at the three of them expectantly. Chang Chang realized he was waiting for an immediate answer—no, an immediate acceptance. He knew how much this chance meant to them. She'd admitted that it was a matter of life and death. How could they refuse? His confidence put Chang Chang on her guard, but a part of her wanted badly to accept. She had to bite back the words. An artifact with a piece of Mystra's memory.…

But to get it, she'd have to somehow prove herself worthy of the Silver Fire—and then be willing to unleash it. Her dream, the boardinghouse fire, was still fresh in her mind. That time, she hadn't intended any harm. This time it would be different. She'd be intentionally using unspeakably powerful magic that she had no idea whether she could control. Even the thought of doing so against a drow sickened her. She was tired of losing control, of unleashing killing force. She'd already done it too many times, injuring both her body and spirit.

Yet, what if she never had to feel her magic rage out of control ever again? She'd never risk hurting anyone else. What if that piece of Mystra and the Silver Fire were the key to everything?

At a loss, she looked at Ju Feng. 

"What do you think?"

"It's a risk." 

0Hhe said, and Chang Chang could see his inner struggle reflected in his muddy eyes, normally so difficult to read. 

"But it might be the best hope we have." 

He glanced at the king. 

"What if it doesn't work?" he asked. "If Chang Chang can't use the Silver Fire or break through this drow's magic, will you still honor your promise?"

"I will," the king said, "so long as you agree to help defend my city. The drow have stepped up their attacks in recent days. I expect the invasion to happen before Uktar is out."

"What happens if we don't agree," Chang Chang asked, "to any of it?"

"Then you're free to go," the king said. "You aided the dawnaxes against the yaomos. I'll consider that penance enough for your companion's desecration. But I don't truly believe you're going to refuse."

Chang Chang suppressed a shudder. This dwarf was a wily, ancient schemer. He had power, and he knew how to manipulate people. The meal, their conversation, all of it felt like a carefully constructed dance, a stage performance culminating in this moment. Chang Chang took a long drink of wine, held the cup in her hand, then set it carefully on the table. Her hand trembled, making ripples in the wine's surface, but she didn't care. 

"Before I decide, I want to talk to the." 

She said.

The king looked briefly surprised. "Why would you want to do that?" he asked.

"Because if I use the Silver Fire, there's a chance both of us will be killed," Chang Chang replied. "I want to talk to him first, to at least know who I risk killing."

"It won't make it any easier,"Ju Feng said.

"Maybe not, but those are my terms," said Chang Chang. "Take them or leave them, King Laggarma.."

"Done." 

The king proclaimed, and again the triumphant light came into his eyes. 

"You said you didn't know whether you were a guest in my city or a prisoner. Allow me to call you my guests and welcome you. I'll arrange for you to speak to the yaomo when you're ready."

Chang Chang tried to put aside the sense of foreboding that settled in her stomach. Everything was happening so quickly, and the king was being far too accommodating for her comfort. Yet his offer was too good, the chance too precious to just throw away.