Pathway

Ju Feng tensed when Chang Chang and Druya came out of the hall with the yaomo in tow. Abron and Obarn cursed and gripped their weapons. Ongara turned away in disgust.

"I can't wait to hear this." 

Ju Feng said, raising an eyebrow and looking concerned at Chang Chang.

"Don't blame me, Feng. I never ask for the sort of trouble that follows me around like a plague, do I?" 

Chang Chang said, putting a hand on her hip. She related Gallazza's request quickly. Then, she added. 

"The king can decide what's best to do. We need to get to him, quickly."

"You can use the stone flyers," Abron said. "This way."

He led them over the bridge to a set of caves in the back of the cavern wall. Iron bars set across the entrances kept in two massive creatures with skin made of stone. To Chang Chang, they vaguely resembled wolves with wings folded alongside their flanks. Abron spoke to the beast-tamer and got the keys to one of the pens.

"The rest of them are already being used by the army. These are older, but the stable man says they'll fly true. The king'll be at the front of the army near the main gate," 

He told them as he swung open the door to the pen. He raised a hand and spoke soothingly to the stone creatures, who watched the group warily. Stroking the necks of two of the beasts, he led them out of the pen. 

"Obarn," he said to his son, "you carry the yaomo."

"I want to go too," Chang Chang said. "Will they carry Ju Feng and I?"

"Can you ride a horse well?" Ongara asked, looking concerned.

"Yes," Chang Chang said.

"That'll help," Abron said. "We've trained them as aerial cavalry. They'll follow a leader, and Obarn's riding one of the ones we've trained to lead. Guide them only when you have to. They know what they're about. Just be careful."

"I will," Chang Chang promised.

Obarn mounted the lead flyer, and Gallazza crawled up behind him, being careful not to touch the dwarf but instead holding on to the raised stone ridges along the beast's flank. Chang Chang and Ju Feng mounted the second flyer. The roughness of the flyer's stone skin scratched and caught at her breeches. Could statues fly?

She wrapped her arms around Ju Feng's waist for balance and held the Arcane Script Sphere tightly in the other. Seeing the discomfort, she deposited the artifact in her spatial bag. The lupine creature rocked back and spread its wings. A weight pressed down on Chang Chang as the creature's wings came down, lifting them off the ground. Beating its wings furiously, the flyer took off, gaining momentum as the cavern floor disappeared beneath them. In a breath, the weight lifted, and a light, giddy sensation clawed at Chang Chang's stomach. She tightened her grip on Ju Feng's waist. It was then she noticed how rigid he sat on the flyer's back, as if he, too, were made of stone. They were very high up in the air.

"Sorry," Chang Chang said, wincing as she looked down at the stone buildings passing beneath them. "I never expected we'd be doing this."

"I've been in worse situations. Although this whole adventure is starting to look a little bit mad from where I'm sitting."

Ju Feng replied as a gust of wind hit them, and the flyer changed direction slightly. Ju Feng put up a hand to hold the reign in place. Below them, the army assembled before the main gate. Other flyers hovered in the air in formations of ten and twenty beasts, flying their own banners and following a single lead. Mystical projectiles arranged in a semicircle near the main gate stood poised to fire. The king stood near one of the constructs, surrounded by a group of scouts.

Soldiers looked up and saw the flyers descending. They hurried to clear a path, but several pointed at the yaomo and murmured in alarm. Chang Chang wondered briefly if they'd made a miscalculation, bringing Gallazza into the middle of the army. There was a chance the dwarves would slay the yaomo on sight. Then they landed, and Chang Chang had no more time for doubts.

The king must have seen them approach as well, for he pushed through the crowd when the flyers' feet hit the ground. 

"What is this, Obarn?" he growled, pointing at Gallazza.

"Ask her," Obarn said in Common.

Chang Chang flinched as the gazes of hundreds of dwarf soldiers and their king turned her way. Surprisingly, Gallazza spoke.

"I have what you wanted." 

She said to the king. She paused briefly. 

"I can tell it to you, or you can rip it from my mind—more damage won't matter."

"Speak." 

The king said bluntly.

"The sovereign's armies will distract your forces while her infiltrators seek out the Arcane Script Sphere. When they find it, and me, they will use my body and the sphere as a conduit for a ritual that will aid in the creation of a new Weave, reshaped by Arkhat's power. She will become the new divine of mystical essence after the demise of Mystra."

Chang Chang gasped. She looked at Ju Feng who was completely shocked. She turned to the yaomo. 

"Can she do that? A demoness sovereign becoming a divine? The sheer power involved …"

"Preparations are being made in yaomo cities all throughout the Underground. Artifacts, powerful tools of arcane might, are being gathered by the faithful. The Arcane Script Sphere bears a piece of Mystra's essence and memory, and my body and mind are the union of male and female, arcane and divine. I would have been the nexus for the power the first maiden intends to channel. At least that was her intention."

"Was?" 

King Laggarma asked, gazing at Gallazza narrowly.

"All I want now is to go free, away from this city, away from Whuji, away from every living thing. I have lived as a male. I am already tainted. I will not be Arkhat's sacrifice."

King Laggarma raised an eyebrow. "And if you're lying? What if you're captured again? Why shouldn't we kill you to make sure Lolth's plan doesn't come to pass?"

Chang Chang spoke up. 

"I believe Gallazza speaks the truth." 

"Why? Because of what you saw in her mind? She could spin lies to ensnare you too. Be careful with your compassion."

King Laggarma stared sharply at Chang Chang. 

"Not just because of what was in her thoughts. I saw it in her eyes, the same shadow I saw over Druya—and in me. I know what it's like to grieve the loss of your goddess, whether by death, betrayal, or simply never knowing her at all."

Chang Chang replied as she met Gallazza's feverish gaze. Slowly, she continued. 

"The yaomo betrays her people because she herself has been betrayed."

The king considered Gallazza. The lines around King Laggarma's face had deepened, and he moved more slowly than he had before, but Druya was right. A new fire kindled in his eyes. He clapped his hands together and grinned. 

"So be it, then. We'll have a hell of a fight, and you'll have your freedom. Dorla!" the king cried. "Prepare the doors, and sound a call to march."

"You're opening the doors?" Chang Chang said.

"Aye," King Laggarma said, smiling wickedly. "We have guests, so it's only right that we surge out the doors at full strength to meet them. With a bit of luck, we'll be able to circle around and flank the dark elf forces at the western wall. Numbers mean less when you're surrounded, trapped like rats in a tiny hole."

"Won't you leave the city open to invasion?" Ju Feng asked.

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" 

King Laggarma asked, giving a faint smile. 

"Too bad we haven't got flyers poised above the city," he waved at the stone beasts hovering overhead, "or a thousand more dwarves hiding in the homes and temples all along the river."

"You have more soldiers than those assembled here? But your numbers—"

Chang Chang said in bewilderment. 

"The yaomo aren't the only ones able to deceive." 

King Laggarma said. 

"They use dreams and illusions to make us think their numbers are overwhelming. I told every one of my warriors that if they were captured and interrogated, to say that Myria's numbers were less than a third of what they actually are. Oh, we're still outnumbered and probably outmatched, too, but we'll give them a surprise or two that might give us the edge we need to win. I'll be defending the city as well."

The king looked at Chang Chang whose eyes widened in shock. He truly was going to reveal himself. Heavens tears, they might win the battle yet.

In the distance, a horn blared, a loud, ominous sound that drew the attention of the assembled army. The soldiers around Chang Chang raised their weapons and pounded fists once against their chests.

"It's started.The yaomo are here." 

King Laggarma said aloud. He gestured impatiently to Gallazza. 

"You're with me. The rest of you know your stations. Go, be safe, and fight with the Blackhorns." 

The king said. He nodded to Chang Chang briefly. Then he was gone. 

Chang Chang and Ju Feng hastily mounted the stone flyer again as one by one the doors to the city opened, and the army marched to meet the yaomo.