“Wonk  Wonk!!!”

 

“So that’s how you planned to do it all along.”  Valet stood feeding goji berries to Serina’s little pet, Blinky.  “I wondered how you were going to send your letter to Garain when none of us know where the rift has sent us.  Now I see:  Blinky will take the letter to Serina and Serina will forward it to the Temple.”

 

“Exactly.  Kord always provides.”  Said the Paladin.

 

“But how did you find him?”

 

“He delivered a note to Grizzlegar a few nights ago.  Since then, I’ve been leaving piles of goji berries around the spire.  I knew it was just a matter of time.”

 

“But…”

 

“As part of my training, I had to work with Master Namgibel in the stables.  He kept quite a few of these creatures, so I know they have a fondness for goji berries.  I developed quite a fondness myself, so I always keep some on my person.  As I said, Kord always provides.”

 

“Do you think he could deliver these as well?”  I quickly showed him the packet of letters to Menolly.

 

“I don’t see why not.  See he has a tiny pouch around his neck.  Anything you place inside of it instantly shrinks down to an almost weightless mass and it changes color to let Serina know there’s something inside it.”  I can only blame the lateness of the hour to explain why neither of us realized Blinky’s pouch could have been the answer to shrinking down the heart.  At any rate at that point it was still trapped in the cold fire.

 

I let Valet read the Numbilung letter.  Then he put it in the packet I was sending Menolly and placed all the letters in the pouch around Blinky’s neck.  The little creature flew up toward the ceiling and vanished.

 

“I wish we knew more about this Olu.”  I told the Paladin.

 

“From my studies at the Temple I remember he’s a fairly passive god.  He and his followers rarely involve themselves in the affairs of the living; it’s hard to say why they would resort to such a blatant act of vandalism.  Also we have to consider that this Numbilung creature is lying and only trying to curry favor with his friend the gold merchant.”

 

‘Still, we have the evidence of the defacement all over the spire and you can’t think it’s just a coincidence that the heart is trapped in cold fire.  I think it’s quite possible that something or someone else is active in this spire besides the vampires and whoever or whatever that is has co-opted at least one of the Olunese followers.”

 

“You shouldn’t cloud your mind with such speculation, Gerard.  Our main concern right now should be securing the Heart so we can take it out through the rift and back to the Temple.”

 

Since I knew that the Temple and the Mages were both claiming an interest in the Heart once we freed it from the rift (and even though I believed the Mages were the rightful owners), I decided it would be fruitless to argue with Valet on this point and changed the subject..

 

“I was fascinated to learn from your letter that you had bound Grizzle’s humanity to Pax…”

 

“Hey guys, you won’t believe what just happened!”  Jerro came running up to us from the direction of the Heart.  “I just cast Light on the Heart and it put out the Cold fire.  The Heart is free!”

 

“That’s wonderful news Jerro!”  Said Valet.

 

“Oh, for the love of Kord will you people please keep quiet!”  A sleepy Pax stumbled toward us rubbing her eyes.  “I finally get a chance to sleep and you guys just won’t shut up!”

 

“I’m so sorry for disturbing you, Lady Pax, but I suppose you heard Jerro has just brought us the best news!”

 

“Yeah, I heard, and now I suppose you want all of us to take the heart right this instant, and tromp back through these freaking catacombs so we make it back to the Temple before breakfast?”

 

“Actually, I just sent a message to Master Garion at the Temple.  Master Panril and the Mages should be here soon.  They may have a way to shrink the heart before we try to transport it.  In any event, we should all try to get more rest before they arrive.”

 

The cranky cleric left mumbling something under her breath. 

 

“Listen Valet.”  Said the wizard.  “I was wondering if you could do the same thing you were just talking to Gerard about.  Bind Yehia’s humanity to mine.”

 

“Well even if you’re willing to do that, I have to warn you, she may be too far gone.’

 

“Still, I’d like to try it.”

 

“Then I would be happy to do it for you.”

 

Jerro went to check on the Heart.

 

The Paladin and I exchanged niceties and parted ways, but as I was turning a corner I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Grizzlegar had approached Valet.  I couldn’t help myself; I had to listen in on their conversation:

 

“I need to have a word with you Bub.”

 

“Of course, what can I do for you?”

 

“I heard what you just said to Gerard and Jerro.  I want to know what you did to me and Pax!”

 

“During your marriage ceremony I bound your humanity to her.”

 

“And why did you do that?”

 

“If I hadn’t, there’s a good chance you would be a full vampire right now.”

 

“And what AM I now.  What does this mean for Pax and the babies?”

 

“For Pax and her babes things will pretty much continue as they were.  If, and Kord forbid it, they should die before we can bring your vampire side to bay; you shall become a full vampire with no hope.  But I tell you Master Shortenkord will do everything he can to eradicate your vampire curse.”

 

“Well I have to tell you, I don’t trust your Panril.”

 

“I don’t understand.  You seemed to have been moved by his words at the Temple and were ready to embrace the ways of Kord.”

 

“That was before I knew Panril had manipulated Gerard’s memories.  I can not follow a man or a god that would do such a thing.”

 

I wanted to tell Grizzle that I had found out from Plinth that Panril was not the guilty party.  In fact there were two others who were responsible:  Kerris and Rogard.  Kerris had made me forget my time with the Game Master and Rogard had covered up his part in my father’s plot to kill my cousin Revlis when Revlis was a baby.  I decided to keep to the shadows and continue to listen.

 

“I can’t tell you if Master Shortenkord altered Gerard’s memories.” Valet was saying.   “But if he did, he and Kord had good reason.”

 

“There is no good reason for that.  You’ll never convince me otherwise.  But I think I’ve figured out why you did the binding Ceremony:  It was to give me a choice.”

 

“That’s it exactly!  Now you don’t have to surrender to your vampiric nature.  You have a choice!”

 

“I see how that is a good thing obviously, but you still should have asked for my and Pax’s permission.”

 

“And for that, I heartily apologize.”

 

It was at this point that events began to take a lightning pace.

 

“Wonk! Wonk!”

 

Blinky appeared on Grizzle’s shoulder; closely followed by Serina , Alarick and Rogard; all of them appearing out of thin air.  Next came Panril and Garain.  I broke from my hiding place, ran up to Rogard and started accusing him of manipulating my mind.  He denied it of course but that didn’t matter.  I had done it for Grizzle’s benefit, and as we exchanged glances I knew the barbarian had heard and understood.  He could now make a clear choice concerning Kord.

 

The commotion had awoken a now very grumpy Pax, along with Jerro and Yesha who all joined us on the skywalk

 

And then Gulthias returned, accompanied by his last three vampire flunkies (the Mages would later explain that he had been using the Olunese sigils as scrying points to keep track of our position in the spire).

 

“Excellent, your party has done surprisingly well.  I shall take possession of the Heart now!” exclaimed the Litch (again, the Mages would afterward call into question whether Gulthias was a Litch at all).

 

“We are here to reclaim this Heart and return it to its rightful place within the Temple of Kord!”  Roared Panril.

 

Scanning the faces of the Mages I could tell that the Mages were not altogether happy about this proclamation, they wanted to lay claim to the Heart as well, but that would have to be sorted out later.

 

Jerro pulled a huge fireball from his cloak and threw it at the vampires.  It vaporized them instantly and I could see that it had even knocked Gulthias on his heels.  It also had the unintended consequence of killing Yesha, who then rose as a full vampire.  Pax quickly threw holy water on her and torched the body.

 

Jerro didn’t have anytime to grieve; Grizzlegar let out a howl and charged toward the wizard who had just killed the gnome’s sire.  Jerro cast confusion on Grizzle who reeled back and started to grapple with Panril.

 

Meantime Gulthias had somehow filled the chamber with wererats and turned to a gaseous state.  He started to float toward the heart.  He disappeared inside it.  Without thinking I and Valet jumped from the catwalk to the top of the heart and started looking for a way in. when we found one we entered and somehow Valet drove Gulthias back out.  He could not hold his gaseous state and collapsed to floor, but he pulled himself back up and conjured more minions shouting.  “Kill them all!!!”

 

This was the last straw for Grizzlegar, who had been sparing with Panril this whole time,  The prior had been fending him off and all the while urging him to fight his vampric nature.  Gulthias’ words had exploded in the barbarian’s head like a cannon.

 

“I refuse to be enslaved by anything or anyone ever again!!!”  He drew a medallion from his loincloth and I saw that it was emblazoned with the Symbol of Kord!  He laced it around his neck and it began to glow.  A beam of light shot from it and struck Gulthias. 

 

He was no more.

 

Panril was beaming with pride.  Kord had heard Grizzlegar’s declaration and blessed it. And to prove it the Symbol of Kord was burned into his chest.

 

I was so delighted to have a new Kordian Brother!!!