Over 


The day after they left the dragon's lair the trio encountered a small 
band of gnome warriors marching out of the mountains.  Fortunately, 
Eldrad was familiar with this particular group, having recently freed 
them from one of Ecthalion's many dungeons.  The gnomes were more than 
happy to join forces and their destination suited Sutekh; south and 
east to Celene.  
	Several days later they arrived at a small fortress, above 
which flew the banner of Celene.  Sutekh removed his blindfold, 
allowing Chirrrlup to return to his pouch, and sheathed his sword to 
become invisible.  Casting one of the few spells that he still 
remembered from his books, he took to the air.  
	Eldrad, Setara, and the gnomes approached and hailed the 
guards; humans.  After a short exchange the guards called for their 
elven captain.  The elf stepped to the wall and looked down upon the 
tired band.  At his gesture a guard handed him a bow and an arrow.  
The captain nocked the arrow, drew, and sighted on Eldrad even as 
Sutekh alighted on the wall.  
	"I am Sutekh ElfFriend."  Sutekh drew his sword to reveal 
himself.  
	"Sutekh!" the elf exclaimed.  Both the men atop the wall and 
the gnomes below dove for cover as the elf released bow and arrow 
simultaneously.  "We thought you were dead," the elf added, hugging a 
startled Sutekh so hard that the air was forced from the drow's lungs.  
	"What do you mean, you thought I was dead?" 
	"Well, you disappeared during the taking of Stoneheim.  Rumor 
has it that the greatest powers in Celene looked for you but could not 
find so much as a trace.  And you have been gone over a month now."  
	Sutekh's heart sank.  "They're friends of mine and could use 
your hospitality," he said, nodding to the group below.  
	"At once," the elf replied.  
	"And I have need of your fastest horse.  I must ride to the 
capital."  
	"You have it."  

As Sutekh strode through the corridors of Queen Yolande's palace, none 
hailed him or dared to slow his passage.  At last he stood before his 
goal and knocked lightly on the door.  
	"Come..."  Adaz hesitated.  "Come in."  
	Sutekh opened the door and stepped through.  Adaz stood in the 
center of the room and, as Sutekh closed the door, she sighed with 
relief.  "Lady Yolande informed me three days ago that you were alive, 
but I needed to see for myself."  
	"And now?" Sutekh asked.  
	Adaz closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  As she released 
it a slow smile lit her face.  "It is good to see you.  We were all so 
worried."  
	Sutekh closed the distance between them and they slowly 
embarrassed.  "What is wrong?" Sutekh asked when he felt a tear on his 
neck.  
	Adaz looked Sutekh in the eye, her own glittering.  "Please, 
please, take me away from here," she pleaded.  "I am going crazy.  
Nobody will talk to me and there is nothing to keep me busy.  Please, 
Sutekh."  
	Sutekh wiped a tear from her cheek.  "Adaz, I am only here for 
a few days, then I must be off to Fax and, eventually, Autumnwell."  
	"I don't care, just take me with you."  
	Sutekh shook his head.  "Adaz, I can't.  We will be traveling 
fast and magically at times.  There is a limit to how many can go.  I 
should be back within a month, and then we can go anywhere you want."  
	"I won't last a month!" Adaz cried.  
	"Adaz, the war is over and I am still alive.  I did not think 
that such would ever be.  Everything will work out now, I just need a 
month or so to finish things."  
	Her eyes downcast, Adaz moved across the room and sat on the 
padded divan.  Sutekh thought for a moment, then reached into a pouch 
and withdrew Chirrrlup.  The small ferret blinked and stretched.  He 
did not care for the daylight, yet for the past week he had been 
Sutekh's eyes under the sun.  Now he was trying to get some much 
deserved rest.  Sutekh clearly felt in his mind Chirrrlup's 
displeasure at being disturbed.  
	"It's important," Sutekh explained to Chirrrlupn as he moved
to sit next to Adaz.  "Adaz, I understand that it will be a long
month for you, but maybe if Chirrrlup stays, it will be easier."  
	The discomfort Sutekh felt in his mind turned to dismay.  
Ecthalion had separated Sutekh from his familiar for nearly two weeks, 
and Chirrrlup made it clear did not like the idea of it happening 
again.  Sutekh silenced the protests with a thought.  
	"Very well," Adaz resigned herself to her fate.  "He's a 
better conversationalist than the elves."  
	"Good.  Rest assured, I will make it as short a journey as 
possible.  Now, I had better visit Lady Yolande.  She is probably 
waiting."  

Sutekh opened the door to his room at Autumnwell.  He threw back the 
lid of a dust covered chest and gazed lovingly at its contents.  
Taking one of the huge books from within, he sat down on the bed and 
put flame to a candle.  With a great feeling of relief he opened the 
book and fondly browsed through the spells he had been without for so 
long.  The next morning he walked willingly into the sunlight, his 
eyes once again protected by magic.  
	Sutekh sought out the clerics of Delleb, hoping they knew of 
some place where his skills might be of service for a year or two.  He 
was not disappointed.  
	"Also," Sutekh said to the curate.  "I would like to give you 
this.  I stole it from an evil wizard some years ago and have long 
since learned all I could from it."  Sutekh withdrew a huge tome from 
a pack he carried and placed it before the holy man.  "I thought that,
perhaps, you would know someone who could use it.  Failing that, sell
it and it will more than pay for the rebuilding of Autumnstead."
	The curate accepted the book with a smile.  "It should indeed, 
but you needn't feel guilty about not being here, Sutekh.  There would 
still have been a battle."  
	"Well," Sutekh said as he turned to leave, ignoring the final 
words of the curate.  "I thank you for the information.  I believe I 
will take advantage of it.  Good day.  I shall stop by on the morrow 
before I leave."  Sutekh started out the door, but then recalled 
another reason for visiting the priest.  
	"Oh, I nearly forgot.  Ecthalion took the necklace you that
gave me all those years ago.  Perchance, do you have another sign of
Delleb that I might have?"
	The curate thought for a moment, then smiled.  "I believe I 
have just what you need."  Opening a large box, the priest moved the 
contents around, then removed a silver necklace bearing the symbol of
Delleb.  "Here," he said as he handed it to Sutekh.  "Now the
blessing of Delleb will be with you always."  
	Puzzled by the curate's words, Sutekh examined the symbol that 
dangled from the chain.  On a hunch he spoke the words of magic over 
it.  The magical symbol glowed in response to the spell.  

"Well, Caleb, this is probably the last you shall see of me for some 
time," Sutekh told Autumnwell's new master.  "You should be pleased."  
	"I am," Caleb responded without hesitation.  "However, I do 
have a gift for the Lady Adaz."  Curious, Sutekh followed Caleb to the 
stables where the priest showed him a horse.  "It's not just any 
horse," Caleb explained.  "It has been trained not to shy or rear.  In 
short, it has no spirit and little fear.  Considering Adaz's 
condition, it is the perfect steed for her on the journey the two of 
you are about to embark on."  
	Sutekh was surprised and, momentarily, speechless.  "Caleb, I 
thank you.  It is a gift, indeed."  He extended his hand to the 
priest.  "If you ever have need of a thief you can trust, call on me 
and I shall be at your command."  Then Sutekh smiled and added, "For 
Bernaldo's sake, of course."  
	"Of course."  Caleb returned the smile and excepted the hand.
"I would not have it any other way."  

Adaz and Sutekh sat together on the divan in her chambers.  Chirrrlup 
was curled up in his master's lap.  
	"They had looted the palace at Stoneheim and came away with an 
incredible collection of treasure," Sutekh explained.  "The gold is 
necessary for rebuilding, so we got little of that.  However, magical 
items aren't of much use when it comes to reconstructing cities, so 
those items taken from Stoneheim were used to reward us 'heroes.'" As 
usual he spoke the word with disgust.  "There was quite a collection 
to choose from, about fifteen of us were each allowed to choose three 
items.  I managed to come away with this..."  Sutekh held up a ruby 
wand.  "Fire magic.  A splurge on my part, really; however, since I've 
never been very good at fire magic..."  Sutekh shrugged and put away 
the wand.  "I also got a net of some sort.  I'm hoping it will be 
useful in my line of work."  
	"And what of your last pick?" 
	"I gave it to Eldrad, along with my last death-magic quarrel."  
Sutekh sighed.  "Quite frankly, I'm glad to have gotten rid of that 
responsibility."  
	"Doubtless, it is a responsibility Eldrad was happy to take 
on."  
	"No," Sutekh replied quickly.  "What I see as a 
responsibility, Eldrad sees as power.  That is the difference between 
us.  Remember it should you two ever meet."  
	Adaz nodded.  "What did you get from Eldrad?" 
	Sutekh smiled and picked up Chirrrlup.  "In your pouch is a 
bundle of cloth," Sutekh told his familiar.  "Bring it here, please."  
	Puzzled, Adaz watched the ferret bounce across the room to 
where Sutekh's weapon belts were.  Chirrrlup disappeared inside the 
pouch, then emerged dragging a bundle as large as himself.  After 
trodding on his burden several times, he finally made it back to his 
master.  Sutekh picked up both Chirrrlup and the bundle, handing the 
latter to Adaz.  "A gift of practicality, oh ever-expanding one," he 
said with a smile.  
	Adaz narrowed her eyes at Sutekh, but proceeded to unwrap the 
package.  Inside was a matched pair of bracers.  "Keeps the manticore 
spikes away," he explained, clicking his own bracers together.  
	"Practical indeed; I thank you."  
	"I also have a gift for Lady Yolande."  Sutekh produced a 
sapphire and handed it to Adaz.  
	"It is beautiful!" she exclaimed after a few moments of dazed
silence.  "I have never seen a gem cut so wonderfully."  
	"Yes, but that's just it.  That gem is from the island of 
Saphos and has never been cut.  You see it as it was originally found.  
A mere gem would mean little to a queen, but sapphires such as this 
one are held sacred by Delleb's clerics.  It is thought that they aid 
in the understanding of problems."  
	"I see.  So, if you can afford this, how much gold did they 
give you?" 
	"Not much, I'm afraid; and I've already used a good bit of it.  
More will be used in the making of my new spell books, too."  
	"How much?" 
	"Seven percent divided among fifteen people," Sutekh said as 
he reached down and, bringing up a small sack that he had kept hidden 
beside the divan, dumped its contents into Adaz's lap.  Adaz's mouth 
fell open.  Her lap was not covered with coins, but with scores of 
precious stones and exquisite gems.  "About twenty-thousand orbs worth 
remaining," Sutekh said as he reached over and gently closed Adaz's
mouth.  "It should get us where we are going."  
	"And where are we going?" Adaz asked when she finally 
recovered from the shock of the wealth in her lap.  
	"To the lands of Sanctuary, the chief temple of Delleb.  It 
lies in northern Furyondy.  I'm told that they just might have a use 
for two such as us."  


						Jeff Stehman