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littered with sheaves of parchment. The ones on top were illegible, spattered with blood, but those below were unstained. Several showed schematic drawings of the interior of the High Tower. Mari realized that they were plans for an attack. “Look at these, Caledan. The Zhents were plotting to take over the city. These plans prove—”
    “Mari.”
    Caledan’s voice was low and quiet, but the tension in it made her freeze.
    “Mari, I want you to turn around. But do it very slowly. Do you understand?”
    She nodded jerkily. Then, as slowly as she could, she spun around.
    They were streaming out of the shadows that filled the far end of the chamber. Dozens of them. Even as they drew near, Mari could not identify them. They reminded her of sea creatures she had once seen off the coast of Amn, far to the south. Raystingers, the creatures were called—flat, boneless animals that floated in the warm tides, trailing whiplike tails barbed with poison. These things that drifted out of the shadows toward the two Harpers were not so different from raystingers, except they were dark as obsidian, and were floating on thin air, not water.
    Heart pounding, Mari followed Caledan’s lead, backing slowly toward the door. Suddenly, she felt something cold and slick brush against her hand. She gasped, looking down to see one of the dark creatures float past her and move toward the others. She twisted around. More of the things rose from a shadowed corner behind her. They spilled out of the darkness and streamed silently past. Their touch made her flesh crawl, yet they did not harm her. She saw that the creature’s touch had left a red smear on her hand. Blood.
    “By Milil, what are they?” she gasped.
    Caledan’s halting reply came from behind her. “I don’t… I don’t know. Perhaps the Zhentarim conjured them, but the spell of binding went awry, and the things turned on the Zhents. I …” There was a pause. Then Caledan’s voice came again, a hoarse whisper. “Mari, help me…”
    Dozens of the dark creatures had surrounded Caledan. They drifted around him like a dense black vapor. Caledan gazed at Mari, face pallid, eyes shining with terror. The creatures circled him slowly, brushing gently past his hands and letting their long tails slip softly around his neck in movements that seemed almost’Jike caresses.
    Caledan shuddered uncontrollably. Finally he could remain still no longer. “Get away from me!” he hissed, lashing out with an arm.
    Like a cloud of smoke, the creatures swirled away from him. The dark mass drifted apart. Caledan stared in amazement, then lurched forward. He grabbed Mari’s wrist. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Choked by fear, Mari could barely voice the words. “The door… they’re blocking it.”
    A score of the amorphous black creatures had drifted before the open portal. The fear in Caledan’s eyes was
    quickly usurped by rage. He shook a fist at the nameless creatures, snarling. “Let us pass!”
    At once, like a curtain of black velvet, the creatures parted before the doorway, leaving room to pass. Caledan pulled Mari’s arm. “Come on!”
    She froze, staring at him. She was struck by a sudden, inexplicable fear. At that moment, Caledan seemed as alien as the jet-black blobs that floated before them.
    “What’s wrong with you?” he growled, tugging at her arm.
    It was irrational—perhaps even mad—but he frightened her as much as the unnameable creatures. She tried to pull away, but he held her tight. At last she managed to speak. “They … they listen to you. They obey your commands.” She felt dizzy and ill. “But why … ?”
    Caledan’s eyes were wild with urgency. “What does it matter?” he shouted at her. “The way is open. We have to go!”
    This time he pulled her hand so fiercely it seemed to nearly dislocate her shoulder. Brilliant pain flared, but she welcomed it, for it cleared her head. Later she could deal with what had just occurred between Caledan and the