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must find Mina and bring her back here to the temple. If I m& not around& the Abbot will know what
to do.
Nightshade s lower lip started to tremble.  Rhys, don t make me 
Rhys smiled.  Nightshade, I m not making you do anything. I m asking you as a friend.
Nightshade glared at him.
 That s not fair! he said crossly.  All right, I m going. He shook his finger at Rhys.  But before I go
chasing after that brat, I m going to find someone to help you! Then I ll look for Mina. Maybe, he added
under his breath.
He cast a quick glance at Krell, who was still unconscious, but probably wouldn t be for much longer.
Once the spell wore off, Krell would feel strong as ever and twice as mad, and three times more
determined to kill Rhys.
 Atta, you stay with him, Nightshade said, petting the dog.
 Atta, go with Nightshade, Rhys ordered.
The dog sprang to her feet and shook herself all over. Nightshade cast Rhys one last glance, begging
him to reconsider.
 Don t worry about me, my friend, Rhys said, reassuring.  I am in Majere s care. Go find Mina.
Nightshade shook his head and then ran off. He followed the direction Mina had taken, which was, of
course, the very worst direction possible. She d run out the front of the temple, heading right for the
street and the battle.
Nightshade raced heedlessly through the garden, with Atta running behind, both of them trampling the
flowers and vegetables that were all covered with soot anyway. He could barely see anything in the
smoke, and it made him cough. He kept running, coughing and waving his hand at the smoke. Atta was
snorting and sneezing.
When he reached the street, he was thankful to find the air was clearer. The wind was blowing the
smoke in a different direction. Nightshade searched for Mina and, more important, someone to save
Rhys.
That was going to prove difficult. Nightshade came to a dead stop and stared in dismay. Temple Row
was clogged with people fighting, and things were in such confusion he couldn t make out which side was
which. Men wearing the livery of the town guard were trying to bring down a raging minotaur. Not far
from them, paladins of Kiri-Jolith in their shining armor battled spell-chanting clerics wearing black robes
and hoods. All around him, people lay on the ground, some of them shrieking in pain, others not moving.
The fires still burned. As Nightshade watched, the temple of Sargonnas collapsed in a heap of burning
rubble and flames flared from the roof of the temple of Mishakal.
Nightshade looked for Mina, but what with the crowd and the melee and the confusion and the
lamentable fact that he was about eye-level with people s bellies, he couldn t see her anywhere.
 If she had any sense, she wouldn t run out there in the midst of a raging battle. But then, he
reminded himself glumly,  this is Mina we re talking about.
And Rhys was lying, bound and helpless, in the temple, and Krell might be awake by now.
A minotaur soldier fighting a black-robed cleric hurtled toward him, making Nightshade scramble
backward to avoid being clubbed, and he fell into the gutter. Lying here, he concluded that lying on the
ground was safer than standing, and he rolled behind a hedge. Atta hunkered down with him. He was
angry with himself. He was supposed to be finding Mina and saving Rhys and instead he was languishing
in a gutter. Gerard must be out here somewhere. Or the Abbot. There had to be a way to find help. If only
he could get a better view of the street! He might climb a tree. He was starting to think about getting up
out of the gutter when he felt something crawling down the back of his neck. He reached around and
grabbed hold of it and there was a grasshopper.
And that gave Nightshade an idea. He looked down at the grasshopper pin on his chest.
 Mina said something about jumping. I guess it can t hurt to try. I wonder if I m supposed to pray? I
hope not, because I m not very good at it.
Nightshade unpinned the little golden grasshopper and clasped his hand tightly around it. He bent his
knees and jumped.
Looking around, he found himself high above the roof of the temple. He was so astonished and
excited that he forgot what he was supposed to be doing, and he was heading downward before he
remembered. He was afraid that the landing was going to be rough, but it wasn t. He landed lightly as a
grasshopper.
Nightshade jumped again, finding it immensely exhilarating. He went higher this time, way above the
temple roof, and as he looked down on the bloody turmoil in the streets with what he imagined was a
god s-eye view, he thought,  Wow, don t we look stupid. He waved at Atta, who was running back and
forth below him, barking frantically at him, as he looked for Mina or Gerard or the Abbot.
He didn t see them, but he did see a person wearing red robes standing calmly beneath a tree,
watching the battle with interest.
Nightshade couldn t see the person clearly, due to the smoke, but he hoped it might be one of the
priests. Once back on the ground, Nightshade gave the grasshopper a  thank-you pat and thrust it into a
pocket. Then he dashed toward the person in red, shouting  help as he ran, and waving his arms.
The person saw him coming and immediately raised both hands. Blue lightning crackled from the
fingers, and Nightshade skidded to a halt. This was not a priest of Majere. This was a Red Robe wizard.
 Don t come any closer, kender, the wizard warned in dire tones.
The wizard s voice was a woman s, deep and melodious. Nightshade couldn t see her face, which was
shadowed by her cowl, but he recognized the sparkling rings on her fingers and the sumptuous red velvet
of her robes.
 Mistress Jenna! he cried, limp with relief.  I m so glad it s you!
 You re Nightshade, aren t you? she asked, astonished.  The kender Nightstalker. And Lady Atta.
She greeted the dog, who growled and wouldn t come near her.
The lightning shooting from her fingers had ceased to crackle, and she held out her hand to him to
shake. But Nightshade regarded her doubtfully and put his hands behind his back, just in case any flesh-
sizzling magic was left over.
 Mistress Jenna, I need your help  he began, when she interrupted him.
 What in the name of Lunitari is going on here? she demanded.  Have the people of Solace gone
stark, raving mad? I was looking for Gerard, and I was told I might find him here. I heard there was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]