Moving away from the brain pool where the Elder Brain lay, the two began checking their equipment.
Renato inspected his inner thighs, which the Mountain's Embrace did not cover, while Tristana drank a Healing Potion in advance.
When she learned that Klauthsura was about to disrupt the ritual, the female drow breathed a sigh of relief, only to tense up again.
"Mind flayers can't be trusted, Renato." Tristana looked toward the dragon sleeping in the brain pool and lowered her voice. "If Klauthsura really wants to destroy the Elder Brain and gain freedom, as it claims-"
She turned, her purple eyes meeting Renato's with a serious expression.
"Once the Elder Brain is dealt with, it'll definitely run off and abandon us... or worse." The priestess pressed her lips together and glanced at the slaves fighting the mind flayers. "This place is full of monsters and lunatics. We need to find our own way out."
"Perhaps we could negotiate with Gattholex? I've heard deep dragons are intelligent, natural-born rulers. We could manage these slaves for it..."
Renato had never liked thinking about how to spend his payment before finishing a job. Klauthsura had not even managed to undo the psionic ritual yet. Discussing this was premature.
Besides, according to what he had learned about dragonkind, negotiating with a true dragon required power and value equal to its own.
Otherwise, judging by the dragon jokes he had read in the Voice of the Dragon, adventurers whom dragons "toyed with" rarely met pleasant ends.
"Stop worrying about pointless things for now." Renato finished checking himself over. His armor was undamaged, with only faint traces of psionic scorching that wiped right off. "Klauthsura might not succeed. We may still have to deal with the Elder Brain ourselves."
"The Elder Brain is certain to lose.