The three walked silently along the shore of Lake Tonnigat, the atmosphere deeply strange.
Lake water lapped against the gravel on the shore with a dull, monotonous sound. Wind blew in from the lake, carrying a strong fishy smell and the stench of rotting corpses.
At first, Weapon Master Nightwind's sudden appearance had made Renato's heart sink.
Had Quelyn discovered their escape plan already? If it were only a squad of soldiers and a High Priestess, I could still fight my way out with my armor and sword, backed by the Mind Flayer's psionic cover.
But with a Legendary Warrior blocking the way too, our chances would probably...
Aknath's subsequent conversation with the Inquisitor, however, had allowed Renato to breathe a sigh of relief.
The Weapon Master had taken the initiative to excuse their actions, even inventing an order from Quelyn to convince the other party that this was merely a mistake in the Nightwind Family's internal personnel assignments.
Even the most fanatical Inquisitor had to calm down and speak reasonably in the presence of this renowned Legendary Warrior.
And with the Nightwind Family currently in power, Quelyn was, in a sense, one of the Inquisitors' superiors.
Thus, after a brief exchange, Aknath had led the pair out of the cordoned-off area and toward Lake Tonnigat, in the opposite direction from the Ruling Council.
Once his relief subsided, doubts filled Renato's mind again.
If Quelyn hadn't sent him, why had Aknath helped me out? What exactly did this Weapon Master want?
In Drow society, kindness without personal gain did not exist. Such behavior ran entirely contrary to the way things worked in Sammoril.
With anyone else, Renato would probably have suspected some greater conspiracy. But this was Aknath. Weapon Master Nightwind had always been an outlier among the Drow, and