Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin by Jaleigh Johnson

Author:Jaleigh Johnson [Johnson, Jaleigh]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Published: 2024-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

Anson stared at the Ruinous Child lying open on the table, the inscription laid bare like a curse. This was what his brother was involved in—a chain of liches going back to the time of Netheril? How was he supposed to begin to untangle Valen from all of that?

Should he even try?

It was clear his brother had made his choice, and, advertent or not, that choice had set him against Anson. The pain of that burned in him like a poison, yet it was still so easy to slip into the memory of his little brother as a helpless child, before everything had gone wrong. Valen had needed Anson once.

Anson shook those thoughts away. The past was set. It couldn’t be changed. He had to focus on the here and now. His party was in danger, and Anson felt like that danger had increased exponentially now that the Ruinous Child was open.

Cazrin pulled the book toward her and began gingerly turning the pages, the expression on her face like that of a child given a key to a sweets shop. Even the wizard’s good nature and her tendency to see the best in everything couldn’t quell Anson’s fears that she was blinded to the book’s evil. A tangible sense of malice bled from the book’s pages, filling the small reading room.

Did either Tess or Cazrin sense it too? Breskid had left the room to consult with a colleague, giving them a few minutes alone.

“What do you make of it?” he asked Cazrin, snaring the woman’s attention as she paged through the book.

“It’s…overwhelming,” Cazrin said, and there was a reverent note in her voice. “The combination of languages, the dates of these earliest entries—there are even wards over some of the paragraphs. Imagine, abjuration magic at the sentence level!” She shook her head. “It’s going to take me months, if not years, to unravel all these secrets.”

Tess made an unhappy noise as she sat back down at the table. “We don’t have that kind of time,” she said. “We need to find out what Lorthrannan wants with the Ruinous Child.”

“What doesn’t he want?” Anson said, pointing to the book. “Breskid said this was written by an even more ancient lich. Lorthrannan could find any number of uses for it.”

“It could also have something to do with this Valindra Shadowmantle,” Cazrin suggested. “Her exploits are famed and dark, and if she’s a collector of Alagesheth’s work, Lorthrannan could be trying to acquire the book for her.”

“Or use it against her,” Tess mused.

And Valen and the Zhentarim obviously hoped to profit off of whatever Lorthrannan gained from the book, Anson thought.

“Just give me some time, and I’m sure I’ll be able to tell you more,” Cazrin said, with a pointed, hopeful glance at the door.

Anson got the hint and sighed. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you alone with that thing,” he said. “Now that it’s open, we don’t know what it might do.”

“I don’t like the feel of

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