Hand of Fire

Hand of Fire is the third and final book of Shandril's Saga by Ed Greenwood. 
==Summary==
While negotiating with a disguised Malaugrym, Mirt reveals he knows of his true nature and asks that Shandril Shessair and Narm Tamaraith not be attacked by any more Malaugrym. The Malaugrym reveals in turn that they have largely withdrawn from the hunt for spellfire. Meanwhile in Scornubel, Thoadrin of the Cult of the Dragon hires Marlel to seize Shandril, so that the Cult may have her spellfire. Shandril, at the Hidden House of Eveningstar, while a guest of Tessaril Winter, wakes up rudely to discover Vangerdahast at the foot of her bed; the mage conceals her and her husband Narm under spell-guise to make them look like priestesses of Chauntea. The two are instructed to go to Scornubel and join Orthil Voldovan's caravan to Waterdeep.
Tessaril leads them to Tombgate and through there to Tsarn Tombs, where she leaves them; while on the way to the ferry, Narm and Shandril are attacked by bandits, and her use of spellfire shatters her guise. They continue to Scornubel, while Tessaril sends a token to Lhaeo, calling for Sharantyr to join the couple and protect them. She's then visited by Azoun IV; he is briefly impersonated by a Malaugrym, who attacks when discovered, and is narrowly slain. Sharantyr receives the token and a bag of magical gems from Lhaeo, and is teleported to Tsarn Tombs. In Scornubel, Shandril and Narm stop at The Sun Over Scornubel, where they are ambushed by unknown assailants; Marlel rescues them and leads them to the Stormy Tankard, where they are ambushed anew. They find and meet Orthil Voldovan, and join his caravan. Meanwhile, two Zhentarim scriers, Korthauvar Hammantle and Hlael Toraunt, track down Shandril and Narm, learning of their trip to Scornubel.
At the caravan, Shandril and Narm meet the undercover harpers Arauntar and Beldimarr; Orthil Voldovan's caravan discovers a guard slain, their head incinerated with magic; unable to stop and investigate, lest the beasts of the Blackrocks attack in hordes, they make for Face Crag, growing ever more suspicious of Shandril. They make it before nightfall, but are ambushed within sight of the rock formation. Meanwhile, Sharantyr reaches Scornubel, where she makes her way to Belgon Bradaskor, a crime lord, and extracts his best horse and provisions to better catch up with Shandril as soon as possible.
Overnight, two men vanish, and Orthil's men search the wagons, finding nothing germane to the matter. They are ambushed along the way to Orcskull Rise, while Sharantyr defeats a small band of brigands. At Orcskull Rise, they're ambushed again during the night; Shandril uses her spellfire to heal Arauntar. Meanwhile in Waterdeep, Mirt manages to talk Paraster Montheir out of defaulting on payments owed with the help of Laeral Silverhand, who explains that Alustriel has been attacked by strange entities that are attracted to magic. Unknown to her, one of those entities, Evaereol Rathrane, once a Netherese mage from Jethaere, followed her there; it is repelled by Ieiridauna Amalree, Mirt's watchghost, but not before it learns of spellfire and decides to seek it out.
The caravan is ambushed again in the day after, close to Haelhollow; during the ambush, Aumlar Chaunthoun, disguised as Theldarace Norlaund, finecarver, casts a spell to listen in on Shandril's thoughts, and then another to slay everyone in the caravan. Meanwhile, Drauthtar Inskirl, the boss of Hlael and Korthauvar, confers with Hesperdan, the Old Man of the Zhentarim, a mage of almost unfathomable power, while his underlings disable Aumlar's spell. Aumlar is attacked in turn by a Red Wizard of Thay, Pheldred. He teleports himself to Shandril, and gets attacked by Narm, getting slain shortly after in the confusion.
Shandril's spellfire rages out of control from the fight, and she flies off; Narm follows her, and is followed by more Zhentarim agents, who are in turn followed by Arauntar and Beldimarr; the Harpers slay the Zhentarim, allowing Narm to carry her back to the caravan. Besmer Altuth, a brigand from Scornubel, is at that time fleeing justice after slaying a merchant for a wand of fireballs useable by anyone; he encounters Evaereol Rathrane, who devours all the energy from his wand, and gets killed by the warriors who are still after him. The caravan reaches Triel.
At Triel, Orthil Voldovan stops at Duskview House, where he hires new guards, and also gets slain, then impersonated, by a Red Wizard, Thavaun. Sharantyr, still pursuing Shandril, encounters Evaereol, and manages to overwhelm his absorbing ability, causing him to flee. Someone attempts to burn Narm and Shandril in their wagon, but fails. Marlel, instructed by a phantom voice, goes into Triel, which has been taken over by Red Wizards impersonating Elvar, the local ruler, and slays them. Sharantyr is then caught up with by Tornar of Scornubel, whom Belgon Bradaskor has commanded slay her; he leaves it at striking her with a poisoned dart, resolving to lie to Belgon about his success.
Passing Triel, the caravan is attacked once more; this time, the presence of Evaereol Rathrane quenches much of the magic being hurled, leading to far more dead wizards. Sharantyr catches up with the caravan, and accuses Orthil Voldovan of being an impersonator; after the fight, Shandril attempts to heal Beldimarr, but fails, slaying him instead. Someone backstabs Narm, and her spellfire goes haywire; she attempts to heal Narm, and completely loses control, unable to verify it's working. Laeral, Alustriel, Mirt, and Asper are summoned to her aid by Mystra. Evaereol Rathrane manages to feed on her haywire spellfire, only to discover itself overmatched, and destroyed by the flame. Feedback from the effect grants her knowledge of many things, and she begins a rampage.
Her first targets are Hlael Toraunt, and afterwards, she hurls herself transdimensionally to attack Drauthtar Inskirl; when she attempts to slay Hesperdan, he proves to be out of reach, even with all her power. She is then confronted by Laeral and Alustriel, but is only stopped when she decides to self-immolate and be at peace. Narm is broken by Shandril's passing, but is later visited by an apparition of her that claims she now serves Mystra being everywhere spellfire is used, bidding him find himself another wife and start a family, for he's still young.
==Index==
==Appendix==
===References===
Category:Novels
Category:Books
Category:Works by Ed Greenwood
Category:Published in 2002
Category:Published in 2005