that struck him from above, battering him into unconsciousness in an instant. Keirkrad’s form remained stiff as he collapsed, Ardeth still locked within his embrace.
As Kellin prepared a spell, Valkin shot a purplish bolt in her direction that exploded as she dived frantically. The blast hurled her backward by more than half a dozen sword lengths. As a number of Uthgardt warriors charged, Ardeth wriggled free of Keirkrad’s unconscious grip and grasped Valkin’s outstretched hand above her.
In a single motion he pulled the woman up. She settled behind him on the hippogriff, and it lifted into the night sky just as Uthgardt arrows and hammers sailed in their direction. But with Sungar still in the creature’s talons, the warriors dared not strike the hippogriff. The battered tribe could do nothing to stop the beast from flying away, their chief caught in its grip.
“Do you know anything about this?” Valkin demanded of Ardeth. The ground rumbled again, but he couldn’t see the creature that had attacked him as he peered through the darkness. “There’s something out there. It’s huge, and it almost knocked me out of the sky. What is it?”
“I think it’s what some call a dinosaur,” said Ardeth. “Or what that tribe calls a thunderbeast.”
“What’s it doing here?” Valkin asked. “We’re a long way from Chult.”
“I don’t know,” said Ardeth, peering over the side of the hippogriff into the darkness beneath them. “Perhaps our captive knows. The whip will tell.”
As the thunder of heavy steps approached behind them, Valkin tugged on the reins. The hippogriff, tired and overburdened, angled upward but gained elevation only gradually.
“We need to get back to Llorkh alive first,” the skymage said.
“Perhaps we need a distraction,” Ardeth suggested. She reached out and stroked his ear gently, a lover’s gesture.
“What kind of distraction?” asked Valkin, curious.
As an answer, Ardeth delivered a blow to the side of his head with a clenched fist, precisely where she had stroked. It took Valkin’s breath, and as he tried to turn, she pummeled him again, knocking him from his place on the hippogriff. The last thing he saw of her was her smiling face as he tumbled down into the darkness.
Cursing, Valkin mouthed a single command that slowed his fall to a safe speed. But the thunderous steps were getting closer, and just as he landed on the grass, something fast-moving and massive emerged from the darkness. Valkin died wondering which spell could save him from being trampled under a behemoth’s massive foot.
CHAPTER 5
Geildarr strolled through the halls of his private floor of the Lord’s Keep with a stack of books in his arms, headed for his study. As always, he surveyed the artifacts displayed on the walls and his table. He stopped short as he realized that one was missing. A chuckle came from behind him, and he was not surprised to turn around and see red-clad Moritz standing in the hallway. In his hand he clutched a small stone cougar that he was inspecting with little interest.
“I’ll never understand your interest in these things, Geildarr,” Moritz said. “I can understand the magical artifacts. They have real power. But cutlery from Athalantar? Coins from Ostoria? Dwarven house decorations from Ammarindar? Mundane, useless relics of failed civilizationswhat is the point of those?”
Geildarr reached out his free hand and snatched the statue away, placing it back on the pedestal.
“I thought you were in hiding,” he said. “Not deeply enough for my taste.”
“You have no idea,” said Moritz. “But honestly. Wherein lies the appeal?”
“I don’t have to explain my interests to you.”
“I suppose not,” Moritz said, cocking his head, “but you just might need to explain yourself to the inaptly-named Manshoon Prime. You sent one of his precious skymages on a mission that he won’t be returning from. That may delay the new caravans across Anauroch
As Kellin prepared a spell, Valkin shot a purplish bolt in her direction that exploded as she dived frantically. The blast hurled her backward by more than half a dozen sword lengths. As a number of Uthgardt warriors charged, Ardeth wriggled free of Keirkrad’s unconscious grip and grasped Valkin’s outstretched hand above her.
In a single motion he pulled the woman up. She settled behind him on the hippogriff, and it lifted into the night sky just as Uthgardt arrows and hammers sailed in their direction. But with Sungar still in the creature’s talons, the warriors dared not strike the hippogriff. The battered tribe could do nothing to stop the beast from flying away, their chief caught in its grip.
“Do you know anything about this?” Valkin demanded of Ardeth. The ground rumbled again, but he couldn’t see the creature that had attacked him as he peered through the darkness. “There’s something out there. It’s huge, and it almost knocked me out of the sky. What is it?”
“I think it’s what some call a dinosaur,” said Ardeth. “Or what that tribe calls a thunderbeast.”
“What’s it doing here?” Valkin asked. “We’re a long way from Chult.”
“I don’t know,” said Ardeth, peering over the side of the hippogriff into the darkness beneath them. “Perhaps our captive knows. The whip will tell.”
As the thunder of heavy steps approached behind them, Valkin tugged on the reins. The hippogriff, tired and overburdened, angled upward but gained elevation only gradually.
“We need to get back to Llorkh alive first,” the skymage said.
“Perhaps we need a distraction,” Ardeth suggested. She reached out and stroked his ear gently, a lover’s gesture.
“What kind of distraction?” asked Valkin, curious.
As an answer, Ardeth delivered a blow to the side of his head with a clenched fist, precisely where she had stroked. It took Valkin’s breath, and as he tried to turn, she pummeled him again, knocking him from his place on the hippogriff. The last thing he saw of her was her smiling face as he tumbled down into the darkness.
Cursing, Valkin mouthed a single command that slowed his fall to a safe speed. But the thunderous steps were getting closer, and just as he landed on the grass, something fast-moving and massive emerged from the darkness. Valkin died wondering which spell could save him from being trampled under a behemoth’s massive foot.
CHAPTER 5
Geildarr strolled through the halls of his private floor of the Lord’s Keep with a stack of books in his arms, headed for his study. As always, he surveyed the artifacts displayed on the walls and his table. He stopped short as he realized that one was missing. A chuckle came from behind him, and he was not surprised to turn around and see red-clad Moritz standing in the hallway. In his hand he clutched a small stone cougar that he was inspecting with little interest.
“I’ll never understand your interest in these things, Geildarr,” Moritz said. “I can understand the magical artifacts. They have real power. But cutlery from Athalantar? Coins from Ostoria? Dwarven house decorations from Ammarindar? Mundane, useless relics of failed civilizationswhat is the point of those?”
Geildarr reached out his free hand and snatched the statue away, placing it back on the pedestal.
“I thought you were in hiding,” he said. “Not deeply enough for my taste.”
“You have no idea,” said Moritz. “But honestly. Wherein lies the appeal?”
“I don’t have to explain my interests to you.”
“I suppose not,” Moritz said, cocking his head, “but you just might need to explain yourself to the inaptly-named Manshoon Prime. You sent one of his precious skymages on a mission that he won’t be returning from. That may delay the new caravans across Anauroch
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