asked.
Jax thought for a moment before answering. “As I said, the five of you demonstrated great bravery against the dragon.” He glanced at Sindri. “And the kender used his magic to save us all—myself included—from the beast’s poison gas. I would accompany you on your journey and provide assistance should you encounter any more difficulties.”
“Don’t look at me,” Elidor said. “I’m just a guide the others hired. You’ll have to ask them.”
Catriona and Sindri looked at Nearra.
“We travel for your sake,” Catriona said. “The decision should be yours.”
Nearra turned to Davyn, but he seemed to purposefully avoid looking at her, as if he didn’t want to influence her decision one way or another.
Nearra smiled at Jax. “I would be honored to have you travel with us.”
Jax opened his mouth and bared his teeth in what Nearra hoped was a smile. “Then I shall.”
No one else said anything, but Nearra sensed the tension among the companions ease a bit, and she knew she’d done the right thing.
“I’m curious, Sindri,” Elidor said. “I confess that I know little about wizardry, but I thought that mages carried spellbooks with them and needed to read and memorize their spells anew each time after casting them.”
“That’s how human wizards do it,” Sindri said. “And elf and dwarf mages as well. But I don’t have to memorize written spells and gather special ingredients to work my magic. I guess I’m what you’d call a natural wizard. My spells just happen. For quite a while, all I could do was conjure small objects, but then yesterday—when Jax first confronted me, as a matter of fact—I was suddenly able to perform feats of telekinesis. Since then I’ve been levitating objects all over the place!”
Davyn grimaced as if he’d just bitten into a piece of rotten fruit.
Elidor arched an eyebrow. “Really? And that was the time when you and Catriona first met Davyn and Nearra?”
Sindri nodded.
Elidor’s eyes narrowed. “How interesting,” the elf said.
“Perhaps you can now satisfy
my
curiosity,” Catriona said to Elidor. “The way you sneaked up on Slean was most impressive, as was your skill with throwing daggers. I’m surprised that a simple guide would possess such abilities.”
Elidor smiled, but there was no humor in his eyes. “I’m a sortof jack-of-all-trades. Guiding travelers is only one of the things I do to make a living. But as for the skills you ask about, they are common enough for my people. Elves are known for our grace and stealth. In addition, we tend to possess talent for weapons that require aim and accuracy, such as bows and arrows, as well as throwing knives.”
Catriona looked skeptical, but she said nothing more.
Elidor rose to his feet, signaling that the conversation—and the rest break—was over.
“Shall we resume our journey?” he said.
O ddvar crouched behind a fallen log a few yards off the main trail through the northern woods. Though there was plenty of shade here, he wore his cloak with the hood up. Sundown was still too many hours away to suit him.
The Theiwar had a perfect vantage point from which to observe Davyn and the others as they walked by. He was surprised to see that, in addition to the elf, a minotaur now accompanied them. It seemed that Davyn was more of a threat to Maddoc’s plans than Oddvar had thought.
Oddvar hunkered down behind the log and held his breath as the companions passed. The Theiwar was so quiet and still, and his gray cloak so closely matched the color of the log, that even if one of the youths had walked right up to him, they still would have had a difficult time detecting the dwarf’s presence.
When the companions had gone by, Oddvar stood up, but he still didn’t lower his hood.
Where are those goblins? he wondered. After Slean’s performance had failed to cause the Emergence, Maddoc had ordered Oddvar to contact a band of goblin mercenaries that lived underground and arrange
Jax thought for a moment before answering. “As I said, the five of you demonstrated great bravery against the dragon.” He glanced at Sindri. “And the kender used his magic to save us all—myself included—from the beast’s poison gas. I would accompany you on your journey and provide assistance should you encounter any more difficulties.”
“Don’t look at me,” Elidor said. “I’m just a guide the others hired. You’ll have to ask them.”
Catriona and Sindri looked at Nearra.
“We travel for your sake,” Catriona said. “The decision should be yours.”
Nearra turned to Davyn, but he seemed to purposefully avoid looking at her, as if he didn’t want to influence her decision one way or another.
Nearra smiled at Jax. “I would be honored to have you travel with us.”
Jax opened his mouth and bared his teeth in what Nearra hoped was a smile. “Then I shall.”
No one else said anything, but Nearra sensed the tension among the companions ease a bit, and she knew she’d done the right thing.
“I’m curious, Sindri,” Elidor said. “I confess that I know little about wizardry, but I thought that mages carried spellbooks with them and needed to read and memorize their spells anew each time after casting them.”
“That’s how human wizards do it,” Sindri said. “And elf and dwarf mages as well. But I don’t have to memorize written spells and gather special ingredients to work my magic. I guess I’m what you’d call a natural wizard. My spells just happen. For quite a while, all I could do was conjure small objects, but then yesterday—when Jax first confronted me, as a matter of fact—I was suddenly able to perform feats of telekinesis. Since then I’ve been levitating objects all over the place!”
Davyn grimaced as if he’d just bitten into a piece of rotten fruit.
Elidor arched an eyebrow. “Really? And that was the time when you and Catriona first met Davyn and Nearra?”
Sindri nodded.
Elidor’s eyes narrowed. “How interesting,” the elf said.
“Perhaps you can now satisfy
my
curiosity,” Catriona said to Elidor. “The way you sneaked up on Slean was most impressive, as was your skill with throwing daggers. I’m surprised that a simple guide would possess such abilities.”
Elidor smiled, but there was no humor in his eyes. “I’m a sortof jack-of-all-trades. Guiding travelers is only one of the things I do to make a living. But as for the skills you ask about, they are common enough for my people. Elves are known for our grace and stealth. In addition, we tend to possess talent for weapons that require aim and accuracy, such as bows and arrows, as well as throwing knives.”
Catriona looked skeptical, but she said nothing more.
Elidor rose to his feet, signaling that the conversation—and the rest break—was over.
“Shall we resume our journey?” he said.
O ddvar crouched behind a fallen log a few yards off the main trail through the northern woods. Though there was plenty of shade here, he wore his cloak with the hood up. Sundown was still too many hours away to suit him.
The Theiwar had a perfect vantage point from which to observe Davyn and the others as they walked by. He was surprised to see that, in addition to the elf, a minotaur now accompanied them. It seemed that Davyn was more of a threat to Maddoc’s plans than Oddvar had thought.
Oddvar hunkered down behind the log and held his breath as the companions passed. The Theiwar was so quiet and still, and his gray cloak so closely matched the color of the log, that even if one of the youths had walked right up to him, they still would have had a difficult time detecting the dwarf’s presence.
When the companions had gone by, Oddvar stood up, but he still didn’t lower his hood.
Where are those goblins? he wondered. After Slean’s performance had failed to cause the Emergence, Maddoc had ordered Oddvar to contact a band of goblin mercenaries that lived underground and arrange
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