Breccia's Place

The messenger followed the narrow path towards the small lakeside cottage. His two companions trailed behind him, looking around at the beauty of the place. The space of flat ground on the hill by the water had been sculpted by the forces of nature, as if on purpose to be pleasing to the eye. Stately pines and jagged rocks edged the clearing, and the cottage nestled into its small meadow, not at all out of place amidst the scenery.

The cottage door stood open, letting the breezes enter, and the messenger approached it.

Within, a woman with greying blonde hair tied back from her face looked up as she heard the footfall on the step. She was leaning over a large table, with a washbasin in front of her. Her sleeves were rolled to the elbows.

"My greetings, my lady. I seek the one called ‘Kor'. Can you tell me where I might find him?"

"He's out back, hoeing the garden." She pointed to the rear of the cabin, and watched the stranger bow his thanks, and retreat. He returned a few moments later, an unidentifiable expression on his face. She looked at him, as he bowed again.

"Forgive me, my lady. But the name I gave you was ‘Kor'. We seek to find him."

"He's not hoeing? Don't tell me he snuck off to go fishing again! I'll kill him!" The woman put down the pot she had been scrubbing, and wiped her hands on her apron. She took up a cane, and, limping, led them out the door and around the building to the garden, where a powerfully built troll looked up at her, paused in his work, and leaned on his hoe. He was wearing a simple, light tunic and trews, faded and unadorned, and damp with sweat from working in the sun. He looked at the woman - and the ones who followed her - curiously.

"Kor, you've got some visitors," she said, and turned to the trio of frogloks. "There he is." She suppressed a smile at their expressions. The enmity between the frog-like amphibian race and the hulking trolls was of ancient standing. That these three could maintain politeness told much about them.

Blinking, the messenger stepped forward. "I bear a letter from Gukta," the brightly coloured creature began.

The troll's craggy face lit up. "From Arrek?" he asked. "He has not written for several months."

"Sir, I was bade to bring this to you." The crimson and black froglok stepped carefully forward, avoiding the rows of vegetables and herbs. He handed a folded package to the tall, green-skinned creature.

Korgoss moved away from the garden, to the shade of the cottage, and leaned the hoe up against the wall. He brushed his hands clean on his trews, and broke the seal. A flash of silver slid from the folded parchment, and the troll caught it as it fell.

The light faded from the troll's face as he realised what it was. Hands shaking, he smoothed the pages, and examined them.

"I cannot read this. It is not my tongue." His eyes met those of his wife, who stepped forward, and took the letter from his hands.

"It's not his hand, either," Merilee said softly. She, too, smoothed the pages, before sitting down on the bench that ran along the cabin wall, reading silently.

Korgoss turned the coin-like object that had been enclosed in the letter in his hand, tilting it to catch the light, causing the symbol upon it to stand out.

It was nearly worn smooth with the years of handling the paladin had given it, but the Flaming Sword of Marr was still recognisable on Arrek's medallion. Whatever the inscription had been had long since disappeared.

He sank down on the bench beside her, running its chain through his fingers. Once before the paladin had tried to give it to him...

"Kor, he's dying." Merilee's voice was quiet, but her words fell like thunder, shaking the troll through his entire being. He raised his head dully to look at her, and she saw that he knew. He displayed the medallion, and she nodded.

"He's sick. They don't know what it is, but he keeps getting worse, and nothing seems to help." She lifted one of the pages. "These people are here to bring us back, if we want to go to see him." She handed the page to him. "Safe passage into the city for you." He stared at the incomprehensible text, and the seal that sat at the bottom of the page, then looked up at her again.

"Go to him. Go, Kor. I'll be alright." She interlaced her fingers with his, and leaned against him. "I know I can't come. I wouldn't even make it half way around the lake." She squeezed his hand. "Please don't worry about me. Go. He needs you." He stared at her, then raised her hand to his lips. He stood, handed her back the paper, then walked around to the door of the cottage. They heard movement within, and the sound of a heavy object being slid.

"Would you come here, please?" Merilee crooked her finger at the crimson and black messenger. He approached, and bowed before her. "What is your name?" she asked quietly.

"I am Shin Brekek, my lady," he said, and bowed again. "Forgive me for my hesitation earlier... we weren't told that the person we were looking for was... was..." he trailed off.

"Was a troll. Yes, I figured that out. But there's the problem... He's going to Gukta. And your people have major problems with trolls." The young froglok nodded slowly. "You're a Shin, you say. That means that Arrek trained you." Brekek nodded again. "Then you have a task ahead of you. Korgoss is Arrek's best friend. Since long before you were even an egg. Shin Brekek, if Arrek trained you... you know what your Oath means. And you will swear on it to me that you will keep Kor safe in Gukta. For your master's sake, if nothing else."

He swallowed, but her eyes would not release his, and he could not turn away from her. He thought of the look on the face of the Shin Master's assistant, Kadek, when he had pressed the letter into his hand, and commanded him in Master Arrek's name to make all haste. Shin Kadek knew of the troll. And of the friendship.

Brekek slowly lowered himself to one knee. "For Shin Master Arrek's sake, I will so swear, my lady. I will protect the troll called Kor, to the best of my ability, while he is within Gukta. Even against my own people. Even though it costs me my life, or my honour. I swear this on my Oath."

Korgoss emerged from the cottage, and any other thought of conversation was wiped from the heads of those outside. Gone was the simple clothing of a farmer. The troll stood armoured, holding a spear that shimmered with power. Age had not yet touched him, and he was the image of a dangerous troll in his prime. The frogloks stared, drawing together unconsciously.

He leaned the spear against the wall beside the hoe, and set down a pack he carried in his other hand. Wordlessly, he scooped up his wife and carried her back to the cottage door.

They emerged again a short time later, with Merilee wearing light leather armour and carrying an oddly shaped leather case. "You're insane, Kor. I can't travel anymore. I can barely walk any distance..."

"You can sing. You can play. And you love Arrek, and wish to see him too," the shaman replied quietly. He surveyed the frogloks. "You," he pointed. "What are you called?" The frogloks glanced at each other again.

"Dar... that is warrior? Good. You are strong, then." Korgoss held out a second, smaller pack, offering it to him. "You must carry this." The froglok took it, blinking. "It is hers. I would take it, but I will have enough to carry."

"Kor... what in the world...?" She stared at him. He made no reply, but put his pack on and arranged it on his shoulders, adjusting the straps minutely.

Then he picked up his wife effortlessly, and set her upon his shoulders so that the pack formed a seat for her. "You have got to be kidding!" she exclaimed. He shifted her slightly, and she clung to him, her heart racing.

"Good," he said at last. The shaman turned to the three frogloks, and nodded at their leader. Brekek, shocked by the speed of the response to his message, swallowed. He bowed, and led the way down to the lake. He was stunned, but Shin Kadek had said ‘all haste.'

"You will swim," the shaman said to them when they reached the water. "This I know. But we must take the boat." He pointed off across the lake. "We will meet you at the dock by the road that leads through the mountains."

"We will swim, yes," Brekek replied, "but we will stay with you." Korgoss studied him, then nodded.

"Let the goblins alone, then. We have come to an agreement with them," he said, and set Merilee down in the front of the small boat that floated at the dock he had built.

"Agreement, hah!" Merilee held tight as Korgoss untied the boat and shoved it out into the lake. "Kor got tired of them raiding the garden and damaging the dock... so he went down - to the bottom of the lake - and raised a bit of a fuss. They don't bother us anymore, and we don't interfere with them."

The troll made no comment, but took up the oars. His strong pulls sped the boat on its way, while the trio of frogloks swam almost lazily alongside.

The dock was reached at a far swifter pace than Brekek had expected. If the troll had tired in his rowing, he made no sign of it, and did not slow or pause. Several times in the journey across the waters, the light blue heads of the aquatic lake goblins had appeared, but they did not approach the boat, or the swimmers.

Kor tied the boat up, and climbed out, wading into the water to pluck his wife from her seat, and carry her to land, where he set her down, and handed her her cane. "Wait here," he said, and looked up the hill.

A voice called out his name, and the troll raised his hand in greeting to an ogre, who turned and summoned several more of his immense people. The shaman walked up to them, and stood for a moment, talking. Some agreement was reached, and farewells were exchanged, and the troll returned.

"Derg will watch the house," he told Merilee. "He says he will water the garden, but do not expect it."

She nodded, and waved to the small cluster of ogre shamans who had become their neighbours. They waved in return, calling her name. "Derg happens to like your sweet turnip pie. He'll take care of the garden," she told him. "You'll see." She smiled slightly at the expressions on the faces of the frogloks. "They're not so bad once you get to know them," she said. "This clan has mostly shamans, and they seem to be here for some sort of spiritual work. They don't hurt anybody. Interferes with 'the life-lines', whatever they are."

One of the young frogloks jerked in surprise, and looked up the hill, blinking, staring at the massive people who were still watching the group below.

Korgoss made sure of his pack's position, then swung the bard up to his shoulders. He waited until she was ready, and had a good grip on him.

"You want me to do the honours?" she asked. He nodded. "Stay close," she said to the frogloks, who again exchanged glances. Jirok settled her pack carefully, tucked her cane through his belt, and nodded to Brekek that he was ready.

"We will follow you," Brekek said to the troll. "We do not know this place; we have never been here." He cocked his head, looking up at the shaman, who nodded curtly.

"I know the way. Call if you need us to slow. Stay close, or Meri's magick will not reach you," the troll said, and started off up the hill, following the narrow pass that led through to the next valley. His steps became a jog, then a trot that would eat the distance with his long strides. The three found themselves working to keep up with him. And then Merilee began to chant rhythmically.

Although she had no drum with her, she vocalised the beat, and the song spread around her, until they were flying rapidly up the pass, propelled by her magicks.

Strong as he was, he bore a heavy load, and they eventually came to the limits of Kor's endurance. Brekek looked around in amazement. They had come an incredible distance. But the sun was beginning to set, and his companions were breathing heavily, feeling the strain of the miles.

"There is an inn not far from here," Meri said suddenly, "if you think you can go a little farther. We can sleep there, in beds."

There was a general agreement to this, and they set off again, after a short rest, but at a more normal walk. At the slower pace, it was full dark before they saw the lights of the inn ahead of them.

"Let me down, Kor. I'll do the talking," the bard said, and he set her carefully on her feet, steadying her until she found her footing. Jirok passed her her cane, and she entered in alone.

"Sir?" The third of the frogloks, so far silent, hesitantly touched the troll's arm. Korgoss looked down at him. "I am Yun Gikin... may I ask a question?"

He looked at the door, and considered. "Not all things can be repaired, Yun Gikin. Her wounds were made long ago, and were... severe. That she walks is a gift of the gods."

"How... how was she hurt?" Gikin asked, shocked. He had never before questioned his ability to heal. It was a long time before the troll answered. His voice held remembered pain, but his words were stark.

"The servant of a dark god ripped her legs off." Korgoss's eyes were bleak. "She was healed by one more powerful than me. But... some things cannot be fully undone."

The door opened, and the bard looked out at them, forestalling further discussion. "Beds rented. Meal thrown in. Get in here, you lot."

The next day brought clear skies, and fine weather. They set out at dawn, with the troll once more leading the way through the mountains. His steady pace, augmented by his wife's musical magicks, ate the distance as they followed the narrow passes that led from valley to valley. The shaman knew the way well. He had travelled it many times - though without his wife for company - although the pace was never so rushed as now.

The troll slowed his trot to a walk, resting himself as they entered yet another pass. He glanced back at the frogloks, to see them winded, and straggling behind. He sighed, and stopped, waiting for them.

"They're not used to this, Kor," Meri said quietly, as she watched them. "And you've learned tricks they haven't even dreamed of yet. They're doing really well."

"I know." The shaman reached up to set his wife down. "We can rest here." He watched the frogloks for a moment again. "They are so young."

"We were like that once," the bard said with a smile. She winced as the young froglok shaman tripped, and went sprawling on the trail. "Like that, too."

Korgoss smiled despite himself, reading the curses on Gikin's lips. "They will grow," he agreed. He nodded as the paladin turned back to help his companion to his feet. His smile faded as he watched Brekek walk with the Yun, resting a hand on his shoulder, and speaking to him, relieving the young shaman's embarrassment at his clumsiness.

Merilee's fingers entwined with his, and he looked down at her, to see her watching him. He said nothing, but pulled out his water flask, and offered it to her. She accepted it, and drank deeply, before handing it back, and carefully picking her way to a rock, where she sat down. She smiled kindly at the frogloks as they arrived, and wearily seated themselves near her.

"We can rest here for a bit," she said. "It won't be long until we're out of the mountains again."

Brekek nodded. "We came through the plains, from the north, sent there by the Jin. It is much easier travel." He sighed. "You must think poorly of us."

"Not at all." The bard looked up, to see Korgoss refilling his water flask at a runnel of water trickling down the rocks. "You've impressed him. It can't be easy to follow him; he's both strong and stubborn. But you've been sticking with us, and not complaining." She looked over at Kor again. "It won't change, once we start up again. So be ready." She studied the frogloks, who were listening quietly. "I'll try to make sure he gives you breaks when you need them. But you must speak up when his pace gets too hard on you." She shook her head. "It might have been easier if one of your Jin-wizards came with you, to carry us all back."

Brekek shook his head. "The Jin Master is required in Gukta, and those who study there are not powerful enough to carry others with them." He smiled slightly. "And prying them from their books is not easy." Brekek withdrew his own water flask from its place on his belt, and uncapped it. "My lady... do you know where he leads us? It seems this is a longer path than to return to the wizard spire."

She shook her head. "Not if you use the portals. He's probably aiming for the one outside of Oggok, in the Feerrott jungle. It will be much quicker than running all the way across the plains, and having to wait up to half a day for the Scion to have the energy to transport us."

"Oggok?" Brekek was raising his flask to his lips, but lowered it again. "I'm not sure we..."

"It's not that close to the city. Like the one in the swamp isn't that close to Gukta." She smiled. "If we're careful, we won't even see an ogre."

The paladin looked at her dubiously for a moment, but finally nodded. "We trust you, my lady." He glanced at the troll, but said nothing more.

Merilee sighed inwardly. Kor was not going to have an easy time in Gukta. She was suddenly glad he had insisted she come with him. It was possible that her presence with him could diffuse some of the hatred he was sure to encounter. She smiled slightly. He probably hadn't even considered that aspect of her company at all.

The frogloks were relieved when they emerged from the final pass, to find the jungle spread out below them. By necessity, the pace was slowed, as the twisting paths through the thick undergrowth made the going more difficult. The route the shaman took led them away from the main paths, and they thus avoided encountering any of the various peoples who dwelt in the green depths of the Feerrott.

Eventually, they came upon a broad river, flowing languidly between muddy banks. Korgoss paused, then looked up at his wife. She nodded, understanding his unspoken request.

"Gather close," she said. "You don't want to swim here. There are... unpleasant... things in the water." She waited until the frogloks were in range, and ready, then began once again to vocalise a beat. But this rhythm was strange, and complex, and seemed to disappear into the sounds of the jungle around them.

"Follow," Korgoss said to them, and they looked up, to see a shimmer of magick surrounding each of them. The troll led off, walking calmly across the air above the river as if it were solid ground. He paused when they did not follow immediately. "You must follow closely. This song does not reach far. Come." He waited there, and slowly, they followed, marvelling at the strange magicks. "If Meri can keep it going, this will carry us more quickly than the other, but it is harder on her." He felt her fist thump him on top of the head. "Let us go." He turned slightly northward, and began to jog, keeping his steps in rhythm with his wife's voice, and his strides within a pace the frogloks could sustain.

After a time, a stone building appeared, visible through the trees ahead of them, and Korgoss stopped to get his bearings. Once more he angled their path, keeping the small village in sight, but skirting its edges. "We are nearly there," he said, as he slowed to a walk. "It is just ahead." He sighed with relief as the carved stone book upon its pedestal came into view.

Merilee stopped singing, and they all settled back down to the ground, the shimmer of magick dissipating from around them. "We should sleep there, Kor," she said. "There are inns enough. And the sun set some time ago."

"I know. I did not want to camp here." The troll glanced down at the frogloks. "It is safer for them if we do not." He lifted the bard from his shoulders, and set her down. "Let us leave this place, before someone comes."

She nodded, and reached out to brush her fingers against the words on the page, and was gone. The troll waited patiently as Brekek spoke to his companions in his own tongue. The froglok then stepped forward, and followed her. The other two, after a pause, did likewise.

Korgoss shook his head. "What do you fear?" Brekek had asked them. "She shows us it is safe. I trust her. Do you?" He reached out his own hand, and let the magicks trapped in the carved stone move him to join them.

The reaction of the frogloks to the city of New Taanan was telling. It was obvious that none of them had visited the strange otherworldly place before, and they gawked like children at the wonders there. Rising high above the normal buildings, the tower of the Great Library, Myrist, dominated the cityscape, and provided a landmark for navigating the broad avenues.

Merilee led them here. Having had enough of riding his shoulders, she walked beside her husband, leaning on the arm he held out for her. To the surprise of the frogloks, no-one that they met gave the couple more than a glance.

Brekek's eyes widened as he took in the mix of people that walked about them. Ogres and trolls walked among elves and dwarves, and there was no bloodshed.

"Fighting is forbidden here." Brekek looked up, to see Korgoss watching him. "Peace is enforced by the gods. Do not anger them." The troll's own eyes lingered for a moment on one of his own people, who was haggling with a merchant over a blade as they passed.

"Here's our inn," Merilee said, a tinge of weariness in her voice. "We should eat, too. I'll make the arrangements." Korgoss opened the door, and helped her up the steps, following her into the building. Brekek led his people after them.

They did not linger over their meal, but ate quickly and retired to the room that they were given - one room for the five of them. It bore a single long sleeping space, a wide shelf thickly padded with rushes and covered with worn blankets. More blankets lay in a haphazard pile on one end of the shelf.

Korgoss looked at it, measuring it with his eyes, then grunted. He shook his head, then began to strip out of his armour, and help his wife do likewise.

"It is an inn. I rarely fit." A swirl of light enveloped him as he began to mutter quietly. When the light faded, he had changed, his massive frame shrunk down so that he was just a little taller than his wife. "And they do not like my people in their beds. It means they must wash things," he said, as he tucked a blanket around her, before joining her. He looked over at the frogloks - who had settled themselves at the opposite end of the sleeping platform from the pair - and nodded to them, before extinguishing the lamp.

"It's not that bad yet," Merilee said, as she cuddled up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. The heavy musk scent that he exuded was stronger after his exertion during the travel, but she had long since gotten used to it. While at home, he kept himself meticulously clean, but even then, there could be no doubt that a troll lived in the cottage. She felt him draw her in even closer, and she fell asleep in the circle of his arms, breathing in the scent that spoke to her of security.

They were up a little after dawn, and they passed on the innkeep's idea of breakfast, preferring to eat what little travel food they had left to the dubious cold leftovers he offered them. They hurried through the quiet streets, to the stone portal that would carry them to the swamp where the froglok city waited.

The troll stood and looked long at the stone, before reaching out to touch it. Brekek wondered at it, but as he stepped forward, his own hand reaching for it, he took in the lettering upon it, carved in the Common tongue, and in the jagged runes of the trolls.

The run from the stone book to the city was not long with the bard's magickal assistance, and they stood, looking at the blazing fires that brightened the area around the entrance to the tunnel carved through the hillside. Slowly, Korgoss removed Merilee from his shoulders, and set her on her feet.

"You must walk from here," he told her. "It is safer for you." She opened her mouth, but the look in his eyes stopped her words before she spoke them. He handed her his spear, and the knife from his belt. She, in turn, handed him the parchment with the seal upon it.

"Tell them, first, Shin Brekek," Kor said to the froglok, and handed him the safe passage. Brekek bowed, and went to speak to the guards.

There was an argument, but the young paladin rode out the storm of their protests, replying with calm, and eventually, the guards nodded, and stepped back, and Brekek returned to them.

"Come with me, sir." The Shin bowed to him again, and handed back the paper, which Kor folded carefully, and put in his belt pouch. He drew himself up, and nodded, then followed his escort past the glaring guards, into the city.

Silence was his wake as he followed the young paladin through the tunnels, streets and courtyards that made up the city that had given him birth.

Korgoss resolutely kept his gaze ahead, not meeting the eyes that stared at him in horror, fear... and hate. He kept his expression neutral, although his teeth clenched at the sound of his own tongue calling angrily from a cage as they wound their way past.

They moved slowly, for the city was busy, and Merilee was able to keep up. She would have reached out and taken her husband's hand, but he shook his head at her.

"Walk with Gikin," he told her, his voice strained. The Yun offered her his arm, and she reluctantly accepted it, leaning on him.

The sound of his voice broke the silence that had grown around the group as they travelled, and the people of Gukta began to speak amongst themselves. The reason for his words became suddenly and painfully apparent. From the crowd that had gathered to watch him, a missile flew, bouncing off the troll's shoulder. Korgoss ignored it, and continued in his methodical pace.

Brekek did not. He dropped back to walk beside the shaman, and loosened his sword in its scabbard.

"Do not." Korgoss touched the paladin lightly on the shoulder. "It is not worth it." The crimson froglok cocked his head to look up at the troll, but said nothing, and remained at the shaman's side.

"This way," the paladin said, pointing with his chin, and turned them off down a small tunnel that led away from the central city. The courtyard that the tunnel opened onto had several more small tunnels connecting to it. Some had doors set in them, and others led to still more courtyards.

The crowds did not follow them, and Brekek stopped, looking up at the troll once more. Korgoss had paused, and was gazing around the courtyard wistfully. The moss and vines on the walls gave it a timeless air. The shaman turned to one of the tunnels and stepped towards it, then paused again. His head lowered, and he turned back to his escort. "Lead, Shin Brekek."

"You... were going the right way," Brekek said quietly. "The Shin Master's home is through there, on the left." He walked ahead, then turned back to see the troll staring at him. Korgoss shook his head, then followed wordlessly.

The walls of the small courtyard on the other side of the tunnel were overgrown with ivy, and a spring bubbled into a small, half-moon shaped pool, with a high, broad rim around it. There were two exits, other than the one they came through - as well as a window that pierced one of the walls - and the ivy was trimmed back from them. One held a door, and the other an archway, with an open space beyond it. The clatter of wooden practice swords came from the open space, and a voice called cadence. As they drew near the door, a figure standing just on the other side of the arch turned, and saw them.

"Korgoss! Merilee!" The froglok crossed the courtyard rapidly, and the troll turned towards him.

"Kadek." The shaman gripped the offered hand warmly. The awkward young assistant that he remembered accompanying his master on his ‘fishing trips' had grown, in more ways than one. He was older, certainly, but there was confidence in his stride, and wisdom in his face. Like Brekek, he bore crimson and black colouration, but that was the end of the similarity. Where Brekek was slim, and agile, Kadek was broad, and powerfully built.

"I'm glad you've come so quickly," the Shin Trainer said. "I'll bring you inside. Let me dismiss the students." He spun on his heel, and passed back beneath the archway. The clatter of swords ceased, and Kadek's voice rose again, giving instructions, before he reappeared and hurried back across the courtyard.

"Come in," he said, opening the door. "I'm sorry for the poor welcome." He led them through the door, into a large room. The window brought in light and air from the courtyard outside, and the room was open, and bright. A small fireplace was centred on one wall, but it was there merely for cooking purposes. The frogloks had no need to heat their homes, in a place where winter meant rain, not cold.

Korgoss glanced around the room, then strode off purposely down the single hall that led from it. He looked back over his shoulder, to see Kadek open-mouthed. He nodded once, then opened a door, and stepped inside.

This room had no windows, but was well lit by lamps that hung from the walls and sat on several small tables. An elegant wardrobe and a few chests stood against the walls, along with several chairs and a bookshelf. Two doors led from the room, but both were closed. All of this, the troll noted in passing, for his attention was fixed on the bed, and the still figure that lay in it.

A strangled cry of alarm came from the throat of a striped green froglok who had been bending over the bed, as it stood, frozen in shock and fear. Korgoss ignored it, crossing the room in two long strides, dropping his pack to the floor, and falling to his knees.

Kadek arrived at the door, to see him leaning over the bed, clutching Arrek's hand, his face anguished. Slowly, he entered, to stand beside the shaman, and set his hand on his shoulder.

"Two days ago was the last time he spoke," the paladin said quietly. "He asked for you. I told him I had sent Brekek to get you. He hasn't awoken since."

"Thank you." The troll's response was barely a whisper. He reached out to gently stroke the v-shaped ridge on the forehead of the mottled brown froglok in the bed, and bent his head close to his ear-membrane. "I am here, my friend," he said, his voice breaking. "I am here."

Garrop was shaken and confused. He stared at the troll that had burst into the room unceremoniously. At first, he had been certain it was an attack. After his initial moment of shock, he had begun the words to an offensive spell, ready to strike out at the creature before it could harm his charge. But its actions had not been those of an enemy. He had stopped his magicks, mere seconds before blasting it. He was still not certain why he had stayed his hand.

The Shin Master's Assistant entered a few seconds later, and behind him came another stranger who likewise ignored everything else but Garrop's patient.

Kadek had spoken to the troll, and to the woman that accompanied it, then looked around. Garrop nodded as the Shin beckoned to him, and stepped out into the hallway.

"Kor Garrop, these are Master Arrek's friends. They've come to stay with him. Please... give them every courtesy."

The cleric blinked. "Shin Kadek... a troll? How did he get here? Why did the guards let him by?"

"He walked from Lake Rathe. I sent for him, and he has a safe passage signed by the Dar Master." The knight answered the questions patiently. "Kor Garrop... Master Arrek was asking for him. They have been friends for a very long time. It's been hard on them both, with Master Arrek's duties keeping him here. He was willing to risk everything to come." He turned to look at the troll, still kneeling by the bed, then at his mentor and friend. "There's been no improvement?"

Garrop shook his head. "No. What is worse, he hasn't moved since yesterday. Kadek... at this rate, it will only be a few days at the most." The priest sighed, his heart heavy. "He is breathing, and his heart beats, but for how much longer? He declines daily now, and our spells have no effect. You know there can be no return from this. If our magicks do not work now..."

"I know." Kadek bowed his head, and translucent inner eyelids slid up to veil his eyes. The cleric reached out to him, and took his shoulders, and drew him into a kind embrace. "I would switch places in an instant," the Shin whispered. The priest made no reply, but held the paladin gently as he wept.

Yun Kuaki, bearing fresh linens for the Shin Master's bed, pushed the door open with her shoulder. She gasped, and backed slowly from the room. She turned and walked back to the main room, and stood looking through the door of the study. Kadek looked up at her from his seat at the Shin Master's desk. His eyes were very sad, and he looked tired.

"Yes, Kuaki," he said quietly, forestalling her questions. "There is a troll in Master Arrek's room. He won't hurt you, he's Master Arrek's old friend." He looked back down, and made a note on an older, well-scraped hide. "You're not the only one who is worried about him. He has had his weapons taken from him."

"He is in there, working magick... He is a Yun. You cannot disarm him, anymore than you can disarm me, Kadek."

"Kuaki, what kind of magick is he working?" The Shin's eyes rose again to meet hers. She opened her mouth, closed it, then lowered her eyes.

"He heals..." she admitted. "But that does not mean he cannot do harm, Kadek." She realised how she must sound. "I... am sorry. If he is Master Arrek's friend... I can bear it, but I do not like it." She sighed. "An angry Yun can be a dangerous thing....if someone were to take offence at his presence, and do him harm, he could do a great deal of damage in his own defence. I would not like to see that happen."

Kadek nodded slowly. "Would you feel better if I set a couple of Shin to watch him?" he asked. She thought, then inclined her head in acceptance. "Good. That's settled. Kor won't care."

The paladin sighed, and looked back at his work. "His name is Korgoss. Please, Kuaki... I have a lot to do... and it's hard enough to concentrate on it."

She felt a sudden sympathy for the paladin. They were of an age, and he was much too young to bear the full weight of the Shin Master's duties. He had been doing all of Master Arrek's work, as well as his own, since the paladin guildmaster took ill. He had been so steadfast through it all that it was easy to forget that he loved his master dearly, and was grieving as hard as any of them. She bowed, and left him to his work.

The two healers soon became used to the presence of the troll. He rarely spoke to them, but tried spell after healing spell, until his voice grew hoarse with his chanting and his energy ran out. The woman who had come with him sat in a chair beside the bed and played the most beautiful music they had ever heard, filling them with peace, and easing their hearts. For Garrop, it was the first time he had heard music not of Guktan making.

The guards Kadek had promised arrived before very long. Neither the troll, nor the bard paid them any mind. But to the two who had tended the Shin Master for so long, the people in the room brought home the knowledge that the long vigil would soon end.

Kuaki's mistrust of the troll shaman remained, but her opinion of him rose, for she saw him pour his soul into his chants. And when they proved fruitless, as all of their magicks had so far proven, she saw him weep silently, resting his head on the edge of the bed, still holding his friend's hand.

Garrop too, found sympathy for the two who had come so far to watch one they so obviously loved die. He could no more ignore their distress than he could that of any of his own people. He drew near the weeping shaman, and reached out to him, murmuring a prayer for him and resting his hand on the troll's head. The words he would say to one of his own people did not seem to fit well, but he offered what comfort he could. It didn't occur to him to wonder what his god would think of a prayer offered on behalf of a troll.

The door opened, and they looked up as a young froglok stepped inside, carrying a tray with a bowl and spoon upon it. He paused, startled, as he saw the people in the room.

"I... I should come back later," he said quietly, his eyes sliding over the troll, and lingering on the bard, before returning with a snap to the troll shaman, who was watching him. Yun Kuaki's hand reached out, and took the tray from him.

"It is all right, young one, these people will not hurt you. They are friends." She smiled gently. "This is Master Arrek's dinner?" The newcomer swallowed, and nodded shortly. "Good. We've been waiting for it." The Yun looked up in surprise as the troll stood up, and relieved her of the tray.

The young froglok took an involuntary step forward, reaching for the tray, but Kuaki gently put her arm around his shoulders, restraining him. "It's alright, I told you. He's Master Arrek's friend."

They watched in silence as the shaman carefully propped the paladin upright in his bed with the cushions that were there for the purpose.

Korgoss picked up the bowl of soup, and stirred it, raising a spoonful to his lips to test the temperature. It was still far too hot to feed to Arrek, so he set it back on the table to cool. It was good soup though, thick and rich with fat and herbs. He crushed a bit of stem between his teeth.

He blinked, and looked from the bowl to the still face of his friend, and those watching him gasped as his face changed from sadness to fury in an instant.

He lunged from his place beside the bed, grabbing the young froglok – who was already turning to flee before the troll moved. He lifted the creature up and slammed it against the wall, feet dangling. It struggled fruitlessly against his strength.

"Korgoss! Let him go!" "Kor! What are you doing?" "Release him, troll!" The cries echoed from around him, but the shaman's eyes were fixed on his prey, holding it firmly, grasping it by its wrists and throat. He heard swords drawn behind him, but the thrust he expected did not come. He leaned close, and stared into the froglok's eyes. It glared back at him with hatred, and disgust.

"What is in the soup?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. "It would be best to tell me, before I rip your head off."

"Korgoss. Put him down." Kadek's voice was hard, but an edge of puzzlement had crept into it. He had emerged from the door that adjoined the bedroom and study, staring at the troll in surprise. "We can sort this out more reasonably... without you strangling one of our young Dar."

"This is no Dar. I do not know what it is, but it is not yours," the troll said quietly, still staring into the froglok's eyes. He turned away, to see the room frozen, with the Shin that had been there to watch him standing with drawn swords. And Brekek standing facing them, sword drawn as well, holding them off, defending him. Merilee had risen to her feet, and her fingers reached for the cane that leaned against the chair. He met her eyes, then sought for the cleric's face. "Garrop. You will undo the magick on him."

The cleric stared at the troll, and his prisoner. "This is idiocy," he said. "Dar Trainee Pliluk has been of wondrous help to us, running errands, fetching the meals... his devotion has been exemplary."

"Devotion. That means love? There is no love in this one," the shaman said, returning his attention to his captive. "Remove the magicks. You do not trust me, I know. So do us both. Undo it all. It cannot harm him, if he is truly as you say." The froglok squirmed harder before giving up, and it spat at him. The spittle ran down Korgoss's cheek, but he ignored it, keeping his grip on the creature. Behind him, he heard the sound of magicks beginning. The protections he habitually wore vanished, and he became even more aware of the swords behind him. And of the lone paladin that stood against his own people. Once more, he heard the cleric begin his spell, and dispel the magicks from the froglok he held against the wall.

And the room stayed frozen, as the illusion cloaking the creature that hung in his grip was stripped away. The cold eyes of the dark elf glared at him, full of anger and hate.

"It doesn't matter," the Teir'dal said, smiling cruelly. "There is no antidote. Oh, you may have stopped me before I could finish it, but there were only three doses left anyway." The assassin tossed his head, trying to loosen the troll's fingers from his neck. "He'll still die, it'll just take a lot longer. I doubt he'd thank you for that." The dark elf grinned. "So. Going to rip my head off now? Trolls, stupidest creatures on Norrath, I swear...."

"Where is the poison?" Once again the shaman leaned close to the assassin, and it smiled again.

The troll's eyes narrowed, and he looked over his shoulder again, at the room. "Devotion. It is a word I must learn, it seems." He looked down at the Shin Master's Assistant, who was staring at the dark elf with disbelief, and a growing anger of his own. "Kadek. It must be stripped, and all of its clothing left here. We must find the poison. If it had a living place, that must be searched too."

"Trainees don't have personal spaces....other than their bank vaults." the Shin Trainer said, shaking himself. "It will either be there, or most likely, on him." He looked at the Shin who was still guarding Korgoss's back, then turned to the other young paladins. "Put your weapons away. Come here." He nodded to Brekek. "You keep yours out. Be ready." The slim froglok nodded, and turned his attention to the Teir'dal.

Korgoss lowered the assassin down to them, keeping his grip on it. It cursed him, and struggled, but it was outnumbered, and nearly helpless in the troll's grasp. Before very long, it was stripped completely, and its clothes left in a heap on the floor. The dark elf was dragged away, and it smiled as it passed out of the shaman's sight.

Slowly, the troll raised his hand and wiped the spittle from his cheek. He turned around and looked at the faces of those remaining in the room.

The priest and the younger shaman were still staring out the door, after the dark elf. Guilt-stricken, they looked at each other, and then at the troll.

They could not meet his eyes. Brekek sheathed his sword and nodded at him, before stepping back to the corner he had chosen for his own. The troll's eyes sought Merilee, and she limped around the bed and took his hand.

"I'll go through the clothes," she said softly. "Don't worry. If it's there, I'll find it." He nodded, and sank to his knees, wrapping his arms around her. He shook as the rage left him, and only despair remained.

"Kor... you know they lie. There may be an antidote," she said as she held him close. "We will find it, if there is one. Ferret will know." He nodded again, unable to find words, and released her to her search. Turning back to the bed, he reached out for Arrek's hand and began to chant the words of a purifying spell softly, the blue light of healing magicks shining around him and growing brighter.

Kadek returned to his master's chambers, still feeling the raw anger pouring through him. How could this have happened? How had they missed it? If they had caught it earlier... would Master Arrek's life still be in such jeopardy? And what else did the Teir'dal plan? This was the second of the leaders of his people to fall to poison administered by the dark elves. Dar Strategist Guib had been slain some time ago, but with a different poison. Their intelligence had finally found out what, and how, but not who. That assassin had escaped. Fortunately, there could only ever be one dose of that poison, as the unique venomous reptile that had birthed it was no more. Evidently, the Teir'dal had found another venom, although it was slower working and required multiple doses. But for the troll's keen sense of taste, they would never have known.

He paused in the doorway of the bedroom, watching. Merilee was going over the assassin's clothing piece by piece, dropping those she'd eliminated into a pile. Korgoss and Garrop were both sitting beside his master, working their respective magicks, hoping that with the poison delivery stopped, some form of healing might work.

He turned, and saw Kuaki at his elbow. She bore a tray, with a covered bowl on it. "I made it myself. So I know it's safe." Her voice held self-recrimination. He moved out of the way so that she could pass, but she paused in front of him, and spoke softly, unable to meet his eyes. "I think, perhaps, those guards could find better work elsewhere." She swallowed. "It seems I was mistaken as to the identity of our enemy." She slipped past him, and waited until the two healers were done their work, before bowing before the troll.

The troll looked at her for a moment, before picking up the bowl, and a spoon. Once more propping Arrek upright, he slowly fed his friend the broth the froglok shaman had brought him. Kadek noticed that he again tasted the soup first.

The words rang out, as Merilee slid two thin packets of folded parchment from between the layers of leather of the dark elf's belt. She looked up at the others. "Now... we see what we have." She held one up to the light.

"Do not open it," Korgoss cautioned her. "Leave that for Ferret." He finished feeding the bowl of broth to his friend, and rearranged him in the bed, before he stood. He noticed Kadek at the door. "Kadek... will you give me a messenger?"

The crimson froglok nodded. "Of course. I have one ready. Where will she be going?"

"Freeport. To the Thieves Guild. We will give a letter... the Master there will help us." He walked to his wife, and took one of the two packets from her, then turned and studied the face of the younger shaman. Yun Kuaki bore his gaze, and he saw the shame in her expression. She was still unable to meet his eyes.

"Take this." He handed her the poison. "Take it to your master. Tell them what it is. Tell them that they must keep it safe. If the messenger fails, that is all you will have."

Kor Garrop had stepped into the study, and now returned with a pen, ink, and parchment. He offered these to the troll, who looked at them, and flushed.

"No... you must give them to Meri." He looked away from the cleric. "I do not know how to write in this language. It is hard enough to speak." He flushed again, then turned away to pick up a jar from the bedside table. He handed it to Kadek. "This is the soup. It must go with the raw poison. They must both go at once to Freeport. Ask for Master Ferret." He looked back at the bed, and was silent for a long moment. "Tell him Arrek needs him."

It was late. Night had long since fallen, and Garrop had gone to find his bed. Kuaki was dozing in a chair that had been left for that purpose in the room. Beside her in another chair, Merilee too, had fallen asleep. Korgoss stood, and gently picked his wife up, and carried her out the door, and across the hallway. He pushed another door open with his foot and stepped inside. As he expected, the dim shapes of several beds were visible, and he chose one and set her down on it. He undressed her and tucked her in, brushing her lips with a kiss before he left, closing the door silently behind him.

He returned to Arrek's bedroom and sat down again, on the floor beside the bed. None of the chairs here would hold him, even were he to shrink himself with magick to fit his frame into their dimensions. His weight would shatter them. He felt eyes on him, and looked up to see that the young crimson and black paladin that had been his escort was watching him.

"Brekek," he said quietly, "you should go to bed." He pointed out the door, to the other room. "There are more beds in there. I do not think they would be angry if you used one."

The Shin shook his head. " No. I should stay where you are," he said. Korgoss raised his eyebrows, then nodded slowly.

"You are guarding me," the shaman said. "I do not know why you do this, but I thank you."

"I do not fear my own death," the troll continued, "but had you not stopped them, the assassin might have escaped." He sighed. "And you... you must still sleep." He pointed to the chair beside Yun Kuaki's in the corner, that his wife had lately occupied. "Use that one. It looks soft. I will be awake yet, for a while."

The young froglok looked at him, then nodded slowly. He sat down in the chair and leaned back. It was not long before he was asleep. The troll smiled slightly, but the smile faded quickly. He stood up, and leaned over the bed.

Arrek was no better, but no worse than before. Perhaps there was hope. It would depend on Ferret, now. There were few living who had the skill with poisons that the gnome had cultivated.

He straightened. Feeling the lump of Arrek's medallion on his breast, he reached beneath his tunic and pulled it out, turning it in his fingers. He glanced around the room, but the other two were still sleeping. Korgoss bent and kissed the paladin's forehead, and with a final look at him, he stepped out of the room, and walked to the door that led to the courtyard.

The night air moved languidly through the darkened city, bringing with it the scents of the swamp and the pines on the bluffs high above. He craned his neck back, and looked up at them, their branches weaving over his head, as they reached across to each other over the gulf of the carved canyon below them. The spring gurgled, and he walked to the pool to gaze into the dark ripples, before kneeling to drink from cupped hands. He stood slowly, and glanced around, but there was no movement, no-one else awake - at least not here. He did not doubt that should he try to walk through the city, he would be set upon, but that was not his intent. He turned toward the Shin practice yard, and ducked under the arch. It was lower than he remembered, or perhaps the frogloks merely didn't trim back the ivy that grew in profusion on the walls as far as they could have.

Rows of racks of wooden swords and shields lined the walls, side by side with hard wooden benches, and the centre was hard packed dirt. A door led off into what was once storage space, but now could be anything. Two windows pierced the walls. A light showed from one, but he saw no movement in the room it illuminated.

He closed his eyes, listening to the distant calls of the night birds and the creatures of the swamp. He turned, letting the eyes and ears of his memory guide him. Here had been the garden. Here the firepit. Here the refuse heap. And there... the thick bushes of strange herbs that had sheltered a young troll from the eyes of the other shaman-trainees. He walked forward, to put his hand on the wall. The ivy was as thick as it ever had been, and he crouched down, leaning close, examining the stones.

With careful pressure, he found the loose one, and wiggled it out. It did not come out easily, but he had not expected it to. Behind it, his questing fingers found the box, which he withdrew. He replaced the stone, and rearranged the ivy, then stood, looking down at what he held.

"You did live here, in this house before." The troll turned slowly, and saw Kadek standing in the middle of the yard, looking at him. "I knew you had, when you walked into the bedroom. Was this yours?"

Korgoss shook his head. "This was my Master's house. The High Shaman. The temple was over there," he pointed. "I do not know what you do with it now." He looked around the practice yard. "This was garden, and a place to learn spells that are too dangerous to work near people. We grew herbs for our potions here." He looked down again at the box in his hand. "And I hid from the others my treasures." He looked at the paladin, then beckoned him to follow.

Kor led him back into the house, and lit a lamp in the main room. He settled himself on the floor again, and set the box on the table in front of him. Kadek leaned over, curiously, as the shaman slid his thumbnail beneath the catch, and lifted the lid. The hinges protested, but they were brass, not iron, and had withstood the damp. The box had fared worse, warped from its long stay in the wall, but the wood still had some strength left, and it held together as the troll opened it wide.

Slowly, handling each piece with care, the troll removed the ‘treasures' from within. A shiny stone with strange markings. Another stone naturally pierced with a hole. "It is good luck," the shaman said, handing it to Kadek with a faint smile. A handful of tarnished silver coins. And a golden medallion.

Korgoss drew the medallion from the box, and cupped it in his hands. "I found this, long ago, deep in the swamp. I do not know whose it was, or why they lost it, but I thought it was beautiful, and I kept it." He offered it to the paladin. "This made me think of it." He touched the lump of Arrek's medallion on his breast. "I always thought it was made by your people."

The paladin took the medallion, and examined it curiously. It was beautiful, a delicate engraving on one side, and a single clear stone set into the other. "Is it magick?"

The troll shook his head. "No. It is only itself." He reached out to tap the medallion around Kadek's neck. "This has no magick, but it touches your heart. That touched mine, although no god I know of has marked it." He accepted the medallion back from the Shin. "He wants me to have his, for his love of me. I thought to give him mine."

Brekek awoke from his light doze with a start, and looked around the room. It was quiet, with Kuaki sitting in her chair, turning the pages of a book she had brought with her. Korgoss sat beside the bed in the place he had picked, but he had fallen asleep, his head down on the edge of the bed, on his folded arms.

The Shin studied him as he slept, seeing the deeply etched lines of pain on his face. He had to be worn out, having travelled as far as he did, bearing the weight of his mate on his shoulders, and spending most of the night awake. He hadn't eaten since they arrived, either.

Brekek's stomach growled, and he realised that also applied to him. But he could wait a little longer, having dozed through the night in the chair. He turned to the Yun beside him to point out the fact that they would all need to eat that morning, but a sound caught his attention.

He turned, and his eyes widened, as the figure stepped through the door.
The froglok was large for his kind, and bore the scars of battle proudly. He wore armour of glistening plate, and a sword was sheathed at his side.

The young Shin rose to his feet, to bow, and properly greet the high commander of all the Guktan armies, but Gaz Commander Griblok had eyes only for the troll beside the bed.

Brekek frowned, and Kuaki lowered her book to her lap, as they took in the Gaz Commander's expression. Griblok's eyes bore the same hatred and disgust as those of the dark elf assassin.

The young paladin listened to the words of his heart and leapt, placing himself between the warrior and the troll, even as the general drew his sword suddenly, and levelled it for a killing thrust.

"Get out of my way." The eyes of the Gaz Commander were cold. "Don't make me hurt you, tad."

"No." Brekek swallowed and straightened himself, his hand going to his own weapon. "I will not permit you to harm him."

"Not permit me? Not permit me? Who do you think you are?" The general looked him up and down, face twisting into a sneer. "Go back to your wooden swords, trainee. You need more instruction. You are standing between me and that scum of a troll. It dared to enter the city. For that, I will kill it.

"You will have to kill me first." Brekek drew his own blade smoothly, and assumed a guard position. He saw his death in the warrior's eyes, for he could not hope to stand against his strength and skill. But the rightness of his actions sang out in his soul, and he was filled with calm determination.

"You will have to kill us first." The words were spoken quietly, but Yun Kuaki's eyes were as hard as those of the Gaz Commander. Slowly, she arose from her chair and stood there, glowing with power, her hands raised ready to fling her magicks.

"You fools... are we so easily taken in by the dark?" Griblok's eyes flicked from the one to the other. "The trolls and the dark elves are allies. That creature is in on this. You defend the one who is killing your Master!"

"You wrong him." The voice sounded from the doorway, and Kadek stepped through, with Kor Garrop at his side. "Korgoss has no part in Master Arrek's poisoning." He nodded at Brekek, and went to stand beside him. "This I can swear to, on my Oath."

"The Shin have grown weak..." the general began with contempt, but was interrupted again.

"Enough. You are wrong. Even now, it is the hand of the troll you so despise, and the Shin who listen to him, that offer the best chance of the Shin Master's salvation." Kor Garrop stepped forward, anger in his eyes. "And I would like to see you kneeling before the High Council, explaining why you broke a writ of Safe Passage, issued by the Dar Master himself."
Gaz Commander Griblok's eyes widened as he saw the four arrayed against him. He looked from one to another, and his face twisted into an expression of grudging acceptance.

"Very well. For now, it lives. But I will be watching, and there will not be a second warning." He sheathed his sword, and spun on his heel, stalking from the chamber. They heard the door slam as he departed.

The four relaxed slowly as the adrenalin surge wore off, and they looked at each other measuringly.

"Thank you for getting me, Kor Garrop." Kadek said quietly. He nodded at the priest, then turned to the young paladin. "Brekek..."

"Sir. I swore on my Oath to protect him, while he is within Gukta's walls." The Shin met the eyes of his master's assistant. Kadek nodded.

"I thought it was something like that," he said, and reached out to squeeze the young knight's shoulder. "I was going to say thank you, though. Not reprimand you." He looked again at the three. "We will have to be doubly on our guard, now. Griblok can be a harsh foe in more ways than just battle. And we are now marked by him." He sighed. "I don't envy the Dar Master. He's in for a difficult day." The others nodded.

"It seems I came to relieve Kuaki at the right time," the priest said, musingly. "I think Marr must have his hand in this." He turned, and leaned over the troll. "He's slept through it all. He must be exhausted."

"Wouldn't you be?" Kadek asked gently. "Let him sleep. He obviously needs it." The paladin looked up, as Yun Kuaki stepped out of the room, returning with a light blanket. She covered Korgoss with it, wrapping it around his shoulders.

"They get cold," was all she said, as she saw them look at her. She smiled slightly at Kadek. "I think I'll go get breakfast." She looked around at the rest of them. "For all of us."

The days passed slowly. The waiting was the hardest thing to bear, as there seemed to be nothing they could do. As before, none of the magicks of either priest or shaman evoked any change in Arrek's condition.

But likewise, the steady decline seemed to have stopped. Kor Garrop and Yun Kuaki slept in turns, so that one of them was always present. Korgoss slipped easily into his old role as cook, surprising the two with his skill, and ensuring that the lot of them were fed, as well as Arrek. Otherwise, he remained by his friend's bedside, speaking to the paladin quietly, mostly in his own tongue. The troll did not dare to leave the building, with the threats of the Gaz Commander hanging over him. If his forced confinement bothered him, he hid it well.

Kadek set two of the young Shin to guard the house itself, but the Gaz Commander made no return appearance. Then, several days after Griblok's attempt on Korgoss's life, the Dar Master himself came by to speak to them.

He remained outside until Kadek came to admit him, not unhappy about the presence of the guards.

"It's a good idea," the warrior said, as the paladin brought him to the sickroom. "Griblok can be a bastard when he wants to be. And he's pissed off with you right now, Kadek."

They stepped into the room together, and Merilee's eyes widened as she looked up, and she struck a sour note before she could stop her hand from falling upon the strings of her lute.

The troll looked at her in surprise, then turned to follow her gaze. His eyes widened in recognition, and he stood, to look down at the warrior.

Kadek blinked. "I was going to introduce you to Dar Master Brilig....but I see you've met." He looked from the shaman to the warrior, frowning slightly. "Master Brilig is the one who authorised your entry into Gukta." He bowed slightly as he addressed the guildmaster. "I hope you didn't get into too much trouble for it, sir."

Brilig shrugged. "There's not really a whole lot he can do to me. He may lead the armies, but he has no say over the way I lead the Dar, even though he thinks he does. It would take an act of the High Council to remove me." He drew closer to the bed, his eyes on his counterpart. "It's been a while since Griblok was Dar Master, but most of the Dar still listen to him, out of habit. I'm breaking the habit, but..." He shrugged again. "He is good at making my life miserable, though." Brilig sighed, and shook his head, as he reached the side of the bed, and he looked long at the Shin Master.

Arrek had become more than just a sparring partner in the years since Griblok had been chosen to join the Gaz. Brilig had worked hard to earn his position, with the Shin Master's encouragement, and aid. "I wish it had been me," he said softly, reaching down to touch the paladin's hand briefly. "It could be me next. Who knows how the Teir'dal pick their targets..." He looked up at the troll. "Has there been any word?"

Korgoss studied the Dar Master for a long moment. "Not yet," he said, finally. "But Ferret will answer us... whether good or bad, I do not know." He slowly seated himself again, bringing his eyes down to a more even level with the warrior. "You have done well, it seems."

Brilig smiled slightly. "I carry a reminder of the lesson you and your friends taught me," he said quietly. "It has stood me well over the years." The troll raised an eyebrow, and the Dar reached into his belt pouch. "One would think you'd remember it..." he said dryly, and held his hand out to the shaman.

Korgoss reached to accept the offering, and blinked at the object that landed in his palm. He examined it. "I do not forget this," he said after a moment, and handed back the arrowhead, the barest hint of amusement in his eyes. "It left its mark." He met the Dar Master's eyes, and they both surprised themselves into smiling.

"I'm glad you're here," Brilig told him. "It brings me hope." He turned again to look long at the paladin guildmaster, then nodded at the others in the room, and left.

The arrival of the messenger - some five days after she departed - was greeted with both worry and relief, for she bore with her a thick letter, and a small package. These were brought with great haste to Kadek, who carried them, unopened, into the bedroom.

"Here," he said, thrusting them into Merilee's hands, and waiting anxiously for her to open them.

She took the package and set it down, commencing with the letter. She sat down to read in silence, while the others watched her face. Finally, she lowered the pages and looked at them, and they held their breaths.

"There may be an antidote..." she said slowly. "But he is not certain of it. What he could identify of the poison has counters, and he lists them here, along with some herbs that will strengthen them, to make them work better. They also have effects of their own to help allay the part he did not know." She separated out a list in a sharp angular hand, and gave it to Yun Kuaki. "He does say... that the dark elf did not lie." She swallowed. "If this does not work, then Arrek will slowly die. He may last as long as two months as he is right now, but likely, it will be faster." She touched the package. "This is one of the herbs... he says it would be hard for us to find, as it is used primarily to make poisons... but it has a strong stimulant effect which may help, and it counters one of the other poisons."

"This recipe," Kuaki said, "is very strange... these herbs are all available here in the city. We grow them for our own potions. But these other things...? What is Scarlet Moss, and where does it grow? Liquid velium? That's a magickal ore, isn't it? And the rest of these..."

They looked up at Korgoss, and Merilee nodded, taking the list back from the Yun. "Some of these I don't know your terms for, Kor," she said. "But I'll sound out the words and write them in your symbols." He nodded, then retreated to sit again by the bed in thoughtful silence.

Kadek took the list when Merilee had done the copying and read it, and his face was bleak. "I had half a thought of sending the Shin to look for what we needed, but some of this... I have only the young here, and I can't send them out for these things. It's certain death. Master Arrek would never forgive me if I sent anyone to their deaths for him." He closed his eyes. "Nor could I forgive myself." He stood silent, his head bowed.

"You will not send anyone. I will go. In the morning." The troll's voice held resolve. "I will need some things. I did not come expecting to travel."

The Shin Trainer opened his eyes, and turned to the shaman, a faint glimmer of hope in his face. "Anything in my power is yours," he said.

"I'll set it all up, Kor," Meri said softly. He looked at her, and stood again, to kneel beside her chair and take her into his arms.

"I know. That's why I'll get things ready. It's the only way I can help. And you forget things when you're upset." She clung to him, and he raised his hand to stroke her hair. "I wish..." she trailed off into silence.

"I wish... to know what's going on." A sharp voice sounded from the doorway. "I got a message to get here... and..." The voice fell silent suddenly, and the figure stepped into the room. "Arrek?" The light from the lamps illuminated a froglok in worn armour, who crossed the room slowly, to stand beside the bed in silence. Slowly, she removed her helmet and set it down on the floor.

"Shin Reedip." Kadek took a step towards her, as she sat down on the edge of the bed, and took up the hand of her crechemate. "I had feared you would not come in time..."

"I wasn't in a place where one can get messages easily," she said, not taking her eyes from Arrek's face. "What happened to him?"

Quietly, the Shin Trainer explained. She listened, and sat for a long time without moving. When she turned slightly towards them, they saw her eyes were veiled. "Good thing I'm still packed," she said, a slight tremor in her voice. "If you could get one of your tads to do a bit of work on my armour, though, I'd be grateful. I'd like to stay here a while, not run around to the smithy."

Kadek blinked and nodded slowly, glancing at the troll shaman and his wife who were staring at the new arrival. Korgoss's face had a pained expression, but Merilee smiled suddenly.

"Good. I didn't want him to go alone. And it will ease my heart to know he has a Sword with him."

Korgoss looked down at her, still in his arms, and he saw the worry in her eyes. He sighed, and lowered his head to kiss the top of hers, acquiescing.

Merilee looked over at Reedip, who had turned back to her crechemate, lapsing into silence. Slowly the bard stood, and looked up at her husband. She drew back from him a little and caught his hand. "Let's go get you packed. You can make dinner for us all. It's getting on towards that time." She took up her cane, and led him from the room, glancing back to see the paladin bow her head and bury her face in her hands. Kadek closed the door as they exited, but not before the bard saw Yun Kuaki slide an arm around her shoulders in comfort.

They left before dawn, when the streets of Gukta were nearly empty, and few marked their passing, save the guards at the gate, who stiffened as the troll marched out. There was no speech between the two travellers, each keeping their own counsel.

Korgoss's magick gave their feet wings, and they ran with the ease of long practice in a ground-eating trot that carried them swiftly through the swamp.

They paused to rest after a time, and Reedip raised her eyes to those of the shaman. "Do you have a plan?" she asked. "And may I see the list?"

She took it, and blinked. "Lucky I can read this," she said. She examined the list. "Or maybe not. What is a ‘shi-har-...'. oh. I get it. Shardwurm." She smiled tightly. "Never came up in conversation, I take it?" He shook his head.

"From there... the easy things first. They are faster. And we may get help from a friend."

She nodded. "Where does ‘Scarlet Moss' grow?" She looked up at him again, but he merely shook his head. "Right. Let's go, then."

They kept moving, with short breaks to rest, until the sun set. The land was growing dryer as they moved northward, away from the heart of the swamp, and towards the shifting sands of the Desert of Ro.

They stopped for the night on a tiny island, still within the marshy bounds of the swamp, but solid beneath their feet. They made a small fire to keep away the swamp denizens, but ate from the food they carried with them, and lay down to sleep.

Sleep did not come easily for either of them. They lay on opposite sides of the fire, watching its light cast wavering shadows on the trees. After a time, Reedip sat up again and sighed. She looked over at Korgoss, and saw the eerie glow of his eyes reflecting the fire.

She watched him for a moment, but he said nothing, and she turned back to look out at the dark, still waters around them. She sat in silence, thinking of her beloved crechemate, and the strange friend of his that she was accompanying. She knew a lot more about the troll than he probably thought she did.

Arrek had spoken of him constantly, as they traded stories and reminisced together when she was at home. She knew that when he was given leave to travel from Gukta, he headed straight for the home of the troll. She had stood in his place as instructor on many of those occasions. By the custom of her people, the two would be considered lifemates, so deep was their love for one another. True lifemates at that, sharing their souls with each other, a bond so rare and precious that her people held it sacred, a gift from Marr.

Lifemates that she had driven apart. How Korgoss must hate her! And how she hated herself for the act. The looks on their faces as they parted had haunted her since that day.

She looked over at the shaman again, but he had turned his face away from the light, and from her. She swallowed, then forced herself to lie back down. No matter what he thought of her, she would bear it. How could she do less for her crechemate, and the one he loved? Especially when she owed them amends?

Before the dawn broke, they were away again, leaving the wet behind them and loping easily across the green hills that separated the Desert of Ro from the fetid swamps of the south.

The sands spread out wide ahead of them, piled into dunes sculpted by the wind into peaks. Here and there strange tracks led out across them, but neither the troll nor the froglok paid them much mind. They were scanning the sands for a particular track, as they headed northward across the dry waste.

"There." Reedip's bow twanged, and an arrow pinned a large snake to the ground. It writhed frantically, trying to free itself, but her sword put an end to it quickly. She made a slit, and examined the internal organs. "Bile, right? That's the gall bladder..." She removed it, and held it out. "It's pretty small. We're going to need a lot of snakes."

The troll grunted, and took a small ceramic vial from his pack and offered it to her. She dropped the organ into it. He peered into the vial. "No. We need bigger snakes." He capped the container, and tucked it into his belt pouch. "We will go deeper into the desert. They grow very large there."

She nodded. "Should we split up? Even the big ones aren't much of a challenge to either of us. And we might have better luck that way."

He studied her, then nodded. "We will meet at the narrow point between the hills at sundown," he said. "Take this." He handed her the vial. "I have more."

She took it, and placed it in her own pouch. "Sundown. I'll see you then." He watched her head off over the dunes.

With his belt knife, he drew a drop of blood from his thumb, and spoke a word as he offered it, renewing the pact he had made with the spirit that served him. It drew on him for energy, and in return, it fought for him with its strength. It shimmered into form beside him, wearing the shape of a wolf.

"Let us go," he told it, and set out himself over the shifting sands, looking for the tell-tale tracks left by the serpents.

The webbing between Reedip's toes stood her in good stead on the soft surface of the sand, spreading out her weight, and keeping her from sinking into it as she travelled. She paused atop a dune, catching motion from the corner of her eye. She frowned as she saw the figure lurch awkwardly over the sand, wandering aimlessly. Her eyes narrowed, and she drew her sword, and intoned the words of a prayer, before setting off after it.

A clear light played around her blade, and she thrust it through the desiccated creature, which burst into pieces at the touch of the holy magicks she had called. She stared down at the remains of the animated corpse that some dark magick had birthed, and whispered a prayer for the soul of whoever it had once been.

She took a few steps beyond it, and heard the warning rattle of one of the serpents she sought. When she picked it out from its surroundings, she smiled. It was one of the giant snakes they were seeking. She stepped back, slowly, out of its strike range, sheathing her sword and readying her bow.

Korgoss slid down the steep slope of the dune, creating a small avalanche of sand as he did so. His pet dragged the dead snake from the sand and dropped it at his feet, before again shimmering into intangibility. He crouched and removed the organ he sought, and added it to his collection.

He heard a warning growl from the wolf-spirit, and looked up in time to duck the blow from the orc that had decided he was trespassing. He merely stepped back, and watched his servant tear it to pieces. He shook his head, then turned to continue his search. The spirit wolf followed behind him.

"One of the really big ones, and a bunch more little ones," the froglok said in response to the troll's lifted eyebrow as she walked up to him. She handed him the vial. He tipped it to look inside, and nodded.

"We will do this again tomorrow, as we move north," he said. "There is not enough yet. I want one to be full, at least."

"I don't think there are a whole lot of the big ones around here. There are a lot more of those north of the large oasis. We should head that way, and hunt there." She sat down against a rock, and drank deeply from her water-flask.

"Yes. We will do that." The shaman watched the last of the colours of the sunset fade from the sky. "It is a good idea. We can go to Freeport when we are done there. I wish to speak to Ferret myself." He scooped a shallow depression in the sand, and spread his bedroll out over it. Reedip chose a spot not far from him, and did the same.

Korgoss awoke a little after dawn with a pale beam of morning sun in his face. He sat up rubbing his eyes, and looked around. He froze, blinking, staring at the apparition on the dune above him. Slowly he got up, unable to look away.

Arrek knelt in prayer, hands resting on the pommel of his sword, which was thrust point down in the sand. Silhouetted against the sky, the froglok's lips moved, and his hand rose to touch the medallion on his breast.

Korgoss's hand rose also, for that medallion was beneath his mail, and he could feel the pressure of it over his heart. He took a hesitant step forward.

"Are you okay, Korgoss?" The voice broke the illusion as Reedip descended the dune, cocking her head to look at him with concern. "You have the strangest look on your face..." As she climbed down - no longer lit from behind - her colouration became visible. The stark black and white markings broke up the shape of her face and body, making the startling resemblance vanish like a dream.

He found his voice. "It is nothing." Realising he was still staring, he hurriedly turned to shake out his bedroll, and pack it away.

She watched him for a moment with a slight frown, then shrugged and did the same. A quick cold breakfast later, they were again on their way.

With Korgoss's magick speeding their journey they made good time, passing the oasis and its palms. They stopped long enough to refill their water flasks, and eat their noon meal before moving on again.

Reedip felt the shaman's eyes on her now and again as they travelled, but whatever the cause of his strange tension, it had eased somewhat by the time they were drawing near the rocky outcrops favoured by the giant rattlesnakes of the desert.

"We have a little time yet, before it gets dark... shall we see if there's anything just lying around?" The froglok indicated the closest of the outcrops. "They like the warm rocks at this time of evening... catching the last sun to warm themselves."

Their search of the outcrop was fruitless, but as they sought out a place to sleep for the night, Korgoss demonstrated the wrong way to find snakes.

The sun was low, the dunes and rocks casting shadows across the landscape. The troll had spotted an alcove in the outcrop that would do well for a dry camp, and was heading towards it, when his foot came down on a lump in the sand.

The largest of the desert snakes were very placid. They had no natural enemies and had no real need to warn off things that passed by. But they had the same lightning speed and reaction of their smaller cousins. This one proved no exception, as the giant snake that had been peacefully settling down under the sand reacted to the troll's full weight coming down upon it.

It erupted from the sand, and struck at its ‘attacker', sinking its fangs deeply into the shaman's thigh.

Korgoss's own reaction was just as quick, as he transfixed the snake with his spear, pinning it to the ground. It struck at him again, but Reedip's shield interposed itself between them, and her sword came down to sever its head. The giant reptile thrashed itself against the sand, before falling still.

She turned, to find the shaman clutching his leg and muttering the words of a spell. He gritted his teeth against the pain of the curative magick as it coursed through him, burning away the snake's venom.

He straightened, and lurched a step, and felt her hand reach to steady him. She was much stronger than he thought, as she braced herself and kept him from falling.

"Well, at least you found the biggest bloody snake in the desert," she said dryly.

Kor grunted, holding his leg with a frown. "Where is its head?" he asked, when he straightened again.

She released him, and bent over the serpent. "Over here." She stood up, holding a great curved fang in one hand, her belt knife in the other. "Have a present." She handed the shaman the snake's tooth. "The other one is broken. Looks like it hit your mail."

"Not the mail. Bone. It was deep." The troll took the tooth, and examined it. "Very deep. It is still there."

"No. It must come out. I will not heal with it there." He pointed at the snake. "Get the bile."

Reedip stared at him, then shook her head. She crouched over the serpent's body. "This might be the last one we need. It's pretty big." She extended the organ to the troll, who pulled the vial from his pouch, and held it out. She drained the bile into the container, and nodded. "Okay. No more snakes. That's full. Thank Marr." She waited until he put it away, then stepped forward to help him limp towards the alcove he had picked earlier.

He ignored her, and leaned on his spear for support. She schooled her expression, saying nothing, and followed him.

He leaned against the outcrop to slide his mail leggings down, and the froglok winced as she saw the swollen, blackened area around the bite. He had nullified the venom quickly, but not before it had done damage.

Korgoss shook his head, then paused, and reconsidered. "Do it quickly," he said, handing her his knife.

The paladin poured water over his leg to rinse away the sand, then swiftly made the cut before either of them could change their minds. The pressure she exerted as she gripped him must have been excruciating – not to mention the cut itself – but he made no sound as he leaned back against the rock and closed his eyes. His knuckles were white as he clenched his fists.

The warmth of her healing removing the pain caused him to open his eyes again, and he looked down, to see her take up a handful of sand to blot the blood from his leg.

He grunted, and leaned forward to look at the scar. "Let them have it." He tossed the tooth away.

Reedip scrubbed her hands in the sand, and stood up, choosing a spot for her bedroll. She spread it, and sat down on it, hearing him doing the same. She unwrapped the travel-food she carried, taking one of the pressed circles of dried meat, and swallowing it with a mouthful of water. It was far from flavourful, but would sustain her well. She put the rest back away, and leaned back, watching the sky darken, and the stars wink into view.

"Shin Reedip." The troll's voice was low. "Thank you." She looked over at him, but he was watching the changing colours of the desert sky.

"Just Reedip. We're not in Gukta. And we'll be spending some time together. No need to be formal." She sighed. "And I'm the one who should thank you. For being there for him, when it counted."

Laying back, she stared upward at one bright star, thinking of what the next few days would bring.

"Korgoss? Freeport isn't the safest place for me, you know..." she said into the silence. "They have issues with Swords."

"Give me your sword. And your shield." The shaman waited patiently, hand outstretched.

"I will give them back. But we must pass the gates. The guards here watch closely those who go in." The troll indicated the arching gate ahead of them, and the bored guards who lounged around the entrance. "And you are a Sword. It is easy to see, in your walk, and your manner. You say they hate Swords. Do they hate you?"

"Probably. I haven't been especially helpful to them over the years. You know they're all corrupt?"

"What are you going to do?" she asked, as she unbuckled her sword and handed it to him. He hung it from his own belt. He took the shield, and slung it over his back.

She took it up easily, and slung it over a shoulder. He studied her a moment. "Lean forward."

"Mmm. No. Take off the helmet and put it away... Good. Now stay silent. Do not speak. Walk like that." He smiled slightly, then turned and led them towards the gate.

"Hold, troll. What is your business here?" one of them demanded, blocking Kor's path.

"Boss waits," the shaman replied, his accent thicker and heavier. "Must go." He made to step around the guard, and continue, but the guard moved with him, blocking him.

"Boss is boss." Korgoss shrugged. One of the guards watching laughed. The one who blocked the way sighed.

"What about you? Who's his boss?" the guard looked at the froglok. Reedip held her tongue, and stared upward at the militia guardsman. "I said..."

"Boss waits... oh!" Korgoss fumbled in his belt pouch. "Boss say give man this." He held out his hand to the guard, who took the small pouch and hefted it.

"Well. You'd better get on to your boss, then. Or he'll wonder what's holding you up." The guard grinned, and stepped back. "Get a move on. You stink up the place."

"Okay." The troll nodded, and led off again into the city, with the laughter of the guards behind him.

"Catch frog, make work??" Reedip growled , as they moved away from the gate area.

"Shh. They will hear." Korgoss turned a corner, and looked around. "It worked. You are here."

"We are not there yet. Follow me." He led off again, and she sighed and followed.

"Korgoss. This is wrong..." she said, as she trailed behind him. "There is no honour in..."

"I made the lie. Not you." He stopped in the street, and looked at her. " We are not here for honour. We are here for Arrek. Is he worth your honour?" He stared at her a moment, then continued on towards the docks. "He is worth mine."

The building he led them to was a bar down at the quayside. He did not go in the main entrance, but found a back door and entered there, descending a flight of wooden stairs.

The paladin followed the shaman down the steps into the storeroom. "This doesn't look much like a guild-hall, Korgoss," she said quietly, looking around at the stacked barrels and boxes. She looked up as Kor handed her back her sword and shield, and retrieved his pack.

"It is not." The troll threaded his way between the barrels. "The Thieves guild is below." He looked back at her, then stepped through the wall. She blinked, as his arm reappeared and beckoned to her.

She approached the wall and reached out a hand. It passed through easily, and she stuck her head through to see a flight of stairs descending. Korgoss was standing on them, waiting for her.

They followed the tunnel, the eyes of those who called it home boring into them as they passed. The skin on Kor's back crawled, anticipating an attack from one of the grim-faced thugs he passed by.

The thug that leaned against the wall outside that door made to bar his way, but gulped suddenly as the troll drew himself up to his full height, and stared down at him.

"Look, mate," the man stammered. "That's Master Ferret's workroom. He's busy in there. I got orders to keep folks out, y'know."

"Tell him I am here." Korgoss leaned on his spear, and indicated the door. "He will see me."

The sentry looked him up and down, then shrugged. "Your funeral, mate." He reached over, and rapped on the door. It opened a crack, and he muttered to someone inside.

A moment later the door opened again, and they were ushered in, the thug nodding to them with surprise and respect.

"Kor..." The gnome was waiting for them as they entered the room, perched on a high stool at his workbench. "Arrek? Is... is he...?"

"He lives yet. We go to find the things you say must be found. Which is why I came." Korgoss studied the little rogue, seeing the changes that time had wrought. The gnome's hair was completely gone, and his sharp features were made sharper by the thinness of his face. It was as if he had been honed, as he treated his blades, to the perfect edge.

Ferret nodded, and waved at the others in the room, dismissing them. The last one closed the door behind him as he left. The gnome drooped when they had gone, and leaned on his workbench heavily.

"I'm so sorry... I wish there were something I could do..." The rogue wore a despondent expression. "I did everything I could think of to try to figure out what the last part was... but it's something new. I've got a contact in Neriak trying to find out what it is, but..." He lowered his head sadly. "Even if he finds out anything, by the time he gets back to me..."

"I know." The troll reached out to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for what you have done. It is more than any other could. Your skill is legend."

"Scarlet moss. Where does it come from? Do you have any?" The troll sighed when the gnome shook his head.

"I have less than a square inch of the stuff. Just enough to do the tests with. We don't make antidotes here, Kor. We make poison. We tell the people what the antidote is, if they want to know, but usually they don't." Ferret turned to his workbench, which was covered in the innards of some elaborate lock. He swept them aside, and rested his head in his hands. His fingers traced the cross-shaped scar that ran across his scalp, as he thought.

"The guy I got it from didn't say where it came from. I'd remember that." He shook his head. "Kor, about that poison... I've done more tests since I sent the letter. It makes magick not work. Not just your magick on him, but his magick, if he was trying to use it." He looked up at the troll. "If it didn't kill the person it was given to, it could be used to control people. The only good thing about it is that it won't work on anyone but the frogloks, and the Iksar. Something to do with cold-bloodedness."

"A weapon. Will it take one dose, or many to do this?" Reedip frowned and rubbed her chin. Ferret looked at her closely for the first time, and stared for a moment before answering.

"A lot more than one. And the stuff isn't easy to make, at least not the parts I know. It'd be really hard to make enough to get all of you at once, if that's what you mean. But the person they got, after a while, wouldn't be able to heal themselves, or defend themselves – or anyone else – in any way, not with magick."

"This is good to know. Thank you." The paladin offered her hand to the gnome, who took it slowly. "We owe you, sir."

Ferret shook his head. "I remember you. You're Arrek's sister. You can't owe me anything. Arrek is our family too. We owe each other too much to count anymore." He blinked rapidly. "Make sure... make sure you let me know, okay? What happens?" His eyes sought those of the troll.

Korgoss nodded, then bent to embrace the gnome. "We will. Keep safe, Ferret. We must go, then. If you find out where the moss comes from..."

"I'll send word." The rogue returned the embrace fiercely for a moment, then released the shaman. "Get out of here, you big lout."

"We should leave the city, before we sleep," Korgoss said quietly, as he stood on the docks, surveying the area in the deepening twilight. "It is not a safe place here."

"That's the best idea I've heard today," Reedip replied, handing her sword and shield back to the troll, and taking his pack up once more. "Let's get out of this stinking cesspool." She shifted his pack, and bent over, as if it were weighing her down. "Where are we going next?"

"Kelethin. We can sleep in New Taanan. There are inns there." He looked down at her. "Let us go. I do not like it here either."

They hurried off through the darkening streets, the troll leading, with the froglok following a few steps in his wake.

The eastern districts of the vast city of Freeport were a warren of small dimly lit streets. Home to the poor, the criminal, and the insane, and those who lived off of them, it was dangerous during the daylight, and deadly by night. In Freeport, the more money you had, the further North and West you lived. Here, in the southeast, the people scrabbled hard to hold on to the little they had, lest someone take it from them. The guards did little to stop the crime. Indeed, they were a good part of the reason for the danger. It was possible that some of the militia guards still had morals, but most did not display any. If you could pay them, they would protect you. If you could not...

By virtue of his size and race, Korgoss was avoided by most of the denizens of the district, as he wound his way past the warehouses and cheap taverns of the dockside, into the areas of low-class flop-houses and tenements that housed some of the vast multitude of the lower classes of society.

The cobbled streets were in poor repair, with uneven ruts worn into them by the wheels of the wagons of the merchants on their way to the docks, and missing stones. Reedip, walking in the unusual pace and posture of a slave found a pothole where a stone had been, and fell sprawling as she stepped in it. Her muffled curses caught the attention of a guard, who snickered as he passed them.

Fire sparked in her eyes as she hauled herself to her feet, but she clenched her jaw and kept silent, picking up her ‘burden' once more.

"I've just about had enough of this," she said in an undertone to the shaman, who was standing, watching her, his arms crossed.

"Frog shut mouth," he replied thickly. "Or frog not eat." His eyes held a warning, and she heard the footstep behind her.

"Well. Sounds like the frog can talk after all." The guard from the gate had come up behind them. He put his hands on his hips, and his eyes were narrowed as he looked from the shaman to the paladin.

"Frog not talk. Not let." Korgoss jerked his head in a shake. "Frog fall lots. Maybe need new frog soon." He turned to move away, but the guard stepped in between the pair of them.

"You better be careful... this one looks like it'll tear your throat out if it gets its hands on you," he said, reaching down to grasp Reedip's chin, and tilt her head back to look into her eyes. "Not very friendly, are we?" he asked her, grinning at the rising anger in the froglok's face.

The guard released Reedip, and stepped back, watching the pair move off down the street.

"He follows," Korgoss said quietly as they turned a corner. He glanced back at the paladin, who was concentrating on her walking, her jaw clenched tightly, and her eyes blazing. "We will leave the district soon. He will not follow then."

The froglok raised her eyes to his, then lowered them again. She trudged in his wake, keeping an eye on the uneven roadway, and listening for the footsteps to close again. She nearly ran into the shaman, when he halted suddenly.

"So. We were wondering what would be so important that some minor flunky would be told to bribe us to ignore it. And we got to talking about how we were left out of this loop, and would, you know... like to be put back into it." A guard blocked the road ahead of them, with several cohorts. "Come over here, froggy. Give us that sack you're carrying. We'll take a look at it, and you'll be free. The troll we'll have a few words with, and go find his boss. Who really should have cleared this with us, first." He crooked a finger at Reedip.

She looked up at Korgoss, who shook his head. "Frog stay." He straightened his shoulders as the guards drew their swords.

"Your troll will be toast in a few minutes, frog. You won't have to listen to him anymore," the guard behind them said dryly. "We may even let you get a few licks in."

"That's it! I'm done with this!" The fury in the froglok's voice caused laughter amongst the guards. The laughter ceased abruptly as she dropped the backpack she had been toting, and launched herself at the nearest of them.

Korgoss opened his mouth, but stopped and stepped to one side, putting his back to the wall of the building beside him. He reached up, and nicked his thumb on the blade of his spear, speaking the word that would summon his servant.

The guard who had been behind him stared at him, and the shaman smiled slightly.

"You assume it is me that makes her angry," he said, losing again the heavy accent of his youth. "It is not."

The guard scowled. "We'll just have to deal with you both, then," he said, advancing on the troll.

Kor shifted his grip on his spear, preparing to defend himself. It was not required, however, as a magickal blow sent the guard flying into the wall, and he slid down it to rest in a senseless heap.

"Dammit!" one of the guards cried out as the light from the paladin's spell dissipated. "It's a Sword!"

The shaman turned, to find that Reedip was making good progress through the ranks of the Freeport Militia. Not only had her spell taken out the one that had followed them, but a second lay in the street where he had fallen, a victim of the paladin's fists.

The froglok was already on another, her hands reaching for his throat as she lithely dodged his sword. But the others were finally getting organised, and were moving in to flank her. Unarmed, she would soon have a problem.

"Reedip." Korgoss stepped forward, his servant beside him. He cleared his throat, and the guards moving in on the froglok stopped warily as they saw him move up to protect her rear. "Reedip." There was no sign that she heard him.

He looked at the faces of the guards, and shook his head. Their hatred for the Swords of the temple of Truth was great, and so was their desire to survive. He would have to end this, and quickly before the battle summoned more than even the two of them could handle. He had no desire to kill the humans. He would have to return, some day, to speak again with Ferret.

Korgoss cursed to himself, then took a firm grasp on the paladin's shield. With a sigh, he raised it up, and brought it down on the head of the enraged froglok.

The shield rang like a bell, and Reedip slumped to the ground. Korgoss looked at the remaining guards.

They had stopped as the paladin collapsed, and stood, swords ready. When she did not move, they looked up at the troll, who was lowering the shield again.

"Well done, citizen!" one of them said, and bent over, reaching for the froglok's arm. "We'll just take this from here, and put this miscreant into safe keeping."

"No." Korgoss dropped the shield, and picked up the pack that Reedip had dropped, fitting the straps back over his shoulders. He picked up the shield again, and slung it over top.

"I stopped her from killing you. Do not make me finish what she starts. Go. Now."

"Now see here!" the guard said angrily, straightening. He looked up at the troll, who once again set his spear at the ready. "Do you really think you can take us, you idiot? Just walk away, we'll deal with the Sword, the way they deserve, the..." He trailed off, as he saw the troll's face.

"The Sword is with me. She goes with me. If you leave now, I will take her from here, and you will not see her again. If you do not go now, I will fight you. And I will kill you. All of you. You will not succeed in fighting me. Reedip was unarmed, and nearly killed two of you."

"Um. Col, I wouldn't. He can. He is... I say let him go." Another guard tugged at the arm of the first. "C'mon. Let's get out of here. He'll make mincemeat of us...! He's a shaman, Col. Look at the size of the bloody wolf! And what if the damned Sword wakes up again?"

The first guard's eyes shifted to the spirit-wolf, and he paled. "Damn it..." He backed up a pace, still keeping his sword pointed at the shaman. "Get the hell out of here. Take your damned brainwashed slave with you!" He backed off another step, then ordered his companions to pick up their fallen comrades. They did so, and dragged them away, looking back over their shoulders fearfully. When the troll did not impede them, nor make any move to follow, they fled with their injured.

Kor sighed, and bent over the paladin, picking her up, and slinging her over his shoulder. With quick strides, he made his way through the darkened streets. It would not do to linger in the district. They would come back in force, but he would not be here when they returned. He was close to the edge of the district, and the Militia were strongly territorial. Not to mention lazy. Why chase someone who has passed out of your guarded area? He breathed a sigh of relief as he passed the first of the Western District guards. That one looked at him strangely, but took no action.

He went unmolested, the combination of his expression, the shadowy wolf, and the limp form over his shoulder dissuading any who might have considered him prey.

Straight out the gates he walked, the guards there taking no actions at his leaving. If they had received any word from their Eastern counterparts, they chose to display the ‘better part of valour', and let the troll pass.

He walked along the wall, to the hidden tunnel entry that was an open secret. The guards knew, but didn't care. So long as those who used the tunnels kept out of the way of the militia guards, they would take no overt action against them. Only if those denizens were brought to their attention forcibly did the Freeport Militia raise a hand, and make a show of dealing with the wrongdoers. No one believed it, but it kept the darker element out of the direct public eye, for all that it gave them free rein to do as they pleased, so long as they kept out of sight.

The tunnel system, however, was where the powers that created the book-portals had chosen to set the one near Freeport. In this way, the tunnel system became widely known and used by all who chose to travel through the Plane of Knowledge, and its city of New Taanan. Korgoss slapped his hand down on the stone pages, holding the paladin over his shoulder firmly.

The innkeeper of the first inn he reached as he crossed the city didn't bat an eye at his strange burden, but was more interested in arguing about finding a room that had actual beds. Finally securing a room, he headed straight up to it, after paying for a meal to be sent up as well.

The room was small, and the bed just barely large enough to fit him. Fortunately for the innkeep, there were two beds in the room, and he deposited the froglok on one of them. Their packs went against the wall, and her sword and shield at the foot of her bed. He shook his head, crossed his arms, and stared at the paladin. After a moment, he sighed, and began to strip her armour off so that she could lie more comfortably.

A knock sounded on the door as he finished, and he answered it, to find a maid with a tray. Her flouncing stopped as soon as she peeped up through her eyelashes and saw him, and he sniffed, taking the tray from her hands, and dropping a coin into her palm in return. She hurried away without a word, and his lips twitched as he closed the door again.

He set the tray down on the single table in the room, and turned again to the still-senseless froglok. He looked down at her with a frown. He didn't think he had hit her that hard. He squatted down, and touched the lump that had already risen on the back of her head, and sighed again. A whispered word of healing smoothed it away, and he found himself studying her face as she slept.

He had half-convinced himself he had imagined the resemblance, that he had been seeing what he wanted to see that first morning in the desert. But here he had the opportunity to truly look at her closely. He reached out, and turned her head slightly, to look at her in profile, tracing the line of her cheek with a finger. The set of her eyes, the angle of her forehead ridge... and suddenly he saw it again. No trick of the light was needed this time. It was no imagination. She looked just like her crechemate. He leaned nearer, looking for the differences. Her chin was more pointed, her face a little thinner, he saw, and the lines that gave Arrek's face wisdom gave hers a stubborn set. But the resemblance was still amazing, once one looked beyond the misleading colouration.

Reedip blinked for a moment, focussing on the face of the troll leaning over her. As she stared at him, he leaned back and got to his feet. She sat up, reaching up to touch the cheek that still held the warmth of his hand, a puzzled expression on her face. She looked around the room in bewilderment.

"New Taanan," he said, moving away from her bed and sitting down on a chair, after inspecting it for sturdiness. "There is food." Kor took a tankard and one of the covered plates from the tray. He examined the contents, then switched one of the portions with the other plate and began to eat.

She looked at him, then got up, to pull the other chair from the table, and sit. She blinked at the tankard and plate on the tray.

"How do you know I didn't want mashed roots?" she asked after a moment, taking up the fork and knife to cut the double portion of meat into small pieces.

"Arrek says it is like swallowing mud." The troll said between bites. "Do you like to swallow mud?"

She stared at him, seeing him flick another glance at her. Finally, she began to eat, swallowing the meat piece by piece.

"Your shield." Korgoss set his fork down purposefully, and watched the froglok's face. She blinked, then frowned. She opened her mouth to speak, looking up at him, and the realisation struck her.

"You!" Her golden eyes blazed again with anger, now directed at the troll. "What the hell did you do?!"

"Stopped you. It was good for us to leave, not fight." The troll's hands were flat on the table. "We left."

"You knocked me out with my own shield and ran from the Freeport Militia?" She was standing, leaning over the table, her fists clenched.

"I did not run. I made them go. It would have been easier if you were awake when I did it. But if you fought them, and made me fight them too, then we would still fight there now. And there would be many dead." His eyes held hers. "Maybe us, if too many came." He watched her as her mouth worked soundlessly. "Reedip. When we are done, you can be angry with me. Come for me with a sword. Use your fists. I will not care. But for now, we have things we must do. I did not ask that you come with me. But you are here. We must work together. And not make fights where they do not have to be." He watched her for another moment, then picked up his fork again. "Besides. I cannot fight the Militia. I must be able to return to Freeport, to speak again to Ferret. I said I would." He resumed his meal, keeping his eyes on his plate. After a time, he heard her sit heavily in the other chair. The silence hung in the room, as he finished eating, and took up the tankard.

He looked up, to see her sitting slumped in the chair, her face downcast. She raised her eyes slowly to meet his.

"I'm sorry. I had thought I'd gotten over losing it like that, but..." Her voice was low. "Sometimes it just..." She trailed off, and dropped her eyes again.

The troll studied the paladin. "Anger can be a strong tool. But you must use it. Do not let it use you," he said finally. "It is a thing I had to learn also." He stood, tankard in hand, and walked to the window to look out at the darkened city. "Eat your dinner. Tomorrow we go to Kelethin. From there, where will depend on Tiri."

The twisting lurch of teleportation dropped them into the perpetual twilight of the Faydark Forest. The immense trees spread their canopies wide, blocking the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. Little undergrowth could survive being so starved of light, resulting in the sense of walking between gigantic pillars holding up a deep green sky.

Korgoss waited for the paladin to appear, and get her bearings, watching her carefully. She had been subdued that morning, but seemed to have recovered her composure. He nodded when she looked up at him, then headed off northward along a winding path.

Reedip, for her part, watched the shaman with some wonder. Her crechemate's stories had not done him justice. The troll had surprising depth and wisdom. She raised her hand to touch her cheek, as she had on wakening in the inn room. Why had he been so close, with such an odd expression? She shook her head, and looked around, recognising where they were. She frowned slightly.

"Korgoss, you know there's a guard post just ahead, right?" the froglok asked conversationally, as they hurried along. The troll nodded. "Just making sure..." She glanced up at him, but he seemed unconcerned. She shrugged, and dropped back a pace or two. While she had no desire to injure one of the elven guards, she would - if required - stun it briefly so that the shaman - and she - could escape it. Fortunately, if she recalled correctly, there was only a single guard at this post.

The troll stopped in the middle of the path so suddenly that she almost ran into him. He turned to look at her. There was the faintest touch of amusement in his eyes.

"I am not a fool," he said. "And you do not need to protect me from myself." He turned back, and continued towards the now-visible wooden ramp built near the foot of a great tree. High above, a platform hung. He paused to look up at it. "Unless the heights drive me mad, and I try to fling myself off," he added dryly.

The guard stiffened as they approached, and drew his weapon, taking a step towards them. But when he got a good look at the troll, he slowly sheathed it again. He nodded politely, and went back to his position, scanning around him for dangers that would require his attention.

The troll noted the look of surprise on the froglok's face. "Elves have long memories," he said. "Time passes for them differently than for us. Braag and I spent some time here, fighting their enemies." He climbed the ramp, and stepped onto the lift.

Despite his earlier attempt at levity, he did not like heights. The swaying bridges, and rail-less platforms and ramps that made up the elven city always made him uneasy, and very aware of the long drop to the forest floor.

Reedip joined him on the lift, and noticed his clenched jaw. She hit the lift button, and stepped back as the gnome-built device began to rise, carrying them up to the lowest levels of the city. She studied him as they rose smoothly, and saw the way he resolutely refused to look down. She suppressed a grin. It seemed rather ironic that the powerful troll would have such a simple fear.

When they reached the top, he hurried onto the stability of the platform, and turned slowly to find his bearings. "This way," he said, and led off across a suspended bridge that stretched between two trees.

Reedip watched the faces of the people as they passed. The elves, while more cosmopolitan in their views towards visitors than her own people, were not entirely blase about the troll's presence in their city. But while he was followed with strange looks, and whispers, there was little of the active hatred that had greeted him in Gukta.

Reedip noticed that she herself garnered no few stares, for her kind were as rare here as his. She had passed through before, but had never stayed long, and she did not know the city at all. When she wanted to find something, she would hire local children as guides.

Korgoss seemed more familiar with the place, although he had to pause occasionally to look for landmarks, and once had to backtrack. She followed him, until he stopped outside of one of the elegant wooden structures that the platforms supported. He turned to her, and indicated it.

"You must enter. I am not welcome inside. Ask for Tiri." He walked over to lean against the trunk of the tree that passed through the platform. "I will wait here."

"Reedip. Do not ask or speak of Braag." His eyes held hers until she nodded again.

She turned back again, then pulled open one of the heavy doors and stepped into the building.

The room was larger than she had expected. The structure was partially built on the main platform, and partially on a smaller platform of its own. There were quite a few elves within, who looked up curiously as she entered, then returned to their work or conversations.

While she had met Tiri long ago, it was briefly, and Reedip admitted as she looked around the room, that she wouldn't recognise the druid from any other of her people. She chose one at random, and politely waited until he looked up at her. When he did, she bowed.

She sighed inwardly. So few of the mammals took the time to learn the differences between the males and females of her race. She had grown tired of correcting them, and kept a stock answer at hand. "Thank you, my lady," she said, with another bow, and left him blinking behind her.

She stepped through the indicated doorway. Of the women in the room, only one had dark hair, the only feature of the druid's she could recall. "Excuse me....Tiri?" she asked.

"Yes?" The wood elf looked at her, then frowned slightly. "You look familiar... ah! You're Arrek's ...what was the word...?" she said, smiling. "What can I do for you?"

Reedip bowed. "Crechemate. I'm here with Korgoss. He's waiting out on the platform for you." She pointed back over her shoulder. "He says he can't come in..."

"Korgoss? Is Meri here too?" Tiri's face lit up, and she set down the scroll she had been copying, and hurried outside. Reedip followed.

"Kor!" The druid flung herself at the troll, who embraced her tightly. "Where's Meri? Is everything okay?" she asked, when they released each other. "You don't come here to visit..." She looked up at him, and saw the shadows in his eyes. "No... what has happened? Is she...?"

"Meri is fine," he said quietly. "She remains in Gukta.... Tiri. We must talk. We need something from you, and, perhaps, some help."

"Anything I can do, Kor. I can't walk off and leave, though... or at least, not go and stay away for any time... I am one of the Elders here now." Her eyes were troubled, and she led them quickly through the town to another building. "Here. Come in. Sorry about the mess."

The small home was simple, with two rooms, one for living, and one for sleeping. The main room held little but a strange stove on legs, a table, several cupboards, and a few chairs. The table was covered with samples of vegetation, neatly labelled, and stacks of parchment covered in an ornate script. One of the chairs was a sturdy bench, and Kor claimed it for himself as they sat down. Tiri cleared the table by the expedient method of sweeping it all into a large basket.

"First, you will tell me what has happened," she said, as she pulled three goblets from one cupboard, and a bottle of wine from another. She broke the wax seal and poured for them, then sat down, her eyes holding those of the shaman.

Korgoss's words were simple, and to the point. Tiri sat in shock as she listened, shock that changed to fury when she heard of the Teir'dal.

"Those foul things have robbed me of enough.... they will not take another from me!" she said through clenched teeth. "What is it you need? You spoke of a list...?"

Kor nodded, and passed over the list. She took it, and scanned it, pausing as she saw the runes. But the language did not faze her, and she nodded slowly. "You're here for the Morning Dew," she said. "That I can do. Stay here." She hurried out the door, and across the platform to another building. When she returned, she carried a flask. "Here. This should be more than enough." She handed the flask to him, and he tucked it into his belt pouch, beside the vial of snake bile. He looked up as the druid handed him a piece of cloth, which he tucked inside to cushion the containers from each other. "Nothing else on this list is from around here."

"Do you know where Scarlet Moss grows?" He asked her, nodding at the basket of vegetation.

"No, I'm sorry. I've never heard of it. We've just done an exhaustive survey of the plant life of the Faydark Forest, and I can tell you for certain it's not from here." She rubbed her forehead. "Lots of moss, none red."

Reedip sighed. "We asked Master Ferret in Freeport, as we were passing through. He doesn't know where it came from... he got it from someone else."

Tiri nodded slowly. "I wish I could help there, but I can't. I'll ask everyone I know, though. If I find out anything, I'll send a young druid with word. They should be able to find you. So long as I have an idea of where you'll be going..."

"That is the other thing I was going to ask," Korgoss said quietly. "I know you cannot come with us. But one of the places we must go is more difficult than the others... will you take us to the Skyfire Mountains?"

"Now," the troll said quietly. "The sun will not stand in the sky for us. But... I will ask another thing, too." She nodded.

"Anything I can do, Kor. You know that. I said it already." She reached out to touch his hand. "You're not just my friend, you're family." He nodded, and his fingers closed around hers.

"We will need transport again, when we are done there... From there we can go ourselves. What time is the easiest for you, to be away in your day?"

"Early morning. I get up earlier than most of the rest, and have a good few hours to myself. What do you want me to do?"

"Come again to Skyfire Mountains. Wait for us at the statue there. I do not know how long it will take for us to find what we need. It may be a day. It may be more. But we will wait there when we have what we seek. Leaving any other way will take longer than a single day. Time is precious, and we have little of it."

"That I can do. Every morning, just after sunrise. I'll wait an hour." She nodded. "Are you ready to go?"

Reedip had never been to the place to which the druid's magicks carried them. It was a wasteland of broken black rock rising in jagged peaks and formations, and littering the ground in knife-sharp shards. The air was filled with a strong odour of brimstone, and the heat was intense.

"What a terrible place," she said, turning slowly in a circle. Her eyes widened, and she looked up and gasped at the dragon towering over her.

After a moment of frozen terror, she realised she was looking at a life-sized statue, carved to the last detail. She caught her breath, gazing up at it in amazement at the effort it must have taken to make.

"You two be careful now. Don't get eaten by anything." Tiri hugged the shaman tightly, and offered her hand to the paladin, who took it, and bowed over it. "I'll be here at dawn, every day until you come." She nodded at them, then spoke a word, and vanished again.

"This way," Korgoss said, and set off across the rugged terrain towards a towering cliff. "We want to stay along... or on... the cliff. It is much safer."

"Safer? What could survive here? There's nothing anywhere!" Reedip followed him closely, and heard a dry chuckle.

"There is much living here... and most of it deadly. This is the home of the dragon-kin." He glanced back at her, and up at the statue behind them. "They claim this place."

"They can have it. Hold up a minute..." She leaned on a boulder, to remove a jagged splinter of stone from the webbing between her toes. "I think I am going to hate this place." He waited, watching her, then drew a sudden breath. He stepped forward, and touched her, muttering a spell, then repeated the gesture on himself. She looked at him, but he was gone.

"Korgoss?" She asked, then felt him grip her, and his hand cover her mouth. He turned her slowly, and she stiffened.

It was very large, perched up on top of one of the prominent boulders that littered the area. That it was dragon-kin was obvious; the shape of its head spoke volumes as to its origin. It had not seen them, and the shaman's magick had cloaked them from it. Wings were folded tightly against its sides, and it turned its head slowly, perhaps seeking prey.

"Come." She felt his breath on her ear-membrane as the troll leaned down to whisper. He took her hand, and led her away. The shards between her toes no longer seemed terribly important.

When he judged they were far enough away from the creature to be safe, he reappeared, and cast another spell on her, then repeated it on himself, before again cloaking himself with magick. The froglok realised, this time, that he had made it so that she could see him, although a strange shimmer surrounded him. He nodded, and they set out again.

The spell of invisibility lasted long enough for them to reach the cliff that the troll was aiming for. It had been farther away than Reedip had thought. Distances were deceptive here, in the shattered landscape, and they had difficulty in picking their way across the broken stone.

Korgoss led her up a narrow trail worn into the rock face of the cliff. Again, she saw his jaw clench, and he moved with extreme care, keeping one hand on the wall that rose almost vertically beside them. She looked outwards from the cliff, and stopped in amazement.

The path's grade was steeper than she thought, and they were already a good height above the general lay of the land. From her vantage point, Reedip could see the movement of several huge wurms, blood red against the black stone. The stark colours of the blasted land and its inhabitants had a strange austere beauty that drew the eye, and held her as if spellbound. When she turned back, she saw the shaman watching her. She continued after him, watching his careful movements as he turned back to make his way along the trail. To distract him from his fear, she asked a question.

"Korgoss? Why did you tell me not to ask about Braag?" She remembered the ogre well, his face burned into her memory. She had thought he was killing her at the time. Such things tend to stick under those circumstances.

He took so long in responding that she began to wonder if he had heard her, but finally, a sigh escaped him, and he spoke.

"Braag was killed by the Teir'dal. He had angered them long ago, and they sought vengeance." The troll walked a little further before continuing. "They caught him alone, in the field as he worked. He and Tiri had a small farm in the Karanas, and lived as Meri and I do. He had no weapon but the scythe he was using, and wore no armour. But there was that around him that told he had killed many before he fell."

"But, why didn't…" Her words trailed off, as the shaman turned to look at her.

"She had been on a trip to town, to buy what they could not grow or make. She found him on her return. " He stopped again, leaning on the cliff. "I think he died as he would have wished, in battle, against worthy foes. He was very old, for one of his people. He would have hated dying in a bed. She mourns still. To her, it was as yesterday. Time flows differently for them. She will watch us all die, before any age touches her. It is why she has returned to Kelethin, and why she throws herself into the work of her guild. It is why Meri and I do not go often to visit her. It hurts her to see Meri... to see us growing older. She blinks, and we change. One day she will blink... and we will be gone."

The trail slowly descended until they once more walked upon the blasted stone of the valley beneath them.

Korgoss looked up at the sky, and indicated another hill. "We will climb that one and sleep there tonight. Tomorrow, we will find a drake. Or one will find us." She nodded, smiling slightly at his comment, and followed him as he began to move again.

"Why is it so hot here?" she asked, as they climbed. "The sun alone can't be responsible for this."

"It is not. You will see when we get to the top." The troll's lips twitched. "Have you seen the Lavastorm Mountains?"

She nodded. "I travelled there long ago," she said. "Some friends of mine and I had some things to discuss with the Firepeak Goblins." She grinned, hearing him snort.

"It is a friendly place compared to this." He reached the ledge he had been aiming for, and offered her a hand to pull her up the last rise. She took it, and stepped up beside him, and stared in wonder at the river of molten rock that flowed below them in the near distance.

"There is a lake of it, over there," he said, pointing. "It flows in great rivers across the land, and gives its heat to everything here. The dragon-kin like it. Most others do not." He looked at her, having encountered the effects of too much heat on her people. "You have enough water?"

She patted her pack. "I brought extra with me, since I wasn't sure where we were going. I'm glad I did." She was panting, and not from the exertion of the climb. "It won't be comfortable, but I'll be alright."

He studied her, then nodded. "Do not forget to drink," he said. "I can get more, if you need it."

"Thank you. I might. I'll lose it quickly here." She found a patch of shade, as the finger-like shadows from the hills around them lengthened, and stretched across their ledge. "Please tell me it cools off at night."

"Some," he said, as he spread out his bedroll along the rear of the ledge, farthest from the slope of the hill. "Not much."

She sighed. "Wonderful. Remind me never to come here again." She spread her own bedroll in the shade. She sat on it long enough to drain the water flask on her belt, then crawled into it, cocooning herself in it to keep herself as much as possible from the drying effect of the air.

He listened to her breathing slow as she fell asleep, while he sat and waited for his own sleep to come. He had long since lost the ability to fall asleep on the spot, an ability cultivated by those who eschewed a settled life. He had been settled for too long, now, falling into the routines of his peaceful life with Merilee.

Again he thought about the paladin who slept just a few feet away from him. The similarities between her and her ‘crechemate' were astounding, and went far beyond appearance. She wore his smile, shared his gestures, even moved similarly. The honesty and selflessness that she exhibited were also the same as Arrek's, but that seemed to be a requirement for the Swords of Marr – for Kadek too, shared them – although he believed it came from within them, rather than being imposed from without. It wasn't until she opened her mouth that the differences jarred him. She was far more cynical than her brother, and far less even-tempered. Hints of a hidden gentle nature still showed, but she suppressed it for the most part.

Her brother. There was no doubt in Korgoss's mind that they shared blood. His reaction to her was telling, and made his heart ache. He had more than once caught himself turning to speak to her with Arrek's name on his tongue. And he worried about her.

Korgoss withdrew his bowl from his pack, and spoke several words over it. As he held it out, it slowly filled with water. He arose, and standing over her, sprinkled it over her blanket lightly, repeating the spell and the action until her cover was quite damp. It would dry quickly, but suck the heat away while it did, and perhaps give her some relief. He followed this with another spell, that summoned a well of cool air to encircle her. He wasn't sure how much good it would do, since it was designed to protect from fire, not heat, but it was something.

The sun had descended behind the jagged peaks by the time he was finished, and he lay down, staring up at the stars until sleep finally claimed him.

Finding the drake was almost anticlimactic. The two climbed down from their camp, and headed out into the rocky valley, to see one of the creatures perched on a boulder. It was as black as the stone on which it sat, scales shining in the early-morning light. A faint iridescence shimmered around it as it moved, and she was surprised at how beautiful it was. As they watched it, it spread its wings wide and launched itself at some small lizard-thing that scampered across a rock, and returned to its perch, to rend and eat its prey.

It was nowhere near as large as Reedip had been led to believe. She said words to that effect, and heard again the troll's dry chuckle.

"Size does not mean everything. You are not very big, either." He gestured, and she felt several layers of protective magicks cover her, and strength fill her. "You will need this."

He repeated the protective magicks on himself, and drew a few drops of blood with his spearpoint, calling a shimmering wolf-spirit that sat beside him, awaiting his command.

"Begin when you are ready," he told her. She nodded, and stepped forward, sword in hand.

Before she had taken more than a few steps towards it, it saw her and screeched a warning, clutching its lizard. When she did not retreat, the drake attacked, flinging itself from its boulder and hovering in the air in front of her, striking out with claws and teeth.

The strength of its blows was startling, and she quickly raised her shield to protect herself. Its wings battered at her head, and she swung her sword more in defence than she had planned. A rush of magicks filled her, and her sword flew with greater speed, and she struck it hard on a lower limb. This seemed only to anger it further, and it redoubled its attacks.

She saw the spell settle around it, as the shaman bound it in ties of magick that made its every movement an effort, slowing its pace, and she was able to avoid its blows, and strike back, deeply. An exceptional thrust damaged a wing, and it fluttered to the ground, but still proved to be a formidable foe even without the ability of flight.

It opened its mouth, and bathed her in a cloud of fire. She recoiled, protecting her eyes, feeling blisters rising on her exposed skin. She became aware that the troll's summoned wolf-spirit was fighting beside her, its seemingly insubstantial claws and teeth doing very real damage.

At last, her sword found something vital, and it collapsed, shuddering to the ground. She raised her blade one last time, to end its pain.

She stepped back, and lowered her sword, looking down at the dead drake. Even in death, it was beautiful, and she was sorry she had had to kill it. A hand touched her, and she felt healing magicks flow through her as the shaman's voice chanted quietly over her head.

She thanked him when he finished, then bent over the drake, sheathing her sword and drawing her belt knife. "Will we need more than one?" she asked, as she carefully cut into it and withdrew its organs to examine them. Finding the liver, she removed the gall bladder and drained it into the vial the shaman held out.

Korgoss lifted the vial and examined the level. "One more, I think." He closed the vial and tucked it away. "There are many, it should not be hard to find another."

The second drake was a little harder to find, but they at last saw one winging its way across the barren landscape. It moved quickly, but an arrow loosed from Reedip's bow angered it sufficiently that it dove on them instead of fleeing.

This battle went a little easier, now that the paladin knew what to expect, but she still came away battered and bloody. This time, when she retrieved the gall-bladder, she felt something hard in the creature's gut. After filling the vial, which Korgoss carefully sealed, she bent again over the corpse to investigate.

"Huh. Wonder what this guy's been eating?" She tossed a glittering object to the troll, who caught it and held it up in the sunlight. "Or who?"

"I do not know, but this will feed us well." The shaman tossed the large sapphire back to the froglok. "Let us return. If we hurry, we can make the statue a little after nightfall."

Reedip nodded. She followed the troll as he set a good pace, and they returned the way they had come.

They were once again following the narrow path on the cliff, and were already high above the valley below. Reedip saw the troll swallow, as he looked up at the clouds that had blown over them, carried by a wind high above.

Korgoss picked up his speed, his face set grimly as he maintained his footing on the trail. The paladin followed close behind him, frowning as she watched him. She glanced upward at the clouds, which were growing darker and thicker.

The sound of thunder echoed off the stone of the cliff, deafening them. Behind it came the rain. It was no tentative rain of droplets that fell, but a blinding downpour that sluiced over them and over the rocks, making footing treacherous. It did not rain often in the Skyfire Mountains, but in that environment of extremes the rain fit right in, making up for its rarity with a vengeance. It hissed as it struck the rocks, and the first tendrils of mist began to form below them as the water evaporated on contact with the heated black stone.

Time slowed to a crawl, as Korgoss froze, now unable to mask his fear. He clung to the rain-slick stone for a long time, then finally began to move again, inching along the narrow path. Ahead, a wider ledge opened out, and Reedip breathed a sigh of relief as they reached it. The troll sank down, to sit against the rise of the cliff, his eyes closed, breathing heavily.

"It's okay," she told him, putting an arm around him, and feeling him shake. "We'll make it down. No need to rush things." He gulped, and nodded. As she watched him, he forced himself to calm, and opened his eyes. He looked up at her, and spoke.

The clap of thunder swallowed his words, and shook the cliff face. Korgoss covered his ears, wincing in pain, while Reedip dropped her jaw to relieve the pressure the sound caused in her own ears. The rumble seemed to take forever to die away as it echoed from the faces of the rocks.

Korgoss paled, as he became aware of the sensation of movement where there should have been none. Slowly, he eased himself up, his lips shaping a word, but no sound came.

The second movement Reedip felt too. She started. "Korgoss. The ledge is moving. We've got to get off of it." Her voice was almost unnaturally calm.

He nodded, and took a step towards the trail, but the shifting of his weight caused more movement, and he froze again, face ashen.

"Go!" he told her. "Move ahead - you are not heavy. I will follow..." He clung to the cliff, and watched her move past him. Slowly, he took another step. The whole ledge gave way under him, and he was gone.

Reedip leapt as she felt the rocks fall from under her feet, but the smooth wet stone she pushed off of gave little purchase. Her fingers caught the edge of the trail, but it crumbled away in her hand, and she, too, fell. She curled into a ball, holding her shield close, but she struck something hard, and her breath was torn away as she felt bones breaking. The second bounce shattered her shield arm, but the shield did its duty and took the brunt of the blow. How many more times she hit would remain a mystery, for the third mercifully robbed her of her senses.

The rain was still falling when she came to. She blinked against the drops that flowed into her eyes, and struggled to sit up.

A wave of nausea caused her to sink back down, and her head throbbed excruciatingly. She swallowed hard, and forced herself to try again. The movement sent waves of pain throughout her body, but she clung to a boulder, and managed to pull herself up. Her leg was twisted beneath her, and she knew it was badly broken. She didn't even attempt to stand.

Pressing her hand against the pain in her side that made it hard to draw a breath, she leaned against the boulder, fighting the nausea, and trying to focus her eyes on a world that disconcertingly refused to remain solid and still. Her vision swam, and it didn't seem to be planning on returning to normal any time soon. Her shield arm was dragging uselessly, and she unbuckled the straps, and left the shield where it lay. She blinked, and tried to make out her surroundings.

"Korgoss!" she cried, seeing the troll lying not far from her. She pulled herself to him, ignoring the increasing agony of the pounding in her head, an agony that eclipsed the pain from her broken limbs and ribs.

The shaman was lying in a strange twisted position on the rocks. His face was turned upwards, his eyes half-open, but unseeing, rain falling into them with no reaction. Neither his mail, nor the leather hood on his head had been enough to protect him from the impact of his landing. Blood and fluid leaked from his nose and ears, and from a deep indentation that marred the globe of his skull, staining the hood. Reedip realised he had turned as he had fallen, to protect his belt pouch, and its precious contents.

She reached out a shaking hand, and touched him. She could not feel him breathing.

She leaned up against him, despair filling her, and she gathered her strength to try to heal herself. But the words of the magicks would not stay still, to be grasped, and her prayers seemed to slip from her mind like a fist full of water. An overwhelming desire to rest, just a short while, swept over her, but she held it off, remembering, as if from a distance, that she still had her Gift.

Once she was whole, she could try to restore the troll, but how long they had lain there was unknown. Whether she could still catch his soul...

She tried to lever herself up again, but her strength was gone. She sank back, and panted, gasping with the pain that throbbed in her head. She lay her head down on him, as she again fought the shadows that pulled her to sleep, and this time, felt the faint, dying flutter of his heart. Her own heart caught in her throat, and she forgot her pain, placed her hand on his breast, and released her Gift.

Tongues of blue flame licked around him, as the rush of holy magicks filled him. She watched in satisfaction as his limbs straightened, the broken bones knitting, and the horrible dent in his skull slowly righted itself. The flames died away, and the troll blinked as a raindrop hit his eye.

Kor turned his head, wincing as he scraped against a sharp rock, and saw the froglok leaning against him. She smiled briefly, before her eyes closed, and her head sank down to rest on his breast.

He sat up, easing her down with one hand, as his other went to his belt pouch automatically. He felt the vials in it with a sense of relief, for they were whole.

He looked down at the paladin, and he bent to examine her injuries. As he touched her, she began to shiver uncontrollably. The words of a healing spell spilled from his lips, and he watched worriedly as the spell took effect and she slowly relaxed into stillness. As he leaned forward to unbuckle her helmet, he felt the gush of liquid pour out of his hood and down his neck.

He wiped it away, and stared at the blood and fluid on his hand. He glanced upwards, but the fog had risen, and blocked all view of the cliff face from which they had fallen.

Carefully, he removed Reedip's helmet, and ran his fingers gently across her head, feeling the grate of bone on bone. He felt the cold fingers of fear trace his spine as he realised how close they had come to never waking, never returning to Gukta. He placed his hand on the froglok's head, and began to chant the most powerful of his healing spells.

She was safe. She knew this without any doubts. Somehow, the scent of rank musk in her nostrils added to the feeling, as did the slow bass drumbeat that reverberated through her. She was safe ...and she was loved.

Reedip's eyes opened slowly. The tiny cave was barely enough to wear the name. A mere scoop out from the side of the mountain, the overhang was just large enough to keep the rain off of them, and provide cover from the dangerous creatures that roamed the broken land around them.

She was cradled protectively in Korgoss's arms as he sat in the shelter, watching the swirls of heavy fog. There would not have been room for the both of them any other way.

She heard the sound of great wings, as something passed by outside of their narrow field of vision. The drumbeat quickened slightly, and she realised she was listening to the shaman's heart, as she lay pressed against his chest. When the creature - whatever it was - showed no sign of detecting their presence, the heartbeat slowed again.

Kor shifted slightly, and looked down to see her watching him. "Go back to sleep," he told her quietly. "We will stay until the fog lifts." He looked back out at the swirling mists that obscured everything but the immediate area around them. "It is too dangerous to travel when we cannot see."

"When the rain stops. A little after," he said. He smiled slightly. "I do not know how long it will rain."

The look of pain that crossed his face surprised her, and she reached up without thinking to touch his cheek. Again the shaman reacted, wincing, and he caught her hand and removed it. She watched him, waiting. He stared out of the cave, and was silent for a long moment.

"You are... very like him," the shaman said at last. "It is hard to be with you."

"I'm sorry, Korgoss." Her golden eyes held sorrow and pity. "I should let you be, then. Once we get out of here, I'll go. We can split up, and try to..." He moved his hand to touch her lips, and she stopped.

"No." He shook his head. "Without you, I would be dead." He took a deep breath, and looked back down at her. "It is good that you are here. Even if it hurts." She met his eyes, then had to look away.

"And I'm the one who came and took him away from you." She turned her face into his chest. "I've sometimes wished that Braag had killed me that day." His arms tightened around her, and she felt his hand cup the back of her head as he held her.

"Not you. Gukta took him." The words rumbled in the great chest. "And it is good you live, Reedip." His fingers stroked her head, and she looked back up at him. "Someone must tell him to stop when he works too hard."

"I can see why he loves you so much," she said. "You have a beautiful soul." His eyes widened. She reached up to touch his cheek again, as he stared at her. "I envy him knowing you so well, Korgoss."

"Friends say ‘Kor'," the shaman said quietly. She blinked, then smiled at him.

"And friends say ‘Ree'," she replied. He nodded, and shifted to get comfortable.

"Go to sleep, Ree. You need rest. I, too." He leaned back, and closed his eyes. She turned slightly in his arms, once again resting her head against his chest. The slow rhythm of his heart lulled her to sleep.

"Let me know what happens, okay? He's my friend too." Tiri wrapped her arms around the troll's waist, hugging him tightly. "And make sure you and that wayward cousin of mine come see me. I know you live in the middle of nowhere, but still, Kor..."

"Good. I miss you." She released him, and stepped back. "Be safe, Kor. And you, Shin Reedip."

The paladin bowed, and watched as the druid wove her magicks again, and vanished.

The two looked at each other, then made their way away from the centre of the Nexus. The spires above them thrummed with power, and many people hurried from corridor to corridor.

The large chamber called the Nexus was a central point in the magickal travel systems of the peoples of Norrath, and its inhabited moon, Luclin.

The towering spires were scattered across the world, and would – when the scions who tended them were ready – whisk the traveller here. From this place, all other spires were accessible, as were the magickal stones that linked the Plane of Knowledge and its city with the world. The Nexus was truly central, and was always bustling.

Also at hand was the city carved from the stone in ages long past by the first-comers to the place. The immense caverns that housed the city of Shadowhaven ran long, and deep.

"This way to town," the troll said, and turned towards the exit that would lead them to the city. "And the caverns beyond it. We will have to go deep into them, to find what we seek."

Reedip pulled out the list, and examined it. "Shrieker fluid. Shouldn't be that hard."

"No. It should be quick. But we must also get spores from a larger mushroom... and it is worshipped by the little people of the caverns." Korgoss sniffed. "They will not like us damaging it."

"Kor... you're a master of understatements." The paladin folded the list, and put it away. "From what I remember, those nasty little things don't like anyone, or anything. Unless you're a mushroom." She shook her head. "I don't like the thought of hurting their ‘god' though."

"It will grow back. I have been there before. The mushrooms grow quickly in the damp and dark."

"Grow quickly. Uproot themselves and wander around. Attack you if you get too close..." she shook her head. "Makes me wonder what the gods had on their minds when they shaped this place." She looked up as she heard the shaman's bark of laughter.

"Perhaps... they were sampling their work," he said, then hurried on, leaving her to stare after him in astonishment.

They paused in the city long enough to sell the sapphire and resupply, before heading off into the extensive tunnel system that riddled the area around the sprawling urban centre.

The endless caverns were the home to outcasts and criminals, as well as the strange creatures that had been here before the coming of the peoples of Norrath. Most were wary of people, and avoided the more travelled passages, but many of the creatures actively hunted those who passed through the tunnels.

Fortunately for Korgoss and Reedip, these were not strong enough to provide them more than an annoyance as they hurried through the dank, dripping chambers.

They stuck to the main passageways, which were lit by occasional torches placed there by the inhabitants of the caverns. Those torches, and the faint luminescence given off by the strange fungal growths that coated the walls were more than enough light for Reedip's eyes, and she led them surely through the darkness.

"You know where we go?" Korgoss asked her, as she paused at a fork in the tunnel.

"Believe it or not, yes. I told you I've hunted here, with some friends of mine. The shriekers we're after have some sort of fibre that an old friend named Mrrta needed. She had been sent to get it by her Master." The froglok shrugged. "Took us a while to gather enough fibres to make her... whatever it was. Stuffing or something," she shrugged again. "Mrrta was happy. But we all pretty much decided we'd seen enough screaming mushrooms after that." Reedip looked back at the troll. "This way."

It was a long walk through the caverns before they heard the shrill whine of the strange mushroom creatures called shriekers.

"Well. Let's get this done," the paladin said. "I'm tired. Get what we need, rest, then go find your other giant-mushroom-god." She looked up at the troll. "You ready?"

"Wait." He renewed the protections he had placed on her, and on himself. He studied his servant, then did the same for it. "I am ready."

She drew her bow, and sent an arrow into the nearest of the multicoloured mushroom creatures. With a speed amazing in something of such sedentary nature, it crossed the distance between them and attacked her, its shrill whine growing louder.

For all its absurd appearance, it was a dangerous opponent. It had a surprising amount of strength, and it struck hard. But Reedip was familiar with its methods, and held her ground, meeting its attacks, and repaying in kind.

She drove her sword deeply into its cap, aiming for the eye-spots that glared at her from the folds of its strange flesh. Dodging a blow from the enraged creature, she spoke a word of power, and bathed the thing in flames. It shrieked even louder, and she winced.

"The damn things don't have mouths! How do they scream?" she asked as she dealt it a blow from her shield that sent it flying. She took the moment as it shook itself to catch her breath, and was braced and ready as it returned again.

"Why do you ask me?" the troll asked, as he struck out at the thing with his own magicks. His spirit-wolf was harrying the creature. "I did not make them."

"Good thing, too. I'd have to have it out with you about that." The paladin grunted as she was driven back by the furious creature. She felt the warmth of the shaman's healing upon her, and forced the shrieker back in turn.

The sudden cessation of noise as the mushroom fell was a blessing. The whine of the others of its kind was nothing in comparison to the horrid wail the fungoid had produced.

"Let's have the vial," the froglok said, cutting a chunk of the creature's cap off, and standing up again.

The shaman slid his pack from his shoulders, and found one, holding it as Reedip squeezed the milky juice from the spongy flesh. "How much do we need?" she asked, as she cut another chunk, to squeeze it too.

The troll watched the vial fill. "That is good," he said, after a time. "That should be enough."

"Would you believe people drink this stuff?" she asked, raising her hand to sniff it in disgust. She wiped it on the wall. "On purpose?"

"I do not think about such things." The troll's voice was dry. "My people eat and drink worse."

Reedip cocked her head up at the shaman. She blinked at him for a moment. "Why don't you?" she asked finally.

The troll shrugged. "Because I do not." He led her back down the corridor, until they could barely hear the constant whine of the shriekers. "Rest, Ree. You are tired. I am tired. My wolf will watch. The shriekers will make noise if something passes that way." He set his backpack down beside a rock, and looked at her.

He sighed. "I do not wish to be like them. I would gladly have used my life healing them of battle-wounds. They did not want this, and made it plain. They did not want me." He pulled his bedroll from his pack and laid it out. "Others did, and I follow their ways."

The paladin nodded slowly. "I can understand that," she said. Wearily, she dropped her own pack down, and removed her bedroll from it. She spread it out on top of her cloak to keep off the damp, and collapsed upon it with a sigh.

The shaman watched her for a moment, then lay down, listening to the froglok's even breathing, and the small sounds of the tunnels.

"Kor? How did you know the soup was poisoned?" Her voice was quiet, and held only curiosity.

"You let him cook?" Reedip sat up, staring at the troll, aghast. "Now that was stupid. A pot is a deadly weapon in his hands..."

"Later. As we walk. Now is for resting. Go to sleep. We have a long way to walk before we reach the Bogling temple."

"Hmm...looks like nobody home..." Reedip peered around the corner, before wading into the room. "Shouldn't there be boglings everywhere? We should be able to hear them from here..."

"We should." Korgoss scanned the room, following the froglok. "They sing. Loudly."

The paladin pulled herself up onto a dry rocky ledge, and investigated the tunnel beyond. "Well, no singing here..." She crept forward, down the tunnel. "Damn. Now that's a big mushroom."

The troll joined her, looking up at the huge fungus-creature. "Mmm. None of the little people are here. I wonder where they are?" He looked around, taking a few steps into the room.

The giant mushroom stood in the centre of a small pool of stagnant water. Strange growths surrounded it in its pond.

The froglok sheathed her sword, slowly. "Do you think we can get the spores without killing it?" Reedip asked, as she looked up at the thing.

"I do not think so. But you can try if you wish." The troll gestured towards the strange fungus. "Be my guest." He leaned back against the wall to watch.

The froglok slowly approached it, but before she could touch it, it moved. It turned in place, and struck out at her.

"Whoa!" She jumped aside. "Well, it certainly has its own ideas about all of this, doesn't it?" She heard the snort from the shaman. "You could help, you know," she said, as she drew her sword, and retaliated. "Instead of standing back there and laughing at me."

She risked a glance over her shoulder, to see him leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching. His mystic servant sat at his feet, also watching her with interest. "Thanks," she said dryly. She turned back to the mushroom, and whacked it again. It whacked back.

She ducked, and set to work, chopping the wide stem/foot of the strange fungal creature as if she were trying to fell a tree. Every so often, it would try to strike her, but she was far too nimble for it to land more than the occasional glancing blow.

"Oh, shut up!" She staggered back a step as the mushroom landed a harder blow than she had been expecting. "Were you planning on helping me, or watching me get knocked into next week?"

The troll's dry laugh was nearly swallowed by the growl of his ghostly servant, as it leapt to attack. Several spells settled around the mushroom, and it weakened rapidly. Finally, the paladin cut through the stalk of the giant creature, and it fell to the floor of the cavern, half in the pool it had grown from.

Reedip stepped back, and wiped the milky liquid that had served the strange saprophyte as sap – or blood, it was somewhat hard to tell – from her face.

"Marr... this stuff reeks!" She glared at the troll. "You knew, didn't you?" She flicked her sword clean, and sheathed it. "You've done this before..." She kicked a glob of the dead mushroom's flesh at him. "Thanks a lot!"

"You are welcome." Korgoss knelt down by the cap of the mushroom, and filled the vial from the spores that leaked from the gills. "Look at the stem...tell me if there are runes on it."

"Runes?" Reedip bent over the creature, and examined the visible parts of the stem. "Not that I can see."

The shaman shrugged. "Then we are done here. I have the spores." He examined the vial. "There are not many. And it will be a long time before the little people can grow it back large enough to make more." He tucked the vial away. "I hope it will be enough."

"It will have to be," the paladin said, shaking her head. "Let's get out of here."

"Wait. I have found a few more I missed. They are large..." The troll remained, bent over the mushroom. He drew the vial out again, then leaned his weight on the thing, rolling it over. "Mmm. More still."

"Hey. There are runes on this thing..." Reedip bent over the stem of the mushroom. "What is this?" She traced them with a finger.

"A spell. Do you not know it? It will remove evil magicks. Cut the piece from the stem. Try to keep the runes whole."

Reedip drew her knife, and carefully peeled the skin from the side of the mushroom. "Kor, I'm just covered in this stuff now..."

"It will wear off." The troll once more capped the vial, and put it away. "That is all of them. There should be enough, now." He straightened up, and looked toward the exit, freezing in place as he did. "Ree."

"Hang on a sec." She shook the liquid from the piece of mushroom. "This stuff is horrible."

The froglok looked up at him, then turned to follow his gaze. "Uh oh. They don't look too impressed."

Reedip stuffed the rune-etched piece of skin into the top of her belt pouch, and drew her sword.

"You know," she said. "I really don't want to have to kill these guys. I mean... we just knocked over their giant mushroom." She glanced over at the troll. "Want to run for it?"

The shrieks of the furious boglings sounded from behind them as they bolted from the room, heading towards the safety of Shadowhaven.

Kadek leaned back in his chair, dropping his pen, and rubbing his face with an ink-stained hand. "Every step we take, he knocks us back again," he sighed to himself. "Something has to be done about Griblok."

"Gaz Commander Griblok," Garrop corrected. He nodded as Kadek looked up at him, standing in the door to the study. "Any thought of what to do with him must take that into account."

Kadek inclined his head in acknowledgment. "He's got the people stirred up now, with intimations that Korgoss was in on the whole thing.... the worst is that he still believes it. And thus there is no lie in his words."

Slowly the paladin stood up from his place at his master's desk, to accompany the cleric as he continued down the hall to the bedroom.

Kuaki looked up as they entered, setting down her book. "You're early," she said. She saw them look around the room in surprise. "Lady Merilee wished to go for a walk. Shin Brekek accompanies her."

Garrop bent over the bed, laying his hand on the Shin Master's head gently. "He fades from us," the cleric said softly. "I pray Korgoss and Shin Reedip return in time."

"If anyone can, they will." Kadek knelt down by the bedside, and took his master's hand. "Sir, you always know what to do... I wish I had your guidance now." He pressed the hand to his cheek. "What would you tell me?" he whispered, his eyes slowly veiling themselves. "Have patience, Kadek? All things are possible, Kadek...?" He lowered the hand he clutched back down to the bed. Slowly, daringly, he reached out to touch the Shin Master's cheek, brushing it with his fingertips. "I don't want all things... I would give them all to have you whole and well." He was silent for a time, then sighed, and stood, slowly, as if lifting a vast weight with him. A movement caught his eye, and he turned, to see the bard in the doorway, leaning on the arm of the young paladin who had been her escort through the town.

Kadek shook his head. "No... it's all right." He blinked, and his eyes cleared. "I was just..." he trailed off.

"I know." She released Brekek's arm, and limped forward to embrace the froglok who had given years of faithful service to his master out of love. "And he knows, too, Kadek. Don't doubt it."

The crimson froglok nodded, then straightened himself, and she released him. She nodded at the priest, allowing the paladin to compose himself.

"Kor Garrop, I'm glad you're here. I am supposed to ask you to do something." She turned, to smile her thanks at Brekek – who bowed, and departed – before making her halting way towards the striped green froglok.

The cleric reached out to help her to a chair. "How can I be of service?" he asked, as she settled down into it.

"Are there... any rituals, or blessings given to the medallions you wear?" She reached out to - but did not touch - the one around the cleric's neck.

"They are blessed, yes, but there is nothing else special about them. Other than what they mean to us, of course." He smiled. "Why do you ask?" He slipped his from around his neck, and offered it to her. She took it and examined it, before handing it back.

"Korgoss wants this one to have the blessing that you give the medallions of the Shin." She extended a small box to the priest. He took it, and opened it, drawing a breath in surprise.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, lifting the medallion from the velvet within.

"It was Kor's. He wanted Arrek to have it....He had me take it to the jeweller here, to have the stone engraved." She smiled sadly. "He wanted it to have the symbol on it, like the Shin medallions do. Today was the day they finished it."

Garrop held the medallion in the lamplight, gazing at the flaming sword that now adorned the clear stone set into it. "It didn't need the symbol... this is already a Shin, or perhaps a Kor, medallion. One of the early ones, from before Marr placed his hand on us, and changed us. The stone itself is the symbol of Marr. The other castes wear amulets of various types. We two castes alone wear these." He tapped the one around his neck. "We chose a more simple way of showing our affiliation when we left Guk to our cousins." He rubbed his thumb over the engraved sword on the gem. "I have only seen one of these once... the lord of the Shin of Guk wears one. Where did Korgoss get it?"

"He found it," Kadek answered. "Out in the swamp. He said he kept it because it was beautiful."

The cleric looked at the paladin sharply, then cupped his hands around the medallion, and whispered a prayer. He stayed still a long moment, a look of concentration on his face.

"It is not tainted," he said at last. "It was not taken from its last wearer in violence..." He held it up to the light again, then once more cupped his hands over it, and spoke clearly the words of a different prayer. As he spoke, Kadek and Kuaki slowly went to their knees.

Merilee watched, holding her breath, as a clear light shone around the priest. He intoned his blessing, re-imbuing the stone with the power of his god.

She shook her head. "Kadek should do it, I think. Or you," she said. "It is more fitting."

"Kadek, then." Garrop extended the medallion to the Trainer. "You know the words that go with the giving of one of these within your caste."

The crimson froglok accepted the medallion, and fastened it around his master's neck, whispering softly to him as he did.

"I hadn't even noticed he wasn't wearing one," Garrop admitted quietly. "What did he do with his old one?"

"He gave me instructions – long ago, when I first took my place – that should anything ever happen to him, I was to give it to Korgoss. I sent it in the letter. He wears it." Kadek said, as he again took up his master's hand. "If only we could show Griblok... Gaz Commander Griblok... what Korgoss is really like. Perhaps he would stop this nonsense."

Garrop rested his hand on the Shin's shoulder. "You would have to show him more than that... show him what he is, too," the priest said gently. "Something festers inside him, some deep hurt... we must pierce it somehow. There may be a way, but it would not be easy." He sighed. "I am not the least of the Kor, and Master Gloorg listens to me. Perhaps, if the chance arises, I can do something to help. Until then..."

The wind was scudding the clouds across the sky as they appeared beside the stone book, high on the snowy plateau.

Korgoss shivered, and pulled his cloak more tightly about himself. He muttered the words of a spell, and felt the cold lessen its grip on him as the magick settled around him like another cloak. He turned, waiting for Reedip to appear behind him.

She popped into existence, and he repeated the spell on her. She smiled her thanks at him, and stepped out, the snow crunching beneath her feet.

"Don't worry about me, I'm well protected," she said, tugging at her crimson cloak. "I took the cold into account. Brought this along. Keeps me comfortable here. Let's see... Glowing shardwurm bile," she said, turning her back to the wind, and holding the list firmly. "That's straightforward enough."

"Yes, but we go to Thurgadin first. We may be able to buy ore there, and make the Liquid Velium." The troll pointed westward. "This way." He watched as she folded and put away the list.

"I've been here before, too. More than a few times, actually," the froglok said. "The dwarves like me. You don't have to worry." She walked up beside him, and they set out.

"Good. We also spent a long time here, among them. They do not care that I am troll, or that Braag was ogre," he continued, as he slogged through the snow. "They only care what you do." He looked at her, and saw that she was nodding.

"Fight their enemies, and you can earn a great place among them," Korgoss agreed. "We did." He picked his way down a slope. "Many giants fell to us. The ice-dwarves were grateful, and made us welcome. They are good people. They stand by those they call friend. We might have chosen to live here, but it is too cold." He stopped talking, saving his breath for travel, as he plowed his way through a drift. He turned to see how the paladin was faring, and cursed to himself, having forgotten the much lighter frogloks had built in snowshoes. She walked over the surface of the drifts, sinking only an inch or two, her webbed toes spread wide.

She slowed her pace to stay with him as he worked his way through the drift, and found an easier path that would carry him around the worst of them. He nodded his gratitude, and let her lead.

After some travel, they saw ahead of them the flash of silver that was the ice-bound river that would lead them to their destination. They turned to follow it, heading towards a towering cliff that was visible even at this distance. It rose in several sheer tiers, marked by a bright streak of silver that was a waterfall cascading over it. The volume of water and the speed of its fall kept it from freezing entirely, but ice from the spray sheathed all the trees in the area, stunting them, and twisting them into strange shapes.

The thunder of the falls became audible as they approached, and grew to an overwhelming torrent of sound. They followed the wall of ice that sheathed the cliff face, until they passed behind the falling water, into a tunnel carved from the ice itself.

As they stepped into the tunnel, the sound of the falls cut off suddenly, leaving a welcome quiet.

"You know. I bet there are people who would pay insane amounts of money for that spell," Reedip said, conversationally to one of the dwarven guards who stood just inside the tunnel.

He laughed. "Aye. And if I had a goldmark for every one of ye who've told me that, I'd be as rich as the Dain himself."

Reedip grinned at the ice-dwarf. The Coldain were much like their distant cousins in size and temperament, but the harsh climate of the frozen continent of Velious had changed their appearance greatly. They had the palest of skin and eyes, and hair that tended to be blonde, or the lightest of grey in colour. The cold had honed them, and their constant battles with the giants that roamed the icy wastelands gave them great strength. Those battles also taught them the value of staunch companions. When the long-lost colony was rediscovered by the dwarves of Kaladim, they were dismayed to find that the Coldain, as the new race called itself, had lost their enmity for the traditional enemies of their forefathers. It remained a sticking point in the negotiations that passed between the two dwarf races, for the Coldain hated noone. Noone save the giants who harried them, and the dragons that sought to rule the land. And, of course, those who allied themselves with their enemies.

Korgoss continued down the carven ice tunnel, which soon met the stone of the cliff, and they entered the great city of Thurgadin.

To the eye, the city was built of ice and stone, but it only took touching one of the ice-walls to know that sight was misleading. For they were not cold, or, rather, no colder than the stone.

"We may find ore here for sale," Korgoss said, as they reached the main thoroughfare. "I believe I have left something here, in their vaults... I will see. We may have enough to buy the ore we need here."

The paladin nodded. "I'll start checking the merchants who buy such things. See who is selling it, if anyone. It depends on what the Dain has been doing...they may be using their velium for building projects." She headed off towards a doorway, under a sign marked with a hammer and anvil, and entered it.

The troll turned in the opposite direction, and made his way through the streets to the building where the vault was kept. There were several other outlanders around the building, discussing the activities of the giants, and Korgoss nodded as he passed them, then paused, to speak to them briefly before continuing inside. This city was a waypoint to those who wished to explore the frozen continent, and many people passed through it. The vault building was a gathering point for those to meet, and find others who would travel with them.

The inside of the stone building was a place where the local craftsmen chose to gather, and those who came to use the vaults were surrounded by the babble of the dwarves, who argued and discussed amongst themselves their techniques, and taught - for a price - their trade-secrets to those who sought them. Korgoss watched them as he waited his turn with the vault holder.

When he approached the counter, he nodded at the vault-keeper, and spoke his name clearly, waiting for the dwarf to seek the name in his records. They were well kept, for it took only a moment before the vault-keeper disappeared, and returned with the rectangular chest he had left there. He opened it, and blinked in surprise at the contents. He had forgotten what he had left here, so long ago.

He transferred some of the coin to his person, and withdrew a sheathed sword, which he drew, and examined for a moment, before resheathing it, and affixing it to his pack. He had intended to sell it, long ago. Now it would be a way to thank a certain young paladin, whom he owed. He nodded at the vault keeper, who bowed, and removed the chest, putting it once more into safe-keeping. He turned again to look at the craftsmen, and descended the steps to their level.

"One of the smiths has some," she said. "He bought it from some adventurer, intending to use it to make weapons. But he'll sell it, if we can meet his price."

"Here. There should be enough. Tell him to break it into small pieces for us." He handed his purse to her, and she cocked her head at him. "You speak better. They will not try to cheat you. I do not speak well. They will raise prices."

She nodded slowly, and headed back inside the smithy. After a time, she emerged with a sack.

"Will this be enough? He's willing to sell us more, but I wasn't sure how much we'd need." She offered the sack to the troll.

Korgoss peered into it, then pulled out a chunk of shimmering clear substance. "Mmm. It should be." He turned the ore in his hand, studying it. Reedip reached for it, and he handed it to her, removing a second piece from the sack.

"I'll have to admit," she said. "This is the strangest ore I ever saw. It's more like a crystal than anything else. But they forge it."

"It is ice." He smiled at her expression. "It is not cold to touch, no. But it is ice – magickal ice. It does not melt. It can be made to melt, and will ...freeze again... in the shape you give it." He dropped the ore back in the sack. "The Coldain have the secret to melting it to shape it. And make it stay melted." He held out the sack, and she dropped the piece she held back into it. "Come." He led off down the street. "Is there any money left?"

"Quite a bit, actually." She followed him as he wound his way through the city, to a tavern.

"Good." He ducked in the doorway, and walked up to the bar. The barkeep, an older female dwarf, looked up at him narrowly as he leaned on it.

"Now what can I be getting ye?" she asked. "Some of our fine ale? The Icy Mug has the best in town."

"My what? Ye're a daft one, outlander..." The woman put down the tankard she was polishing. "Now what skill would that be? And ye'd better be careful which words come out of that big mouth of yers next."

The troll made no reply, but pulled a chunk of the velium from the sack, and placed it on the counter in front of her. She stared at it.

"Your skill." The troll began to pile coins beside the ore. "Melt it. So it stays melted."

"Now wait a minute..." She held up her hand to stop him. "Who told ye to come to me?"

Korgoss looked at her evenly. "I have heard of you. It is not important from who. Melt it. I will pay."

The dwarf stared at the coins. The troll added a few more onto the pile, and the woman nodded finally.

"It doesn't always work, ye know..." she began, but shut up when two more pieces of ore appeared beside the first. "Ye got yerself a deal. I'll be back." She scooped up the ore. "I'll take the money when I give ye the goods. I run an honest place, here. I'll not cheat ye." She turned to a barmaid. "Hey! Get these two ale! I've got something to do!" With a nod, she disappeared through a door behind the bar, carrying the velium with her.

Korgoss nodded. "So I am told." He inclined his head to the barmaid, who plunked a foaming tankard in front of him. The maid stared at the wealth on the counter, before putting Reedip's tankard down as well.

"Well. I'll not be asking ye for coin for the ale, then. I see Adia has this one covered." She grinned, and went back to her other customers.

Reedip shrugged, and sniffed the tankard's contents, before taking a cautious sip. "Hey, this isn't bad," she said.

Reedip hooked a stool over with her toes, and sat on it. "So," she said, pulling the list from her pouch. "This will leave us with the shardwurm bile, and the Scarlet Moss." She looked up at the shaman. "I've asked every single person I've met anywhere...and no one has heard of the stuff." She folded the list again, and put it away. "I don't know what to do."

"Keep looking." Korgoss met her eyes. "Keep asking." He looked down into his tankard, then drained it, and set it down. "What else can we do? I will not give up."

"Bile first," Reedip said, reaching out to grip the shaman's hand. "Then, we split up. And ask anyone that moves in the Plane of Knowledge. And from there, all the cities that we can get to. We know it's not in Gukta, or the swamp. Or in the Faydark Forest."

"I'll go to Qeynos, and ask there. The druids in Surefall Glade might know." She squeezed his hand. "We find a place...in New Taanan, perhaps, where we can leave messages. And check there." She sighed, and emptied her own tankard. "Bile first. We're here, now."

The dwarf woman reappeared at that point, and laid three small bottles on the counter in front of them. "All three worked. The gods are happy with ye t'day." She scooped up the pile of coin. "Good to be doing business with ye," she said, and smiled. "Ye need more...well...y'know where to come."

Korgoss tucked the bottles away safely. "I will not forget," he said. "Nor will I forget you have the best ale in Thurgadin." He nodded to the woman, who blushed. "Do you know where we can find Scarlet Moss?"

"We're not going to kill off the species, here, are we?" Reedip asked, driving her sword into the belly of the dead shardwurm. "How many have we killed now?" She made the long slit, then reached her arm inside to draw out the creature's organs. "Liver... more liver... gall bladder... I am never going to be able to look at liver again, I swear." She dumped the organs back down. "Just the normal one. No second one. Not a glimmer. This one doesn't have any either." She made another slit, and pulled out the creature's crop. "Got some money, though. Off some poor soul it ate." She removed the worn coins, and tucked them away. "Think we can buy some of this off someone?"

"You're doing that ‘understatement' thing again, Kor," the froglok said with a sigh, and got up, scrubbing the blood from her hands and arm with a handful of snow. She looked up at him, and saw his expression. "Are you all right?"

"Yes." Korgoss shook himself. "Let us find another one, then. We have time, I think, before we must sleep."

The paladin nodded. "There seem to be lots of them around here. We cleared them out of their cave..."

"They will return to it in time." The troll scanned the snowy hillsides. "Movement, there," he pointed.

"Bear. Doesn't count." Reedip squinted. "Don't think it isn't tempting... we're going to have to start working our way back tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I'm running low on stuff. I could eat bear."

Kor snorted. "Eat the wurms. We kill enough of them." He turned back to the corpse, and cut a slab of meat from its haunch. "I will cook this."

The wurm was huge, like all its kin had been. It lay curled in the snow, its long tongue delicately licking the blood from its claws. The wurms were dragon-kin, close cousins of the mighty beasts that claimed the continent – not to mention the entire world – for their own. They differed from the dragons in that they were wingless, and heavier built, looking more like a giant-sized version of a simple lizard than the graceful dragons. But the creature's magickal nature was evident, for it did not suffer from the cold in which it dwelt. Its scales shimmered with a faint iridescence, making it seem carved of the ice on which it made its home.

It knew they were there before it saw them, and turned towards them, its head weaving as it sought the source of the sensed warmth.

Korgoss stood far back, knowing it sought him, and waited. Reedip's body gave off little heat, and this gave her an advantage here. She used it well.

With a hiss, the creature uncurled itself, and lunged for the troll, hoping to add to its dinner. Only to meet the paladin, who struck before it knew she was there, her sword biting deep into the glistening scales of its neck.

It recoiled, and rose for a moment to its hind legs, drawing itself out of her reach, before falling upon her again. It lashed out with its claws, in a devastating slash that would have gutted her had it landed.

But the froglok's agility served her well, and she leaped even as it was descending, to place herself under its belly. She thrust her sword upward, into its vitals, and it screamed in rage and pain.

Fetters of magick settled around it, and it struggled to attack her, as the shaman's spells struck it with poisonous blasts that sapped its strength, and the wolf-spirit tore at its hind leg viciously.

But these were not the target of the wurm's wrath. The little, leaping stinging thing that whirled around it had infuriated it, and it strove time and again to reach Reedip, as she struck it seemingly at will.

Then, a misaligned jump put her in the path of a sweep of the wurm's tail, and it sent her flying, smashing her against a rock, and she lay stunned as it gathered for a final lunge that she would not be able to dodge. It's head snaked out to strike, but the wurm had forgotten the other attacker.

With the full force of his strength and weight, the shaman rammed his shoulder into the side of the wurm's head, stopping it in its tracks. It hissed, and turned on him, but he was ready for it, and stood his ground, his spear poised and ready.

As the great head darted forward, Korgoss thrust with his spear, driving the point into its throat. It jerked back, and flung its head from side to side, tearing the weapon from his hands. He dove aside as it thrashed, trying to rid itself of the spear. He rolled over, clear of the creature's struggles, and got up, to see that Reedip had rejoined the fight, driving her blade deeply between the wurm's ribs. It screamed again, then collapsed heavily to the trampled and bloodstained snow.

"Definitely the last one of the day," the froglok muttered, as he hurried towards her. She sat down on the sprawled creature's leg, panting, one hand clutching her ribs, while the other undid the strap of her helmet. She pulled it off, and dropped it in the snow.

"You must stop landing on your head," he told her, as he reached her. He turned her head gently, to see the bruising on her face, and her eye already swollen closed.

"I'll make that my top priority," she said wearily. "Although it seems to happen more when I'm around you." She fixed her good eye on him. "Whatever it is you're doing.....stop it."

Kor sniffed. "I did not drop you. This time." He began his magicks, and she sighed in relief as his healing flowed through her. "Maybe you need a new helmet. One that does not make your brain rattle inside it."

"My brains don't rattle. It's a vast silence," she said. "You need to have something in there to rattle, or so Arrek tells me." She looked up, to see him staring at her. She grinned, and he shook his head, and laughed.

She chuckled at that, which set him off again, and for a few moments, the cold and the doubt were banished by the warmth of their shared laughter.

Reedip sighed, when they recovered themselves, and got to her feet slowly. She pulled her sword from the dead wurm's ribcage. "Okay. Let's see what you have inside. Other than bear."

"Tell me you've been keeping count," she said, as she walked beside the troll, who was avoiding another deep drift as they headed across the flat plain, aiming towards the distant city of Thurgadin.

"Of days?" he asked quietly. "It is six days now, here. It is twenty-two days we are gone from Gukta."

"No, of wurms. I was just wondering how many we've killed." She didn't look at him. Both were discouraged, and the fear had been growing in them that it would be here that they would be met by a messenger, bearing the news they did not want to hear.

"I have not counted, no. It has not been important." He wrapped his cloak more tightly about him, and shivered. "Wait a moment," he said, and recast his protective magicks upon himself, and on her. "It is colder today."

"No, I do not." The troll sniffed. "I will not miss it when we are gone from here."

"Me neither. I want to swim. I want to sink down, and let the weight go away, and feel the heartbeat of Norrath on my ear-drums." She sighed, and he turned to look at her in surprise. She blinked at him. "What? Didn't Arrek get antsy when he hadn't had a good swim in too long?"

He shook his head. "I would not forget him having trouble like that." He walked, thinking. "If he did, he hid it from my eyes. And we were much together. I did not know you needed it. He never spoke of that. Only of The Change."

"The Change is physical. I can be dry so long as I have water to drink. I can spend my whole life out of water, and dry, and be healthy. But not happy. We're born in water, Kor. We live in water, with gills, like fish, for months, before we grow our lungs, and our legs." She looked up at him, seeing him nod.

"This I know. I have seen the young of the Unchanged ones in the swamp." He looked at her, motioning her to continue.

"Water is like..." she shook her head. "I don't know what to say... like you being warm, and safe, in your wife's arms. A place where you are whole." She looked up at him, to see him thinking, his brow furrowed, but he nodded after a moment.

"You will be all right?" he asked after another moment. She looked up again and saw the concern in his eyes, and she smiled.

"You're a sweetheart, Kor. I'll be fine." She cocked her head in surprise as he shivered again, and pulled his cloak closer. "Did your protections wear off already?"

"No... it is getting colder." He frowned, as he noticed the swirls of snow blowing off the drifts. "The weather is turning."

"Turning....that may not be the best word, Kor. Look over there." Reedip stopped, and nodded towards the west, and the heavy, dark clouds that seemed to be drawing nearer as the wind picked up. "That doesn't look good."

Korgoss grunted. "No. I have never seen the skies here like that." He turned to look at the paladin. "Let us hurry. There is no shelter here, and it comes quickly."

Before long, the wind was nearly enough to lift the froglok from her feet, and she cursed, as she struggled to follow the troll.

Korgoss had problems of his own, for the drifts were being shaped and reformed by the wind even as he plowed his way through them, slowing his pace even more, as he fought to get them to a place of safety. He looked up, his eyes tracing the line of the cliffs far ahead of them, above the blowing snow.

Reedip frowned, as he paused to get his bearings on the cliffs. She was far more tired than she should be, even fighting this horrid wind. She shook her head, and forced herself on behind him, pulling her cloak with its magicks closer around her.

And then the front of the blizzard hit them, with the clouds losing their grip on the snow held within them. The storm unleashed its full fury, and Korgoss cursed as the cliffs, and all else, vanished as the blizzard closed off visibility around them.

"Stay close to me," he shouted to the paladin, who nodded. Her lips moved, but the howling wind whipped her words away. "We must find shelter!" He shouted again, and saw her nod. He turned, and forced a path through the shifting snow, keeping his northward bearing, and checking his compass frequently. He looked back to ensure that he did not lose Reedip in the white out, and saw her struggling slowly in his tracks. He turned back, and pressed on. The cold numbed him, but there was nothing to do but continue. To stop would be to die. The protections of his magicks seemed to do little against the power of the storm.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a black shape ahead loomed dark in glimpses through the swirling snow. It would, at the very least, block the wind. He angled towards it.

When the shape resolved into a guard tower, he turned again to check on the paladin, to tell her that they were near their goal. And she was not there.

He waited for a time, for she had slowed down, and he had seen her fighting the wind. But she did not appear, and he frowned, and set out back along his path, his footprints already half filled, and disappearing quickly. When they had disappeared entirely, he was left to guess the way he had come, keeping his bearing by the direction of the wind.

He almost missed her, but a flash of colour half-buried in snow caught his eye. He realised it was her crimson cloak, and that she had fallen. He hurried towards her, intending to help her up, and chivvy her on her way. But she lay still, eyes closed, and his heart skipped a beat. He reached for her hand, and cried out in surprise, for she was cold as the snow itself, and already stiffening. The healing spell he muttered had no effect. Anxiously, he felt for the pulse on her throat, then sat in the snow, staring at her as the blizzard swirled about them both.

Slowly, he picked her up, not willing to leave her there, and turned back in the direction of the guard tower.

When Korgoss stumbled in out of the blizzard, the bored Coldain guards started. The first one reached him, and took the still form of the froglok from his arms, while another stripped his cloak and pack from him, and wrapped a blanket around him, leading him to the fire, and sitting him down there.

"This blizzard caught us all off guard," the one told him, thrusting a cup of some hot beverage into his hands. "Ye're lucky to have found us. Where were ye coming from?" The troll shook his head, and stared at the floor. "Well, we'll have ye and yer friend set to rights before long. Settle down. We've a good long wait before ye can get to town, if that's where ye were headed."

"She is dead," Kor said numbly, looking up at the guard. The ice-dwarf straightened, frowning, then turned to his companion, who had taken several blankets, and spread them near the fire. On this, he was laying the stiff form of the froglok.

"She was hurt before she was frozen?" the guard asked gently, turning back to the shaman. He frowned again as Kor shook his head. "Then... how long has she been frozen?"

Korgoss shook his head again, slowly. "An hour. More," Korgoss said bitterly, and lowered his head again, but the burst of laughter from the dwarf startled him. He stared at the Coldain guard in disbelief.

"Just an hour? Bah! She's fine! Give her some time to warm up again!" The dwarf laughed again, clapped the troll on the arm, and left him, shaking his head, and repeating ‘an hour'.

Kor blinked, and turned to stare at the other dwarf. That one had finished arranging Reedip on the blankets, and he grinned up at the troll.

"These frog-people are pretty tough," the guard explained kindly. "They don't do too well when it gets really cold, though. They slow down, and go to sleep. Freeze solid if ye leave ‘em there long enough. They're cold blooded, y'see. Them lizard-people do the same thing." He stood up, and walked over to the stunned troll. "The difference is, is that them Iksar-folks, they don't thaw so well. It usually kills ‘em. Gotta find them before they freeze. But the frogs... Warm ‘em up, and they're as good as new. They're built for it." He, too, clapped the troll on the arm. "We see it a lot. If they have protections, they can stand the normal cold here fine, but blizzards get ‘em bad." He sighed, then shook his head. "Won't be a good patrol when this one's over. The worst blizzard I've seen since I was a wee lad. No warning, neither... We'll probably find more than a few folks that didn't make it to shelter, when the storm lets up, and we go back outside. Let's hope more of ‘em are frogs."

The guard turned, and looked back at the frozen paladin. "Ye get to keep an eye on her, seeing as how ye're her friend and all. Turn her around occasionally, so she warms up evenly. Make sure she doesn't get burned by being too close. Don't let her overheat, or ye'll cook her. Better to do it slowly. And it's easy to hurt ‘em when they're frozen, so be really careful when ye move her." He looked at the shaman, who had warmed up enough to start shivering again. "There's a better way to do it, but I think ye need to warm up a good bit too." He reached out to adjust Kor's blanket. "And get some sleep yerself, when she's done thawing. She'll be out of it until she gets back up to a decent temperature."

The bang of the door awoke Korgoss, and he sat up, to see a small group of people staggering in from the dark and cold, carrying another with them. The wind still shrieked, and a blast of snow was spun into the guard tower as they entered. Beside him, Reedip stirred slightly, but did not awaken.

The dwarves had been right, and as she had warmed, her heart had resumed beating, and she had begun to breathe. He had sat with her, holding her hand, until he could no longer keep his eyes open, and had finally gone to sleep beside her, tucking her in close to warm her with his body heat.

The ice-dwarves again rose to help those who had found them, but this time, they shook their heads over the figure who had been carried into the guard tower by its companions. It was one of the lizard-people, the Iksar, and was overcome by cold much as Reedip had been.

"We were dropped at the dragon-ring, into the middle of it. The damned wizard just left us there," one of the others said angrily. "There's shelter, but not enough for us to keep him warm... and nothing to build a fire with. We had no choice but try to get him to safety..."

"We can warm him, and see," the senior guard said quietly, "But the Iksar rarely survive being frozen. They're not shaped for it."

"We've been here before," one of them said, "and he's never had a problem... but this..." he hung his head, staring into the cup the dwarf pressed into his hand.

As they were divested of their cloaks and packs, Korgoss got up, and, grasping the blankets that Reedip lay on, slid them - and her - smoothly several feet, making room beside the fire for the Iksar.

One of the dwarves laid the lizard out on blankets in the warmth. Korgoss stood, and looked at the others who had entered. There were three, a lightly armoured wood elf, a much taller high elf in colourful robes, and one of the huge cat-people called Vah Shir.

The robed elf's cheeks and nose were white, and the shaman approached him, and led him to the fire. He gently touched the elf's face, and spoke words of healing. The high elf looked up at him, eyes widening as he realised who was helping him, but made no comment as Korgoss examined his hands.

"Take off your boots," the troll said, quietly, "and let me see your toes." The high elf did as he was told, and the shaman grunted in satisfaction. "Good. No frostbite there." He wrapped the blanket he had been sleeping under around the elf, and got him a cup of the hot, sweet beverage the dwarves had kept by the fire. If the high elf objected to the scent of the blanket, he made no sign.

He looked around to see that the wood elf was under the care of one of the two dwarves, who nodded at him as he saw what the troll was doing.

He nodded back in reply, then moved on to the next of the strangers, the tiger-striped Vah Shir. She had sat down next to the Iksar, and was stroking the scales on his head, a look of desolation on her face. The thick fur of her people had given her protection her companions lacked, and she had weathered the cold better than they. But she bore another injury, a long claw-slash that was inexpertly bound up, and still seeping blood.

"You have no healer with you?" he asked her, as he knelt down beside her.
She looked up at him, and her voice was filled with sorrow and anger.

"Tethiss is our healer." She looked back down at the lizard-man. "Was. We might have gotten him here fast enough, if we had not been attacked by the wurm on the way. They don't care about the weather." She closed her eyes, and tears slipped from them. "By the time we killed it... he had collapsed. We tried to keep him as warm as we could with our bodies, as we travelled, but..." she broke off, and covered her face. He healed her while she wept, then turned his attention to the Iksar.

If they had tried to keep him warm, and had tended to him immediately as they saw him collapse... then perhaps there was still hope. The reptile had evidently warned them of the trouble, before it began, and they had not left him to lay in the snow - unlike how he had left Reedip - so perhaps he was not as thoroughly frozen as they had feared. He certainly didn't seem as stiff as the froglok had been.

He suspected it was the Vah Shir who had done most of the warming and carrying, as she was by far the most powerfully built of them all. Not to mention that she seemed to care greatly for Tethiss.

He bent close, and listened for a heartbeat, holding his breath for as long as he could. But no sound he could discern came from the Iksar's breast, and he straightened slowly, then set his hand over the reptile's heart. Quietly, he began to chant, willing his healing magicks to waken any spark that remained within the cold Iksar, and keep it kindled as he warmed. He paused, when the two dwarves came to gently turn the lizard-man to warm him evenly, then began again. When he had no more healing to give, he stopped to rest, and called the spirits, offering his blood to them, and they replenished his magicks in return.

He again bent to listen, before he continued. Once more he held his breath, and held still, his ear pressed to the Iksar's breast. This time, he felt, rather than heard, a quiver of movement. He sat back, replaced his hand, and took up his chant.

His voice was hoarse when he came once more to the end of his magick. But once again he summoned the spirits to drink his offered life's blood, dismissing them when he was light headed. The dwarves had waited until he was done, to move the lizard-man once more, and as they squatted to shift him, one of them exclaimed aloud. Carefully, they turned him, then stepped away again.

Korgoss nodded, and, with what little he had gathered from the spirits, cast a final spell of healing on the Iksar. He sat, exhausted, as he watched the other's breast rise and fall slowly. Hands reached out to touch him as he sat there, and he was lifted to his feet. He was helped to an outspread blanket, lowered down, and covered. He was asleep before he was fully prone.

When Kor next awoke, it was day again, and the blizzard was still wailing outside. He sat up, and rubbed his eyes. The people who had come in during the night were sleeping, save for the Vah Shir, who was sitting and talking with Reedip in low tones. They looked up at him as he stood and came to join them, pausing to check on the Iksar on the way.

"Tethiss still sleeps," the cat-woman said. "They say he might awaken soon." She reached out to touch the troll's hand. "Thank you for what you have done, Korgoss. He is my friend, and means much to me."

"Kor, this is Aurra, warrior of Shar Vahl," Reedip said, smiling up at him. "She told me what you did."

The shaman nodded at the warrior, and sat down with them, but his attention was on the paladin. Her golden eyes met his with warmth.

"I also spoke with the guards," she said, and reached out to take his hand. "They told me about you bringing me in. Thank you, Kor." He remained silent, but his fingers closed around hers.

"You were caught as Tethiss was?" Aurra asked, understanding arising in her face.

Reedip nodded. "I wasn't ready for it...I had never thought to tell him. I've never had problems with the cold here before, but the wind just...." she trailed off.

They sat in silence together, each lost in their own thoughts, until Aurra's stomach growled loudly. She grinned in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I think I must eat," she said apologetically. "My people burn through our meals quickly...."

Kor grunted. "Then we should feed you," he said, and nodded at them, before going looking for his pack. He returned to the fire with a hide-wrapped bundle, and several more small items, then went to seek the dwarves. Before long, he had a large pot half full of water steaming over the flames, and was cutting several thick slabs of meat into small pieces.

"I guess we might as well use that stuff up. I was thinking maybe we could sell it for supplies," Reedip said, as she saw what he was doing.

"If I do not use it, it will turn," he said. "It is too warm in here for it to keep." He shook his head. "I still have some coin in the vault in town. I can use that for buying."

"No, you won't." The Vah Shir had come to sit again beside her friend by the fire, and was listening to the conversation. "I think we can afford to resupply you." She looked up from the Iksar. "We owe you, for Tethiss's life. It is the least we can do."

Korgoss made no reply until he had finished slicing the meat, and tossed it into the pot. "You do not owe me," he said at last. "I am a healer. It is good that I could help." He looked up at her. "I was not certain I could." He picked up a dried root, and shaved it into the pot.

"Wurm," the troll replied shortly, as he opened several of the small packets, looking for something. He found it, and smiled at her briefly. "It is only fair. It tried to eat us first." He measured some salt into the pot, as she grinned.

"You've been hunting the shardwurms?" The robed high elf had awakened, and stood behind them. He seated himself beside the cat-woman, out of the way, and nodded a greeting as they turned to look at him. "I am called Meranior."

"We have been," Reedip answered. "And as soon as we resupply, we will go back out again." She sighed, and looked at the troll, who stared resolutely at the pot he was stirring. She shook her head. "I swear we're driving them all from the area..."

"You missed one." The voice was soft, and the sibilant accent unmistakable. Aurra's face brightened, and she leaned over the Iksar shaman. He blinked up at her, his lower jaw jutting outward as he smiled after the fashion of his people. "I assume you killed it?" he asked her, in the same soft tones. She nodded. He sat up slowly, looking around the room in curiosity.

"Teth...." she began, but was unable to finish. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him tightly. He blinked in surprise, and permitted the liberty. When she released him, and drew back, he stopped her, and looked at her face.

"Tears for me?" he asked, touching them. "You feared for me?" His voice held amazement, and he stared at her. She nodded again, and wiped her eyes self-consciously.

"We thought we had lost you," she said, taking his hand. "If it hadn't been for Korgoss, you would have died."

The end of Tethiss's tail curled as he digested this news. Slowly, unsure of how to respond to the affectionate touch, his hand rose to cover hers as she clutched him. The tableau held for a long minute, before the lizard-man pulled away uncomfortably. She let him go, and leaned back a little. He sat in silent thought, then looked around at those near him.

"You are Korgoss?" he asked. The troll nodded affirmatively, and the Iksar bowed slightly from the waist. "Thank you." Kor nodded again.

"You are welcome," he said, then, noticing the reptile's unease, turned back to the stew.

The high elf took pity on his discomfited companion, and turned the topic back to something less embarrassing. "We, too, were planning on hunting the wurms. It is said that they hoard magicks deep in their lair, and we were hoping to relieve them of some of that burden." He smiled slightly. "You seek them also?"

Reedip shook her head. "No, we need something different." The pain came through in her voice as she spoke. "Some of them secrete a bile that shines in the dark. That's what we're looking for."

"You quest for the ice-dwarves' favour? I have heard of the tasks they set those who would earn a high place among them," Meranior said, then frowned as she shook her head. "Why do you need it, then?"

"To heal a friend," Korgoss said quietly. "He will die if we do not return in time."

"Time," Reedip said bitterly, "which we are running out of. And the damned wurms refuse to give us bile."

The Iksar blinked, and turned to the warrior. "Aurra...?" he asked, and she nodded, and went to find his equipment. "Perhaps this storm has had a purpose, then..." the lizard-man said in his soft voice. "The gods smile on you." The Vah Shir returned, and placed Tethiss's belt pouch in his hand.

He opened it, and withdrew a jar that glowed with light. "Take these. There are three. I have been saving them, with the intent to try for the Coldain's honours." He placed the jar in the troll's shaking hand. "Thanks to you, I have time to hunt more."

It was three more days before the blizzard blew itself out. Three days of talking, and the telling of stories, three days of waiting impatiently for the winds to cease, and the snow to stop falling. And another day after that to dig out past the drift that covered the tower entrance so that they could leave.

Days that Korgoss and Reedip begrudged, for Aurra had given them the final piece of their puzzle.

With little else to do but talk, the two found their quest a topic of interest to the others, and they explained their dilemma. No-one they had met had been able to tell them where ‘Scarlet Moss' grew, not even the one who had told them it was needed. And he had none of his own to give them. Aurra had thrown back her head and laughed.

"Kitten's play!" she had cried. "We set our younglings to find it in the Pit, in Shar Vahl. Check under the bridges, it tends to grow there the thickest." She saw the looks on their faces. "I would take you myself, but it really isn't needed. Take the portals, they stand beside each other in the Plane of Knowledge... and the Pit is between the city entrance and the walled central city. You can't miss it. If you cross the bridge, you've gone too far." She brushed off their gratitude with a smile.

As soon as they dug free of the tower, they were away, barely pausing to bid farewell to their new friends.

It was a long day of travelling, from the guard tower to the Portal, from the Portal to the Vah Shir capital, barely pausing to rest, for their quest was nearly complete. The final ingredient was at hand, and they could return.
All for the sake of a chance.

Korgoss had paused as they approached the gate guards, but they merely looked him up and down, then ignored him. Swiftly the two passed through the long tunnel that cut through a towering cliff, and found the immense cavern that housed the city of Shar Vahl. A gracefully arched span spread out before them, and they stopped in dismay.

"If you cross the bridge you've gone too far," Reedip quoted, and looked around. She turned to one of the guards that stood near them. "Excuse me, but could you direct me to ‘The Pit'?" The guard laughed, and pointed downwards.

"It's under you. Try down that side. It's less steep, and you don't look like one who'd land on your feet well." He jerked his thumb toward a gap between the bridge and the wall. She walked over, and looked down. And down.

"Pit. Good name." She looked up as the troll joined her. He swallowed, and backed away from the edge. "It's climbable," she said to him. "I'll go down, Kor. You stay here." She reached out to catch his hand, and squeezed it, before dropping over the edge. He looked over again, and saw that she had aimed for a ledge, and was working her way downwards.

Clenching his teeth, he eased himself over, and began his own descent.
She was waiting for him at the bottom, with a strange look in her eyes.

"You didn't have to come down," she said quietly. He ignored her, and leaned back to look at the bridge high above them.

"Under the bridge," he said. "I will look on this side. You look on that." She nodded, and turned to begin her search, suppressing a smile at the troll's immense dignity.

As she searched for the moss, though, she wondered how much was his pride, and how much was his determination not to let his own fears stop him from completing the task. A task the life of his truest friend depended on.

A flash of colour caught her eye, and she crouched down beside a tumbled stone, and prised the patch of red growth from it with her belt knife. "Hah! Got some!" She took a step, and found another patch, and collected that too, then hurried to where Korgoss was rising, with a blob of red in his own hand. They looked at each other in triumph.

"Let us go. We can sleep outside. We will have less to travel." He took the moss she handed him, and stuffed it into a vial, and sealed it. "I would go straight, but I will need to sleep before I try to make the potion....I do not want to do this while I am tired. It must be done right. There is only enough for one try, or perhaps two tries at most."

The journey back to Gukta was swift. They made it back to the Portal outside of the city of Shar Vahl before they camped, and their fire kept the tiny lizard-like vermin away. The light did not leave the sky, but they did not care, and fell asleep quickly.

There was no morning to awaken them, but some inner sense of time roused them, and they doused the fire, and made ready to travel. With Korgoss's magick to speed them on their way, they touched the stone book on its pedestal, and entered the Plane of Knowledge. They did not stop there, and Reedip tossed apologies over her shoulder, as they thrust their way past the people who had gathered there, inhabitants of the city and fellow travellers alike.

The stone flung them to the swamp, and they looked around with surprise, for it was night. They shrugged, and turned southward, to begin the final leg of their journey.

The fires at the city gates were ahead of them, and Korgoss slowed, and stopped. He looked at the paladin beside him. "Tell them," he said, and dug in his belt pouch for his safe-passage, but his questing fingers did not find it. The vials were all there, but the parchment was gone. His eyes widened, then his face fell in dismay. "I have lost it..." he said softly.

"I'll take care of it," Reedip said, and smiled at him. "They're not keeping you out. I'll make sure of it." She strode up to the gate, and crossed her arms in front of the closest Dar Guard.

Korgoss watched her lean towards the guard, and speak quietly and calmly, pointing at him. The guard looked over, and started, then made the mistake of shaking his head angrily. She leaned even closer, and her lips moved, but her voice was no longer audible. The guard took a sudden step backwards, and his comrades came over to join him, frowning at the paladin, but their faces changed in the next moment, as she turned on them. She pointed into the city, and jerked her thumb back at him again. The guards were speechless, and backed away.

She walked back to him. "Come on. Before they change their minds." She grabbed his arm, and dragged him past them, as they stared at each other in shock.

He looked at her bemusedly, as she led him into the city. He wasn't certain he wanted to know what she had said, but it certainly had results. He cleared his throat, and took his arm back from her, joining her in her hurried walk through the streets. It was not yet dawn, although the sky was lightening, and the city was still sleeping. A startled merchant, moving supplies, gasped as they passed, but merely stared after the troll. Another guard saw them, but made no move to intercept them, looking at the troll with recognition.

He nodded at Reedip as the two passed. "Good luck to you," he said quietly. She stopped, and turned in surprise. "Some of us know what you are trying to do," he said, his eyes travelling from the paladin to the shaman. "Go now. Don't tarry. The word is not good." Reedip nodded, and turned to follow Korgoss, who had already spun to race through the streets he knew well.

The door to the bedroom was closed, as when he had first entered it, and as then, he burst in unannounced. His breath hung in the air, and he felt the chill in the room with surprise.

"Kor!" He wrapped his arms around Merilee as she flung herself at him. He held her tightly, then released her, as Yun Kuaki caught him by the arm.

"Yun Korgoss. Here... you have succeeded?" She asked, her eyes holding his. He nodded, and touched his belt pouch. "Then come, into the study. Please. We have everything set up... We have been praying for your swift return." She pulled him away from the room, giving him barely a look at the bed before she firmly closed the door behind them. "Here is a brazier, and all the herbs that you will require. My mortar and pestle. Several small pots. Whatever else you need is yours. Ask me, and I will get it." He stared at her, breathless. "Please, Yun Korgoss. There may be little time." Her eyes were anguished. "You are the most skilled of us. I will aid where I can, but even Yun Master Arglug does not have your ability in alchemy."

Wordlessly, Korgoss removed the precious jars and vials from his belt pouch, lining them up along the desktop. He tossed his cloak into a corner, and took up the mortar and pestle, choosing one of the herbs to begin with, and set to work.

Kuaki helped him as best she could. She fetched the water herself from the spring outside, lit the brazier, and ground the simple herbs in another mortar that she retrieved from somewhere, with the proper chants sung over them to awaken their magickal natures.

As they worked, they heard the door outside open and close, and a slim figure peeked into the room. He nodded as he saw the two shamans, and quietly took up a position in the corner, well out of the way. Kuaki looked up and saw him, and gave him a nod of greeting. Brekek had evidently gotten the news of Korgoss's return.

Ferret's recipe had no measurements, and the troll let his instincts tell him how much of each ingredient was required. Likewise, there was no chant for the making, but his tongue found a rhythm, and he wrapped words around it as he worked, not noticing Yun Kuaki's stare as words from her language crept into it. She hadn't been aware he knew it.

Korgoss and Reedip had arrived at dawn, but it was nearly sundown when at last the troll sat, hunched over the brazier, with a covered pot steaming on the coals. The pot would have to heat for a little time yet.

"Watch it. Let me know if it boils." Slowly, he stood, and opened the door between the study and the bedroom. Once again, the chill was startling. It was cold enough that his breath, and Merilee's, came out in clouds. Ignoring the questions of those who waited within, he drew near the bed.

The slow decline that had not been visible over the days they waited for Ferret's reply was certainly visible now. He knelt down beside Arrek, and reached for his hand. The paladin's brown mottled skin was dull, and hung too loose on his frame. Only Korgoss's careful observation showed that he breathed, so slight was the movement. He released the hand slowly, and stood again. Silently, he turned and reentered the study, and closed the door. Yun Kuaki could not meet his eyes, and he returned to check on the murky liquid in the pot. He covered it again, and sat back down. He looked at the froglok shaman, but she had slipped an amulet from around her neck, and now knelt in prayer.

His own fingers were drawn to the medallion that he wore beneath his tunic. He pulled it out, and looked at the symbol upon it. Slowly, he tightened his fist around it. "I am not yours," he said softly. "I will not be yours. But he is. And he is my friend. If you will listen to one of my kind, then hear this." He swallowed. "You have honour, it is said. He has given you his life and his soul. Do not let him die. If you need a death, take me." He released the medallion, and dropped it back onto his chest. Kuaki was still in her own prayers, and had paid no notice to him, but a muffled sound from the corner caused him to look up. Brekek stared at him, his eyes moving from the shaman's face to the medallion on his breast.

Under the troll's eyes, the young froglok opened his mouth, closed it again, then shook his head. Korgoss turned back to the brazier in silence.

Brekek could not take his eyes off of the medallion. Had he seen the glimmer that seemed to surround it for a moment? Or was it a trick of the light from the fire? He swallowed, confused, as he watched the shaman lean forward, for the antidote had begun to boil.

Korgoss heard the sound from the pot. The potion was ready for the final step. He removed it from the heat, and set it on a thick, folded cloth.

The potion cooled almost instantly, and its colour lightened from a muddy greenish brown to a deep clear green. But it was not complete. He knew it, as he stared at the liquid, that something was not right. The familiar shimmer of magick had not touched it. Oh, it shimmered, as flecks of light danced inside it, but that was the shardwurm bile.

Yun Kuaki had watched, and he saw her face fall, as she too, realised that it had not worked.

"It... is an antidote. Not a true potion... even if it does not do as it might, it still may help," she said softly. "There really isn't time to try again. Even the magicks we have used to try to lengthen his life are failing him...."

"There is not enough of all things for another try," the troll said, his voice ragged. "I have failed him twice."

He took up the liquid, and poured it into a cup that stood ready for it. He turned to the door, and opened it again.

They were waiting for him, all looking anxiously at his face as he emerged from the study. The hope that his return had kindled died in them when they saw his expression. Merilee buried her face in her hands, and Kadek, who stood beside her chair put his arm around her, as his inner eyelids slipped up to hide his eyes.

Reedip saw the cup that the shaman bore, and, though her heart was breaking, knew that no harm could come from it. She bent over her crechemate, and propped him upright in her arms, leaning him against her. Korgoss offered her the cup, but she shook her head. "You'll need both hands to get it into him," she said.

He nodded, and knelt again, parting the paladin's lips, and trickling some of the liquid in. He stroked Arrek's throat gently, to make him swallow it.

Reedip watched him, as the tears welled in his eyes, and spilled over. Almost angrily, he dashed them away, and raised the cup again to bring it to Arrek's lips. She lowered her own eyes, feeling her despair rending her.

And blinked in puzzlement, for a flicker of light had shimmered across the surface of the green liquid in the cup that Korgoss held. As she watched, it shimmered again, more brightly, and she lifted her eyes to the troll's face, as another tear fell from his cheeks, onto his hand, this time missing the cup. She stared at him, her mouth open, but he was not watching her. His attention was fixed on Arrek. He had not seen the strange flare of light.

The shaman fed him the potion, little by little, pausing to make him swallow, and continuing the process until the cup was empty.

Reedip tightened her arms around her crechemate, holding him close for a moment, before gently laying him back down. A thought stirred in her, as she watched Kor take his hand again, a strange mask of calm sliding over his features.

As if she had spoken those thoughts out loud, Yun Kuaki, who had watched from the doorway between the two rooms, made a gesture, and spoke a word. The chill in the air vanished, and the normal temperature of the swamp returned.

Reedip looked around the room, still considering her idea, and it gelled when she saw the new addition to the furniture.

"Kor," the paladin said quietly, walking around the bed to rest a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, then back at the bed and its occupant. "Kor. I want you to do something." He turned to look at her again. "I want you to hold him." He stared at her. "I have two reasons for this," she said, and smiled at him. "Do you remember the cave, in the mountains?" she asked gently. He nodded. "When you held me, there was this incredible feeling of safety, and love all around me. If I could feel that, how much more would he feel, the way you love him?" She looked over him at the still form of her crechemate. "And he needs to warm up. The easiest, and safest way of doing that is to use body heat. And... unless we decide we want to drag one of the prisoners in here, you're the best source of that in town." She smiled slightly. "Merilee is much smaller than you."

Kuaki nodded, and spoke up. "We've kept it cold in here, to slow down the poison, and his reactions to it. But it would slow the antidote as well. That spell has been removed, now, but it will take a while for him to warm up, and even then, it will only be to the temperature of the air. It is far better if you were to warm him, than were we to use a fire. There are too many things that can go wrong, and the slower method is the better, more natural warming."

Kadek indicated a large padded armchair in the corner of the room. "I took the liberty of having that brought in. It was part of what was left here when your people... err... left, so it should fit you. You deserve better than sitting on the floor."

Korgoss stared at the paladin he had travelled so far with, and she gently touched his cheek.

His head jerked in a single nod, and he pulled himself to his feet. His eyes found those of his wife, who had risen, and now stood just behind the dappled black and white froglok.

Merilee stepped forward, to embrace him, and he pulled her close. She pressed her cheek into his chest, then drew back. "You'll need to get out of your armour," she told him. "And clean up." She wrinkled her nose. He blinked at her, then turned towards the bathing chamber that adjoined the bedroom, opposite the study.

He paused, as he got a good look at the chair in passing it. He stared at it with a strange expression. It was covered in fine fabric, decorated with embroidered scenes.

"I know this chair. This was my master's," he said quietly, and reached out to touch it delicately, then ran his hand along the arm, feeling the softness of the material. "I was beaten once for touching it. It is what made me wish to sew. I wanted to make such beauty." He turned back to them, and shook his head at their expressions. "It does not hurt to see it. Most of my memories of my master are good. I was happy. He taught me to heal." He glanced back at the bed again, then lowered his head, and sighed.

He shook his head, and stripped out of his armour, down to his gambeson. He piled the mail in an empty corner of the room.

"Kor, wait. Here..." Merilee stepped out of the room, and crossed the hall to the other sleeping room. She returned a moment later with a flat package. She handed it to him, and his eyebrow lifted, but he carried it with him into the small chamber. The door closed, and they heard the sound of the hand-pump being worked. After a time, he emerged, carrying the gambeson, wearing a shirt and a pair of trews. The cut of the clothing was simple, and complemented his frame. But that is all that was simple about it. It was made of fine silk, and the shirt was as ornately embroidered as the chair, with delicate realistic renderings of flowering plants covering the front and sleeves. He tossed the gambeson on the pile of armour.

"That's incredible, Kor!" Reedip exclaimed, on seeing him. "Where in the world did you get it?"

He shrugged. "I made it," he said. "I do not know why Meri brought it." He sat down in the chair, and looked at her.

The bard shook her head, and did not reply. There would be time enough to explain later, when needed. But the funeral customs of the frogloks were not a subject that required speech now.

Reedip bent over the bed, and gently scooped Arrek up. He weighed almost nothing in her arms. She handed him carefully to the troll, who took him with hands that shook. She waited until he had arranged his friend comfortably in his arms, then placed a blanket over them both, tucking it behind the troll's shoulder.

"Just hold him, Kor. Talk to him if you like. Warm him, both body and soul," she said, and drew a footstool that matched the chair from along the wall. She picked up his feet, placing them on it, and spread the blanket so it covered them.

Korgoss stared down at the slack features of his friend, then gently kissed Arrek's forehead. He began to speak quietly in his own language, stroking the cold face lovingly. Merilee pushed her own chair close beside him, and took up her lute, coaxing healing from its strings. Brekek, still the troll's silent shadow, took up a position behind and to one side of the chair.
The others stepped from the room.

"The warming is a dangerous choice," Garrop said quietly. "It will probably kill him."

Kuaki nodded, and turned to Reedip and Kadek. "We made him cold, to slow the advance of the poison. Warming him will speed it up again." She lowered her head. "But there is no reason to continue it, since the potion failed..."

"I don't think it did, Kuaki." Reedip smiled slightly. The shaman looked up at her with a frown, but before she could speak, the paladin continued. "I think he just missed an ingredient... which was added later." They looked at her, and she quietly told them what she had seen. The Yun blinked, then her face cleared, hope shining out from it. Hope was mirrored in the other faces around her.

"Do not celebrate too soon. It will still be a gamble. If we warm him back up, the antidote will work faster... but so will the poison. Which will win out is in the hands of Marr." Garrop drew them back to Truth with his words.

Reedip swallowed, then nodded. She glanced back into the room, watching the troll as he held the froglok he loved more than his own life.
"It is still the best thing," she said softly. "If he must die, there is no better place than in the arms of his lifemate."

The eyes of the froglok shaman widened, and she turned to follow the paladin's gaze. Slowly she nodded, as she, too, acknowledged the bond. Garrop smiled slightly. He had seen and recognised the bond for what it was some time ago, keeping silent so as not to offend the others.

Reedip shook her head. "Didn't you see his face? He has already come to terms with losing Arrek. If we told him, it would give too much hope... hope that might break him if the antidote doesn't win out in the end. It would be hard enough on us, knowing that it almost worked. We should spare him that." She looked again at the chair, and its occupants. "I couldn't do that to him." She looked back at the others. "I've come to love him too."

"Love... the troll?" The arrogant voice held contempt. "The Shin are becoming corrupted by that foul creature's presence. Threatening my guards. Bringing the troll through the city still armed..."

They turned, to see Gaz Commander Griblok staring at them. "It has outstayed its welcome. It got you what you wanted. If you want it to live, I'd suggest tossing it out of the city now. " He sniffed. "I'll give you an hour before I set my Dar on it." He fingered the hilt of his sword. "Or maybe I'll take care of it myself..."

Anger suffused Reedip's face, and heedless of rank and propriety, she drew her dagger and leapt at Griblok, sending Garrop flying as the priest tried to stop her. The warrior, shocked at her attack, tried to dodge her, but she was ready for his attempt, and she grabbed his arm and spun him face-first into the wall. He hit it hard, and she wrenched his arm around behind him. "By Marr! I swear I will kill you, before you harm him!" The point of her dagger touched his throat, and he froze.

"You'll never get away with it," Griblok said hoarsely, his eyes wide. "They will hunt you down."

"I don't care. It would be a death or exile I would accept without regret," she said flatly. "Removing you could only improve our race as a whole."

"Shin Reedip. Let him go." Garrop, having picked himself up, reached in to tug at the hand that held the dagger. "Please, there may be another, better way." Her arm was like steel, and he could not move it.

"Then I'd best kill him now, and turn myself in," she said. Griblok's eyes widened again, as he heard the finality in her voice.

"Wait...!" he gasped, as the dagger point drew a drop of blood. "What is it you want from me, Kor Garrop?"

"You must swear you will sit quietly, and say, and do nothing but watch and listen," the cleric replied. "I will ask Kor Master Gloorg to give you something that we rarely give to others. It is kept for the highest levels of the Shin and Kor." He glanced back into the room. "Shin Master Arrek would have been able to do it as well, but that's somewhat impossible." He looked back at the Gaz Commander. "Will you swear to give me one day of your time, Gaz Commander Griblok?"

"One day? How can I justify a whole day when I have..." The knife point moved another hairbreadth, and his mouth closed. "One day."

"My word. I will give you one day. I will sit, and watch, and listen. For one day." His eyes sought those of the grim-faced paladin over his shoulder. "When I am proved right, this one will wear the shame of attacking me. She will be stripped of all rank and exiled."

Kadek nodded. "I have not been ratified as his successor by the High Council, nor am I likely to be. They will choose someone, if Marr does not make His own choice known. I am hoping it is not required..."

"I can do it myself, by renouncing my rank, and taking exile. And I agree, but if I am vindicated, you will free Korgoss to return here, as he wills, should Shin Master Arrek live. I am certain you will not have to worry about him if Arrek dies. He would never return."

Griblok cursed her, but she waited patiently, the tip of her dagger unmoving. He could feel it pressing into his pulse-point. "I agree," he said finally, spitting the words at her.

Reedip released him, and stepped back. "Go get Kor Master Gloorg, Garrop." She stood, arms folded, her golden eyes still spearing the leader of the Guktan armies. Griblok rubbed his throat, and glared back at her.

The priest hurried off. It wasn't long before he came back, with the High Priest with him. Kor Master Gloorg's face wore a sad expression, as he looked from the general to the paladin. As he approached them, they could feel the pull of the Presence that surrounded him, and all bowed low.

"My assistant Garrop has asked a strange thing of me," he began. "And I can see by your faces that he is not mistaken about the need." The priest stepped to the bedroom doorway, and looked in.

Korgoss looked up at him, and the priest nodded a greeting. The troll watched him for a moment, lips moving, before nodding in reply. He returned his attention to Arrek, a soft blue glow surrounding them both.

The elderly priest realised that the shaman was quietly chanting a spell, still trying to heal the paladin guildmaster. Gloorg moved back from the doorway.

"I will do this thing," he said, and stood in front of the Gaz Commander. "You know we are the servants of Mithaniel Marr, who is called the Truthbringer in ordinary parlance. He has given to us, the highest of his direct servants, the ability to know truth from falsehood, in all its varying degrees. This is a thing that is ours, to use as we will. But it is also a thing we can share with others, for a brief time. Normally, it is used when we go to listen to the questioning of prisoners. This is why the laws state that one of the Kor must be there when that is done, not only to ensure that humane methods are used, as you probably believed." Griblok blinked then nodded slowly.

"I will. It will last for one day. Or until I remove it, whichever comes first. Then Yun Kuaki will render you invisible, and you can watch, and listen, as they have suggested." The High Priest of Marr reached out, and put his hand on Griblok's forehead, and whispered a prayer. A white light surrounded him, and the sense of the presence of Marr strengthened. Then he removed his hand.

The general blinked. He felt no change, no difference. The priest smiled at him, then turned to look at the others, who had gone to their knees as he had prayed. He murmured a blessing, and paused, touching Reedip on the head.

"We will need to talk, Shin Reedip," he said quietly. "About this ‘renouncing' you mentioned to Garrop."

"Not Marr, holy sir," she said softly. "Never Him. But if I am so wrong - corrupted, as he claims - then I am no fit Shin."

And the truth in her words sang out in Griblok's soul. He blinked. And knew that she loved and followed Marr, and would never break faith. And that no corruption had tainted her. And that she had been touched by the hand of Marr himself... He shook his head, as the strangeness and depth of his knowing disoriented him.

He felt a hand steady him, and looked up to see the slight smile of the Kor Master.

"You will get used to it quickly," he said kindly. "It's like that for all of us, at first."

And again, the general felt the knowing rise in him. Gloorg wore the mantle of truth-knowing at all times, as part of his office, and every word spoken to him was so weighed, and...

"Try willing it to stop, when you've gotten beyond the answer you seek," the priest advised. "If you keep shaking your head like that, you'll hurt yourself."

They watched the Gaz Commander with curiosity, as he struggled to learn the workings of the strange ability.

"Arrek has the same thing?" Reedip asked, when the general seemed to have gotten himself under control.

"Very similar, if not the same. I am not sure how far into the details the Shin need to go. So it is possible he has a less powerful ability. We Kor need to know all that is in a person's heart when they speak. And that is given to us. He may merely need to know spoken truth from falsehood. Or perhaps a little more, if there is more to the truth than is being said. But I do not know for certain; I am not the Shin Master." The priest smiled at the look on her face. "It is not a thing we often speak of to others," he said. He turned, to look through the door at the troll, who had finished his magicks, and was watching what little he could see of the group in the hall. "I am praying that you will be able to ask him about it yourselves."

"Far better than you think, my dear," he said, and patted her on the shoulder. "Now I must go. Blessings on all of you." The High Priest turned and left the way he had come, as they bowed behind him.

"Because you clank. If we are to keep you secret, you must be silent. The troll is not deaf." She turned, and opened a door. "This is a storeroom. You may leave your armour here safely. No one will take it." She watched, as Griblok blinked, and nodded. He stared at her for a second, and she waited patiently. He nodded again, and stripped down to his gambeson, leaving all of his plate armour in the storeroom. She pointed at the footgear he had missed, and he made no comment, but took those off too.

"This spell will give you invisibility. It will not make you silent. You must keep silent yourself," Kuaki told the warrior. "It will last for a number of hours. I will renew it before it fades, when it is convenient for us, and you, to enter and exit without Korgoss knowing. If you must leave, to pass water, or whatever, you must be silent as you do. We will keep the door open, as it has been, so that you can do this. Make a motion if something is required. I will see you, and know."

"There's a chair inside and to the left. You can sit there. It doesn't creak, and is fairly comfortable. I know. I've used it," Reedip said. "I've slept in it, for that matter."

"So on with it, then." The general glared once more at the paladin, then turned to the shaman. "Let's get this over with." The Yun gestured, and spoke a quiet word, and nodded.

"It is done." With that, she turned, and entered the room. The others trailed in behind her, the invisible warrior mentally cursing to himself as he followed. He sat down in the indicated chair, and pulled his feet up.
Griblok watched as the cleric bent to examine his patient.

"He's already getting warmer," Garrop said, laying his hand on Arrek's head. He carefully opened one of the paladin's sunken eyes, and peered into it, then the other. "It's far too early to tell anything yet," he said with a sigh.

"You should rest yourself," Korgoss told him. "There is nothing more to do but wait." He looked down at Arrek, then back up at the priest. "There is no use in all of us remaining awake."

"He's right," Reedip said. "Go to bed, Garrop. You too, Brekek. Kuaki and I will stay with him for now. We can spell off."

"And you are doing so. But if you exhaust yourself, you will not be able to protect him when it matters most. I relieve you of your duty while you go sleep. Use one of the beds across the hall." She stared at him, until he nodded, and bowed. Garrop also nodded, and wearily left to seek his own bed. "That should go for you, too, Kadek."

"I have been sleeping regularly. I'm fine," the Shin trainer commented. "I still have some paperwork to do. I'll be in the study." He passed through the study door and closed it behind him.

Korgoss was looking after Brekek, and he turned to his wife with a look of understanding.

"Swore on his Oath," he said quietly. "You are taking a lesson from Tiri, it seems." She smiled sadly.

"I thought I was staying home," she replied. "That seemed the best way to ensure your safety here." She met her husband's eyes. "He's done his job well. Arrek would be proud of him."

Reedip surveyed the room, then selected a chair, which she moved over to the other side of Korgoss. She sat herself in it with a sigh. He looked up at her.

"What happened outside?" he asked after a minute. "I heard you shout, and the sounds of struggle."

She was silent for a moment. "There are those here who hate you for existing. And we had to deal with one of them." He stared at her. "Having Brekek around makes me feel better too, you know."

"Ree, do not go into danger for me." He reached out to touch her hand. "What happens to me is no longer important."

Merilee protested angrily, stopping her music in her indignation. "It damn well is important! I wonder how Arrek would react if he heard you say that?"

"I'm more than willing to stand up to idiots for you, Kor. And take the fall if needed. You deserve it." Reedip leaned back, and put her feet on the footstool beside his. "You don't realise what you have done for Gukta." She smiled crookedly at him as he blinked in surprise. "When Arrek took over from Shin Master Grubbus, he changed things. Because of his love for you, and for Braag, he was able to see beyond the hatred that so many of our race hold for yours, and for the ogres. And he taught the new, young Shin what he had learned. To not hate. Make war if you must, but do not hate your enemy." She watched Korgoss's face. "Thanks to you, for over forty years he has taught young Shin to love."

"And many of the Yun," Kuaki added. "And a few of the Dar. But they are hard to reach," she sighed. "Dar Master Brilig has been trying, but... there is so much to undo."

"The warriors of my people are the same," Korgoss murmured. "They learn hate at the breasts of their dams. The Swords, as well. Only our... ‘Yun'... can think of anything but fighting. And those who dare dream of peace are few." He fell silent again. "I cannot teach them. I am not welcome among them. And I will not go where the dark elves are." He fell silent and sat, staring at nothing.

"Yun Korgoss? May I ask a question?" Kuaki asked after a couple of minutes had passed. He looked at her, and his lips twitched.

She nodded. "Why are you not welcome among your people?" She cocked her head, and watched him, but he remained silent. Just as she was about to apologise, and retract the question, he spoke.

"I do not find pleasure in giving pain," he said quietly. "I do not find pleasure in destruction. I wished to heal, to mend, to build. But this is not a thing that my people could understand. And what they do not understand, they hate, fear, ...or kill." He paused for a long moment. "I live because two who should have hated and feared me did not, and healed me." He looked over at the bard, with love in his eyes. She leaned over to kiss him, then took up her music again, playing a sweet refrain.

Korgoss fell silent, lost in his memories, and Kuaki did not press him any further, although his answer had birthed many more questions in her mind. She could wait. She glanced at the general, sitting invisible in his chair, shimmering in the enchanted vision she wore. He looked stunned.

Griblok was stunned. First Reedip's words, then the troll's, ringing with truth, had spawned floods of knowing within him that left his soul shaken. This time, he did not stop the flow, but rode it to its end. And when Kuaki asked her question, and he heard the answer, the flood became a great wave, washing over him with the hidden depths of the troll's heart.

And Gaz Commander Griblok was grateful for the invisibility hiding him from the paladin's eyes, as he lowered his head in shame for the lies that he had spread through his people.

Griblok awoke suddenly, as a hand touched his shoulder. He looked up to see the young Yun standing in front of him, examining the woven wall-hanging behind his chair, and waiting for him to awaken fully. She subtly motioned for him to follow. He looked over to see that the troll shaman had fallen asleep, and that Reedip and Merilee were gone, with Brekek again standing in his position near the troll.

The Gaz Commander followed her from the room. In the hallway, she turned to him. "Garrop will return soon, and I must sleep a little. There is food for you here," she said, as she led him to the main room. A meal had been laid on the table there. "There is a chamberpot in the bathing room, through there," she said wearily, pointing down the hall. She set a bottle down on the table. "This will recast the spell on you, of invisibility, when you have eaten, and washed and such. You need only a mouthful. There are several doses here." She pulled a ring from her finger. "Give this to Garrop, so he will see you." She laid the ring down beside the bottle, bowed, and left him.

He watched her go, then sat to eat. The warrior made fast work of the meal, then used the bathing chamber to tidy himself. As he emerged, the cleric entered the house, carrying a tray, which he set down on the table.

"You've eaten, Sir? Good. Are you ready to return?" he asked. The general nodded.

"I am to give you this ring," Griblok said. The cleric looked at him sharply, for his voice had lost its tones of anger and arrogance. Garrop took the ring, and slipped it onto his finger. He watched as the warrior lifted the small bottle to his lips, took a sip of the potion within, and began to shimmer. He removed the ring, to assure himself that the other was, in fact, invisible, then replaced it. He nodded, picked the tray back up, and entered the Shin Master's chambers.

As the general seated himself again, the cleric moved a small table to within easy reach of the troll, set the tray on it, and gently shook the shaman's shoulder.

"Yun Korgoss?" he asked. The troll opened his eyes, blinking. "I've brought some breakfast. For both you and Master Arrek." The troll rubbed his eyes, and looked down at the face of the paladin in his arms.

The priest bent to again peer into the paladin's eyes, and touch his forehead. He touched the troll to compare. Korgoss looked at him. "He's as warm as you are, now. If we will have results, it will likely be today."

Korgoss grunted acknowledgement, and shifted slightly. "I must... empty... myself," he said awkwardly.

The cleric nodded."I will take him, then. He probably needs to be changed as well." Carefully, the priest lifted the paladin, and carried him to the bed, where he expertly cleaned him, and changed the cloth that bound his loins. He examined the soiled cloth, briefly, with some satisfaction. "Well, your guts are working correctly," he said to his patient. "That's one less thing to worry about." He balled up the soiled cloth, and dropped it into a basket in the corner of the room, then washed his hands, pouring water from a pitcher into a basin on the bedside table. By the time he had done,

When Arrek was once again arranged, covered, and propped slightly more upright in his lap, the troll turned his attention to the tray beside him. Lifting the lid that covered one bowl, then the other, he examined the contents.

"I cooked this morning," Garrop explained. "Kuaki is a far better cook than I, so lunch should be better."

Korgoss nodded, and slid the table to a slightly better position. "I am certain it is good," the shaman said.

The general twitched, as he felt the wrongness, and knew that the troll had finally lied. The knowing still rose in him, however, and he saw the kindness behind the words, and the fact that however bad the troll's own breakfast was, he would eat it. Griblok was startled, never suspecting that a troll would be capable of courtesy. His brow furrowed, as he pondered this new revelation.

Kor tasted the broth that had been brought for Arrek, and nodded slightly. Slowly, he fed a spoonful to the froglok. Reaching to stroke his throat, he stopped, and a light came into his face.

"He swallowed..." the shaman whispered. "He could not before..." Garrop started, and crouched beside the chair, watching as Korgoss fed another spoonful to his friend. He smiled.

"It's a good sign," the cleric said. "And it will help... we can move to better food for him, if he can swallow." The troll nodded.

"Broth is good, but meat is better," he agreed. "He needs to grow strong again." He continued to feed the broth to the paladin until he had emptied the bowl. Only then did he turn his attention to his own breakfast, eating the thick - and slightly lumpy - porridge in the second bowl. When he was done, Garrop took away the tray with the dishes.

Korgoss leaned over, and spoke quietly to Arrek, and the Gaz Commander had to struggle with the concept that trolls also knew humour, as he heard Korgoss murmur in his own tongue "Be glad you only had to deal with soup. I don't think your priest-friend knows what salt is."

Through the morning, the shaman alternately talked with the cleric, and chanted spells of healing over his friend. Garrop, too, worked his magicks, and prayed. The general sat, lost in his own thoughts, as they worked. The sudden silence in the room caught him off guard, and he looked up, to see tears on the troll's cheeks. He frowned, first, at the incongruity of the sight, then his heart sank, as he realised what it most likely meant.

The young Shin on guard noticed the silence too, and stepped forward, his voice shaking as he tried to voice a question. "Is he....?

The troll turned slightly, raising a finger to his lips. "He sleeps," the shaman whispered, a fierce joy blossoming in his face. The young paladin blinked in confusion.

"He's asleep. Really asleep," Garrop said, also in a whisper. "Go and get Reedip, and Kuaki. Wake them. Tell them."

"And Merilee. And Kadek," Korgoss added. "They will want to be here." He turned back, to watch the face of his friend. "Tell them to be quiet when they come. Sleep is the best healer."

The young paladin returned quickly, and it wasn't long before the others arrived behind him. Merilee brought her lute, and limped to her chair, standing her cane against the arm. She stopped to greet her husband, leaning on the solid chair, and pressing her lips to his forehead. Her heart lightened when he tilted his head back to meet her lips with his own. She gazed down over his shoulder at the sleeping froglok, who had nestled his face into Korgoss's shirt.

Reedip bent over her crechemate anxiously, but she quickly relaxed, as she saw that Arrek was truly sleeping peacefully. "He knows you're here," she said softly, and shared a smile with the troll.

Kadek did not stay, but returned to Arrek's study, although he propped the door open, so that he could see from his seat at the desk if anything were to change. Kuaki, also, left soon after satisfying herself as to the change in the paladin's condition, but she returned again, after some time, with a tray.

"It is nearly noon," she said. "And time for you to eat, Yun Korgoss. More comes, behind me, for all here." She set her tray down, a plate, a bowl and two cups of water upon it. "Master Arrek will have the same as you, this time. I just ran his through my mortar and pestle." A couple of Yun trainees appeared in the doorway, with trays of their own, and Kuaki took them, one at a time. She distributed the plates to those who waited, and took one in to Kadek. She shooed the trainees back to their duties when she was done, then looked down at the last tray, with two plates left upon it.

"Give it to the one who watches," Korgoss said quietly. "It is why you brought it." The younger shaman froze in mid-step. She turned slowly, surprise on her face. "He is very quiet," the troll said, "but I can feel his eyes. And the cushion on his chair keeps changing place." His lips wore a small, tight smile.

"But how did you know he didn't mean you harm?" she asked, as she took one of the plates, and held it out to the invisible warrior. The Gaz Commander took it numbly, staring at the troll. As he touched it, the invisibility left him. Brekek started, and half drew his sword, before relaxing again, as he saw the general's subdued expression.

"I did not." The troll shrugged, and reached down into the cushions of his chair. His hand emerged with a wicked-looking blade. Merilee smiled slightly, and gave her cane a twist, showing the bright steel of another blade, before resheathing it.

Korgoss nodded at her, and continued, still speaking in low tones. "I am not fool enough to go unarmed where I know I am hated." He put the blade away again. "Anyone who would attack me here would find I am not an easy foe." He looked down at the froglok in his arms. "If they would try to kill me, with Arrek with me... they threaten him, too. For that, they die."

The truth-knowing was still on him, and Griblok again let the flow run to its end. And again, he felt shame. "If any attacked you, with Shin Master Arrek in your arms, troll... I would have defended you - even before this past day - for his sake. Otherwise, I would have helped them." He froze, suddenly, as the knowing arose in him yet again, at his own words.

They stared at the warrior, who curled in his chair, as he was forced by the strange powers to see the depths of his own heart, and the darkness it harboured. The general shuddered, confronting the hatred that he had held so long within him, the hatred he had spread through the ranks of his people.

Compassion filled the priest's face, as Garrop stood, and reached out to him. This was what the priest had been hoping, and praying, for. The strange gift of Truth had more than one edge. Those who wore it, by necessity, had to keep their hearts clear, for the gift of Truth held nothing back, judging even the wielder. The cleric kindly embraced the shaking warrior, holding him until the flow of the knowing reached its end.

Kor Garrop's eyes widened, as he felt the pressure of the Presence fill him. He listened, as his mouth opened, and the whisper emerged. "Remember," the Voice that was not his said into the ear of the leader of his people's armies, before the Presence faded again from the awestruck priest.

And Gaz Commander Griblok looked into the cleric's eyes, and knew. He swallowed, shaken, and turned towards the troll, and the white and black paladin. "I wronged you," he said slowly, forcing himself to meet the shaman's eyes.

She, too, nodded. She would grill Kadek later, he knew, and share the information with him. They had missed something important. He looked back at the warrior. "It is past," he said finally, acknowledging the tacit apology.

Griblok swallowed again, then looked at Reedip. "You were right to defend him. You win."

Reedip blinked, staring at the general, who was beginning to pull himself back together, outwardly at least. She suspected that he would be doing a lot of heavy thinking, for a long time.

He rubbed his throat in memory, as he continued. "Perhaps, though, you should find better ways of persuasion."

"Would they have worked?" she asked dryly. He blinked, and the slightest of smiles creased his features.

"Perhaps not. I am an ‘idiot', after all." He looked at the plate of food he still held, and set it down on the arm of his chair regretfully. "I have duties..."

"You haven't yet finished your day, Gaz Commander Griblok." Garrop said quietly. "You gave your word." The cleric wore a beatific smile, and he drew back from the warrior. He found a place to sit, his eyes still shining with the wonder of his god's touch.

The general stared at him for a moment, then nodded, picked up his plate again, and began to eat slowly. The others took that as a signal, and began their own meals.

Korgoss broke off a small piece of the fish on his plate, and tasted it. He blinked in surprise. He considered, then decided to allow Arrek to sleep as long as possible, and finished his own dinner first. "You must give me the recipe," he said to Kuaki, who lowered her eyes in embarrassment, and nodded.

Slowly, he propped Arrek up in his arms, and opened his mouth. With the back of the spoon, he smeared a dab of the paste the Yun had provided on the paladin's tongue, and closed his mouth again. He watched, as the froglok's mouth worked for a moment, and he swallowed. Kor waited, watching him, before repeating the procedure. He again watched the paladin's face closely, then fed him a third dab of the paste. And was rewarded, as Arrek frowned slightly, and his eyes opened a crack.

"Arrek?" the troll asked softly, setting down the spoon, and gently stroking the froglok's cheek. "Do you want more? Or would you prefer to feed yourself?" The paladin blinked up at him in confusion.

"Kor...?" Arrek's voice was hoarse. He stared at the troll, then closed his eyes again. "Oh. I'm dreaming... I keep dreaming I hear you...."

"Dreams," the shaman pointed out, "do not force-feed you cold mushed fish." The paladin's eyes opened again, and he frowned.

"Where am I?" he asked, and turned his head to look around, and recognised his own rooms. "How can you be here?"

"You asked for me. I came. Now, you should eat this, and grow strong. Or they will make you eat more soup."

"I am really here. So are Merilee, Reedip, and Kadek, and others you will know." Kor cupped his hand around the froglok's cheek. "You have been very sick, Arrek. We have been worried." His eyes blurred, and he blinked to clear them. The paladin's hand reached up shakily to brush the wetness from his cheeks.

The Teir'dal looked up at the heavy footstep outside of his prison cell, to see the troll looking at him.

His mouth twisted. If he could only tell his masters... they'd throw the foul green morons out of Neriak so fast... He spat, the glob passing between the bars, and landing inches from the beast's foot.

Korgoss merely stood, with crossed arms, examining the dark elf. It bore his eyes for a few moments, then spoke.

"So. They let you out of your cage, troll?" The silken voice held contempt. "Traitor. Did they get to you with their preaching? They keep trying to ‘reach' me, or some such... the fools."

The Teir'dal snorted. "So. How did you like watching that frog die? Took a while, or you'd have been here before now, is my guess." He grinned, as the expression on the troll's face slowly changed to one of suppressed anger. "You shouldn't have interfered. You know we're trying to fix it so you can have your city back. It would be quicker if you'd have let me do my job. Then I wouldn't be stuck in this disgusting, damp hell-hole." The assassin leaned back, enjoying the taunting. The frogloks didn't react at all when he goaded them. This was much more entertaining.

"Or, did you spend your time trying to cure him? You didn't actually care about the thing, now, did you?" The troll's face changed again, and the dark elf laughed. "You did! You cared about a frog! How droll. What a story... I'm sure the bards would just shit to hear it." He stood up, and pressed up close to the bars. "So tell me, frog-lover... What was it like watching him die slowly? Degrading day by day, while you had to sit there, knowing there was no antidote?"

Korgoss smiled. "You have no antidote," he said quietly. And he stepped aside slowly.

The assassin's face paled, then flushed. "This is a trick," he said. "The damned things all look alike..."

"No trick," Arrek said, cocking his head, and studying the dark elf curiously. "I'm quite alive, thank you." He walked forward slowly, leaning on a staff. "Not yet fully well, but I'm told that will come with time." His eyes were sad as he contemplated the assassin.

"We cannot let you go," he said finally. "And we cannot keep you here. You have been too much among us, and you are too dangerous. There are limits to what mercy we can offer... But you will die as quickly, and painlessly as we are able. This I can assure you."

The dark elf stared at the paladin. "This has to be a trick! There is no antidote!" he exclaimed. Arrek blinked, then nodded slowly.

"There is now. We'll keep it secret, of course. Most likely, when you don't return, they'll send someone else to come for me, or one of the others. And we'll be ready. As soon as the symptoms start, we'll catch the poisoner, cure the victim, and continue on... And they will send another..."

He sighed. "The Kor and Yun tell me that if they catch the symptoms fast enough, the cure would be nearly instantaneous, and no antidote required. I wonder how many of your assassins we'll catch, before your leaders clue in that your weapon has been defanged, and try something else?" He wavered as he stood, and Korgoss reached down a hand to steady him.

"Enough," the troll said quietly. "You must rest. You have said what you wanted?"

Arrek nodded wearily, but looked once more at the Teir'dal, who had sunk down to sit on the floor of his cell. The dark elf had lost his cockiness, and the despair of knowing utter failure showed in his face. Failure that would extend past his life. The assassin shuddered at the thought of the reception that would await him...

"At least you have given us some nice little tasks to set our trainees. We should thank you for that." Arrek smiled slightly, and turned away. A quartet of burly Dar entered the room, bowing to the Shin Master as they passed. One carried a rope, another an axe, and their eyes were cold.