Dragonspell - Donita K. Paul [107]
Lee Ark’s low voice sent a shiver down Kale’s spine. “Why send you to the top of an unfriendly mountain when the autumn weather is so uncertain? Why not send a strong shepherd, a young man?”
“I’ve lived on this mountain all my life. My father was a shepherd.” The old woman snorted. “No one else was willing. The trader said he’d taken the egg from someone who’d stolen it from Risto.”
Wizard Fenworth came up to them and promptly sat down on a rock. He was winded and seemed more interested in opening his flask of water than in the stranger accosting the troupe.
Librettowit, is it the meech egg?
“Wrong size. Wrong color. I don’t trust this woman, Kale.”
Leetu spoke up. “She got the egg from a bisonbeck, Lee Ark.”
The woman’s head jerked up, and she glared at Leetu. “Not all people are afraid of those unfortunate ones who have not pleased Risto and have been cast aside. Gorrad is a trader and an honest one. He took the egg, because he heard rumors that Risto had stolen it and Paladin wanted it back. But he’s had bad dealings with Risto. Who hasn’t? He was afraid. Who wouldn’t be?”
Lee Ark broke in. “Yet you, an old woman, are not afraid to bring the egg to us?”
“My life is almost over. I came slowly. No one would suspect ‘an old woman’ to be carrying something of great value.”
Fear gripped Kale’s stomach. She wanted to rush forward and knock the egg out of the unkempt woman’s hands. Yet another force told her to run the other way, to order everyone to run.
“I don’t want that egg,” said Kale. “It has no value. It is evil.”
The woman stood upright, now more than two feet taller than Lee Ark. She raised the egg above her head and a screech tore from her throat.
“Run!” screamed Kale.
The woman hurled the egg down to the rock path at her feet. Kale and her comrades jumped away, bolting for shelter.
A roar, billowing smoke, and choking fumes erupted as the old woman cackled and shrieked.
Kale and Leetu ran to Fenworth, still sitting on the rock and drinking from his flask. They each grabbed one of his arms, and between them, hauled the wizard back down the trail.
He muttered complaints at them. “Up, not down. The gate is up. Who is making that hideous noise? Hold on, let me get my feet under me. Where’s my walking stick? Best walking stick I’ve had in ages. Did we lose it?”
40
THREE HEADS ARE NOT BETTER THAN ONE
“I don’t suppose the water spell would work again?” Fenworth pulled at his beard. He’d taken his hat off and crumpled it into a wad.
“No, probably not,” agreed Librettowit.
Kale crouched between the tumanhofer and a wall of stone. Two bulky boulders protected her and the wizard and his librarian from the three-headed monster raging along the mountain path. Kale’s eyes darted back and forth between the menacing beast and the two old men. She searched the outside area for the mysterious woman and could not find her. The giant lizardlike creature paced around in a ponderous circle, preventing any of the travelers from getting past.
Fenworth sat at the rear of their little refuge. He continued to stroke his long gray beard with one hand and clutch his hat with the other. His beard took on the look of swamp moss, and leaves sprouted from his robes. “Fire spell?”
“Too unpredictable.”
“Shriveling?”
“Takes too long.”
Impatient with their conversation, Kale pulled out her small sword and repositioned herself on her knees so she could peer out beside Librettowit and watch the beast. Her fingers tightened around the hilt until her knuckles shone white. She forced her hand to relax and took several deep breaths. She set about locating each of her comrades.
Leetu had scrambled to a perch above them beyond the monster’s reach. She straddled an odd bush growing out from the cliff and shot arrows down upon the angry creature. They penetrated its skin and stuck out like quills. Brackish blood drizzled from each wound, but the arrows did not hinder