Lady of Poison_ The Priests - Bruce R. Cordell [19]
Inside, the domed ceiling proved to be pockmarked with skylights-those were the holes they'd seen in the dome from the surface. The light wasn't allowed down into the chamber unimpeded. A host of strange objects, dangled from the curved ceiling, all at slightly different heights. Various lamps, roots of assorted bulbous shape, sheaves of aromatic grasses, stuffed animals (mostly birds), and other less identifiable pieces wereon display. By far the most prominent hanging items were minerals and crystals of every sort.
On the floor level, squat bookshelves overflowed with tomes on all sides, while a great desk in the very center of the chamber contained piles of books, scrolls, and sheaves of unbound paper. Ususi was obviously very scholarly, if an avid collector of strange hangings.
"Come in. I will make tea, as you showed me, Elowen." Ususi retreated, sighing, and began to finger through various herbs hanging above their heads.
"You taught her to make tea?" Marrec quietly asked Elowen as they pulled chairs from one wall. Marrec picked up Ash and put her on one knee.
"Yes."
He'd hoped Elowen might elaborate. He wondered about Ususi's background. The woman's skin-tone indicated a place of origin even farther away than Gunggari, possibly.
"Now then," continued Ususi, as she found a mortar and pestle from a rear shelf, apparently to grind the leaves she had selected, "Please tell me the purpose of such a large gathering in my dwelling. Who is the child?"
Ash sat staring up at the throng of suspended items. Her expression remained unchanged as she made a single comment. "Ash."
"She does that," explained Marrec. "That's all she does. I mean, that's all she ever says." Unaccountably, he felt a bit tongue-tied talking to Ususi. Must be those night black eyes. Her eyes were dark, like twin wells with un-plumbed depths.
Ususi raised an eyebrow as if to ask, 'and so?'
When the cleric didn't respond immediately, Elowen said, "She's the reason we're here, Ususi. At least, she's part of the reason. I'm afraid we are also here because of the Mucklestones."
At that, Ususi paused as she was about to pour the crushed leaves into seeping spoons. She looked concerned, but waited for Elowen to continue.
Elowen obliged, "Corruption is abroad. I've been tracking a group of blighted volodnis for over a month, south and east out of the Forest of Lethyr. We have determined that the volodnis were searching for this girl, Ash." The elf pointed to the child.
"Blighted volodnis?" wondered Ususi.
"I call them rot fiends," offered Marrec helpfully.
"Yes-blighted in a way that I do not fully understand," Elowen continued. The elf bit her lip as if keeping something back. "In any event, I knew you would want to know, because they emerged from the Mucklestones."
"By the Hidden Delve," exclaimed Ususi. "I knew it. I've been trying to access the portal stones for tendays, unsuccessfully." Before Marrec could ask what she meant, Ususi continued, "It's all interference, on every theurgic channel I am able to probe. Nor could I contact Briartan, the keeper of the stones. One other name keeps popping up, though, through the interference: Gameliel. That name means nothing to me, but…"
The hunter balled her fists.
Marrec asked, "Who is Gameliel?"
Elowen took a breath, said, "Gameliel is a blightlord, a being of terrible, corrupt power." Her eyes grew flinty. "If a blightlord is in the Forest of Lethyr, he must be rooted out. The corruption of the volodnis I followed must have been his doing. His doing, or his masters'."
Marrec turned the words over in his mind, looking for a connection with Lurue or Ash. He came up blank. He said "I'm as much in the dark as ever. Why is this Gameliel seeking Ash?" The problem, he decided, was that he still couldn't come up with a connection even between Ash and Lurue. Until he figured out that bond, he would likely continue to be at sea.
Ususi mused, "Why indeed? More information is required. Elowen, tell us