Lady of Poison_ The Priests - Bruce R. Cordell [99]
They redoubled their pace through the forest, though Ususi was unable to maintain a speed quicker than a fast walk for too long, but they made good time. Even Ususi finally seemed to lose something of the dolor that had fallen upon the party after their deal with the Queen Abiding.
Around noon, Marrec judged, Gunggari led them to the edge of a clearing. The Oslander held up his hand signaling everyone to stop.
All saw the lone structure. It had an unsavory quality to it, like something one might find in a cemetery.
"Is it the Talontyr's Close?" whispered Marrec. "I thought it would be larger."
"No, you'll know the Close when you see it, if the Rotting Man has truly taken up his seat where the Nentyarch once ruled," said Elowen. "A great ring of mighty trees surrounds the Close, if the Rotting Man didn't fell them."
Gunggari signaled again, with some annoyance. He wanted quiet. Marrec nodded to his friend. Gunggari must have noticed something. The cleric sidled up and raised an eyebrow in question.
The Oslander moved his head close to Marrec's ear and explained, "The trail goes into that structure. Wait here; I'll check the borders. If I am unable find an exit track, we may have caught our quarry."
Marrec nodded. Gunggari went.
The cleric kept his eyes riveted to the structure, waiting. He told Elowen and Ususi about Gunggari's postulate when they sidled up with questions.
Finally, the tattooed soldier returned from the opposite side of the clearing. He said, "We have them."
"Lurue is kind," muttered Marrec. Then, "Gunny, why don't you slip up to the entrance first; you're the quietest. Elowen and I will follow once you're in place. Ususi, stay back here and provide spell support."
"As if I'd do something different," sniffed Ususi. She was still mad. That woman could hold a grudge with the best of them, Marrec mused.
Gunggari flitted forward, running low but quietly, his dizheri grasped in one hand, his other out for balance. Marrec stood ready to cast Justlance, but his friend made it to the wall next to the darkened entrance without stirring notice.
Next he and Elowen moved forward. He couldn't help it; his chain mail clinked a little as he moved, but he hoped that the sound wasn't loud enough to penetrate the building. Elowen was quieter. Both reached the entrance, spread out on the side wall opposite Gunggari, without anyone inside reacting to their approach.
All seemed quiet within, save for the subtle hum of what Marrec supposed to be forest insects.
Marrec turned his head and saw Ususi's silhouette still back at the edge of the clearing. He saw the wizard's head nod. He asked, "Everyone ready?"
Elowen drew her blade. Something unexpected happened then.
When the light of the sun above hit the dulled blade, the wood began to thrum, producing an earthy tone that
Marrec somehow equated to the sound of growing things. The veins on the blade, which had shrunk to near invisibility, began to pulse and swell, as if sucking the light in directly. Tiny flickers of emerald light played up and down the blade, and the intensity of the sunlight seemed stronger, more lush, around both elf and blade. The elfs eyes were wide with astonishment.
Elowen blurted out, "Oh. The Nentyarch's blade… it wanted the sun. Look, the xylem and phloem…" The elf ceased to speak as she gazed at her scintillating blade.
Marrec tried to shush the elf, but Elowen realized her own lapse, clapping one hand over her mouth. She looked at Marrec, an apology in her eyes, but not without a matching gladness that had been absent earlier. Marrec wasn't familiar with the strange druidic terms Elowen used, but he hoped that their quarry within hadn't heard her wax so eloquent.
Marrec communicated his hope to Gunggari across the span of the open entrance with two raised eyebrows. The Oslander knew what the cleric's questioning stance meant, so he cupped an ear against the building and listened.
A few moments later he disengaged, his face diffident. He pointed into the entrance and silently mouthed, "They know."