Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [34]
It took Berun longer than he'd hoped to find Sauk. The little starstone he held gave off only a faint glow, and the storm had washed away any sign of the half-orc's trail. If only Perch could keep the tiger busy a little longer, this just might work.
Sauk lay in the mud at the bole of a tree. The spiders were gone. The effects of Berun's spell were long spent, and the spiders had either drowned or taken refuge from the storm wherever they could find it.
The half-orc was doubled over and shivering. The tree's thick, waxy leaves kept the worst of the rain off him. In the dim silver glow of his starstone, Berun could see dozens of swollen bites across Sauk's exposed skin. His eyes were squeezed shut, and tiny convulsions rippled through his muscles.
Berun touched Sauk's temple with the back of his hand. The half-orc burned with fever. At the touch, Sauk's eyes fluttered open. He tried to snarl, but it turned into a tooth-chattering grimace.
"D-d-damn you," Sauk rasped.
"Damn me later," said Berun. "Right now, I only want what's mine."
He opened the pouch at Sauk's belt and rummaged through it. It wasn't there.
"Where is it, Sauk?"
"Puh-p-piss on you." Sauk grimaced and doubled over further as a stronger convulsion hit him.
"Don't worry," said Berun. "The venom from most of those spiders isn't fatal. Not even from so many. Not for a big, strong hunter like you. Now where is it?"
Berun set the starstone on the ground, grabbed the collar of Sauk's tunic, and ripped. Several necklaces hung round the half-orc's neck. Some bore symbols of his faith, others were trophies of past kills, and the brass chain seemed plain jewelry. But around one particularly fine leather thong was what Berun was searching for: Erael'len.
Sauk tried to bat Berun's hands away, but he was fever weak, and Berun ignored him. He eased Sauk's head up, pulled off the necklace, dropped it over his own head, and tucked the talisman under his shirt.
"Th-this is-s-sn't… over," said Sauk.
"I know," said Berun. "Listen to me, Sauk. Your plan is too risky. If you think you can sneak me in under the Old Man's nose, you've grown soft. He's using you to get to me. You're only going to get us all killed. If it were just me, I might let you try, but I won't let you pull the boy into this. I'll help. My way. But only after I see Lewan safely away."
Sauk growled something unintelligible.
"Leave the boy out of this," said Berun. "Let me handle this my way. I'll get my master out of the Fortress and take care of the Old Man. My way. But if you come at the boy again, Sauk, I swear I'll kill you."
"Muh-m-m-" Sauk gasped, then said, "Mai karash! Oath breaker!"
Berun retrieved his starstone and looked down on the half-orc who had once been his closest friend. Lightning flashed, painting the half-orc's face in sharp contrast.
"Kheil swore brotherhood to you until death," Berun said. "He kept his oath. I owe you nothing."
Thunder shook the world around them, and before it faded, Berun left the half-orc lying in the mud.
Chapter Eleven
Lewan laid his hand against the bole of the tree, dead from a lightning strike in a long-ago storm. His hand trembled like an old man's.
It had taken him much longer to find the tree than he'd hoped. Running at night, through the storm, even with the small starstone to light his way, Lewan had been forced to go the long way round the hill. The way he and his master usually took up the southwestern face had been far too slick-mud running down in tiny rivulets over the slick rocks. Desperate to be away from the assassins, he'd tried two different ascents and fallen both times. The second time, a broken branch had opened a wicked gash along his right arm, almost from wrist to elbow, and he'd bled most of the way to the tree.
The pain, the blood loss, the wet, and the miles-long run through rough country had left him more weary than he could ever remember being. He was soaked down to his smallclothes, and moving had been