Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [134]
The tip of her tail lay across the sword's hilt.
Olive gritted her teeth in frustration, repressing an urge to growl. Rotten luck, she thought. Roll over, Coral. You don't want to sleep all night with a stupid sword.
Just then something glowed momentarily at the front of the hut, shining through the golden curtain and lighting up the interior. Coral rose quickly, pushed aside the curtain, and stepped outside. Without hesitating. Olive reached through the gap in the pine boughs, grabbed the edge of the blanket, and began to tug it toward the back of the hut, dragging the paladin's sword with it. As soon as she could get her fingers on the sword. Olive pulled the weapon through the gap in the wall. The scabbard slid off the blade and flopped back on the blanket.
Deciding that the paladin wouldn't need his scabbard in the battle to come, the halfling let it lay. She opened the invisible sack she'd been carrying on her shoulder. As she slipped the sword into the sack, the weapon vanished from sight.
Olive was just about to hurry back to the edge of the woods when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Nice hovel you have here. Not much profit in resurrecting dead gods, is there?"
Finder! Olive thought excitedly. She turned around and pressed her eyes back against the gap in the pine boughs.
Coral stood inside her hut with the bard. The saurial sat down on the blanket, not seeming to notice that it was in a different position. Her tail fell across Dragonbait's scabbard, but she didn't notice the missing weapon. Finder sat down opposite her. Though he did not speak aloud, the bard was gesturing with his hands. Olive realized he was speaking with Coral in saurial.
Sweet Selune! Olive thought. He's not trying to make a deal with her like he tried to do with Xaran, is he? He can't be!
In a loud, surprised voice, the bard said in Realms common, "Akabar's blood? You mean that's the seed you've been looking for?"
Then Olive saw the flower in Finder's ear, its tendrils wrapped around his hair.
She pulled away from Coral's hut as if it had scorched her and took off for the forest where Alias, Grypht, and Akabar were waiting.
*****
Alias touched Grypht's arm and pointed at the light stone beacon the moment after Olive placed it in front of Dragonbait's hut. Grypht nodded and began to move off so he could get a better view of the hut. He disappeared into the darkness. Alias and Akabar waited anxiously for Olive to return. A few minutes later, though they couldn't see her, they heard her running toward them. They could also hear her sobbing.
Please, Tymora, no! Alias thought. Don't let anything be wrong with Dragonbait.
Fifty pounds of invisible halfling slammed into Alias's legs and clung to her like a child. "They've got him!" she cried.
Alias knelt down and managed to get hold of Olive's invisible shoulders. "Olive, try to keep calm," the swordswoman said, though her own voice rose alarmingly.
"What have they done to him? Is Dragonbait all right?"
"Dragonbait is fine," Olive hissed. "It's Finder. He's been possessed. He's one of the minions!"
"No!" Alias whispered in shock.
"Yes," Olive sniffed. "He's got a flower coming out of his ear, and he's sitting in Coral's tent right now. We've got to get out of here."
"No," Akabar said. "Finder doesn't know our plans, and if we carry them out quickly, he won't have time to prepare them for our attack."
"No, Akabar!" Olive said. "You don't understand. Your blood is the seed! I heard Finder say so. If they catch you, it's all over."
"Akabar's blood