Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [14]
"What's he trying to say?" Akabar asked curiously.
"Nothing important," Alias said.
Dragonbait shoved his elbow into Alias's side. The sell-sword glared at her lizard companion, and Dragonbait glared right back at her. The contest of wills lasted only a few moments, but it astonished Akabar. He'd never seen Dragonbait challenge Alias before. When the mage had traveled with the pair, Dragonbait had been as submissive to Alias as a Turmishwoman was to her husband in public.
Obviously the relationship between the saurial and Alias had changed in the past year. Alias looked away from Dragonbait, muttering, "All right. Think what you want, but you're wrong."
"What is it?" Akabar demanded.
"Dragonbait thinks I should tell you that it was last spring when I started singing strangely."
"Singing strangely? I don't understand," Akabar said, his eyebrows arching.
"Somehow the melody and the lyrics of songs I was singing came out twisted. And I didn't even realize I was doing it," Alias explained, obviously disturbed.
"Do you have dreams about Moander?" Akabar asked.
"I wouldn't know," Alias replied. "I never remember my dreams when I wake up.
Dreams are for sleeping."
"You remembered the dream you had about Nameless in Shadow Gap," Akabar reminded her.
"That was different. That was a magical dream caused by the witch Cassana, sent in order to distract me from the ambush she was laying."
Akabar stroked his beard thoughtfully, then suggested, "Since you do not remember your dreams, it could be that the gods are trying to warn you through your songs."
"Akabar, why should the gods go to all the trouble to send you dreams and ruin my songs when they could just send a letter?" Alias asked skeptically.
"If you do not believe Zhara and you do not believe me," Akabar said, "you certainly would not believe a letter, Alias. The gods know the way to your heart is through your music."
Alias sighed. She'd known, of course, that Akabar was a scholar of religion, but this sudden devout belief that the gods were speaking to him and her made her uneasy. It was this new wife's influence, she was sure. "Well, if the gods are causing me to sing this way," Alias said, "they certainly have lousy taste in music. And they could work on making their lyrics a little less obscure, too."
Zhara, who had been silent for a long time, spoke out suddenly, with anger and passion. "You cannot expect the songs of the gods to be of the same simple sort you northern barbarians delight in," she said.
Alias glared at the priestess. "My songs are the best in the Realms," she growled.
"They are nothing compared to the words spoken by the gods," Zhara replied heatedly. "Our prayers to them are the most suitable music we can make."
Realizing that it was futile to argue with a religious zealot, Alias turned her attention back to Akabar. "I don't suppose the gods have given you any details about what you're supposed to do about this return of Moander," she said.
"Yes, they have, as a matter of fact," Akabar replied, and his face looked suddenly haggard. "I must find Moander's body in the Realms and destroy it again. Then I must find its body in the Abyss and destroy it there. Only then will Moander be destroyed forever," he explained.
Alias looked at her friend with astonishment and fear. He was absolutely serious. He meant to fight the god again. If Dragonbait hadn't recruited the help of an ancient red dragon, who had died battling Moander, she and Akabar would still be under the god's domination now, unable to fight the abomination's awful power to control their minds. Now Akabar not only wanted to fight Moander in the Realms, but also in the Abyss, where it would be surrounded by numbers of powerful minions. The swordswoman was sure the mage couldn't have come up with such a dangerous idea on his own. She glared across the table at Akabar's new wife, and as she so often did, she channeled her fear into anger.
"This is all your doing, isn't it?" Alias snarled at Zhara. "You lousy priests are always trying to