Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [19]
Kyre stood up and turned to Morala. "Alert the guard!" the half-elf ordered.
"I'm going after the monster!"
"Breck's injuries are serious!" Morala called to her. "Alert the guard while I tend to him." Morala looked up when Kyre did not reply. The half-elf was already chasing after the beast. "Kyre! Come back here!" the priestess shouted after her, but the half-elf did not return.
Morala set her jaw angrily. "Foolish girl," she muttered. As the priestess of Milil laid her hands on the ranger's pale face and began humming a healing spell, she noted a peculiar mix. ture of odors wafting through the room. The smell of burning cloth, she realized, was the result of Kyre's burning hands spell. But where, Morala wondered, did the smell of fresh mown hay and baking bread come from?
*****
Olive stood at the door to Finder's cell, fidgeting nervously. I know what I heard!" she insisted. "Something roared out there."
"Olive, this is the Tower of Ashaba," Finder reminded the halfling. "The home of Mourngrym, Lord of Shadowdale. The guards aren't going to allow any wild beasts to roam the halls.
"How do you know? After all, they let me roam the halls," Olive argued.
Finder grinned at the halfling's indirect comparison of herself to a wild beast.
"Come away from the door, Olive," he said patiently. "We don't want the guards to see you in here."
"I'm just going to take a peek," Olive insisted, opening the door a few inches more. She tried to slip out of the cell, but an invisible barrier across the threshold blocked her escape. "It's blocked!" Olive hissed angrily. "It's a one-way door. Why didn't you tell me I was walking into a trap?"
Finder raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't know. Olive. Really." He began to laugh.
"What's so damned funny?" Olive demanded.
"The irony of it all," Finder explained. "I thought Elminster trusted me, but he knew me well enough to take extra precautions. He must have made the door one-way to catch anyone who might try to help me escape from the cell."
"I still fail to see any humor in it," Olive said coldly.
"Olive, Olive, Olive. I told you. The finder's stone can get past any barrier Elminster may have cast to try to prevent me from leaving this room. In his wildest dreams, the sage couldn't have imagined you'd find the stone and bring it to me."
"You could put my mind to rest by using the stone to get us out right now,"
Olive said.
Finder shook his head from side to side. "We'll leave after the Harpers have made their decision. Not a measure sooner or later," he said. He laid the finder's stone down on the table and picked up his chordal horn.
Olive leaned back against the wall beside the prison cell door and slumped to the floor. Finder began playing a soldier's inarching melody.
Olive sniffed the air. Although exit from the prison cell was magically blocked, the smell of fresh-baked bread wafted into the cell. The halfling's stomach rumbled in response. "I should have eaten a bigger breakfast," she muttered.
Something in the hallway clomped toward the door. "Would the guards be bringing you something to eat about now?" Olive whispered.
Finder lowered his horn from his mouth. "What are you talking a-" The bard halted in midword as the door of the prison cell flew open. A huge green lizard in charred robes bent low and squeezed through the doorway. The creature was dripping blood from a shallow wound on its head, and the scales on its hands were black and blistered.
Olive stood cautiously, trying not to attract the beast's attention, while Finder grabbed the finder's stone from the table and backed away from the door.
"Don't come a step farther!" the bard ordered the beast.
The smell of baking bread was overwhelming. Olive gasped. A flicker of memory burst into enlightenment.
Alerted to the halfling's presence by Olive's gasp, the lizard turned to face her. It pointed a clawed finger at her.
"Don't touch her!" Finder barked sharply. "Back away from it slowly. Olive," he whispered to the halfling.
"It's all right," Olive