Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [56]
Who is he? she wondered.
Grypht nodded at the finder's stone with satisfaction.
He's experimenting with it, Morala realized.
Grypht shook his head, and the light on the southerner's eyes faded. Then the creature closed his eyes, and the crystal stone began to glow all over, but this time no beam shot out. Grypht squeezed his eyes tighter, as if he were concentrating hard. The stone glowed even brighter, but it gave no indication of the location of the person the scaly creature was thinking of. Grypht sighed and opened his eyes; the stone ceased glowing.
"How deliciously ironic!" Morala muttered. "You've gone to all this trouble to steal the finder's stone, and it can't find whoever it is you're looking for."
Grypht bent over and began pulling more oak seedlings from the ground. Suddenly a beam of light shot out from the yellow crystal in the direction of the setting sun. Grypht started with surprise and straightened up. After scanning the horizon for a few moments, he bent over and shouldered the unconscious southerner.
"Who are you after?" Morala mused as Grypht straightened and began trundling away toward the setting sun.
*****
Mourngrym looked over the ashes lying beside Kyre's equipment and shook his head regretfully. "It doesn't look good, Alias," he said softly.
"I can't believe Akabar would do such a thing," the swords-woman said.
"Something else must have attacked them."
"Then why isn't Akabar's body in a pile of ash on the carpeting?" Breck snarled.
He was shaking with anger and barely controlled grief.
"How do you know those aren't his ashes mingled in with Kyre's?" Alias retorted hotly.
Zhara moaned and sank to the bed. Dragonbait glared at the swordswoman, but Alias ignored him. She couldn't afford to be tactful for Zhara's sake. She had to clear Akabar's reputation.
"If he was incinerated along with Kyre, too," Breck said, "his boots would be here."
"He was wearing rope sandals," Alias argued.
"And he didn't carry a single piece of metal with him?" Breck asked.
That, Alias realized, was hardly likely. She changed her tack. "Whoever killed Kyre could have carried Akabar off," she stated. "Grypht might have returned and eaten him, for all you know."
Zhara gave a keening wail. The swordswoman shot an annoyed look at Akabar's wife. Dragonbait nudged Alias angrily with his elbow.
"I believe Grypht has indeed carried off Akabar," a voice said, "but the beast appears to prefer greenery to human flesh. Akabar is still alive."
Everyone looked around. Standing in the new entrance to the room that Zhara had fashioned with her magic was Morala. The old priestess leaned heavily on Captain Thurbal's arm, but she was smiling.
"I have just been scrying upon Grypht. He was carrying a southern mage dressed in a red-and-white-striped robe," Morala said.
"Akabar!" Zhara cried out eagerly. "His robes are red and white!"
"Then he is in league with Grypht!" Breck declared.
Mourngrym exchanged a distressed look with Alias. "Was Akabar being carried off by force, Morala, or using the beast as a mount?" his lordship asked.
"Akabar was unconscious, so I couldn't tell his wishes," Morala explained, shuffling into the room with Captain Thurbal beside her.
"What about Nameless?" Alias asked anxiously. "Was he with Grypht? "
Morala shook her head. "No, " she said. "Nameless appears to be in an underground tunnel of some sort, digging his way through, though whether he is trying to escape the tunnel or burrow in farther, I could not tell. There is a halfling woman with him. They both appear uninjured, but their location remains