Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [57]
"A finder's stone?" Alias asked. "Like the one Elminster gave to me?"
"The finder's stone," Morala corrected her. "There is only one. It's an old artifact that Nameless made to store his music and his spells," the priestess explained. "For anyone else, it worked as a compass."
"But we lost it in Westgate, battling Moander," Alias said.
The wrinkles in Morala's forehead doubled as she tried to think of how the stone got from Westgate into Grypht's hands. Unable to come up with a satisfactory explanation, the priestess huffed in frustration. "Well, Grypht has found it somewhere, somehow," she said. "When I last saw him, he was using it. He was standing atop a hill covered with many small oak trees and crowned with a single immense oak, laden with mistletoe and ivy and moss."
"That would have to be Oakwood Knoll, your lordship," Captain Thurbal said.
"East of the river."
"A monster that size will be easy to follow," Breck said, heading for the door.
Mourngrym's arm shot out and caught Break's tunic, pulling him back. "Hold on a minute there, man," his lordship said. "This… thing's already attacked you once today. You can't go after it alone. The dale's full of hiding places. You could be tracking it for days. Let me get a party of guards and provisions together. It will only take a few hours."
"A few hours!" Breck shouted. "Kyre's been murdered, and you expect me to wait a few hours? I'm going to bring this creature's head back on a pike-and Akabar's, too, if I find he's in league with it."
Zhara rose quickly and rushed at Breck, pushing him back against the table with a surprising show of strength. "My husband," she hissed, "is a man of honor, a scholar and a mage." The young priestess's voice rose in fury, and her eyes flashed with fire. "How dare you suggest such a thing?" she shouted. "If you harm one hair on his head, I will bring Tymora's curse down upon you!"
Breck looked stunned by the veiled woman's verbal attack. It took him only a moment to recover, however. "You could be in league with him, too, for all I know," he said to Zhara.
Zhara called Breck one of the few Turmish words Mourngrym knew. His lordship blushed. Fortunately, Breck didn't realize he'd been insulted.
Dragonbait gently pulled Zhara away from the ranger. Then he signed to Alias.
She nodded.
"Your lordship," Alias announced to Mourngrym, "Dragonbait and I can be ready to leave in a quarter of an hour. If you can wait that long, Breck Orcsbane, we will join you."
"He can wait that long," Mourngrym said firmly. "Try to keep in mind, Orcsbane, that if you bring nothing but heads back, we may never find Elminster or Nameless or Olive Ruskettle. I understand how you feel about Kyre, but we have to think of those who are still alive. I want you to try to capture the beast."
"Capture a denizen of the Nine Hells?" Breck shouted. "That's impossible!"
"Try," Lord Mourngrym said. "It may not be a fiend."
"Kyre said that it was!" Breck hissed angrily.
"Try to capture it anyway," Mourngrym insisted. "And return Akabar Bel Akash alive, whether he resists or not."
"I will go, too, to see that this man obeys," Zhara said.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Breck insisted. "Your lordship, this woman is the man's wife. I want you to arrest her."
"I can't arrest a woman for being a man's wife," Mourngrym said, barely able to contain his own annoyance with the ranger.
"But she could warn him that we're coming and foil our attempts to capture him,"
Breck argued.
"Lady Zhara," Morala said softly, "it would be best if you remain here in the tower. As you said, your husband is a man of honor. The least we can do is keep you safe until his return."
"Keep me hostage, you mean!" Zhara exclaimed hostileiy.
"We're riding into the wilderness, and we'll probably end up having to fight this Grypht," Alias said with annoyance. "You'd only slow us down and get in the way."
"I am following my husband," Zhara