The Jewel of Turmish - Mel Odom [122]
"Ettrian!" Druz shouted over the confusion of the wounded and those trying to help them onto the wagons. "You can't let Haarn go alone. It's too dangerous."
The elf s face grew stern and he said, "He's my son, woman, and I won't suffer him to be lost without a fight."
He turned and called out names. Three nearby druids shifted into avian shapes-another owl, a hawk, and a falcon-and flung themselves into the sky. All of them winged after Haarn, who was already growing small in the dark sky, gone before Druz had time to realize it.
"One of them will come back," Ettrian said when he finished ordering another contingent of men to come to him. "If there's something that can be done then, we'll do it."
"If?" Druz screamed. "Damn it! There's no if! Haarn is already out there looking for Borran Kiosk!"
"We have to marshal our forces, woman!" Ettrian shouted back. "This is no longer just a battle; this is a war, and a war needs careful-"
Broadfoot's growl broke Druz's attention, drawing her eyes to the bear loping through the crowd. She didn't bother to stay and hear the rest of Ettrian's speech.
She knew the elf was right, but after everything she'd been through with Haarn, and with the feelings he had so unknowingly stirred within her, she knew that her place- if she could find a way-was with him.
Druz went racing through the crowd in the bear's wake. Broadfoot had a connection to Haarn and they always seemed to know where the other was. She hoped it was still true. Pushing herself, she drew even with the bear as people scattered before them, then she knotted a fist in
Broadfoot's pelt, leaped, and pulled herself aboard the animal.
Broadfoot growled and turned back to face her.
Druz thought the bear was going to try to bite her face off, but Broadfoot turned and continued forward, moving into a run when the street cleared ahead.
Druz leaned over the bear, holding on tight, locking her legs around his barrel chest. His fur scraped her skin and the wind pushed into her face.
Glancing up, she thought she got a glimpse of the owl that was Haarn, but it was gone so quickly she couldn't be sure. She clung to the bear, feeling the huge muscles bunch beneath her.
Please, Tymora, she prayed silently. Please let me arrive in time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Haarn flapped his owl wings and stayed in a low glide above the tops of the buildings lining Alaghфn's southern section. The scent of the skeleton kept fading in and out, and he had to fly above some areas three times to pick up the trail again. His sense of smell wasn't as keen in owl form, but better vision offset that loss. The city spread out below him came through in sharp focus and he could see through most shadows.
The fire was still spreading along the harbor, and as Haarn glided across the rooftops he saw one of the warehouses collapse in on itself and smash to the ground. It was so far away and there was so much noise from the battle that it didn't seem to make a sound. Flames roiled up from the tumbling mass, chased by fiery embers that climbed into the sky like a meteor shower in reverse.
Farther out in the harbor, a fishing boat burned down to the waterline, the masts wreathed with fire and still stabbing into the dark, smoke-filled sky. The black sea sloshed over the boat's side and the harbor drank it down. The last things that disappeared were the flaming masts, looking like burning tapers until the water finally extinguished them.
The skeleton's scent drew Haarn's attention again. He stared down, gauging the wind, surprised to find that he could sort out the scent at all with the amount of smoke in the air. He banked in the air, dropping lower over the rooftops.
Motion caught Haarn's eye. Flying closer, below the level of the rooftops, Haarn saw a one-armed skeleton with a block of wood tied in place of a missing foot.
Light from the burning harbor reached the jewel the skeleton carried in its hand. The gem glowed red like fresh-spilled blood.
Hypnotized by his find, aware of the skeleton's odor deep in his nostrils, Haarn flew closer. He held