The Jewel of Turmish - Mel Odom [86]
Unwilling to stand there and talk of such things, she started on for the main section of the House of Silvanus. She walked to the water's edge then followed the marble and granite stepping stones that were magically set on the surface. The stones didn't move beneath her.
On the banks, druids, rangers, and those called into the service of Silvanus sat wrapped in prayers. Flower petals, meager offerings from the bounty Silvanus provided, floated on the water.
As Shinthala walked, she noticed the water roil beneath the stepping stones. The first time she'd seen it, she'd been wary. A water elemental prowled the small lake and the spring that fed it. The elemental was a guardian put there by Silvanus to watch over his charges.
"Lady," Torinbow said. "There is one thing I feel I must bring to your attention."
The hesitation in his voice conveyed grave discomfort.
"Speak your mind, Ashenford," she told him. "We've long been friends, and in this time-if Borran Kiosk is truly risen-then we must definitely remain so."
"We speak of the army the mohrg must raise," Torinbow said, keeping his voice low so it didn't carry to the other druids and rangers gathered around them, "and we know that Borran Kiosk has the power to do so."
"If the townspeople of Alaghфn feel that Borran Kiosk is among them again, they will surely keep watch over the cemeteries. The mohrg will not find a following so easily."
"Not from the cemeteries of civilization," Torinbow agreed, "but there may be another source."
"The only way Borran Kiosk can raise an army is by killing living beings and animating their corpses."
"What if the corpses are already animate?" Torinbow asked. "What if they're already undead?"
"Borran Kiosk won't find an undead army already in Alaghфn, or even all of Turmish and beyond," Shinthala said.
"I'm not talking about Alaghфn or even Turmish," Torinbow said. "The Whamite Isles…"
The cruel horror of that possibility had not presented itself to Shinthala until that moment.
"Since the Taker's War," Torinbow continued, "the Whamite Isles have been ringed by hundreds, possibly thousands, of drowned ones."
"Borran Kiosk would have no reason to go there," she said, though she knew the hope was a desperate one at best.
"If the mohrg wants to raise an army," Torinbow said, "he will go there. We have reports, though none of them confirmed, that Iakhovas was behind the massacre on the Whamite Isles, but what if Malar had a hand in it as well?"
Shinthala shook her head. "You're starting at shadows, Ashenford, and I mean no disrespect in the saying of that."
"None taken, Lady, I assure you. Were you not here to question me, I'd have to take that on myself." Torinbow hesitated, closed his mouth, then opened it again and said,
T believe we would be remiss if we did not investigate the possibility. The Whamite Isles are close enough to Turmish that Borran Kiosk could try for them."
Shinthala sighed. Seeing the wisdom in the half-elf s words, she said, "111 travel to Sapra and arrange for-"
Torinbow cleared his throat. "Lady, if you'll forgive my meddling, I've already seen to it."
"You're not meddling. I appreciate your efforts, and you were well within your rights as an Elder to assign such a task."
"Thank you, Lady."
Shinthala's mind flew quickly. "If Borran Kiosk should decide to undertake a voyage to the Whamite Isles, hell need a ship, and hell have to come from Turmish or hell spend tendays, even months at sea."
"Borran Kiosk, from what I remember of the stories, was not known for patience." Torinbow said. "The mohrg won't wait to strike."
"Someone freed Borran Kiosk from his crypt," Shinthala said. "This has been planned. Ill gather another flock of doves to carry the message and instruct druids everywhere to go to Alaghфn. Perhaps it's not too late to stop the monster there."
She prayed to Silvanus that it was so, but even as much as she believed in her god, she had her doubts.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
hipping his scimitar in front of him, Haarn barely managed to block the skeleton's