Page 16 (1/2)

SCOUTS’ DISMAY

We cannot just wait here for the wizard cried, and many others took up that refrain "We do not even know if that will happen," reminded Ginance, an older wo scrolls at Spirit Soaring since its earliest days "We have never encountered such creatures as thesethese luly flesh! We know not if they have an aversion to sunlight, or if they broke off the attack at dawn for strategic reasons"

"They left when the dawn’s light showed in the east," the first protested "That tells ood place to start in our counterattack, and counter we ressively"

"Aye!" several others shouted

The discussion in the nave of Spirit Soaring had been going on for so the demeanor of the room Several wizards and priests, all of them visitors to the library, had been killed in the brutal assault of the previous night Cadderly was glad to see that the rehly trained and skilled in the arcane or divine arts, had not given in to despair after that unexpected battle Their fighting spirit was more than evident, and that, Cadderly kneould be an ih their predicaain on Ginance, his friend and one of the wisest and y

"We don’t even know if Spirit Soaring is cleared of the beasts," she said, quieting the exuberance

"None are out biting at us, the vicious creatures!" the first ued Ginance seemed at a loss to overco for action beyond the confines of the cathedral

"You presume that they’re mindless, or at least stupid," Cadderly finally put in, and though he hadn’t shouted the words, as soon as he started talking, the room went silent and all eyes focused his way

The priest took a deep breath at that reain, of his i, and that was no s Still, he reiven that uests were far roup of priests fro the lower planes, battling de on his every word

"You assuht, rather than for tactical reasons," Cadderly explained, carefully choosing his words He shook his foolish nervousness away by re Bouldershoulder brothers "And now you assume that if there were any , they would rush right out ravenously instead of hiding away to strike at more opportune ood Cadderly?" asked the sa wizard who had been so fiery and obstinate with Ginance "Do we sit and fortify, to prepare for the next onslaught, or do we go out and find our enemies?"

"Both," Cadderly replied, and reement "Many of you did not come here alone, but with trusted friends and associates, so I will leave it up to you to decide on the sizes and dispositions of battle groups I would suggest both brawn and ic both divine and arcane We don’t knohen thisplague will end, or whether or not it will get worse, so we encies"

"I would suggest groups of no less than seven," said one of the older wizards

They began talking aht best Those uidance on the details Ginance came over to hi uests

"Are all of our brethren available after last night?" Cadderly asked her

"Most We have two score or so brothers ready to scour Spirit Soaring - unless you would have soo out with the others"

"Just a few," Cadderly decided "Offer our athering herbs that ht be usedthe library - to the various scouting teauests But let us keep , as they know best the many catacombs, tunnels, and antechambers That is your task, of course"

Ginance took that great compliment with a bow "Lady Danica would be most helpful, as would Ivan " She paused at the sour look Cadderly flashed her way

"Danica will be out of Spirit Soaring within a short time," Cadderly explained "Mostly in search of Ivan, who see, and "

"They’re safely in Carradoon," Ginance assured him "All three, and Pikel, too"

"Let us hope," was all Cadderly could reply

A short while later, Cadderly sat on the balcony of his private rooht for his attention as he worried about his children, about Danica who had gone out to look for the Ivan Bouldershoulder He feared for his hoht have on his order and more personally, upon hiainst thee to the cathedral’s structure, but Cadderly had felt the shatter of everyupon his own body, as if soainst his skin He was intimately bound to the place, and in ways that even he didn’t truly yet understand

Sotheod and the state of the world He had gone there, to the Weave, and had found Deneir, he was sure He had been granted spells the likes of which he had never before known

It was Deneir, but it was not Deneir, as if the god was changing before his very eyes, as if Deneir, his god, the rock of philosophical thought that Cadderly had used as the foundation of his very existence, was becoerand perhaps darker

It seemed to Cadderly as if Deneir, in his atte hi to write the Weave into the Metatext and taking himself with it in the process!

A flash of fire froht Cadderly back to the present He stood up and walked to the railing, peering more intently into the distance A few trees were on fire - one of the scouting wizards had enacted a fireball, or a priest had called down a column of flame, no doubt

Which meant that they had encountered aze to the south, in line with distant Carradoon, off beyond the lower peaks He could see the western bank of Impresk Lake on that clear day, and he tried to take some solace in the water’s calm appearance

He prayed that their near catastrophe was local to Spirit Soaring, that his children and Pikel had gone to Carradoon oblivious to the deadly horde that had come into the mountains behind them

"Find the breezes

She had gone out fro alone allowed Danica to move more swiftly Trained in stealth and speed, the wo southeast down the packed-dirt road to Carradoon She stayed just to the side of the open trail, h the brush with ease and speed

Her hopes began to clin of monsters or destruction

But then the smell of burned flesh filled her nostrils

Cautious, but still reat speed, Danica ran to the top of an e the scene of a recent battle: a ruined wagon and charred ground

The Baldurian wizards

She descended the steep decline, noting the piles ofthem as the remains of the saht before

After a quick inspection revealed no hulanced back to the northwest, toward Spirit Soaring Ivan had been out gathering wood the night those four had left, she recalled, and typically, the dwarf did so to the sides of the eastern road - the very road upon which she stood

Danica’s hopes for her friend began to sink Had he encountered a similar shadowy horde? Had he seen the Baldurian wizards’ fight and come down to aid theh a fighter as Danica had ever known, capable and smart, but was out alone, and the sheer nu, and had obviously hit the four hty wizards on the road, could surely overwhel breath, forcing herself not to ju the wizards, Ivan, or the implications for her own children

They were all capable, she reain, supremely so

And there were no human or dwarf bodies that she could identify

She began to look around more carefully for clues Where had the one?

She found a trail, a swath of dead trees and brown grass leading northward

With a glance to the east, toward Carradoon, and a quick prayer for her children, Danica went hunting

The blood on Ginance’s face told Cadderly that his concern that so had been prudent

"The catacombs craith the creatures," the wo them room by room, crypt by crypt"