when Barakas had condemned the two rivals. There had been only one change, a small rainbow crest on the shoulder that Dru recollected had once been the symbol of his eternal adversary, Dekkar. It was a homage to a worthy foe.
“It was by my own doing that I was lost.”
The leader of the unlikely band shrugged. “We have until Nimth takes us to talk of that. What concerns me, concerns all of us, is that one.”
It was to Rendel’s credit that he merely acknowledged the remark and made no sudden attempt to flee. Dru knew that in the Tezerenee’s place he would have been considering any option that would have gained him freedom.
“Before you attempt anything, Silesti, I have a proposition.”
“You want him first? By all means! You deserve it, only see that you keep him living!” He indicated those with him, a sea of nearly identical images with the exact same expression. Had looks actually been able to kill someone, there would have remained only a scorched mark where Rendel now stood.
“That’s not what I meant.” This would be delicate. If what Dru said failed to placate the bitter spellcasters, then he and Xiri would probably share Rendel’s fate. He took a long breath and then, before the restless muttering grew any louder, presented them with the carrot on the stick. “I have a path of escape for us… all of us.”
Several faces grew hopeful, but more than a few darkened. They had been betrayed once, and because they were Vraad, it was easy for them to imagine someone pulling the same ploy. Silesti’s expression was unreadable, but his skin had turned a deep crimson.
“You… intrigue us. Tell us more.”
There was a protest from within the group, but it quickly subsided after a single glance from their chosen spokesman.
Wishing he had the oratory skills of the patriarch, Dru detailed his mishap and what had become of him. The faces before him kept changing as emotions rose and fell. He said as little as possible about the guardians and their masters, deciding it was not yet time to tell as arrogant a people as his that they had been a failed experiment, but emphasized how there were those who shared their desire to survive. When he had finished, Silesti and the others conferred with one another.
Dru squeezed Xiri’s hand and met Rendel’s wary gaze. Neither could guess whether the vengeful band believed them. Dru was ready to defend both himself and Xiri with whatever it cost and Rendel would do no less for himself.
It was Silesti, as was expected, who announced the decision. His eyes kept switching from Dru to Rendel as he spoke. “If you were this one”-he indicated the Tezerenee with a savage jerk of his head-“we would already be taking our pleasure with your agonized screams. Because it is you, however, I, at least, am inclined to risk trusting you. That reptile… is there reason to spare him?”
“If you want my aid. Rendel is as trapped as we are. He knows more about the realm beyond than even I do.” That was a matter of debate, but he was not going to tell them so. “We’ll also need him when we confront Barakas… or would you care to begin your first moments after the cross-over fighting the Tezerenee?”
As angered as they were, Silesti’s people were no fools. “Others might not agree with what you say.”
“Between us, I think they’ll force themselves to listen. Isn’t life more important at this point? Do any of you want to remain in this hellhole we created?”
That was the point that none of them could deny. Even Silesti looked weary, now that the desire for vengeance was forced to subside. It was raw emotion that had kept these Vraad going. How were those with less strength surviving?
They were all looking at him in expectation, waiting to be told what to do. Why was he forced to lead them? All he wanted was to find his daughter and leave this place. When had he developed such a care for the survival of his undeserving race?
“I need help. From you, if possible. Many of the others will probably make their way here as the hours pass, and I don’t think I can control them all. We might even have to fetch some of those still drowning in self-pity and convince them that I speak the truth. That’s assuming you believe me. This is a sick jest. If I lie, you know I have nowhere to run from you. I swear I speak the truth. My life is my-” He stopped. His pledge would have sounded much too like the ones given by Barakas. Dru did not want to remind his counterparts of what had happened last time they had believed a pledge of honor. “I won’t fail you,” he finished up, wishing that he could have thought of something better to say.
“We’ve already given our assent, Zeree,” Silesti commented. “You should have guessed that by the fact that the Tezerenee had not been flayed already.”
Dru nodded in relieved gratitude. He knew what he had to say next. “I ask you to help coordinate steps, Silesti.”
The mob leader’s chest swelled. He acquiesced with a slight tip of his head. His eyes were gleaming.
The choice was the best one. Silesti’s control of the band proved he had the presence and might necessary. It also gave the plan a look of cooperation. Making others an integral part of the plan would build up their faith in Dru. Unobserved for once, Dru tried to relax. It was a fruitless attempt. There was too much to do and he still worried over the fact that Sharissa had not shown up yet. Dru had expected her to be one of the first. More worries. Would it ever end?
“My father could not have handled it better.” Rendel had come up behind him, but Dru had been too overwrought to notice. Xiri made it a point of switching sides so that she would be farther away from the Tezerenee. “You left out quite a bit, didn’t you?”
“What if I did? Some of it probably would have resulted in your demise… and perhaps ours, too.”
Rendel shrugged. “I meant nothing by it.” He smiled in gracious fashion. “You have only my admiration.”
There was a way that the Tezerenee had about him that demanded questioning by Dru. “You seem very pleased, more so than I would have thought.”
“Why not?” With visible effort, Rendel created an emerald dragon-scale suit with a glittering cloak that moved even when there was no wind. He was greatly satisfied with his results and smiled again. “Despite that thing you call a guardian, I will cross again. I will have what is rightfully mine.”
Dru wished he shared the pale-haired spellcaster’s confidence. Rendel’s words had stirred a nameless fear within him, a fear that the journey to the shrouded realm would be far from simple.
A fear that Nimth itself would not let them leave.
XIX
The night passed, though it was nearly impossible to believe that since the sky remained unchanged. The storm still grew, yet did not unleash its fury. Illumination from the green mass above still kept Nimth bathed in a parody of sunset. Xiri forced Dru to rest and he perhaps succeeded in sleeping an hour, but overall it was no use. Too much preyed on his torn mind. Vraad gathered in greater and greater numbers and still there was no Sharissa. Unable to rest any longer, Dru wandered among his people and asked several of those he knew if they had seen her. Several could not be bothered to remember. In some ways he could not blame them. They wanted to leave Nimth and be done with it. To most Vraad, the only reason to ask the whereabouts of a child of theirs was so that said offspring would not be able to mount a surprise assault on their domain.
Only when he realized that Melenea was also among those still missing did the tall sorcerer have an inkling of why his daughter might not have been able to reach him.
“I have to leave,” he whispered to Xiri. “We have to leave. There is an enchantress called Melenea.” Dru could not recall at the moment whether he had told the elf of his former lover, but that did not matter. Even if he had said something, he needed to say it now. “She’s a Vraad of the worst extremes. Her entire life is built around what she likes to call games, but which others have often called insanity.”
The Tezerenee returned. His eyes burned with anger and not a little fear. The more Vraad who arrived, the less comfortable he felt. Only Dru’s presence and word of honor kept the growing mass from trying to take him.
“Going somewhere? I think not,” Rendel warned, keeping his voice low so that the rest of the Vraad could not
