and less like a cave crawler, Kifflewit Burrthistle thought. He shuffled forward in the darkness, holding the Dia shy;mond Dragon higher in order to cast the largest possible circle of light.
Then a tousled head of blond hair, angry brown eyes, and a gagged mouth came into view.
'Mynx? Why do you look like that? Why's your hair yellow? I liked it dark. And why are you wearing armor? Aren't you a thief anymore? Are you a mercenary now?'
Mmmmmmnnfff1.
He held the Diamond Dragon close to her furious face. 'See? I found this in the temple. Isn't it pretty?'
Mynx stared daggers at him. The kender's eyes were wide and innocent. 'What's the matter?' he asked.
MMMunnnpie mmmmmmeeee, mooooo mbiddllle pfoool! came through the gag.
'You're awfully hard to understand with that rag …' Kifflewit set to work loosening the restraint, while Mynx continued to gnash at the cloth with her teeth. The kender chattered merrily on. 'The High Theocrat mustn't care much for this dragon thing or he wouldn't have let it lie around. I think I'm doing him a favor by taking care of it, don't you?'
The gag was gone. 'You idiot!' Mynx cried. 'That's the Diamond Dragon!'
The kender blinked. 'Well, sure.'
'Tarscenian thinks Hederick still has it!'
'Oh. Well, there's nothing to worry about. It's safe with me.'
'Untie me, you little fool,' she snapped.
'You don't have to be rude. After all..' He reached over Mynx to her hip, plucked Tarscenian's dagger from her sheath, and, still talking animatedly, severed the cord that bound her wrists and ankles.
Mynx's mind raced. Tarscenian had no clue that the thieves were after him. And of course he had no idea that the kender possessed the Diamond Dragon.
Kifflewit Burrthistle prattled on, dangling the Dia shy;mond Dragon in front of Mynx's face as though it were some mere bauble. The glow caught her attention. For a moment Mynx forgot everything but the radiance that came from within the precious stones. Suddenly every shy;thing made sense. Tarscenian wasn't after this thing in order to sell it, she realized. He was going to use its mag shy;ical powers against Hederick.
She had to take the artifact to him before he tried to get inside the temple. Only then would he have a chance against the High Theocraf s forces and Gav's thieves.
'Give me that, kender!' she shouted, lunging for the artifact.
Kifflewit squealed, 'It's mine! I found it!'
Kender and human hands fought for possession of the Diamond Dragon.
'Tarscenian needs it!'
'But I found it!' the kender howled.
'He could defeat Hederick!'
'No fair! It's mine!'
They tussled on the carpet. The Diamond Dragon see shy;sawed back and forth. The artifact spat tiny bolts of lightning around the den, burning holes in the tapestries. It began to hum. Neither woman nor kender realized what was happening; the object they were fighting over had become a glowing ball of steel-cold fire.
'Tarscenian needs it!'
'I found it!'
'It could stop the Seekers!'
'It's mine!'
Szzzzezmetoffffalgolorum!
The loud, strange sound came from the Diamond Dragon itself. The kender let go and fell back, brown eyes agog. Mynx crowed triumphantly, cradling the tro shy;phy to her breast. She stroked it, exulting in its posses shy;sion. She would find Tarscenian… Szzzzezmetoffff algolorum!
The second burst of sound and light penetrated Mynx's triumph. Magic-from the thing itself? Sudden terror drenched her. She tried to throw the Diamond Dragon away from her. It refused to let go.
The Diamond Dragon clung to her hands, humming louder. There was no pain-only a coldness that extended from her hands up through her elbows.
And then she realized that her hands were inside the artifact. Even as she watched, the Diamond Dragon absorbed more of her. She could see her hands, then her wrists and forearms, moving frantically inside the thing. She still could control her movements, but her hands were shrinking. She placed one booted foot and then the other against the thing, to brace herself and wrench her arms free.
Then her feet were sucked in, too. 'Kifflewit!' Mynx shouted. 'Help me!' But the kender could only gape at her, wide-eyed. The coldness shot like a catapult up her arms and legs. It froze her torso and reached her head. And then she was inside the Diamond Dragon. Smooth crystal curved around her, impervious to her pounding and kicking. Mynx raged within the dragon as the kender stared at the thing from without. She was miniature enough now, within the artifact, to stand in Kifflewit's hand. Clearly he could see her tiny figure dancing inside the Diamond Dragon. Couldn't he? She could hear the kender. Could he hear her? Mynx cried out, but Kifflewit merely gazed at the Diamond Dragon from every angle. He picked it up, shook it-throwing Mynx to her knees-and put it down again. 'I wonder where she went?' the kender said softly. 'What a terrific trick!' He glanced around, as though he might find Mynx peering out from under a table or set shy;tee.
Inevitably, the kender's attention wandered, and he abandoned the artifact on the carpet as he poked through the den. Gaveley's den had numerous gems and objects of special interest to a glitter-loving kender. AH went into his pouches and pockets.
Then Mynx and the artifact that imprisoned her were snatched up and tucked back in a bulging kender pocket, too. She could sense movement; Kifflewit was scamper shy;ing off somewhere. Mynx sat down on the curved crystal floor of the Diamond Dragon to avoid falling again.
She rested her head on her arms. 'Oh, Tarscenian,' she whispered. 'You're heading into danger for noth shy;ing.' Here she was, trapped within the only object that could help him, and she couldn't do a thing.
She rode for some time in Kifflewit's pocket, hearing only the muffled sounds of the market and occasional yelps from angry guards. Twice the kender began to run and continued until the shouting died away.
Then a new voice spoke, quite near. 'Ah, 'tis thee, small one. What dost thou want of me? I am in haste. I have no time to stop and natter with thee, yet thou saved my life back at the temple. What dost thou want, kender?'
It was the centaur she'd seen in the refugee section, Mynx realized.
'The guards are after me,' came Kifflewit's stifled reply. 'I need to hitch a ride out of Solace.'
'Small one, that I can grant thee, in gratitude for thy service. I am bound for my home glade, to apprise my people of the coming danger.'
Mynx braced herself against the insides of the Dia shy;mond Dragon as Kifflewit Burrthistle clambered up onto the centaur's back. The man-horse settled into the rock shy;ing gait that could cover many leagues, seemingly with shy;out great effort.
The centaur and Kifflewit soon left Solace far behind.
Chapter 17
As Tarscenian worked his tray back through Solace, he regularly stooped and held out his bowl to passers- by.
'Alms?' he would quaver from the depths of his hood, detesting the pitiable tone he had to adopt. The slow pace galled him, too. He wanted nothing more than to throw off his beggar's cloak, yank the tufts of hair from their glued moorings, and race into Erolydon with sword drawn to challenge Hederick directly. 'Directly and honestly,' he muttered.
Solace's residents sidestepped the surly beggar with neither word nor offer of aid.
Tarscenian's disguise was holding up well. Hederick's goblins and guards didn't give him a second look. He slunk past a few more sword-carrying hobgoblins and caught enough of their garbled words to realize that the slave
