Wendric cleared his throat. 'I recall hearing stories of the Older Races, those that came before man, and the great empires they built. Is that what you mean?'
'Idiot,' Jewel spat. 'They were ancient when elf and dwarf walked this world. They fought them too, and won. Now it is our turn.'
'But why?' Elaine asked.
'Because they understand hatred. Because they know it is not enough to simply exist.'
'What do you mean?' Elaine pressed, but Jewel's head was beginning to hang to one side, as if it were too heavy for her neck. When Elaine shook her, they all saw a slither of froth between her lips.
'She's going,' Wendric said. 'I warned you.'
'Stay with us, Jewel!' Elaine demanded, shaking her harder. 'What do you mean by that, why is it not enough for them to just exist?'
Jewel coughed, flecks of bloodied spittle flying across Elaine's face. Her words were barely more than a whisper, forced from her throat by the power of the drugs alone.
'Our presence is an affront to them. War has come, but now they can join the old power with the new. Now, they are unstoppable.'
'I don't understand,' Elaine said. 'What do they want? What
She slapped the woman again to bring her back to consciousness, then shook her when she failed to respond, until Lucius laid a hand on her arm. Jewel had stopped breathing.
'It's too late, Elaine.'
'Damn her!' Elaine spat, as she pushed away from Jewel's body and stalked across the room in frustration. 'She told us nothing!'
'She told us little,' Lucius corrected her, but Elaine was in no mood to be placated.
'Riddles and fairy tales! And you Wendric,' she said, turning on her new lieutenant. 'You should know better than to spout myths about goblins and elves!'
He seemed ready to respond, but wisely kept silent. Lucius was lost in his own thoughts as he tried to piece together what Jewel had told them. Could her words be trusted? If she had the power to resist the truth drugs, did she also have the power to defy them outright? Still, he had witnessed the power the creatures from the sea wielded and that scared him more than he cared to admit to either of his fellow thieves.
Either way, he had just got this guild back onto its feet, and he was not about to let anything tear it back down. Even if the threat lay at the bottom of the ocean.
