‘By the Powers, that’sa horrible prospect,’ said Zephira.
‘I agree,’ said Quab.‘If animals run wild attacking people everywhere, the druids willbe blamed; and if we find the mask we could be dominated byit.’
‘What’s even worse, isthat if it has dominated Jaztrix, she’s a master at hiding andevasion. It’ll be damn difficult to catch her,’ saidFeatherdown.
‘When Alpha told meabout the mask and the club in the message last night I feared thatsomething like this might happen, that’s why I brought Goth withme. It’s immune to most magic and mind attacks, can see invisiblecreatures and will single-mindedly chase after someone if directedto get them. The only problem is that it will kill anything thatgets in its way, so it has to be used with caution.’
‘I have also looked upmy old notes and worked out a way to destroy the mask, however, itwill require a mind wizard to do it. If you agree, I would like tosend Zephira with Goth to the Crin city to meet up with Aquitainbefore he fully recovers and leaves. She can give him the method todestroy it, manage Goth and help him, with Miranda, to track itdown. If it strikes again you can keep them informed by teleportingdirectly to Goth. I have fitted it with a teleport marker.’
‘If I’m wrong and theystill have the mask in their possession, then I would recommendthey destroy it, and you can then look for a druid that might beworking with Jaztrix, which as you suggest could be Alin Amber. Inthe meantime, I suggest that you teach your young wizards how todetect people that might be invisible, and how to defend againstthe magic that might charm or dominate them, just in case Jaztrixdecides to visit again.’
Featherdown agreed thatthey should find out as a priority whether Aquitain and Mirandastill had the mask in their possession, and if so would authorizethem to destroy it. If the mask was not with them, then he wouldneed to inform the Druid Council about the danger, and have themorganize the druids to keep a watch for any trouble. The problemwas that neither he nor Quab knew of any teleport markers near theCrin city. Zephira would need to teleport to Turtlehaven and take aboat up the river, which could take a day or two.
Quab suggested he couldaccompany her, but Featherdown wanted him in Twin Towers in casethey suffered another attack. Featherdown suggested she go with oneof the young wizards, but Zephira said that she was happy to goalone, as she was unlikely to have any trouble while accompanied byGoth. In truth, she couldn’t wait to get back with Aquitain so shecould protect him from Miranda. So it was agreed she would get hergear and leave immediately. Featherdown would arrange her freeteleport to Turtlehaven, and a letter of introduction for her togive to Queen Beatrix.
After brief farewell’sand instructions on who to see about getting a boat ride up theriver, Zephira headed off to get her gear from her room, with Gothtrailing behind her. Her biggest problem was what to tellChantalot. She had become quite attached to him, and to suddenlyleave without saying good-bye was difficult. So she packed her gearinto her backpack and strapped it onto Goth, then headed down tothe Ugly Bear Inn with a heavy heart.
When she arrivedChantalot was just emerging from the Inn with a backpack andweapons himself.
‘Where are you going?’she asked, a little annoyed that he hadn’t told her about goingaway again.
‘With you of course,’he said. ‘The jungle is quite dangerous, even if you’ve got a metalmonster with you.’
‘But how did you know?’she said.
‘Come now, I might actthe fool a lot, that’s a part of my stage act, but I’m not sostupid I wouldn’t know that you’d be going if your grandfatherturned up with a fighting machine. Everyone in the town’s talkingabout it. Let me guess he’s alive and stirring up trouble. I knowthe prophecies too, you know. I also know people everywhere on thisworld. If we’re to find him I’m your best hope.’
‘All right, I’ll takeyou up on that,’ she said. ‘Let’s go to the teleport terminal.We’re off to Turtlehaven.’
‘Great,’ he said. ‘Iknow an excellent restaurant there that serves the most wonderfulseafood; you’ll love it.’
Chapter 24 The CrinCity
Aquitain awoke from adeep and troubling sleep. He looked down and saw that the body heremembered from the dream was still there.
‘Alpha, I’m big, brownand hairy. Am I dreaming or was my dream real?’
‘Your dream was real,Aquitain. You died, and Miranda had you reincarnated by herGoddess. You are a creature called a bear. I’m not familiar withthem, so you’ll have to find out about them yourself. One thing isfor sure, you look fierce and mighty strong.’
Aquitain asked Alpha aseries of questions in an effort to orient his mind to the newreality, but Alpha wasn’t really helpful. It had no knowledge aboutbears; had little knowledge about where they were, and could onlytell him that Miranda had left him there to sleep, and hadn’t yetreturned after a ten hour absence. He was hungry again, so fed froma bucket of mushroom pieces near the door, but wouldn’t drink fromthe available water as it had a strange taste.
It was time to do alittle exploring. First, he looked around. He was underground in acave-like area that looked like it had been excavated, as the wallsshowed signs of tool marks. He saw Quab’s backpack holding theirequipment, and the mask lying on the dirt floor propped against awall, and beside it was his ball of chaos matter. He stomped overto the ball rested his paw on it and imagined it becoming a smallsnake. It transformed and he had it slither up his arm and drapeitself around his neck. He then transformed it into a chunky goldcollar and had Alpha grow legs, move to the back of his neck andtake up a position on the collar where it would have a good view ofthe surroundings.
Finally he headed downthe tunnel leading to
