‘Now I see whatyou mean about attitude.’ said someone. ‘It is fitting for ourWarden.’ said another. ‘Remarkable!’ replied someone else.
Moments laterhe was teleported to the crypt room near the prison bottle. He feltlike screaming but it wouldn’t sound right from a green crystalman. He mentally chanted the mantra of calming a few times and thennoticed Llalorax approaching holding a bag.
Chapter 28 MissedReunion
‘Great to see youback!’ said Llalorax. ‘I hope that you had a productive timethinking about things.’
‘Yes I had aninteresting time.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Have yousearched the place for magical items and the like?’
Llalorax smiledand said ‘Of course and I’ve found quite a lot of goodies some ofwhich contains a most unusual type of magic.’
‘They could bemine.’ stated Aquitain.
‘The Queen tooka lot of stuff off me and I bet she gave it to the spirit aspayment to keep me locked up.’
‘We’ll see.’replied Llalorax a little disappointed, as he had hoped to havefirst choice of it all, but since Aquitain had saved his life itwould be discourteous to take his personal property.
They teleportedinto the bottle and proceeded through the cellblock to the hut.Aquitain saw an ugly looking Newman girl with a fuzzy green glowabout her lying asleep with Yllandril sitting beside her. The greenglow around her was trying to make her look insect-like with weirdcompound eyes and scaly skin.
‘Who’s thatYllandril?’ he asked using mindspeak.
‘Her name isDragonfly. She was dominated by that malign spirit and left in thecage in the crypt while it attacked us. She was exhausted and isextremely troubled by her recent ordeal and unwilling yet to saymuch. I will tend to her.’
‘What’s thatgreen glow around her?’ he asked.
‘That’s aglamour; it’s a type of illusion commonly used by Elendari women inthis world. As constructs you and I can see through it but manypeople can’t. The women wear them like clothes. In her case it’ssome type of disguise. She’s not the prettiest Newman I’ve everseen. She’s also wearing leather armour and if I’m not mistakenthat’s dry blood all over her. She must have recently come from afight.’
‘Yes and itsmells like Crin blood to me. It’s got that strong ant smell toit.’ said Llalorax.
‘Are there Crinon Moonmist?’ asked Aquitain suddenly missing his acute sense ofsmell.
‘No. She’s morelikely to have been through a gate from Mudrun.’
‘I might have acup of tea. Would you care to join me? There is much I would liketo say to you. We can also check out whether any of the magic itemsare yours.’ said Llalorax looking rather serious and went into thehut and put on a kettle.
‘Thank you, forreturning my wife and saving our lives from that rotten spiritcreature. I have been a deluded old fool for not recognizing theseverity of the threat to our world and not acting sooner.Yllandril knew there was something wrong and in my arrogance andcomplacency I would not believe her. The fact that the world hasfelt it necessary to appoint a new Warden shames me.’
‘Thank you foraccepting the job although I’m sorry the burden has been laid onyou. Yllandril and I will endeavour to help in any way we can.’
‘Yes I’mwondering what value it will be.’ replied Aquitain thinking aboutthe last eight hours.
Llalorax wasn’tlistening, his mind was elsewhere then suddenly he said.
‘We need todiscuss what’s happened. I would like to hear your storyAquitain.
‘It appearsthat you may be much more involved with what is happening than I atfirst thought.’
‘Do you thinkwe’re being observed in here?’ asked Aquitain.
‘It seems morethan coincidental that when I left here I was attacked by thatspirit and then when I escaped the soul crystal and came in here itfollowed me.’
‘I suppose thatit is possible.’ agreed Llalorax looking around as if to spotanything out of the ordinary.
Aquitainsuggested that Llalorax could join into a mindlink with him andYllandril. That way they could talk without the fear of beingoverheard. Llalorax agreed and they created the linkup. Yllandrilstayed with Dragonfly and listened in making occasional comments.They left Dragonfly out of the mindlink, as there was simply noreason to include her.
Aquitain toldLlalorax about how he had become a Llanllean, about the search forthe sceptre of lordly might, about his discussion with Llanlorianand his time with Somanller. Fortunately Garret didn’t know of hismeeting with Llanlorian and therefore wouldn’t have informed theQueen.
Llalorax wasquiet for some time then told Aquitain about the sceptre. It was apowerful artefact that symbolized the unification of the fiefdomswithin their kingdom. It had been last seen in the possession ofQueen Aurora’s partner, King Thoras, 20 years ago. He was thekingdom’s champion. He had led an assault on a group of rebels thathad captured one of the Queen’s strongholds and was killed in theensuing fight.
A rebel nymphcalled Snowbelle had captured the sceptre. Since then there hadbeen considerable disharmony among the fief lords many of whom haveargued the Queen should choose a new champion. She has said thatshe would gladly appoint a new champion if one of the Lords wouldgo and get the sceptre off the rebel. To date that had not happenedas the rebel nymph was far too cunning and strong for anyindividual Lord and they were too disparate to form analliance.
However, if oneof the Lords did manage to get it, then its return would change thebalance of power within the kingdom and this would neither suitsome of the fief lords nor the Queen. She is rather a vain andfickle woman more engrossed in her private affairs than worryingabout matters of state. She has given them far too much freedom andthey continually flout her authority and even plot to usurp herpower. Chief among the malcontents is Lord Darkmantle who was oncemarried to the rebel nymph.
‘Tell me aboutthis rebel nymph.’ said Aquitain ‘She sounds interesting.’
‘It is aninteresting tale,’ agreed Yllandril, ‘and you are now involved init by freeing me from the soul crystal.’
‘The nymph wasnot always a nymph. She was once a Newman druid woman by the nameof Sindel who fell in love with Wyvern, the second son of old LordDarkmantle. He eventually married her against his father’s wishes.Not long after the wedding, old Lord Darkmantle’s
