Temple of the Dragonslayer (17 page)

“To the Temple of the Holy Orders of the Stars,” Davyn mumbled.

Nearra looked down and saw that Davyn’s eyes were open. She grinned in relief and helped him to his feet. Davyn grimaced and put his hand to his head. His knees buckled, but Nearra steadied him and he managed to remain standing.

“Thank goodness!” Nearra said. “I was so worried about you!”

Davyn gave her a puzzled look. “You were?”

“Of course I was! Are you hurt? Did the ogre hit you with his club?”

“I don’t remember. But my head certainly feels as if an ogre bashed it in.”

“This is the second time today that you have been rendered unconscious,” Jax said. “Perhaps you should consider obtaining a helmet to protect your head.”

Nearra had the sense that Davyn wasn’t quite telling them the whole truth when he said he couldn’t remember. Evidently
Catriona did too, for she was scowling. But Nearra decided not to make an issue of it just now. She was too happy that Davyn was back among the living once more.

Davyn looked at Raedon.

“Where did
he
come from?”

R
aedon led the companions through the forest on a route he claimed would save them several days of traveling.

“It used to be the main road to the temple,” he said. “But when the clerics abandoned the temple, the road fell into disuse. Now, centuries later, you can’t even tell where it once was.” He grinned. “Unless you’re a dragon, of course.”

There was another benefit of having Raedon as their escort: with a dragon along, the companions didn’t have to worry about anyone or anything else attacking them.

As they made their way through the forest, Raedon told them about dragons. “The chromatic dragons are known by their colors: black, blue, green, red, and white. All are evil to one degree or another. The metallic dragons are known by the type of metal their scales most resemble: brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver. All of these are good. That’s why I didn’t slay the ogre. With my breath weapon, there was no need to kill him. It is evil to kill without necessity, and I am not evil.”

Catriona frowned. “How can one be fated to be evil or good simply by the type of skin one has?”

Raedon shrugged, the motion making his shoulder scales rustle. “It is the nature of dragonkind. The gods decreed it to
be so at the dawn of time, and so it has ever been. Just as they decreed that you little ones could choose between good and evil.”

Davyn wished the others would stop talking. Every footstep he took sent vibrations up through his body and into his throbbing head, making it hurt all the more. He was in so much pain that it was an effort to remain conscious. He stumbled, and Nearra took his elbow and steadied him.

“Thanks,” he said.

She smiled. “You’re welcome.”

They continued walking side by side, Nearra still holding onto his arm to steady him. Davyn thought about how concerned she’d been when he’d passed out after trying to use the telekinesis ring. He couldn’t remember anyone ever worrying about him like that before. What would she think if she knew what he’d done? He felt suddenly ashamed, and he pulled away from Nearra’s touch.

“I’m fine now,” he said.

She nodded and smiled once again. “Just let me know if you need any more help.”

Jax then spoke to Raedon. “While I admit your slow gas was effective, it is rather passive as weapons go.”

Raedon scowled at the minotaur. “I can shoot a stream of acid as well. Would you like me to demonstrate?”

“Perhaps another time,” Jax said. He then turned to look at Elidor. “Right now I’m more interested in how the elf came into possession of my money.”

“Yes,” Catriona said, staring hard at Elidor. “That’s a good question.”

The elf gave her a wry grin. “I wish I had a good answer.”

“You mean a good lie,” Jax said.

“That’s
precisely
what I mean. But since I don’t, I suppose I have no choice but to resort to the truth,” Elidor sighed. “As you might’ve guessed by now, I’m not a guide. Not only do I not know the way to the temple you seek, I’d never heard of it
until yesterday, when Catriona and Davyn mentioned it to the Theiwar at the tavern.”

“Theiwar?” Raedon said, sounding surprised.

“Yes,” Elidor said, giving the dragon a curious look. “A dark dwarf. Does that mean something to you?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” the dragon said evasively. “Please, go on.”

Elidor gave the dragon another look before continuing. “When we made our rather hasty exit from the tavern yesterday, after Jax came bursting through the door, I paused on my way out and—”

“I
thought
I saw you bend down as you ran by Jax!” Nearra said. “That’s when you took his money, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Elidor replied, not sounding the least bit ashamed. “If I’d had any idea that the minotaur would eventually be joining our merry band of travelers, I would have restrained myself.”

Catriona snorted. “So you’re nothing more than a common thief.”

“I’d hardly say ‘common,’” Elidor said, sounding offended.

“You don’t look like a thief,” Sindri said.

Elidor grinned. “You mean because I’m not dressed all in black and don’t go around calling myself Elidor Shadowalker or some such nonsense? A good thief needs to blend in and be unnoticed. That’s why I wear this.” He gestured to his simple gray tunic. “If I had my way, I’d dress like my father’s people, the Kagonesti. But an elf tends to draw enough attention in human lands without wearing buckskins adorned with hawk feathers and having a body covered with tribal tattoos.”

Despite the pounding in his skull, Davyn managed to ask a question of his own. “Then why did you offer to guide us to the temple if you didn’t know the way?”

“He probably wanted to get us alone in the forest and then rob us,” Catriona said, her voice dripping with disdain.

“While I understand why you would think that, I assure you that wasn’t the case. For one thing, there are too many of you
and only one of me. The odds would hardly be in my favor.”

“Then why
did
you come?” Catriona asked, clearly exasperated.

“Because I wanted to go to the temple,” Elidor said.

“Liar!” Catriona said. “You offered to be our guide before you even knew where we were going.”

“Very well. I suppose I did hope to obtain something in exchange for this little misadventure. But I should have known better than to make friends with my targets. Once I got to know all of you, I felt sorry for you.” Elidor glanced at Nearra. “I decided I might as well help you to get where you wanted to go. Besides, the temple truly did seem like an interesting place to visit.”

“A place full of interesting artifacts, you mean,” Davyn said. “And perhaps valuable ones as well.” Elidor smiled. “One can only hope.”

“But if you don’t know the way to the temple, and we don’t know the way, how did you expect we’d make it there at all?” Nearra asked.

“Since I’m half Kagonesti, I know my way around forests. From what you said about the temple, I knew it lay northward. I figured that if we started out in that direction, we were bound to run across it sooner or later.”

“Makes sense to me,” Sindri said.

“It would,” Catriona muttered.

Jax had remained silent during Elidor’s confession, but now the minotaur spoke. “Thieves are without honor. They take what they want through trickery and deceit instead of by strength, as would a warrior.”

“Speak for yourself,” Catriona said.

Jax ignored her and went on. “I should slay you for stealing my purse. But you did use the steel coins as an effective distraction when the goblins attacked. And instead of fleeing once I discovered what you had done, you chose to help battle the ogre.” Jax thought for a moment. “Because of the bravery and loyalty
you demonstrated, I shall spare your life.” The minotaur glared at Elidor. “But be warned, elf. If you steal again from me, or any member of this party, then no matter how many brave deeds you may perform, they will not save you from my axe.”

Elidor’s smile was strained. “I understand.”

Jax nodded and then turned away.

“You little ones are amusing,” Raedon said. “I’m glad that things worked out the way they did. Listening to you bicker is much more fun than playing a joke on the Theiwar.”

“What Theiwar?” Catriona said.

“It couldn’t be the same one from the tavern,” Sindri said.

“Could it?”

“It would be rare to encounter more than one in this area in so short a time,” Elidor said.

“It’s the same one, all right,” Raedon said. “All you little ones look more or less alike to me, but I can tell you apart by the way you smell.”

“Excuse me?” Catriona said.

“Nothing personal,” Raedon said. “I mean you all have distinctive scents. I can smell traces of the Theiwar’s scent on the elf, the male human with the headache, and the disagreeable female with the sword.”

“Disagreeable?” Catriona said, her volume rising with each syllable.

“Hush,” Nearra said gently. “So it must be the same Theiwar you met in the tavern. When did you see the dark dwarf, Raedon, and why did you wish to play a joke on him?”

“I saw him yesterday,” the dragon said. “Normally copper dragons such as myself prefer to live in mountainous regions. My lair is located in the Vingaard Mountains. It’s really quite something. I’m young for my kind, so I haven’t acquired all that much treasure yet, but I have constructed a fairly elaborate maze to discourage any treasure hunters—” he gave Elidor a look—“or thieves. I dug the tunnels all by myself, though I did use magic to make the process somewhat easier. Speaking of mazes, that
reminds me of a joke: what do you call a copper dragon who gets lost in his own maze of tunnels?”

“I hate to interrupt,” Nearra said, “but you were going to tell us about the Theiwar.”

“But I want to hear how the joke ends!” Sindri protested, but Catriona shushed him.

“Very well,” Raedon said, sounding disappointed. “As I was saying, my home is in the mountains, but very few travelers ever come near my lair, so I often come here to the forest to see if I can find any. Copper dragons have a strong sense of fun—one that’s much more developed than that of other dragons. But it’s not enough to have fun by yourself. We like to have fun with someone.”

“By playing pranks on them, I’ll wager,” Catriona said.

“Sometimes, but only harmless ones.” Raedon smiled. “I am a good dragon, remember? But we also like to tell stories, jokes, and riddles. So yesterday evening I was flying over the forest, looking for someone to have fun with, when I spotted the Theiwar traveling through the forest in the company of three goblins.”

“Three goblins?” Nearra said. “I was attacked by three goblins yesterday morning when I awoke in the southern forest. Did one of them have large bat ears and the other a small piggy nose?”

Raedon nodded.

“Your situation keeps on getting stranger,” Catriona said to Nearra. “The three goblins that attacked you yesterday might well be connected to the Theiwar. And the tavern keeper at the Blind Goose recommended we hire the Theiwar as our guide. Then today we encountered an entire band of goblins.”

“What was the Theiwar doing in the forest?” Jax asked Raedon.

“I followed Oddvar and his three goblin friends for a time, making sure that they couldn’t see me, of course.”

“Oddvar? Is that the Theiwar’s name?” asked Catriona. “Can’t say I like it, but it suits him.”

Raedon nodded again and continued. “Once I was confident I knew the direction they were heading in, I decided to land in the forest ahead of them and disguise myself—”

“As that copper-colored boulder!” Elidor said. “I thought I saw that rock open an eye and look at me!”

Raedon chuckled. “You should’ve seen your face.”

“You were telling us about Oddvar,” Nearra prompted.

“Right. So I pretended to be a rock, and Oddvar and the goblins walked past me. I was about to reveal myself when Oddvar called out Ugo’s name. Curious, I remained in disguise and listened as the ogre came forth in answer to Oddvar’s summons. The dark dwarf then proceeded to give the ogre instructions. He kept them simple, which was wise considering how dumb ogres are. Oddvar told Ugo that there was a good chance a young blond girl accompanied by a ranger, a warrior, a kender, and an elf would be coming his way within the day.”

Raedon looked at Jax. “I guess Oddvar forgot to mention you.”

“I have only recently joined the group,” the minotaur explained.

“Oddvar told the ogre that he could do whatever he liked to the rest of you, but under no circumstances was he to harm the blond girl. If he did, then Oddvar’s master, who was a powerful wizard, would punish Ugo most severely.

“Oddvar had to repeat the instructions several times, but eventually he and the goblins departed, but not before giving Ugo a vest made of wyvern scales as payment.

“After that, I remained in disguise. I was curious to see if the stupid ogre would actually remember his instructions. The rest you know.”

“Why didn’t you warn us before we encountered the ogre?” Catriona asked.

The dragon grinned. “That wouldn’t have been much fun now, would it?”