While those two were going about their respective tasks, the others assisted Gellor in minutely searching the whole place once again, being careful to avoid getting in the druid's way. Eventually the whole was done. The magic-user could discover little more than what Gellor had already found. Something powerful had been here, and a bit of its aura remained, intermixed with the malign essence of the altar stone. All concluded that the object protected by this place and its guardian daemons had probably been the portion of the artifact that they sought.
Greenleaf had found an ancient, pitted silver coin, wedge-shaped, bearing a "T" on one side and a reversed pyramid on the other. It was partially lodged within a crack near the stairway leading up, and its exposed edge bore shiny marks showing recent abrasion. There was only one probable answer; The intruders had consisted of a mixed group of humans, elves, dwarves, and possibly gnomes as well. They had managed to destroy the guardians of the temple, sack the place, and make off with the portion of the artifact and other loot as well. In the process, this group had been careful both to make discovery of their work difficult to uncover and to take precautions to mislead anyone who did find that they had been to the ruin, disguising their expedition to appear to have been a party of humans, bandits, or looting adventurers.
"This seems very bad," Gellor said. "They are days – perhaps weeks – gone, and we have no idea who they are or where they went."
"Not weeks, Gellor, that I can assure you," replied the druid. "Unless I am totally inept, they were here only days ahead of us, and after their battle with those daemons, I'd guess they traveled slowly for a few days. There are ways to find the route they took and what direction they are heading – risky, under the circumstances, but we must take the chance! The fate of all Oerth hangs in the balance, I fear."
"Oh, yes," agreed Oscar. "Whoever was here before us served the cause of Evil, that is certain, but perhaps they are not as attuned to the oneness of the cause as we think…"
Gellor slapped his palm. "Of course! Excellent thinking, mage! If these fellows had been agents of the Scarlet Brotherhood, surely they would have had some means of placating those guardian daemons, leaving them intact to surprise others, and they could carry off the artifact's part without conflict. Come on, let's leave this stinking death chamber and return to the sunlight. There's much work to be done!" The eight departed in a group, hurrying to clear the ruin and begin their preparations to discover what they could about those who had taken the object of their quest.
What they discovered first was the dead body of Lorman, sprawled face down in the corridor, killed by a single sword-thrust from behind. Forty or fifty feet nearer the entrance they discovered Ash, his throat cut. Grover likewise had been murdered where he had stood between Ash and the doorway. Of Blonk and Jokotai there was no sign.
"There!" called Incosee, as they emerged from the ruin and swept the surrounding area with their gaze. "In the bush… to the right… see the foot?" No question, a booted foot protruded from a small clump of brush down the sloping hillside.
Hurrying there, they discovered the motionless, mutilated body of the Chakyik nomad. There were wounds on both his back and front, and nearby were signs of a melee. Jokotai apparently had been attacked from behind, survived the initial assault, and fought with his assailant for several minutes before being slain.
"He was a tough one, Jokotai," observed Gord. "The one who slew him had already half-killed him with a stroke in the back."
"Only Blonk remains unaccounted for – and I think we all know why," said Deirdre, pale-faced but with iron in her voice.
The bard and the druid conferred for a moment, then began a rapid search of the surrounding area. Soon Gellor came up with a tattered roll of parchment, and showed it to Curley Greenleaf and the others in turn.
"Here is what I surmise happened," Gellor said. "Jokotai was tricked into coming outside, and then he was attacked by the vile chameleon, Blonk, who had used this scroll to cast a spell of silence upon himself. The blow wasn't sufficient to kill so doughty a barbarian as the Chakyik, but he was sorely wounded before he had a chance to fight. Still, he got in his strokes – see the stains upon his tulwar? Blonk, still dweomered to be able to move with no sound, then picked off the three unsuspecting sentinels. What was his purpose for all this? Now my reasoning becomes nearly pure conjecture, but see if this does not follow," Gellor said.
"If we had discovered the next piece of the tripartite artifact, Blonk planned to somehow wrest it from us. The means had to be magical, not based on strength and weapon play, for one against eight is impossible odds, especially given our arts and skills. Blonk's masters, certainly the Scarlet Brotherhood, must have supplied him with the wherewithal – a scroll containing a time-cessation spell, perhaps, to be followed up with some means of sealing us into the treasure chamber, permanently or at least long enough for that foul bastard to make good his escape.
"I suppose that Blonk crept soundlessly after us once he had killed the druids. But involved as we all were with our examination of the place, none noticed him. It is likely, after all, that the swine was cloaked by invisibility as well. Once he was with us, he must have overheard all we discussed, stolen back, and even now rides with all of our steeds to inform his associates of what has happened!"
As the grizzled bard spoke the last words, the rest suddenly thought of the horses. As Gellor had guessed, all of the animals were gone. Neither man nor mount was in sight, so the assassin had a solid head start, and with the party afoot, Blonk was not likely to be caught.
"What now?" asked Gord and Deirdre in near unison.
"What else than that which we were planning anyway," Greenleaf stated flatly. "Oscar, now you must employ your arts to determine the direction taken by those who preceded us and gained the object of our quest – though I'll stake my life it wasn't toward the Pomarj… or any other rendezvous with minions of the Scarlet Sign!"
Oscar nodded and withdrew, Deirdre accompanying him, for the dangerous business of casting a divination that involved beings not of this plane. All the others save the druid and Gellor were given sectors to watch, so that while the dweomercrafting was taking place no enemy could approach undetected. Curley Greenleaf and his old friend, likewise schooled in the arts of nature and its associated powers, would seek to become one with the surrounding land, to learn who had passed, who approached, what lurked hidden from normal view. Before an hour had passed, Gellor's low whistle alerted the four sentries to return to the cleared area where the others had been at work.
"We learned, Curley and I," said Gellor, "that a group of bipeds were here some days back and went many miles to the northwest. The murderous Blonk and our horses crossed the Jewel to the south of us, reached the other bank safely, and are now some five miles distant, with many, many others there. Even now, this multitude comes toward us, although the river stands between. There is a deep cavern north of here, a place carved by nature, and within it lairs an ancient green dragon of monstrous size and greatest evil. As Greenleaf discovered this, we both sensed it stir and rouse itself. We fear that it has been contacted and urged into action somehow, probably by those who come against us." Here the one-eyed adventurer paused and looked at Curley. "Is there more, old friend? Or did I relate it all?"
"You said all truly and exactly – as a bard should!" the druid answered. Then he turned to Oscar, inquiring, "And you, spell-caster of Hardby?"