The mute probe into his mind unsettled him more than he wanted to admit, and so he planted his hands on his hips and met the expressionless faces of the coun shy;cilors with what he hoped was his own look of stubborn noncommunication.
Do you understand the risks?
Again a question, and this time he took a single step backward, literally knocked off balance by the mental probe.
"Who interrogates me?" he demanded, glaring around the ring of Shilo-Thahn elders.
We are the councilors, came the unnecessary reply. We ask again-do you understand the risks?
"The only risks I've suffered have been at the hands of your warrior," he said, indicating Vallenswade. The Shilo-Thahn grimaced, stung by the inference that he had placed the human in danger.
"Who are you talking to?" hissed Lyrelee, regarding him as if he had lost his mind.
He shrugged off the question, indicating the gathered ring of councilors without elaborating.
You were taking the dwarf and his disease into the treasure chamber. The phrases were heavy with accusation and tinged with confusion. Did you not realize the corruption that could occur?
"What concern is it of yours?" retorted the warrior.
It is the concern of everyone, came the response, a trifle mystified in tone. Don't you understand what could hap shy;pen?
"The treasure that you talk about-it doesn't belong to you, does it?" Ariakas challenged.
Of course not-how could the eggs 'belong' to anyone except the mighty beings who gave them life? The councilors were completely puzzled now.
"There are those who claim the eggs-and are pre shy;pared to defend that claim," Ariakas retorted.
We know-but the eggs were brought to the catacombs with the understanding that they were to be protected. It is too dan shy;gerous to allow the dwarf to go near them.
"What do you fear?" demanded the human.
Our people have been to Zhakar. we know the horrors that can result from the spread of the plague. It must not be allowed to touch the eggs.
"Is that why you attacked us? To abduct the dwarf? How do I know you've even kept him alive?"
We are not killers-of course he lives. But we have taken him to a place of safety, away from the treasure.
"Why should I believe you? Produce the Zhakar and then we can talk. Until then, I'll assume that your plans for us involve the same kind of fate as you might have already given to the dwarf!"
Ariakas fixed the front row of councilors with a bel shy;ligerent glare. He didn't really believe that the shadow-people would kill Tale Splintersteel-he had seen enough of them to decide that they weren't violent or vengeful- but he didn't want his own conclusion to reach them. Could they hear his thoughts as well as speak directly into his mind? He wished he knew. Angrily he tried to direct his thoughts through rambling, unfocused path shy;ways.
Surprisingly, the shadowpeople seemed a trifle set back by his bluff. The councilors exchanged glances that might have been hesitation or confusion. Abruptly Val-lenswade stood up. He faced Ariakas directly.
"I have told you that the dwarf lives-now, the coun shy;cilors have told you the same thing. Why do you not believe us?"
"Where I come from, captors have been known to lie to their captives-and enemies lie to each other as a mat shy;ter of course," he replied bluntly.
"We are not your enemies!" insisted Vallenswade, his simian muzzle barking out the words with force.
"Then give me proof!" demanded Ariakas fiercely. "Produce the dwarf! Show me that he lives!"
Vallenswade slumped back in resignation. The faces of the councilors reflected their confusion, but then the message came.
Very well. We will bring in the dwarf.
"Come with me," announced Vallenswade with the first trace of ill manner Ariakas had seen in the Shilo-Thahn warrior. The lanky creature led Lyrelee and Aria shy;kas to a clump of the tall, mushroom-shaped fungus. The stems of the plants had grown together so thickly that they created a solid wall of tough, spongy tissue. Val shy;lenswade removed a bar that ran through a pair of sup shy;ports on the solid barrier of woodlike plants. Pushing forward, he propelled a large, wedge-shaped plug into the enclosure Ariakas saw within.
The Shilo-Thahn warrior preceded the two prisoners through the hole, then turned and gestured for Ariakas and Lyrelee. The warriors behind the pair pressed closer, emphasizing the fact-though the one who held Aria-kas's sword maintained a careful distance. With no choice, the two followed Vallenswade into the hole.
The ring of mushrooms surrounded a small, circular corral, no more than twenty feet across. The top of the wall was at least that high above their heads, however, and the caps of the mushrooms overhung the trunks by a good distance, making climbing out an apparent impos shy;sibility. The only access to the outer cavern came through the thick, wedged gate-plug.
"You will remain here until we get the dwarf," Val-lenswade explained.
"Why? How far away is he?" demanded Ariakas.
The Shilo-Thahn sighed. "He was taken to a different part of the warrens … until we could determine whether or not it was safe to bring him here."
"Safe? For him-or for you?" pressed the human.
"I wish you would answer half as many questions as you ask," replied Vallenswade resignedly. "Safe for us, of course. Because of his condition, we took great care so as to not risk introducing a contagion into our colony." With that, the tall creature bent low to exit the lower door, turn shy;ing to pull the gate into its socket behind him. Ariakas heard the bar drop into place on the outer wall, and though he tugged furiously, the thing wouldn't budge. Because of the plug's wedge shape, he knew that pushing on it would only jam it more tightly into its socket.
"Damn!" He couldn't stifle the frustration. It galled him to feel so completely at the mercy of his captors.
Lyrelee regarded him silently. When he settled himself on the floor, his back against the mushroom wall, she sat beside him. Only then did she speak, and she held her voice to a mere breathy whisper.
"They know what we think," she said.
"What do you mean?" Ariakas whispered, though he was too irritated to hold his voice down to her barely audible level. "I told them what we think!"
"No, I mean about our actions … our intents."
Now the warrior fell silent, giving her his full atten shy;tion.
"I observed the two warriors who followed me," Lyre-lee explained. "If I decided to move over to the right while I walked, one of them sidled over to that direc shy;tion-before I did anything! Merely the thought, the intent, was enough to cause him to take action!"
"Could it be a coincidence?" Ariakas questioned skep shy;tically. Nevertheless, the memory of that eerie question shy;ing, of the words entering his mind with no audible sound, nagged at him, and he feared that Lyrelee was right.
"I don't think so. Do you remember the one who held the big hook-he was the central rear guard?"
Ariakas nodded. The distinctive-looking weapon, which consisted of a steel head and a carved wooden shaft, had been slung from a strap over the Shilo-Thahn's shoulder.
"Well, as an experiment, I began to think about turn shy;ing around and snatching it from him. When I looked, he'd placed both hands on the shaft-it's the only time he touched it during the whole time he guarded us."
"Any ideas what we can do about it?" he asked.
"I think we have to act on the spur of the moment," she suggested. "If we don't know what we're going to do until we do it, then they can't know either."
"So far that hasn't been a problem," Ariakas chafed. 'They've kept too close a watch for us to do anything]"