"What's wrong?" asked Will.
Evidently Pavel had let his demoralizing reflections show in his expression.
"Nothing," said the priest, trying to shake off defeatism. "Let's each take a wall. You'll find a lot you can't read, but just look for anything pertaining to dragons."
"What is it exactly you wish to learn?" asked a cold bass voice.
Startled, the hunters jerked around to behold a tall, thin figure clad in shades of jade and olive. The slanted eyes in the hairless, ascetic face were likewise a blank and luminous green. Vercevoran had assumed an approximation of human form to fit inside the temple.
"Brandobaris's dirk!" Will swore. "Don't sneak up on a fellow like that!"
"What is it you seek?" Vercevoran persisted.
"Information on the Rage," said Pavel. "We're trying to determine how to stop it."
"Then you're fools," the dragon said. "Nothing can stop it. Yet I owe you a debt for freeing me, so if you wish, I'll help you."
The transformed reptile stalked through the temple, scarcely breaking stride to gaze at the various sections of wall. Pavel wondered if Vercevoran could actually be perusing all that information so quickly.
Glories of the sunrise, what manner of intellect could accomplish a feat like that?
Vercevoran pointed to a string of symbols and said, "Here. This is all there is, and it's merely the usual warning: 'When the King-Killer shines, then burns the Rage.'"
"It's not 'usual' to us," said Will. "What's the King-Killer?"
Vercevoran sneered but answered, "You don't even know that? It's a red star that appears in the sky every few centuries."
Will shook his head and said, "It's not there now."
"We already knew," Pavel said, "that Sammaster altered the elves' magic to suit his own purposes. They evidently tied this King-Killer to the enchantment, but he severed the link."
"It's a pity the undead whoreson was too impatient to wait for the star to return," the halfling said "This whole dung storm could have broken a century hence, when it would be somebody else's problem. Anyway, I guess the point is, what we just learned here is worthless."
For a moment, Pavel thought so too. Then he realized the possibilities.
"No," he said, smiling, "it gives us a cross-reference."
"A which?"
"A signpost, ignoramus. Something to guide us as we sift through the ancient lore. Now that we know the elf wizards drew power from the stars, we look for allusions to the King-Killer, and the heavens in general. With luck, it could save us tendays, even months of seeking."
Pavel turned to Vercevoran and said, "As could you. You've just demonstrated how valuable you could be. Let me explain exactly what's going-"
"Don't bother," the dragon said. "I don't care for the society of humans, my debt is paid, and I feel frenzy eating at my mind. I go to the Plane of Air, to wait out the Rage as my kind has always done."
The wyrm vanished, leaving only a fleeting ripple on the dusty air.