“Exactly what I said. Exactly.”
“But that would mean …” Cadrio clamped his mouth shut, understanding having dawned at last.
Valkyn’s gaze returned to the shifting armies below. Soon, very soon, the battle would be joined. From here, the soldiers looked like tiny pieces in a game of strategy, pieces that the wizard looked forward to moving.
“Yes, a shame, really, that gargoyles have no feathers. A shame for Stone, anyway …”
* * * * *
The gargoyle did not scream, nor did he even snarl. Instead, he lay in a miserable heap, neck and limbs secured by glowing manacles clearly resistant to both his strength and his meager magic. It was questionable whether bonds were really needed, as the gargoyle seemed to no longer have any will. The red orbs had lost their fire, and the claws scratched absently at the stone floor. Even the arrival of an unexpected visitor did not arouse him from his stupor.
In such a condition did Rapp come across Stone.
He hadn’t searched for the gargoyle, but his path, after a couple of very interesting but hardly useful detours, had led him past this area. At first his discovery of the gargoyle had cheered him, for Stone surely knew where to find Tyros, but then Rapp had realized that something terrible bothered the creature, something worse than just captivity.
“Stone!” Rapp whispered. “Stone, it’s me, Rapp. I knew you didn’t betray us. I knew something happened to you. Don’t you worry, though, I’ll get you out of there!”
The gargoyle slowly lifted his head. He blinked once, then quietly hissed, “Go away.”
“But I want to rescue you! Then you can help me find Tyros, and after that Taggi and my other griffons.”
Stone looked away. “Want to die …”
“If you help me, we can all get out of here, and then Valkyn won’t have anything to power his castle, and it’ll drop in the sea or on some mountain peak!”
Some bit of life returned to the gargoyle as his rage took over. “Go away! Want to die!”
“Why would you want to-”
The leathery creature rose, snarling. The crimson eyes flashed. The massive wings stretched-or would have if anything remained of them.
“Oh … Oh!” For once, Rapp had been struck speechless.
“Seeee? Seeee?” Stone twisted around, the better to show the kender what had been done to him. Of his once proud wings, only sore, red stubs, about a foot in length, remained. The rest had been seared away.
“Oh, my!” Rapp finally managed. “Did Valkyn do that? … Of course he did. What a stupid question! Does it hurt much?”
Stone chuckled, a somber, defeated sound. “Pain is nothing. Master knows that. That is why Master took wings.…”
The small figure swallowed. To gargoyles, flight was considered as much a natural part of their existence as eating or sleeping. Rapp tried to imagine not having the nimble hands that enabled him to open locks or investigate interesting containers or pockets. What a horrible existence that would be!
“I’m sorry, Stone.” The gargoyle paid him no more mind having returned to a sitting position. Rapp remained silent for a moment, then asked, “Stone, if you don’t want my help, could you at least answer a question for me? It’s real important. Do you know where Tyros is being held?”
With little interest, the gargoyle pointed down the corridor in the direction that the kender had been heading. “There.”
“Thank you.” Rapp stepped away, then hesitated, unwilling to leave Stone in such a condition. Even if the creature no longer cared what happened to himself, Rapp had to do something.
The lock on the cell door opened easily. Rapp approached Stone, who paid him no attention. Even when the kender looked over the glowing manacles, Stone only glanced up once in disinterest.
The manacles themselves were simple, but what surprised Rapp was that the spell on them seemed to be no impediment against lock picking. Valkyn had evidently only worried about the gargoyle’s magic, not the fact that someone might simply unlock the bonds. Even when Rapp toyed with the mechanism, nothing happened. It was almost disappointing.
With practiced skill, the kender opened the first manacle, then watched in frustration as Stone simply let the freed limb drop to the floor. Undaunted, Rapp worked on the rest. Stone sat still through the entire process, looking as miserable as ever and not a bit grateful.
“Come on, Stone! You can’t stay here. If they find you, they’ll just lock you up again.”
“Cannot fly …”
“You could ride one of the griffons … I think.” Rapp didn’t know if they would accept a gargoyle as a rider, but he could think of nothing else. If not for what had happened to Serene, he might have suggested Stone go to the cleric for help. “After all, she’s a cleric of Branchala, who watches over animals, and I suppose a gargoyle might count for that,” he mused out loud. “Maybe she could have even made him new wings.”
Stone suddenly stirred. “New wings?”
“Well, as a cleric, she probably could have, but-”
“New wings!” The leathery monster jumped up, all trace of his earlier lethargy gone. “Yesss …”
“Now, just a minute! I said she could have, but Valkyn cast a spell on her that-”
Stone no longer listened. The fiery orbs blazed. The gargoyle’s claws flexed in anticipation. Even the two burned stubs twitched, as if he already sought to test the new wings he hoped to receive. “Yesss … the cleric …”
“Stone!” Rapp chased after him, but the gargoyle moved with incredible speed, rushing out of the cell and down the corridor in the opposite direction the kender needed to go. Rapp paused, unwilling to follow any farther. He had a more important mission. The kender only prayed that by releasing Stone he hadn’t ruined that mission. Somehow Rapp doubted that the gargoyle would be able to keep his escape secret long if he went charging down every hall searching for Serene.
What would Stone do once he discovered that the cleric couldn’t even help herself, let alone the gargoyle?
Rapp had no time to ponder that. He hurried on down the corridor the opposite way, following Stone’s vague direction and hoping he would discover Tyros soon.
The halls here were not lit by glowing crystals, but rather a few torches spread intermittently along the walls. For humans, the hallways would have been dark and gloomy. Not only could the kender see well, but he also enjoyed the spooky effect given off by the flickering flames. Rapp imagined wonderfully scary ghosts and creatures inhabiting the castle, perhaps even the spirit of the Solamnic Knight who had built Atriun in the first-
A figure seemingly made of shadow loomed over him, reaching out with one bony but strong-looking hand.
Rapp backed away just in time. Under the heavy robe, vacant eyes stared at the kender, sending an exciting chill through the tiny intruder. Rapp knew that he had to be close to his goal; otherwise, this unliving sentry would not have appeared so suddenly. Some invisible spell must have alerted the creature … at least, that would have been how the kender would have designed the trap.
Pulling his slingshot free, Rapp thrust a round stone into the sling, then let loose. His aim proved true. The missile scored a direct hit on the forehead of the ghoulish servant. Unfortunately, it bounced off without any noticeable effect.
“Oh, dear.” Backing away farther, the kender drew a dagger … not his own, but one that somehow had slipped from Bakal’s belt into his. For the smaller Rapp, the dagger nearly served as a short sword. He waved the weapon at the shadow servant, who hesitated. So, blades did worry them. Feeling more daring, Rapp thrust it forward, trying to drive the unliving guardian back.
A hand seized the dagger by the blade. Thick black fluid spread from where the blade cut into dead flesh, but the ghoulish sentry remained undeterred. With strength belying its emaciated form, the creature tore the dagger from Rapp’s grip, dropping it on the floor. The other hand again sought the kender’s throat.
Rapp looked around for a weapon and noticed the torch nearest him. Whoever mounted it had been ignorant of kender needs and so had set the torches too high. That left the annoyed kender with nothing more to do but keep retreating, not at all a proper course of action.