“I believe that Kazzerand is also behind this. I suspect that he has formed an alliance with the vampire.”
“Oh, yes, we know Kazzerand and his deceits well, Caerzaal has pursued you from Marazanath itself, has he not?”
“So it seems,” said Cellester.
Zemella’s right hand came up and she placed it on Vaddi’s heart, gently probing. She had touched the wrappings of the horn within his robes before he could respond, but she jerked away as if she had been scalded, Vaddi simply gaped at her, but Cellester pushed himself between them.
“We are protected,” said the cleric. “Vaddi is the head of his family now, I am taking him to a safer place.”
Zemella’s eyes had widened. She massaged her fingers softly. “It is true, then. He bears Erethindel. That is why Caerzaal seeks him!”
“It must not fall into the hands of the Claw,” said Cellester.
“Nor any evil power.”
“You will help us?”
Vaddi continued to watch her, puzzled. Nyam had said that the elves had wanted to be rid of the horn and had given it into the hands of the Keepers. In which case, the elves of Taeris Mordel might be glad to speed it on its way.
“How many of you guard this tower?” Cellester asked her.
She frowned, as though he had said something doltish. “Me. Why should there be more? Others come by arrangement, to exchange information, to plan, and to bring me supplies.”
“You are alone?” said Vaddi, at last finding his tongue.
She smiled for the first time. “Why should that surprise you? I am trained well in war. I defy any man to loose a better arrow or best me with a blade.”
“Or hurl a bolt of lightning,” muttered Nyam, though he immediately seemed to regret saying it as she stood again before him.
“That, too, peddler.” She looked at him for some moments, amused by something, but then turned back to Vaddi. “We will have to leave soon. Caerzaal will not be content to sit and watch us. Have you eaten?”
Vaddi shook his head. Every time she looked at him, he felt unable to move.
“I’ll prepare something,” she said. “If you need sleep, you should rest. Where will you make for? This safe place you speak of, where is it?”
“Valenar,” said Cellester.
She considered. “Probably the wisest route. Vaddi will have Orien relatives there. The unicorn emblem flies in a few of Valenar’s cities. What do you intend to do with the talisman?”
Cellester turned away from her steely gaze. “Secure it among allies.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Those in Valenar will know where to send it.” After a moment she turned again to Cellester. “Go to the tower above the gate. Look to see what the undead are about. I have work to do while your companions rest.”
Without another word she left them, disappearing among the enormous statues.
“Stay here,” said the cleric. “I will do as she suggests.”
Nyam stared after him, shaking his head. “If that vampire lord knows that this tower is protected by a single elf warrior, we’ll not be left in peace for long.”
Vaddi grinned. “She’s … well, I’ve never—”
Nyam laughed. “I’d mask your feelings, if I were you, lad.”
Vaddi grimaced. “Nothing wrong in admiring—”
“Admiring her? I thought she had flung one of her bolts of lightning over you, the way you were looking at her.”
“What do you mean? I was surprised, that’s all. One warrior holding this place by herself…”
“She’s a sorceress. That much is obvious. She could snap either of us in half if she had a mind to. I know the Valenar. They like nothing better than a battle.”
“She has no reason to detain us.”
“Don’t let your heart rule your head, Vaddi. She may be the most beautiful creature you’ve ever seen, and I admit, she is very alluring in a masculine sort of way, but— ”
“What are you talking about?” snapped Vaddi. “Masculine? Just because she’s a warrior?”
Nyam laughed. “I am sorry. It has been a long time since I really looked at a woman. And certainly not through the eyes of love.”
Vaddi was about to protest, but something in Nyam’s expression stilled his anger. “But you have known love?”
“Of course! I told you I had a wife. When I first met her, I daresay I looked at her as you have done on this elf. To me she was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. It took me a long while to tell her—all the time she was cursing me for a wastrel and a buffoon and saying that she, an elf, would have to be out of her wits to consider me. Yet when I asked her to wed me, she asked me in return why I had dithered about so long in asking her.”
“Then she married you?”
“Naturally! They allow you to chase them until you get them exactly where they want you, so beware of this sorceress.”
“You said … your wife died?” said Vaddi, the words tumbling out before he could think to be more diplomatic.
“The War, lad. She and my two sons. Like so many others, they died defending the small town that was our home, in a battle that was ultimately meaningless and forgotten. Though not by me. Not by me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Well, let’s not speak of these things. I have many happy memories. And long years ahead, I hope.”
“Tell me something. That creature. It all happened so quickly. What was it? Why did it free us from Caerzaal?”
“The undead warrior rode a soarwing. They are huge saurians, but their brains are small, easily controlled. The undead … that I don’t know. It will serve a master, sometimes a sorcerer, a magician of higher powers, or a cleric.”
“You mean Cellester?”
Nyam shrugged. “The cleric’s powers are no small thing.”
Vaddi looked around to be sure they were alone, then leaned close to Nyam and whispered, “You think that … thing serves Cellester?”
Nyam considered a long moment, then replied, “I have told you discreetly that I am not certain of Cellester’s loyalty, yet he has proved himself on this journey to be a worthy ally.”
“Had he not been, both of us would be dead or worse, yet on the bridge, I heard the undead call for Cellester to give me up to him.”
Nyam indicated Vaddi’s robe, where the horn lay hidden. “Others may be seeking what you carry. Watch your step.”
Zemella returned and handed them a tray with food and water. She smiled at them—or rather at Vaddi.
“Have you told him?” she asked Nyam softly, watching to see if the cleric had returned.
Vaddi looked askance at the peddler.
“She has been waiting for us,” Nyam said with a grin. “She is a Keeper.”
“Then why—?”
Nyam shook his head. “Best that our companion does not know.”
Zemella’s eyes met Vaddi’s and he felt a unique glow. “I suspect his motives,” she whispered. “Let him prove himself to me before we give him the truth of our mission.”
“The safety of the horn you mean?”
“And yours,” she said.
Cellester climbed the stair to the tower above the tall doors. From its parapet he could look below, where the bridge loomed in the pale moonlight. Of Caerzaal and his undead, there were no immediate signs, but the cleric was certain they were near. They would spare no efforts to give siege and they would waste little time in doing so. If the company was to escape, it must move very soon.
Something among the shadows peeled itself from the vertical wall below him and Cellester started back, amulet glowing faintly. But he saw that it was not one of Caerzaal’s minions. It was Aarnamor—or what remained of him. The dark form drifted silently up the tower wall to within a few feet of where he stood, his yellow, serpent-eyes fixing Cellester from within the shrouded confines of his nebulous shape.
When he spoke, his words seemed to hang on the wind, as if he were becoming even less substantial, a ghost returning to the bleak domain from which he had been raised.
“The sorceress has unbound me,” came his weak voice.
Cellester watched, seeing Aarnamor’s darkness pulsing, growing ever more mist-like. “The soarwing,” he whispered, careful to keep his voice low. “Where is it?”
“Awaiting my call, though wary of this place. Why did you come this way? If you had gone down to the Plains, I could have taken the boy.”
“I could not force him. He is suspicious, and that infernal peddler is up to something.”
“My powers are draining. I must go back to Urgal Shahiz. We cannot get you away. Not now.”
“And Caerzaal’s forces? Where are they?”
“Rising by the hundreds. This tower will not stem them, for all its spells.” The voice grew faint, the outline of the being wavering.
“Is there a way from this tower?”
“Only the sorceress can answer that, but you must be wary of her. Above all, remember your oath. Do not fail our lord.”