"Do you think it's safe to touch?"
"I was wondering the same thing," Killum replied. "But it can't be safe to just leave it."
"Rand, pick it up," Asha said.
"Me? Why me?" he asked. "What if I'm magically enslaved for something?"
"No problem, my friend," Asha smiled. "I'll just free you from its power by killing you. Easy peasy."
"Before you do that, you might want to designate a new respawn spot here," Fergus added. Rand gave him a dirty look. "Hey, I'm just trying to be helpful."
Killum laughed, but wondered if creating new respawn sites would be a good idea. They'd all designated the dragon's lair as their respawn sites before setting out, but that was two days journey south. They should reach the Warlord's Castle in another two days.
Asha distracted him by bending over, her sweet round butt right there within slapping distance. And it was so hard to keep his hand from swatting it, too. He forgot all of that when she lifted the mage's staff. He concentrated on it.
Warlock's Staff.
Neutral, but must be +10 Light or –10 Dark and level 20 or higher to use.
"Warlock's Staff," Asha repeated. "She's must have defeated a warlock. It's neutral, but neither of us has reached level 20."
Since they weren't high enough to use it, they weren't able to unlock its secrets. The staff had lots of potential, but it was also worth a lot of money.
"I suspect we'll both be level 20 by the time we finish the Warlock's Castle dungeon," the sorceress said. She slanted a look at him. "You have a dragon, so I claim the Warlock's Staff."
"Cool." He looked around. "There's still a lot of sunlight today. Time to hit the road."
"We're going to just leave the ruby?" Tiana said, looking at them with greedy eyes.
"If you want it, then you pick them up," Rand said, and headed for the road.
In the end, Killum and Fergus rolled a boulder on top of the enchanted ruby and they left it behind. The shaman's ruby vanished with him. If they learned the secret of the rubies, and how to control them, at the castle, then they could come back for it.
Chapter 35
A soft misstep brought Asha's head up. It was off in the middle distance, deep in the woods in front of them. Forest Road was to their right, winding up a deep gully. She cocked her head, claiming Tiana's attention, so held up a hand so the thief wouldn't speak.
The elven sorceress had to concentrate to hear the approach. Someone was moving quickly, but carefully, toward them. She thought it had to be Fergus returning from scouting the castle. A goblin might move that quietly, but no ork, human, or zombie could.
"Fergus is coming," she whispered, and pointed to the trail he was on.
Killum was lying on his belly beside her, his warm hip pressed into hers. Rand was on the other side, also pressed against her. Tiana was pressed up close on the other side of Rand. They weren't trying for intimacy. Their resting place was just that cramped. That degree of closeness had her nerves a little frazzled. She knew Rand was in heaven sandwiched between two women, which bothered her. Yet, she worried Killum wasn't enjoying it. At least his expression showed no sign of being aware how much their bodies were touching.
I can't believe I've let him rattle me so thoroughly, she thought.
Small skirmishes with Dread Ones slowed them down. It was mid afternoon when they arrived. She spent most of that journey just a few steps behind Killum, trying to not look at his butt. Rand bragged about having relations with a woman, a hooker, and they'd learned that it was possible to be impregnated. And, of course, while under Joss' absolute control, she was told that they would have their way with her if they weren't in such a hurry.
Fortunately, Fergus arrived as her mind delved into the fantasies Killum was starting to inspire. She shook herself out of that erotic reverie and focused on the task at hand. Warlord's Castle promised to be the hardest, most dangerous dungeon they'd ever attempted.
"What did you find?" Killum asked.
Fergus dropped to his belly facing them, just inches from her face. He wagged his brows. "Betcha didn't hear me coming?"
"Actually, I did."
Killum nodded. "She did and warned us you were approaching."
The ranger scowled. "I'll try harder. But what I found isn't good. There's quite a cordon of undead sentries surrounding the castle."
Using his finger, the ranger drew a map of the castle and the land surrounding it. The castle sat upon a precipice above the road, with quite a large plateau behind him. Fergus said the plateau used to be a town and farmland, now gone fallow since the conquest. There were too many undead on guard for him to get close enough to the castle to glean anything useful.
"Looks like we're going in blind," Rand said. "Fine by me. There's nothing they have I can't kill with my battle-axe."
"No. There's another way," Asha said, rising to her knees. "I'll go scout out the castle."
"If I can't get to the castle, what makes you think you can?" Fergus asked. "I'm an elven ranger, sorceress."
"And I'm an elven sorceress with Robes of Concealment," she said.
Asha quickly returned to the mule, which was hidden a good mile back down the road. She dug out her enchanted robes and put them on over her sorceress dress. She was ready to go by the time the others caught up.
"What are you doing?" Killum asked. "You can't go in there alone."
"You let Fergus go. Do you think he's better than me?"
Killum looked shocked. She had him, and knew it. All he could do was look around for support, but no one else was interested in stopping her. Fergus wasn't happy about it. Rand and Tiana looked eager.
"With those robes I could sneak in," Rand said. "In fact…"
"No." Asha wasn't giving him the glory. The robes were hers, so she'd be the one sneaking into the castle to look around. "I've got this. You just have to rest up and be ready to go when I return."
"Okay, you can go scout the castle," Killum said. She gave him a 'you can't stop me' look. He continued. "Just don't go inside the castle. No further than the main gate, look inside and see where everyone is stationed. Mostly, we need to know the easiest, safest route to the castle gates. Once we're inside, we can close the portcullis to keep the others out long enough to take out Lord Kathro."
"Anything you say, boss," she said. Asha willed herself invisible, and vanished before their eyes. Killum, Tiana, and Rand all reached out to find her. She giggled and wiggled out from between them, not allowing anyone to find her. "Bye-bye. I'll see you before you see me."
To her dismay, Fergus followed her easily with his eyes. After a moment, and some fifteen feet away, she stopped and faced him. The ranger grinned.
"I can see your footsteps."