"I've already broken my fast," Naglatha explained. "However, if you need me to prove that the food is safe-"
"No need," Tazi informed her. "Since I seem to be so important to you, I know my safety is assured until I disappoint you."
"You are clever, aren't you?" she complimented Tazi.
"You'd be surprised," Tazi said between mouthfuls.
"I certainly hope so."
While Tazi ate as much as she could without becoming ill, Naglatha returned to her desk, and Tazi could see she was finishing some correspondence. By the time Tazi was sopping up the last juices from the meat with a piece of bread, Naglatha finished her letter and sealed it. She placed the missive in a small satchel near her desk and removed Tazi's worn sack from the same bag. As Tazi wiped her fingers clean on a crisp linen cloth, Naglatha stood beside her and dropped the sack abruptly into her lap.
"I must admit to some curiosity, Tazi," Naglatha admitted. "Could you explain something to me?"
"Perhaps," was all thatTazi replied.
"I am a bit puzzled that you would travel alone all these miles to Thay for that," she said and motioned to the sack in Tazi's lap. "As I said before, the metal does possess some unusual properties, and I would love to study it a bit more if only there were time. Even still, what makes it so special to you?"
"I needed to replace something from a long time ago," Tazi replied slowly.
"Then why not simply pay someone to fetch it for you? You and your family certainly have the funds and the connections to accomplish that."
"It's something I owed my father," Tazi snapped and grew silent. She could see the wizard was intrigued by her clipped answers but appeared to let the matter drop.
Justikar ran silently through the woods.
Under cover of darkness, the gray dwarf had found it a simple enough task to slip past the few taverns and inns that were still open and make his way into the nearby woods. There, under the canopy of the trees, the duergar had moved like a part of the forest. His darkvision guided him as he leaped over thick tree roots and dodged low hanging obstacles. He could run great speeds in full armor carrying large loads, so, unarmed and wearing just a tunic and pants, he moved like lightning. He only stopped once, when a rock caught his attention.
A boulder must have tumbled down from a hill and fractured against the other stones nearby. One of the pieces was roughly the size of his hand and had a sharp enough edge to make it a useful hand axe. He stuffed it carefully in his leather belt and kept moving. Like all gray dwarves, Justikar could sense his depth when he was underground. But he and his family also had the facility to sense direction. He knew where he needed to go. The same trees that afforded him a certain amount of cover also deceived him as well-with a false sense of security. The gray dwarf could not hear the muffled beating of great wings in the distance, or that they were growing closer. While Justikar moved farther away from his former owner, something began to track him.
By the time the first rays of dawn colored the forest in its early light, he could see the outline of the Sunrise Mountains not far on the horizon. He was certain if he could reach them, he would be safe. Once in the rocks and tunnels that were like a second home to him, the duergar would be practically invisible. He was certain there would be no way for him to be taken. His only concern was crossing from the protective concealment of the woods across the open plain to the lower ridges of the mountains. Having spent almost his entire life underground, Justikar was loathe to admit that he suffered a horrible fear of open places. The only reason he had been able to stand his time in the open auction square was because he didn't want to show any weakness to the foul humans around him. Now, faced with the vast, barren plain between him and the rocks, he hesitated. His upper lip curled into a snarl, and he made a break for it.
Running at top speed, he told himself, it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to cross the gravel field. His heart pounded, not from the exertion, but from his fear. Oily sweat poured down his scalp into his stone black eyes and stung miserably. He wiped at his brow savagely and didn't slow his pace once. With his eyes fixed firmly on the protection that he knew the mountains provided, Justikar failed to notice the fast-moving shadow that passed along the plain off to his left.
"Deep Duerra," he panted, "let me reach your safety." He never resorted to prayer before. His people believed the best ways to honor their gods were to simply continue on with their labors. But he was desperate now, and as soon as the words left his lips, Justikar realized just how frightened he was.
The lower ridges were tantalizingly close now. With only a few hundred feet to go, safety was at hand. But when the dwarf had left the shelter of the trees, he had also left himself visible and vulnerable. So focused on the mountains ahead, Justikar did not look back to the woods or to the skies.
Several hundred feet up, a huge griffon was circling. Its keen eyes, unable to penetrate past the thick bows of the forest trees, now had a clear view of its prey. The monster let loose with a fierce screech and dived toward its victim.
Justikar heard the horrible sound and turned his head wildly from side to side, so caught up in his fear that he didn't look up until it was almost too late. But he did, and he saw the huge creature swooping down from the skies. In the gray light of pre-dawn, Justikar estimated the golden beast was almost eight feet long from head to tail and had a wingspan of almost thirty feet. It must be full grown. The dwarf couldn't seem to gather his thoughts coherently, and the only course of action he could come up with was to keep running and try to reach the cover of the boulder fall nearby.
He almost made it.
With the rocks nearly in his reach, Justikar thought he was safe. But, as he approached a jumble of stones, some taller than he was, he could feel pulses of air on his back. The great wings of the creature beat strongly as it tried to slow its decent. The force of those appendages nearly bowled the duergar to the ground. As it was, the griffon managed to rake Justi-kar's back with its talonlike forearms as it passed over. The dwarf hissed in pain as the razor sharp claws tore through his tunic and flesh. He arched his back in pain and partially whirled in time to see the griffon pull up before it attempted an additional attack. Justikar had reached a rough circle of rocks that afforded him only the most rudimentary of cover. But it did make it almost impossible for the griffon to continue any kind of air attack. It was going to have to face him on foot and that evened things up as far as the duergar was concerned.
Justikar watched as the creature began its landing ten feet from where he stood. The beast's upper body resembled that of an eagle with its sharp beak and feathered forearms. From the withers toward the tail, however, the griffon's body became that of a muscular, fur-covered lion with the exception of its great wings. It was the powerful rear legs that touched down first, but it held its eagle arms poised in the air. Justikar knew he had to keep clear of those slashing limbs, or he would be nothing more than a pile of ribbons in short order. Even as he thought this, his stone black eyes caught sight of a section of his tunic that still streamed from one of its claws, like some flag of defeat. Never, he thought angrily.
Without any formal plan, the duergar let loose with a bellow of rage and charged the griffon. Surprise was on his side, for the beast squawked at the foolhardy and unexpected attack. The griffon was shocked enough by the charge thatti lost the first opportunity to slash at the dwarf with its forearms. The griffon touched ground completely, and Justikar saw his chance. He clasped his two hands together and swung straight for the griffon's beak.
The creature turned its head enough to deflect the brunt of the blow, but the dwarf's hammerfist strike did some damage. Justikar smiled grimly as he heard the satisfying crunch of the griffon's beak as he made partial contact. The creature, momentarily distracted, swung its head, spattering the dwarf with its blood, which now poured freely from the partial break. The dwarf knew that if birds lost blood, they could go into shock quickly and even die if the flow wasn't staunched almost straight away. He hoped the same held true for griffons, but he didn't know. He had never tried to kill one before.