"I'm not surprised," Boлndal agreed, smiling at him warmly. "And the others will be pleased to meet you too. The delegates will be dying of impatience."
"Ugh!" his brother interrupted. "Why would anyone drink this stuff? I'm off to find some beer. There aren't any sensible buildings in this village, but they're bound to sell something that tastes better than tea!" He got up and left.
"So tell me, Tungdil," said Andфkai, who had been poring over the books, "what makes you special enough to merit a royal escort?" Gorйn's letter rested on her knee. It was the first time she had taken any interest in why the twins had been sent to find Tungdil.
He hesitated. "What does it matter?" he said disdainfully. "The Estimable Maga is abandoning Girdlegard. I don't see why she needs to know."
Andфkai broke off her study, taken aback by Tungdil's harsh tone. "Dear me, I've incurred your eternal displeasure, have 1? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you're wasting your breath it you think you can stop me by appealing to my conscience."
Boлndal glanced at Tungdil, eyebrows raised.
As far as Tungdil was concerned, the maga had no right to give up on her homeland so easily. She wasn't the only one who stood to lose by staying in Girdlegard. In spite of his excitement at being reunited with his folk, he knew that his chances of survival were slim, unless of course there was something in the books that could help them vanquish Nфd'onn. But unlike the maga, he was determined to fight beside his kinsmen to the end.
Rain pattered against the canvas. Fat droplets left meandering tracks on the outside of the tent and pitted the dusty ground. Autumn showers were nothing unusual in Sangpыr's deserts. In most other places, the wet and dry weather would have been ideal for agriculture, but the soil was impossibly barren in these parts. Trees and plants rarely took root and were tended jealously by their owners.
Just then the tent flap swung open and a cloaked intruder appeared in their midst.
Like a statue conjured to life, Djerun leaped into action. His left gauntlet closed around his two-hander; then he raised the sword with both hands, dropped into a half crouch, lunged forward, and brought the blade whistling toward the stranger's throat.
"Stop!" the maga commanded. Djerun froze.
"Forgive me," stammered the man. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was told to deliver this." Hands trembling, he deposited the keg of beer and fled, worried that the giant would change his mind and cut him down regardless.
"Good work," Boлndal said admiringly. "I wouldn't have thought it possible that a man could move so fast wearing all that armor."
Djerun returned to his former position, cross-legged on the floor. Boлndal's comment failed to elicit a response from the giant or his mistress.
The secondling persevered. "The warrior is your business," he told Andфkai, "but our sentries won't let him cross the High Pass unless he's prepared to show his face and declare his lineage."
"What kind of foolishness is this?" the maga said irritably, weary of the constant interruptions. "We'll be leaving Girdlegard! What does it matter what he looks like or where he comes from? You'd be well advised to focus on your defenses, instead of interfering in the business of travelers who can't wait to leave your land."
"Whether you're coming or going is of no concern to us," Boлndal said emphatically. "No beast of Tion will set foot on our pass."
"Hang on," Tungdil told him, "he's just an elongated-"
Boлndal didn't let him finish. "I played along to keep the peace, but we're almost home now." He looked at Andфkai grimly. "When we reach the Blue Range, the giant will be bound by the same laws as everyone else. You're welcome to seek your own route through the mountains, but you won't be crossing our kingdom if you're hiding something dangerous behind that mask."
"I'll take my chances," said the maga, returning to her book.
"Your chances!" exploded Boлndal. "Do you mean we've been traveling all this way with a creature of darkness?"
"That's not what I said. Besides, I don't recall there being anything in the creed of Samusin to forbid it."
"Samusin? I won't have any truck with him." The dwarf's face hardened and he rose to his feet, the long shaft of his crow's beak clasped in one hand. "Tell me what's behind the visor."
"That does it!" Andфkai closed her book with a snap. "Nфd'onn himself could be hiding inside that armor and I wouldn't tell you! Djerun is with me." If anyone had been wondering how Andфkai the Tempestuous had earned her name, the matter was now resolved. "Who cares if he's an ogre or a dark spirit or Tion knows what? He's the perfect traveling companion and he doesn't stink like a pig-which is more than can be said for you and your brother!" Her blue eyes glinted menacingly as she swept the long blond hair from her face. "He'll raise his visor when he's good and ready, and if you don't like it, too bad!" She pointed toward the main village. "Did you notice the bathhouse on your way in? I recommend you pay it a visit. It's a wonder the birds don't die of asphyxiation when you're around."
She fixed him with an icy stare and opened the second volume with a thud.
The silence that followed was broken by the sound of someone running toward the tent. The next moment, Boпndil burst through the door.
"Pointy-ears!" he spluttered. "Pointy-ears from Вlandur! The trader said they-" He noticed the keg of beer abandoned forlornly on the floor. "I thought you'd be thirsty!" he said, shaking his head in surprise. He pierced the lid with his ax, filled his tankard, emptied it in a single draft, and burped. "Not bad," he pronounced, helping himself to more.
"You were saying?" Andфkai reminded him sharply, diverting his attention away from the beer.
"Er, elves!" Boпndil sat down on a leather stool. "I bought the keg from a trader who told me what's been happening in Вlandur. He thought we'd be drinking to the ruin of the elves. From what he said, their kingdom is all but done for. He reckoned they were scouting Girdlegard for new places to live."
"In Sangpыr?" the maga said incredulously. "Why come this far south when there's nothing but sand, dust, and stone? It doesn't make sense. What would an elf want with a treeless desert?"
Tungdil glanced at Boлndal, who was clearly thinking on similar lines.
It took another sip of beer before his brother caught on. "Are you saying they're дlfar?" he ventured finally. Ideas invariably took longer to penetrate Boпndil's mind.
"Nфd'onn wants the books," Tungdil explained patiently. "A motley company like us doesn't go unnoticed. They must have followed us here and waited until nightfall to enter the settlement. As soon as it's dark, you can't see their eyes and there's no way of telling they're not elves."
"In which case, they could be either," Boлndal pointed out. "I say we post a watch. If they're дlfar, they'll be after us. Why else would they be staying in the village, if not to steal the books? From now on, none of us leaves the tent, no matter what. We'll let them come to us."
"Nonsense, we'll go after them!" Boпndil said fiercely. "If they're дlfar, we'll kill them, and if they're elves… we'll kill them too! The pointy-ears deserve to die." It had been a while since he'd last used his axes.
Andфkai listened, then signaled to Djerun and settled down to sleep.
"No, brother," ruled Boлndal, "we'll leave them in peace. The whole village could turn against us if we start a fight. We're not in our own kingdom yet, remember. Cool your temper. I'll take the first watch."
Tungdil yawned and finished his tankard of beer before lying down on a pile of rugs. His fingers clutched the haft of his ax, making him feel a little less exposed. He wasn't sure what to think, but in some ways he was hoping that the дlfar would attack. At least that would persuade Andфkai of the importance of the books.
Tungdil was just dozing off when a shouted warning woke the desert oasis. The dwarves, were on their feet in a flash, weapons at the ready. Andфkai had drawn her sword and was monitoring the tent flap and the walls.