The water creature put two delicate hands on her hips and gave an angry look. “I do not like you anymore. I no longer want you to come visit me.”
She ran off into the water and, when it proved deep enough, dove beneath the surface. There was nothing to indicate that she was anything but human, save for the slight greenish cast to her skin and the amazing fluidity of her movements. Huma wondered how she breathed.
Buoron muttered, “She does not mean what she said. She’s been angry with me more than a dozen times before, and each time she forgets before I’ve drawn another breath. I believe it’s the nature of her kind, though I’ve never seen another.”
Huma looked down at the still-slumbering Magius. “Will she remember to release her victim?”
“Give her a few moments. She can hold onto the spell for only a brief time longer. You know my name, brother of the Order. What might yours be?”
Huma straightened. “I am Huma, Knight of the Crown, out of Vingaard Keep.”
“Vingaard!” The name was spoken as if the name of Paladine himself. “Have they broken through at last? Is the war finally coming to a close?”
Huma shook his head and then stared at the ground. Quickly, he described what had happened. Buoron was not pleased.
“One of her games,” Buoron said with a gesture toward the water, “is to take the dreamer’s mirror, an ancient artifact, shake it, and see whose dreams she gets.” The bearded knight shivered. “The dreams of the Dragonqueen’s servants are darker than you could ever imagine.”
“Has she always lived here?”
Buoron shrugged. He did not like speaking about the nymph. His relationship, no matter what it was, was something the knighthood would not condone. “She was here when I joined the outpost. Her treasures are incredibly ancient.” He paused. “I came upon her by accident. The other knights never come this far. I was chasing a stag, and I had no desire to lose it. It is not often we eat such splendid fare at the outpost. For one reason or another, the stag rushed through here. I fell when my steed came to an abrupt halt, and when I finally had cleared the pain from my head, I found myself looking into her eyes.”
Huma could read the embarrassment in the other knight’s features. “You need have no fear, brother of the Order. I will tell no one of this lake.”
Buoron shrugged. “They know, more or less. I have made no secret of my comings and goings, and I have done little more than sit with her. A nymph is not real. I would want something more.” Magius began to stir. The other knight pointed at him. “Your sorcerous friend wakes. I doubt he will take kindly to having been kept under a glamour spell all this time.”
Huma glanced down. Magius was not yet truly awake, but any decision on Huma’s part would have to be swift. “He need not know.”
The bearded knight said nothing, but gratitude flared in his eyes. It was obvious to Huma that he cared more about the water nymph than he had indicated.
Magius leaped up as some sense told him that he and Huma were no longer alone. He turned to stare at the newcomer
“Greetings, Red Robe.” Buoron’s salutation was crisp and functional. Magius received only the respect due one who traveled with a fellow knight.
The mage had recovered. He bowed low in the manner so typical of him and returned the greeting. “My greetings to you, Knight of Solamnia. I had no idea another of the noble knighthood was so far south.”
Huma’s expression did not change, but he was disturbed by yet another lie from his friend. When they had fled from the ruins, Magius had commented on his desire to bypass the outpost.
“We have an outpost down here,” Buoron replied. “A small one and often forgotten. I do not doubt it will be abandoned as the years pass.”
“Yes.” The magic-user was visibly uninterested. Instead, he was staring down at the spot where he had been sleeping and then at the lake. “My apologies for not rising sooner. It is unlike me. I did not mean to be impolite.”
Buoron fidgeted and his horse, a cream-colored charger, stepped nervously about as it felt the shifting of its rider. “Not at all. It happens often here. I, myself, have fallen into the very same sort of sleep.”
“It is still no excuse.”
“How far is it to the outpost?” Huma finally asked, causing Magius to glare at him.
“Not far. An hour’s ride. You must come, of course. Despite the terrible news you bring, your presence would be appreciated.”
Magius chuckled enigmatically.
The other knight was taking a distinct dislike to the spell-caster. Pretending not to have heard the mage’s laugh, Buoron indicated the duo’s mounts.
“These beasts appear to have been ridden all night. They need some proper care if you plan to move on.” He was careful not to ask the purpose of their journey, assuming that Huma would inform him if and when it was proper.
The mage gave in. “Very well. It shall have to be a short stop, though. We have far to travel.”
“Um.” That was all that Buoron would say in reply, but he watched both men with interest, Huma noted, as they untied their animals and mounted them. When they were ready, he pointed to the west. “That way. Ride on ahead. I’ll be only a moment.”
Huma and Magius urged their steeds through the trees and brush. The former glanced back and saw Buoron dismount and remove a small wooden carving from one of his saddlebags. The water nearby began to bubble, and the head of the nymph broke the surface. Then Huma’s view was cut off by the trees. When his companion turned to him, the knight reacted as if his thoughts had been on the trail ahead.
It was not more than a minute or two before Buoron came riding up behind them. He nodded to Huma and immediately took the lead.
As they rode, Huma plied him with questions about the outpost. “Are there many outposts here?”
“We are one of only two. The other lies on the western side of that stretch of mountains.” Buoron pointed to a chain of peaks that became visible only when the trio of riders emerged onto the top of a hill. “Essentially, we oversee the eastern half and they the west. There is little down here to interest the Dragonqueen, though. We have been reduced to chasing would-be brigands when we should be charging into the lines of the foul ogres.”
“Are you a large outpost? I’d not known there was anyone here.”
Buoron laughed, bitterly, it seemed. “Neither did I, until I was ordered down here some five years ago. No, we’re not a large outpost. Eighty knights trying to keep watch on a countryside rivaling the size of Solamnia. We had more once.”
Huma did not need elaboration. Now, with the war going so badly, they truly were cut off from all others save their counterparts on the western side of the mountains. They could not abandon the outposts and go riding north to join the struggle. They had been ordered down here, and they would stay until that order was changed. Duty was something ingrained into every knight. Rennard had expressed the importance of that, time and time again.
“Have you ever been to the mountains?” Magius asked abruptly.
“No.” Buoron had no desire to converse with the spellcaster.
“Has anyone?”
“Only to the outer peaks. We stay away from the inner range.”
Magius appeared quite interested. “Why is that?”
“The paths are unsafe. That’s all.”
Huma watched his companion’s face fall. Magius was probing for something more out of the ordinary.
This deep into southern Ergoth, it was difficult to believe a war raged in the land. To be sure, the skies were as overcast as they had been in the north, but there was more of a peace in the woods and fields. It was a false peace, Huma realized, for it would vanish the instant the Dragonqueen’s hordes were finished with Solamnia. With Solamnia gone, the Queen of Darkness would sweep over the rest of the continent in less than a year.
“We are almost there.”
Huma took his first look at the Solamnic outpost. It was not a towering edifice like Vingaard Keep. The entire structure was made of wood, treated so that flames could not turn it into a deathtrap. The walls surrounding the complex appeared to be more than four times Huma’s height. The top edge was consistently punctuated by gaps set aside for archers. Only one building was visible over the wall, a watchtower upon which even now a sentry was standing, his attention fixed on the approaching trio. The man raised a shout and pointed toward them. Buoron did not call out, but he gave the sentry a weary wave.