again put a hand on Danica's back and looked to the monk with concern, but a movement to the side distracted them both.
Vander crossed the floor in three easy strides, grabbed Cadderly by the back of his tunic, and lifted the young priest from the floor.
"What are you about?" the firbolg demanded loudly. "Do you stand your watch from inside... ?" The words caught in Vander's throat; the blood drained from his ruddy face. There before him lay the Ghearufu, the evil device that had held him as a slave for many tragic years.
Danica and Shayleigh rushed over to them, Danica fearing that Vander, in his surprise and horror, might hurl Cadderly across the cave.
"What are you about3" Danica agreed with Vander, but as she spoke, she crossed in front of the firbolg and strategically placed her thumb against a pressure point in Vander's forearm, quietly forcing the giant to release his grip.
Cadderly scowled and straightened his tunic, then went to gather his possessions. At first, he seemed embarrassed, but then, when he looked back to Danica's resolute stare, he steeled his gray eyes resolutely.
"You should not have brought that," Danica said to him.
Cadderly did not immediately respond, though his thoughts were screaming that the Gkearu/u was the main reason that they were there.
The other three exchanged worried glances.
"We have come for Castle Trinity," Danica argued.
That is but one reason," Cadderly replied cryptically. He wasn't sure whether he should tell them the truth or not, wasn't sure that he wanted to compel them to accompany him to the terrible place where the Gkearu/u could be destroyed.
Danica felt Vander's muscles tighten, and she leaned back more firmly against the firbolg to prevent him from leaping out and throttling the young priest
"Do you always keep such important secrets from those who travel beside you?" Shayleigh asked. "Or do you believe that trust is not an essential element of any adventuring party?"
"I would have told you!" Cadderly snapped at her.
"When?" Danica growled at him from the other side. He looked back between the two, and to Vander's outraged expression, and seemed to be losing his nerve.
"Has the Ghearufu found a hold on you?" Danica asked bluntly.
"No!" Cadderly shot back at once. "Though it has tried. You cannot imagine the depth of evil within this artifact*
Vander cleared his throat, a pointed reminder that the firbolg had felt the Ghearufu's sting long before Cadderly even knew that the item existed.
Then what use might it be?" Shayleigh snarled.
Cadderly bit his lower Up, glancing one way and the other. He suspected that his companions would not agree with his priorities, would still consider Castle Trinity the most important of their missions. Again doubts about being in the forefront assaulted the young priest He told himself that he owed his friends an explanation at least
But that was just a rationalization, Cadderly knew. He wanted to tell his friends, wanted them to line up beside him on this most dangerous of duties.
"We have come out in search of Castle Trinity," he explained, his conscience gnawing over every word. "But that is only one purpose. I have done much searching and have discerned that there are few - very few - ways in which the Ghearufu might be truly destroyed."
This could not have waited?" Danica asked.
"No!" Cadderly retorted angrily. At his suddenly explosive tone, the three doubters again exchanged concerned glances, and Danica virtually snarled as she regarded the Ghearufu.
"KI had left the Ghearufu at the library, we cannot even guess die extent of the disaster we would have found upon our return," Cadderly explained, his voice even once more. "And if we take it with us all the way to Castle Trinity, our enemies might find a way to use it against us." He, too, looked down at the item, his face flushed with fear.
"But it wil! not get to that dangerous point," the young priest insisted. "There is a way to end the threat of the Ghearufu forever. That is why we took the high trails," he explained, eyeing Vander directly. There is a peak near here, somewhat legendary in the region."
"Fyrentennimar?" Danica balked, and Shayleigh, recognizing the dreaded name, gave an unintentional wheeze.
Chapter Six
The peak is called Nigntglow," Cadderly continued, undaunted. "In decades past, it was said to burn with inner fires in the dark of night, a glow that could be seen from Carradoon and all across the Shining Plains,"
"A volcano," Vander reasoned, remembering his own rugged home, tucked among many lava-spewing peaks.
"A dragon," Danica corrected.