had made the only choice his faith and heart could accept, and now he would accept the consequences, for himself, for his friends, and for all the region. Loyal and trusting Danica, holding tightly to his arm, showed him that he would not suffer those consequences alone.
"We will get through the high passes," Danica said when Vander had played out his anger. *And we will prevail against the wizard Aballister and his minions in our enemies'fortress."
"Perhaps alone I could get through them," the firbolg agreed. "For I am of the cold mountains. My blood runs thick with warmth, and my legs are long and strong, able to push through towering drifts of snow."
"Me own legs ain't so long," Ivan put in sarcastically. "What do ye got for me?" he asked Cadderly sharply. "What spells, and how many? Durned fool priest. If ye meant to come here, couldn't ye have waited until the summer?"
"Yeah." Pikel's unexpected agreement stung Cadderly more than gruff Ivan's ranting ever could. But then Cadderly looked back to Danica for support and saw a mischievous look in her sparkling eyes.
"How friendly is that dragon?" she asked, leading all their gazes back to serene Fyrentennimar.
Cadderly smiled at once, though it took Ivan longer to catch on.
"Oh, no ye don't!" the yellow-bearded dwarf bellowed, but by the eager intrigue splayed on the faces of Cadderly and Danica, and by the sudden smiles of Shayleigh and the firbolg, Ivan knew he was blubbering a losing argument
Shattered! Druzil imparted telepathically, emphatically, for perhaps the tenth time. Shattered! Gone! From the other end of the mental connection there was no immediate response, as though Aballister could not comprehend what the imp was talking about. Twice already Aballister had ordered Druzil to find the undead monster, to discover what had transpired to destroy the evil creature's corporeal form. Both times Druzil had replied that the task was quite impossible, that he had no idea of where to start looking.
Wherever the spirit had flown, Druzil knew that it was nowhere connected to the Material Plane. The imp pointedly reminded the wizard that he had been given only one red and one blue pouch of enchanting powder, that Aballister's lack of foresight had stranded him nearly a hundred miles from Castle Trinity with no way to get through any magical gates.
A wave of anger, imparted by Aballister, washed over Druzil. The imp's mind flared with pain; he feared that the wizard's mounting rage alone might destroy him. A dozen commands filtered through, each accompanied by a vicious threat Druzil was at a loss. He had never witnessed Aballister so enraged, had never seen such a display of sheer power from him, or even from the mighty denizens of the lower planes that he had often dealt with in his centuries there.
Druzil tried to break the connection - he had often done that in the past - but Aballister's telepathic connection remained with him, held him fast
When Aballister finally finished and released the suddenly exhausted imp, Druzil sat back against a tree stump with his dog-faced head resting forlornly in his clawed hands. He stared at the shattered flakes of the malignant monster, let his gaze meander up the imposing side of Nightglow, to the fog and clouds wherein Cadderly and his friends had disappeared. Aballister wanted Druzil to find the young priest and dog his steps, even to try to kill Cadderly if the opportunity presented itself.
No threat Aballister could possibly impose, no display of power, would prod Druzil to make that desperate attempt The imp knew that he was no match for Cadderly, and knew, too, that Aballister might be the only one in the region who was.
But it was obvious to Druzil that Aballister didn't want it to come to that Whatever satisfaction the old wizard might gain in personally crushing Cadderly would not make up for the inconvenience - not at a time when larger issues loomed in the wizard's designs. Aballister had labeled the undead monster as a possible ally. Now it was gone, and Druzil sensed that Cadderly had played some part in its destruction. The imp believed, too, that his own part in this drama had come to an end. The creature had been his guide to Cadderly. Without it, Druzil doubted that he could even locate the young priest And with the weather fast shifting to the full wintry blasts, Druzil realized that it would take him weeks to get back to Castle Trinity - probably long after