The Fallen Fortress - By R. A. Salvatore Page 0,61

anger so profound that Aballister had not taken the moment to give it a clear flow of words. Druzil knew that his reference once again to Cadderly as Aballister's son had struck a sensitive nerve, even though Aballister had apparently taken care of the problem.

You will seek out the bodies of Cadderly and his friends, Aballister answered. Then you will walk back to me, or flap those weak wings of yours when the wind permits! I'll tolerate little more from you, Druzil. 'Ware the next storm I send out to the mountains!

With that, Aballister promptly broke off the connection, leaving Druzil cold in the snow, pondering the wizard's last words.

Truly, the imp was disgusted by the ridiculous accusation and by Aballister's continual threats. He had to admit, though, that they carried some weight. Druzil could not believe the devastation Aballister had rained on Nightglow and the surrounding region. But Druzil was cold and miserable now, deep in the wintry mountains, and constantly had to shake the fast accumulating snow off his leathery wings.

He certainly didn't like where he was. but in a way, Druzil was relieved that Aballister had refused his request to bring him home. If indeed the young priest had somehow escaped Aballister's fury - and Druzil did not think that such an impossibility - then Druzil preferred to be far away when Aballister at last faced his son. Druzil had once battled Cadderly in menta! combat and had been overwhelmed. The imp had also fought against the woman, Danica, and had been defeated - even his poison had been ineffective against that one. Druzil's repertoire of tricks was fast emptying where the young priest was concerned.

The stakes were simply too high.

But these mountains! Druzil was a creature of the lower planes, a dark region mostly of black fires and thick smoke. He did not like the cold, did not like the wet feel of the wretched snow, and the glare of sunlight on the angled whitened surface of the mountain slopes pained his sensitive eyes. He had to go on, though, and would, eventually, have to return and face his wizard master.

Eventually.

Druzil liked the ring of that thought. He brushed the snow from his wings and gave a lazy flap to get him up into the air. He decided immediately that searching for Cadderly and his friends would be a foolhardy thing, and so he veered away from the settling mass of misplaced snow around Nightglow. Neither was his direction north, toward Castle Trinity. Druzil went east, the shortest route out of the Snowflakes, a course that would take him down to the farmlands surrounding Carradoon.

*****

"Prepare your defenses," Dorigen said as soon as she entered Aballister's room, unexpectedly and unannounced.

"What do you know?" growled the weary wizard.

"Cadderly lives!"

"You have seen him?" Aballister snapped, coming fast out of his chair, his dark eyes coming to life with an angry sparkle.

"No," Dorigen lied. "But there are still wards blocking my scrying. The young priest is very much alive."

Reacting in quite the opposite way Dorigen had expected, Aballister erupted in laughter. He slapped a hand on the arm of his chair and seemed almost giddy. Then he looked to his associate, and her incredulous expression asked many questions.

"The boy makes it enjoyable!" the old wizard said to her. "I have not faced such a challenge in decades!"

Dorigen thought that he had gone quite insane. You have never faced such a challenge, she wanted to scream at the man, but she kept that dangerous thought private. "We must prepare," she said again, calmly. "Cadderly is alive, and it might be that he escaped your fury because he was much closer than we anticipated."

Aballister seemed to sober at once, and turned his back at Dorigen, his skinny fingertips tapping together in front of him. "It was your scrying that led me to assail Night-glow," he pointedly reminded her.

"It was Druzil's guidance, more than my own," she quickly corrected, sincerely afraid to accept blame for anything, given Aballister's unpredictable, and incredibly dangerous, mood.

She sighed, noticing Aballister subtly nod his head in agreement

"Prepare..." she started to say a third time, but the wizard spun about suddenly, his scowl stealing the words from her mouth.

"Oh, we shall prepare!" Aballister hissed though gritted teeth. "Better for Cadderly if he had fallen to the storm!"

"I will instruct the soldiers," Dorigen said, and she turned for the door.

"No!" The word stopped the woman short. She slowly turned her head, to look back over her shoulder at Aballister.

"This is

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