Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol II - By Richard A. Knaak Page 0,258

It eyed the elf, then Dru again. Something changed in its manner. It spread its wings and shifted. “I will obey.”

“You always know what I want, Sirvak. I trust you do now.”

The familiar dipped its head. “Sirvak will not fail you.”

Both Dru and Xiri stepped back as the once-magnificent creature flapped its wings and rose with awkward movements into the air.

“Are you certain it can handle this task? It looks nearly dead.”

“Things are not always what they appear,” was his reply. “Sirvak will do what it must, regardless of the handicaps it now suffers.”

“And what do we do in the meantime?” Again, her arm was around his. “What do we do with him?”

She spoke of Rendel. Dru did not bother with the still shape. “The castle will take care of his remains. It, like Sirvak, owes its ultimate loyalty to me.”

The downward corners of her mouth revealed her uncertainty concerning the phrasing of his response, but the elf did not say anything more, allowing Dru to bring her along as he suddenly started for the doorway.

“Have I raised any doubts in your mind?” he asked when they were out in the hallway.

“What?” She stumbled as she blurted out the question.

“Have I raised any doubts? Do you still want to remain with a Vraad? One of the unholy race?”

“You’re not so evil.” Xiri caressed his cheek.

Dru watched the hall ahead of them. “No, there are far worse.”

“Melenea.”

“And Barakas, for one, though he’s been rather tame. I wonder if he has his empire yet or if the Seekers have left his bones to the scavengers. Have you ever seen one of their cities? What is it like?”

They moved through one hallway to another. Ahead of them, Dru knew, lay the theater where Sharissa had created and manipulated her fanciful dancers.

The woman at his side shrugged. “I’d rather not say too much. I didn’t care for them.”

“Ugly places of iron and stone sprouting out of the earth like sores, if I remember what you said before.”

She smiled, not wanting the subject to go on any further. “You see why I don’t like to talk about them. Horrible places.”

“Yes.”

“Where are we going, Dru?”

He sighed and squeezed her hand. “I want to show you another side of me. I want to show you the theater I built for my daughter… and my bride.”

“Is it much farther?” She let the comment about Dru’s mate pass, but he could see that it had touched her in some way.

“Not far. As a matter of fact, here it is already!” The theater had actually been farther away, but he had decided to risk using sorcery and have the castle realign itself. The sooner this was over, the better.

Dru had desired the chamber to appear to them in its simplest form… a soft dirt floor and blank curved walls. In some respects, it resembled a miniature version of the room of worlds minus the images covering the walls and ceiling.

“Is there more to it?”

“Much more.” He waved his free hand and a marble floor of alternating black and white squares formed. “I can’t say why we need a separate chamber to do what could be done anywhere, but Sharissa and I have preferred it this way.”

He gestured to the left and the right. A slight tremor shook the room, but his spell still worked. Several figures, some human, some creatures of varying sorts, stood in what appeared to be random placement on the squares.

“Do your people have chess?” He briefly outlined the game.

She nodded, but her eyes were not on him. Rather, the figures themselves fascinated her more. “We have it, but not like this.” Xiri started to walk toward one of the closest pieces on the giant board, a wide, armored figure holding a scepter and sporting a sadistic smile. “These playing pieces… is there something—”

Dru blinked and the board was now normal size. It rested on a glass table that was accompanied by two soft couches, one for each player.

“Why did you do that?” Xiri snapped. She immediately remembered herself and gave him an apologetic smile.

“You wouldn’t like what you saw there. Shall we play a game?”

“A game? Now? When we still have to find Sharissa?”

Joining her, he reached out to run one of his hands in her long hair. “I thought you liked games.”

Her face was stone. “You know!”

He tightened his grip on her hair. “You forget, Melenea, as much as you claim to understand me, I also understand you.”

She laughed. Her form changed without warning and