Vander stammered in reply, obviously nervous in facing the man who had been his tormentor for so long. The firbolg gnawed his thick lips under his bushy red beard, wishing that his newfound allies would rush out and end this taunting nightmare.
"I am not speaking of young Cadderly!" Ghost retorted. "He will be dealt with in time, do not doubt. I have come here to speak only with you, the one who dared to resist my call!"
"I did not. . ."
"Silence!" Ghost commanded. "You know that to resist is to be punished. I cannot complete my task with an unwilling associate out here, safely from the town."
Unwilling vessel, Vander corrected, but he wisely held the thought to himself.
Ghost took a few steps across the barn floor, peering out through a crack in the side boards. "Do you remember your brother?" he teased, referring to the firbolg he had killed when Vander had run away from him, had run all the way back to the distant Spine of the \\brld Mountains.
The wicked little assassin turned about, smiling even more widely when he noticed Vender's great hands clenched in helpless rage at the giant's side.
Ivan peeked through a crack in the stall's wall, then looked back, concerned, to Cadderly and Pikel.
The young priest, intent on his telepathic connection with the firbolg, did not notice the dwarf at all. He felt Van-der's mounting rage, a blocking emotion that diminished their bond. Things had gone pretty much as Cadderly had expected, but he was no longer certain of how he should react. Even across the miles from Carradoon, Ghost's intrusion had been difficult to fend off. How would he and Vander fare now, with the sneaky assassin standing just a few feet in front of the firbolg?
Calm, he imparted to the firbolg. You must remain calm.
"Punishment," Ghost purred, putting one finger to his pursed lips. He fingered something in his other hand, something round and gold, though Vander could not discern exactly what it might be.
"I never told you this before," the assassin went on, smoothly, "but I did more to your son, poor boy, than take his arm."
Vander's eyes widened. His great hands twitched, trembled, and his roar shook the walls of the wooden barn.
"Time to go?" Ivan dared to ask aloud under the cover of that prolonged growl.
Cadderly's mind was filled with a wall of red, the manifestation of Finder's uncontrollable rage. The young priest was out of contact with the firbolg, he knew, and he knew, too, that by the time he managed to contact his ally once more, the disaster might well be complete. He uncoiled his legs beneath him and accepted Pikel's arm to hoist him to his feet. Neither his spindle-disks nor his enchanted walking stick offered him much hope in defeating a giant, so he clenched his hand, the hand with the enchanted ring, and reached inside his cloak for the wand.
"No!" he cried out, leading the dwarves into the main area of the barn. Cadderly calmed immediately, though, as did Ivan and Pikel behind him, when he regarded the scene, a scene that Vander apparently had well in control.
The firbolg, panting and growling, held the puny assassin in the air by the throat, shaking him hard, though the man was obviously already dead.
"Vander," Cadderly said quietly to calm the giant's rage.
The firbolg paid him no heed. With another roar of outrage, he folded the assassin in half, backward, and hurled him against the barn wall.
"He will return!" the giant wailed. "Always, he comes back for me! There can be no escape!"
"Like a damned troll," Ivan remarked from beside the firbolg, his voice reflecting sympathy for the beleaguered giant.
"Troll?" Cadderly whispered, the word inspiring an idea. The young priest held his clenched fist out before him, barked the word, "Fete!" and sent a line of fire at the corpse.
He kept his concentration firm, determined to burn whatever regenerative powers he could from the wretch, determined that Vander would at last be free. He glanced sidelong at the firbolg, took note of Vander's satisfied expression, then noticed, curiously, that Vander was wearing a golden ring.
Curious indeed, Cadderly thought as he turned back to the charred body, for he was just thinking of looking for such an item on Ghost's blackened form.
Cadderly searched his memory in an instant; Vander had worn no rings.
Aurora.
"Ivan!" Cadderly cried, ending his flames and spinning about. The giant moved as well, whipping out his huge sword, with Ivan standing unsuspecting right beside it.
Cadderly proved