Ryana heard the soft fall of his footsteps as he moved around her. “This is a strange and wondrous experience! I feel no different, save for a momentary, curious tingling sensation that I felt when I first put it on. I see everything clearly, just as before. I look down at my legs, and I can still see them. I hold my hand up before my face, and I can see it, too. But you and Kara see nothing? Not even the faintest disturbance in the air?”
Ryana shook her head. “No, not a thing,” she said. “And it is most unsettling. I wish that you would take it off.”
“What about the undead, Kara?” Sorak asked. “Would I be invisible to them, as well?”
“Most of the undead no longer have eyes,” said Kara, “yet still they ‘see,’ in a manner of speaking. They would sense your presence. Unfortunately, the Breastplate of Argentum would not safeguard you from them.”
“Pity,” Sorak said. “Does it do anything else?”
“Not to my knowledge,” Kara replied. “But it is imbued with an ancient, eldritch power that perhaps the Sage would use in some other way. I cannot tell. I am a pyreen and a druid, not a sorceress. Only the Sage could tell you what use he would make of its enchantment.”
“Where is the Sage?” Ryana asked her. “Do you know? Can’t you tell us? Is he near?”
“No,” said Kara. “He is very far away. But in another sense, he is nearer than you think.”
Ryana sighed with exasperation. “Do you never reply with anything but riddles, my lady?”
Kara smiled. “Sometimes,” she said. “And speaking of time, we had best be on our way if we do not wish Valsavis to find us.”
“He has already found you,” came a familiar voice, echoing through the chamber.
Kara and Ryana turned quickly to see Valsavis step into the room, his sword drawn.
“Did you really think you could leave me behind so easily?” he said. “And did you truly believe you could mislead me by leaving your flying platform in plain sight on the other side of the city? Or did you forget that a roc can spy its prey from a great distance, hundreds of feet above the—” and then his words caught in his throat as he saw the treasure horde spread out before him in the pool. “Gith’s blood!” he swore.
Ryana gazed at him impassively from the other end of the chamber. “Yes, Valsavis,” she said. “You have found the fabled, lost treasure of Bodach. And you are more than welcome to it. It should make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. Richer than any aristocrat, wealthier even than any sorcerer-king, including Nibenay, your master. Though, of course, how you will transport it may prove something of a problem.”
As she spoke, Sorak, still wearing the enchanted talisman, quietly began to circle around the pool.
“Where is the elfling?” Valsavis said, recovering from his astonishment. “Who?” asked Ryana innocently. Valsavis glanced quickly around the chamber. “He is here somewhere,” he said. “If you think to trick me, then—” and suddenly he paused, listening intently.
Sorak glanced down at his feet and silently cursed. His foot had struck a bracelet that had landed on the lip of the pool and knocked it in. It fell into the treasure pile with a clinking sound.
“Are you jumping at shadows now, Valsavis?” asked Ryana, seeking to distract him. She could not tell where Sorak was, but she could guess what he was doing.
“Sorak!” Valsavis called out. “I know you’re there! I heard you moving! Come out where I can see you!” Sorak did not reply. He continued moving toward Valsavis, placing his feet softly and carefully.
“Why do you hide, Sorak?” asked Valsavis, his gaze sweeping the chamber. “What do you have to fear from me? You are a master of the Way, with a magic sword no other weapon can withstand. And I… I am only one old man, with no talismans or magic weapons. No psionic powers. Am I such a threat to you?”
“Not you, Valsavis, but your master, the Shadow King,” said Ryana, hoping to draw his attention and cover up any sounds Sorak might make.
Valsavis felt a tingling on his left hand as the eyelid of the ring opened.
Kara frowned and quickly held out her hand toward him. “Nibenay is here!” she said with alarm.
“I can sense his presence!”
Sorak slowly drew his sword. And as he did so, Ryana gasped involuntarily. Sorak was still unseen, but Galdra’s magic blade was clearly visible. The