Cleric Quintet 4 - The Fallen Fortress by Salvatore R.A

Author:Salvatore, R.A. [R.A., Salvatore,]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-08-06T14:29:35.368000+00:00

But she had, and she had silently cheered for Cadderly and his brave Mends in their titanic struggle, had actually leaped up in joy when the firbolg came up from behind and lopped the dragon's head off.

Why had she done that?

"Have you sighted anything this day?" TTie voice startled Dorigen so badly that she nearly fell out of her chair. She quickly threw the wrap over the crystal ball, though its interior was a cloud of nothingness once more, and fumbled to straighten and compose herself as Aballister threw open the curtain now serving as her front door and whisked in beside her.

"Druzil has lost contact with the young priest," Aballister continued angrily. "It would seem that he is making fine progress through the mountains."

If only you knew, Dorigen thought, but she remained silent. Aballister could not begin to guess that the young priest was now no more than a day's march from Castle Trinity. Nor could the old wizard imagine that Cadderly and his friends would be resourceful and powerful enough to

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overcome the likes of old Fyren.

"What do you know?" the suspicious Aballister demanded, drawing Dorigen from her private contemplations.

"I?" Dorigen replied innocently, poking a finger against her own chest, her amber eyes wide with feigned surprise.

If Aballister had not been so self-absorbed at that moment, he would have caught Dorigen's defensive and obvious overreaction.

"Yes, you," the wizard snarled. "Have you been able to make contact with Cadderly this day?"

Dorigen looked back to the crystal ball, mulled the question over for a short moment, and then replied, "No."

When she looked back, she saw that Aballister continued to eye her suspiciously.

"Why did you hesitate before answering?" he asked.

"I thought that I had made contact," Dorigen lied. "But in considering it, I have come to believe that it was only a goblin."

Aballister's scowl showed that he was not convinced.

"I fear that your son purposely misdirected my scrying attempt," Dorigen quickly added, putting the older wizard on the defensive.

"The last time Druzil saw Cadderly, he was near the mountain called Nightglow," Aballister said, and Dorigen nodded her agreement. There is a storm brewing in that area, so it is unlikely that he will have gone very far."

That would seem logical," Dorigen agreed, though she knew better.

The old wizard grinned evilly. "A storm brewing," he mused. "But unlike any storm my foolish son has ever encountered!"

Now it was Dorigen's turn to eye him suspiciously. "What have you done?"

"Done?" Aballister laughed. "Better to ask what I will do!" Aballister spun about in a circle, as animated as Dorigen had seen him since this whole business had begun,

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nearly a year before when Barjin had entered the Edificant Library.

"I grow weary of the game!" Aballister said suddenly, fiercely, stopping his spin so that his hollowed face was barely inches from Dorigen's crooked nose. "And so now, I will end it!"

With a snap of his fingers, he left the room, left Dorigen to wonder what he had in mind. The curtain now serving

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