>Jaldaric steps forward cautiously, his empty hands held up >palm-first in the universal "look, no weapons or surprises" >gesture. His voice is level, reasonable, confident and >reassuring as he speaks. > >"Don't worry," he starts off, "we're here to help." They relax a little, but are still very edgy, as if they don't quite trust Jal and his companions yet. >Despite having delivered the greatest ever cliche normally >followed by the total destruction of the helpees, he carries on. > >"The monster that has done this to you is dead, at our >hands. You're safe now. Let's have a look at you and see if >the others have any dinner ready yet?" "Monster? A creature?", says one of them, "Wizards go mad, they kill each other. We hide in here". "Who still lives, aside from us?", he asks "Jorg and I live", Verthes tells him, "We're free from control of the creature now it's dead. One wizard also lives, but he's gravely injured in both body and mind. There may be others, we haven't searched everywhere yet. But Aranyr is among the fallen". * * * * Back upstairs, the one gravely injured in body and mind takes another swig at the water canteen. He stares blankly at the wall, then turns suddenly to Reylorna and fixes here with a stare. "The west. It came from the west". -- Tim Hall, timjh (at) compuserve.com * http://www.kalyr.com "Divide by cucumber error: Please reinstall universe and reboot"
