In the gray hours before dawn, the baron’s castle laysleeping. Sentries leaned on the battlements while guard dogs snoozed. In the stables, a few yawning milkmaids and grooms stumbled about the first of the day’s chores.
Cinders grinned happily, his teeth set and his eyes gleaming. Splayed on her belly in an old cot, Escalla made peaceful, ecstatic little noises as she clutched onto her bed. Jus had been tramping in and out of the room for almost half an hour, noisily getting ready for the journey. Escalla was aware that he was trying to wake her and perversely decided to remain exactly where she was.
An earth-shattering crash of metal, leather, and junk shuddered through the floorboards. Jus had deliberately dropped his armor and weapons belt right beside Escalla’s bed. Escalla hugged the bed, finally liftingan eye up out of the blankets.
“Is there any particular reason why you can’t just relax theway other people do?”
“We leave in three hours.” Jus was noisily beginning hisdaily task of attending to the edge of his sword. After this would come exercises, armor maintenance, and breakfast. “We have to pack.”
Escalla gave a mighty yawn. “Face it, man. There is nothingto pack. It all fits in one backpack.”
Jus spread Cinders out across his bed and brushed the happy hell hound’s fur. He shot a dire glance at Escalla, who still remainedsteadfastly in bed.
“Escalla, what are you doing?”
“I’m lying naked on an ermine fur blanket.” The girl gave ahappy wriggle. “What does it look like?”
Jus looked at her in confusion. “Why?”
“You know, you have got to loosen up more.” The faeriesat up. “All right, I’m up! The world is saved! Show me a map of where we’regoing, and I’ll try to find where breakfast is kept.” The girl stretched again,showing a fine set of little white teeth. “Hey, Cinders, how’s my favoriteflaming pooch?”
Happy! Good smells. Pretty faerie!
“Cinders, you’re a gem!”
Jus hefted his rawhide armor into place and jerked the fastenings tight. His suspicious eye glared at the little faerie as he said, “Where did you get an ermine skin?”
“Mrs. Baron lent it to me.” Escalla sat up naked in bed andstretched luxuriously. “It’s her best coat.”
“‘Lent’?”
“In a sense. It was only for a night!” Escalla shook out herclothes and began getting dressed. “Faerie dust adds luster, man. Everyone knowsthat!”
The Justicar deliberately busied himself with his back turned to Escalla as the faerie wriggled into her skirt. Tying herself in, Escalla flitted through the air to hang above her friend’s shoulder, looking down at thedocuments he had spread out across the tabletop.
“So partner, where’s this map?”
“Here. It’s a long march.” Jus pointed to the painted linesscrawled all over his map. “River, canyon, here’s the volcano-easy to spot, hasa permanent steam cloud above it.”
“Do we know what the labyrinth is like?”
“No maps of it.” Jus folded the map and stuffed it carelesslyinto his backpack. “Maybe in Greyhawk, but we don’t have the time.”
“Hey, I’m game!” Escalla flew over to the door and struggledwith the latch, laboring to swing the portal open. “When in doubt, we send apriest down each corridor first. We’ll find this trident and hammer, stop thecivil war, kick the librarian’s ass-simple!” The girl hovered happily,fluttering her wings.
“Come on,” the Justicar growled, “let’s eat.”
Jus carried his backpack outside while Escalla followed her nose past the garrison kitchens and out into the officer’s mess. Someone hadthoughtfully laid out a breakfast of kippers, bacon, scrambled eggs, and strawberry tart for the baron. Escalla whistled happily as she cast a floating disk spell and absconded with the entire meal, plates and all, not forgetting the salt.
She found Jus sitting by a little flowerbed behind the stables. Escalla spread breakfast upon an old horse rug and settled herself down to a double helping of tart.
“A farewell breakfast, compliments of the baron. Dig in!”
Sniffing in puzzlement at the food, Jus sat down, over-salted his eggs, and began to eat. Escalla made herself comfortable on his knee and helped herself to anything and everything edible in sight. Cinders sucked on a kipper’s tail, his red eyes gleaming above his eternal manic grin.
Thoughtfully breaking a piece of crisp bacon, Jus looked down at the faerie and said, “So you just found this?”
“Hey! No one said not to take it!”
The big man glowered. “I despair about you.”
“Hey, we’re partners.” Escalla passed the man a large sliceof tart. “Now eat up, and keep your eyes open.”
Dawn stole across the castle yard. In the stables, Polk could be heard loudly advising a priest on how to say his morning prayers. A tall man armored in silver plate came out of the castle to stand beside an archer and a sorcerer, who were loitering around the stables. Watching the gathering of their new allies, both Jus and Escalla laid aside their meal and shared identical thoughts.
Jus settled his sword and said, “I’ll watch your back.”
“Same back at you.” The girl flicked her wings and driftedoff the ground. “Are we ready?”
“We’re ready.”
Ready!
The faerie heaved a sigh, headed out into the dawn, and said, “All right. Well, we’re on the road to fame and glory.”
“You see, son, determination-that’s the mark of a realhero. Grit! Stick-to-it-ness! The ability to look like you mean business!”Sitting happily atop his wagon, Polk left the driving to an assistant wagoner. Now that he was an official guide, he liked to leave himself free to talk and advise. “Presence is the first impact you make on an enemy. So one thingwe have to work on is your image!”
Marching grimly beside the lead wagon, the Justicar gritted his teeth and tried to ignore Polk’s constant monologue. Cinders failed to helpmatters. The hell hound kept his ears pricked up and his tail wagging, perfectly happy with the sights and smells of the road.
Sitting above his companions and behaving like a lord of creation, Polk took a drag from a stone jug full of whiskey. On the wagons behind him were arrayed two priests with their tents, baggage, portable altars, and relics; a lordly paladin encased in solid silver armor; and a close-mouthed pair of men from the baron’s garrison. Three large wagons were rumbling along aruined, broken roadway behind them, each carrying enough supplies to see an army through a thirty years’ war.
Even this close to Trigol, the land still showed ghosts of battle. The skeletal shapes of farmhouses and villages jutted through the weeds, and wild grasses still followed the boundaries of long-forgotten fields. Only the bones were missing. The slaughtered had found no rest. Even now, their corpses toiled in the armies of Iuz, preparing for yet another war. Wind moaned through the wild oats beside a broken well.
Oblivious to the grim surroundings, Polk dragged in a breath of fresh morning air and gave a happy sigh. “Image, son! A hero has to haveimage.” Polk corked his jug. “A clear-cut presence! A blazing eye! You ask thefaerie, she’ll back me!”
The faerie in question was lounging on the back of one of the great, hairy cart horses. No one could ever accuse Escalla of having a lack of personality. She reclined on her back eating wild strawberries taken from the fields, her toes wriggling happily inside her boots as she enjoyed the day. She rolled to watch Jus and gave the man a knowing smile.
“Hey, Jus! Bearing up?”
“The wagons are too slow.” Jus seethed with annoyance atbeing made to cater to so much useless baggage. “Tomorrow we start to lose theroads.”
“Yeah, well, enjoy it while we can.” Escalla dippedstrawberries in a little bowl of sugar crystals. “The muckity-mucks aren’t goingto give up their beds and bangles until they have to.”
The two priests kept to their own wagons-watching oneanother, watching the road, and trying to prevent each other from speaking to the other party members. The baron’s sorcerer carefully spied on the archer, andthe archer kept a cold watch over the paladin. A whole day of march had passed without introductions, without chatter. Polk and Escalla filled the vacuum with a will. Casting an appraising gaze over her fellow travelers, Escalla sat up and hunted for the last few sugar crystals in her bowl.
“Well, this crew is just a laugh an hour!” Escalla tossed astrawberry up to Polk, who gave her a salute. “Polk’s really hoopy, though!Where did you find him?”
Jus felt himself bristling like an angry hound. “I didn’t.There’s just no getting rid of him.”
With his head up in the sun and his tail trailing in the breeze, Cinders gave a dry, sniggering little laugh. Polk-man funny!
Jus gave an irritated sigh then looked back along the caravan. Three full wagons-tons of supplies-and none of it could possibly betaken into the wilds. He felt a delicious surge of malice as he anticipated a future full of wails and cries.
Escalla flew up from her perch on the cart horse, whirring between the big animal’s ears. She looped up and hovered, staring back along theline of wagons. Jus joined her, standing to watch the heavy vehicles rock and rumble slowly past them.
The Geshtai had sent a priestess on the expedition-a fat,powerful woman with cold eyes and a wealth of chins. Beneath her fish-patterned robes, bangles, and vestments of the river god, there came the gleam of metal armor, weapons, and charms. The big priestess sat in a nest of cushions and religious paraphernalia, spending her entire day keeping the Bleredd priest under surveillance.
Small, sharp-featured, and strangely weasel-like, the Bleredd priest wove subtle little spells to spy upon his rival-spells instantlycountered by the Geshtai. The contest had kept them occupied in deadly earnest ever since the journey began at dawn.
Escalla gave a shiver, as though casting off the evil eye. “Lovely bunch we have here.”
“Skilled killers.” Jus shrugged his backpack into a betterposition. “The two priests are field agents. The Geshtai is a slaver, and theBleredd priest is from Urnst-not a refugee from Tenh.” The Justicar watchedEscalla slyly appraising the other party members as they rolled by. “Oursorcerer is an ice mage. The paladin is called Olthwaite. The archer is Hanin. We were supposed to have an archer named Barkis, but he was stabbed in a tavern about an hour after he was assigned to us.”
“Wow!” Escalla hovered in midair, her little fists planted onher hips a she surveyed the wagon train. “These guys haven’t spoken to us allday. How did you pick all that up?”
“I talked to the barons men.” Jus gave a righteous sniff.“What did you think I was doing all last night?”
“I dunno. Ranger stuff?” Escalla shrugged, honestly confused.“Hey, man, I got my beauty sleep. One of us has to think about hercomplexion.”
With the wagons finally passed, Jus walked into the pitted dirt roadway and crossed into the abandoned fields. He climbed up an overgrown apple tree, looked out across the wild hedges, and scanned for movement in the ruins of a farmhouse nearby. He let Cinders sniff the breeze, then tugged a trio of ripe apples from the bough. One he polished and tossed to Escalla, one he ate for himself, and the third he stuffed between Cinders’ jaws. The hellhoundgrinned his mad grin, looking a little like a suckling pig as the apple gleamed between his teeth.
Jus looked at Escalla and gave a little shrug. “He likesthem.”
The ranger crunched his apple and slid to the ground. Escalla joined him, puzzling over how to eat the apple, which was far too large for her to sink her teeth into.
“So, Jus, you think the archer guy is a spy?”
“I think they’re all spies.” Jus glared at the departingwagons. “They’re each on their own side, not ours.”
“So should I do something?” Escalla passed Jus her apple. Hescored the fruit with his nails and split it in two.
“I could fireball them all.”
Burn! Burn paladin! Burn paladin! The hell hound’s tailthumped against Jus’ back.
The Justicar thought about the options, then heaved an irritated sigh and walked on in the wake of the wagons.
“No. The baron’s been useful. We’d just be pushing Trigolcloser to civil war. We’ll leave them alone… for now.”
Escalla cocked a sly eye at the Justicar. “Even Polk?”
“No. Him you have my personal permission to fireball.”
Happily bathing in a copper cooking pot of scented water,Escalla whistled as she rubbed the soles of her pretty pink feet with a sandstone. Cinders’ white fangs and baleful fires stood on watch above,covering Escalla’s rear. The faerie gave a delicious sigh and relaxed back intothe hot water, listening to the noises drifting on the nighttime breeze.
Polk followed the Justicar as he wandered about the camp, trying to bring the ranger to the path of proper thinking.
“Son, now I only say this because I really like you. Have youever considered the advantages of dressing in white?”
“White?” This time Jus stopped in annoyance. “I’d stand outlike dog’s balls!”
“But that’s the point-you don’t hide, son! It’s an invitationto attack! It’s daring your enemies to try their blades against a champion ofgood.”
Jus gave a snort. “How white will your robes be after a dayon the march?”
“Now that’s just mundanity. Son, my point is that a herodoesn’t waste time with skulking.” Polk gave a regal sniff. “Sir Olthwaite wearswhite.”
“Yeah. His order bleaches cloth by soaking it for about ayear in urine.” Jus seemed to be enjoying himself. “If you’re talking to thepaladin, I’d suggest you stay upwind.”
Jus wandered off into the darkened scrub in an effort to get rid of the teamster, but Polk followed doggedly.
Escalla laughed. Jus was the heart and soul of diplomacy, just as ever. Rising from her tub, Escalla wrapped a towel about her middle, tucked it in tight, then wrung out her long golden hair and shook out her wet locks in the breeze.
“All right, pooch, blow!”
Blow!
The hell hound shot a stream of hot air from his muzzle, and Escalla hung her glorious hair in its path, spreading it out to dry.
As she worked her hairbrush, the faerie sang a song as she stood in the warm breeze. A slight tinge of sulphur was more than compensated for by sheer convenience. The girl threw back her hair, heaved a sigh… andthen heard a twig break in the bushes at her back.
Escalla streaked sideways, a fireball already crackling in her hand. Dazed by her speed, the Bleredd priest squatted on the ground and raised his hands to shield himself from the blast. About to roast the man, Escalla bristled with fury, clinging tight to her damp towel.
“All right! What the hell do you want?”
With his head hunched forward at the neck just like a ferret, the priest moved his hands up and down, trying to placate the angry girl.
“To talk, to greet a comrade, to introduce.” The man sankinto a seated position, trying to make himself small and non-threatening. “Iwant nothing-merely a chance to say hello.”
“Well, hello.” Escalla let her hand drop slightly, thefireball still half-formed between her fingers. “I was getting dressed.”
“Forgive me, dear forest princess, for this intrusion. I cameout of worry-that is, out of concern.” The priest folded his hands.“Concern for your companion the Justicar.”
Her pointed ears lifted suspiciously, and Escalla raised one eyebrow. “Concern?”
“Your companion the Justicar…” The priest tilted his headlike an animal coming at a problem. “For a man of his devotion, he seemsstrangely… impoverished.”
Oh, this ought to be great! Escalla clapped her hands together and wore her most innocent face.
“Well, he’s a special kind of guy. As long as he gets hishead shaved once a month, he’s happy.”
“Yes… which I why I wished to ask for your advice.”
The Bleredd priest no longer wore his armor, but a heavy warhammer still stuck its savage head through his belt. The man subtly moved to cover the brutal weapon with his sleeve.
“My temple is interested in furthering the cause of justice,perhaps even establishing a permanent corps of peacekeepers and investigators.”The priest tilted his head. “Your friend would be the one man who could provideus with the proper guidance… for a suitable consulting fee, of course.”
Escalla nodded sagely and looked duly serious. “Oh, ofcourse!” The girl made a sorrowful noise. “But he really doesn’t care so verymuch about money.”
“Yes, therein lies our problem.” The priest fixed a cool eyeupon Escalla. “But you could perhaps persuade him to accept such a sum.He could then perhaps donate it to a worthy cause.”
“Oh, very worthy!” Escalla fluttered her wings, thepure soul of innocence. “Or you could simply pay me, and I could handle allthose details myself.”
“And use your influence to guide him.” The priest opened hishands. “You see? We are in agreement!”
Escalla kept herself well out of reach and nodded. “Oh,absolutely!”
“An alliance like this is all the stronger the sooner itbegins.” The priest made a pass with his hands, and an image of gold, jewels,and gems gleamed in the dark. “I’m sure you can now see that there areadvantages to the two of you linking forces with Bleredd’s temple… and withme.” The man made illusory gemstones gleam. “When do you think we can begin ouralliance?”
Escalla drew a big breath and put on a thoughtful face, hovering in midair.
“Hmm… yes… oooh…” The girl weighed time andschedules in her head. “Um, how’s about when winged monkeys fly from my butt!”Escalla made a face and snapped her fingers at the priest. “Nice try, creepyboy, but I’ve got plans for a treasure all of my own!” The girl tucked her toweltight. “And I really, really suggest you don’t try bothering J-man and meagain.”
The priest rose angrily and reached out to grab Escalla by the arm. She whirled, and suddenly a black sword flashed out from the night to hover beneath the priest’s throat. The Justicar loomed in the darkness, his hugeblade gleaming as it quivered just short of the priests jugular.
“No one touches the faerie.”
The ranger pushed the priest away with the tip of his sword, using the same distaste he would use to remove a piece of tainted meat. Stumbling, the priest backed away, gripped his hammer, then turned and marched off into the night.
Escalla coldly watched the priest leave, tucked in her towel, and flicked the spellfire from her fingertips.
“Thanks, man.”
“No problem.” The Justicar sheathed his sword with his usualfluid grace. “You weren’t interested in a bribe?”
“Hey, I’m greedy, but I’m not dumb. As if they’d pay anyonewith anything other than a foot of steel between the shoulder blades!” The girlstooped to pick up her fallen hairbrush. “But, hey, as far as corruption of theinnocent goes, these guys have really got an awful lot to learn.”