Deals and Dangers

by Kay L. Ling

“Keep your distance,” Ertz warned as Tyla got out of the cart. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

  “No. I can handle this, but thanks.” She drew her knife and approached the Watcher warily. She hadn’t forgotten how fast the creature could move, and Guardian or not, she wasn’t getting within striking range of those fangs.

  The pythanium lifted its upper body, perhaps trying to look all the more intimidating. Tyla didn’t try to conceal her identity. She stopped a few yards away and pushed back her hood.

  “We meet again,” the pythanium said. “You are a troublesome gnome.” Its tongue darted in and out of its mouth, and it studied her in a way that made her heart beat faster. She glanced down at her blade. The glow had shifted to flickering flames, perceiving the pythanium as dangerous if not downright evil.

  “Come closer,” it demanded.

  “I can hear you well enough from here.”

  It hissed but did not repeat the command. “I spoke with the Outcasts. The Emanicus ordered them to work in the alamaria mine, and you turned them away.”

  “That’s right. We finally freed ourselves from Sheamathan, and we’re not taking orders from The Emanicus.”

  “You have no choice. Their powers are superior to yours, and they have the Focal Gem.”

  “There are others who have greater powers than they do.”

  The pythanium was silent a moment as if trying to figure out who she meant. “Only The Eight’s powers are greater than theirs, and The Eight are your enemies.”

  “Are they? Sheamathan is our only enemy.”

  “Be that as it may, the others will not help you.”

  Tyla didn’t answer, just gave him a smug smile.

  “In any case, it would be foolish to rely on them. They are not invulnerable to Emanicus powers.”

  Was the Watcher admitting The Emanicus had targeted some of The Eight? “Don’t be ridiculous,” she countered, trying to trick the creature into saying more. “The Eight have nothing to fear from your masters.”

  “When working as one, my masters are more than a match for any of them.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Tyla scoffed.

  “You should. They have already tar—” The pythanium broke off, but Tyla felt certain it had been about to say Emanicus gnomes had successfully targeted at least one of The Eight. What else did the creature know? It must know where the gem masters lived. How else could it report to them?

  Suddenly, an idea came to her. Without thinking it through, she created an illusion a few yards away—the stone building she’d seen in her vision. She suspected the pythanium’s masters lived there, and the creature’s reaction might confirm it.

  The pythanium hissed, but was it simply startled by the building’s sudden appearance or did it actually recognize the place?

  Tyla gave the Watcher a pitying smile. “If your masters are so skillful, then no one should be able to find them.” She gestured toward the image, implying they lived in that building.

  “How did you find them? They have wards!”

  Tyla dispelled the illusion. So, she was right! The pythanium wasn’t likely to mention the location, and it flew too quickly for anyone—even Loud Mouth—to follow it. But with a little more to go on, Loud Mouth might be able to find the building.

  “You are more troublesome than I thought,” the Watcher said angrily. “Now, my masters must find a new location.”

  Tyla’s heart nearly stopped. Move? What had she been thinking! She should have realized they’d evacuate if someone discovered their hideout. How could she have made such a stupid blunder? Now what should she do? She couldn’t allow the Watcher to report back to The Emanicus, but how could she stop it? Maybe she should kill the creature—assuming she could—but oh the trouble she’d be in.

  Kaff’s words came back to her—More trouble than you’re in now?

  He was right. Things couldn’t get much worse.

  Another solution came to her. It wasn’t much better, but she had to do something before the creature flew away.

  Drawing infused powers, she projected peace and calm, followed by a sleep-inducing power. The pythanium might have thought she’d attack with her knife . . . or that the Guardian would appear. It never expected her to put it to sleep. Its eyes closed, its whole body went limp, and its head dropped to the ground.

  Tyla felt a mixture of relief and dread. This was a crazy plan, but the others weren’t likely to think of a better solution. She ran back to the cart, her heart in her throat.

  “What have you done?” Olissa cried. It was hard to tell from her tone whether she was pleased or dismayed.

  “Is it asleep?” asked Ertz.

  “Yes, for now, but we should immobilize it,” Tyla said.

  “So, after we immobilize it, then what?” Olissa asked, frowning.

  Tyla looked at the cart bed and did a mental calculation of the remaining room after moving gear and a few passengers to the other cart. “We’re taking it back to Elantoth.”

  “You can’t be serious!” Olissa said, reminding Tyla of Loud Mouth. That was one of his favorite phrases.

  Kaff reappeared. “How would we even lift it?”

  Eneff reappeared, too. “It weighs more than all of us put together.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” said Ertz. “We have strength gems, and I have one that temporarily reduces the weight of any object.”

  Tyla was familiar with that gem. Once, they had carried S to the library, and the cage had felt far lighter than normal.

  “The question is—why are we taking it to Elantoth?” Ertz asked, and all eyes turned to Tyla.

  “Because I made a critical blunder. I showed it the stone building I’d seen in my vision, hoping its reaction would prove Emanicus gnomes are living there. It worked. The creature was shocked I’d discovered their hideout. It told me they’d have to move now. If I let it return to The Emanicus, they’ll be gone before we find the building.”

  Olissa let out a long breath. “It’s good to know they’re in that building, but we still don’t know where it is, and it won’t be easy to find it.” She looked at the sleeping pythanium. “We’d better load the Watcher before it wakes up.” She looked none too happy about the whole affair.

  Kaff grinned. “I can hardly wait to see everyone’s faces when we show up at Elantoth with a pythanium!”

  Chapter 28

  News always spread quickly at Elantoth, so it was little wonder that sensational news, like Tyla bringing the Watcher home, reached everyone in record time. The kitchen and housekeeping staff came out to see it and shook their heads in dismay. The males arrived with shovels and pitchforks and volunteered to dispatch the creature, but Tyla had no intention of killing it—at least for now.

  “Go to bed,” Ertz told the staff. “The sleep-inducing gem will keep the creature asleep for hours, and Olissa, Bentiz, and Serrom will take turns standing guard.”

  “Meet me in the office tomorrow morning at seven,” Tyla told Ertz “We’ll discuss what to do with the Watcher. The spell book may have valuable insights. It spent countless hours with Head Spy.”

  Tyla was so exhausted from the ordeal that she fell right to sleep. She woke the next morning feeling refreshed. Then the events of the previous day came back to her, and she groaned at the thought of figuring out what to do with the giant serpent. She contacted Elias and told him her plight, then went down to the office to meet Ertz. He arrived promptly at seven.

  “I just contacted Elias,” Tyla told him. “He and Jules will come once Lana arrives. She’s due in an hour or two.”

  “I am glad they are coming,” the spell book said, startling Tyla. “I miss Elias, though he was sometimes rude to me. And I would like to see Lana and Jules again.”

  “Elias has an idea,” Tyla told Ertz. “He wants to enter the Watcher’s mind while it’s asleep like he did with Rimwick and see what he can learn from it. Do you think that’s safe?”

  “I wouldn’t try it. Its mind isn�
��t like ours, and I doubt it dreams, so dream manipulation wouldn’t—”

  “I beg your pardon,” the spell book interrupted. “I assure you they dream. I spent many a night on the pedestal behind the throne, listening to Head Spy’s somnambulant ramblings. Elias could enter the creature’s mind, but he would probably learn nothing more useful than how many rodents the Watcher has eaten lately.”

  “So, it’s possible, but joining minds could be dangerous,” Tyla said.

  “It is not harmful,” the spell book said, sounding unaccountably confident. “A newly created pythanium is not capable of speech or complex thought until someone joins minds with it and transfers intelligence. Sheamathan did this with the first pythanium and suffered no harm. Furthermore, an Emanicus gnome must have joined minds with this one.”

  “We can’t assume anything is safe just because S did it, and we don’t know what happened to the Emanicus gem master,” Tyla pointed out.

  The book didn’t answer. It hated to have its judgment questioned.

  “Thank you for sharing what you know,” Ertz told the book. “Elias may feel it’s worth the risk if he can gain valuable information.”

  “I have known many pythanium and would not care to join minds with one,” the book said. “They are all insufferable—selfish, egotistical, and ill-tempered.”

  Tyla hid a smile. That description fit the spell book equally well, but she knew better than to say so.

  “Let’s go take another look at the creature, shall we?” Ertz said. “Bring the spell book.”

  Tyla wasn’t surprised to find a crowd of breghlin around the cart. The staff had abandoned their chores to have another look at the creature. If Olissa were here, she would have told them to get back to work, but she must have gone inside for breakfast and left Bentiz and Serrom in charge.

  “Sooner or later, it gonna wake up,” Tina Ann told Tyla, “and it gonna be mad when it sees where it be.”

  “Where ya gonna put it?” asked Ben.

  “We haven’t decided yet,” Tyla said. The creature would fit in a cell, but she didn’t want it in the dungeon with Rimwick.

  “Ya could put it in S’s old suite with all them monster heads,” Tina Ann suggested. “Seein’ them oughta keep it in line.”

  Actually, that wasn’t such a bad idea, Tyla thought. She glanced at Ertz.

  “The sitting room has valuable books and scrolls, but the creature could do no harm in the other room.”

  “When Elias and the others get here, they can help us move it inside,” Tyla said.

  “Elias be comin’?” Tina Ann asked. “Ern’t seen him in ages.”

  “Lana and Jules are coming, too. Now please get back to work. All of you.”

  The breghlin reluctantly left.

  “Place me in the cart, touching the pythanium,” the spell book said. “If Emanicus gem masters have placed any spells on the creature, I will know.”

  “You can detect spells just by touching the Watcher?” Tyla asked.

  “Certainly. I am a rare and—”

  “Valuable book,” she finished. “Yes, I know.”

  If the book could have given her a dirty look, it would have. It made a rude noise instead.

  Tyla cautiously approached the cart. The creature might be pretending to be asleep. Its breathing didn’t change, and it didn’t move when she placed the book against its body.

  “There is a spell,” the book proclaimed.

  “Can you tell what it is?”

  “A spell to paralyze its victims, making it easier to capture prey.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Tyla said. “It might work on us as well.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that. It never affected Bounder,” said a voice behind Tyla.

  She turned to see Franklin and Bounder.

  “Hope you don’t mind us barging in,” Franklin said, “but like everyone else, we wanted to see the Watcher.”

  Bounder looked at the sleeping Watcher and showed his teeth in what looked like a sneer.

  “How did you know it was here?” Tyla asked.

  “Loud Mouth told us last night.”

  Tyla retrieved the spell book, and then told Franklin about the previous night’s adventures. “Next time I have a bright idea, I’d better think it through. I got us into quite a fix,” she finished ruefully.

  “Well, I’m sure it will all work out,” Franklin said. “Look, here come more helpers, and we’re going to need them. Good timing,” he called to Elias, Lana, and Jules. “We’re about to move the Watcher indoors.”

  After exchanging greetings and getting an enthusiastic welcome from the spell book, the trio examined the pythanium.

  “It looks far less menacing when it’s asleep,” Elias said.

  “We’re going to move this thing?” Lana asked. She looked the creature over. “I bet it weighs a lot more than the one Jules killed.”

  “Where will you put it?” asked Jules.

  “In S’s suite,” Ertz told them. “We’ll lock it in the room with the monster heads.”

  “How are you going to feed it? And er, clean up after it?” Lana asked.

  Tyla hadn’t given that a passing thought. There were plenty of rodents and holediggers on the property, but it would be a chore to capture them. The housekeeping staff would have to clean up after the creature, and even Peggy Ann, the most docile of the group, might refuse to clean up snake poop.

  “We’ll figure it out later,” Tyla said. “I can’t leave it here. Another Watcher might fly by and see it.”

  “The animal barn?” Lana suggested.

  “It would frighten our erum and maraku. I thought of the equipment barn, but we’d have to build an enclosure, and we really don’t have enough room there, anyway.”

  Elias absently ran his fingers through his beard. “You were warned not to kill it, but it may come to that. We should get as much information from it as we can first.”

  “The spell book says joining minds shouldn’t hurt you. An Emanicus gnome has already done that to give it intelligence and speech,” Tyla said. “But who knows what happened to him afterward?”

  “I knew it might be dangerous when I volunteered. I should get started before I lose my nerve. If you don’t mind, I’ll do it here. I’d rather not have lifeless monster eyes staring down at me while I work.” Elias climbed into the cart, knelt beside the creature, and placed his hands on its head. “Wish me luck.”

  Chapter 29

  Tyla tried not to worry. Lana and Jules stood beside her, holding hands, and they had to be more concerned about the elderly gem master than she was. After all, Elias was Lana’s great-great grandfather, and Elias and Jules had been friends for a long time.

  If his expression was any indication, things were going well. He didn’t look worried or frightened, and his hands were steady. He breathed deeply, in through his nose and out through his mouth, and once, his lips twisted in a faint smile. That had to be a good sign, she told herself. She started to relax.

  Loud Mouth landed near Franklin, and Franklin motioned for the bird to be silent.

  After ten or fifteen minutes, Elias broke the mental link and looked up. “I learned more than expected, but it took awhile. It was dreaming about flying and hunting, and I found it difficult to direct its thoughts.”

  “What did I tell you?” the spell book muttered in Tyla’s arms. “Pythanium are dull creatures. Their intelligence is greatly overrated. I have no idea why anyone—”

  “Hush or I’ll set you down,” Tyla said, cutting off the inevitable tirade. The book wouldn’t want dirt or moisture on its binding.

  Elias got out of the cart and dusted off his green robe. “Some of the creature’s masters live in a stone building, and the surrounding area does look like the barrier zone. From what I can tell, it lives a short distance away with a different group of Emanicus gnomes.”

  “What does that place look like?” Tyla asked.

  “I didn’t see a building, just open la
nd and a stream. It landed there a few times to deliver a report, so it’s strange I didn’t see a dwelling.”

  “Are either of the groups holding S?” Tyla asked.

  “I believe so. The Watcher has spoken with her.”

  “Was she a beetle?” Ertz asked anxiously.

  Elias frowned. “I really can’t say. I didn’t see them together.”

  “Even if we can locate the building, we may not find S. The other group may have her,” Tyla said.

  “Attack them and make one of them take you to the other hideout,” Lana said.

  “Easier said than done, but you have a point,” Tyla said.

  “They’re near a river,” Jules said thoughtfully, smoothing his wind-blown brown hair. “That narrows it down a little. We have maps that show rivers and underground streams. Elias, is it possible you didn’t see a second building because there isn’t one? You live in a cave. Maybe they do, too.”

  “I hadn’t given that a thought, but yes, that’s possible.”

  Dozens of officials had come to the Amulet, studying its geology, plants, and wildlife. Tyla was glad they had filed copies of their reports at Elantoth. Some of the information might prove useful.

  “After we get the Watcher inside, we’ll check the maps,” Ertz said.

  “I’d like to raid their hideout before the Watcher has been gone so long it’s obvious something has happened to it,” Tyla said.

  “Right. They may think someone killed it,” Lana said.

  “That reminds me of another interesting thing I learned,” Elias said, looking at the pythanium. “There’s a mental connection between the Watcher and the gnome who transferred intelligence to it. If the Watcher dies, the gnome will know.”

  “So, as long as the link isn’t severed, The Emanicus will assume the creature is alive,” mused Ertz. “And thanks to the mist ward, they can’t trace it here.”

  “Wait,” Lana said. “What if the mist ward blocks everything, including that mental link? They’ll think it’s dead.”

  Tyla’s heart sank. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Place the Watcher outside the ward. Then they will know it is alive,” the spell book said.