Voidchaser - Chapter 18

Hello all,

Sebastian here.  Posting the next two chapters to Voidchaser, my
spelljammer novel.  Previous chapters can be found on Static's excellent
spelljammer page 'Beyond the Moons'
(that's http://www.gwr.com/~eshum/rpg/sj/tales/chaser/chaser.html)

Or if you're interested in my other stuff (my Ravenloft short story, the
Planescape novel, or the Realms novel) go to my storypage
(that's http://members.tripod.com/~Madmartigen/Sebastian.html)

Anyway, here's chapter 18 (chpt 19 will follow in next post)  As always,
comments, praise, criticism, flames, etc. are all welcome, and I live
for feedback (especially praise) :)

- Sebastian

		The Seekers are fools who search for truth
		They gather their 'knowledge' and look for proof
		Then place it under lock and key
		And hide it away so no-one may see.



					Chapter Eighteen



	"I was wondering something."
	Despite herself, Tianna jumped.  She had been standing by the port
railing, watching the line of soldiers on the docks.  Tavras was sitting
cross-legged in his accustomed place at the stern, a few paces aft of
her, but so silent had he been that she had forgotten his presence.  She
glared icily at him.  "What?"
	He gave a thin-lipped smile that did not reach his hard measuring eyes.
"I was wondering why you love goblinkin so much."
	"What?" she asked, incredulous.
	He shrugged.  "I've seen you, cavorting with the little monsters.  That
little toad that follows you around all the time, he's like a pet, isn't
he?  It's disgusting."
	Anger welled up in her at the accusation.  "You're trying to goad me."
	He smiled again, the predatory gleam still in his eyes.  "I'm stating a
fact.  I wonder what your Fleet superiors would say if they knew you
were a goblin-lover."
	"He may be a goblin," said Tianna angrily, "and an animal.  But I find
his company infintely preferable to yours."  She turned away from him.
	"Perhaps you could have little goblin children," taunted Tavras, "and
name them little goblin names."
	Tianna's jaw clenched, but she refused to answer him.  Tavras cared
nothing for goblinkin - this was about something else.  He knew her
weakness, and was trying to provoke her.  She didn't know what his game
was, but she refused to play it.
	From the corner of her eye she caught movement, from out in the starry
void.  She whirled, looking upwards.  "What the...?"  She glanced over
to Chowat, who was standing lookout for the stern.  The orc had his
spyglass out, scanning the heavens lazily.  He didn't seem concerned.
	"Oh yes, it's a ship," volunteered Tavras.  "A small fleet, in fact.
Cartan's reinforcements have arrived.  Trading Company, mostly.  They've
got two great bombards with them, and once they've taken postition,
they'll begin blasting this entire area to pieces."
	Tianna looked at him as if he were speaking another language.  "What?
Cartan... who?  How do you know that?"
	He stared at her.  "I know because I know."
	She looked at Chowat again.  The orc seemed as unconcerned as ever.
"Chowat.  Chowat!"
	"I wouldn't bother," said Tavras.  "He doesn't see them, and he can't
hear us."
	She whirled on him.  "Betrayer!  This is your doing!"
	He shrugged.  "Who else?  Now, if you don't mind, please sit down and
be still.  And keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut.  Even I
can't shield your actions from everyone aboard."
	Tianna's eyes widened in shock as her muscle control was torn from her.
She managed a mewling cry of surprise before her jaw clenched tight,
sealing her mouth.  She staggered one step towards Tavras before her leg
muscles spasmed.  She fought terribly against it, but found herself
turning, walking slow step by step back to the railing.  Abruptly she
sat, collapsing down onto the deck, an unwilling prisoner in her own
body.  Helpless tears of outrage welled up in her eyes.
	"Now, now, my dear," Tavras chided.  "I can still read your mind.  Such
language is unladylike."
	Furious, she fought for some control; any control.  Nothing.  She
couldn't even blink.
	"You know you're going to die, don't you?" asked Tavras.  His voice was
mild; conversational.  "I'm really truly sorry for that, but it has to
be done.  What's that?  You're wondering why I'm doing this?"  He
chuckled.  "Perhaps I am a monster, just as you say.  But you must die,
and the Wayfarer must be neutralized.  Those are my directives."
	Tianna had not spoken aloud; she could not.  But inwardly she was
raging at him.
	Tavras glanced upwards.  "Almost in position now.  One could almost
pity the soldiers on the docks - unaware of fate that hangs over their
heads."  He smiled.  "No, my dear, you flatter me.  I have not masked
the fleet from them.  Even I could not sway so many minds.  Which is why
I must arrange for a distraction.  Excuse me for a moment."
	His eyelids fluttered closed.
	Tianna was left in silence for several moments, locked helplessly in
her own body.  She found that she could move her eyes, though little
more.  Chowat still stood at the stern railing, only a few paces away,
unconcernedly sweeping the heavens with his spyglass.  Farther forward,
one of the two guardsmen who had been stationed aboard paced the width
of the deck slowly, pike in hand.   She couldn't see the other one from
here, but she knew he was stationed in the bow.
	Keryth and Gotam were farther forward, engaged in quiet conversation.
The gnoll glanced at her once, and she tried desperately to catch his
gaze, but he turned away as a small group of guardsmen suddenly left
their posts on the dock and approached the ship.
	"New orders," said the guard-captain as he approached.  "We're to check
each ship in port for contraband.  You're to submit your ship to our
search."  He was a young man, probably not more than twenty, with
shoulder length blond hair tied back into a ponytail and a thin
mustache.  As he spoke, his eyes slowly scanned the ship.  His gaze
caught hers, and with a chill, she knew.  Tavras!
	Keryth considered the young man before him for a long moment.  "No
other ships," he managed at last in rough common, "being searched like
this."  He gestured to the spelljamming ships docked on either side of
the Nightwarder.
	"We're doing them one at a time, starting with yours," said the
captain.  "A ship filled with goblinkin seemed a likely suspect."  His
voice hardened.  "Make no mistake, this is not a request.  Stand aside
and grant entry."
	The four soldiers behind him had tightened their grips on their
weapons.  They were even younger than he was; hardly more than boys.
They looked frightened, but determined.  On the docks, some of the other
soldiers were watching as well.  Beside Tianna, the guardsman with the
pike had also tensed, taking a firmer hold on his weapon and watching
intently.  Chowat had not moved from his place, but his attention was on
the guardsman.
	No-one's watching the sky, realized Tianna with dismay.  His
distraction is working perfectly.
	"What do you think?" Keryth asked Gryth, speaking in Wravvish.
	"Trouble," the ogre rumbled quietly.
	"I repeat," said the captain.  "Stand aside and be boarded.  This is
your final warning.  Even a goblin should understand that."
	Don't let them aboard!  Tianna silently willed.  Don't let them aboard!
	"Very well," said the gnoll with a nod, speaking again in common and
standing aside.  "You may come."
	No!  Tianna watched helplessly as the guard-captain and his men came
aboard.
	The captain surveyed the ship for a moment.  His eyes caught Tianna's,
and he offered a half-smile.  "Williams, Connor," he barked.  "Get
below.  Search everything, you know how tricky goblinkin are."  Two of
the soldiers who had followed him aboard headed below.  The other two
took up position forward, eyeing the crew.  Each held a crossbow at the
ready.
	The captain glanced at Keryth and the other crewmembers.  "If they try
anything, kill them."
	He sauntered back towards the stern.
	Surprised, Tianna found herself lurching to her feet.  She staggered
slowly forward, moving like a ragdoll, heading straight towards the
guard-captain.  What is he doing?
	Her movements were less controlled than before; more ragged, and she
realized with a start that his control was less pronounced now.  Maybe
when he's controlling two different bodies at once his concentration is
too stretched.
	As the thought hit her, she renewed her struggle.  Perhaps his control
was not as absolute as he thought.
	Garn emerged from below, glancing around.  "Get up there, you stinking
goblin," a voice from beneath him commanded.  The goblin stepped on
deck, followed by one of the guardsmen the captain had sent below.
	Tianna abruptly halted as the captain turned his attention to the
goblin.
	"Found him below, sir, skulking about."
	Garn looked uncertainly from one of them to the other.  "What is
happening?" he asked, speaking in Wravvish.
	The captain gave the soldier a baleful look.  "Don't waste my time,
Williams.  Find me some contraband; until then, get below.   As for
you," he said to the goblin, "get forward, with the rest of your kind."
	The soldier nodded and ducked below.
	"What is happening?" Garn asked again.
	"It is well," said Keryth.  "A routine search, nothing more."
	Tianna tried to scream.  To her surprise, she was able to draw enough
air to manage a faint cough.  His control is slipping!
	Garn slowly backed away from the captain, heading towards Tianna rather
than forward.
	Tianna summoned all of her strength, all of her willpower, focusing it.
Warn them, she thought frantically, I must warn them!
	"Help!" she croaked.  The word was hardly more than a whisper, but Garn
heard it, and stared at her.
	The captain heard it too.  He frowned.  An explosion of pain suddenly
wracked her skull as his will crushed down like a vice.  She saw stars,
and the world went blurry.
	"Something is wrong," said Garn, staring at her.  "She... something is
wrong."  He caught sight of Tavras, behind her, sitting cross-legged,
his eyes closed in a trance-like state.  "The mindbender!"
	He whirled.  "We are betrayed!"
	The captain frowned.  Tavras knew the game was up.  "Kill them all!" he
ordered, unsheathing his dagger and striking forward in a thrust meant
to disembowel Tianna.
	She was still reeling from his mental assault, so what happened next
was a blur.
	There was a thump and a cry, and farther forward, the sound of a
crossbow going off.
	Her eyes focused a moment later, and she found herself in the midst of
a pitched battle.  Garn had leaped onto the captain, the wiry little
goblin wrestling him to the deck.  Momentary surprise had given the
advantage to the goblin, but the tide was quickly turning.  The captain
was much stronger.
	As she watched, powerless to help, the captain gained the upper hand,
pinning the goblin below him and shifting the dagger so that it hovered
above the creature's heart.  Garn gasped as the blade came down, slowly
impaling him.  His eyes rolled in agony, and blood spurted and pooled on
the deck below them.  He went limp a moment later, his breath coming
raggedly.
	The captain wrenched the dagger out of the little body, glaring up at
Tianna.  "Come here!" he barked.
	While her mind shrieked in rebellion, her legs jerked her forward,
carrying her within striking distance of his blade.
	Farther forward, she heard Keryth barking orders.  "Sever the lines!
Repel!  Repel!  We lift immediately!"  He grunted as the guardsman he
was wrestling with pummeled him in the abdomen, but maintained his grip
on the man's crossbow.  The other crossbowman was lying on the deck,
still and bloody.  Nearby lay Macha, a crossbow quarrel lodged in his
throat.  Gryth had gotten a pike from somewhere, and was swinging it
fiercely, using his long reach to keep back the other soldiers, who had
come running down the dock as the battle had begun.
	To her left, she heard Chowat grunting as he struggled with the
guardsman who had been posted at the stern.  The guardsman had gained
the advantage, and had forced the orc back against the railing, pinning
him by the throat with the haft of his pike.  Chowat was gasping for
breath, trying to keep from being choked to death, and the guardsman was
groaning as he fought to crush the orc's windpipe.
	All these things Tianna saw in the space of a heartbeat.  Time seemed
to have slowed - she felt as if she were moving in a dream.
	The captain gave on last sneering grin.  "Goodbye, fair lady.  Give my
regards to eternity."
	At that moment, Keryth fired.  Tianna didn't see when he managed to
wrest the crossbow from its owner.  It was just suddenly there, in his
arms, and it barked as it fired.
	The quarrel flashed as it passed, stirring the wind on her cheek.  The
captain's eyes flickered at the unexpected motion in his peripheral
vision.
	It struck Tavras's body squarely in the shoulder.  He cried out in
agony, his eyes opening in shock as he toppled backwards over the
railing and off the ship, into the gravity field.
	Instantly Tianna felt control return to her.  She leaped back from the
captain's blade.
	The captain swung once, clumsily, then tumbled to the deck.  His eyes
crossed and he went silent, a thin line of drool leaking from the corner
of his mouth.
	At that moment there was a thunderous roar.  Tianna went sprawling to
the deck, stunned and deafened.  Faintly, she was aware of the taste of
blood.
	Ahead, she saw Keryth's mouth furiously moving as he barked orders,
though she was surrounded by silence.  To her right, over the railing,
she saw bits of wood and cement hurling through the air.  An enormous
section of the docks had simply... disappeared, leaving a ragged and
bloody hole.
	The line of soldiers were shouting, though she could not hear them,
gesturing frantically to the stars, and the line of ships that had
appeared seemingly from nowhere.
	Gods above! she thought.  The great bombards are in place!
	It was the last thought of her conscious mind, as she slipped into cool
darkness.

				*	*	*

	If his verse was any indication, the Storyteller had never had much
respect for the Seekers, and Reanyn was beginning to understand why.
	The aide had conducted them down to the lower level of the great
library, where the Seeker's personal quarters were located, and ushered
them into a circular room.
	Five men had met them there, two of them very-well dressed and fairly
aged in years and their three younger companions looked much like
dockworkers.  None of them looked anything like the stereotypical robed
and hooded Seekers most people expected to see.  The five had politely
introduced themselves, and Reanyn had asked about Windhook.
	That had been nearly a half-hour ago.
	The five Seekers were excrutiatingly polite, but absolutely
close-mouthed.  the most they would say about Windhook was that he was
'somewhere safe'.
	Reanyn was beginning to become frustrated.  "Look, I'm not after
Windhook to get to the Raver.  I don't even believe in the Raver."
	"Your friends do," pointed out one of the older gentlemen, indicating
Barundar and Nym.
	"Maybe," conceded Reanyn, "but the point is that neither they nor I
have any reason to harm him whatsoever.  I understand that you people
take care of your own, but literally everyone in known space is after
Windhook, most of whom will be far more brutal in their pursuit than me.
The safest thing to do, for Windhook's sake as well as your own, is to
hand him over to me."
	One of the younger men smiled.  "Really?  Hand him over to a bounty
hunter?  You have a strange notion of safety, Wayfarer."
	"He'll be more safe with me then he would be anywhere else in the
universe.  I can hide him away where no-one will find him.  Can you do
that?"
	"I believe," said one of the older gentlemen, "that that is exactly
what we have done."
	Reanyn ground his teeth.  This was the same argument the Seekers always
came to.
	"Perhaps we might try a different tack," interjected Nym.
	"What do you mean?" asked one of the younger men.
	"What I mean is that maybe we can work out a trade.  Let's not pretend
the Seekers are a completely altruistic organization."
	The young man snorted.  "You've got to be kidding.  You want us to
betray one of our own?"
	And older man motioned him to silence.  "There's nothing you could
offer us," he said.
	"Really?" asked Nym.  "I thought maybe the Seekers sought knowledge to
the exclusion of all else."
	The older gentleman nodded sagely.  "That is correct.  Knowledge is the
only important commodity in the universe."
	"And you'd do anything to gain more of it," said Nym.
	"Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that," protested the older
gentleman.
	"But you have had dealings with groups like the Long Fangs and the
Tenth Pit in the past, haven't you?" persisted Nym.
	"When they had something to offer us," conceded the older man.
"Knowledge may come from anywhere.  We do not discriminate against any
source, no matter how distasteful."
	"So it would not be unfair to surmise that you might be willing to
trade Windhook for some bit of knowledge that otherwise you might not
get, would it?"
	"Forget it," muttered the young man contemptuously.
	"Perhaps."  The older man ignored his young companion.  "But that
brings us to the question of what you have to offer.  Windhook is very
valuable to us, and I cannot think what you might have to offer that
would be as valuable."
	Nym laughed.  "Let's not be ridiculous.  Windhook's information is
valuable to you.  And you've already gotten that, or I don't know
Seekers at all.  You're just protecting him out of duty.  If you were to
give him to us, you would know that you were placing him in capable and
responsible hands, where he would be kept safe, and you would get
something as well."
	The old man considered.  "You still haven't told me what you have to
offer yet.  You should know we don't have any great need for gold."
	Nym shook his head.  "I'm not talking about gold; I'm talking about
knowledge.  And it isn't my knowledge I'm offering, but Reanyn's."
	"What?"  The old man was intrigued.
	"What?" echoed Reanyn, even more surprised.
	"I'd be willing to bet Reanyn can give you information you don't have,"
said Nym.
	"Regarding what?" asked the old man.
	"Regarding Armistice."
	"Armistice?  I wasn't aware there were any mysteries about Armistice."
	Nym smilded.  "Of course you weren't.  Ignorance is bliss, and all
that.  You've heard that the goblinkin have rebuilt themselves into a
civilized and powerful culture?"
	"Legends," said the old man dismissively.  "Unfounded myths."
	"Not so," said Nym.  "And Reanyn here is intimately involved."
	The old man looked Reanyn up and down dubiously.  "An elf?"
	Nym nodded sagely.  "Strange as it sounds, it's true.  Interested?"
	Reanyn was not happy with where all of this was going.  "Nym, may I
speak with you a moment?"  He didn't wait for a reply, but pulled the
dracon aside.  "What do you think you're doing?"
	Nym gave Reanyn an innocent look.  "I'm getting us Windhook," he said.
"What else?"
	"And you're giving out information on the Wravvish," said Reanyn.  "I'm
not sure I want that given out."
	"Who better to give it to?" asked Nym.  "The Seekers don't give out
information for free."
	"I'm still not certain I want them to have it at all.  What if someone
comes along and exchanges something else to find out about it?"
	"Highly unlikely," said Nym.  "Whoever asked to find out about the
goblinkin on Armistice would already have to know something was amiss
there just to raise the question in the first place.  Look, you weren't
worried about me or Barundar spreading word of what you've got going,
and I'm guessing you weren't worried about Tianna or Wayland Tavras
either.  Why was that?"
	"Because none of you know enough about it, and none of you could find
your way to Safehaven."
	Nym smiled.  "Well, there you go.  Why should the Seekers be any
different?  Don't worry, we won't tell them everything.  Just enough to
get us Windhook."
	Reanyn considered.  "Very well," he said after a long moment, "but I'll
do the talking."  The two turned back to the Seekers.
	"Do we have a deal?" asked Reanyn.
	"I believe we do," said the eldest, "assuming your information is
correct."
	"Oh, it's corrrect.  And you've already had a taste of it.  So I want
you to tell me something about Windhook first, just so I know
everything's aboveboard between us."
	The Seeker considered, then smiled.  "I suppose I could tell you that
he's not on the Rock."

					*	*	*

	"Great void!" grumbled Barundar, "I thought we were closing in on him.
I really had my hopes up."
	The three bounty hunters were threading their way through abandoned
streets, making their way back to the docks.  Somewhere in the distance,
the battle raged on, faint screams and shouts hanging in the air.
	"The Devros belt isn't that far off," reminded Nym.  "And we are
closing on him."
	The giff wasn't satisfied.  He whirled suddenly, struck by an idea.
"Wait a minute!  What if we're being decieved here?  How do we know they
told us the truth?"
	The other two stared at him.
	"Well, what about the money trail?" the giff persisted.
	Reanyn shook his head.  "Ends here.  I checked."
	"Well, doesn't that tell us anything?'
	"Not really.  Devros is still the best lead."
	Barundar shook his head.  "But we could be being put on a false trail."
	"Not likely," said Nym.  "If so, we'll find out when we reach Devros.
Then we'll turn around and come back."
	The ground trembled beneath their feet, as a great explosion hit
somewhere in the distance.
	"What in the abyss was that?" asked Barundar.
	"Bombard," answered Reanyn.
	"Bombard?"  Barundar was disbelieving.  "I've heard bombards before.
That was no ordinary bombard."
	"It was a great bombard," said Reanyn.  "I would say that some of
Cartan's reinforcements have arrived."
	"Spelljamming ships?" asked Nym.
	Reanyn nodded.  "They'll pound the Rock apart from orbit.  Bad news for
Prince Aric."
	"Maybe not," said Nym.  "If Aric's troops control enough of the
ground-based heavy ballista and bombards, they should be able to keep
the skies cleared."
	Another explosion rocked the ground, followed by screams in the
distance.
	"Either way, we don't want to be here," said Reanyn.

					*	*	*

	The royal guardsmen who had sealed off the port district were gone when
the three bounty hunters returned.  There had obviously been a battle
here earlier, as the edges of the docks were strewn with the bodies of
guardsmen and mercenaries.  Apparently the guardsmen had held nearly to
the end, as there were far more guardsman corpses than mercenaries.
	Most of the docks had been smashed to kindling and set afire, and all
of the ships docked there were either destroyed or gone, leaving burning
wreckage bobbing and drifting in the gravity plane.  Of the Nightwarder,
there was no sign.
	"Well," said Barundar, "this is a mess.  I hope your ship isn't
somewhere in it."
	"Diadan's reinforcements must have hit here first," reasoned Reanyn.
"It makes sense.  He wouldn't want to leave the port open."  He snatched
a piece of burning timber out of the gravity plane, and, holding it by
its unlighted side, began to swing it back and forth in a slow sweep.
	"What are you doing?" asked Nym.
	"Signalling," answered Reanyn.  "I would  have thought it was obvious."
	Minutes passed.
	Then, far off in the distance, a speck of light appeared.  Rapidly it
grew until it had resolved itself into the forward lantern of the
Nightwarder.
	Moments later the ship had manuevered its way through the floating
wreckage, and hovered immediately over the bounty hunters' heads.  A
rope ladder was flung down over the side.
	Quickly Reanyn scrambled aboard, Barundar and Nym at his heels.  "Lift
ship," he immediately ordered, noting that it was Chowat who manned the
helm and not Gryth.  "What happened?" he asked Keryth.
	"Things got rough.  I lifted."
	"How rough?"
	"The mindbender betrayed us," said the gnoll flatly.  "We were boarded
by city guardsmen and forced to engage."
	Reanyn cursed.  "Where is he?" he asked.
	"Dead, I hope."  The gnoll gestured at the whirling wreckage shrinking
below them.  "I feathered him with a crossbow bolt, and he went tumbling
over the side.  I can't be certain, though; it wasn't a clean shot."
	Reanyn nodded towards the helm, where Chowat sat.  "Where's Gryth?"
	"He is below, with the... elf girl, tending the wounded."
	Reanyn was taken back by the respect in the gnoll's voice.  It was the
first time he had referred to Tianna as anything other than 'jalhadi'.
"The wounded?"
	The gnoll nodded grimly.  "Macha was killed in battle.  He took a
crossbow bolt in the throat - it was quick, at least.  Gotam was stabbed
in the side - he will live, thinks Gryth, but Garn is not expected to
last the night."
	"Garn?" asked Reanyn, surprised.  "He fought?"
	The gnoll nodded.  "With honor.  It is because of him that the elf girl
lives, for Tavras tried to slay her.  He was stabbed in the chest," -
the gnoll indicated a spot on his breast - "here.  His wound is very
grave.  It is unusual that he has managed to live so long."
	Reanyn started for the hatch.  "I must check on them."
	"What course shall we set, kitchva-lanrac?" asked Keryth, as he turned.
	Reanyn looked back at him.  "Is the ship worthy?"
	The gnoll gave a somber nod.  "A few scratches, nothing more.  But we
are now seriously undermanned."
	Reanyn glanced at Barundar and Nym.  "Then put them to work.  We make
for the Devros belt.  Windhook is on Syrrus B."

				*	*	*

	Garn cried out in pain as Gryth applied the poultice.  Already his
breath came in ragged pants, his lips stained red by the blood which was
expelled each time he gasped.
	"Shhh," said Gryth tenderly, gently wrapping the goblin's wound.  "It
will ease your pain, old friend."
	The ogre rarely spent time belowdecks.  When he wasn't manning the
helm, he usually kept to the bow.  He took most of his meals there, and
had a makeshift bedroll for sleeping.
	Yet despite his bulk and obvious unease when below, his movements when
dressing and bandaging were deft and sure.  And he was gentle.  He had
closed the gaping wound in Gotam's side, using fingers which looked too
large and ungainly for such a delicate task.  Yet when he was finished
sewing the wound up, the stitches were small, neat and even, and the
stone-faced kobold, though in obvious pain, had not offered a word of
complaint.
	He finished wrapping Garn's poultice and stood, quietly stepping back,
regarding the little goblin with melancholy eyes.
	Tianna had watched in silence, afraid to speak.  "Is... is there any
chance?"
	The ogre shook his head sadly.  "The poultice will ease his suffering.
It is all that can be done."
	Tianna felt a hot tear spilling onto her cheek.  Quickly she wiped it
away.  She swallowed at the sudden lump that had formed in her throat.
"He did it to save me.  Why?  I am only 'jalhadi' to him."
	The little goblin coughed painfully, a pitiful grating sound that
spattered more flecks of blood on the sheets surrounding him.  His eyes
fluttered open, but they stared sightlessly upwards.  "I cannot see," he
rasped, "Where... where is the elf girl?  I must... speak to her.  Bring
her to me, please.  For honor... bring her to me."
	Tianna exchanged glances with the ogre, then knelt beside the little
goblin.  "I'm here," she said, taking his hand.  "I'm sorry... I'm so
sorry."
	His expression softened at her touch, and the faintest of smiles played
on his lips.  "You are here," he said.  "Good.  For I cannot die.  Not
yet."
	Tianna tried to think of words, something to reassure him, but nothing
would come.
	"Do not be sad," said the goblin, feeling the tears on her face.  "It
is a little pain; it will soon pass."  He was wracked by another series
of coughs.  "It is soon now," he managed, once they had passed.  "I must
ask your forgiveness, Tianna Snowmantle."
	"Forgiveness?" she asked.  "My forgiveness?  For what?"
	"I have named you 'jalhadi', but it is not so.  You are not honorless.
I beg forgiveness.  I would not die without it."
	Her vision blurred with tears, and for a moment she could not speak.
"Of course," she said at last.  Her heart was sickened as she recalled
what she had said to Tavras earlier.  I called him an animal, she
thought sorrowfully.  What right had I?
	He smiled.  "It is good."  His eyes fluttered closed again.
	His breathing was slowing; each breath was drawn more painfully.
"Garn," she said, "please don't die yet."
	Her words brought him back momentarily.  "I... must go."
	"I need your forgiveness as well."  Her words came out in a rush.  "I
misjudged you - all of you.  I thought you were goblinkin.  I know now I
was wrong.  I... I would be proud to name you friend.  Please, please
don't die."
	"Friend," he said gently.  The word was quiet, almost unfinished.  Then
his hand relaxed in hers.  His breathing had stopped.  And he was gone;
a peaceful expression on his face.
	For a moment she knelt by his side, grief-stricken.  Then she stood,
looking down at the frail little body.
	She turned to find Reanyn standing at the door, watching her quietly.
	Her hands instinctively flew to her eyes, wiping away the tears.  But
just as quickly she forced them down, knowing it for a futile gesture.
Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen anyway; he would know.  She would
preserve her dignity.
	"If you'll excuse me," she said, not meeting his eyes.
	He stood aside to let her pass.  "Tianna-" he said, his voice
surprisingly gentle.
	"I must go," she said, pushing past.
	He watched her hurry down the hatchway, disappearing into her quarters.
He looked at Gryth.  "Strange..."
	The ogre was bent over, re-inspecting Gotam's wound, careful to appear
absorbed in his work.  "Garn is with his ancestors," he said, not
looking up.  "He just passed.  You have heard that Macha was struck
down?"
	Reanyn nodded.  "And Gotam?"
	The kobold was laying prostrate on the bunk next to Garn's body.  At
the sound of his name, his head snapped up.  "I am well, Kitchva-lanrac,
fit to attend my duties, should this badger cease his nursemaiding."
	The ogre scowled.  "Hardly that.  It is a serious wound, middling-deep,
though no vitals were scored.  You will stay in bed for the next two
weeks, even should I have to tie you, hand and foot."  He looked up at
Reanyn.  "He should recover, though."
	The crochety kobold frowned, but kept his silence.
	Reanyn touched the ogre's arm.  "This blood is yours," he said,
touching the ruby-damp cloth.
	The ogre shrugged.  "A scratch, hardly more.  Vimal recieved a similar
wound on his left leg.  I bound it and sent him away.  He will walk
stiffly for a few days, but it will heal."
	"See that you bind your own wound," said Reanyn.  "your dressing is
leaking through."
	Gryth glanced at it, and chuckled.  "So it is.  I will re-bind it in a
moment."
	Reanyn shook his head.  "Now.  I need you healthy."
	The ogre gave a massive shrug, stood, and crossed the room to retrieve
a clean bandage.  As he unwrapped the first dressing, he looked over to
find Reanyn looking blankly down the hall.
	"She is no jalhadi," Gryth said gravely, echoing Reanyn's thoughts.

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