Chapter 15 - Part 13

Greenheart did not have standing lamps like the great cities of the other countries, but there were several torches lit on high poles to aid night travel. The band of Gatekeepers, including their companions and attendants, gathered under the light of one such torch, across the way from the Tharashk cottage.

The eldest one cast the spell, a simple spell of detection that normally would only reach sixty feet. He was skilled in druid magic, however, and he was able to make it range much farther. The Tharashk cottage had a few blind spots in it, places where some elementary shielding had been put up, but it was not complete. He stood for a full minute, peering through the cracks in the defenses.

There. It was strong, very strong. It was something with a symbiont, something that smelled unnatural. Something that smelled of other magicks, borrowed fields that had since faded. The Gatekeeper opened his eyes and released the spell.

“A half-blood,” he pronounced. “A powerful one.” The other two druids shrank in fear, and one of the attendant swordsmen winced.

“Why is one of the daelkyr’s chosen heirs in Greenheart now?” whispered the druid to his left. “And why would Delegado traffic with him?”

“Maybe it seized the half-orc’s mind,” suggested another. “Some foul treachery.”

“Do we charge?” snorted a beasthide shifter, toting a large axe.

The eldest druid considered the question, then frowned.

“Our duty commands us,” he pronounced.