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and one of the animals responded with a snort.
"What did I find, indeed," Xan said, pulling from his back the small leather rucksack Khalid had bought for him in
Beregost. He looked inside first, as if reluctant to merely stick his hand in there. "I don't think this is the Zhentarim
we're following. They look more like bandits to me cutthroats and toughs nobodies, but they're organized, and
there are indeed too many for the three of us to hack through . .. sorry, my friend."
Abdel blushed a little at Xan's grin.
"I managed to get inside and poke around a bit, though," the elf continued, "and I found these." He pulled two items
from his rucksack: a neatly folded sheet of parchment and a rather impressive book. It was the book that caught
Abdel's eye first. He held out one big hand to the elf, who gently placed the book in his grip. It felt odd like leather
but smoother, somehow more dry. It was a strange, gray-green color, and the touch of it set off some of the same
responses in Abdel as Jaheira's touch often did. He remembered the feel of her leg on his and took a deep breath. On
the cover was a symbol that Abdel recognized but couldn't exactly place. It was a carved relief that actually looked like
a human skull, split in half and somehow bonded to the center of a circle in which tear drops or drops of
blood were sprinkled. The binding was two long, surprisingly delicate steel hinges. He opened the book and found it
a neatly ordered, skillfully illuminated text in a language he couldn't readily identify. He turned a page, and there was a
line drawing of a woman tied to a wooden ring and
Abdel closed the book with a loud thud and straightened his elbow sharply like he was throwing it away, but his
hand didn't open. He didn't want to let go of it, but he didn't want to see any more.
"Are you all right?" Jaheira asked him. When he didn't respond she said, "Abdel?"
"I'm fine," he said. "Where did you find this book?"
Xan looked confused, surprised by the question. "It was on a stand in one of the tents. It seemed important,
expensive, I don't know. No one was around, so I took it. What is it?"
"Evil," Abdel said simply. Jaheira and Xan exchanged a confused look. "It's it should go somewhere safe. I should
bring it to Candlekeep."
"Fine," Xan agreed quickly. "Are you sure you're "
"Yes," Abdel said, tucking the book safely into his backpack.
"Well," the elf said, "I do have some bad news. I'm afraid the bracelet you gave me slipped off, Jaheira. I lost it."
Xan held up a thin wrist as if to point out that he hadn't gained back much weight yet.
Jaheira smiled and said, "Just as well, I don't think it "
Abdel burst into movement, and at the same time the thick bushes a few yards from their camp site exploded into a
loud rustle. Something big moved through the brush away from them, and Abdel was following fast, his broadsword in
his hand.
Abdel hit the wall of thorny growth fast and hard enough to break it down, and he found the other's path in less
than a second. He took big, almost careless strides and was on the man in less than three heartbeats. Abdel didn't stop
to look who it was, he thrust his sword hard through the man's retreating shoulders, and the blade came up and out of
the man's mouth. The fleeing man didn't have time to scream. His last breath was a gout of bright red blood. Abdel
walked over him as he fell and came to a stop half a step past the man's head.
Jaheira and Xan burst through the brush behind him, and Jaheira took a quick step back at the sight of the grisly
scene.
Abdel waited for the rush to come over him as it always did when he killed so quickly, so without hesitation or
remorse. He'd come to know the feeling as his reward for following his instinct to kill. It was a guilty pleasure, but his
only pleasure for a long time. This time, though, it didn't come. He looked up and met Jaheira's gaze.
"He was headed for the camp," Abdel said, not sure why he thought he needed to explain.
Xan crouched next to the body and grunted, pushing the corpse over onto its back. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]