An Argument of Two

"I'm sorry but I have to disagree," replied Arkas in a tired voice. "It is your logic which is to be found wanting."

"HAH!" Ringroot answered derisivily. "How can you imagine that Fred was in league with our enemy the entire time. We tested him! I can assure with absolute confidence that he was nothing more than a victim in all this. The culprit we seek is Synizn!"

Arkas shook his head. He knew only too well Ringroot's obsession with the mountain man. To be sure, Ringroot was not wrong in his low opinion of the man. For one thing it was well known that Synizn wasn't really a man at all. Not anymore at any rate. In any normal town he would have been barred and banished long ago. Or killed on sight. But Walants wasn't like any normal town. It was a thieves den run by a cruel and cold-hearted cabal that could care less about who or what walked along the city's streets at night. Just as long as the customers weren't inconvenienced anyway.

But sometimes Ringroot let his abhorrance of the man cloud his reason. Like right now for instance. "No Ringroot!" Arkas nearly shouted. "Fred's arrival and your abduction of him was planned. And Synizn had nothing to do with it. It was Moreau's work. Pure and simple. She wants us to know she has the Crystallic. She wishes to crush our spirits utterly so that we will not even attempt to fight back. That is why Fred and Astra were allowed to be taken here and then, with their mission done, they simply vanished."

"And what is Moreau doing with the Crystallic?" Ringroot shot back. "It is Minestus' plaything. Only if Fred and Astra were telling the truth about Minestus' death could Moreau be its new owner. And yet, if they were telling the truth then it is without a doubt Synizn who has taken the Crystallic from us, as well as those two pitiful monsters."

"Nonsense!" Arkas shook his head violently, "And I shall prove it! Give me a handful of your people, your best spies. It is stealth and speed which I desire."

Ringroot frowned. "And where shall you be taking them I wonder."

"You know exactly where I intend to go," Arkas huffed, "to the great inland lake. To the island of the Dragon Moreau."

1. And as they continued to argue...

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