Magic-men

"Are you sure your stones pointed to the Dragon Hunter?" asked Carradene.

"I've already told you: They simply pointed south, they pointed to the Shreken. But this we know: the Dragon Hunter claimed to kill the Dragon - the Dragon, albeit without a certain body part, went on a rampage of destruction before flying north. The miners told the tale that Fred was taken by Kingsmen and brought to Caemlyn - but we know him now to have entered Trescent, and that the whole of the Duchy is in turmoil. These things point to Lord Frederigo as a harbringer of lies and malice."

"And the little one?" asked Carradene.

"If the Lord from Suffex is the harbringer, then the little girl is the Mistress of this evil. She spoke of our ways, she had power beyond which I have never seen in one so small. Whether she is small or just pretending to be so, I do not know."

"There have always been tales of great mischief in small packages," intoned Carradene. "But what of the others in the entourage of this tainted knight? They still remain unaccounted for and that disturbs me greatly."

"It is possible that the knight killed them and used their disappearance as a pretext to enter Trescent," conjectured Bertrand.

"Possible, but is it probable?" said Carradene. "We know that a foreign woman has been prowling the edges of our borders with Gelda, but what are the odds that this woman and the so-named "Woman of Aqualaria" are the same? We must hope that sister Liza and the others are having a better time at finding information. As for you, the kite is prepared."

Bertrand looked at the Keeper with great misgivings. "Couldn't I just take a horse?"

"No," he said with a smile.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Perhaps," said Carradene, his smile widening. Then he led the younger mage to the heights of the Aviary and helped him get into the basket. "Remember, if you feel sick don't look down." And with a signal from the older mage the great kite lifted its mighty wings and with it its body, its legs, and the basket containing one small man with a fear of heights. Its destination, Castlebar and beyond.

Meanwhile farther south along the border of the Shreken, sister Liza and brother Mulgrow were examining the current day's evidence. The two white cloaks and their Trackers had found their way to Mudpsot with the mission of finding traces of the three companions of the man who claimed to have killed a Dragon that yet still flew.

Meanwhile farther north, farther north than the Allarian border with the Calamari, brother Arch and sister Noemi were setting up their tents. The two white cloaks and their Rangers had found their way to a rare sheltered oasis with the mission of finding the whereabouts of the headless Dragon.

1. ...and on the hooves of madness came a horseman in the night...

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