Sifting Through the Lies

"Well," Fred began, "before all this started all I knew of Synizn was what I'd heard from the knights of Allaria's southern duchies. They said he was a half-mad mountain man who roamed the Goth Mountains and had dealings with the dark things that dwell there."

Astra nodded, "Yes. He roams between the Goth and the southern reaches of MalBoncton, that much my people know for sure. As well as the fact that he can often be found in Walants, specifically the taverns there. And although he always keeps to himself Synizn is a man with a reputation. Moody, taciturn - definitely the wrong kind of man to bother with. And in the lands hereabouts everyone whispers that he's cursed; that he's a werebear. And too it is said that Synizn has knowledge of the black arts."

"And this was the man we came here to have save us," Fred muttered in disgust.

"Too late for regrets now," Astra chided him. "But what else do we know? Malachi said Synizn was her confidant, remember?" Fred nodded adding, "And Synizn told me that he and Malachi were old friends. The demifoxes only consider him to be a dragon servant though. Which is only natural. Dragons are beasts, and they treat everyone else as either servant or slave. They don't make friends with us. But then, if what Synizn claimed about himself is true... well of course he'd be her friend and not her slave. But dammit I've never heard of such a thing. All those other stories I can readily believe about him - mad mountain man, cursed werebear, dark mage. But he claims that he's actually a dragon trapped in the form of a man! I couldn't believe it when he told me and I still hardly can. I mean, it throws everything I know about dragons and magic into the air!"

"Maybe that was the point," Astra suggested. "He wanted you off-balance. That would make you less of a threat to him and more easily controlled. Let me tell you something, Fred. When I was sent by my people to slay the dragon we weren't sure whether or not the thing in the Northern Caves actually was a dragon. We had cause to believe that it went abroad disguised as a wizard. But it was unclear to us if the thing was a dragon pretending to be a wizard or a wizard pretending to be a dragon. And I'm sure that the monster knew that we were confused. Synizn seems to be playing the same game."

"Damn these dragons and their dragon friends!" Fred suddenly hollered. "All they do is lie, and it makes my head spin round. Which is exactly what they want! Malachi told us we were werefoxes. That was a lie. She told us that our curse was contagious. Well if Ringroot is any proof, that was a lie. She gave us jewelry and told us we needed it if we wanted to speak with anyone other then demifolke. That was a lie. (Fred glanced over to the chamber pot where he and Astra had unceremoniously deposited the ring and the necklace. They now knew the real reason Malachi had given them the jewels was so that Synizn could spy on them and more readily focus his magic upon them.) She told us to give Synizn the Crystallic so that he could cure us. That was a lie. And she told us we had two weeks before our curse became permanent. Considering how much that galvanized us into finding Synizn as quickly as possible I'm now sure that was a lie too."

"Finding the truth in the lies, Fred, that is our greatest challenge," Astra said. "With so little that we know for sure we may be forced to simply pick among the lies in the hope that we catch the truth."

"If there is any truth in all this," Fred grumbled.

"Well, we know this much," Astra replied. "Synizn and Malachi were in league with each other and, for whatever reason, what they wanted was the Crystallic which was in the possession of Minestus."

"Yes," Fred agreed, "and the Crystallic is so dangerous a thing that, according to Ringroot, the gods themselves will hurl divine retribution against anyone who uses it. And any innocent bystander who just happens to be in the neighborhood. I didn't take him seriously when he told me that but I really don't want to find out if he's right or not. Either way, at least both Malachi and Synizn agreed on the part about the Crystallic being able to restore our humanity."

"Oh Fred," Astra sighed, "we are into something which is dark and deep. This Crystallic is so important that two dragons battled each other to the death over it. What we've got to do is find out what Synizn wants with it." Astra paused for a moment and then added, "You know, maybe Synizn told you the truth, maybe he was cursed as we were and all he wants is to return to what he once was. I hope so. Therein lies our best chance that he will do for us what he does for himself."

"Well how do we find out?" Fred asked. "Just walk up to him and ask him?"

Astra thought for a moment and then nodded her head. "I think that's a fine idea."

1. Three days later...
2. After three days...

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