Fred Tries to Explain

He did not need to raise his voice to be heard. After the hubbub of a short time before, the bar was now totally silent, for everyone wanted to listen to the exchange between the stranger and the guards. He said: "I was on my way across the bar to rescue your High Priestess Tarsa, who two men had dragged into the back room over there, when the man Sorghum picked a fight with me. I had to defend myself against him and two of his cronies."

"It's true that Sorghum was no angel, and I find it hard to believe that even a Geohound would be rash enough to pick a fight with three mountain men," the Commander conceded. "But your story does not ring altogether true. What would Tarsa - who from what I hear is no longer High Priestess, by the way - be doing in a dive like this?"

"If you must know, she came to say farewell to me. You see, Suivant hired me as her protector."

"Ah yes, I'd heard that a Geohound was supposed to be looking after her. From all that I've heard, you didn't make much of a job of it."

"Look, I don't have time for this. She could be being ravished right now. If you don't believe my story, all you have to do is help me rescue her and you'll see that I am telling the truth."

"Very well. We will take a look in the back room. But if your story proves to be false, then you're in big trouble."

The Commander strode over to the door and flung it open. Fred - surrounded by the guards in case he should try to escape or to attack the Commander - was close behind.

1. The room was empty, but a door in the far wall that led into a courtyard stood open.
2. A by now half-naked Tarsa was struggling desperately in the grip of the two men, whose intention was obvious.
3. They found the two men dead! Their wounds suggested that they had been killed by some ferocious wild animal. There was no sign of Tarsa, but a door in the far wall stood open. Fred wondered whether her fear could have caused her to transform again.

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