Anbana Continues His Tale

"But you said yourself that he is long dead," Fred objected.

"We believe that it would be enough to put the ring back on his skeletal finger, or even to bury it with him should even the bones have crumbled away. It should have been removed from the finger of our leader when he died and then this could have been done. But all of our tribe were afraid to touch it, for fear of being cursed by it, so it remained with him when he was buried. It was only later, when the land began to die, that we realised our mistake. But still none was brave enough to risk bringing a death curse on himself to save the land. And none of us has dared even to visit the dead lands for many generations. But all that no longer matters, for Astra has found the ring. Since she has already incurred the curse, she can probably return the ring to its true owner without further damage to herself. Once that has been done, then not only will the land's curse be lifted but it seems likely that her own will be as well. Truly the spirits must have guided you here, to both our benefits."

"So do you know where the murdered explorer is buried?" Fred asked.

"Strangely enough, given how long ago it was, yes we do. His grave is back in the dead lands, of course. I can give you directions to it."

"There'th one big problem," Astra said. She held up her hand, to show Anbana that it was unadorned. "I no longer have the ring. When it gave me the lithp, it mutht have decided that I had been punithed enough. It jutht thlipped off my finger. Naturally I wath happy enough to leave it where it lay. To find it again would be like thearching for a needle in a haythtack."

1. "That is unfortunate."
2. "Let me tell you about the second explorer who may be of interest to you."
3. "Not necessarily."

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