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.“He is cultured beyond what one would expect from a barbarian,” the young scholar said, thinking to catch the wizard off her guard.The wizard’s chuckle mocked him.“Deductive, as I expected,” she said, more to herself than to Cadderly.Again her tone gave Cadderly pause.“The marking on his forehead, I mean,” Cadderly stammered, trying to regain his composure.“Tiennek is of the White Worm, the barbarian tribe living under the shadows of the Great Glacier.”“Is he?” the wizard purred, leaning forward in her chair, as if to better hear Cadderly’s startling revelations.Cadderly realized that it was useless to continue.The wizard fell back comfortably in her seat.“You are correct, young priest,” she said sincerely.“Amazingly so.Few from the region would recognize the remorhaz at all, let alone connect the marking to an obscure barbarian tribe that never ventures south of the Galena Mountains.I congratulate you as you have congratulated me.”Cadderly’s eyebrows rolled up with curiosity.“Tiennek’s mannerisms are indeed an aberration,” the wizard explained, “far from what one would expect from the savage warriors of the White Worm.”“You taught him that culture,” Cadderly added.“It was necessary if he was to properly serve me,” the wizard explained.The casual conversation put Cadderly at ease enough to offer a prompt.“Does he properly serve his lady…?”“Dorigen,” the wizard said.“I am Dorigen Kel Lamond.”“Of?”Again came that mocking chuckle.“Yes, you are inquisitive,” she said, her excitement mounting.“I have dealt far too long with one too much like you for your words to entangle me.” She calmed immediately, putting the conversation back into a casual mode.“So many things have happened so quickly, and Cadderly Bo-“ Dorigen paused and smiled, seeing his reaction.It was true, Dorigen realized, the young priest did not know his heritage, or even his family name.“You will pardon me,” Dorigen went on.“For all my knowledge, I fear I know not your surname.”Cadderly slumped back, understanding that Dorigen had lied to him.What was the significance of that single syllable the wizard had uttered? he wondered.Did Dorigen know of his parentage? Determinedly, Cadderly resolved not to play this mocking game with the wizard.To do so would put Dorigen in an even higher position of authority, something he and his friends could not afford.“Cadderly of Carradoon,” he answered curtly.“That is all.”“Is it?” Dorigen teased, and Cadderly had to concentrate hard to hide his interest.Dorigen broke the ensuing silence with a heartfelt laugh.“Let me answer some of your questions, young priest,” she said, and she tapped her shoulder, or rather, she tapped something invisible that was perched upon her shoulder.Druzil, the imp, faded into view.So they were connected! Cadderly realized, recognizing the imp, the same imp who had poisoned Pikel back in the library’s catacombs.There could be no doubt.Barjin and this wizard had come from the same source.Cadderly understood then the silent voice he had heard back in the other tent.He looked immediately to Dorigen’s delicate hand and the signet ring, recognizing it now that he realized what should be upon it.The trident and bottle design, the variation of Talona’s holy symbol that had so quickly become a mark of disaster to the region.“Greetings again, young priest,” the imp said in his raspy voice.Druzil’s forked tongue flicked, lizardlike, between his pointed yellow teeth, and he leered at Cadderly as an ogre might stare at a piece of roasting mutton.“You have been well, I presume?”Cadderly didn’t blink, refused to show any weakness.“And you have recovered from your flight into a wall?” he replied evenly.Druzil growled and disappeared from view.Dorigen laughed again.“Very fine,” she congratulated Cadderly.“Druzil usually is not so easily intimidated.”Still Cadderly did not blink.He felt an intrusion in his mind, an empathic bond he knew was coming from the imp.“Let him in,” Dorigen instructed.“He challenges you.Do you fear to learn who is the stronger?”Cadderly didn’t understand, but, still determined not to reveal any weakness, he closed his eyes and lowered his mental defenses.He heard Dorigen chanting softly, heard Druzil snicker, then felt the energy of a magical spell fall over him.His mind became a tangible blackness, as though he had been mentally transported to an empty place.Then a light, a glowing and sparkling orb, appeared in the distance, floating toward Cadderly.His mind watched the orb curiously as it neared, not understanding the danger.Then it was upon him, a part of his thoughts, burning him like a flame! A thousand fiery explosions went off inside his brain, a thousand searing blasts of agony.Cadderly grimaced, thrashed about in his seat, and opened his eyes.Through a dark cloud he saw the wizard, and the imp, seated, smiling, on her shoulder.The pain intensified; Cadderly cried out and feared he would fall unconscious-or dead, and he almost wished that he would
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