Bearers of the Black Staff

The beast regarded him a moment, looked deep into his eyes as if seeking something, and then turned away and moved off, joining another of its kind, a second beast that looked exactly the same, a few yards off. They touched noses, giving greeting. Tongues licked out, and muzzles rubbed affectionately.

“That was what jumped on you and knocked you down,” Prue whispered over his shoulder. “You hit your head on a rock and lost consciousness. Then the Lizards took us both.”

Lizards, Panterra repeated silently. He was conscious suddenly of the source of the insistent throbbing: a sharp pain that emanated from a point far up on his forehead. It was there he had hit his head; he could feel a small trickle of blood running down his face. He tried to reach up to feel the wound, but his hands were tied around his waist, and he couldn’t raise them.

“It isn’t too bad,” Prue assured him. “Mostly, it’s just a big knot.”

Mostly. Pan shook his head. He wasn’t sure if he was more angry or embarrassed, being caught like this. He should have known better than to listen to Phryne Amarantyne. There was no good reason for him to have done what he did, coming out of cover and exposing himself just to see who had built a fire. But it was wrong to blame the Elven Princess; he was the one who had made the decision, the one who had given in when he should have known better.

He wondered suddenly where she was, where the Orullians were, too, for that matter. Did they realize what had happened to Prue and himself? Had they tried to come after them when they didn’t return? Had they sought a way to save them? He looked around more carefully, scanning the darkness, but he didn’t see anything.

He felt Prue edge closer, positioning herself so that she could whisper in his ear. “They were waiting for us, Pan. They built and lit the campfire as a trap. It’s some kind of game, I think. There were dozens of them in hiding, but they were too far away and too well concealed for me to detect. It was those beasts that did all the work. It was too late to do anything by the time I sensed them. They stalked us, cornered us, and knocked you down, and then the Lizards came, too.”

“Why do you say it’s a game?” he asked. “Did they tell you this?”

She shook her head. “They haven’t told me anything. They speak a language I don’t understand. It isn’t like the one the Lizards speak in the valley. These Lizards are different in other ways, too. They don’t look or dress the same. Their skin is different—darker, coarser, like tree bark. They don’t dress the same, either. They wear armor and carry shields.” She paused. “I think maybe they are part of an army.”

“But you think this was some sort of game that got us captured?”

“Just the way they acted when they saw us. Just how they moved and talked. They laughed a bit, pointed at us, made fun of the beasts that had us pinned. They seemed to be having fun.” She gestured suddenly. “Except for the two over there. Those two, they don’t seem happy at all. I think from the way the others treat them they might be the leaders. They’ve been arguing ever since they found us. I don’t know why.”

Pan looked at the two figures standing nose-to-nose some distance off, the first a little taller than the second, the second a little more aggressive. They were shouting now, the second gesturing toward their captives, the first giving him a look and a shrug. The taller was very black and very lean, not so burly and massive as the shorter or the Lizards with them. In the darkness, the fire crackled as someone fed it wood while the others stood idly by, watching the argument.

“If I could loosen these knots …” Pan trailed off and began working his wrists about experimentally, but the knots held.

“If you could loosen those knots and somehow make it to your feet, those beasts would be on top of you in about five seconds,” Prue pointed out. “I don’t think you want that.”

He glanced over at the wolfish creatures. They were sitting on their haunches, gleaming eyes fixed and eager. As if anticipating that he might make the effort to flee and give them some sport. Pan watched them for a minute, and then gave up trying to free himself. Prue was right; there wasn’t any point to it.

Then all at once the argument between the two Lizards ended, and the shorter of the two stomped over to where they were tied up and glowered down at them. There was a darkness in his gaze that left Pan feeling cold. He seemed very young, his skin still smooth in places and his features almost boyish. But there was nothing about him to suggest that he was in any way friendly or inclined to be helpful. Animosity radiated off him in bright waves. If Pan had wondered for a moment whether the Lizards might reconsider and let them go, he abandoned all such thoughts now.