“And communicate with you,” the Ard Rhys surmised. “How many Chzyks are there?”
“Many. Everywhere. One saw you come through the wall and told me. Lada went to find you and told me. I am looking for you a long time, but now you are not the right one.”
“You were looking for Grianne Ohmsford? How long were you looking?”
Tesla Dart’s wizened face turned away in disgust. “Forever.”
“Why would you do that?”
The Ulk Bog jumped to his feet and danced away. “I can help you, if you want. Like Weka, I track. Nothing escapes once I begin to search. You want to find your friends? Missing friends? Ask me!”
His dark face was bright and animated; he appeared eager to demonstrate his worth. He hissed at Lada, and the Chzyk raced over, leapt onto his arm, and scurried up to his shoulder. Together Ulk Bog and Chzyk waited for a response.
Khyber Elessedil hesitated. “You can find them for us?”
“Ha!” the Ulk Bog shrilled, dropping once more into a crouch. “Tesla Dart can find anything! Lada!”
He made a series of hissing sounds to the lizard creature, and Lada responded in kind. Then the Chzyk flashed away, tearing out across the flats south and disappearing from view.
“You see? Lada goes to find them. When he does, he will return to tell me. We can start walking now.”
He turned and began to follow the Chzyk, not bothering to look back at them. Redden and the Ard Rhys exchanged a look, and then Khyber called after the Ulk Bog to wait long enough to let them gather up their things. She spoke to her Druid Guard, who hastened to do as she asked. It took the members of the little company only minutes before they were ready.
But then Tesla Dart returned to them, leached of animation and excitement, suddenly serious. “What we do is very dangerous,” he said quietly. “In the land of the Jarka Ruus, you are trespassers and not welcome. You understand, do you?”
Khyber nodded. “This country is treacherous …”
“No! No! Not this country!” The Ulk Bog was suddenly angry. “Not to an Ulk Bog. Not to a tracker of my skill.” He took a step closer. “Tael Riverine!”
The Straken Lord. Khyber Elessedil had heard the stories from Grianne Ohmsford. Redden had heard them from his grandfather Pen when he was only five or six. The land of the Jarka Ruus was ruled by Tael Riverine, and all of its creatures, great and small, were his subjects. He had captured and imprisoned Grianne Ohmsford more than a century ago when she was trapped in the Forbidding, and he had very nearly killed her before she managed to escape.
“If he finds out you are here …” Tesla Dart trailed off, making a curious twisting motion with one finger pressed up against his neck. It was hard to mistake what he meant by it.
“Then we must be careful,” the Ard Rhys finished.
“You must be quick!” the Ulk Bog hissed. “Ar kallen rus’ta!”
“We still have to find a way out again. We have to get back to where we came from. Can you help us?”
The Ulk Bog shrugged. “A way out is no problem. Not to me. I know many ways out.”
Redden stared. Was this so? Was the Forbidding eroded so badly they could cross through it anywhere? He glanced at the Ard Rhys and could tell she was wondering the same thing. For the Forbidding to fail, the magic that sustained it must be completely compromised. But that happened only when the Ellcrys was dying and in need of rebirth. It had been hundreds of years since the last time, and there had been no word of a diminishment in the Elven magic, no word of the Ellcrys showing signs of sickness. Wouldn’t the Druids have heard about this before setting out? Yet the Ard Rhys seemed as surprised and confused as he was. Something was wrong with all of this.
“Stand around long enough,” Tesla Dart snapped, “and the Straken Lord will have no trouble finding you. Everything that lives in the land of the Jarka Ruus will want to tell him. Will you help them?”
The Ard Rhys shook her head. “Take us to our friends, Tesla Dart.”
The Ulk Bog smiled, and all those sharp teeth reappeared.
7