Midnight Quest by Honor Raconteur Page A

rather faint to me.”
    “Rialt, you know Ramath better than I. Are there any roads going that direction?”
    “Generally,” Rialt answered with thoughtful hesitation. “The main highway here will connect to another that heads northeasterly. Afore that, it be all minor trails, really.”
    “Any stories about where the crystal is now?” Sarvell pressed. “Any hints that might help us to get there faster?”
    “Stories aplenty,” Rialt answered wryly. “But nothing helpful, leastways. The tale goes that many generations ago, Juven and Elahandra had some spat or t’other. My people, knowing how the wee lass felt, rose up and took the crystal out of the building it was in. They tried to destroy it and could no make a scratch on it, so they dragged it off a fair piece instead. Now, here the story changes depending on who you ask—some say it was buried, others say Elahandra appeared in a flash of light and took it, and I even heard one man say that it just dissolved into the ground when taken away from its rightful place.”
    “An argument between the gods,” Jewel repeated in sheer disbelief. “ That’s why the crystal was moved?!”
    “Eh, that’s the one part everyone agrees on.”
    “That’s ridiculous!” she spluttered. “The gods argue amongst themselves all of the time! I mean, sometimes they don’t get along for whole centuries! Why would your people sacrifice the safety of the entire clan over one argument? ”
    “Well, we be all a mite fond of the wee lass,” Rialt answered with a long sigh. “As temperamental as she be, she still be a good ‘un. We take insults against her to heart.”
    “ RIALT AXHEIMER!” a loud, feminine voice boom seemed to shake the heavens.
    “Speak of the goddess, and she appears…” Rialt muttered in an odd voice. “She be right behind me, be she no?”
    “Y-yes,” Sarvell choked out.
    In the sudden, absolute stillness of the campsite, Jewel could hear every angry step that the goddess took. Jewel reached out and grabbed Sarvell’s arm, drawing him in sharply. “Quick, tell me what she looks like!” she hissed to him.
    “Tall, buxom, hair loose and wavy,” Sarvell quickly muttered. “She’s in armor, although her legs are bare, and her swords are still in scabbards on her back. She looks ready to strangle Rialt.”
    The hilt of Rialt’s axe scraped against the rock as he stood. Jewel shivered as he gained his feet, whether from the glacial silence pressing against her, or the sudden absence of Rialt’s warmth, she wasn’t sure.
    “Juven,” Rialt greeted calmly. “What can I do for you this fine evening?”
    “You can go back to your homeland where you’re supposed to be!” she snapped at him.
    “I be on my way,” he assured her with that same eerie calmness.
    “Without that puny girl!”
    “Now that I canna do.”
    “Axheimer, are you arguing with your goddess ?!”
    Jewel winced as that voice blasted, setting her head to ringing.
    “That ‘puny girl’ faced death instead of leaving our people open to attack.” A hard edge of anger laced his retort. “Even now her head be full of nothing but helping Ramath, eh, and every clan like us that be left to our own defense against the Daath! Elahandra might have called me to her, Juven, but it was me alone that decided to protect her. I willna leave her defenseless again just cause you be at loggerheads with your sister.”
    Jewel winced, half-shying from where Rialt stood solidly between her and the angry goddess. She half-expected Rialt to be struck by lightning (or a heavenly sword) at any moment.
    “You are the most impossible, thrawn, eijit of a man!” Juven spat.
    “Eh,” Rialt agreed readily. “But you love me anyway.”
    To Jewel’s surprise, Juven let out a low, rich laugh that seemed almost musical.
    “Eh, that I do, that I do,” Juven said fondly. “Though some days, I’ve no idea why. All right, you crabbity man, I’ll let you be. High Priestess of Elahandra, mind