The Radiant Dragon by Elaine Cunningham Page A

considering the illithid’s fervent request. Once he had trusted Estriss. The warning given by his cloak and his own instincts told him he must do so now. Whether Estriss was friend or foe was a question for another, safer time.
    Is the cloak this artifact of the Juna? Netarza asked Estriss. Whatever he said about either cloak or its potential creators was for her mind alone, and she seemed less than pleased with the answer. The illithid captain abandoned that line of inquiry and turned to her other guest. You will tell me about this cloak of yours, Teldin Moore, Netarza stated, her white eyes locked with his.
    Teldin felt the first tendrils of control slip into his mind. He took a reflexive step backward. “Another time,” he replied. “I must return to my ship now.”
    The illithid’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. You have a sense of humor, I see. I think I would enjoy taking your thoughts, Teldin Moore, but I must remember my pledge to the elder-brain. She turned to her slaves. Take our guests below and put a guard on their quarters until whatever time Teldin Moore feels like talking, she said, broadcasting her instructions.
    A sharp gasp burst from the dracons. “A guard? You mean to keep Captain Teldin Moore prisoner ?” Chirp asked in a shrill squeak.
    “But kaba Netarza, this is most irregular,” Trivit protested. The pale green dracon had been standing quietly by, watching his clan leader with growing confusion and dismay.
    “Most irregular,” Chirp echoed, obviously in deep distress. “This human rescued us from a beholder, and surely he should be honored and rewarded, not —” Overcome with emotion, Chirp broke off, biting his reptilian lip to keep it from quivering.
    The dracons’ chagrin seemed only to amuse Netarza. She reached up and patted Chirp’s dark green cheek. Take them below, she repeated, then she spun and walked away.
    Elves surrounded Teldin and Estriss, and the two “guests” were roughly herded below deck and through a narrow hall. Teldin glanced back at the troubled dracons, wondering whether he should try to warn them about what lay in store for them. Perhaps such knowledge at this point would only endanger them; it would seem that their safety lay in their continued ignorance. Of one thing Teldin was sure: if he managed to escape the illithid ship – a distinct possibility, given the creatures’ oversight in leaving him armed – he would find a way to bring Chirp and Trivit with him.
    When the door to the cabin clicked shut behind them, Teldin turned to his fellow captive. “What’s going on, Estriss? How did you get here? I thought you were —” He broke off abruptly.
    Dead? Estriss finished coldly. He held his facial tentacles stiff and immobile, a clear sign of his emotional detachment. Illithids require less air than humans, and I survived in the void long enough to be rescued by this group from Falx.
    There was so much to say that Teldin did not know how to start, or what to do to bridge the gap of betrayal that lay between them.
    “I’ve heard that the mind flayers of Falx were going after the cloak —”
    And you assume that I was in league with them, Estriss finished coldly. I deserved better from you than to be judged solely on the basis of my race.
    Deeply ashamed, Teldin averted his eyes from the mind flayer’s steady, white-eyed gaze. The words Estriss had just formed were not new to Teldin; they had echoed in his own mind since the mutiny, which Aelfred and Sylvie had helped him lead.
    “You’re here,” Teldin observed lamely.
    Yes, but not by my own choice, the illithid said. There was a long silence, then his shoulders rose and fell in a great sigh. Much of what is said of my race is true, Teldin Moore, but I despise the slave trade and all those who engage in it. I find slavery morally repugnant  – a view, I might add, that is virtually unique among illithids.
    Teldin nodded. From the first day he’d met Estriss, he could not