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."Stop it!" Cadderly yelled at them.Pikel's answer came in the form of a hurled cleaver that narrowly missed Cadderly's head and buried itself an inch deep in the oaken door beside him.Cadderly stared in disbelief at the deadly instrument, still shuddering from the force of Pikel's throw, and knew that something was terribly wrong here, and terribly dangerous.The young priest didn't give up, though.He just redirected his efforts."I know a better way to fight!" he cried, moving cautiously toward the dwarves."Eh?" asked Pikel."Better way?" Ivan added."For fighting?"Ivan seemed already convinced- Pikel was winning the cookware battle-but Pikel only used Ivan's ensuing hesitation to press him even harder.Pikel's pan hummed as it dove in at a wide arc, smashing Ivan's elbow and knocking the yellow-bearded dwarf off balance.Pikel recognized his dear advantage.His wicked pan went up high again for a follow-up strike."Druids do not fight with metal weapons!" Cadderly yelled."Oo," Pikel said, halting in midswing.The brothers looked at each other, shrugged once, and tossed their pots and pans to the ground.Cadderly had to think quickly.He brushed off a section of the long table."Sit here," he instructed Ivan, pulling up a stool."And you over here," he said to Pikel, indicating a second seat across from Ivan."Put the elbows of your right arms on the table," Cadderly explained."Arm-pulling?" Ivan scoffed incredulously."Get me back me pan!""No!" Cadderly shouted."No.This is a better way, a true test of strength.""Bah!" snorted Ivan."I'll clobber him!""Oh?" said Pikel.They clasped hands roughly and started pulling before Cadderly could give any signal, or even line them up.He considered them for a moment, wanting to stay and see things through to conclusion, but the brothers were evenly matched, Cadderly realized, and their contest might last a while.Cadderly heard other priests shuffling by outside the open kitchen door; it was time for the midday canticle.Whatever the emergency, Cadderly simply could not be late for the required ceremony again.He watched the struggle a moment longer, to ensure that the dwarves were fully engaged, then shook his head in confusion and walked away.He had known Ivan and Pikel for more than a decade, since his childhood days, and had never seen either one of them lift a fist at the other.If that had not been bad enough, the cleaver, still wobbling in the door, vividly proved that something was terribly out of sorts.*****Brother Chaunticleer's voice rang out with its usual quality, filling the great hall with perfect notes and filling the gathering of priests and scholars with sincere pleasure, but those most observant among the group, Cadderly included, glanced around at the crowd's reaction, as if they noticed something missing in Chaunticleer's delivery.The key was perfect and the words correct, but there seemed to be a lacking in the strength of the song.Chaunticleer didn't notice them.He performed as always, the same songs he had sung at midday for several years.This time, though, unlike any of the others, Chaunticleer was indeed distracted.His thoughts drifted down to the rivers in the mountain foothills, still swollen from the winter melt and teeming with trout and silver perch.It had always been said that fishing was second only to singing in Brother Chaunticleer's heart.The priest was learning now that the perceived order of his desires might not be so correct.Then it happened.Brother Chaunticleer forgot the words.He stood at the podium of the great hall, perplexed, as undeniable images of rushing water and leaping fish added to his confusion and put the song farther from his thoughts.Whispers sprang up throughout the hall; mouths dropped open in disbelief.Dean Thobicus, never an excitable man, calmly moved up toward the podium."Do go on.Brother Chaunticleer," he said softly, soothingly.Chaunticleer could not continue.The song of Deneir was no match for the joyful sound of leaping trout.The whispers turned to quiet giggles.Dean Thobicus waited a few moments, then whispered into Headmaster Avery's ear, and Avery, obviously more shaken than his superior, dismissed the gathering.He turned back to question Chaunticleer, but the singing priest was already gone, running for his hook and line.*****Cadderly used the confusion in the great hall to get out from under Avery's watchful eye.He had spent a dreary morning scrubbing floors, but had completed the tasks and was free, at least until Avery found him idle and issued new orders.Avery was busy now, trying to figure out what had happened to Brother Chaunticleer.If Cadderly correctly understood the gravity of Chaunticleer's misfortunes, the headmaster would be busy with him for some time.Chaunticleer was considered among the most devout priests in the order of Deneir, and his highest duty, his only real priority, was the midday canticle.Cadderly, too, was concerned by the events at the ceremony, especially after his visit with the dwarves that morning.More disturbing than Chaunticleer's problems with the songs, Danica had not been at the canticle.She was not associated with either the Oghman or Deneir sects and therefore not required to attend, but she rarely missed the event, and never before without telling Cadderly that she would not attend.Even more disquieting, Kierkan Rufo had not been in attendance.Since the main library was on the first floor and not far from the great hall, Cadderly decided to begin his search there.He skipped along briskly, his pace quickening as his suspicions continued to gnaw at him.A moaning sound from a side corridor stopped him abruptly.Cadderly peeked around the comer to see Kierkan Rufo coming down the stairs, leaning heavily on the wall.Rufo seemed barely coherent; his face was covered in blood and he nearly toppled with each step."What happened?" Cadderly asked, rushing to help the man.A wild light came into Rufo's eyes and he slapped Cadderly's reaching hands away.The action cost the disoriented man his balance and he tumbled down the last few steps to the floor.The manner in which Rufo fell revealed much to Cadderly.Rufo had reached out to catch himself with one arm, the same arm he had used to slap at Cadderly, but his other arm remained limp at his side, useless."Where is she?" Cadderly demanded, suddenly very afraid.He grabbed Rufo by the collar, despite the man's protests, and pulled him to his feet, viewing up close the damage to his face.Blood continued to flow from Rufo's obviously broken nose, and one of his eyes was swollen and purple and nearly closed.The man had numerous other bruises, and the way he flinched when Cadderly straightened him indicated other wounds in his abdomen or just a little bit lower."Where is she?" Cadderly said again
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