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.There was something else as well.Despite the ring on Graal's finger, the medusa's eyes were clear and sharp—she was still of her own mind."Do you fear me yet, ignorant beast?" she sneered at him."Well you still should." The serpents on her head lashed out.The orog threw himself onto his back, scuttling away like a crab across the gore stained earth.The medusa watched him with contempt, then began a slow, deliberate pursuit."Though you are not made stone, do not think your fate will not be horrible," she whispered, sauntering after the hastily retreating Graal, relishing his seeming helplessness."I shall devour your flesh and strip your bones."The orog had been bedazzled by the prospect of gazing upon the face of death itself—a most uncharacteristic mistake.He had been absorbed in the moment.But the moment was over now.Still on his back, Graal softly caressed the ring, his fingers gliding over the warm gold for but an instant.The medusa's head jerked back and her eyes momentarily clouded over."I am not the stupid animal you think," Graal said to her, relishing the fear of dawning realization in her eyes."My mind is strong enough for this."He rubbed the ring again and focused his will.The creature threw her head back, the serpents of her hair went limp.Inside his mind, Graal heard the sound of her anguished psyche screaming.Her body was silent."Return, my pet," Graal said."Return and destroy the cultists."The serpents began to writhe in a sleepy rhythm, and the medusa returned to the battle.The orog cast a quick look around for Azlar, but the wizard was gone, vanished into the forest.He had taken his hand with him.No matter.His death would have been nothing more than an added bonus.With the package on their side now, ultimate victorycame quickly for Graal's troops.The Grog's skill at controlling the creature was not as honed as Azlar's, however, so several of his own men were inadvertently struck down by the medusa's curse.Graal shrugged indifferently at the casualties.If Xiliath felt compassionate, he might have them restored to their former, living state.If not, they would make fine additions to his master's trophy room.Replace your hood, Graal silently ordered once the last cultist had been dispatched.Pull down your veil.Your work is done.For now.The medusa did as she was ordered.Graal pulled a curled horn from his belt, and blew a long, howling blast.It was a signal to his fleeing troops that the battle was theirs.The deserters would return in due time to join their comrades in the looting of the dead—though if they knew how Xiliath dealt with cowards they would not be so eager.As his followers trickled back, the orog surveyed the carnage of the clearing.Bodies Uttered the field, along with roughly two dozen statues.A few of these had been smashed into rubble by vengeful enemies or accidental blows during the battle, leaving no chance of restoring the unfortunate soul trapped within.The corpses could be stripped and left behind, but the statues and the rubble had to be collected and taken to Xiliath's hideout.There could be no clues that might give the Elversult authorities any inkling of what had truly happened there.At a word from Graal, the carts the troops had dragged with them from Xiliath's base in Elversult were wheeled out from the trees and into the clearing."Search the woods for more statues," Graal ordered."And load these onto the carts.The pieces, too.Leave nothing behind."Fascinated, Graal studied the face of each statue as it was piled onto one of the wagons.A small, almost child-sized figure was placed on board."Hello, my pretty one," Graal whispered to the statue."Can you hear me, I wonder?" he asked, leaning in close to fully appreciate the stone-etched horror in the half-elFs face.From the female's pose it appeared as if she had stumbled, probably while running with her eyes closed.Instinctively, she had reacted to the fall by opening her eyes at the worst possible time.It was a miracle she hadn't shattered from her inevitable fall to the ground after being petrified."Where is your friend?" Graal muttered, hoping to find a one-armed statue among the collection.The search proved fruitless, and he frowned in disappointment.But when several of his men emerged from the forest carrying an unmistakably obese statue of Fhazail, all Graal could do was tilt back his head and howl with joyous laughter.CHAPTER NINETEENStill waiting fer yer friend?" the surly waitress at the Weeping Griffin asked Corin again, her voice so shrill it made his teeth grate.She had been asking him every fifteen minutes or so, obviously anxious to have him either order or leave.But the look in Corin's eyes must have been preventing her from telling him flatly to get out.Corin didn't even bother replying anymore.His glare spoke volumes enough."I don't think she's comin,' " the waitress said with a nasty laugh."She musta stood ye up!""She'll be here," Corin said softly, his voice filled with menace.The hunchbacked serving wench wisely beat a hasty, limping retreat.As she scurried off she shouted back over her shoulder, "Tell yer friend she can't be breakin' anymore o' me glasses!"In vain, Corin searched the virtually empty interior of the seedy tavern for any sign of Lhasha, hoping she might have come in while he was distracted by the waitress.But she wasn't there.Corin had been waiting a long time.He considered going back to search the woods around the clearing, but what if she showed up while he was out looking for her? He also considered going to see Fendel—maybe the gnomehad some fantastic invention to help locate Lhasha.But again, Corin was afraid of Lhasha arriving while he was gone, then leaving to go search for him.Once such a vicious circle began, it might take days before they caught up with each other.Drumming the fingers of his only hand on the table, he tried to analyze the situation logically, to survey it as he would survey a battle.It was possible Lhasha had mistakenly gone somewhere else to meet up with him.Possible, but highly unlikely.He dismissed that option.It was also possible she was lost in the woods, confused by the darkness and the unfamihar surroundings.Her elf eyes would let her see through the night, but Corin knew the range of her heat-sensitive vision was not very far—twenty yards at most.She wouldn't walk into an open pit, but she still might not be able to figure out her exact location with such limited sight.If she was lost, it would be pointless for Corin to go looking for her.He'd have no idea where to even begin.Dawn was only a couple of hours away now.With the rising sun, Lhasha would find her way back to Elversult and the Weeping Griffin soon enough
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