Free Sleeper Of The Wildwood Fugue (Book 7) by Charles E. Yallowitz

the cold that pierces the skin that is not connected to leather patches. Making sure the fight is sucked out of him, Sari takes her time cleaning her hands on a rag and adjusting her colorful skirts.
    “Now I’m going to let you out whether you help us or not. The only question is what method you prefer,” the gypsy calmly explains, stroking the goblin’s cheek. She frowns when Daga cries and whimpers, pity replacing the fierceness in her eyes. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. I don’t enjoy doing this, little elder. Tell us what we need to know and I’ll make the ice disappear. If you keep refusing then my angry-looking friend over there will use her fire magic to release you. Only her method will be more painful and probably kill you. Considering your tribe eats people like me and you’ve been really mean to us, I’m not that concerned with what happens to you. We’ll simply go back to your home and grab another goblin. Probably a few if they’re as stubborn as you.”
    “Sari can be really scary,” Delvin whispers to Luke. “Scarier than Nyx.”
    “I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to realize that.”
    The elder screams in pain and frustration before letting his head hang in defeat. “Daga not guide, but told way. Path is in air and can be heard by special ears. Must avoid breathing mist or be lost. Follow song to sleeper. Wake her to end curse.”
    “We have to find a way to avoid inhaling the mist while following a song heard by special ear,” Sari says, earning a rapid nod from her prisoner. She raps her knuckles on the ice, which melts into warm water. “There’s nothing else we need from you?”
    “That all Daga know.”
    “Then apologize for making Timoran mad and go home.”
    With a scowl on his face, the goblin bows to the barbarian who merely grunts his acceptance. Cautiously looking around the group, Daga inches toward the forest. When nobody tries to stop him, he falls to all fours and races into a thicket. They can hear the elder’s panicky movements for several minutes, the only other sound a nearby frog that eventually plops into an unseen pond.
    “Well I’m going to guess that the special ears part is Luke’s sound sight,” Delvin states, putting a hand on the half-elf’s shoulder. “You really get your use out of that power. I’m starting to wonder if we haven’t even scratched the surface of it.”
    “Actually, I’ve been keeping it on at a low level for months,” Luke admits with an awkward smile. He rubs the pointed tips of his sensitive ears and shudders at the sensation. “Still, my own hearing wouldn’t be strong enough to hear the song. The best I can do is hear heartbeats when I focus on a creature. I would need ears like Timoran combined with my sound sight.”
    “Other problem is walking in mist,” Fizzle points out.
    “Your magic breath helped Timoran,” Sari mentions.
    The barbarian clears his throat and raises his hand. “I should point out that it also made me lightheaded.”
    “If we were constantly subjected to Fizzle’s breath then we’d start hallucinating,” Nyx says, biting her lower lip and rubbing her necklace. The caster moves her hands over her hair, returning the ebony tresses to their rolling appearance. “That makes us helpless if we’re attacked and any of us who wander away will be lost. Fizzle wouldn’t be able to keep us going if we spread out. That’s if the mist doesn’t get more potent as we near this sleeper.”
    “Please give me a minute to figure things out!” Delvin requests as he paces from one side of the path to the other. He comes dangerously close to touching the mist, but each time he turns on his heels and heads in the opposite direction. “Strange how the beasts of the forest are immune to the mist, but the griffin and Stiletto are susceptible. Are they really that different from other beasts?”
    “They’re part of Luke and he remains in control, so it’s his mind,” Nyx answers,