Free Bloodfire Quest by Terry Brooks Page B

“Tesla Dart is my name.” The smile vanished. “What are you doing in the land of Jarka Ruus?”
    “Trying to get out!” Redden snapped.
    “Trying to find two of our friends,” the Ard Rhys corrected, putting a warning hand on the boy’s shoulder. “We are here by accident. I told you before. We came through a breach in the wall we didn’t know was there, and it closed behind us. Now we are trapped.”
    The Ulk Bog scooted back a few feet, his eyes darting left and right. “I think you lie. There are no others. Only the woman who left during the night.”
    Pleysia. “Did you see which way she went?” the Ard Rhys asked.
    Tesla Dart pointed south. Of course, Redden thought. Still searching for Oriantha. Going it alone.
    “How long have you been tracking us?” the Ard Rhys pressed.
    The Ulk Bog looked angry. It yanked on a patch of black hair in irritation. “Why do you ask stupid questions? I don’t track you. I don’t have to. My Chzyks do so for me. This one”—he gestured to the lizard—“is called Lada. He tracks you. He was there last night when you fought the Mantis Styx.” He gestured at Redden. “This one saw him.”
    The boy glanced at the Ard Rhys. “He’s right. I did see him. Right after we were attacked. I forgot about it until I woke just now and found him poking at me.”
    Tesla Dart nodded. “He watches you fight. Sees you and comes to tell me of it. Brings me here so we can talk.” He scrunched up his face. “But you are not who I thought? You are sure?”
    “You’ve never seen Grianne Ohmsford, have you?”
    “No. But I hear the stories. From Weka Dart. He tells me. You have magic like hers. You can do what she could. You are a Straken. Perhaps a Straken Queen, even if you say you are not. Lada knows this. So he tells me.”
    “Wait,” Redden said, jumping in. “You can speak with Lada? But how did Lada find us? How did he even know we were here?”
    Tesla Dart looked confused. “The Chzyks are a community. The community shares. One knows, all know.”
    “And communicate with you,” the Ard Rhys surmised. “How many Chzyks are there?”
    “Many. Everywhere. One saw you come through the wall and told me. Lada went to find you and told me. I am looking for you a long time, but now you are not the right one.”
    “You were looking for Grianne Ohmsford? How long were you looking?”
    Tesla Dart’s wizened face turned away in disgust. “Forever.”
    “Why would you do that?”
    The Ulk Bog jumped to his feet and danced away. “I can help you, if you want. Like Weka, I track. Nothing escapes once I begin to search. You want to find your friends? Missing friends? Ask me!”
    His dark face was bright and animated; he appeared eager to demonstrate his worth. He hissed at Lada, and the Chzyk raced over, leapt onto his arm, and scurried up to his shoulder. Together Ulk Bog and Chzyk waited for a response.
    Khyber Elessedil hesitated. “You can find them for us?”
    “Ha!” the Ulk Bog shrilled, dropping once more into a crouch. “Tesla Dart can find anything! Lada!”
    He made a series of hissing sounds to the lizard creature, and Lada responded in kind. Then the Chzyk flashed away, tearing out across the flats south and disappearing from view.
    “You see? Lada goes to find them. When he does, he will return to tell me. We can start walking now.”
    He turned and began to follow the Chzyk, not bothering to look back at them. Redden and the Ard Rhys exchanged a look, and then Khyber called after the Ulk Bog to wait long enough to let them gather up their things. She spoke to her Druid Guard, who hastened to do as she asked. It took the members of the little company only minutes before they were ready.
    But then Tesla Dart returned to them, leached of animation and excitement, suddenly serious. “What we do is very dangerous,” he said quietly. “In the land of the Jarka Ruus, you are trespassers and not welcome. You understand, do you?”
    Khyber nodded. “This