Free Deltora Quest #4: The Shifting Sands by Emily Rodda

happening, from the inside. Your presence upset my plans. I tried to scare you off —”
    “It was you who locked us in our room!” Lief broke in. “You who attacked us.”
    “Yes — and got cut for my pains.” Doom grimaced, touching the cloth at his neck. “I was trying to stop you from competing — to protect you.”
    “Why?” Barda asked bluntly.
    “When first I saw you in Tom’s shop something about you interested me. I was hurrying on business of my own and could not stay. But ever since, wherever I have been, I have heard whispers about three travellers — a man, a boy, and a wild girl, accompanied by a black bird. Wherever these travellers go, it is said, part of the Shadow Lord’s evil is undone.”
    Lief gripped Barda’s arm. If word about them was spreading, how long would it be before the Shadow Lord became aware of them?
    But Jasmine, who still could not make up her mind to trust Doom, had something else on her mind. “You allowed us to be captured,” she accused. “You crept away after the finals, but you did not leave. You hid in the inn, watched, and did not lift a hand to help us.”
    Doom shrugged. “I had no choice. I had to find out how the trick was worked. I had intended that animal Glock to be proclaimed Champion, and suffer whatever fate was in store for him. But he took the drugged drink intended for you, girl, and instead of losing to him, as I had planned, I had to find a way of pretending to lose to you.”
    Jasmine drew herself up. “You played your part well,” she said coldly. “In fact, I would have sworn that you did lose. Or am I mistaken in thinking you hit your head on the wall, and slid down it almost unconscious?”
    Doom’s grim face relaxed into a half smile. “You will never know, will you?” he said dryly.
    “If it had been Glock who had been captured, would you have rescued him?” asked Lief curiously.
    The smile disappeared. “You ask too many questions,” growled Doom. “What is certain is that I must save him now, for he and the woman Neridah will be following in your footsteps tomorrow, and I cannot release one without the other. It is unfortunate.”
    He stared broodingly out into the rain for a moment, then turned to them again. “A group is waiting not far away. Among them is Dain, the boy who helped me at the Games. He will lead you into the mountains where we have a stronghold. You will be safe there.”
    Barda, Lief, and Jasmine glanced at one another.
    “We are grateful to you,” said Barda at last. “And I hope you will not take this amiss. But I fear we cannot accept your offer. We must continue our travels. There is — something of importance we must do.”
    Doom frowned. “Whatever it is, you must abandon it for now,” he said. “I could not risk trying to kill the Guards. It was dangerous enough stealing your weapons and supplies from the cart while they slept below.”
    “They have our gold, I think,” sighed Lief.
    “Yes, I saw them take it,” Doom said. “But their master will care nothing for that. It is you he wants. When they wake and find you gone they will track you wherever you go. They will not rest until you are found.”
    “All the better, then, that we do not lead them to your stronghold,” said Barda calmly. He put on hissword and pack and began crawling from the cave. Doom put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
    “We are many, and at our base we have ways of dealing with Guards,” he said. “You had better join us. What could be more important than our cause? What is this mysterious mission that cannot wait?”
    Barda, unsmiling, pulled the restraining hand from his shoulder and continued crawling from the cave. Jasmine and Lief followed. Outside, the rain still fell and the sky was black and starless.
    Doom appeared beside them, silent as a shadow. “Go your way, then,” he said, his voice very cold. “But say nothing to anyone of what I have told you this night, or you will wish you had gone to the