Free Journey into the Void by Margaret Weis Page B

fiends of the Void are inside the city, going on a rampage and killing innocent, gods-fearing people. I thought that might be what you was, when I heard you coming down the alleyway. I was ready for them. I have a crowbar right handy here by the door. Did you happen to see them? The fiends, I mean? They weren’t after the children, were they?”
    Still talking, not giving Ulaf a chance to answer, Maudie hustled them inside the tavern and shut and latched the door behind them. She removed the cover on the dark lantern again, taking care this time to keep it from shining in their eyes. A fire burned low in the fireplace, giving off a warm glow.
    The Grandmother slid off Ulaf’s back and went immediately to Bashae.
    â€œPut him down by the fire,” she ordered Jessan.
    â€œI have a bed upstairs,” Maudie offered, hovering around them and getting in the way. “The poor child might rest better there. What’s wrong with him? Oh!” She gave a little gasp. “He’s…he’s not human! What is he? Not a fiend?”
    â€œHe’s a pecwae, Maudie,” said Ulaf soothingly.
    He drew her to one side to let Jessan pass. The Grandmother laid out a blanket on the floor. Jessan lowered Bashae gently onto the blanket, as the Grandmother took out her stones and began arranging the stones on Bashae’s head and neck and shoulders, muttering to herself. Jessan sat back on his heels, helpless and concerned.
    â€œWhat happened to him?” Maudie asked.
    â€œIt’s a long story. Where’s Baron Shadamehr? How is he?”
    â€œI’m that glad you’re here,” she continued on, talking over her own question, as well as his. “There’ve been strange going ons in that room. I guess you know that Baron Shadamehr is in there. Oh,” she added, blinking at Jessan. “I recognize that barbarian now. He was with him.”
    â€œWhere is the baron, Maudie?” Ulaf asked, his fear growing. He looked about the tavern, saw no signs of him. “Jessan said he was wounded.”
    â€œAye, the poor baron didn’t look good,” Maudie said, shaking her head dolefully. “His shirt all soaked in blood. He went in there”—she nodded toward the storeroom—“and a beautiful woman and that barbarian fellow went in with him. Then the barbarian came out and ran away and—”
    â€œHow is the baron?” Ulaf demanded. “Where is he? The guards didn’t find him, did they?”
    â€œYou needn’t shout. As far as I know, he’s still in there.” Maudie said, offended. “As to his health—”
    â€œDidn’t you check to find out? Honestly, Maudie—”
    Angrily, Ulaf shoved his way around her.
    â€œThe door’s locked,” Maudie told his back. “I beat on it and shouted ’til I was hoarse and there was no answer. That’s what I was trying to tell you,” she added, following him over to the door. “I heard a woman’s voice and it sounded to me like it was talking magic and it wasn’t healingmagic. I should know. I had the healers in this place day and night when my Sam was dying, chanting their heads off, though it didn’t help him none. Because his aura was fighting the magic, they said. The growth ate him up. Then everything went quiet in there. An uncanny quiet, if you know what I mean. I banged on the door, but there was no answer. And then, just when I figured that maybe the woman was a witch and she spirited them both out into the night, there came a dreadful crash and a cry that sounded like demons was in there, then silence again.”
    Ulaf put his hands on the door, chanting the magic. He’d cast his spell by the time she paused for breath.
    â€œSorry about your door,” he told her.
    Ulaf smashed apart the wood, leapt through the remnants.
    â€œUlaf! Thank the gods!”
    â€œIs that you, my lord?” Ulaf asked uncertainly. The