The Sword in the Cave
his sword but did naught else.
After a while a low moan emerged from the woman, and her strength seemed to leave her. She sank to the ground,
but Drea would not release her hands. Then the shadow exhaled from her, floated about the assembly, and then
vanished.
Drea's eyes snapped open. "It's a Shard."
"What is?" said Tygg.
"The sword in the cave. It's a Shard of the Sword. Every thought and dream and spirit of it is Azodic. Do you know
what this means? This truly is Golcorda! We have found what no Cevalese has seen for ages past! Tygg, we have done
it."
The other women, still standing, still naked, greeted these words with silence. They could not be expected to know
of the Sword of Azod, the Sword that cleaved the World at the Beginning of Days. But still, Tygg did not see an eye
dart in any direction, nor hear a breath escape their lips. The one who had held Drea's hands still lay on the ground
insensible, and no one seemed to mind or notice. He felt the hairs on his neck rise, that unmistakable signal that
somewhere around him, a threat lingered, unseen.
"We will go to this cave."
"I must go," said the woman who volunteered.
"There will be no more sacrifice," said Drea. "We will stop this one, and seize his power over you. You will be
thralls no longer."
"Nevertheless," said the volunteer, "I must go."
"Perhaps we can trap him," said Drea.
"What?" said Tygg.
"Let her go to the cave. We will seize this sword and with it, defeat this Beast, whatever it is. This is our Quest."
Tygg looked at her and then he looked at his feet, and without another word, walked off, back towards the
darkened woods. Drea called after him but he did not reply or even deign to notice. Finally she took off after him,
and calling him, as she went, stumbled into the dark.
The brush was as minimal as it had been, and the wood as silent. Drea could hear Tygg tramping on, but she could
not see him. She ran on, finally making a out a shadow in movement in front of her, she called out again, and the
thing stopped.
"Tygg!" she said, and was about to berate him for cowardice, when a growl emerged from the shadow in front of
her that was in no way human. Even Tygg at his most bloodthirsty had never made such a sound. Uttering a sudden
incantation, she brought forth from the air in front of her a ball of white light, and she could see what she had
chased.