Beleg was given the task of staying close to the Master, something he had already been working towards, so it was an easy thing for him, and he was greatly relieved by that. Kre’s task was much more difficult. Talimar directed him to find ways to arm the Dweorvkin and ensure they knew the path out.
Though the first part of that task seemed impossible enough, it was the second part that greatly concerned Kre. Talimar had drawn up a crude map of the tunnels and passages leading down to this underground arena. It was all pulled on the spot from his memory of his trek here, which did not make Kre feel confident that it was, in fact, correct by any stretch. Add to the fact that Kre could barely understand the hastily scribbled notes alongside the spiderweb of map lines and it just spelled a potential recipe for disaster that Kre was now responsible for.
He did not mention his concerns to the company leader. He figured that if things did go badly, he’d at least have Ortho and Gnore to help him out of the jam.
Talimar took it upon himself to track down the Rakshasa as they posed the greatest potential threat as an unknown variable. While they initially had no idea where to start, it was surprisingly Kre that gave them the hint about where Talimar might start looking.
“What about those scary hunters that the other guy mentioned?” he asked, suddenly remembering how the man had squirmed when being told to deal with them.
“It certainly sounds like our group. Though they can change their looks effortlessly, it still leaves an odd aftertaste to the eyes that can give off a very subtle feeling of wrongness.” Talimar explained it as easily as if he had explained that the sky was blue, making Kre remark to himself that this was indeed a larger, stranger world than he had first thought growing up in Mintas.
A small knock at the door startled the lot of them, but Virryn waved them off from hiding away when she noted a piece of paper come sliding through the underside of the door.
“It is just the schedule for the fights,” she explained, giving it a quick look. She handed it to Beleg and smiled, “You will finally have your chance to battle. You are up first.”
Beleg nodded, “With at least four more fights if I continue winning.”
“This fight card does not list your opponents,” Talimar frowned as he glanced at the sheet Beleg had just set down. “Did he at least indicate that the path to the finals will be an easy one for you?” Talimar asked.
“Not in the least,” Beleg said with a shake of his head. “Because they are trying to finish it all up tonight, there are going to be some two-on-one bouts. He very much wants to ensure that the gambling crowd sees me as a highly lucrative horse to be on before he pulls the rug out. I’m sure he’s made the same deal with at least one other, to ensure that one of us makes it to the final.
“In addition,” the large man continued as he started to stretch in preparation for his warmup, “I believe he wants me, and any other trick ponies he has bought, to be well and exhausted by the time the final bout comes about. Just in case he finds he can’t trust us to keep our word and lose gracefully.”
Talimar laughed, “As well he should not. Tonight, we take him down and make our way from this den of evil.”