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the name of the faction that has sent me here would mean nothing to you
either, not at the moment. Similarly, the Old Man s stated friendship with
King Llane means nothing to our chieftains, and the name Lothar is nothing
more than a curse invoked by the human peasants we encounter. Before we can
have peace, before we can even start negotiating, we have to learn more about
you.
 Which is why you re here.
Garona let out a deep sigh.  Which is why I am praying that you will leave me
alone long enough so I
can figure out what the Old Man is talking about when we have our
discussions.
Khadgar was silent for a moment. Garona opened the volume again, leafing
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through the pages to where she had stopped.  Of course, that goes both ways,
Khadgar said, and Garona closed the book with an exasperated breath.  I mean,
we need to know more about the orcs if we re going to do more than just battle
them. If you re serious about peace.
Garona glared at Khadgar, and for a moment the young mage wondered if the
half-orc was going to leap across the table and throttle him. Instead, her
ears perked up, and she said,  Hold on. What s that?
Khadgar felt it before he heard it. A sudden change in the air, like a window
had been opened elsewhere in the tower. A bit of wind stirring up the dust in
the hall. A wave of warmth passing through the tower.
Khadgar said,  Something is& 
Garona said,  I heard& 
And then Khadgar heard it as well, the sound of iron claws scraping against
stone, and the warmth of the air increased as the hairs on the back of his
neck rose.
And the great beast slouched into the library.
It was made of fire and shadow, its skin dark and containing the flickers of
the flame within. Its wolflike face was framed by a set of ram s horns, that
glowed like polished ebony. It looked biped, but walked on all fours, its long
front claws scraping along the stone floors.
 What is&  hissed Garona.
 Demon, said Khadgar in a strangled voice, rising and backing away from the
table.
 Your manservant said there were visions here. Ghosts. Is this one? Garona
stood up as well.
Khadgar wanted to explain no, that visions tended to encompass the area
entirely, shifting you to the new place, but he instead he just shook his
head.
The beast itself was perched in the doorway, sniffing the air. The creature s
eyes blazed with flame. Was the beast blind, and could only detect by scent?
Or was it detecting a new thing in the air, a spice that it had not expected?
Khadgar tried to pull the energies into his mind, but at first his heart
quailed and his mind went empty.
The beast continued to sniff, turning in place until it faced the pair.
 Get to the high tower, said Khadgar quietly.  We have to warn Medivh. Out
of the corner of his eye he saw Garona nod, but her eyes did not leave the
beast. A trickle of sweat dropped down her long neck. She shifted slightly to
one side.
The movement was enough, and everything happened at once. The beast crouched
and leapt across the
room. Khadgar s mind cleared, and with a quick efficiency he pulled the
energies into himself, raised his hand, and buried a bolt of mystic energy
into the creature s chest. The energy ripped through the beast s chest and
splattered out its back, sending pieces of flaming flesh in all directions,
but it did not deter it in the slightest.
It landed on the study table, its claws digging into the hardwood, and bounded
again, this time for
Khadgar. The young mage s mind went blank for a second, but a second was all
it took for the slope-shouldered demon to close the distance between them.
Something else grabbed him and yanked him out of the way. He smelled musky
cinnamon and heard a deep-throated curse as he spun out of the path of the
loping demon. The beast sailed through the space that until recently had been
occupied by the apprentice, and let out a scream of its own. A long ragged
tear had appeared along the creature s left side, and was oozing burning
blood.
Garona released Khadgar from her grip (a weak, humanish grip, but still enough
to drive the air from his lungs). In her other hand, the apprentice noticed
that Garona held a long-bladed knife, crimson with its first strike, and
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