"Come along, then," he said to Garric unhappily. "Though you could find it yourself if you weren't blind."The remainder of Holm's guards had retreated swiftly to a pavilion. The sound of a drinking party came through the velvet sides.Garric didn't respond. Leel was unhappy at being ordered to lead them, but he was doing the job. Snarling at him—"Or knocking him flat," Carus interjected with a rueful laugh. "As I might well've done."—wasn't going to make that job go quicker."What is it that you think a torch will chase away, Master Leel?" asked Shin in a mocking tone. "Not the thing that haunts this lake, I assure you."Leel muttered something and spat—though away from the aegipan and his companions. He pulled his torch back from the pot, rotating the tar ball slowly to spread the growing red flames across its surface."Mount, master," Kore said. She knelt beside Garric, holding the looped 'stirrups' open with her clawed hands.Garric glanced at her, then scuffed the ground. This gravel strand was as firm as a cobblestone street, but he wasn't sure what the causeway would be like.He opened his mouth to say he'd walk, then closed it.
