Part 17 (1/2)

And then, without warning, soround with terrific force Half-stunned, she rasped her roughly by an are-distorted face of Meltor swam hazily before her She blinked rapidly in an effort to dispel the fog

”You little fool!” The words seeain, and I'll--”

There sounded a sharp ringing ”crack,” and Dylara staggered back, her left cheek fla from the force of an open-handed blow

The slap transforirl froress; and for the next fewbadly mauled

Exhausted, she finally sank to her knees and burst into a storering a long scratch alongside his nose, waiting for the girl to regain coed her along the path into the west Dylara, her once spotless tunic grimy and torn, accompanied him docilely now, too weary to resist She knew by this ti to do with her abduction; no hireling of his would dare handle her so roughly

An hour later they entered a sle In the center of the open ground stood a raray stone, weather-beaten and unke vacantly like the dull lifeless eyes of a corpse

Despite the flame-tipped rays of the , Dylara shi+vered, conscious of the miasmatic atmosphere of the place

Nor was Meltor entirely unaffected by the eerie aspect of dead Rydob's former residence Details of stories he had heard about the old her nervously about

A short series of stone steps led to the half open door A profusion of vines and creepers had sprung up unchecked, partially covering the stairway Meltor cautiously kicked the vegetation away, aware itplace of little Sleeza, the snake--Sleeza, whose bite , painful death

Suddenly thea yell of terror, and al foot had torn away a curtain of foliage, disclosing the bleached skeleton of a man, stretched out on one of the steps The skull had rolled a few paces away, and lay there grinning malevolently up at them

Dylara shuddered, shrank back She had seen the bones of s the glea skeleton seemed a horrible prophecy of her own fate

”Who could it have been?” she asked in an ahisper

Meltor forced a grin He had ain control of his shattered nerves

”Old Rydob, the hermit,” he replied ”And no prettier in death than he was in life Soh priest”

Taking Dylara by the elbow, he urged her past the pile of bones and over the threshold

They cahted by the sun

Froed that Rydob had spent most of his tie table in the center of the room held a jumbled collection of stone dishes and bowls Several tunics, rotten withacross one of the three chairs about the table

And over everything was a thick layer of dust and cobwebs and the droppings of countless rodents

Meltor kicked over two of the stools to clear them of dust, replaced them, then cleared the table top in the sa to one of the stools

Dylara obeyed without a word, watching the man seat himself across the table from her