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had turned
the next corner that the spell was broken and Durik could again speak.
    “Hello!” Keryak breathed loudly for the third
time, trying not to be loud enough for Manebrow and Kiria to hear up the
passage from them.  “Durik, are you in there?”
    “Did you see how she looked at me?” he mumbled
semi-coherently.
    Keryak shook his head.  “She compliments your
bronze scales and all of a sudden you’re love-struck.”
    Durik’s eyes widened.  “She what?”
    Keryak rolled his eyes and huffed, “She said Such
an exotic color .  Weren’t you listening?”
    Durik’s heart soared, then he came to a sudden
realization.  “What if she didn’t like me?  What if she meant I look strange. 
Ah!” 
    Keryak waved a hand in front of Durik’s face. 
“Hey, are you in there?”
    Durik shook his head to clear it and, as if the
magic was gone, he was suddenly standing there in the passageway watching a cloaked
figure who appeared to have quietly stepped out of the large arena doors and
silently closed them.  For all that was going through his mind at the moment,
Durik somehow noticed that something was obviously wrong here, as the guards
didn’t use cloaks, and no one other than the guards was to be in the arena.
    Keryak turned Durik’s head, breaking his view. 
“Durik, you fool!  That’s the Lord of the Gen’s daughter!  Don’t get any
ideas!”
    Durik threw Keryak’s hands off his snout and turned
to look again toward the arena.  No one was there.  Quickly he began walking
toward the arena doors.
    In the meantime, the kobold had stepped off into
an alcove, shed his cloak, wrapped it up and started to put it in the bag at
his side.
    Just as the kobold turned to head off into a side
passage, he ran headlong into Durik.
    “Hey, what’s that? Trallik!”
    Trallik often surprised others, but he himself hated
being surprised.  “What are you doing!” he snapped as he bumped into Durik, the
cloak falling to the ground at his feet.
    “I might ask you the same,” Durik replied, looking
down at the cloak.  “What’s that for?” he asked.
    “You’re not sneaking around the arena, are you?”
Keryak accused.  “You know that could get you kicked out of the trials.”
    Trallik was sweating profusely.  “You didn’t see
anything, alright!” he said through gritted teeth.
    “If we didn’t see anything, then why…” Keryak
began to ask.  His words were cut short when Trelkar, the chief elite warrior
of the Deep Guard, came up behind them.
    “Yearlings, what seems to be the problem?” the
imposing, muscular warrior asked.
    Durik and Keryak both looked at each other. 
Trallik shot them both a pleading look, he was sure they had him.
    “Well, what seems to be the problem?”
    Durik cleared his throat.  “Chief, we just came
upon Trallik here putting a cloak back in his bag.  We believe he was sneaking
around in the arena.”
    Trelkar’s eyes narrowed as he looked sternly at
the three yearlings.  “No, he wasn’t.”
    Durik looked at Keryak, both of them knew Trelkar
couldn’t have seen what happened one way or the other.  “But he was coming from
the arena doors with this cloak.”  Keryak pointed down to the ground.
    “Trallik!  Pick that cloak up!  I told you to
fetch the cloak for Khee-lar Shadow Hand.  Don’t keep him waiting,” Trelkar
commanded.
    Trallik quickly shut his mouth, picked up the
cloak and hurried off down the passage.
    Durik and Keryak were just as surprised when
Trelkar turned on them.  “If either of you doubts my judgment, then I will take
you before the council for spying on the arena yourselves.”
    “But we didn’t…” Keryak began.  Durik just stood
silently next to him, a mix of unfamiliar emotions swirling around just below
his normally calm demeanor.
    “Enough!” Trelkar snapped.  “Be gone!  Both of
you!”
    Confused as they both were, Durik pulled Keryak
away and the two yearlings hurried off.  They both were sweating, but both