A Threat of Shadows by JA Andrews Page A

secrets, he might grow suspicious as to why. Alaric cast about for a moment, but could think of no way to end the spell.
    “Gustav, as you will soon learn,” Brandson continued, “has enormous amounts of knowledge of all things, including runes, and offered to interpret them. After some haggling, we decided that between Gustav’s knowledge, my familiarity with the region, Ayda’s ability to talk to the trees, and Douglon’s map, we might be able to find this treasure. Gustav, when he had interpreted the map, claimed he had heard of it. His great-great-grand uncle or some such person had passed down information about it.”
    Brandson sighed. “But that was months ago, and we still have found nothing. Not for lack of trying. We’ve dug in dozens of places, but we haven’t found—”
    He stopped and looked at Alaric in dismay. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. We swore an oath of secrecy to each other.”
    Alaric worked hard to keep his face bland. “That’s the way of the road, isn’t it? Talking to strangers. I’ve had no one but Beast to talk to for a long time. By now, he knows all my history.” He patted Beast’s neck. “He’s probably thrilled to hear someone else’s for once.”
    Brandson paused and Alaric waited, trying to look unconcerned. Finally, he sighed. “It’s actually something you might be interested in writing about. The treasure supposedly belonged to the wizard Kordan. It’s some sort of enormous gem that might have magical powers. Kordan buried it before he was driven from town.”
    Alaric’s hand clenched on the reins, and he whipped his head around toward Brandson so quickly that the blacksmith drew back.
    Ayda stepped into view around the carthorse, her hands overflowing with blackberries.
    Alaric focused on her quickly, an inept cover up for showing the surprise he had to Brandson. But that was another mistake. As soon as he focused on Ayda, he realized the fuzziness had crept across his mind again. Pulling his eyes away from her, he fixed his eyes resolutely on the berries while she laid them out on the seat next to Brandson. Being with these people was like being caught in a mental whirlwind. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind and to school his features into a more reasonable level of surprise.
    Ayda beamed at Alaric and offered him a berry. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    He managed a weak smile. “Not since yesterday.”
    She cocked her head at him, her expression bemused. “Well, there’s nothing like a juicy berry to remind you you’re still among the living.” With a grin, she walked off ahead of them.
    Alaric stuck the berry into his mouth to give himself an extra moment to recover. It burst with juices, the tartness clearing his head. He grabbed another one before even trying to think straight.
    These people were searching for Kordan’s Wellstone? The same Wellstone that he had learned existed only yesterday? He shoved against that fuzzy feeling in his mind again. What was he missing here?
    “That’s quite a treasure,” Alaric said finally. “And it is exactly the sort of thing I would love to write about.”
    Brandson nodded slowly.
    “It does seem strange that Gustav happened to have information about a treasure Douglon was looking for,” Alaric said, attempting to move the focus of the conversation off himself.
    “That’s what Douglon thinks, too,” Brandson said. “He doesn’t believe Gustav knows anything. Thinks he’s just along to steal the treasure. It doesn’t help that Gustav’s clue is too cryptic to make sense of. ‘ The stone lies beneath the oatry,’ whatever that means.”
    Alaric reached for some more berries and forced his face to stay neutral even though his mind spun.
    The stone lies beneath the oak tree.
    How exactly had the dimwitted wizard discovered that piece of information?

Chapter 8
    “You told him what?” Douglon hurled a stick into the fire that evening and glared from Brandson to