Krumer and O'Fallon could hear. "She's a touchy one. Where did you boys find her?"
O'Fallon chuckled. "Moira? Ah, that'd be the wee pub brawl with that Spaniard crew in San Sebastian. She'd na more'n three tied up. Two under a chair, an one she be havin' by the ear with a set a' iron tongs."
Adonia smiled and shook her head slightly in amazement. "No small wonder you kept her around."
Krumer folded his arms over his chest. "Adonia, you wouldn't hole up in such a place if you didn't have an idea of what chased you. Nor would you post a hidden watch, given we never laid eyes upon him coming here. You may not know what Dr. Von Patterson found, but you know more than you're admitting to."
Adonia grinned at the orc. "Ah, Krumer dear, direct as always. My, how I've missed working with all of you. You are quite correct. I have some idea. I don't know who they are exactly, but once we had made it back to the La Paloma , we thought we had left his assassins behind. We made preparations but our captain was not careful enough. They made it aboard. Shortly before we arrived here, they emerged and attacked. Caught the officers and crew unaware. We made it to port, but the captain abandoned ship. He told me he'd send someone back, but we've not heard from them."
" La Paloma ?" Krumer asked curiously.
"The ship I was on." Adonia explained. "What's left of her is still tied at the dock."
"Well then, that explains what her name was." The orc replied.
O'Fallon frowned while he compared her story with the tracks he had been following for most of the day. "That be fittin' the tracks here and yon. Save fer the cat."
"Cat?" Adonia asked, confused.
Krumer nodded. "A large cat. Cougar or mountain lion. Odd thing is that it has an owner, or at least a keeper."
It was the Charybdian's turn to frown. "Once on station, I remember thinking I heard a muffled scream from what would've been a mountain lion. But here? I dismissed it as nerves. So you say it's real?"
O'Fallon nodded. "Be as real as either of us standin' here."
Krumer looked over to where Thorias sat on a wooden box, examining Dr. Von Patterson. "Adonia ... my dear ... what did James find?"
Adonia gave Krumer an innocent look. "I really don't know. I was only sent by the Royal Museum to check on him in response to a letter they received."
"Yes, of that I've no doubt." The orc replied with his own knowing smile. "And that is what the museum's official communications will read as well. However, I know you quite well. You are not one to travel in the company of some possibly valuable or dangerous object and remain ignorant of it. So ... what did he find?"
She grinned and her yellow eyes lit up slightly with a mix of amusement and excitement. "A jade statue. Ah, but not just any, a rare one from the Roman times. According to legend, these statues could control the minds of whatever creature that the statue was a likeness of."
"What was this one of?" Krumer asked curiously.
"A lightning drake."
Krumer and O'Fallon exchanged a glance. It had only been the better part of a season since they had their all-to-close encounter with a lightning drake. One that nearly took Captain Hunter's life, all originally due to the machinations of a vampiric thief.
It was O'Fallon that spoke first. "Adonia, where be the thing now?"
She gave the two of them a dejected look. "On the station ... somewhere. When the assassins attacked, I grabbed the good Dr. Von Patterson and some crew and raced off. The statue? Back on the ship, last I can recall. We forgot in the rush and James was in no state of mind to remember."
Krumer frowned again. "We searched the wreck. There was no sign of a statue."
Behind them, Thorias stood up and stretched his back. He turned around towards the trio on the far side of the small room. "Most perplexing."
The orc looked over at the doctor. "But is it curable?"
"If I were a mystic, then perhaps." Thorias said wryly. "Aside from some cuts and scrapes, the man isn't
O'Fallon chuckled. "Moira? Ah, that'd be the wee pub brawl with that Spaniard crew in San Sebastian. She'd na more'n three tied up. Two under a chair, an one she be havin' by the ear with a set a' iron tongs."
Adonia smiled and shook her head slightly in amazement. "No small wonder you kept her around."
Krumer folded his arms over his chest. "Adonia, you wouldn't hole up in such a place if you didn't have an idea of what chased you. Nor would you post a hidden watch, given we never laid eyes upon him coming here. You may not know what Dr. Von Patterson found, but you know more than you're admitting to."
Adonia grinned at the orc. "Ah, Krumer dear, direct as always. My, how I've missed working with all of you. You are quite correct. I have some idea. I don't know who they are exactly, but once we had made it back to the La Paloma , we thought we had left his assassins behind. We made preparations but our captain was not careful enough. They made it aboard. Shortly before we arrived here, they emerged and attacked. Caught the officers and crew unaware. We made it to port, but the captain abandoned ship. He told me he'd send someone back, but we've not heard from them."
" La Paloma ?" Krumer asked curiously.
"The ship I was on." Adonia explained. "What's left of her is still tied at the dock."
"Well then, that explains what her name was." The orc replied.
O'Fallon frowned while he compared her story with the tracks he had been following for most of the day. "That be fittin' the tracks here and yon. Save fer the cat."
"Cat?" Adonia asked, confused.
Krumer nodded. "A large cat. Cougar or mountain lion. Odd thing is that it has an owner, or at least a keeper."
It was the Charybdian's turn to frown. "Once on station, I remember thinking I heard a muffled scream from what would've been a mountain lion. But here? I dismissed it as nerves. So you say it's real?"
O'Fallon nodded. "Be as real as either of us standin' here."
Krumer looked over to where Thorias sat on a wooden box, examining Dr. Von Patterson. "Adonia ... my dear ... what did James find?"
Adonia gave Krumer an innocent look. "I really don't know. I was only sent by the Royal Museum to check on him in response to a letter they received."
"Yes, of that I've no doubt." The orc replied with his own knowing smile. "And that is what the museum's official communications will read as well. However, I know you quite well. You are not one to travel in the company of some possibly valuable or dangerous object and remain ignorant of it. So ... what did he find?"
She grinned and her yellow eyes lit up slightly with a mix of amusement and excitement. "A jade statue. Ah, but not just any, a rare one from the Roman times. According to legend, these statues could control the minds of whatever creature that the statue was a likeness of."
"What was this one of?" Krumer asked curiously.
"A lightning drake."
Krumer and O'Fallon exchanged a glance. It had only been the better part of a season since they had their all-to-close encounter with a lightning drake. One that nearly took Captain Hunter's life, all originally due to the machinations of a vampiric thief.
It was O'Fallon that spoke first. "Adonia, where be the thing now?"
She gave the two of them a dejected look. "On the station ... somewhere. When the assassins attacked, I grabbed the good Dr. Von Patterson and some crew and raced off. The statue? Back on the ship, last I can recall. We forgot in the rush and James was in no state of mind to remember."
Krumer frowned again. "We searched the wreck. There was no sign of a statue."
Behind them, Thorias stood up and stretched his back. He turned around towards the trio on the far side of the small room. "Most perplexing."
The orc looked over at the doctor. "But is it curable?"
"If I were a mystic, then perhaps." Thorias said wryly. "Aside from some cuts and scrapes, the man isn't
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