Game Play Read Online Free PDF

about the
Earthspirits and their involvement," Delrael said immediately.
    "That could be
our loaded dice." He touched his silver belt, but he felt nothing unusual.
"I have to carry them to Scartaris ― but we need to make it look
like we're just going on a quest to find out more about our enemy."
    " We? "
Bryl said. "Who all is going on this quest? We just got back from
one!"
    Delrael frowned at
him. "We're supposed to enjoy going on quests, Bryl.
    That's what we were
all created for. It's just a game."
    "This just
might take the Outsiders by surprise." Vailret smiled.
    "That'll teach
them to leave loopholes in the Rules!"
    "So are the
four of us going on this quest?" Tareah asked. Her voice carried an
impatience for banter. She had been brought up studying the famous historical
quests of the Game. Delrael knew she considered it to be very serious stuff,
nothing to be made light of.
    "I have to
go," Delrael said, running his fingers along the silver belt, "since
I'm carrying the Earthspirits. And Vailret, because you can think fast, and you know things we wouldn't even consider. That might help. I'd like you to
come too, Bryl, so we can use your Sorcerer magic."
    Delrael lowered his
voice. "I want you to stay here." He touched her shoulders, then slid
his palms down to hold her arms, hooking his thumbs on the insides of her
elbows.
    She bristled.
"Stay here? But I owe it to Gamearth to fight as much as you! Now that
Enrod's gone, I'm the last full-blooded Sorcerer on the map. I have to come
with you!"
    Delrael held up one
hand to stop her. "Tareah, you've been at the Ice Palace all your life ― you never gained any experience. Questing isn't something you learn offhand. It
would be too dangerous to you, and to us , to have an inexperienced
character in the party. You know the Rules, you know the probabilities."
    Tareah was angry
with him. He'd thought about this so much, but when he explained it to her it
seemed a weak and simple excuse. He wasn't good at explaining things. But when
Tryos the dragon had kidnapped her, Tareah sat around waiting to be rescued
because that's what she thought she was supposed to do. He didn't want
to count on someone who would play according to what she remembered of
distorted legends and cut-and-dried interpretations of the Rules.
    He sighed and
softened his voice. "Look, I'm not just being overprotective. I need
someone powerful to stay and guard the Stronghold while we're gone. Vailret
just said it ― there's no telling what Scartaris might send here. I want
somebody at the Stronghold who can fight back. You have the Water Stone and the
Fire Stone ― you might need them. The characters in the village
might need you."
    Tareah still said
nothing to Delrael.
    "I'm going to
speak to Tarne, too ― he's a fighter, an old veteran from the days
when my father ran the Stronghold. He kept the characters safe when Gairoth
took over. I think the two of you can stand against anything Scartaris
has."
    Tareah seemed to be
considering what Delrael said; finally, she nodded.
    "You're right.
That goes along with the other adventures I've studied. I'll stay here."
    Tareah clicked the
two gems together in the palm of her hand. "But it doesn't seem practical
for me to have two Stones, if I'm just sitting behind a wall all day
long."
    She held out the
eight-sided ruby to Bryl. The ruby glowed like a blazing coal. "Take the
Fire Stone with you. The Deathspirits told me I should do with it as I see fit.
The Water Stone was my father's. The Fire Stone ... I don't feel comfortable
with it, not after I know what Enrod was going to do.
    Not after the anger
I felt in his mind."
    Bryl reached out
his hands in amazement and took the gem. He stared with twinkling eyes and awe
written on his face. "I don't really want to go on another quest," he
said, "But now I feel a lot safer."
    "None of us is
going to be safe," Vailret said. "Not until this is all over."
     

    INTERLUDE: OUTSIDE
     
    Melanie arrived at
Tyrone's house