Temple of the Dragonslayer Read Online Free PDF

forced.
    “Well, here we are, safe and sound. I’m sure Nearra is as grateful as I am for your help, but there is no need for you to accompany us any further. Come, Nearra. Let’s go inside.” Davyn stepped up to the wooden door and motioned for Nearra to join him.
    Nearra looked to Catriona, unsure what to do.
    “I can’t think of anything more interesting to do than find out if Nearra recovers her lost memories,” Sindri said. “How about you, Catriona?”
    Catriona answered the kender, but she kept her gaze focused on Davyn as she spoke. “I have taken a vow to remain at Nearra’s side until her mind is whole again. We are coming with you.”
    Davyn’s gaze hardened and when he spoke, his voice was tight with tension. “I appreciate the offer, but we really—”
    “You might as well not bother,” Sindri interrupted. “Once Catriona makes up her mind, that’s it. Several months ago she intervened when I was having a discussion with a deluded alchemist. He refused to believe I’d conjured a vial of water-breathing potion. We were in the middle of a fierce argument when Catriona showed up. Afterward, she decided to travel with me and, as she put it, protect me from myself.” The kender leaned toward Davyn and whispered, “I don’t really need protecting, of course, but I’ve found it’s best to humor her in these matters.”
    Davyn’s face reddened with anger, then he let out a defeated sigh, the anger draining out of him along with his breath. “All right, you two can come. But only if Nearra approves. After all, we’ve come to the healer for her sake.”
    Nearra spoke without hesitation. “I’d like for you to come.”
    Davyn nodded, gave Nearra a thin smile, then turned and knocked on the healer’s door.

     
    Inside the healer’s examining room, Nearra sat on a hard wooden table while Catriona stood close by. Catriona had insisted on accompanying her into the examining room, and she’d been equally insistent that Davyn and Sindri—the two males—remain in the outer room while the examination took place.
    The examining room was tiny and cramped. Shelves filled with hundreds of jars reached to the ceiling. Nearra read the labels of the jars next to her: Juniper, dried eel skin, goose droppings, sheep fat, wyvern stinger. She nearly gagged thinking of the disgusting potions those ingredients might make. But all the same, she’d be willing to drink anything if it might bring back her memories.
    The healer pulled back a panel in the ceiling to allow sunlight into the room so that she might better see her patient. Wynda then walked around the table until she stood behind Nearra. She ran her short stubby fingers gently over Nearra’s scalp, pausing now and then to exert pressure on a particular spot as she muttered to herself beneath her breath. She sniffed Nearra’s breath, then cut off a lock of her hair and chewed it for several moments before scowling and spitting it onto the floor.
    Finally, Wynda spoke. “I cannot tell if you suffer an enchantment, child, but the wizard who aided you said you did not, correct?”
    “That’s right,” Nearra said.
    “Then I am at a loss to explain your condition. Your bodily humors are in balance, and you appear strong and healthy.”Wynda made a clucking sound with her tongue as she pondered the problem. “Child, I say this without false pride: I am the best healer in Tresvka, and I have no idea how to help you.”
    Nearra thought she might cry. “Are you certain? Can’t you make some kind of potion to help me?”
    “Surely there must be
something
that can be done for her,” Catriona said.
    Wynda shook her head. “Not by me, I’m afraid, nor by any other ordinary healer. But … there might be another possibility.”
    Nearra wondered if she dared to hope again. “What is it?”
    “Long years past, there was a temple located deep in a valley somewhere past the northern forest of Tresvka. Many clerics made their home there, sharing their