"They will be overcome!"
The cloak fell to the flagging and the golden giant was gone in long strides that carried him to the doors of the Citadel and within them. The woman stood watching, then bent and lifted his fallen cloak, threw it over her arm, and followed.
Inside the darkness of the Citadel, Tyr went on bare feet, with uncanny silence. A guard came toward him, and he darted into the shadows. When the guard was five paces away, Tyr struck.
He lowered the guard, and went on. Voices came from ahead of him.
"This Tyr will know how strong are the ardth when he learns what has befallen Zarman!"
"Aye! I wonder what has become of him? Is he dead?"
"Not he. He bides his time. He hopes for a rising of the Trylla!"
"With Zarman and his crew to be executed today, what chance have the Trylla?"
Tyr was turned to stone. His heart hammered inside his chest. Zarman to die! But how had the ardth taken him? Once captured, he would be twice as wary! His hands lifted in the shadows toward the guards, but he held them still.
Tyr swung about and went on.