Chapter 7-7

Almonihah swore in Draconic. “Knew that amulet'd been too quiet!”

At the same time, the Captain was making his way over to his man. “How many? How long do we have?”

“Uh... I don't know how many, sir, but only a couple minutes at the rate they were going...”

Now the Captain swore, and in a language everyone present could understand. By now he was jogging down the aisle towards the door the soldier had come from. “Notify all posts. We need every able-bodied man on the walls.”

Suddenly he stopped and looked back. “Your Honor, if I could have Almonihah's aid in the defense of the city...”

The judge was still overcoming shock, but after a moment he responded, “Yes, of course! If he will aid in the defense of our city...”

“It is his fault we're under attack, after all,” the accuser pointed out, though he seemed as shocked as any.

Garkhen slowly got to his feet. “And I will go, too.”

Almonihah snorted. “Yesterday you had trouble standing on your own. 'll just get in th' way.”

Garkhen shook his head defiantly. “No. I will go. I cannot stand by while others die.”

The half-bronze dragon grunted as he started moving to leave, following the Guard Captain out of the court. “Not going t' do much good 'f you knock yourself out again 'nd get stepped on by some Javni'Tolkhrah.”

Garkhen started to follow, but Maritha's voice from the crowd stopped him. “And what of the amulet? Is it wise to take it closer to these creatures?”

Garkhen paused. “I... am not certain.”

“Should it not be kept from the walls? It is clear we need to re-establish some sort of containment on it. Perhaps if you had come seen me when you returned we might have prevented this...”

Almonihah snorted again, his arms crossed. “Trouble only started after we told you.”

The Archivist's face darkened. “I understand your concern, but I would ask you to not accuse me...”

“Please!” Garkhen half-shouted. “Let us not argue amongst ourselves! We must work together, not against one another.”

Maritha looked between the two half-dragons. “Then what of my proposal? I and those of my team I most trust can do something to block out the amulet's... call, whatever it's doing to bring the Madness-Touched here.”

Almonihah growled, baring a few teeth, then looked over at Garkhen. “'f he watches,” he stated, pointing at Garkhen.

Garkhen hesitated a moment, then nodded slightly. “I will do this.”

After another moment of silence, Almonihah pulled the amulet out of his pack, still wrapped in cloth as he had left it. Garkhen walked forward and took it, then turned to Maritha.

“Let us go.”

The Archivist followed him out, while Almonihah turned and jogged out of the building. His first instinct once outside was to get Zakhin'Dakh, but a quick glance at the sky told him that wouldn't be necessary.

The huge griffon's wing-beats stirred up dust from the street as he came into a landing in front of his friend. Almonihah! He shrieked. Bad things!

Yes, Almonihah responded, speaking Great Eagle back, More monsters. Let's go get rid of them.

Yeah! Zakhin'Dakh screeched, taking off again. Almonihah followed, sprinting towards the walls.

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Yeah, someone else has to convince Garkhen to not knock himself out again. That's a problem of his.