Sterling thought about their present situation and considered what Ashleyien and Dan had said to him. Deep in his heart, the Dark Elf felt that his friends might be right. Maybe it was best to just tell her everything and call it good. If Tuculcha sabotaged the mirror, the Drow knew that he could always snap Amaronte's neck before he ever returned the raven to Tuculcha. It was apparent that the Swamp Witch did love the little critter, and the animal's death would undoubtedly wound her deeply. But if Sterling left the little beast alive, the test of wills between himself and Tuculcha could serve as a catalyst for permanently damaging her relationship with Amaronte. Her unwillingness to make a sacrifice for the raven might cost her a valuable ally--and in the process, only further weakened her power! At the very least, she would have to expend some energy to heal Amaronte.
'Yes!' the Drow decided to himself, 'It was time to tell her the truth, but first I'll put the icing on the cake!'
"You know, Dan, Ashleyien, you guys are absolutely right!" said Sterling as he stuffed the raven back into the backpack and zipped it shut once more. "Maybe its time to finally tell her what we're doing here. After all, poor Amaronte wants this over with, now that he knows that Tucy doesn't really love him--AT ALL! So what do we have to lose, eh?"
Rising to his feet, Sterling faced the Swamp Witch and said, "The reason why we are here Tucy is to use the mirror that you have in the tower to retrieve a friend of ours that needs our help. We're going to rescue the Lorekeeper and get her out of Venger's clutches by creating a portal and bringing Zakiyah through it. Now here's what you get out of the deal once we succeed: you'll get Amaronte back--although I doubt he will actually want to stay with you considering how you've betrayed him--and the satisfaction of knowing that you stuck it to Venger without him knowing about it! Well, Tucy, what do you say? Are you going to take down that trap or do I have to prove to poor Amaronte how much you really don't love him?!"
A Point To Ponder
((NEXT))
