Ninian flattened out the piece of paper he'd got from the bartender. "OK," he said. "A map. Hmm. Here's the West Gate." He drew a square. "And here's the area just outside it. Now there should be a path around there someplace. Wait, there's the Inn... Uh..." He tapped his pencil on the table.
"Are you sure you know how to get to Rivervale?" I frowned. "I mean, I could always just keep asking directions, and --"
"Heh, sure, of course I know!" Ninian looked at his progress so far. "I just have to figure out where to put the Inn... Uh..." He put the pencil down.
"Ninian not know. Razgum draw." The troll gently took the pencil and moved the paper over next to his tankard. "Dis gate. See, and here path. Path go long long way. Here Inn, and dis guard. Guard not like Razgum." He shook his head.
"Will he give me any trouble?" I wondered if I could fight a guard off by myself.
"No," Razgum said, "Guard like elfs. I tink." He scratched his head with the pencil, looking quizzically at Ninian.
"Old Reskin won't bother ya," Ninian said. "He doesn't mind wood elves as far as I know, not even me."
Razgum bent his head over the paper. "Here Inn," he continued, "And here orcs. And here more orcs. And here anudder Inn. Den path go to toll booth."
"Toll booth?" I said. "Do I have to pay a toll?"
Ninian laughed. "You know, all the times I went past it, I never had to. I don't know why that thing's there. Probably to give the guards a place to play cards! Heh!"
Razgum laughed. It was a loud, wheezing, frightening sound, but even in the face of his awful grin, I could tell he was on my side. I wondered again about my faulty information -- trolls would kill me on sight, then barbecue my corpse and pick their teeth with the bones. True, elf pie was a known recipe where Razgum was from, but he hadn't yet produced any barbecue sauce from his pack. And anyway, he'd said he preferred frogs.
The troll drew a big X on the map. "Now," he said, "Dis Gix. Gix not like anybody, so not pass Gix, okay Gwion?"
"Wait," I said, "Who's Gix? And what's his problem?"
"Me not know." Razgum shrugged. "Gix is elf. Little one, like you, but he blue. He not like Razgum, or guards, or anybody."
"You should definitely go around that Gix," Ninian agreed. "He hates everybody. I don't know what his, er, issues are. But he's mean, and he'll kill you fast."
"That's strange," I said. "I never knew a drow until three days ago. Now I've met two. Neither one of them was exactly, uh, friendly, but they were nice enough."
Ninian shrugged. "I dunno. Some of them just got a chip on their shoulder. You would too, if you were blue and everybody hated ya for it."
"I certainly would," I said. "What is it everyone hates about them? They look sort of mean, I guess, but how do you know until you talk to them or something?"
"You don't," Ninian said. "I gotta tell ya, that's one of the reasons I had to get out of that Kelethin town. Everybody's so small-minded -- not like I tried to win any friends there, you understand, but still. You're a lot better off." He ran a hand through his oily hair. "Hey, does this have anything to do with why you gotta go talk to another druid?"
"That's a long story," I said hastily. I wasn't even sure that talking to another druid would help Uncle Zophia in any way, but I had to try, and the faster I got directions, the faster I'd be on my way to Rivervale. "Razgum, how's the map coming?"
"Here lake," Razgum said, "And here Inn. Den here --" he drew a circle -- "Is forest." He put the pencil down and looked at me. "Forest bad. Lots of rotten tings in forest."
I gulped. "Rotten? You mean, like, dead?"
Razgum nodded. "Not go to forest at night. In daytime, forest not so bad. No dead tings. Only Bixies. Bixies hate Razgum, but Razgum not care. Bixies small." He grinned.
"Geeze, Razgum," Ninian said, placing a comforting hand on the troll's shoulder, "Just about everything hates you. And I thought I had it bad! Heh heh!"
"Razgum understand." The troll nodded. "Razgum big and scary. But not mean. Someday, all the tings will know Razgum not hate dem, then dey not hate Razgum anymore."
"And that'll be a relief," Ninian said. "I'm as sneaky as they come, but lemme tell ya, it's pretty hard to hide someone this guy's size." He waved a hand toward Razgum's enormous bulk. "He can hardly fit through a lot of doors! Heh! You should have seen what we went through to get in here."
"Doesn't he mind having a troll as a customer?" I pointed toward the bartender.
"Hah!" Ninian said. "Him? As long as you keep buying ale, he could care less what else you do. Hey Raz, how long have we been in here, anyway?"
Razgum pondered the ceiling for a moment. "Me not remember," he said at last.
I laughed. "Well, one more thing before I go -- and then maybe you two should be going also. Where's the end of my journey?"
"Here," said Razgum, drawing a large x on the map. "Dis Rivervale. In forest, look for little tiny hole in rocks. Razgum too big to go in, but --"
"Don't tell me," I said. "You couldn't go in anyway, because they hate you."
"Yeah." Razgum stared dejectedly at the table.
"It's OK, Mr. Tall, Green, and Ugly." Ninian elbowed the troll. "I don't care where you were born. And if you stick with me, you'll have plenty of friends all over the place."
Razgum brightened. "We go catch some frogs now?"
"Yeah." Ninian rolled up the map and handed it to me. "Let's go get some frogs. Here you go, Gwion. Good luck finding that place. It's pretty easy, really. Just keep going West."
"West," I repeated. "Thanks, you two. Now go get something to eat before you end up like them." I pointed toward the warriors, who had finally passed out in a heap in one corner.
Razgum stood as I got ready to leave. "Bye, nice elfy lady," he said, patting me on the head. It hurt a little, but I understood what he meant. He wasn't a bad guy. And Ninian, despite appearances, really wasn't a bad guy either. I left them there, arguing over whether there were more frogs under the Freeport docks or in the lake in the West Commonlands.
"West," I muttered as I swung the door open again. "West."
