It was the last person I expected - Sarah McMillan. Not that I could ever have imagined her in a fur bikini or sporting tattoos. She looked confused as if she wasn't sure where she was for a second. Then she caught sight of the wizard's face and she fell to her knees, eyes welling up. I looked past her and noticed she'd dropped something on the slab she'd been facing when we'd interrupted her. I could have sworn it was the stone! My hand shot to the pouch to check it was still there and curiously, everyone else appeared to have had a similar reaction.
Leaning on his staff the wizard bent down and helped 'Sarah' to her feet. Turning to us he smiled and said "Take a seat everyone," and promptly sat on one of the slabs, using the standing slab as a backrest. We all looked at each other and took his cue, each sitting at a different stone; 'Sarah' sat on the wizard's left, while I chose one of the stones opposite the wizard so I could get the best view of him; Haziim glanced around nervously before sitting on one side of me while Dexter chose the other; with only two seats left to choose from, Trezah elected for the one between Dexter and the wizard, while Barûmnâzil sat next to 'Sarah'.
While we were choosing seats, the wizard drew out a long pipe, lit it and took a few puffs. We all waited with baited breath for him to begin. Instead he puffed again. There were nervous glances all round until the dwarf broke the silence.
"Get on with it then, what the hell is going on?"
