Baycorf opened the door to the small study to find the elderly, rotund, and wrinkled lizard sitting inside the study.  When he saw the gray he closed the book and shelved it.

"Prudasaur" Baycorf said softly and warmly.  "It has been too long.  And how goes things for you and the Singed Leaf?"

"Well enough for now" the old lizard said. "I've got to admit I'm surprised to still see you here.  I didn't think even you could escape from where you were imprisoned."

"I wish I could tell you I managed to get here using just my own wit and resourcefulness, but it took several concurrent strokes of luck to get here."

"Come walk with me" the lizard says.  "I want you to see the orangeberry trees within the agridome.  They are quite impressive."  The two of them left the room and began walking down the wide corridor.

"So what brings you here, besides your luck?" the lizard asked.

"I have a question to ask you.  Your hoplites removed a special gray artifact from a grotto on Zentithala.  What do you know about it?"  At hearing this, the lizard stopped walking and turned to look at the gray.

"We have removed many artifacts from that world to keep them from the wrong hands."

"Yes, but surely you recognized the uniqueness of the particular item I am referring to.  It left behind some traces of dark energy fields all over the walls all over the hidden grotto where it was found."  The lizard looked into the large, black eyes of the gray, as if he could somehow read the facial expressions of a face  without muscles capable of expression.

"Tell me one thing, Baycorf.  Where does your loyalty really lie?"

"My loyalty is now where it always was…with the mission the metaphysicist triumvirate took on when they arrived in this galaxy.  That makes us natural allies."  Prudasaur paused for a moment, seeming unsure of what he should say to the gray.

"I know exactly what device it is you were referring to" the lizard said resuming walking in the direction he was previously going.  Baycorf immediately began walking with him.  "We found a map in some stuff of Grithmeer's that we have.  It showed the location of where we had hidden an object that he apparently considered pretty important."

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"Do you still have the device?" asked the gray with a definite sound of eagerness in his voice.

"No. "

"You gave it up?" Baycorf said in a surprised, exasperated tone.  "Why?"

"We attempted to contact Cubork who has been trying to find the piece that we found… but were unable to find him.  So we gave it to a human who will be able to get it to him.  If I or Visler had known you'd be seeing the light of day again we would have waited for you."

"Where is Cubork and why can't you give it to him yourself?  I thought you were friendly with him?"

"Cubork has been interacting with the Cult of the Goddess.  He has apparently tricked the head of the cult into thinking that he can help him find the object.  He wants to find out what it does and what the cult's plan for it is.  We haven't been able to contact him since then.  This human is a trusted friend of Visler's and apparently also has access to the cult.  The cultists will not trust singed leaf lizards, as you can possibly imagine.  We didn't want to blow his cover by having one of our own show up and be detected."  The double doors opened as the pair approached them, revealing the vast dome.  The short and wide trees with bright, orange berries created a very large green blanket over the basin below the balcony where they were standing where the trees grew.

"Do you happen to know what the key does, Baycorf?" Prudasaur asked getting straight to the point.

"I'm not sure" Baycorf answered.  Prudasaur turned to look at him with a minor scowl on his face.

"I opened up and gave you full honesty about what has happened.  I would be nice of you to show some reciprocity.  You've got Alkarog's manuscripts, so surely you know something about it."

"I'm being completely open and honest with you, Prudasaur.  Alkarog's books only make brief mentions of it.  My guess is that Gaia's Cult may be the only ones who really know what it does."

"And why do you think that?" Prudasaur asked with a genuine sound of skepticism in his voice.

"They have the talisman of the Goddess" Baycorf said. Prudasaur's  eyes widened.

"How sure are you of that?"

"Almost entirely.  They seem entirely too agile and resourceful to be going without guidance from a metaphysical organism."  Prudasaur's expression quickly changed to one of concern.

"That's not good news" Prudasaur replied looking thoughtfully into the orchard.

"The real problem will come if the talisman gets into the hands of the Fire Flower, but I fear it may already be too late."  Prudasaur stared out into the large canopy orangeberry trees, as in deep thought.

"Cubork said that he was headed for the Wyrn sector, last we heard from him."

"That probably won't do a lot of good.  The Cult is nomadic and doesn't stay in one place for long" Baycorf explained.

"Well" the lizard said looking to be in deep thought "I don't know what else I can really do.  If I were you I would speak to Visler, but I don't think he will be of much more help."

"I think I will" Baycorf said.  "And thank you."  Baycorf disappeared out the double door of the agridome.