Zeraer's eyes widened, focusing on the diamond, but his mind was racing to places no one would ever have guessed.  He saw prisms of light in geometric shapes, crowded together as the simple solids merged and clumped, finding local maximal fits to the exterior of the diamond's surface.  He saw rainbows and rays and glittery beams heading off in a chaotic jumble of escaping light.  He saw the bent and distorted reflections of what little light was shining from the source behind the man's head.  Suddenly his vision sharpened dramatically, and he saw the crystalline surface of the diamond, smoothed from the gentle friction of year after year of contact with the world.<br/><br/>~~<br/><br/>Sunscry awoke from her nap with strange images darting through her mind.  Her connection alerted her that her Friend was experiencing a powerful feeling.  The hum of that link was now buzzing with sensations and an increase in their shared consciousness.  She looked down from her perch and surveyed the strange, human building again.  A window off to one side was visibly open.  This is the sort of thing she always noticed when her Friend was agitated and Alone.<br/><br/>~~<br/><br/>He looked back up at the man.  The idea of following him for days without any explanation was plainly crazy.  The idea of believing he would somehow be allowed to walk away with such a brilliant rock was also plainly crazy.  That the people of the world might be in danger... this was not entirely implausible, though the thought that he could do anything about it perhaps was.<br/><br/>But then again -- why had he been led here?  What did all the signs mean?  These were not small omens, and there were more than one.  And why was such an assembly of magical and dangerous forces here in this lonely tavern?  Zeraer regarded the man, his mind winding down to a conclusion.  He sat up straighter and raised his chin slightly.<br/><br/>"You, and apparently all the forces around me, leave me very little choice.  The board, the pieces and perhaps even the opponents have been set.  What is the first move of this new game?"