"What? A baby astral scorpion-lion? Where did you find it?"
Murphy had been about to set out on his daily patrol of the territory when he received a message from Triss through her orb. The contents left him completely baffled.
He knew dangerous creatures like astral scorpion-lions roamed his city, but he had already killed the female scorpion-lion. The venomous tail stinger it had dropped was still sitting in his psionic inventory. According to Adele, it would make a fine throwing dagger, but Scarlet Castle didn't have a decent blacksmith at the moment, so Murphy had kept it for now.
But where had this little scorpion-lion come from?
Damn!
Could old Finoc's dire prediction have come true? Had that female scorpion-lion really laid eggs somewhere in the city, and had they hatched?
This was a serious problem.
The city already had enough dangerous, troublesome things. They didn't need any more!
"How should I know where your warriors found the little scorpion-lion? The poor thing only just opened its eyes."
Triss's impatient voice came through the orb. She complained,
"They even had the crazy idea of taming it, then brought it all the way to me. But I'm a psion, not an animal expert. You're the astral creature summoner, so dealing with this thing is your specialty.
I sent them your way.
You can deal with it. And don't get me started—your warriors show their new Archduchess no respect at all!"
"But you never complained about their disrespect when you accepted the fine wine they brought you."
Murphy held the core orb like someone chatting on the phone and teased her,
"They keep bringing you wine, too, so you can put up with a little bad attitude. But if they go too far, give them a taste of your temper.
They're