Gargan's axe and fist worked together to lay grimlocks low. Slip and Taslin, sword and mace singing, held off a dozen of the eyeless creatures. Though a hundred or more grimlocks had filled the chamber before the worm's appearance, many had fled the battle, leaving only the best warriors, perhaps two score of them.
The grimlocks, however, were the least of the band's worries. The hulking purple worm hissed, spat, and weaved, chasing after Asson. The mage was a mere darting insect to the serpentine colossus, and a single bite or spit of acid would destroy him.
Fortunately, the old man's magic bore him quickly enough to avoid the worm's lunges.
Meanwhile, Davoren sent ray after ray of ruby energy into the creature, timing his attacks to match Asson's magic. Twilight imagined that the unseeing worm, its senses based on hearing and touch, could not know that the pesky mage-of which it was well aware-was not the source of the stinging blasts.
The battle would remain at a standstill, Twilight realized, until Asson's magic expired or the others ran out of spells. Then that worm would turn its attention from the source of its pain and devour the others.
Seeing that Twilight would be free in a breath, Gargan sent another pair of grimlocks staggering back with a pulse of his powerful shoulders. He lunged across the cavern to join Slip and Taslin, who faced difficulties of their own.
With Liet's help, Twilight squirmed out from under the grimlock corpse, and not a moment too soon. A pair of grimlocks thrust spears at them. Liet managed to knock one aside, and expertly twisted it out of the grimlock's hands with a flick of his wrist.
Twilight dodged the other spear thrust, letting it slide harmlessly past her, and plucked up Betrayal with her toe. Then she danced inside the creature's guard and ran the grimlock through. Liet's foe whirled, and she put her rapier through the grimlock's face.
'Heh,' Liet said. 'I'm better at disarming than finishing, eh?'
'Retreat!' shouted Twilight. 'Away from the-'
At that moment, instinct told Twilight to duck, and she never failed to trust instinct. A thrown spear glanced off her shoulder. It should have torn through her silk shirt, but the gold ring she had slipped onto her finger draped her body in magic as thick and protective as a suit of mail.
Someone caught her arm, and Twilight almost killed Liet. 'Are you all right?' the youth shouted in her face.
Twilight cringed. 'Easy, lad,' she snapped, rubbing her ear. 'I'm right here.'
Back to back in a circle of bodies, the two batted away weapons and riposted. The creatures came from all directions but Twilight and Liet were only two, so they kept turning. Spears jabbed at them, and they deflected the points as best they could. One caught Liet's shoulder and the man gasped, but Twilight pushed him back off the flint tip.
A stout grimlock charged, spear low. Twilight swept her rapier down to turn it aside, and Liet stepped in her path before she could riposte. He smashed his fist into the creature's face. From the way he flinched and flexed his hand, Twilight was glad she hadn't tried that.
'That's what swords are for,' said Twilight. She demonstrated by putting her dusky blade through the startled grimlock's throat, sending him to the floor.
'Point taken,' Liet scowled. He sidestepped a chop, slapped the wielder's hands away from the grimlock the haft, and showed his newly acquired strategy by stabbing the grimlock in the side.
'Well done,' Twilight said. He didn't fight very well, but he knew how to disarm.
'You never answered-' started Liet. He parried an axe high, his muscles straining against those of the grimlock and the flint sparking against his steel. Twilight stepped under his raised arms, twisted her wrist to shorten her grip, and thrust once, twice, thrice, skewering the creature each time.
'Hmm?' she asked idly as the grimlock fell.
'My question,' Liet finished, panting. Blood flowed down his shield arm. 'You never answered it.'
'Because it was a foolish question,' Twilight said simply. She turned back to the business of escaping. They'd broken the grimlocks' circle and she hauled Liet back. They fought a retreating battle toward the others, near what Twilight hoped was an exit tunnel.
Asson spun out of the way just in time to keep his head, and threw a lightning bolt into the worm's body. The worm jerked and whipped, caught in a fury of electricity, but only for a moment. The beast was as tough as a serpent of stone and as fast as a dragon. Twilight knew Asson could not flee to save himself, for he was the only thing distracting the beast.
The shadowdancer couldn't think about strategy; she fell fully into instinct and bladework. Over and over, she parried and retreated, parried and retreated. She deflected a blow meant for the staggering Liet and leaped back, wrenching the youth by his good shoulder. His shield went up to block spears, but weakly, slowly-barely.
The grimlocks pressed the two groups of foes-Twilight and Liet one, Gargan and Slip the other-into a circle around Taslin, who cast spells from the middle. Together, they backed toward the exit. Davoren stood aloof, off to the right. He blasted at the worm, and every so often, any grimlocks that dared to approach him.
'Asson!' A chopping axe stole away any other words Taslin might have screamed, and she fell into a chant, calling on Corellon's power as she parried and cut.
The old mage threw a ball of webbing directly into the purple worm's hiss. The sticky threads exploded into a wagon load of webs, coating its face and fangs, just as another ray of Davoren's power struck the creature ten feet below the maw. The creature spat and sputtered, trying to clear its mouth. Its acid was making progress slowly. Asson took the opportunity to fly backward, keeping as much distance as he could between himself and roaring, serpentine death. In its thrashings, the worm narrowly missed clubbing him down.
The tide seemed to be turning-the seven could escape. The worm's cries multiplied as the spellslingers inflicted blow after stinging blow upon it. The shrieks wreaked havoc upon the grimlocks' ears. Those that remained winced and moaned with every roar. Distracted as they were, the companions could defeat their numbers.
Facing the last grimlock she saw on his feet, Twilight ducked under a slashing sword blade and came up inside the creature's guard, wrist swinging. A grimlock with a sword-a steel one?
This grimlock must have seen her trick and caught on. It released one hand from the sword to keep his balance and put his right knee into Twilight's stomach, sending her reeling.
Liet darted in to strike, but the grimlock brought his blackened sword around and dealt his head a glancing blow with the flat of the blade. Liet fell helpless beside Twilight, who struggled madly to catch her breath. The grimlock rose over them and spun the sword over his head, the blade dripping with a green liquid that hissed like acid.
Then the creature stopped.
Twilight looked up, blinking, and saw Gargan holding the grimlock's arm in his powerful hands. The two strained against one another, exerting all the force of their tightly corded muscles, and barely budged. The eyeless creature looked to be some kind of royal guard, wearing strings of gems around his neck. The grimlock wielded a masterfully crafted sword of steel, surely taken from another sacrifice. A black lacquer crossbow-drow construction, perhaps-hung from his belt.
Hissing, the grimlock shot out a hand to catch Gargan by the throat. The goliath released one hand from the monster's sword arm to lock his stonelike fingers around the creature's wrist in an attempt to break his grip. Without both arms holding the sword back, Gargan could do little but watch as the grimlock slowly forced the keen edge toward his face. Acid dribbled on his chest.
Twilight cried out and lunged, blade stabbing. The grimlock stiffened and released a little hiss. The sword slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground. Twilight's rapier speared his side, leaving a small hole that spurted gray-red blood.
Panting, a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her lip, Twilight stepped aside to let the grimlock fall. She relieved him of the crossbow almost unconsciously.
Gargan spoke words Twilight did not understand. 'Gol maula kae.'
The appreciation was clear enough, and the elf gave him a smile that was suitably winsome, considering the circumstances. Her belly ached in all sorts of ways. The goliath helped Liet to his feet, and without flinching, wiped the acid off his stony skin.
Unsettling strength, that.
Then Twilight remembered their surroundings. The grimlocks were dead, but the worm yet lived. 'Away!' Twilight shouted up to Asson. Taslin, Gargan, Liet, and Slip dashed toward the exit. The old man threw another
