Flint hefted a pair of rocks. Holding them in one hand, he pried Perian's right hand from the tree root with his other and forced a rock into it. 'When I say, give it a taste of stone!'
The feel of the rock in her hand gave Perian something to focus on. She hefted it, turned it over in her palm. A good shot from this could split a steel helmet, the frawl thought.
She turned back to the pit, the rock poised above her head.
At that moment the carrion crawler burst into view from behind a twist in the tunnel, its tentacles flashing and writh ing toward the ledge. Flint could see most of its segmented body now, twisting along the contours of the wall. A pair of short but thick legs, white and slime-covered, extended from each segment. Each leg ended in a pair of suction cups as big as the dwarf's head. Shreds of rotted flesh from past meals clung to the beast. Bile rose in Flint's throat as revul sion gripped him. The creature was far larger than any other carrion crawler the dwarf had ever seen, or even heard of; it was the grandaddy of all carrion crawlers. Swallowing hard, Flint tightened his grip on the root and hurled the stone. With a crack, it caromed off the shiny head and sailed down the tunnel, unnoticed by its target.
Instantly, Perian's arm snapped forward. The stone plunged straight into the crawler's mouth, disappearing in a tiny shower of tooth fragments. It was impossible to tell whether the beast felt any pain, but the repulsive head made a sort of roar and swung abruptly away from Perian.
Though the beast was still at least six feet below them, three tentacles lashed out and wrapped around Flint's right boot.
Instantly the leather steamed and hissed, and blisters formed around the ankle. Though protected from real dam age by the leather, Flint howled with pain. He snatched up another rock and smashed at the thin, straining append ages. First one, then another, were severed by his ferocious blows. Blue ichor stained the rock ledge beneath Flint's foot.
Perian fired a second stone at the beast, hitting just at the rim of one of its eyes. Enraged, the carrion crawler swung its head out from the wall, dragging Flint's foot from the ledge.
Desperately he clung with one hand to the root, groping for any sort of hold with the other. Perian grabbed him by the shoulders just as the monster reared again, and both of them flew off the ledge and out into space. The remaining tentacle around Flint's foot tightened, then snapped in two. Still clutching each other, Flint and Perian bounced and skidded down the length of the beast's segmented back, finally crashing onto a pile of bones on the ground.
Flint groaned as he scrambled to his feet. He seemed un hurt, but his foot, with the fragments of tentacle still wrapped around the boot, seemed to be growing numb.
He glanced around and saw that they were in a cul-de sac. He could not see how far that cavern extended, but it was the only direction out.
'Quick, we need a weapon of some sort,' Flint shouted to the prone frawl. 'Don't you have a knife — some weapon?' he gasped.
'I did,' she said in a small voice. 'But I dropped it.'
'You dropped it?' he groaned in disbelief.
'It must have slipped out as I was falling down the chute,' she retorted defensively, struggling to her feet.
'Maybe we can find it down here, or anything else. We haven't got much — ' Flint's gaze shot up to the wall where the carrion crawler should have been, but the monster had already turned around and was moving toward them
'— time! Come on!' He grabbed Perian by the wrist and jerked her into motion.
Scanning the floor as they ran, Flint's eye caught the glint of metal among the rocks and scattered bones littering the carrion crawler's lair. With a kick he churned up a rusty but still solid blade about ten inches long. With his free hand, he snatched it on the run.
'It's gaining!' shrieked Perian. 'How fast can that thing move?'
'Faster than us,' Flint snorted, glancing backward at their pursuer. He was horrified to see the creature a scant ten feet behind, and charging fast! In spite of its bulk, the beast moved with alarming grace and fluidity, its numerous legs rippling along its flanks. Then, as Flint watched horrified, the whiplike tentacles shot out and wrapped around Per ian's throat from behind, jerking her to a dead stop.
'Gods!' swore the dwarf, skidding into the cavern wall.
'Let her go, you stinking worm!' Brandishing the rusty blade, he spun around and stumbled toward the retreating monstrosity. With one hand he grabbed a fistful of Perian's jacket and with the other he slashed across the dripping, rubbery tentacles. Gobs of venom and thick, blue blood hissed through the air, thrown from the thrashing limb. It took a third lightning cut by the tarnished knife before the frawl was released. Flint flung the paralyzed but still con scious mountain dwarf over his shoulder and retreated, moving backward to keep his face toward the beast. It seemed momentarily stunned by its injury, though Flint knew it had too little brain to yield to any opponent.
But for the moment, it had something else to think about.
Food, in the form of its own tentacles, had fallen at its feet.
Flint gazed in disbelief as the horror gulped down the grisly bounty of itself. The hill dwarf turned and bolted once more into the cavern, only too aware that so far only luck was keeping him alive.
This might be the last thing I ever do, Flint caught himself thinking as he raced through the darkness. And I'm not do ing it very well, he added as his benumbed ankle crumpled beneath the combined weight of him and Perian. Frantically he pulled himself up on the wall and, dragging both Perian and his own foot, continued deeper into the lair of the crea ture.
Or he would have, had the cavern not abruptly narrowed to a point and then stopped completely. His escape route blocked by solid rock, Flint dropped Perian to the floor. Her eyes, peering helplessly at him, were filled with unaccus tomed terror. Flint looked away, then readied the humble blade he'd picked up. With a rueful chuckle he said aloud, 'I'm naming you Happenstance, little knife, for whatever it's worth. You stand between us and perdition. I hope you're up to it.'
As he turned to face the approaching carrion crawler, a flash of light from a fissure in the wall caught Flint's eye.
With no hesitation, he hefted Perian's limp form and crammed her head first into the crack in the rock, wherever it led. He pushed her forward as far as possible, but then she wedged in and Flint could not budge her. 'Forgive me, Per ian,' he muttered as he put his shoulder to her ample seat and heaved with all his might. The frawl inched forward, and then suddenly, as if something ahead was tugging on the other end, she zipped forward and out of sight. Startled,
Flint tried to twist his neck up for a look through the hole, but a pair of hands grabbed him by the red trim on his tunic and dragged him, too, through the breach in the wall.
Flint crawled to his knees and saw Perian laying on the ground before him. He looked up.
Sporting an idiotic grin and a self-important posture was the filthiest pot-bellied creature the hill dwarf had seen in a long time.
'I'll be hanged!' Flint exclaimed. 'A gully dwarf!'
'What you doing there? Monster get you,' the gully dwarf said simply, scolding them with a click of his tongue.
'No kidding,' chuckled Flint. 'Where are we now?'
The gully dwarf beamed proudly. 'You in Mudhole!'
Chapter 11
Mudhole
