'Did,' Grod nodded decisively.
'Did too,' Umpth was quick to second his brother.
'Oh, shut up!' Halmarain glared at the Aghar and turned back to the white-robed wizard. 'I've brought Master Orander's books written by the great Master Alchviem. I can open and read them, but I'm not powerful enough to use them.'
'Pretty Kender bring cook pot,' Grod added.
'Still, we have only one gate stone,' Master Chalmis said. 'But if Orander still has the other we might have a chance…' He tugged at his long white braids. 'Let's take a look. If Takhisis has her minions on your trail, we don't have much time.'
'Eat now?' Grod asked.
Master Chalmis frowned at the gully dwarf and then looked over the rest of the assembled group. He pointed across the large chamber toward another door.
'You'll find the scullery through there. Take the gully dwarves and leave us in peace.' he said, and then turned his attention back to Halmarain. 'Bring the merchesti and books back to my laboratory.' He led the way through another door.
'Pretty Kender make maize pudding?' Grod asked as he followed Ripple. Behind them the six Neidar stumped along, but the Aghar's suggestion caught their attention.
'I've heard that kender women make the best maize pudding,' one said, begrudging the compliment, but obviously looking forward to the treat.
'And Ripple's is famous,' Trap told the large dwarf. Now that the dwarves had their necklace back, he didn't see any reason why they couldn't all be friends.
In the scullery they found a pot of water already hot, and while Ripple tested it to be sure it was just water and not some potion, the dwarves searched and found some ground maize as well as the other ingredients she asked for.
In minutes the maize was in the pot.
While the kender girl stirred, the rest stood around, watching the kettle hopefully. Before long they heard a droning from the other chamber. The dwarves proved they were from one of the highly musical societies by covering their ears to block out the noise.
'They're singing again, and if there's one thing a wizard can
'You stay right here! If I understood the little wizard aright,' he said with a frown, 'It was your wanting to help them that caused this mess.'
Two of the dwarves moved to block the door to the scullery and a third, the largest, joined Tolem.
'I'm still not sure you didn't steal the lore map,' he said, glowering at the kender. 'You stay where we can keep an eye on you.'
'I wanted to see some magic,' Trap complained.
'Best what they do remains unseen,' Tolem replied with a dark glance over his shoulder. 'It doesn't do to go messing with wizards.'
'I'm not sure you're right,' Ripple said as she tapped the large wooden spoon on the side of the pot to knock off the thick mixture. 'They are really off key. I don't see how they can do anything-'
Suddenly the strange off key droning of the wizards was drowned under a low booming that echoed down the passage. The booms were soon followed by the sound of cracking stone in the distance and almost immediately by the shouts and roars of goblins.
'They broke in,' Tolem said, grabbing his crossbow and drawing his axe.
'How could they when the wizard sealed the door?' one of the dwarves asked as he followed Tolem from the scullery.
Ripple swung the pot off the fire and grabbed her whippik that she had laid on a stool.
'I didn't know he did,' she said. 'I never get to see any magic.'
By now the six dwarves, the kender, and the Aghar had trotted down the passage and were back in the dining cavern where they had parted from the two wizards and Beglug.
'If he really sealed it the goblins couldn't get in,' Trap objected, expressing his opinion as well.
'Look out!' one of the dwarves shouted and fell flat on the floor. Over his head sailed a fireball. It had come down the passage from the front entrance.
'I don't think it was broken by humanoids,' Tolem said. 'It took another wizard, and he's on the way!'
'Now we'll really see some magic,' Ripple said, her eyes sparking.
'And it may be the last thing you see,' Tolem replied.
Chapter 36
A second fireball sailed out of the passage and into the chamber. Again the Neidar, Aghar, and kender ducked behind the tilted stone slabs of the broken tables.
'Zow! That was a great shot! Wonder how hard it is to send something down a passage?' Trap asked. He was not seeking an answer from the dwarves. He picked up a small, jagged rock, set his hoopak against the stone column that had once been the leg of a table, and drew back the pouch. The missile went sailing and disappeared into the darkness of the passage.
The reaction was an entirely human curse, the voice full of pain, surprise, and outrage.
'You hit the wizard!' Tolem said, giving Trap a look filled with respect. The dwarf fitted a quarrel to his cross-bow and shot down the dark passage. A goblin screamed.
'There must be a lot of them bunched together,' Ripple said. 'We'll hit something every time.' She set her whip-pik and nocked a small arrow into the loop. Her arrow and five dwarf quarrels entered the dark hole of the passage at once. They heard cries of pain and howls but no one would know which had found a target. Volley after volley of dwarf quarrels, Ripple's small arrows, and Trap's stones went sailing down the passage and by the sound, each one found some target, but they did not hear another cry from the wizard.
'He probably sent his minions on ahead of him,' Tolem said. They all knew wizards relied on their arts, not on weapons. It was reasonable to assume that the magic-user was either shielded by his arts or his companions.
The last volley brought no cries of pain. They heard nothing, no footsteps, no shuffling, no rattle of weapons. The complete silence was as eerie as the idea of enemies in the darkness.
'Go get white robe,' Umpth suggested. 'Him fight black wizard.'
'No,' the tallest of the dwarves, who was closest to the gully dwarves, grabbed Umpth's arm. 'Leave him alone right now.'
'Yes, leave him be,' Tolem said. 'I don't hold with magic, but that creature with you is some sort of fiend. If I understood their talk, they're trying to send it back to its own world?' He was asking the question of Ripple.
'That's what they want to do. That and get Orander, the red-robed wizard, back. Halmarain promised us he would give us some magic, but I don't know if he will. Wizards all seem to be as grumpy as dwarves-oh, I didn't mean… well, now that you've got your necklace back…'
Trap had only half listened to the gully dwarf's suggestion and part of the conversation that followed. He was finding the silence and the inactivity boring in the extreme. He had been looking forward to a fight. What had happened?
Had they killed all the humanoids? He didn't believe it. Even if every quarrel and each one of Ripple's arrows had been a fatal shot-which was highly unlikely-they had not sent enough missiles down the passage to account for all the humanoids. Since the last volley had not found targets, either the enemy had retreated or found a way to keep from being struck. While the dwarves asked questions and Ripple tried to explain, he edged away from the others. He crept closer to the dark mouth of the passage.
To keep from being a target, he dropped flat on his stomach and crept up to the wall to see if he could see anything of interest. Keeping his head close to the floor, he eased forward and peered around the corner, and looked straight into the pig eyes of a metal-helmed goblin. The humanoid yipped in alarm and drew back. Trap
