Instantly he was awake.
'You can tell me where that wizard is now,' she ordered. 'But after that we do things my way. And no more ritual grovel, do you understand? Don't forget, I'm all that keeps you alive.'
'She is arrogant,' the thing whispered. 'But for now, I agree. For now.'
She held the old heart against her forehead and looked into the distance.
Later, when the slaves had erected her pavilion, Kolanda Darkmoor called for Thog again. 'Have them take it down and pack it away,' she said. 'And get your troops together. We're moving out.'
Chapter 29
The stone bridge across the gorge, at its narrowest point near the foot of Sky's End, was old. Not truly ancient, in the sense that Gargath's monolith and such constructs as Pax Tharkas and the ruins of Zhaman were ancient, but it was old. Obviously, it had been built since the Cataclysm, because prior to that there was no gorge between the mountain peaks and the Plains of Dergoth.
Andobviously,it was of dwarven construction. A high-arched bridge, it was built entirely of stone — huge blocks of cut and shaped granite rising a hundred feet or more in its center as it spanned three hundred yards of abyss. Its floor was a precise nine feet in width. That was the same width as the cable-cart tunnels in Thorbardin.
As he approached the structure, Wingover studied it intently. 'I hope you know what you're doing,' he told Chane. 'Once we cross the gorge, we're going away from Thorbardin, not toward it. And there are some very unfriendly goblins over there somewhere.'
'At least I know where to look for Pathfinder,' the dwarf noted. -It s just at the edge of the plains, on a hillside. Probably not more than three miles from here.'
'When you have it, it will lead you back toward Thorbardin,' Wingover noted. 'The bridge will be between us and the city, then. I can't think of a better place for those goblins to trap us.'
'What's why I'm going on alone, after we cross the bridge,' Chane said.
'The rest of you can wait at the other abutment, to make sure we can come back.'
'I'll do no such thing, Chane Feldstone,' Jilian snapped. 'If you go out there, then I'm going too.'
'I don't have much choice about it,' Chestal Thicketsway pointed out.
'I'm with you, Chane. At least until I do something about Zap.'
'I'll leave Spellbinder here,' the dwarf said. 'Wingover can hold it for me. That way you can stay here, too, Chess. 1 don't know, you might be handy to have around if Chane has to hold the bridge. I've seen you use that hoopak.'
'Yeah, I'm pretty good with it, don't you think?'
'Isn't that what I just said?'
'No. You said you'd seen me use it.'
'You're good with it, so stay here.'
'I don't have much choice, if Spellbinder's here. Unless… I don't suppose you'd want me to hang on to Spellbinder until you get back. That way I could — '
'No-o-o!' something that wasn't exactly a voice seemed to wail.
'Oh, yeah,' the kender remembered. 'I don't want to have to listen to that again. Of course, I could leave my pouch, but then what would I use to carry hoopak pebbles?'
'Stay!' Chane growled. 'All the rest of you, too. I know where I'm going, and I'll go faster alone.'
But Wingover was ignoring the dwarf. Quickly, the man stripped the packs from his horse, down to just saddle and gear. As he swung aboard, he snugged his flinthide shield to his left forearm in riding mode. Wingover then pulled his sword around, ready to hand, and looked down at the glowering dwarf. 'When it comes to traveling fast, you're about the worst choice we have at the moment. So it's up to me. Where is that hillside?'
Chane glared up at him. 'How do I know you'll come back?'
'How do you know you would?' the man bristled.
'Do you want my help or not?'
'I never asked for your help,' Chane grumbled. 'Jilian did.'
Wingover leaned down to match the dwarf's pugnacious glare with one of his own. 'I believe you could aggravate the horns off a minotaur, dwarf, but I don't think you're stupid. Tell me where to find that helm of yours, or I'll go search for it anyway.' Jilian tugged the sleeve of Chane's black fur coat. 'Tell him, Chane. He'll bring it back.'
'How do you know he…?' Chane looked around and paused. 'Oh. Well, I suppose you're right. It's just that humans are so hard to trust.'
'Well?' Wingover asked.
'Beyond the bridge is a broken slope, with a trail winding down through rock outcrop for about half a mile. The trail is easy to see… or it used to be, anyway, when I…I mean when Grallen saw it. After you get out of the breaks, you'll see a few low hills ahead, and the trail will fork around the first one. Take the left fork. The right leads to the bog.' He paused, and Wingover nodded.
'Past that hill you'll see two more a mile or so away — little hills that look alike, with a gap between and the sundered plains beyond. The right-hand hill is where Grallen's helm is, with Pathfinder. The hillside faces Skullcap, and the helm's near the foot of the hill. There's rubble there, so I guess you'll just have to search through it.'
'What if it's buried or something?'
'It isn't buried. But it's in a dark place with a tall, tilted opening
— like a crack. Jagged, kind of. And where it is, it can't see
Thorbardin.'
'How do you know that?' Wingover asked. Chane shrugged. 'Because it wants to, and it can't. I don't know. The Irda said the two gems are god-things, left over from something a god did. Maybe they are interested in whatever that god is concerned about.'
'And what god is that?' Wingover said with a frown.
'Assuming, of course, that there really are gods. I'm not sure I believe any of that.'
'I don't know if I do, either,' the dwarf admitted. 'But the Irda did.
And Reorx is the highest of the gods… if there are any.'
'Reorx? Wingover scoffed. What about Gilean? And Paladine, and
Kiri-Jolith? Reorx isn't any higher than them!'
'Who?'
'Gilean.'
The dwarf nodded. 'He's all right, I suppose. I meant Reorx was greater than those other two you named. I've never even heard of them.'
'You never heard of Paladine? He's the highestranking of — '
'He means Thak and Kijo,' Chess butted in, grinning.
'A lot of people call them Paladine and Kiri-Jolith.' They both looked at the kender. Chane frowned and snapped, 'What are you grinning about?'
'Oh, I was just thinking, for two people who don't believe there are gods, you both certainly have your favorites.'
'And how do you know so much about it?'
'I listen a lot.'
'Pure superstition, anyway,' Wingover snorted, straightening in his saddle. He looked at the rising stone bridge ahead and lifted his reins.
'I'll be back,' he said. 'Just hold the bridge for me if trouble comes.'
He touched heels to the horse and trotted it to the foot of the stone bridge. The horse abruptly turned tail and tried to throw him off. He clung, cursing, and finally got the animal under control.
'Maybe he's afraid of the bridge,' Chane suggested.
'Geekay has never been afraid of a bridge in his life!' Wingover shouted. 'Or a goblin, either! He's just full of
