“Good. Remember we came this way to clear the cave ofgoblins, so they wouldn’t catch us between ’em-the ones here and the ones beyondthat door back yonder. Now, we can either quit fighting for the day and carry all this trove back to camp, or we could take it with us and go jump those brutes on the other side of that door. But we’ll be overloaded, and most of uswill be thinking more about gold and silver than about fighting.” He grinned.“Me included. It’s natural. I say we leave the stuff here-under that hide,maybe-and come back for it from the outside when we get the chance.”
“I agree,” Eddis said. “You saw how scared those goblins wereof their ally. They won’t come in here looking for him after they see the messout there.”
She looked up as one of the Keep men exclaimed in surprise. One of his fellows had just dragged a clinking, heavy bag from the ogre’s waterbarrel. Across the room, mage and priest were rummaging through a heap of bones, and as she watched, Panev pocketed several small items, while Mead wrapped a bit of cloth around a handful of arrows and slid the bundle into his quiver.
“Eddis is right,” Jerdren said. “But just in case…”
He separated out three of the bags and piled them by the door where anyone pulling it open would be sure to see them. “Leave that wet baghere, too,” he added. “That’s the one they brought in here. Must hold his payfor taking us on. They’ll expect to find it, if they look, and they’ll also finda bag of silver, the cheese, and the brandy. Wager my share of what’s hiddenthat they won’t look any further.”
“What if they do?” That was Kadymus, of course. “We foughtpretty hard for this stuff!”
“
He flashed her a dirty look but fell silent.
“I agree with Jers,” she went on. “We’ve spent enough time inhere. Shove the rest of those bags under that hide, and let’s get out of here.”
They retraced their steps, back into the other guard chamber. It was still empty, except for the dead goblins. The fire had burned to a sullen red glow. Willow and M’Baddah listened intently at the entrance to the nextpassage and pronounced it empty.
It was very dark here. One of the Keep men lit his lantern and opened the shutter, just enough that they could make out the way ahead of them. There were stairs here, rough-cut and uneven. The passage turned right, and another, shorter flight of cracked stairs went into a flat passage blocked by a heavy door. Skulls were nailed to the walls and door, and someone or something had scrawled a message in Common: come in! We’d love to have you fordinner!
Kadymus stared at the message, looked at the skulls, and licked his lips. “Have you for dinner? Who’d eat with whatever lives in there?”he mumbled.
Eddis felt Blorys bite back sudden laughter. She swallowed her own mirth and murmured against the thief’s ear, “Wrong meaning. Not
He gave her a sick look and moved away.
Jerdren eyed the door for a long moment. He stiffened as faint, coarse laughter came to them from the other side, followed by what sounded like a snapped order, then silence. He stepped cautiously back and beckoned the others close.
“Someone’s on alert in there. Mead, can you tell how thatdoor’s locked?”
The mage nodded and moved toward the portal, hands spread wide. He was back in a moment. “It’s both locked and barred. I have a devicethat will move the bar, quietly, but the lock is a fairly simple one, I think. Your business,” he added to Kadymus. “If I explain this thing, will you be ableto move the trigger and open the door?”
“Open?” Kadymus looked at him, round-eyed. “Me? Open that?You see all those skulls? See what it says on that door?”
Eddis tapped his shoulder with a hard finger, silencing him. “Open the door, little man,” she said softly. “Because we’re going to open itone way or another. You do a good job like a nice little thief, we just might surprise whatever’s in there. Probably more goblins.” She couldn’t resistadding, “Get the door open, and yell
He glared at her but went with the elf, drawing his lock picks from a small pouch at his belt.
“Ease up on the lad,” Jerdren murmured. “I think his firstogre startled him.” His eyes stayed on the door, and a moment later, Mead heldup a warning hand.
“Stay alert, people,” she said quietly as she freed her swordand a throwing knife. Blorys came up and settled in at her left shoulder, two long spears in his right, sword in his left. He still looked a little pale, she thought, but he no longer sounded winded.
Kadymus had the door ajar. He and Mead stepped back as Jerdren took their place. She could hear low, rough voices-not goblin voices-anda sudden yell as Jerdren pelted into the chamber. Eddis and Blorys were right behind him, then Mead, who moved along the inner wall, two of the Keep men between him and the room’s occupants.
She had no time to see where anyone else went.
“Hobgoblins!” Jerdren shouted the warning. Hulking, heavilyarmored and armed brutes leaped to their feet as what must have been females caught up little ones and backed away behind a pile of broken furniture.
“I hate hobgoblins,” he snarled and ran straight at thenearest, attacking before the creature could bring his sword up.
Blorys swore in frustration as he and Eddis came after, blocking the poleaxe of a second hobgoblin who was trying to get behind Jerdren. Eddis’ sword rebounded, but so did the long pole, and Blorys jammed his spearat the monster’s eye. Eddis brought her blade back around, slashing at hisknees. The brute fell back, startled and bleeding but not badly hurt.
The company swarmed into the room, driving the startled hobgoblins back, but only for a moment. The fellows had been clad for a fight. They were big, fast, and skilled. That lousy goblin guard must have warned them, Eddis thought. She lunged and slashed at a huge back as one of the hobgoblins roared past her, but hardened leather foiled the blow, and the thing turned on her, teeth bared. She swung again, and this time the blade clove through leather and deep into the arm beneath it. The monster bellowed in anger and pain, slapping the sword from her hand. As good as gone, Eddis thought as she shook out her hand and tried to free up another throwing knife. Her fingers wouldn’tcooperate.
“Change sides!” Blorys shouted.
She nodded and took the spear he held out. He shifted his sword to the other hand and turned to check on the brute she’d wounded. Thehobgoblin was staggering a little and bleeding heavily but still full of fight. When one of the Keep men ran at it with a boar spear, the monster batted it aside, snatched at the man, and threw him against the wall. He wobbled there, trying to gain his balance, but when the hobgoblin started after the man, Kadymus came up behind the creature and plunged a knife deep into the back of its neck. He skipped nimbly aside as it howled and slapped at the air, trying to grab him.
“Cover me!” Blorys yelled and brought his sword downtwo-handed on the brute’s neck. The first time, the blade hit something hard andrebounded with a clang, nearly flying out of his hands, but the second time it cut deep. Blood poured from the long wound, soaking into the shuddering monster’s clothing and hair, pooling around the suddenly still body. Another ofthe hobgoblin’s fellows came running, eyes fixed on Blorys, who freed his swordand let Eddis guide him back with a hand clutched in his near sleeve. The hobgoblin’s boots slid across a suddenly slick floor, and it went down, hard.M’Whan and another Keep man were there to make certain it didn’t rise.
Eddis yelled as something slammed into her left arm. She stared in surprise as blood welled from her sleeve and ran from a long, ugly cut just above her elbow. Blorys swore, snatched at the long knife caught in her torn sleeve, reversed it and threw, hard. The dagger sliced the ear of the hobgoblin who’d thrown it at her. If the brute hadn’t ducked, it probably wouldhave hit its eye. Eddis set her teeth against her lip and tried to press her sleeve against the cut. Ugly, not dangerous, she thought, but it hurt damnably, and from the elbow down, her arm wouldn’t respond. M’Baddah had her by the otherelbow, drawing her back out of the fray. He thrust her into Flerys’ tremblinghands and strode out to take Eddis’ place at Blorys’ side.
“Hurts?” Flerys asked. Her voice trembled.
“It hurts,” Eddis agreed, “but it won’t so much if you cantie my sleeve around it.”
The child nodded and leaned her spear against the wall, but it took her three tries to get the ends fastened.
