“I don’t trust either of them,” Blorys said, before hisbrother could speak, “but if you want to free them, mage, I’ll watch them.Neither looks strong enough to be a threat.”
“Don’t trust that,” Mead warned.
“We won’t.” Jerdren looked around the room. “We’ll have totake turns to lead the woman-or carry her. Anyone have spare daggers or spearsfor these two men?” In short order the two were armed with boar spears and along dagger each. “Priest, still quiet out there?”
Panev smiled narrowly. “Of course it is, since the spellholds. Beyond it?” He walked out of sight, was back in moments. “Still quiet.”
“Good. Kadymus, free that gnoll. I’ll deal with the orc. Mostof you get back over there, ready to move. Eddis, you and Blor stay here, help me keep an eye on these two until we’re certain they’re not up to some trick.”
Silence, as Jerdren fought the key into rusted locks. The gnoll hung limp in his restraints, but as soon as Kadymus jiggled the last lock and opened the final leg iron, the brute leaped forward, barking and giggling madly. It flung itself at the youth, who whipped out a pair of daggers, but went sprawling as it knocked him aside. M’Whan let it charge past him, then broughthis spear around two-handed across the back of its head like a club, reversed his grip and plunged the point through its chest. The gnoll twitched feebly.
The orc stared at the fallen creature, fell back trembling as Jerdren freed it.
“Tell it, Willow,” the man said. “I haven’t the words for it.Tell it that it can
A short exchange of guttural, clicking speech.
“It claims to,” Willow said. “What it says agrees with whatZebos told us.”
“Good. We go now, then,” Jerdren said. “Prisoners in themiddle, and no stopping this side of that barred door!”
The passage to the main door was shorter than the one they’djust traversed, well-lit and smooth-floored and very quiet. The orc stayed well ahead, with two of the Keep men and Blorys watching it closely. The men traded off carrying the merchant’s wife once it became clear she was too weak to walkvery fast, and Willow kept a supporting arm around the merchant’s shoulders. Thetwo rescued guardsmen clutched their borrowed weapons, their heads moving constantly, jerkily, as if they expected an ambush momentarily. Fortunately, though they appeared to have been worse used by their captors, they had been stronger than the merchant or his wife to begin with, and even barefoot they managed to keep up with the company.
The lights were left behind, all at once. They stopped for a long moment while Mead and Kadymus went on to scout. Some long, anxious moments later, a door eased inward, creaking slightly and letting in a little daylight. The party hurried through the portal into a short cavern, waited for the mage and thief to close the way behind them.
If they can replace the bar on the inside of that door, somehow, Eddis thought, we’ll leave a pretty riddle for those monsters to sortout.
Willow had gone ahead to check the lay of the land, returning as Mead came away from the door.
“It is sealed,” Mead said quietly.
“It is very still out here,” Willow said. “We have come outpartway up the south flank of the ravine and well west of where we went in. It is late afternoon. If we want to reach camp before sundown, we had better go now.”
Several long, tense moments later found them back on level ground. There was a path leading down, but it was steep, riddled with loose stones and thick with dust. The Keep men simply lifted the merchant off his feet between them and strode downhill, leaving the path entirely.
On the floor of the ravine once more, they made the best possible time they could through the trees, until the merchant finally sagged between his supporters, air whooping into his lungs. Jerdren called a halt, waited while Panev tested their surroundings for evil, then ordered a brief rest in the dark shade of a small, tight copse of trees. The orc sank down warily, its back to one of the trees, eyes flicking from one to the other of the company, most of whom were watching it as closely.
Eddis stayed on her feet, looking around. “Jers, we’re closeto that door I marked earlier. I’m pretty sure we just passed it, back thatway.”
“Think so?”
“Pretty sure. I think we should bring out those bags now, ifwe plan on getting them at all. Chances are that dead ogre hasn’t beendiscovered yet, so we can likely slip in, grab those bags, and get back here without a problem.”
“What if they’ve found him, though?” Blorys asked.
Eddis shrugged. “We left the door ajar. Sensible goblinswould close and bar it again, wouldn’t they?”
“Unless they left it open as a trap,” he countered.
“Sure, but why would they? The way we left things, it looksas if he killed some of the goblins and was killed by them in turn, remember? Why would they expect someone to come back and spring such a trap? Besides, we fought hard for what’s in those sacks-including you, Blor. And you, Jers. If wewait another day or so, anyone walking through that guard room will know there’sa dead ogre in that den. And there goes our chance to retrieve any of those bags.”
Jerdren considered this. “Your call, Eddis. We need a properrest here anyway, so it’s not like we’d be waiting for you.”
She looked over the rest of the company. “M’Whan and Willow?”The elf stood and drew his sword for answer. “And…”
“I’ll come,” Blorys said.
“And I.” Mead drew a slender wand from his belt and got tohis feet.
“Good. Let’s go. And let’s get this much straight ahead oftime-we’re not taking chances here, all right? If it looks wrong, we don’t goin. If we decide to go in, we grab what we left in hiding and get out, fast.”She glanced at M’Baddah, at Flerys sitting cross-legged close to him. Thechild’s eyes were closed, her head bobbing close to his shoulder. He glanced atthe child himself, smiled faintly, and waved her on her way.
It was a little farther than she’d thought but not much. Thedoor was still ajar, the chamber beyond utterly silent. Willow made them wait while he listened, but when they finally entered the den, there was nothing in sight but the dead ogre and his possessions, and the fallen goblins they’ddragged in to keep him company. Eddis kept guard at the inner door while the others worked to separate out the bags of coin, the brandy, and other things of value. Blorys came over to join her, then.
“We’ve got it all, I think. Let’s get out of here.” Eddisnodded and strode across the fetid chamber, only drawing a deep breath when she was finally outside.
They made it back to join the rest of their company anddistributed the bags among those who’d be less vital in a fight, should anythingfall on them between here and the camp.
The orc was still huddled on the ground, back braced against a gnarled tree. It looked up warily as Jerdren came over to stand before it, but the man merely dropped a dagger and a pair of silver coins at the creature’sfeet.
“Tell it we kept our word, and tell it to go,” he said toWillow. “We will let it live if it does that.”
Willow spoke for some moments in the rough-sounding tongue. The orc replied briefly. Without another glance around at the humans and elves, it scrabbled for the blade and the coins, leaped to its feet, and raced off through the trees, heading farther up the ravine.
Jerdren turned away. “Let’s go. It’ll be dark soon, and thiswill be no place for us.”
As they came back into relatively open ground, a bowstring twanged from nearby. Willow gasped and fell bonelessly. A dark-fletched arrow quivered in his back. Jerdren urgently waved the ex-prisoners and those helping them back into the copse. Mead gazed in horror at his twin, then knelt to lay a hand against his throat.
“He is breathing,” the mage said unsteadily, “but I cannot-”
“Wait,” Panev said and gripped Mead’s forearm. “Find the oneswho did this, lest we are all killed here. I will save your brother.”
The mage swallowed hard. Trembling fingers sought something in a small pouch at his belt and drew it out. He closed his eyes and concentrated, tears slipping silently down his face.
“Tree,” he mouthed to Jerdren. “There! Up above us!” He drewback as M’Whan and M’Baddah moved into
