Bradok nodded slowly. He hated those kind of political problems, but Tal had a very valid point. Chisul was the kind of dwarf who would crown himself king if he got the chance. If only his father, Silas, were there; he might knock some sense into his son.
“So what do you propose?” he asked Tal.
The doctor’s handsome face twisted into a winning grin, only barely disguised by his short, red beard. “You’re already a better leader than Chisul and he knows it,” he said. “You possess the enchanted compass. You found the food. All you have to do is take charge more decisively, and they’ll follow you instead of him. I’m sure of that.”
Bradok glanced at Rose, who was nodding encouragingly.
Bradok wasn’t sure he wanted the responsibilities they were pushing on him, but Tal had been right about one thing. Chisul was a well-intentioned dwarf who would be a terrible leader. It didn’t take much imagination to see in him another Mayor Arbuckle, down the line. Bradok had to step up and take command-for the sake of everyone.
“I’ll gather more mushrooms,” Rose said, rising. “You two talk it over and figure out which direction we should head in next.”
Bradok smiled as she placed his pack next to hers to fill. He stood up, walked back to the opening he’d hammered in the wall, then moved to stand beneath one of the lanterns. Dallon Ramshorn, the wheelwright from Everguard, had pushed the end of the pole into the soft ground, leaving the lantern suspended above. Bradok took out the compass with a flourish, ensuring anyone in the vicinity would notice him. He felt completely foolish but swallowed his pride and played up checking the compass.
The moment he looked into it, however, all guile vanished. The image of the Seer was back, and she kept jabbing her spear urgently, pointing back the way they came. At first Bradok could not fathom why, but then something dawned on him.
“Everyone,” he said, raising his voice. “I think it’s time to leave.”
Chisul looked up. “Maybe having just eaten,” he said, his voice a confident drawl, “we should take some time to rest and digest.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you,” Bradok said; then he held up the compass for emphasis. “I think something’s wrong, though.”
“What’s she doing now?” Much asked, standing up to look over Bradok’s shoulder.
“Let me see that,” Chisul said, reaching for the compass.
For a moment, Bradok considered not giving it to Chisul, thinking he didn’t want to appear weak. Then he remembered how often that had been Arbuckle and Bladehook’s rationale for their behavior.
Bradok dropped the compass in Chisul’s hand. The moment the other dwarf held the compass, however, the Seer stopped her pointing and crossed her arms over her chest in a gesture of defiance.
“Huh! Do you always have this effect on women?” Rose asked teasingly, elbowing Chisul in the ribs.
Chisul growled and passed the compass back to Bradok whereupon the Seer immediately resumed her frantic pointing.
“What’s she doing?” Chisul demanded.
“Well, she’s probably just impatient to be gone from here,” Kellik said. “Most magic things have a mind of their own.”
“I hate to be contrary,” Marl Anvil said, “but I agree with Chisul. The children are tired. Everyone’s tired. We need to rest.”
“We could do with a bit of a rest,” Much agreed. The old dwarf lay stretched out with his head against the base of column of rock.
Bradok opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again immediately. A strange, powerful odor suddenly pervaded the cavern-the stench of rot and decay. It seemed to invade his senses, even leaving an aftertaste in his mouth. Poor Lyra felt it come upon her, too, all of a sudden; she collapsed and retched all over the floor. Everywhere dwarves began covering their noses with hands and handkerchiefs in a vain effort to ward off the stench.
Chisul stared hard at Bradok. “I think you’re right after all,” he said. “Everyone get to the hole!” Chisul shouted. “Get the women and children out first!”
“Look!” Halum shouted, pointing.
Bradok turned toward the back of the cavern. A quick glance revealed a pale light glowing from inside the crack at the very back of the area. Someone or something had found them.
As Bradok watched, pale white hands appeared and broke off the edges of the crack, widening the hole. Next emerged five dwarves, or at least five beings who might have been dwarves once. Each had the pale skin, white-blond hair, and reddish eyes of a Daergar, but there the similarities to living Daergar ended. They had strange gray patches on their skin, and each of them seemed to have sprouted glowing mushrooms from various parts of their bodies. Glowing roots spread out under their skin like veins from the errant fungi.
The moment the five strange dwarves entered the chamber, the stench that had preceded their arrival became nearly unbearable.
“Get those children out of here,” Bradok said, breaking the spell that had gripped everyone, their eyes riveted upon the eerie newcomers. Everyone burst back into action.
The abrupt activity seemed to rouse the attention of the mushroom-covered dwarves, as if they had overlooked them at first.
“Look,” one of them said in a peculiar, far-away voice. “Who are they?”
A tallish female leaned forward, squinting through her greasy, grime-covered hair. “Outsiders,” she wailed. “Unclean.”
Bradok absently wondered who the five dwarves thought they were to call
“They have f-f-food,” a squat, mushroomed dwarf stammered.
“They’ve taken mushrooms from this cavern,” the tall woman said in a voice of outrage.
“We must have the f-f-food,” the squat one said.
With that, they shambled forward in a curious, undulating gait, as if their legs weren’t working properly.
“Hold them off!” Bradok said, standing forward with his sword raised.
Dallon and Halum appeared on Bradok’s right, while Kellik, Rose, Vulnar, and Chisul flanked him on his left. Each carried a weapon, but the weapons didn’t seem to interest the Daergar in the slightest. As they came closer, the stench of their bodies became almost suffocating. Bradok could see the strange fungi growing on their extremities in horrifyingly exquisite detail. The squat dwarf in the center of the bunch even had a tiny mushroom growing from the front of his left eye. It shifted and danced as he looked about.
Bradok’s fascination with the putrid dwarves almost cost him his life. The squat dwarf suddenly struck out at him with his arm, using his limb like one might use a club. Out of instinct more than anything else, Bradok parried with his sword. The enchanted blade sliced through the gray flesh as easily as one might carve warm butter. The severed limb spun back over the dwarf’s head and away into the darkness.
If the dwarf felt anything for the loss of his arm, he didn’t show it. There was scarcely any change in the weird expression on his face. But a dark liquid that resembled sap more than blood oozed from the wound, and the dwarf staggered back under the force of Bradok’s blow.
Beside him Dallon had smashed in the eyes of the thin dwarf with his hammer, but the body didn’t seem to notice the injury and was determined to attack anyway. The sightless dwarf’s arms spun wildly, attempting to grapple an enemy it could no longer see.
Bradok stepped sideways and helped Dallon by deftly slicing through his foe’s thigh. With only one leg holding it up, the strange mushroom-ridden Daergar fell helpless to the ground, its arms still flailing in a vain attempt to continue his attack.
Rose and Chisul were fighting the tall woman. The tall Daergar had lashed out with her clawlike nails, leaving bloody gashes on Rose’s arm and Chisul’s cheek. As Chisul chopped an arm from her body, Rose hacked at her legs. Rose wielded only a long knife, but she struck true, sending the shrieking hag over backward with a
