he decided, it would have to wait. He turned and walked down to the beach, stopping only long enough to use his sword to cut the top off of one of the fat, red mushrooms. Had the mushroom been more solid, the top could have been used as a shield. As it was, it would serve its purpose.
Much had led Omer down to the beach, away from the scene of death. He still held the body of Teal against his chest and refused to release her. Bradok came up to the small group and set the mushroom top down next to Omer, kneeling down.
“Give me the doll,” he said, reaching out to Much. Reluctantly the old dwarf passed it over.
“Omer,” Bradok said gently. “We need you to let go of Teal.”
“No,” Omer whispered. “Love Teal.” Tears streamed down his face.
“I know, Omer,” Bradok said. “We all loved her. But Teal’s gone. We have to let her go.”
“No!” Omer said. “Not let Teal go.”
Bradok put his hand on Omer’s shoulder. “She’s already gone, but she left something behind-for you.”
Bradok held out the doll and, after a long moment, Omer took it, handing over the toddler’s body. Reverently, Bradok lifted the little girl and laid her on the flat underside of the mushroom top. She was still the most beautiful child, with rosy cheeks and delicate curly hair. Her tiny lips were curled in a relaxed smile, and she looked for all the world as if she were just playing peek-a-boo, waiting for someone to laugh before jumping up and surprising them all. The sight of her dead little body made Bradok ache.
“Get me some of the glowsacs from a Reorx’s torch mushroom,” he told Much.
Carefully, Bradok arranged Teal’s arms at her sides and brushed her curls out of her tranquil face.
“Here,” Much said, handing Bradok four glowing hunks of mushroom.
Bradok arranged the glowing bits around the edge of the mushroom top. He picked it up, surprised by how little it weighed, and waded into the gentle surf of the black lake. He placed the makeshift funeral boat on the water and pushed it out. It spun and bobbed until a current caught it and swept it out into the lake, a lone beacon of light against the vast darkness.
From behind him, someone began playing an ocarina, blowing a sad song whose words spoke of lost love. Bradok didn’t turn around, keeping his eyes on the death boat as it receded from his view.
“Good-bye, Teal,” Omer said in a small voice. “Never forget you.” He held the rag doll to his chest in a fierce grip. “Always love Teal,” he whispered. “Never forget.”
They stood there in the gentle surf, Bradok, Much, and Omer, for a long, long time, until the boat was just a pinpoint of light impossibly far away. Finally Bradok turned back.
“It’s time to go,” he said and marched up the slope, away from the beach.
When he reached the exit passage, he found everyone else had gathered there, waiting for him and the others. Rose and Kellik were putting sand in a shallow grave with the privy shovel.
“We buried her mother,” Rose said.
“I never knew her name,” Bradok confessed.
“Lonaway,” Kellik supplied. “Her husband’s name was Lodan. He’s one of the missing. Not much hope that he or any of them will be found alive.”
“How many did we lose?” Bradok asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
“Fourteen,” Rose said.
Bradok wanted to curse or scream or weep, but he was too weary to do anything except listen as Kellik recited a list of names.
Bradok recognized Isirah Anvil and Hurlic the Daergar. Most of the names were of dwarves he’d scarcely known, but he felt a sharp pain when Kellik read the name Dallon Ramshorn. Dallon was the wheelwright from Everguard who had fought the mushroom men beside him. Fought bravely, Dallon had. It seemed impossible that the big, easygoing dwarf could be gone, just like that.
“All right,” Bradok said once Kellik had finished listing the dead and Much and Omer had rejoined them. He raised his voice for the others to hear. “We’ve all lost friends and loved ones here tonight. We’ll mourn our dead as is proper, but for now we must go. It isn’t safe here, and we must find a place to rest and regroup.”
He checked the compass and found the Seer pointing onward as she had always done before. However, her face seemed sorrowful, as if she wept beneath the white bandage across her eyes.
“From now on I want four armed dwarves in the lead and two in the back,” Bradok said, snapping the compass lid closed.
Kellik, Vulnar, Tal, and Corin volunteered to take the lead, and Bradok said he’d bring up the rear with Thurl. With that, the dwarves began filing up the passageway in silence. He spotted Rose. She was cradling her right arm and seemed to be limping, but she flashed him a warm smile as she moved in step with the others.
Bradok sighed and fell to walking beside Thurl. Just before the passage curved and the cavern disappeared behind them, he stopped and glanced back. He would have sworn he heard a toddler giggling.
The sound pained his heart.
He wondered if he’d ever forget that beautiful little girl and her giggle.
CHAPTER 15
Feeling too restless to sleep, they marched through the remaining night and well into the next day. As they went, Rose’s fears became manifest. The glowlamps seemed to give off less and less light with every passing hour. When they finally stopped in a small, bare cavern with a sandy bottom, everyone noticed the difference.
“The children are scared,” Much said once the ceiling of the cave had been meticulously inspected for evidence of the insidious cave fishers. “Some of the adults too, I have to admit.”
“What’s the big deal?” Corin said with a shrug. “We can all see in the dark. If the lamps go out, we can go on without ‘em.”
“That might be well and good for you,” Rose said with a shiver, “but most of us aren’t used to living our lives in total darkness.”
“Not to mention the fact that I can’t see in the dark at all,” Perin said feebly. Everyone looked at him sympathetically. Perin was so quiet and helpful all the time that most of the dwarves had forgotten, almost, that he was a human.
“So you pretend to be blind until we find some more glowing mushrooms,” Corin told the tall human. “We’ll lead you along just fine.”
Perin looked distressed but said nothing else. Bradok had the distinct impression the human was afraid of the dark.
“I’m more worried about safety,” Much said. “We can’t see nearly as far in the dark as we can in the light. How will we keep a lookout for cave fishers and other dangers when the glowstones fail?”
The thought of bedding down under a nest of unseen cave fishers gave everyone the chills. Even Corin had no reply.
“We’ll use the stones as long as they last,” Bradok said. “In the meantime, we’ll harvest every glowing mushroom we find.”
“Chisul and I already collected the ones we passed,” Much said. “He’s cutting off the glowsacs and passing them out right now.”
“That won’t last long enough,” Corin said. “Once you pick those glowing ones, they only glow for about two days.”
“So we’ll keep harvesting,” Bradok said. “For now, that’s the only plan we have. I think we’d better get some rest.”
They all looked disappointed in his leadership, Bradok thought. “I can’t bless stones and make them glow,” he told himself.
If the Seer in the compass had any ideas, she kept them to herself, simply standing erect and resolute each time Bradok checked. The one bright spot was that her glowing image gave off a fair amount of light and could serve as a small lamp in a pinch.
