'Wow, I didn’t know there were so many of you!” Tookie exclaimed, as Bruni returned with Mouse, Dinekki, and the rest of the war party filing along behind. If the girl was frightened by the appearance of more than two hundred fur-clad, armed warriors, she gave no indication, but she shook her head at the prospects of maintaining secrecy. Her brown face creased into a scowl.
“I don’t think we can sneak you all into the city, not right now anyways. I mean, I can go in with a few of you dressed like slaves, and I can show you where it is and everything, but we have to go right past the ogre barracks. They’ll notice if there’s so many of you.”
“Is there a place in the Moongarden where the war party can hide while a few of us go into the city for a look around?” Moreen asked.
Tookie scratched her head and frowned as she looked around, scrutinizing several of the side caverns that broke off of the main chamber of the great underground warren. Abruptly, she brightened, pointing to one alcove about halfway through the huge cavern. “You could hide up there in the Port Grotto. That’s where they grow these big mushrooms that take a long time. Nobody will go in there until the winter when they’re ready to harvest. There’s lots of space, soft moss in the meadows where you can rest, and even blindfish in the stream.”
The suggested alcove was about thirty feet above the main floor of the cavern. A thin waterfall trailed over the lip, dropping through a white plume to splash into one of the many little brooks gurgling across the floor of the Moongarden. There was a clearly defined path, almost as a steep as a stairway, leading up to the alcove and disappearing between the trunks of several massive, wide-capped fungi.
“Is there another way in or out of there?’ Kerrick asked.
Tookie shook her head. “Nope, just that path going up, the one you can see from here.”
“Well, they’ll be able to keep an eye on the rest of the cavern,” the elf noted. “It would be easy to defend, if the war party gets attacked there.”
Moreen turned to Mouse and Barq One-Tooth. “Will you two take the rest up there and get everyone settled and concealed? Keep some guards posted, but try to let everyone get some rest and food. We’ll scout the approach to the city and try to get back here as soon as we can.”
The big thane shook his head stubbornly. “I’m going with you,” Barq declared. “Thane Larsgall can take command of the Highlanders, but I want to find out what they have done with my king.”
Moreen was about to object then nodded. Larsgall was a young, strapping warrior from the eastern shore of the White Bear Sea, and she knew him to be a level-headed commander, well respected by the men.
“Very well. Bruni, Kerrick, you, and I will go along with Tookie. The rest of you wait and watch. I hope it won’t be for very long.”
The plan was acceptable to all except Slyce, who wanted to tag along into the ogre city. The chiefwoman informed him sternly that he was staying behind, and though he sulked, he eventually accompanied Mouse, Dinekki, and the others as they made their way toward the hiding place. Moreen watched as the fighters crossed the central stream on a ford of dry rocks then vanished into the fungus forest.
Tookie led the four companions deeper into the Moongarden. They followed a narrow trail through a thicket of tall mushrooms, a route the girl had told them was less heavily used than the main path in and out of the barracks. Concealment was easy as they stuck mostly to the shadowy reaches below the wide caps of tree-sized mushrooms.
For two hours they walked in silence, marveling at the vast stands of fungus around them, the smooth meadows lined with verdant moss. All of it was illuminated by the soft green light that seemed remarkably consistent. As they neared the far end of the cavern, they saw more alcoves branching off of the main cavern. Most of these were dark, though one gleamed with the harsh light of torches and lanterns. Several balconies overlooked that wide passageway, and Moreen saw an ogre lolling casually there.
“This is the work barracks up ahead,” Tookie explained in a hushed voice. “It’s where the slaves live who work in here.”
“Are there guards nearby?” Kerrick asked.
From here they could see a wide-mouthed side cavern, deep and shadowy. It was fenced off by a stockade of timber, but the gate was open, and there didn’t seem to be any ogres in this immediate area.
“Well, they have their own barracks over there,” the girl replied, pointing to a ledge higher up on the cavern wall, “but they’re always coming and going. You see, past there is the ramp up to the city.”
Kerrick and the others could observe that wide, smooth route, as broad as a grand street, curving along the cavern wall. The ramp inclined upward at a gentle grade before turning away from the Moongarden to vanish into a wide tunnel. The orange glow of oil lamplight glowed from within that passage, a harsh contrast to the soft green illumination of the great, verdant cavern.
Tookie led them closer, halting within the cover of the last of the giant mushrooms. “Why don’t you wait here and try to stay out of sight, most of you,” she said. “I’ll sneak in and get some slaves robes so you don’t look so out of place. We can get baskets for your stuff.”
“Can you carry all that?” wondered the elf.
“I might need a little help,” she admitted, turning to look up at Barq One-Tooth, who was gaping around. “Can you come along and help me?”
The big Highlander looked nonplussed at the question, but something in the girl’s expression seemed to move him. He cleared his throat gruffly then nodded.
“Sure, girlie,” he replied. “Just tell me what to do.”
Stariz inspected the ragged lot of prisoners with contempt. There were two dozen of them, all male, universally sullen and surly. The guards had chained them in pairs, and despite their bluster and bravado she could see their eyes were wide with fear. She could smell the stench of terror in their sweat. They were doomed, and they knew it. She was pleased, anticipating great suffering before these men finally met the release of death.
One man caught her eye, and she pointed to him. The guards unclasped him from his fellow prisoners and pushed him forward. The slave was tall and blond-bearded. The queen recognized him by his icy blue eyes and sandy hair. It was as her spy had told her, barely two hours before. This prize would be among the group of captives, if she acted quickly in sending the grenadiers. Still, she could not quite believe her good fortune.
“You are the Highlander, Strongwind Whalebone, who was captured on Dracoheim, are you not? You have a knack for causing trouble.”
The man shrugged his shoulders, a contemptuous gesture that provoked one of the guards to shove him hard from behind. Stumbling to his knees, the slave glared up at the queen with an expression of pure hatred.
She snorted in amusement and spoke loudly so that all the slaves as well as the company of grenadiers could hear. “There is no need for you to respond. I recognize you, Highlander King. At the time of your entry into Winterheim I pronounced you a dangerous soul, and now the proof is in your company. Still you were sent into service as a house slave-to the apartments of Lady Dimmarkull, as I understand.”
Looking around the great throne hall, the ogre queen saw that her words had been heard by all in attendance. That was good, another piece in her clever plan falling into place. She sneered down at the prisoner, flicking him away with an outward gesture of her fingers.
“Take him out of my sight. Take all of them away! Lock them in the royal dungeons on the harbor level, and do not bother to feed them. It is only necessary that they live a little longer, until the ceremony of Autumnblight three days hence.”
The grenadiers trooped the hapless rebels away, while Stariz glared coldly after them. As soon as the door to the throne room slammed shut, she hurried toward her own, private exit.
She expected that it would not be long before she heard from her husband, and she expected the king to be in a very bad mood. She had an explanation ready, and she felt confident that she would be able to get him to believe her.
The Port Grotto was a big cavern and well hidden from the main chamber of the Moongarden. Quickly the fighters of the war party found places to stretch out and rest, though several men remained on sentry duty, hidden along the edge of the alcove. Slyce volunteered for this important job, but Mouse ordered the gully dwarf to remain in the back of the group and assigned two alert warriors to keep an eye on the little fellow.
Mouse realized that he hadn’t seen Dinekki in a while and went to look for her. He found the shaman kneeling
