Perry wasn't there, and I couldn't stand it. I just had to see, had to see for myself. But he's not here at all. He's not here; the Squad's not here; the Rucks are not here; nobody's here. But the Door opened. It opened!'
There was a clatter of weaponry and a slap of boots and a jingle of armor as Durek and Felor and the vanguard of the Host topped the stairs and started forward, their sharp eyes sweeping the shadows.
'As you say, Cotton, the Door opened,' replied Rand, 'yet no one met us. Mayhap the Squad was here, for the Door worked.'
'Wull, if they were here, where are they now?' Cotton demanded.
'I know not,' replied Rand, his voice grim. 'Perhaps Spawn…' His words trailed off.
'Spawn!' cried Cotton, bitterly, turning as Durek strode up.
King Durek stood before the Warrow, an angry glim in his eyes. 'Cotton,' he gritted, 'the fate of this quest lies in your hands, for where you lead, we must follow. Without you, we are lost. Henceforth, stay at hand where our axes may protect you; never again dash off into the dark alone.' The Dwarf King's voice held the bite of command that brooked no disobedience, and the Waeran nodded meekly. 'As to these empty halls,' continued Durek, his flinty eyes sweeping the passage, 'we can only press forward and hope to Find the Squad of Kraggen- cor safe, and not Grg-endangered, or worse.'
'Grg-endangered? Worse?' blurted out Cotton. Then his viridian eyes became fell and resolute. 'Let's go,' he said sternly. 'We've got to find Mister Perry and the others.'
And at a nod from Durek, the Warrow went forth, with Rand at one side, Durek and Felor at the other, and four thousand axes behind. And along the Brega Path they strode.
A mile went by, and another, and yet one more, and still they saw no sign of life, friendly or otherwise. Only dark splits and black fissures and delved tunnels did they see, boring off into the ebon depths. Through this shadowy maze, Cotton unerringly led. And the axes of the Dwarves stood ready, but no foe appeared. Another mile, and another, and still more; and time trod on silent feet at their side. An hour had passed, no, two, then a third; and swiftly they marched into the depths of Drimmen-deeve.
Suddenly: 'Hist.1' warned Felor, and held up his hand, and the command quickly passed back-chain and the Army ground to a silent halt.
In the quiet they could hear the far-off yammering of many voices-yelling and howling-yet they could make out no words. Ahead in the curving tunnel they could see a glimmer of distant light dimly reflected around the bend.
'They know not that we are here,' hissed Durek. 'Weapons ready! Forward!'
And the Host moved swiftly, running now to catch the foe unaware and suddenly fall upon them. Forward they dashed, toward the Long Hall just ahead. And as they ran they could hear more shouts-battle cries, it seemed-their meaning lost in reverberating echoes. Ahead the light grew brighter as the oncoming force neared. And suddenly bursting into view came three forms running.
CHAPTER 8
At first Cotton thought that these three figures plunging headlong at him and the Army were Rucks, for the faces of Perry, Anval, and Bonn were covered with blackener, and Perry's starsilver armor was hidden beneath his shirt; and,so this charging trio did not at all look like the friends and companions that Cotton had last seen by the Argon River. But as the three ran toward the vanguard, Cotton saw the flaming sword borne by the one and the Dwarf axes of the other two and the Dwarf-lanterns the trio carried, and by these tokens alone he knew that they were not Rucks. And suddenly mere came a voice he recognized, a voice calling his name: 'Cotton! Cotton!'
'It's Mister Perry!' cried Cotton, and he leapt forward, running to meet his master.
'Mister Perry! Mister Perry!' he shouted and wept at one and the same time, for when the portals of Dusk- Door had silently swung outward and none of the Squad of Kraggen-cor had been waiting inside, Cotton had feared the worst. But he had led the Army along the Brega Path in spite of his fears. And here were Mister Perry and two Dwarves seven miles from the Door, alive after all.
As the two Warrows ran together and embraced one another, Anval shouted, 'King Durek, Squam pursue us! A hundred fly at our heels!'
'Felor!' barked Durek, 'Axes! Forward!' And the spearhead of the Host sprang around the curve and into the Long Hall.
The onmshing maggot-folk wailed in dismay as hundreds of Dwarves issued into the chamber. Some Spawn stood and fought and died, some turned and ran and were overhauled from behind and felled, others escaped. The skirmish was over quickly, and the Dwarves were overwhelmingly victorious in this opening engagement of the War of Kraggen-cor.
After the battle and before resuming the northeastward march, Durek called the trio to him; and Cotton for the first time saw that these two blackened Dwarves were actually Anva! and Bonn. Prince Rand and Felor joined the circle of the small council kneeling on the stone floor of Long Hall. 'Tell me not your entire tale,' Durek bade the three, 'but for now speak of the Grg along the route before us; tell me of any problems with the Brega Path for which we must change our battle strategy; tell me where Prince Kian, Barak, Delk, and Tobin are; and finally, speak on any other thing of importance to our campaign that you think pertinent but about which I know not enough to ask.'
Anval spoke first: 'As to the Grg, our suspicions were correct: there are great numbers of the vile enemy in Kraggen-cor, for often we had to hide or flee from large bands within the passageways and chambers. We saw many of the foul foe on our journey, at least ten or twelve companies-a total of more than a thousand Squam-and that just on the path we trod. I have no count of the true number of thieving Grg in Kraggen-cor, but 1 gauge it to be many times more than we saw.'
'The Brega Path we trod,' added Bonn, 'posed no special unforeseen problems, but we did not see it all; we left the Path twice. Perry, give me your map.' Ere Perry could act, Felor quickly pulled a copy from his own jerkin and gave it to Bonn, who spread the map before Durek.
'Here at Braggi's Stand, the way at the Fifth Rise is blocked. We went around it by going west at the Third Rise to the first norm passage, from there to the Sixth Rise, and thence east and south to the Great Chamber, coming back to the Path at this point.' Borin traced the route they had taken, a sturdy finger moving through part of the blank area on the map. 'We left the Path a second time here, at the Grate Room; we were discovered by Squam and fled thusly'-again Borin traced their route-'passing down a tortuous path to emerge in the Bottom Chamber. And so, we know not the Brega Path between the Grate Room and the Bottom Chamber; but the Path is nearly certain to be better than the hard way we ran.' Borin fell silent.
King Durek turned to Perry. 'And the others, where are the others? Where is Barak?'
'Dead,' answered Perry, his eyes brimming, 'slain by Spawn on the banks of the Argon.' Durek, Anval, Borin, and Felor cast their hoods over their heads.
'Tobin, and Delk, where are they?' demanded Durek from his cowl.
'Tobin is with the Elves in Darda Erynian, wounded in the same battle at me Great Argon River,' replied Perry. 'Delk was slain by Ruck arrow as we fled the Gargon's Lair here in Kraggen-cor.' Perry pointed at the approximate location of the Lair on the map.
'Gargon?' blurted Durek, his voice filled wim surprise and dread.
'The Ghath slain by Brega and the others in the time of the Winter War,' responded Anval. 'We found its ancient prison when we fled. There, too, is a vein of starsilver.'
'And my brother,' asked Prince Rand, his face bleak, 'where is Kian?'
'We don't know,' said Perry, anguish in his voice. 'He and the Elf Vanidar Shannon Silverleaf, and Ursor the Baeran- new companions who joined us at the Argon-those three decoyed a company of Rucks so that we three could reach Dusk-Door. They fled back from the Bottom Chamber toward the Lair, drawing the maggot-folk behind them. But I fear for their safety, for later we saw many Spawn moving-we think to join the hunt. The three may escape by the underwater path we found, but I fear they may be trapped between Rucken forces. And the terrible truth is, their decoy strategy went for nought, for we didn't even reach Dusk-Door.'
