Brogus bounced along at his side, unable to keep a lively hop out of his step, while Dol continued to move at a steady, smooth gait, both even and calm. When his companion got too far out in front, Dol reached ahead and pulled him back with a firm tug of the cloak. Brogus partially spun around and slapped Dol’s hand away which let his jacket fly open for a moment to reveal the handle of a heavy short axe underneath. It was made from solid oak and worn smooth with time, the gift from his father, and his father before him who knew how many generations. The blade was sharpened to a razor edge and glinted in the bright lights of the hallway.
One of the dwarves with Milli looked up towards the approaching two but the girl put her hand on his chest and looked him deeply in the eyes long enough to distract him away from the approaching dwarves. Another few seconds, another couple of strides, and then they were upon the soldiers.
Brogus pulled out his axe with a smooth motion, twisted it so the blunt end came first, and hammered the lead guard over the head with it. The soldier went straight to the ground without making a sound. The second and third guards turned to the Brogus with eyes wide in shock but their military training took over and they lowered their massive pole arms towards him. Milli put her foot out as the first stepped forward uttering some sort of exclamation; he stumbled to the ground, and dropped his weapon with a clatter. The third and final guard shoved the sharp point of the pike at Brogus who tried to knock it aside with his axe but only managed to slightly alter its course and took a shallow, scrapping wound to his shoulder.
“Intruders!” shouted the second guard from his knees but Milli pulled a small dagger from her belt and hit him over the head with the butt end. He crumpled face first onto the ground and gave off a slight moan, but the third guard remained in the fight and took a step backwards while waving his heavy pike at Milli and Brogus to keep them occupied.
“Get back, both of you!” he shouted. “Alert! Alert!”
Brogus made a move forward towards the guard but a quick stab from the pike sent him back again as he waved his axe at the much longer weapon.
“Alert! Alert!” shouted the guard again and he did not hear the sound of breaking glass behind him. “What do you think you’re doing? Milli, this is the Hall of Relics, the council will throw you into the dungeons!”
“I’m really very sorry,” said Milli in her sweetest voice as she turned her lips down and made a little face. “It’s all a misunderstanding. Put down that pike and we can discuss it?”
The guard looked at her, blinked his eyes twice, and slightly lowered the pike.
Dol kicked him in the back of the knee and the guard stumbled to the ground with a thump, letting his pike go as it skittered across the floor. “I’ve got it,” he said and motioned with his head to the exit. “Let’s go.”
“Lead the way, Brogus,” said Milli as she scrambled away from the entrance just as another couple of heavily armed guards approached from down the hallway. “They’re trying to steal the Drawhammer Shield,” she screamed in a high pitched voice and pointed back into the room.
Both of the guards looked at her for a moment and then dashed past the group and into the Hall of Relics.
“Can you say anything to a man that he doesn’t believe?” asked Brogus as the trio made their way quickly down the marble hallway, not quite running but not walking either.
“You are the most perceptive and handsome fellow I’ve ever met,” she said with a little pursing of her lips as she put her arm around the dwarf.
“Really?”
“No,” said Dol with a shake of his head as they continued their fast walk down the corridor. “Which way, Brogus?”
“You fools!” came a shout from behind them. “They’re getting away!”
“Don’t look back,” said Milli and put her arms around both of the dwarves, “keep walking. Maybe they won’t recognize us.”
“Turn here,” said Brogus. “We need to get into the mine shafts; luckily the Hall of Relics is pretty deep in the mountain. It’s not that far to the break in the wall. Come on, come on!” he said with an elevated voice as he took a quick glance backwards.
“Don’t look!” said Milli, but it was too late.
“There, there they are!” came a shout and the girl recognized the voice of Cleathelm, “it’s them. It’s Delius, the girl and that oaf Brogus! After them, you idiots, they’ve got the Hammer of Fire, they stole it!”
“Now we run,” said Milli.
The three broke into a sprint as they dashed around the corner towards a large pulley operated lift, Brogus headed towards it but Milli grabbed him by the arm, “No, you fool. They’ll pull us back up, the stairs, where are the stairs?”
Brogus looked to his right and said, “This way, around the corner, where are you going?”
Milli had boarded the lift, the big stone chamber was roomy enough to fit a dozen broad shouldered dwarves although not nearly the size of some of the mammoth elevators that brought up tons of ore and rocks from the deep mining operations, and was frantically pulling levers. With a lurch the thing suddenly started downward and the tiny halfling girl made a dash for the gate but the motion of the lift threw her off balance, her foot struck one of the controls, and she fell to the floor with a startled little cry.
“Milli,” shouted Brogus as he turned to the fallen girl, “You said don’t go in the lift! What are you doing?”
“Don’t stand there looking down my blouse, pull me out, you idiot,” said Milli looking up from the floor of the lift.
“I wasn’t…,” said the dwarf.
“Pull me out!” she screamed as the elevator began its descent down.
Brogus took two steps to the lift, fell onto his belly, and reached down to the girl. With a lunge Milli grabbed his hand and he yanked her up and out with a tug so hard that she actually flew through the air and landed face first against the hard stone. She sprang to her feet, blood already showing from a scrape above her left eye, “Down the steps, now, they’ll think we took the lift!”
The three dashed around the corner to an open passage that led to a series of marble stairs that went down twenty steps to a landing and then doubled back on itself. Each landing they passed contained a little alcove where a bust of a dwarf stood with a small iron plaque declaring his importance in the history of Craggen Steep.
“I’ve never taken the stairs before,” said Brogus, stopping to examine a particularly magnificent bust that depicted a fiercely scowling dwarf with a long scar above his right eye. “It says…,”
“Hurry up, you idiot. That lift trick won’t distract them long. How many flights down?”
“I’m not sure by stairs,” said Brogus with a shake of his head as he turned to Milli and Dol. “I know what level it is. Don’t the doors have numbers or something?”
“Come on then,” said Milli with a shake of her head. “This is the worst planned escape I’ve ever been a party too.”
“How many escapes have you been in on?” asked Brogus and even Dol gave a little chuckle.
“Did you just laugh?” asked Milli and turned to the short-haired dwarf and put her hands on her hips.
“No,” said Dol but he stopped to pull a small piece of cloth from one of his pockets and dabbed quickly at the blood on her forehead. “You’re bleeding.”
Milli reached up and touched the slick spot on her head, “It’s nothing, a girl has to have a scar or two to make her look rough. C’mon. How many levels down on the elevator was it?”
“About five, I’d guess,” said Brogus with a lingering last look towards the alcove and the impressive bust in it, “I wonder who that was. I never knew they put statues in the stairwells.”
“Between Dol’s stubbornness and you stupidity I’m not sure we’re going to make it out of Craggen Steep let alone to the south,” said Milli just as an echoed shout came from up above. “Hurry up, they’re coming.”
“Here it is,” said Brogus and pointed to a strange symbol on the stone door that exited the landing they came to in a rush. “We get off here and then it’s not too far.”
“Go one more down,” said Dol as he continued down the stone stairwell. “We’ll double back on one of the other stairwells.”
“Are there other stairwells?” asked Milli, but she followed Dol as he trundled down the stairs. He wore a thick glove, given to them just a short time before by Uldex, that glowed green and held the hammer with it. “Is it hot?”
