of considerable power. Melf had demonstrated his ability to become invisible and travel through the air like an arrow, and this is what he would certainly do now. The glittering on the far bank of the Veng was a body of troops, and an unseen, flying scout was a safe and sure way to determine who these soldiers were. Melf disappeared from view, moving toward the river. Chert, Biff, and Lizard waited patiently, soothing the eight horses to make sure the animals made no betraying sounds.
In only a few minutes Melf was back. 'Be lively now!' he cried to his comrades. 'Get the horses into that stand of scrub as quickly as you can, and hide yourselves too!'
'Does the enemy approach?' queried Lizard as he pulled a trio of mounts toward the thicket of box elders and tall shrubs.
'Nay, but they have an advance of great ravens which will most certainly overfly this very place soon, and I want no trace of us seen by such creatures,' replied Melf as he urged his horses into the concealing foliage.
Biff appeared beside them suddenly, making the horses jerk back in fright. 'Who sends such spies as carrion crows, Lord Melf?'
'Blast you and your creeping around in the bushes!' the elf replied hotly as he fought to quiet his courser. 'Cease such foolery henceforth!'
'No creeping is needed,' Biff said indignantly. 'As halfling and thief, I move as naturally in such stuff as this as that giant yokel strides over hills and dingles.' He grinned at Chert as he spoke this last, causing the barbarian to glower back with a look that promised terrible retribution if he ever grasped the small demi-human in his huge hands.
'The small one's query is apt,' Lizard interjected laconically. 'At whose behest come the ravens?'
Melf agreed, and as the four hid themselves amid the greenery, he related what he had seen.
'After becoming invisible,' he began, 'I winged upward to gain a bird's-eye view of the terrain on the northern verge of the valley. Flying across the Veng, then, I noted a large force of soldiers. Their advance is a body of the most benighted humans I have seen in many years — mercenary brigands, unless I miss my mark. Behind comes a battalion of hobgoblins led by a grim-garbed and horn-helmed rider attended by several underclerics. The chief is certainly one of the Hierarchs.
'This great troop was in the process of encamping, and as their scouts returned to the camp, a large flock of ravens, huge ones too, was loosed. I knew full well that my presence would be detected by the leader if I came closer, and when the birds were sent forth it was time for me to take my leave, for those malign croakers of evil might well sense my whereabouts also.'
'Are we safe here?' asked Biff uneasily. 'Probably, for the light evens toward dusk as we speak,' the elf replied. 'Still, as soon as possible we will return along our route a mile or two. Such distance will give us the security we need. It seems that the force is placed so as to await the arrival of someone, but perhaps they intend to cross the river and invade. We will keep sharp lookout tonight.'
Chert was dissatisfied. 'What of the caravan of bandits we lie in wait for? This regiment of troops surely spoils our plans.'
'As long as they remain on the far side of the Veng, I intend to go ahead with the ambush,' Melf said with determination. 'We will hit these reavers, slay them, and gain our prize before the Hierarch and his foul servitors can react.'
'What then?' Lizard asked slowly.
'We ride as if pursued by night fiends!' was the elfs answer.
Chuckling at this candor, all four settled down to await full darkness. When the sky showed an array of twinkling stars, they led their steeds back toward the south, avoiding the trail. After camping in a sheltered ravine, they determined sentry duty and settled down for an uneasy sleep. In the morning Biff related an encounter with a giant owl who spoke to him of the force on the opposite shore. The owl had come because of the ravens, and it was moving as far from the area as it could because of these ebon-feathered marauders. The owl stated that it thought the encampment looked permanent, because the hobgoblins had been cleaning out the limestone caves along the bluff during hours of darkness.
'That confirms my thinking,' Melf told the others. 'So we set our trap as planned.'
The track leading to Boulderford ran across the relatively open prairie, wound through the low hills, and then dropped into the Veng River valley where the forces of nature had created a natural ramp along the steep bluffs that marked the basin of the watercourse. Some three miles from these bluffs, at a place where the worn trail bent sharply right, they placed themselves in wait. On the left of the road, near the turn, Melf readied his magic as the huge barbarian honed his enchanted battle-axe, Brool. The barbarian hummed softly to the weapon, feeling most comfortable in the rocky little hummocks where they concealed themselves. Across the way Biff and Lizard waited. The halfling had his sling ready, and beside him rested a dozen leaden bullets, each missile engraved with strange runes and carrying a special dweomer of deadly sort. He and Lizard had arranged a contest between themselves, for the crossbowman likewise had stubby quarrels painted with mystic sigils and enchanted to fell purposes. The one who slew fewer of the enemy with his missiles must give over to the other a tithe of his battlefield loot.
'What if the dust that cloud-bumping clod detected marks some procession other than that we seek?' Biff asked.
'Unless our leader says otherwise, we strike,' Lizard said as he rearranged his bolts once again. 'No weal comes from any who would have intercourse with the Hierarchs in any case, so we will discommode no one of good by such action. Do you think Melf will allow these folk to pass unmolested if they appear to be ordinary riffraff come to trade with the Horned scum?'
'Most probably,' the halfling mused. 'He is bent only on laying low the raiders who pillaged Celene and then crossed the Kron Hills on their trek northward. We pursued them long ere we encountered you and Chert, you know, and that band is my master's only target. He will withhold his spells if the caravan is not the enemy he seeks.'
Lizard shook his head sadly. 'Too bad. Whoever comes is sure to be laden with valuables.'
Laughing softly at the mercenary's regretful response, Biff too began realigning and readying his bullets and weapons. An hour later the first outriders of the approaching caravan came into view. There were about a dozen men, lightly armored, riding swift steeds. They approached in an open formation, fanned out so as to observe all the ground ahead and to both sides of the track. The horses had been hidden well, however, and the advance guards failed to detect the presence of the four hidden adventurers lying in wait amid the rocks and shrubs a hundred paces from the route. At the sharp bend, one of the advance guards rode back to the main body while the others continued slowly toward the river.
The main body came about a half-mile behind the advance. It consisted of several carts with huge wheels. These vehicles, as well as the score of mules that followed them, were laden with goods. About a dozen teamsters and animal handlers were with diem. A like number of armed raiders flanked the caravan. Before this procession was a huge, houda-equipped horse and three warhorses ridden by steel-encased warriors. Behind came a straggle of footmen herding a line of bearers. The latter appeared to be females, evidently taken for sale into slavery in the lands of the Horned Society of the Hierarchs. This could only be the band that Melf sought.
'There!' Biff called softly to his companion. 'See the jaundiced vapors which have sprung up and roll toward the track? Master Melf casts his dweomer even now!'
Lizard peered at the growing mass of foglike vapor that was spreading outward and downward toward the approaching train. 'They see the stuff,' he replied excitedly to the halfling.
The outriders on the caravan's left were shouting. The train lurched ahead more rapidly in a confusion of cries and cracking whips. Too late. The cloud surged upon the track like an avalanche, engulfing animals and men in its roiling vapors. When it touched them, horses and mules kicked, bucked, and then fell. Men took a few steps and then likewise died. The cloud of poisonous vapors covered the trail from hillside to hillside and remained. The path was closed, but the head and tail of the caravan were untouched.
Lizard aimed carefully and released the first of his quarrels. An instant later, one of the guards at the head of the column of prisoners dropped in his tracks. 'One!' shouted the cross-bowman triumphantly as he placed another quarrel in his arbalest and cocked it in one smooth motion.
The halfling's sling made a brief whirring sound, and another of the guards fell. 'And one,' Biff retorted.
As they began this assault with their missiles, the scene was changing quickly. At the rear of the caravan, those brigands not overcome by the poisonous cloud were quick to understand their peril and react. Several of the outriders joined these men, and the group turned the prisoners and retreated down the trail at a trot. Biff and Lizard had managed to fell two each and wound another two before the remainder were out of range. What was
