Hallic and Mel were standing with Annia, whose rogues were gathered behind her. Jergen, Pieter and Odella stood with the king, while Commander Brokk was waiting along with his troops for Shandon to lead them.
The king walked toward the corner, watching and listening for any threats. Several of the warriors had lit torches and Odella cast a globe of light ahead of Shandon. It floated just ahead of him to illuminate his way.
As they reached the shadowed corner of the cellar, the king stopped and looked down into a pit that had been hidden earlier by an illusion spell.
“Ah, so this is what they were trying to hide,” Shandon said with a frown.
He looked back at the rest of the group.
“Look at this. It's a tunnel.”
Hallic hurried forward and stared down into the pit along with everyone else. Another glowing hole marked where the magma wyrm had originally entered the cellar, but beyond it was a wide, sloping tunnel that disappeared into the depths. It looked like a gaping mouth that seemed to be hungrily daring them to enter it.
“We've finally found the route that the goblins used to enter the manor,” Hallic commented.
“Not just the manor,” Mel added. “I'm guessing that this is the entry point for all of the enemies that invaded this neighborhood. And if that is true, there may be a lot more of them waiting at the other end of this thing.”
Shandon nodded thoughtfully.
“I agree,” he said. “We'll need more support before we venture down there.”
He looked over at the gathered troops and motioned at the commander. When Brokk hurried forward, the king gestured at the tunnel.
“Commander, send a runner to gather the rest of your warriors. I want them down here as soon as possible. I know that they are scattered around the quarter, searching through the nobles' homes, but we need them here more than we need them up on the streets.”
“Understood, my lord,” Brokk said as he saluted. “I will send someone at once.”
As he moved back to speak to his troops, Hallic moved closer to the king.
“While we are waiting for backup, I'd like to take a few of my people and scout out the tunnel. We need to know what we are walking into, especially if there are any traps laid for us.”
Shandon looked at him dubiously.
“And if there are more surprises down there? I respect your skills, Hallic, but even you can't avoid a trap that you cannot see.”
Odella had been listening to the conversation and coughed delicately, getting the king's attention.
“Yes, Odella?” he said, smiling at her polite interruption.
“My lord, if I may,” she began. “I can feel no hostile magics anywhere near to us. While I agree that there is a risk as Hallic and his rogues scout further down that tunnel, logically it would make no sense for anyone to have cast more illusion spells beyond the one that had been left here to hide this opening. Cindra or whomever cast that spell probably did so as a precaution. How could they have expected you to respond in force to the attack on this neighborhood? I doubt that they even believed that you would learn of it for many months, if ever. After all, it was mere chance that Annia stumbled across the daemons that had been left here in the first place.”
“She has a point,” Jergen told the king. “Between the illusion and that damned wyrm, Cindra would probably have thought this place sufficiently protected from any chance incursions.”
“I don't like the word 'probably',” Shandon replied, frowning. “We can't know what the enemy was thinking. Whether it was the witch or a goblin spell caster, I doubt that they think the way that we do.”
“I'd rather that my rogues and I faced possible risks rather than your troops,” Hallic told him. “Magical dangers or not, my people are still better trained to deal with traps and surprises than regular warriors.”
With a reluctant nod, the king agreed.
“Very well. But be careful, Hallic. Cindra is evil and devious and, as for the goblins...”
“I've read the old tales, my lord,” Hallic assured him. “I know how twisted they are.”
He glanced at Mel and Annia.
“Are you game for a little scouting?” he asked them.
Mel nodded eagerly, while Annia smiled in anticipation.
“More than ready,” she replied. “This is my city and those rebels are doing their best to destroy it. Well, now we have the chance to stop them in their tracks, hopefully for good.”
“Well said,” Hallic told her. “We just need a light source that's a little more reliable than a torch.”
He looked around at the other rogues.
“Does anyone have an electric lantern by any chance?”
No one replied and Hallic frowned irritably as he shook his head.
“Fine then. Torches will have to do.”
“Wait a moment,” Odella told him. “I may have a better solution.”
She gestured up at the globe of light floating several feet above them.
“I can create another wisp for you, Hallic, if you'd like one.”
“Um, okay,” the rogue replied dubiously. “But can I control it?”
“Of course. Give me your hand, please.”
Mel grinned at her father's expression as he reluctantly offered his hand to the mage.
Odella turned Hallic's palm upwards and made a complex gesture over it as she muttered a word. Another small globe of light appeared just above his hand and he stared at it in surprise as Odella stepped back.
“You can now control the wisp as you see fit,” she told Hallic.
“How?” he asked her as he watched the globe bob up and down a few inches above his palm.
“Think about where you want it to go and it will follow your thoughts,” she replied with a smile. “If you want more or less illumination, it will respond as well. Go ahead and give it a try.”
Shandon and the others watched, fascinated, as Hallic quickly learned to control the wisp. It moved around in response to his gestures and became blindingly bright for a moment before fading into a mere speck of light again. The rogue laughed with delight when he was done testing it.
“Fantastic, Odella!” he exclaimed. “How long will it last?”
“As long as you need it to, Guildmaster,” she told him. “It is powered by the magical energies that surround us and as long as they remain, the wisp will as well. It is yours now, and you may keep it as long as you like.”
“My father has a new toy,” Mel whispered to Annia, who grinned.
“Yes, and doesn't he look pleased about it?” she murmured back. “I don't think that I've ever seen Hallic look so happy.”
“Time to go,” Hallic told the two women. “Ready?”
Mel gestured at the other rogues who were watching them.
“Let's borrow those crossbows from Annia's people, shall we?” she suggested. “We might need them down there.”
“Ah, good idea,” her father replied. “Better safe than sorry.”
The three of them accepted the crossbows and packets of bolts and attached them to their belts.
“All set now?” Hallic asked.
The women nodded and the three of them descended into the pit and moved toward the tunnel. They made sure to step carefully around the hole created by the magma wyrm as they went. The wisp moved ahead of them, lighting the tunnel as they entered it.
“Here's hoping that they don't find any nasty surprises,” Pieter said anxiously as he watched the rogues disappear from sight.
“Aye,” Shandon replied soberly. “I don't know what is down there, but whatever it is could be deadly. Let's hope that Hallic's skill is up to the task.”
Chapter 31
The tunnel was surprisingly large and Hallic wondered how long it was and how quickly it had been dug out. He assumed that the goblins had done the heavy lifting. From all the stories he'd read about them, the creatures were as skilled as tunnel rats when it came to burrowing.
Once the cellar had disap
peared from sight as the rogues followed the tunnel away from the entrance, the passageway widened even more, growing until it was almost ten feet in circumference.
“Busy little bastards, weren't they?” Annia observed quietly. “Why make this tunnel so large? Were they expecting to march an entire army through here?”
Mel gave her a weighty look and Annia caught herself.
“Ah, of course they were,” she continued, answering her own question. “Makes you wonder what's waiting for us at the other end of this thing, doesn't it?”
Neither Hallic or Mel said a word as they scanned the tunnel ahead with the help of the wisp that floated over their heads.
Annia nodded to herself and focused her attention on any potential dangers. It would be a very short scouting trip if they stumbled over a hidden trap because they weren't as cautious as possible.
The air was fresh but heavy with the smell of dirt and old stone. An acrid, irritating scent tingling the nostrils of the rogues, but they couldn't identify it. It set them even more on edge and their advance slowed considerably.
Hallic was counting his steps as he moved forward, trying to measure the tunnel's length. He had reached a hundred paces when the tunnel abruptly began to open up.
He gestured at the wisp, which dimmed immediately until it was almost invisible, and the three rogues held their position, listening intently.
An echo of sound could be heard ahead, muted snatches of conversation that sounded nothing like dwarven speech.
Mel looked at her father.
“Goblins?” she whispered.
“Must be,” he replied softly. “I haven't heard anything like it before. Come on, let's get closer. We have to know what lies ahead before we can report back to the king.”
The trio crept forward, carefully setting their feet on the loose earth and rocks that lined the floor of the tunnel. As they advanced, the murmur of sound became louder until they could make out the ebb and flow of actual conversations. It was even worse than they had thought it could be.
“Why are they speaking the common tongue?” Annia wondered aloud. “Don't goblins have their own language?”
Hallic motioned for them to stop moving and then cocked his head to the side, listening.
“I'm guessing that different tribes have different dialects,” he said. “When they work together, they may only be able to communicate using Common. Just like we used to do when we interacted with humans or elves.”
“Makes sense,” Mel agreed. “But why do they sound so angry? Are they fighting amongst themselves?”
“According to the old tales, goblins hate everything, including each other,” Hallic told her. “They were created by the dark gods out of hatred and spite. Small wonder that they reflect that in their interactions with each other.”
Annia smiled as something occurred to her.
“If that's true, I wonder if we can set them against each other?” she said. “All it takes to blow up a powder keg is a single spark.”
Hallic and Mel both grinned at the proposal.
“I like the way you think, Annia,” Hallic told her. “Let moved forward again. If the opportunity presents itself, maybe we can provide that spark.”
The tunnel narrowed and turned to the left. The rogues slowly moved ahead until they could peer around the curve of the tunnel and they stared silently at what lay beyond.
The tunnel opened up into a large cave that stretched out in all directions. It appeared to be a natural formation, but the rogues could see several other entrances into the cavern that were surrounded by rubble, evidence that the goblins had dug their way into the cave from other areas.
The goblins themselves seemed to have gathered in large enough numbers to almost fill the cavern. By the light of the many torches that the goblins carried, Hallic tried to do a quick headcount of the enemy. He was deeply disturbed when he realized that there were over a hundred of the creatures waiting to advance on Cindercore.
There were several distinct groups of goblins interacting with each other. One faction was made up of large, hulking brutes that were the size of humans, but much more muscular. They were wearing crude plate armor and carrying massive cudgels over their shoulders.
Another group was small and rat-like. They scurried around the cavern like rodents, chittering and cursing as the large goblins kicked and growled at them. These creatures looked very much like the two that had originally attacked Annia and her rogues in the cellar. They wore leather and mail armor and carried crooked swords and daggers.
One last faction stood off to the side, away from the other goblins. Mel pointed them out to Hallic and Annia.
“What are those?” she asked them. “There's only a handful of them, but the others are avoiding them as if they fear them.”
Hallic looked at the odd group narrowly. There were only about a dozen of these strange goblins. They were tall and thin and wore black robes. Like all goblins, it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female, and their faces were hidden by cowls covering their heads. Even the small goblins that were roaming around the cavern gave this group a wide berth and bowed and scraped nervously when they got too close to them.
“Mages,” Hallic muttered. “Possibly wizards.”
“Wizards?” Annia hissed. “Damn it all, that changes everything. How are we going to counter them? They'll detect us before we get close enough to do anything.”
Hallic stared thoughtfully at the entire gathering, trying to formulate a plan. Mel and Annia continued to watch the goblins interacting with each other and waited for Hallic to decide on their next move.
“Mel, do you have another of those little gadgets like that you used back in guild headquarters to kill those attackers?” he asked.
“What, the explosive vambrace?” she replied.
She pulled back the sleeve of her jacket, exposing a thick metal bracelet clasped around her right wrist.
“I've been wearing one ever since,” she said grimly. “It's a smaller version of the other one, but it packs the same punch. Fortunately I haven't had to use it again.”
“Good. How far do you think you can throw it?”
Mel looked at her father and he gave her a teasing grin.
“You mean, can I throw it far enough to reach those mages?” she asked with a broad smile. “Absolutely.”
“Good. If we can take out a few of their magic-users, then that should send the rest of the goblins into a panic. They're not very bright and I am sure that the mages are the leaders of this bunch. As soon as the bracelet explodes, we'll try to pick off a few more of them with our crossbows and then we'll run back to the cellar. Hopefully, Shandon's remaining troops will have arrived by then.”
“Bold plan,” Annia commented. “I like it.”
Mel unclasped the device and set it down on the ground. She unhooked the crossbow from her belt, loaded it and then put it down and picked up the bracelet again.
Hallic and Annia both readied their crossbows and knelt down on one knee to make it easier to aim and fire at the goblins.
“Those mages are about twenty yards away,” Annia said doubtfully. “Can you really throw that thing that far?”
“No, but I don't have to get it all the way there,” Mel replied as she stared at the robed figures. “The radius of the explosion is quite large. The bracelet is heavier than it looks, though, so I should be able to get it close enough to do the job.”
She looked at her father, who nodded.
“Whenever you're ready,” he said as he raised his crossbow.
“On three then,” Mel whispered. “One... Two...”
She raised her arm and pulled a small cord out of the bracelet.
“Three!”
She flung the device as hard as she could and it sailed across the cavern and hit the ground with a light metallic tinkle. Luck was on Mel's side as the gadget continued to bounce and roll toward the group of mages. As it came to a stop a few yards away from them, one of the robed
figures turned to look at it. The goblin took one step toward the bracelet and bent down, reaching for it. The device seemed to flare for a moment and then it exploded.
Goblins were flung in all directions. Screams and roars echoed around the cavern and smoke filled the air. Although it was hard to see through the chaos and fumes, all three rogues began shooting at any robed goblins that they could find. They managed to fire several times before a group of the large, armored goblins gathered together and began stomping toward the tunnel. Apparently they realized that the attack had to have come from that direction.
“Time to go!” Hallic told the others.
He leaped to his feet and Mel and Annia followed him as he raced back down the tunnel. Hallic made a gesture and his wisp of light appeared again and lit their way as they ran.
“I wonder if Odella will make me one of those,” Annia said breathlessly as they pounded down the tunnel.
“Ask her sometime,” Hallic called back. “Once this situation is resolved, of course.”
“I will.”
Commander Brokk's remaining warriors had settled into ordered ranks a dozen yards from the pit and Shandon was discussing tactics with him when the distant echo of an explosion rolled up from the tunnel.
Everyone turned to look at the corner of the cellar and the king walked toward it until he could peer down into the pit at the tunnel entrance.
“What's Hallic gotten himself into now?” he wondered aloud.
Jergen and Pieter joined him and the three of them listened intently.
“Can you hear anything?” Pieter asked under his breath.
Jergen frowned as he stared at the mouth of the tunnel.
“I think so,” he muttered. “There's a distant rumble that reminds me of...something.”
They held their breaths and the troops behind them seemed to be doing the same. Odella was standing off to the side and she was whispering to herself, gesturing with her hands as she strained to sense any hostile magics.
Suddenly a wisp of light burst out of the tunnel followed closely by the three rogues. Hallic, Mel and Annia quickly climbed out of the pit and stood beside the king, all of them panting loudly.
The Dwarven Rebellion Page 40