"I know they came out here!" Avari insisted.
"Look with your hands, not your eyes... Yes!" Shay had been running his hands across the dark wall when his entire arm was swallowed up to the elbow in a cunningly hidden crevice. The niche proved wide enough for two men to pass abreast, but the ceiling was dangerously low, as Jundag found out when he cracked his helm hard on the stone.
"Blasted dwarven construction," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. "The whole keep is probably this height."
Avari and Shay snickered, but both made sure they bent low before entering. The tunnel inclined upward for about two hundred feet before opening into a smooth, narrow trail that sloped steeply up the cliff face. Jundag led with Avari close behind, her bow strung, an arrow ready. Shay brought up the rear, hammer in hand.
The wan moon lit their way, but all they could think was how exposed they were on the open path. They paused before every turn to listen, continuing once sure that no hazards awaited them. The only excitement came when Avari's foot slipped on one of the rare patches of ice. She caught herself on Jundag's arm and looked nervously down to the forest below. The trees looked like match-sticks from this height.
Rounding another bend, Avari stopped short as she bumped into Jundag's solid back. Shay stopped, and they both moved up at the tribesman's beckoning.
Moonlight streamed into the canyon before them, reflecting off the ice-shrouded rock to illuminate the massive walls of Zellohar Keep. The sight dumbfounded them and they stared at the immense structure until Jundag realized what they others had not: in their awe, they stood in perfect view of any sentries that might be standing on the ancient battlements.
"Back!" Jundag rasped, pushing them behind the curve of the trail, out of sight of the battlements.
"Amazing!" Shay exclaimed. "You can see nothing of the keep from below! There is likely no other canyon in all the mountains quite like this. And the size of it! Perhaps the dwarves used the stone from the mines for the battlements."
"Not likely to ever fall to an assault," Avari observed.
"Well, something drove the dwarves away, and it appears to still be in residence." The tribesman pointed to the glow of firelight that shone from over the walls. "The guildmaster will have a fit when he hears of this."
When no alarm issued from the battlements, they risked the assumption that they had not been seen and moved ahead, hugging the face of the cliff, but still feeling exposed beneath the imposing walls. They rushed the last few yards to the gatehouse, eager to get under cover.
As they panted in relief, Avari ran her hand along the melted portcullis and looked to Shay, her eyebrows raised in question. The priest shrugged. Jundag waved a warding sign toward the incinerated gate, and edged around them into the portal. Lowering himself to the cold stone, he vanished into the shadows as he wormed his way forward. Shortly he crawled back out, a grim smile on his face.
"Only four orcs," he whispered. "Two with crossbows, two with swords, all sitting around the fire. The outbuildings are in ruins. Avari and I ought to be able to work our way around behind them without attracting their notice."
Shay smiled. "I am the diversion then, yes?"
The huge tribesman returned the smile with a nod of approval, then tugged Avari's sleeve, and the two disappeared into the darkness. Shay knelt to the snow and started putting together his arsenal.
The grisly remnants of the meal they had just finished sizzled in the fire as the four orc guards grumbled over their growling stomachs. Their rations had been getting shorter ever since Lord Darkmist had locked himself in his private chambers to do whatever it was that Nekdukarr-sorcerers did. During their long imprisonment, their lord had used his powers to lure hapless creatures into the caverns at the base of the mountain. But now, since the doors had opened and the caverns below were accessible for travel both in and out, he spent almost all of his time in seclusion. The yield of the hunting parties was less, and many had been forced to go hungry.
On top of that, the night-guard murders and the patrol that had never returned left the company short-handed. They had not found who or what had killed the guards, but there had been no incidents for two nights, and Captain Glurg had insisted that it had ended altogether. A likely story...
"Rather be on one o' dem huntin' parties dan stuck out here in da cold," muttered one of the creatures.
"Yeah," grumbled another, pulling a filthy animal skin closer to drive off the chill. "Dem guys just goes out an eats, den brings back what dey can't finish, while we's up here starvin'."
"It's just plain spooky up here anyways," said a third, tossing another plank onto the fire. "What wit' all dem killin's and da way dat wind howls over da walls, but never down here."
As if in answer, an eerie wail rose from the gatehouse. The orcs leapt up. No sooner had the noise died then a high-pitched keening sounded from the other side of the courtyard. The orcs grabbed weapons and peered into the darkness.
"Dat ain't no wind," insisted one, cocking his crossbow and fumbling for a shaft. "Dat dere is some kinda ghost!"
"Shut yer yap, Durgul," snapped the leader, reaching for the alarm horn at his waist. "More likely just a hooty owl or somethin'."
Brilliant white light exploded from the gatehouse, blinding the orcs' light-sensitive eyes. When the spots finally cleared from their vision, they beheld their worst fear shambling toward them across the snow-covered courtyard. Features hidden and arms spread wide, its hands glowed with balls of piercing light.
"Dat ain't no hooty owl!" croaked one of the terrified orcs. "Dats a ghost if'n I ever seen one. Blow da horn, Burgal!"
But as the orc raised the horn to sound the alarm, the eerie phantom cast one of the glowing orbs, hitting the leader square in the chest. Glowing bits of light splattered in all directions. The orcs gasped in horror and dashed toward the entrance of the keep, but two were cut down by arrows before taking three steps.
Shay ran forward and threw his second glowing snowball, hitting another orc in the face as it raised a crossbow. The beast gasped and fell, blinded by the shower of light. Another arrow killed the leader as he reached the steps, trying to blow his horn and run at the same time.
The downed orc stumbled to his feet and turned to flee, but ran into Avari standing near the steps with her sword drawn. The woman and the orc stared at each other for a moment.
The orc snarled and reached for its sword, but before the tip of the blade cleared the scabbard, Avari's slash ripped through its leather armor and opened the creature from neck to groin.
Jundag and Avari stashed the orc bodies in one of the gutted outbuildings while Shay covered the signs of battle and doused the fire with snow. No one spoke until they had regrouped in the security of the keep's main archway.
"Well, that was easy enough," smiled Jundag.
"Let us hope it all goes so well," Shay added, with somewhat less enthusiasm.
"Cheer up, Shay," the big man grinned, slapping the priest on the shoulder. "This was the hard part. One quick look around, and we're off to inform the guild and collect our pay."
Jundag stepped into the gloom of Zellohar Keep. Shay tried to smile encouragement at Avari, but failed, his nervousness making his smile a smirk. He took one last look at the empty courtyard and open sky then offered himself to the darkness.
The figure hidden in the stonework over the entry had observed the entire foray. His knuckles bled where he had chewed them in order to keep from laughing at the sight of the moaning elf lurching toward the orcs, throwing snowballs of light. It had been a wonderful diversion, though perhaps overkill for only four orcs. His interest was piqued, however. Who were these strangers? What were their motives, and what power did they wield?
He descended from his perch with a nimble grace that belied his shape, and loaded his crossbow. He glanced into the portal of the keep, but delayed entering. Moving to where the orc bodies had been stuffed, he rifled their pockets and pouches. He frowned and snorted his displeasure at the few poorly
cut gems and silver pieces that his skilled fingers encountered, but filled his quiver to capacity with their crossbow bolts. Only then did he move after the strangers, melting into the stonework like the passage of a shadow.
Lynthalsea stifled a belch as the feasting continued around her. They had taken the orcs by surprise when they entered the forest, and the struggle had been brief. Most of the pack was sated, but a few growing pups still gnawed the grisly remains. Lynthalsea sat at the edge of the trees' cover, satisfied with the meal, but already worried about the next one. The pack had grown large, too large, and was becoming more and more difficult to feed, especially now, in winter. She had forbidden them from hunting in the lowlands. That would only lead to a war between man and wolf, a war that the pack would lose.
One of the large males came up to nuzzle, licking her face in friendship. She scratched him vigorously, pulling him close to steal some of his warmth. He grunted in ecstasy, pushing into her comfortable embrace. She laughed at his antics and pushed him away playfully.
The snow had begun to rob her heat, so she stood and moved into the clear space just beyond the fringe of trees to look up at the peaks. The faces of the humans flashed through her mind, but that of the handsome half-elf lingered to haunt her thoughts.
Something peculiar about that one, the elf woman thought as she inhaled the chill night air deeply. His scent? Something familiar about it. Perhaps his elf blood...
A fit of snarling broke out as several pups fought over a particularly choice bone. Sighing over her quarrelling charges, Lynthalsea turned to break up the squabble, the strange trio momentarily forgotten.
CHAPTER 17
I don't think Jundag's going to have to duck," Avari mumbled as Zellohar's vastness swallowed them. "Though his neck might get a crick from looking up at the ceiling."
Her eyes climbed one of foyer's four supporting pillars to the vaulted ceiling more than a hundred feet above. The dimensions of the place pressed at the edges of her mind; giants could have walked these halls instead of the diminutive, dour folk who had built it. They entered the cavernous entry hall, their feet unconsciously skirting the precise compass rose rendered in marble inlay upon the floor, its points glittering with beaten bronze. Avari idly brushed her fingers over the smooth rock of one of the immense spiral pillars.
The hall yawned ahead of them, its walls punctuated by ornate archways set at precise intervals for as far as she could see in the gloom. The arches were carved so flawlessly, and looked so right, that one might think they were natural formations. Veins of calcite and malachite glittered in the pale light that shone through the portal, breathing life into the stone. The two immediate arches to the left and right led to parallel hallways identical to the main hall, albeit reduced in size.
"Dwarves..." Shay mumbled. "It will never cease to amaze me that such a stern and humorless people can put such love and care into their workmanship."
"How could they leave something like this?" Avari whispered as she gazed about in wonder.
"The force that drove them away must indeed have been terrible indeed." Shay's whisper hung in the air like a curse, the perfect acoustics amplifying it for all to hear.
"Come," Jundag whispered, his eyes flickering around. "We will keep to the smaller passages. This is too open."
Entering the left hallway, the nervous companions cast yearning glances over their shoulders at the waning patch of light through the portal. Darkness closed around them, and though Shay could see well enough to avoid bumping into things, Avari and Jundag were effectively blind.
"Sssst!" Avari hissed, halting the others and slipping the string from her bow by touch. She unsheathed her enchanted dagger until a bare sliver of light pierced the gloom.
"By the Balancer!"
The despair in Shay's soft cry drew the others' attention. He stared at an illuminated section of wall where an unbelievably lifelike bass-relief depicted the forging of the world. The stone had been rudely hacked and defaced.
"The filthy, defiling bastards!" Shay said through clenched teeth, pain swelling in his voice.
"Come on," Avari said, tugging at his sleeve.
Shay followed, but as they moved on and saw that all the masterful artwork had been similarly mistreated, a cold rage began to smolder behind his almond eyes.
Although the defacement bothered Avari, it was the incredible loneliness of the place that plucked her heartstrings. Once a thriving community, these halls had sheltered generations of dwarven families, all driven out by something greedy and evil. She seethed at the thought, silently cursing the corrupt infection.
A sharp crack sounded from ahead, freezing them in their tracks, hands tense on weapons, ears straining. Shay moved ahead, his boots whisking on the flagstones, then motioned for the others to follow. Jundag held his bow down, his fingers on the string, prepared to draw and fire at any moment. Avari kept one hand on the lighted dagger, the other tight on the hilt of her sword. After a few more steps, Shay stopped and raised a hand. He pointed ahead and Avari squinted, eventually resolving a faint wedge of light. A door stood ajar, light knifing into the corridor through the gap. Shay whispered first to Jundag, then to Avari, his lips scant inches from their ears.
"Voices," was the brief message, before the half-elf resumed his stealthy lead down the hall.
Avari's pulse quickened, a light sweat breaking out on her brow. She did not know whether to be pleased or perturbed; danger was to be avoided, but a chance to see the blood of those responsible for the rape of this place set her fingers flexing on her sword hilt. How many were there? Would the Beriknor militia be able to defeat a large force holed up in such a formidable keep?
Shay's graceful fingers brushed the wooden planks of the door as he listened to the strange language of grunts and growls. He smiled with recognition.
"Goblins," he mouthed.
Jundag moved closer and dared a glance through the crack. Holding up a single finger, he mouthed "Orc".
Shay brought a finger to his lips, turning to continue around the wedge of light and down the hall. It did not take him long to realize that his friends were not behind him. Jundag frowned, pointing at the door and drawing a finger across his throat. Avari realized that he was loathe to leave any enemy between them and their way out, and she agreed, although not for the same reasons. Her blade hissed like a hungry viper as it left its sheath. Jundag nodded grimly, laying his bow aside and arming himself with short sword and hand axe.
Reluctantly, it seemed to Avari, Shay returned to his fellows and grasped the door's ornate bronze handle. He held three fingers in the air, then two fingers. Avari's hand flexed on the hilt of her sword, the cries of fatherless dwarven children strengthening her grip. One finger. Jundag took a deep breath and let it out. At the drop of his last finger, Shay flung open the door and they charged into the room.
All in all, it was not much of a fight. Jundag's axe cut short the shout of the orc, and the toad-faced little goblins with their stubby axes and maces were no match for Avari with her longer sword and far longer reach. Shay dispatched one that tried to escape, and then it was over. The companions sustained only one injury; a disarmed goblin had slipped in under Avari's guard and kicked her with his steel-toed boot. She rubbed her ankle; it would be black and blue by the time she took her boot off.
"Quiet!" Shay hissed, silencing her moans as he cocked an ear to listen, but the little noise they made had either gone unnoticed, or had been dismissed as a squabble within the ranks. The half-elf stood guard while his friends surveyed the room.
Stools and work benches, some no more than piles of splinters, crowded the chamber. The walls were lined with braziers, many of them lit, as were a number of lamps with polished reflecting mirrors that stood on the tables. The room was surprisingly warm and bright. Jundag whistled softly to Shay and held up one of the strange lamps with a shrug.
"A study lamp," he whispered back. "Monks use them when they do close work, such as copying scrolls."
; "Dwarven monks?" Jundag asked skeptically.
"Jewelers!" Avari called out softly. She offered them a hand scattered with small, rough gems that had been swept from a table during the scuffle.
Jundag's eyes gleamed and he turned to search for more. Avari looked to Shay with a shrug and a smile. Who could complain if they reaped a little extra profit on this trip? But her excitement dribbled away as she joined in the search. Within minutes each held a dozen rough-cut stones and a worn coin or two, but the cache looked more pitiful than valuable.
"That's it?" she said, exasperated.
"They are worth at least twenty gold imperials, maybe a bit more," said Shay, squinting at the little pile.
Avari looked skeptical at his estimate, but this was not the time for a lesson in gem-appraisal. Shay pocketed the stones and they resumed their reconnaissance, moving deeper into the keep. More rooms lined the hallway, but all were vacant. They looked as if they had been offices or meeting rooms, quarters and barracks, all the requirements for the day-to-day running of a stronghold. The companions seemed to have found and extinguished the only sign of life. It was encouraging. Perhaps the raids were being perpetrated by a small group of creatures that had happened upon the keep accidentally.
They passed a cold forge and several metal-working shops, complete with lengths of iron stock and tools. Finally the corridor arced to the right, and a large, open portal loomed on the left wall. Curiously, there were no doors to the huge aperture, and wall braziers to either side were lit. The glowing coals lent an eerie light to the passage but it did not extend far into the room. They approached with caution, but even Shay's keen eyes could spy nothing in the pervasive gloom within.
"Light, Avari," Shay bid as he peered into the room.
"It is too risky!" Jundag countered as he covered Avari's hand with his own, irritated at Shay's assumption of authority. "We may draw attention."
"We have neither seen nor heard a thing since the gem-cutting room," Shay said as he peered inside. "Besides, we shouldn't leave any unknowns behind us."
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