“That leaves Lil-el,” Gringers said, as Theon stepped out into the hallway. “Let’s keep looking.”
Theon looked haggard, and his eyes had a haunted look that worried Bhaldavin. “I don’t think Lil-el is down here,” Theon said. He stood with his back braced against the wall, as if he didn’t trust his own legs.
“What makes you say that?” Gringers demanded.
“I heard voices just a little while ago. One was Lil-el’s. She was arguing with someone as she passed my room. I called out to her, but I don’t know if she heard me.”
“I heard nothing.”
Theon shrugged. “I’m sure it was her voice. She passed heading that way, I think.” He pointed to the flight of steps leading back up to the floors above.
“You said she was arguing. With who?”
“I don’t know. It might have been Kelsan, but I’m not sure.”
Bhaldavin looked at Diak, a bubble of fear choking him. “Barl!”
“What about Barl?” Gringers snapped.
Bhaldavin quickly told them about his appearance before Barl-et-Bara. “I think he means to”—Bhaldavin almost choked on the last word—“mate with her.”
“Rape her, you mean,” Theon growled.
“And he’ll do it, I’m afraid,” Diak said, “unless Bara can stop him.”
“Would he?” Gringers asked.
Diak shook his head. “I don’t know. The brief time I’ve been with them, I got the impression that Bara often gives in to Barl’s demands. He might protest if Lil-el seemed an unwilling partner, but whether or not he could stop Barl from doing what he wants—I don’t know.”
Gringers caught Diak by the arm. “Could you find your way back to Barl-et-Bara’s room?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“All right. Then we go there first.”
“Unarmed?” Theon protested.
“We’ll have to try to get hold of one of those light weapons if we can.”
“More than one,” Theon said.
Gringers walked Diak toward the stairs. “When we first arrived in Barl-gan, I had hoped we could set up some kind of peaceful agreement that would allow us to stay here and learn about the First Men. Now I’m convinced that as long as Barl-et-Bara are in command, we’ll see nothing but death or slavery.”
Theon grabbed at the back of Gringers’s tunic. “What are you saying? That we should take over?”
“Why not? All we’d have to do is get rid of Barl-et-Bara.”
“You’re crazy! I say we get the hell out of here. This place has nothing we want.”
“How do we know? We haven’t had a chance to look around yet.”
“Gringers! Staying here is suicide. We’ve already lost Hallon. Who’ll be next? Please, let’s just get out of here while we’re still able to. You wanted proof that Barl-gan exists. One or two of those weapons would be proof enough.”
“I want more than proof, Theon, I want knowledge. And the only way to get it is to stay here and search for it.”
Theon shook his head in disgust. “If we kill Barl-et-Bara, those who are left will kill us.”
Gringers turned on Theon as they reached the top of the stairs. “I said nothing about killing the lords Barl-et-Bara. I was thinking more about controlling them. If we could get them in a position where their own lives were at stake, I think we could bargain for what we want.”
Bhaldavin cared nothing about Barl-et-Bara or the knowledge of the First Men. “What about Lil-el?” he demanded, glaring at Gringers. “You once told me that you loved her. If you do, then help me find her. Quickly!”
Gringers swallowed angry words and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Bhaldavin. You’re right. Lil-el comes first. Come on, Diak, show us the way.”
Diak led the way back to the main floor where Barl-et-Bara had their rooms. He paused when they reached the main hallway. They could hear voices coming in their direction.
Gringers signaled Theon forward and the other two back. Bhaldavin obeyed reluctantly. Every moment of delay meant more danger for Lil-el.
The voices grew louder.
Gringers and Theon crouched along the wall, waiting for the right moment. When it came, Gringers lunged up from his position and caught the first man around the chest, pinning his arms to his sides as they fell. Theon was only a step behind, but the second man had time enough to draw his weapon before he was knocked back against the wall across from the stairwell. A flash of deadly light shot over Bhaldavin’s head as he threw himself into the battle behind Theon.
Theon dragged the man down to the floor, cursing as his splinted arm got in the way. The light weapon flashed once more, then Bhaldavin was there, pinning the man’s arm down to the floor with his knee and wrenching the light box away. Theon hit the man in the face several times before he stopped struggling.
Diak shouted a warning.
Bhaldavin turned to see someone running toward them from the other end of the hall; the man was yelling for help and firing another of the light weapons as he closed on them.
Theon cried out as a shaft of light grazed his leg. Gringers stood up and used the man he held as a shield.
“Get behind me,” he shouted and began backing toward the door that Diak had indicated would lead them to Barl-et-Bara.
Bhaldavin pressed the button on the light box he held, pointing it down the hallway. He was rewarded by a flash of light. The man running toward them skidded to a halt and dove into one of the rooms off the hall.
Birdfoot and several other men appeared. Bhaldavin used the light weapon again, and they also ducked for cover. Theon limped toward Bhaldavin and reached for the light box.
“Here, let me have that. Follow Diak!”
Bhaldavin turned and saw Diak disappearing into a room off the hall. He handed the light weapon to Theon and hurried after the old man.
Theon backed down the hallway, covering Gringers, who pushed the man he held away from him and stepped into the room behind Bhaldavin. Theon was only a few steps behind. Once into the room, he slammed the door, found the lock, and snapped it shut.
Diak turned on the lights and started across the room. “This way, quickly,” he said softly, moving toward a door to the left. “They were in this room when I saw them last.”
Gringers, armed with a knife now, stepped around Diak and tried the door. It wasn’t locked.
“Careless,” Gringers muttered softly.
“They’re too few to guard every door,” Diak explained, “and they’re not used to guarding prisoners.”
The room they entered was dimly lit. Bhaldavin paused beside Gringers, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. He heard someone curse softly and saw movement in the bed on the other side of the room.
Bhaldavin started across the room. He felt Gringers right behind him. Suddenly he saw the flash of a naked leg; then he heard Lil-el cry out.
Gringers and Bhaldavin moved as one. They reached the bed and saw Lil-el lying beneath the twin lords struggling to free herself from Barl’s embrace. Barl yelled as Lil-el bit down on his arm.
Bara turned, saw Bhaldavin and Gringers, and shouted a warning to his brother, but the warning came too late. Gringers leaped on Barl’s back and caught him around the neck, pulling the twin halfway off Lil-el.
Bara, who seemed to have been holding himself away from the proceedings as much as was possible, saw the knife in Gringers’s hand as it plunged toward Barl’s chest. He lunged forward and blocked the thrust by capturing Gringers’s wrist.
“Theon, help!” Gringers cried as he and the twins slid out of bed onto the floor.
Bhaldavin grabbed Lil-el by an arm and pulled her off the bed as Theon darted around the large bedposts to help Gringers. He raised the light weapon, but he hesitated to fire into the tangle of bodies that thrashed around on the floor.
Barl was screaming for his guards, but Gringers found Barl’s throat and squeezed, cutting off his cries. Bara tried to pull Gringers away from Barl and finally managed to break Gringers�
��s hold. Barl-et-Bara moved in concert then as they rolled over with Gringers caught between them and got to their knees.
Barl found the knife Gringers had dropped and raised it to strike.
“No, Barl!” Bara cried, still holding Gringers.
“I’m going to kill him. Kill them all!”
Theon stepped closer, aimed the light weapon at Barl’s head, and fired.
Barl never made a sound as he folded over; the knife he held clattered to the floor.
Suddenly the door to the audience chamber banged open. Theon turned. A flash of light came from beyond the doorway and caught him in the side. He gasped in pain and fell to his knees. Another spray of deadly light passed over his head. He lifted his light weapon and fired at the three figures that burst into the room.
Birdfoot was the first to go down. The man to his right took the second hit and fell rolling. The third man turned and dove for cover, returning to the audience chamber.
Gringers pushed away from Bara, the stink of burned flesh strong in his nostrils. Bara ignored him and leaned over his brother, calling his name.
Another flash of light came from the other room. Theon retaliated. Birdfoot rolled to safety behind a nearby couch. The other man lay where he had fallen.
The sound of angry voices came from the audience room. Gringers cast a frustrated glance at Barl-et-Bara and shook his head. Any chance of controlling them was gone now. All they could hope for was to get out of Barl-gan alive.
Diak pushed Bhaldavin and Lil-el toward the side door. “Out! That way! Back the way we came. Hurry! Gringers, get Theon, and let’s get out of here!”
Gringers helped Theon up. “Can you run?”
Theon shook his head.
Gringers took the light weapon and caught Theon around the waist. He fired the weapon again and again as he helped Theon toward the side door.
Bhaldavin turned and watched the two men run through a barrage of light flashes coming from the other room. He saw Bara rise to his feet, his arms around his brother’s body. Barl’s head lolled forward onto Bara’s shoulder, obscuring the charred hole in his right temple. Standing naked in the flickering lights, Bara looked out over the top of his brother’s head and followed Gringers and Theon’s escape. There was no anger on Bara’s face, only a look of infinite sadness.
Lil-el clung tightly to Bhaldavin’s arm as they followed Diak back out into the main hallway. She was naked and shivering, and the haunted look in her eyes made Bhaldavin feel sick. “Lil-el, are you all right?”
She nodded, but wouldn’t look at him.
Diak motioned them to hurry. “Quickly. Before someone comes.”
They followed Diak’s lead, leaving Gringers and Theon to bring up the rear. Twice in the next few minutes they were cut off from escape to the outside. They were left finally with no choice but to climb.
Their run through the maze of hallways and rooms of the upper floors became a nightmare. Gringers finally took the lead and tried to lead them back down to the ground floor, but they were met by deadly flashes of light wielded by a wounded Birdfoot and several others who continued to harry them from hallway to hallway, floor to floor.
Gringers, carrying Theon over his shoulder, used the light weapon to keep their pursuers at a distance. They reached yet another flight of stairs leading up. Gringers ordered them to climb.
“But we must go down,” Diak protested.
“Climb!” Gringers yelled. “Maybe I can hold them off at the top of the stairs. Theon, can you walk a little?”
“Put me down. I’ll try.”
While the others started climbing, Gringers stayed at the bottom of the steps and used the light weapon to discourage anyone from closing in.
Diak was almost to the top of the stairs when suddenly he sagged to his knees. Bhaldavin and Lil-el came up behind him and helped him up. He was gasping for breath and clutching at his chest.
Together they got him up the last few steps; then he collapsed to the floor.
Theon limped up the last few steps, glanced down at the old man, and swore softly to himself.
“Keep moving!” Gringers yelled, running up the stairs two at a time. “We’ve got to… ” His words trailed off as he saw Diak on the floor. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s another attack,” Bhaldavin said, moving aside as Gringers knelt beside Diak.
“Damn! That’s all we need.”
He looked up at Bhaldavin. “Go down the hall and find a room with only one door, a place where we can defend ourselves. Hurry! Theon, can you walk a little farther?”
Theon nodded and started after Bhaldavin and Lil-el, leaving Gringers to carry Diak.
Bhaldavin found a suitable room and helped Theon inside and to a chair; he then stripped off his tunic and gave it to Lil-el. She thanked him softly and quickly slipped it over her head.
Gringers laid the old man on the bed to the right of the doorway and turned. “Bhaldavin, lock the door.”
Bhaldavin did as he was told, then turned to Lil-el. “Are you all right, Lil-el?” he asked her gently, pulling her close.
This time her eyes met his. “Just scared.”
“Did he—they—hurt you?”
“No. But if you hadn’t come… Oh, Bhaldavin, just hold me! I don’t think I’ve ever been so frightened in my life. I was so afraid I’d never see any of you again.”
Bhaldavin started to say something, but suddenly someone outside tried the doorknob. He released Lil-el and pulled her around behind him. “Gringers!”
Gringers turned and was across the room in five quick strides. He motioned to Bhaldavin and Lil-el to back out of the way.
“I’ll kill the first man through that door,” he roared.
The doorknob snapped back, and out in the hall there were sounds of voices; moments later there was silence.
Slowly Gringers backed away from the door. “Theon, get over in that far comer. Put that couch in front of you. Bhaldavin, you and Lil-el join him.”
“What about Diak?” Theon asked, rising slowly. “You want some help with him?”
Gringers didn’t respond for a moment, then he turned. “He’s dead,” he said bleakly. “His heart finally gave out.” He tossed the light weapon onto the bed beside Diak. “He’s as dead as this weapon.”
Chapter 26
GRINGERS PACED RESTLESSLY AROUND THE ROOM. HE paused briefly at the side of one of the windows and glanced down at the three men stationed on the terrace below. As long as it was light outside, there would be no escape that way. Even in darkness it would prove dangerous.
Bhaldavin watched Gringers move over to where Theon lay on the floor. He glanced at Lil-el, who had fallen asleep leaning against his shoulder. Carefully he eased her down onto the couch and stood up.
Hours had passed since Kelsan had come to their door to demand their surrender. Gringers, grieving over Diak’s death, had told him in no uncertain terms just where he could go with his demands, and had even threatened him with his useless light weapon.
“How is he?” Bhaldavin asked softly.
“Not good,” Gringers replied. One hand went to Theon’s forehead. “He’s got a fever, and we’ve nothing to tend his wounds with.”
Theon stirred at Gringers’s touch. His face was flushed, and it seemed hard for him to focus on anything. “Gringers?”
“Right here, Theon.”
“I feel rotten.”
“I know.”
Theon licked at dry lips. “Could I have something to drink?”
Gringers looked up at Bhaldavin through anguish-filled eyes. He turned back to his friend. “There is nothing to drink, Theon, but—maybe I can get you something.”
Theon caught Gringers’s arm as he started to rise. “No. Don’t do anything foolish. It’s all right. I don’t need anything. Gringers?”
Gringers settled back down. “Yes.”
“Am I—going to die?”
Gringers caught at Theon’s hands. “No, you’re not going to die. Not o
f a couple of small burns.”
Theon tried to smile. “That’s good to hear. I thought— I thought maybe—it was my turn next.”
Gringers tried to say something, but couldn’t. He swallowed and cleared his throat. “Theon, please don’t give up. I swear, I’ll get you out of here alive.”
“Sure about that?”
“I’m sure!”
Theon noticed Bhaldavin. “Little Fish. How’s Lil-el?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Good. That’s good. Gods, Gringers, but I’m thirsty.”
Gringers cursed softly and again started to rise, but Theon held on to his arm.
“No! Don’t go! I’ve got something I want to tell you.”
“What?” Gringers asked gently.
“I—I want you to know that I didn’t come to Barl-gan for any treasure.” His glance locked on Gringers. “I came because—I wanted to be with you, because I—”
“I know why you came, friend. I know.” Gringers squeezed Theon’s hand. “Now hang on, and don’t give up. Everything’s going to be all right.”
Theon closed his eyes. “Wish I could believe that.”
“Believe it!”
Gringers rose and caught Bhaldavin’s arm, pulling him toward the center of the room. “I’m going out into the hall empty-handed,” he said, keeping his voice down. “I’ve got to see if I can get some help for Theon.”
“It would be better for me to go. If they tried to break in, I couldn’t do much to stop them.”
“No! I’m going.”
Bhaldavin started to argue, but was interrupted by a sudden knocking on the door.
“Who is it?” Gringers demanded loudly, moving toward the door.
“It’s Kelsan. Open the door. We must talk. I’m unarmed.”
Lil-el woke up, eyes wide in alarm. “What’s happening?”
“It’s Kelsan again,” Bhaldavin answered. “Stay where you are.”
Gringers glanced at Bhaldavin and motioned him back out of the way. He slid the bolt on the door and opened the door a crack. “Are you alone?”
“Yes,” Kelsan replied. “I’ve sent the others back down to the lower floors. Please, let me in. I have to talk with you!”
Beyond the Draak’s Teeth Page 24