Against the Giants
Page 23
“Why’d we want t’go someplace else, eh?” Agya wanted to know.
The mage shrugged. “Because I know the drow. The dark elves control the Steading giants. You and Malowan found the letter of orders from drow to Nosnra. Because the drow are cautious and devious, they would never hide in a place once removed from the hill giants. Likely their safety is another spell or charm away from this place. Their mistress may well be beyond that.” He shrugged again and managed a faint smile for the girl. “I know them. Drow dislike such cold as this even more than you or I do.”
“Sensible of ’em,” the little thief allowed.
“Fought ’em once, that’s enough,” Khlened agreed. He looked cheerful though, as he shoved the blood-blackened morning star into his belt and mounted the scabbard for the two-handed sword on his back. Lhors tried not to stare. The effort of drawing it corded the barbarian’s muscles, and the blade and hilt together were nearly as tall as Khlened himself.
Bleryn snorted. “You’ll break your arms, swinging that thing.”
Khlened laughed. “Yer just jealous that you didn’t think of it first.”
“Th’ thing’s overlong for me,” the dwarf said with some dignity. “Jealous of a blade,” he muttered under his breath as they started out once more.
Agya and Malowan led the way through the cavern and out into a passage that turned south for a short distance, then went sharply west. A ways on, a branch went south and steeply down.
Agya sniffed cautiously but shrugged. Nothing near, Lhors hoped it meant.
Malowan murmured a spell—another reveal one, perhaps. He pointed west and shook his head almost at once, indicated the south way and nodded firmly. Vlandar stepped aside to let Nemis ease partway down the south passage. Whatever spell he used caused a very tiny puff of smoke. The mage looked at Vlandar and gestured, Giants. Others.
“Beings—many of them—well down the west tunnel,” Malowan muttered, “but none close by. The passage stays level for a long ways and goes around the Rift. That”—he nodded toward the south passage—“is our way.”
“Mmm,” Vlandar murmured agreement. “Remember,” he added to all of them, “we get in and get what we need. We do nothing else here, unless I say!”
Lhors saw Khlened and Bleryn exchange exasperated looks, but neither said anything. Gerikh merely nodded and clutched his spear. Nemis was already partway down the south passage.
“We keep quiet,” Vlandar cautioned. “Mal or Nemis will go in front, and the other at the rear to keep us as undetected as possible. My nose,” he added with a scowl, “is frozen and so are my ears. I want out of here before the rest of me turns to ice.”
Greenish light still leaked through the ice, but it was not as bright now that they were going deeper into the hold. They could still see each other and ahead for at least four long strides, but beyond that was only emerald dimness.
They reached level ground and emerged into a long, high-vaulted cavern. Passages vanished into gloom south and east. It was very quiet here, and neither Malowan nor Nemis could find any sign of guards down the passages. The mage froze, hands moving in some spell and eyes fixed on an enormous boulder leaning against the east wall.
“There is a dragon beyond that,” he breathed.
“Dragon?” Khlened demanded softly. His eyes gleamed, but before he could move, Vlandar gripped his shoulder and shook his head. The barbarian cast his eyes up but turned away.
“Remember what I said above!” the warrior ordered quietly. “We are not in this place for treasure or to kill dragons!”
“Aye, sir.” Khlened cast one last wistful look at the blocked entry. “Which way’s ours, then? Yon?” He pointed at the south passages.
Malowan shook his head.
“Giants?” asked Rowan.
“Something unpleasant,” Malowan whispered. “To the west, giants. Our way.”
Nemis was already across the chamber, hands flat on a massive slab of stone. Malowan went over to join him while Vlandar beckoned the others close. “There are guards in the chamber beyond,” he whispered. “They will be warned someone is here when that stone is moved. It won’t be quiet. If we can lure them into this area…”
Lhors swallowed dread. Was Vlandar asking him to volunteer?
But the warrior had already turned to Agya. “You’ll go into their sight, hesitate only long enough to draw them, then run.”
The little thief was very pale. She bit her lip and nodded.
“Good lass. Everyone else, along the west wall where no one inside will see you. Go.”
Vlandar drew Lhors with him to the north. Khlened and Bleryn joined them, while the rangers, Gerikh, and Florimund went south. Agya raised her chin, shoved the hood from her short red hair, and found a place nearly mid-cavern to stand where she’d be seen.
Nemis motioned for Malowan to get back then raised his hands. The boulder vibrated and emitted a clear, deep tone, like an enormous bell. In the silence that followed, they could hear two or more guards mumbling just beyond as the stone silently moved toward them. At Nemis’ gesture, it glided to the side and came to rest against the south wall. Lhors could just make out Rowan kneeling behind it, an arrow at the ready. Malowan blocked his view south. The youth turned his head so he could watch Agya.
The little thief’s eyes were huge, but she held her ground as two leather-clad brutes, one clutching a huge chunk of ice, emerged cautiously and stared at the girl. Her lips twitched in a nervous grin. “N-nice t’see it’s only two ’f ya in there!” She turned and sprinted toward the upper level, and the guards casually went after her. One was chuckling, and the brute with the ice tossed it over his shoulder. Easy prey, they clearly thought.
Malowan stood so near Lhors, he could hear the paladin quietly praying. “Heironeous, see my need and judge of my worth: I ask of you a hammer.” It made no sense to Lhors, but suddenly a ruddy light formed above the man’s head, elongating and shifting to resemble a warhammer. The paladin gazed at the giants who were nearly upon his ward and whispered, “Go!” The hammer flew across the chamber, slamming into one enormous head and then the other. The first giant went to his knees, clutching his skull. The second fell flat and did not move.
Before Malowan could use the weapon again, Khlened, Bleryn, and Vlandar were across the room, weapons drawn, and the guards were dispatched without a fight—and with scarcely any sound other than the bell-like sound Nemis’ spell on the stone had made.
The two dead guards were dragged partway up the tunnel near the entry passage, which Nemis had already checked. “It goes nowhere, and nothing lives there,” he assured Vlandar.
Rowan got Lhors’ attention and drew him into the next chamber with her, leaving Maera to manage Florimund. The youth glanced back, caught Vlandar’s nod, and went, a spear ready to throw in one hand and three bunched in the other.
This new chamber was long and relatively narrow—a true cavern instead of an ice cave. Other caves branched off here and there, and outcroppings of rock blocked their view ahead. He could only tell that much because there was light somewhere beyond them.
Plenty of places to hide, Rowan signed as the others came up. Malowan nodded. Agya leaned against him, eyes still huge. Guess she really was scared, Lhors thought. She didn’t seem to like letting the paladin hold her very often. Beyond the pair, Lhors could just make out Nemis, resettling the great stone against the entry.
It was very quiet here, and though the wind at their backs died away as the rock settled into place, it was still dreadfully cold. Lhors’ fingertips were going to ice prickles through the thick mitts.
Malowan drew them to a halt midway down the cavern where it suddenly narrowed. A broad opening went south into darkness. Agya hesitated here, sniffing gingerly. Her nose wrinkled. Something unpleasant there, Lhors was certain. As they passed the entry, even he could smell the unlovely mix of unwashed bodies, rotting bits of meat, and foul blankets.
The cavern widened again, and there seemed to be rock walls everywhere, making li
ghting from the west uncertain. Lhors thought he could see another boulder to their north—perhaps another doorway. He shifted his grip on the spears so he had one ready to throw and hoped they weren’t going to go there—or into a lot of unpleasant dead-ends and near-traps, as they had in the Steading. Vlandar won’t let us, he reminded himself. Indeed, Vlandar glanced that way and as Khlened eyed it curiously, Vlandar tapped the barbarian on the arm and firmly shook his head. The Fist shrugged, then nodded, and turned his attention back to the main way.
Vlandar sent Rowan and Lhors out ahead, getting Malowan to test north and west while Nemis used yet another of what Lhors thought must be an endless supply of reveal danger spells on the south cave. At least you do not need to understand magic for it to protect you, he told himself as he followed Rowan along the south wall.
The ranger stopped abruptly and held up a hand for silence. Lhors listened. He could hear nothing out of the ordinary. There was just enough whine of moving wind through openings in the stone high above to make everything sound like a stealthy enemy to him. The ranger drew him close and sent her eyes into the passage where it bulged wide and turned south.
He could see them all at once. Guards surrounded three giantesses.
Rowan signed urgently, and Lhors backed away. As soon as they were out of sight, they both turned and ran. Guards! Lhors signed to the others. It was all he could recall at the moment.
It was enough. Vlandar got everyone around the back of a tall ledge and into gloom just as three fur-clad giantesses sauntered up the hall. Several ogre servants and a pair of armed giant guards loped just behind them.
The company held their breath, except Florimund, who seemed to be fighting a sneeze. Nemis dove into his belt for something and moved his hands. The wounded half-elf’s jaw went slack and his eyes shut as he sagged at the knees. Maera clutched him in dismay as the giantesses and their servants wandered by. They turned right at the bend and kept going out into the entry. Lhors could hear the stone shift gratingly, and then they were gone.
“What is wrong with Florimund?” Maera breathed.
“I sent him to sleep,” the mage replied, “in a way. If he’d sneezed just now—”
“What do you mean, in a way?” the ranger demanded.
“He’ll follow where you lead him, but he won’t be aware,” Nemis replied. “He won’t speak or cry out—and he won’t feel pain, as he clearly has all the way here.”
Maera gave him a scorching look before she turned away to help the blank-faced Florimund to his feet.
Vlandar looked around. “We should—Mal, what is it?”
He broke off as the paladin came up to him. In the faint light, the man’s face was grim. “There is another ledge to our west, and a prisoner is locked away beyond it. I sense fear and hatred of frost giants, and pain.”
“An ally?” Vlandar murmured as he tugged his cloak closer. He gave Maera and Florimund a glance. “Or just another… ?” He let the statement go unfinished.
“I cannot say. If not an ally, we can bespell it and leave. If an ally, though…” The paladin let the thought hang.
Vlandar nodded—reluctantly, Lhors thought. He gestured for Malowan to lead on.
“I will wait here with my cousin,” Maera said stiffly. “To keep watch.”
“Watch south,” Rowan told her. “I will tend to the east.”
Malowan was already gone the way he’d come, Agya on his heels.
Nemis met Vlandar’s eyes. “I will stay as well,” he said quietly. “There may be things here we cannot see.”
The warrior gestured assent and put Lhors in front of him. He motioned for the others to follow. Lhors glanced back at Maera, who knelt next to her sleeping companion. Why does Vlandar not seem to trust her, all of a sudden? he wondered. He had seen the same lack of trust in his father toward certain village boys who’d once hunted with them—but they weren’t just after meat for a village here. If Vlandar really was worried about Florimund or Maera, wouldn’t he just get Nemis to send them away? Perhaps Nemis couldn’t do that, or maybe something else was going on.
Another massive boulder blocked part of the west wall. It took Khlened, Bleryn, and Vlandar to shift it far enough for them to enter the chamber beyond. Vlandar left Bleryn and Gerikh at the opening and let Malowan lead the way in.
The chamber was poorly lit and sparely furnished. A huge pallet with massive chains was bolted to the wall at head and foot, and a giant three times Malowan’s size lay fettered to the bed. Just out of the giant’s reach, a low table held an ewer and some bits of bread and bone. Malowan was already next to the bed, speaking quickly and urgently to the prisoner in Giantish. Agya was glaring at the little table, and Lhors’ nose wrinkled as he came close enough for his own chilled nose to work. The pitcher held swampy-smelling water. The bread crust was white and the rest pale greenish. The bone was huge but bare of meat, and he could see where it had been gnawed.
He blinked as the prisoner answered Malowan. The voice was deep, but not masculine-deep. What could one of their females do to deserve this? Lhors wondered. He backed away. The pallet smelled dreadful, and the sheer size of the creature frightened him, even bound as she was.
He turned away to find Khlened staring open-mouthed at another table. Two massive chairs flanked a table covered in fine cloth and golden plates. The food there looked and even smelled as if a proper cook had prepared it. Two goblets with stems as thick as his spear held dark wine. A few gems and coins spilled from a leather bag, and Lhors assumed this was what the Fist stared at so avidly.
“Smells good,” the barbarian muttered.
“Don’t eat any meat you find in a frost giant’s hold!” Vlandar hissed.
Lhors backed away hastily, and Khlened looked slightly sick.
“Yes,” Vlandar added with a faint smile. “It smells good to me, too. It may be no more than what it seems: stolen beef roasted plain over a fire.”
Malowan gestured then, drawing them close so he could translate. Lhors listened from where he was, eyes searching the chamber and glancing out into darkness, now and again. “She is Nghora, a storm giantess from a distant hold. The Jarl took her prisoner some time ago, believing she would willingly become his mistress. She refused the ‘honor’, and so he had her put here. Now and again he has her beaten, but mostly he leaves her like this: cold, hungry, and unable to reach proper food and drink, though she can see all that will be hers, if she submits to him. She loathes the Jarl, but I can tell she is distrustful of all males.”
“Why?” Khlened scowled. “Humans didn’t put ’er here, nor dwarves.”
“Her father is a drunkard, and because of that his household guards are lax. The Jarl knew it and took advantage of that when he took her prisoner,” Malowan explained. “He had asked for her first, but she had already taken vows as a virgin priestess. The Jarl is grotesque, she says, but even if he had been handsome and kindly and not already wed, she wanted no mate, nothing but the right to serve her goddess.”
Agya nodded. “Weird t’me too, barbarian, but a thief I knew went t’serve… Zodal. Had somethin’ t’do with peace and hope or some such-like. She tol’ me she ’ad to swear not t’let any man touch ’er or look at ’er face, an’ she was ’appy t’do it too.”
The girl seemed baffled by this, Lhors thought. On reflection, he wasn’t sure if he could make sense of such a thing.
“These things happen to some people,” Malowan said dryly. “Nghora says she has been a guest here, now and again since childhood. I think I can persuade her to guide us.”
Vlandar nodded. “Could be. But what of all this show of wealth here?”
“To be hers, if she submits. She wants none of it and says it is ours if we will free her.”
“I say aye, then.” The barbarian turned away and began to sort through the goods on the table, setting aside loose gems and coin and ignoring the heavier plate. Agya came over to help him. Lhors moved nearer the doorway as Malowan bent over the bound giantess and loosed
her fetters with some spell.
The giantess said something, her voice husky. As she stood, Lhors noticed for the first time that her skin had a greenish tint to it. Tall as the paladin was, his head barely came past her knee. Lhors swallowed past a dry throat and looked away.
“She does not know any of the things we’re seeking,” Malowan told them. “She does know where the Jarl’s most valued possessions are stored, however. And we need to go now. There are guards, two giants who patrol with a chained yeti, who come here once a day to check on her, and they are due before much longer. She also says the Jarl keeps wolves in the room where he and his lady sleep. It is some distance from here, and there are several guard-posts between. She will point them out in exchange for her freedom.”
“Done,” Vlandar said tersely. “All of you stay alert.”
He led the way back into the main passage, collected Nemis, the rangers, and dazed-looking Florimund, then eased along the west wall that bowed into a deep bay. Lhors could no longer see down the vast south chamber, but that also meant no guards down there could see him.
Agya had moved stealthily ahead, and she suddenly held up a hand for the others to wait, then turned to beckon Nemis to her side. The mage murmured a spell and held up four fingers. Khlened started to draw his newly won sword, but Vlandar shook his head and drew Nemis aside so the two could talk. The mage brought Maera and Rowan over and ran an odd-shaped piece of metal up and down the shafts of several arrows and three of Maera’s javelins. The rangers took them back and slipped around the point.
Lhors held his breath, listening intently, but almost at once the two were back. Maera went straight back to Florimund, but Rowan hesitated with Vlandar long enough to hold up four fingers before slashing them across her throat. The warrior nodded grimly.
The youth’s eyebrows went up. Four dead, and he hadn’t heard a thing.
Malowan had left the giantess with Agya—oddly, to Lhors’ thinking, the two seemed fairly comfortable with each other, though the huge female drew back even from him. The paladin, who had moved across the chamber, now came back, his face pale.