Against the Giants

by Ru Emerson - (ebook by Flandrel; Undead)

  “Our goal,” the warrior reminded him, “is to find proof of what is going on with the giants and Keoland. We have connected the Steading to the Jarl and dispatched with him, but there is obviously someone yet higher up the chain. I cannot return to my king with mere speculation.”

  “You’ll send us all to our deaths.”

  “We’ve done well so far, better than any of us could have expected on the outset. Either the gods are smiling upon us or we did well in hitting the giants quickly and quietly. I care not which, but I will not give up now.”

  “So be it,” the mage said in resignation. “I do not agree, but I swore to follow you, and I am not one for forsaking comrades in their hour of need.”

  “Good,” said Vlandar, “then let’s be about it. Lhors, go fetch everyone from the other room.”

  By the time the youth was back with Khlened, Bleryn, and Gerikh, Vlandar was talking to Jebis and the hunters. “I am glad we found you. If you’re certain you can find your way to your own lands once you’re outside…?”

  Jebis nodded firmly. “Their village is a matter of a few days east of here, in the Yeomanry. I’ll go with ’em.”

  “We haven’t much to spare,” Vlandar said apologetically, “but here is a map. Our rangers say there’s a passage beyond this chamber that leads down and outside. Once you’re out, you’ll want a place to rest up before you go on.” He squatted down, Jebis with him, and the two went over the map, which Vlandar handed over. “The cave is too small for giants to use, and we left dry wood behind.” He held out a cloth bag. “There’s enough stuff here to make a hot soup for the four of you.”

  “Giants took nothing from us but our weapons,” Jebis replied. “I still have my pot and the makings for a couple days’ worth of stew. I guess the giants figured they’d rather we eat our food than theirs. If you’ve any messages to pass on… ?”

  “No,” Vlandar said at once. “If you’re caught again…”

  “We understand,” the older hunter said quickly.

  Vlandar led the way past the leather drape. Lhors found himself in a small bulge of a cave with chill air flowing over him from a narrow passage to the east.

  “That’s our way, then?” the Jebis asked. When Vlandar nodded, he led his fellow hunters out of sight. Jebis hesitated, then held out a hand, which Vlandar clasped.

  “I wish you good luck in your quest, Captain,” he said, “and I hope to hear the end of this story one day.”

  “I hope to be able to tell it,” Vlandar said with a faint smile.

  With that, Jebis and his hunters left and were soon out of sight.

  Nemis came from a small area up by the passage. “Nothing there but a box that smells of trouble to me. Except for an iron bar protruding from the wall, I cannot reach it. There is power on it, though.”

  “Make light for me,” Malowan said. “I need to see the thing and touch it myself.”

  Nemis eyed the paladin sidelong, expecting the man to still be angry with him, Lhors assumed. But Malowan seemed to have dealt with the deaths back there—or at least put his anger and distress aside to do the job at hand.

  “Is that wise?” Maera asked rather anxiously as the two moved off. The ranger gripped a spear in one hand and seemed to be holding Florimund to his feet by the other around his waist. The half-elf’s eyes were closed, and his face was utterly bloodless. “My cousin says—”

  “Later, please,” Vlandar said tersely. “We need to get free of this place before someone finds the Jarl and his lady.”

  Maera drew Florimund over to the wall, and Rowan slowly followed. Vlandar and Lhors watched as Nemis made light. Malowan stretched up an arm but apparently fell short also. Nemis then made a sling with his hands for the paladin to step into. Mal was still for some moments, then he nodded and jumped down, beckoning Vlandar over.

  The warrior cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention and led them across the little alcove. “What have you found?” he asked.

  “A transport, much like the Steading chain,” Malowan said. “With a specific goal. We pull down on the bar, and whoever is in this partly enclosed area will go there—wherever ‘there’ is. We need something I can stand on.”

  Khlened and Bleryn ran back into the Jarl’s bedchamber, came out with a sturdy-looking flat chest, and set it against the cavern wall.

  “All right,” Vlandar said. “We’ll go half at a time. I want Nemis, Rowan, Bleryn, Khlened, and Gerikh in the first party, weapons drawn. And Nemis, be ready to bespell any guards. The rest of us will be right behind you.”

  The mage nodded and climbed onto the trunk while Malowan drew the rest of them back against the curtain into the bedchamber.

  The mage reached up to the lever and pulled down smoothly. Lhors blinked in surprise. The mage and the others simply vanished!

  And then it was his turn.

  Vlandar’s arm was reassuringly solid against his shoulder. The youth gripped his spear.

  “Deep breath, my young friend,” the warrior told him. “You’ve done well so far.”

  Once everyone was in place, the paladin drew down on the bar. The chamber faded. Icy cold whirled away, and as the ground solidified under their feet, a hellish blast of heat wrapped around them.

  Lhors blinked furiously, but for a moment, he could see nothing but blackness. Then, as his vision began to clear, he could make out a steep, black wall blocking their view ahead. To their right and left was nothing but smoke and distant fires.

  Nemis was dragging off his cloak and hood as Vlandar came up. “Fire giants,” the mage said unhappily. “I knew it would be fire giants.”

  What they could see was dire.

  The night sky was thick with clouds painted blood red by fires and volcanic eruptions. Smoke was everywhere, and the addled-egg smell of reeking steam issued from nearby vents. Thick, ashy clouds billowed from a nearby volcano that shot flame and boulders high into the roiling sky. Not far away, the unmistakable form of a great hall topped a mass of shining, solidified lava, stone, and slag.

  Where they stood was separated from the hall and the road leading to it by a low rock wall—to keep anyone from walking over it when the magic was being used, Lhors thought.

  “Let us go,” the mage said. “There should be a guard here, and there are guards just inside the palace.”

  “Howd y’know that?” Khlened asked. He eyed the mage warily.

  Vlandar held up a hand for silence. “Ask later. We need to get out of sight now.”

  Nemis nodded. “Unless the landscapes changed much in the past years, I know of one such place.” He glanced around. “Watch where I step and follow me closely. There are sinkholes and hot pools that will kill you in an instant.”

  Florimund gasped.

  The mage gave Maera a chill look. “Keep him quiet, please.”

  The ranger turned away from him to soothe the half-elf.

  Nemis turned his back to the palace and walked rapidly, angling away from the nearest volcano. The others followed, Malowan bringing up the rear.

  It took longer than Vlandar would have liked, but in the end Nemis found his sanctuary: a black-walled, roughly circular tunnel, blocked at the inner end. The chamber was long and possessed two sharp bends that would keep in any light they made. It was surprisingly cool in here—compared to the outside at least. The company hastily removed their winter garb once they were well in, and Malowan made a light for them.

  “What kind of cave is this?” Lhors asked.

  The walls were almost glassy, oddly rough-shaped but smooth to the touch.

  “Never mind that. What’s this place?” Agya demanded.

  “It is a place south of the Yeomanry,” Nemis told her. “The fiery mountains are volcanoes, and the smoke and steam they make can be deadly to breathe. This cave was once a passage for such fire, but it has been blocked off for long years, and it is now too small for giants to bother about.”

  “And how,” Khlened demanded pointedly, “do you know that, I wond
er? You’re a secretive man, mage!”

  “Food first,” Vlandar said. “I know it’s hot here, but we’ll do better for a warm soup. I’ll take on the cooking. Lhors, Khlened, there were some broken bushes near where we came in. See if you can find them. We’ll want a fire for light and soup both. But be careful and stay out of sight. There may be guards about.”

  * * *

  An hour or so later, they’d eaten and the fire was dying down to embers. Malowan had constructed two tightly wrapped torches from brushwood and found places to mount them high in the walls so they would have some light. He and Agya were wrapping more torches for the rest of the night and the morrow.

  After their meager meal, Nemis told the tale of his apprenticeship among the drow, his journey to this place, and how he had killed his former master and escaped that life.

  Khlened, to Lhors’ surprise, heard Nemis out.

  “Could happen t’any of us,” the barbarian said finally. “Guess I can see why y’told Vlandar and Mal before th’ rest of us.”

  “There was no point in telling everyone,” Malowan said. “For all we knew, we might never have come this far.”

  “Aye, well,” the barbarian said. “What’s to do here, then? Y’think this Eclavdra—drow witch or whatever she is—is here?”

  “She came here now and again as the guest of the fire giant king, old Snurre,” Nemis replied. He seemed to have difficulty speaking, as if unwilling to say what he had so long kept quiet. “She has her own dwelling deep underground—a deadly place far from here. She has—or had—a scroll she kept in her chambers here that takes her back to that dwelling. I traveled here with her sometimes.”

  “Could you locate those chambers?” Vlandar asked.

  Nemis shrugged. “The only time I was allowed to carry a message to King Snurre—it was years ago, and I am not certain I remember the ways of the first floor. It was dark, and there were guards everywhere….” His voice faded, and he stared at the far wall. After a long silence, he roused himself with visible effort. “I know the level below that well. Often I went with her to council meetings with other drow. Below that, it is all caves and horrible creatures and darkness.”

  “I know how good your memory is,” Malowan told the mage. “If you went there once, however long ago, you will remember it. A man who can memorize as many spells as you—”

  Nemis smiled crookedly. “Yes, but I want to remember my spells. I have tried to forget many of my experiences here, you know.”

  “Well, we can doubtless get inside,” Vlandar said, “and Nemis may well be able to guide us through. The question is, do we want to do that?”

  Everyone’s eyes were on him except for Florimund, who was curled up on the floor, his eyes only partway open. The half-elf seemed to have given up, Lhors thought—the way Gran’s husband had when the fever took him.

  “Why not?” Khlened asked. “We’ve done well so far. Lost no one yet, have we? I’ve wealth to keep me in comfort for at least a year or two and tales to tell….”

  “And we’ve done some damage to both the Steading and the Rift,” Vlandar put in. “We’ve learned who’s made an alliance with the giants to attack our lands. Now we’re in a place that may kill us before we can get word to my king. If that happens, we’ve accomplished little indeed.”

  “Speak plain, sir,” Bleryn put in.

  Vlandar nodded. “Nemis can tell you better than I about the dark elves. I know only from tales and legend that they are deadly fighters and dire magicians with no love for any who live under the sun. Fire giants themselves—remember the two in the Steading’s smithy? They are powerful and smarter than most giants. Beyond that, this land is deadly. The fumes from the fires will make you giddy, the smoke will make you cough, and the heat will sap the water from your body and leave you weak and brain-mazed. If we decide to continue on, we must be swift and keep good watch on each other for signs of water-lack or Rime-sickness. For my own part, I would like to return to my king with word that we found this drow witch and destroyed her. If not, I would at least like evidence of her hiding place below ground so that the king can assemble magicians powerful enough to deal with her and her underlings.”

  “There is something else,” Nemis said quietly. “Eclavdra’s scroll. If we can find it, I can use it to get us out of here in an instant. A brief incantation, and we can all be sitting at an inn in Cryllor.”

  “You mean we could go then—poof, gone like with that bar?”

  Nemis nodded.

  “Then,” the barbarian said slowly as if reasoning it out for himself, “I say we go in, find this nasty she-wizard, and finish all this. I’ll kill a few more ogres or even take on a giant or two t’be out o’ this place.”

  “Aye,” Bleryn said, “he speaks for me as well.”

  The rangers nodded in unison. Gerikh shrugged and managed a smile.

  “Quit now?” Malowan shook his head firmly. “I think not.”

  “I go where ’e goes,” Agya added defiantly, and Malowan patted her shoulder.

  “Lhors?” Vlandar turned to him. “What do you say?”

  Lhors was none too happy about trying to sneak through a fortress of larger and smarter giants, but the thought of being out of here once and for all…

  “I’m with you, sir. To the end.”

  “Good,” Vlandar said. His eyes were warm as he looked around the company. “Sleep then, people. You’ll need all you can get tonight.”

  * * *

  During the last watch, Nemis had worked up what maps he could for the party, using blank sheets from his spellbook.

  “This I can tell you,” the mage had said as he passed around maps, “no one who is not mad would enter that hall. Snurre is held by the drow to be a dolt, but a cunning one. We should kill him if we can. Some of his guards will still fight, but most of the others will flee. Not all serve him willingly.”

  “If we can do that without wasting time by seeking him out,” Vlandar said, “then so be it, but our first priority is to find proof of drow involvement and where they might be found.”

  They all stood in the cavern. Everyone was ready, but everyone also seemed hesitant to begin. The next few hours would either see the accomplishment of their mission or the end of their lives.

  Suddenly Nemis drew the fire sword Malowan had garnered in the Steadings treasury and held it high. “May Pelor, god of healing and light, see us through the reek and the walls and know our hearts and guide us through this hellish place.”

  “And may Heironeous,” Malowan added, “he of honor and justice, strengthen our hearts, knowing our cause is just and right.”

  “Kord, you who give strength and courage, smile on us,” said Khlened.

  Bleryn grinned at him fiercely. “May Ulaa, god of mountains and gemstones, grant us all courage in dark places… and great trove.”

  Agya brought her chin up. “Rudd who guards thieves, make luck ours in there.”

  “Trithereon,” Lhors murmured, “for my father, who truly served him.”

  “I ask the blessing of Kelanen, god of swords,” Vlandar said, “that my blade protect us all and bring us all safely away.”

  “Dalt, father of locks and keys, remember your servant,” Gerikh prayed, “and let me aid these who rescued me.”

  The rangers eyed each other. Rowan gripped her sister’s arm and said, “Let Lydia, goddess of music and daylight, hear me. When we walk in the dark, let us remember why we do this: so that ordinary folk may be allowed to live happily and freely under the sun. Let us remember such good, simple things lest the darkness swallow us, body and soul.”

  Maera merely bowed her head and said nothing.

  * * *

  It was the hour just after dawn when the party emerged, but they could barely tell by the sky. There was perhaps a bit more light in the east, though that might have been another volcano. The fire giants seemed to keep the same pattern as the hill and frost giants. There were no outside guards posted and no one was in sight as they
neared the pile of hardened lava and slag. Still, everyone kept under cover as best as they could, flitting from boulder to boulder and sprinting when in the open.

  Nemis led the way right up to the main entrance, with Khlened and Bleryn bringing up the rear. Once they reached the heavy-looking metal door, the mage gave Malowan a small nod as if to say, “Do what we discussed.”

  The mage used a spell to charm the door open. It swung in soundlessly, revealing a corridor lit by well-spaced torches. The hall was made of the same black rock as the outer walls, though here tapestries broke the surface instead of vents. No one was in sight.

  Malowan fixed his eyes on the dark opening, whispering urgently. When the paladin was done, Nemis touched Khlened’s arm to get the barbarian’s attention and sent his eyes toward the nearest tapestry. They could see it moving in and out slightly, as if someone sat behind it, breathing heavily.

  Guard, the mage signed grimly.

  Khlened’s eyes flicked from the mage to Bleryn. The dwarf nodded, and the two moved as one, running forward silently to throw themselves at the drape. They vanished behind it, and someone with a very deep voice made a startled grunt. The only other sound was the unpleasant crunch of the barbarian’s morning star crashing down on something—perhaps an unhelmed skull.

  Bleryn leaned out to draw a hand across his throat. Khlened hung back long enough to rub his spiked ball on the tapestry, then stepped aside so Nemis could again lead the way.

  The passage widened abruptly, turning into a vast hall that went at an angle east to west. Lhors, not far behind the dwarf, thought he could make out a broad hallway going north partway down and another going south. At the far end of the long, dimly lit chamber, Lhors thought he could see steps going up to a dais and an empty throne. The youth caught his breath as Malowan pressed past him and Agya and gestured for them to stay back.

  Perhaps twenty long paces away, two odd-looking creatures stood, swinging black morning stars casually.