“The humans must be dealt with!” said a voice so deep and powerful it seemed to resonate within the bones of the mountains around the rogue.
Namitus glanced around, looking over the tops of the boulders but not risking exposing himself. He saw the high walls of mountains, confirming that wherever he was, it was a steep-walled valley.
“I’ve sent forces to find and destroy them,” a masculine but far less imposing voice said. Namitus felt certain the second voice was human. The first, he knew, was far more than that. “We’ve no word from the caves; they might have gotten lost or suffered a cave-in. Perhaps they fell into a chasm.”
“Enough!” bellowed the voice. The powerful roar echoed off the mountains and made Namitus cringe. He couldn’t imagine how the man speaking to the voice could stand on his feet without wetting himself. “They’ve forced my plans early. You will find them and kill them yourself! Stop wasting the goblins; they are weak and pathetic. Do not fail me, Barador. There are many that seek my favor.”
The man named Barador must have nodded or bowed his acquiescence. Namitus heard nothing but he felt a blast of wind and was stung by the dirt that was carried by it. He retreated fully into the cave and waited, his heart hammering in his ears as though he’d just run all the way from Highpeak.
Barador spoke again, this time switching to the guttural language the goblins used. Namitus listened, picking out the occasional word with his trained ear, but not enough to make any sense of it. He could guess readily enough; they were being martialed to hunt him and his friends down.
Namitus gasped. Barador had said he’d already sent forces to deal with them. Surely the wizard and handful of goblins they’d fought weren’t those forces. Namitus had to get back and warn them!
Without even a longing glance at the mostly cloudy sky outside the cave, Namitus turned and made his way back down the ledges to the tunnel below. He left his dagger sheathed as he worked his way back through the twists and turns in the tunnel, but in his haste he got bound up in a smaller twist and had to calm himself before he backed out and tried to worm through it from another angle. Two tries later, and with mounting panic that he’d never find Patrina and the Blades of Leander again, he finally forced his way through. He left some skin and tore the Kelgryn tunic he wore, but he was on his way at last.
Namitus emerged from the tunnel with his heart in his throat. Was he too late? Had they already been overwhelmed by the evil creatures Barador had sent looking for them? Could he have helped had he been there?
Kar was staring at him when he rounded the final bend in the passage, a globe of flames that shifted from orange to purple to green floating just above his palm. Kar gave him a grin and a wink before he squeezed his hand shut and made the ball of fire poof out of existence.
Namitus turned, looking for the others. Karthor was resting, his head bowed in prayer. Tristam and Patrina were down the passage a bit toward the goblin lairs they’d already found. He found Alto and William when he peered around the rock-dividing passage he’d taken from the one they’d yet to explore. He gasped, drawing sharp looks from William and Alto. Half a dozen goblins lay dead on the ground and a larger hulking shape was in the tunnel at the edge of the light the priest and wizard had conjured.
“You’re back!” Alto said. He hurried over and clapped Namitus on the shoulder, making him wince. Not only was Alto strong for a boy his age but that was the same area that Namitus had scraped forcing his way through the passage. “Here’s your sword.”
Namitus’s eyes went to the scimitar Alto held. He saw the blood on Alto’s hand and leg and the tears in his breeches. Namitus took the blade and worked it back onto his hip. “Looks like I missed a bit of fun?”
William snorted. Tristam and Patrina came up from behind them, completing the small reunion. Namitus searched Patrina’s face for a sign of forgiveness but her eyes passed over him and went to Alto. Namitus held back a sigh and turned to Tristam.
“Goblins and a troll, nothing we couldn’t deal with,” he said.
William snorted again, casting doubt on Tristam’s claim.
“That sword of yours saved our hides,” Alto explained.
Namitus looked down at it and then back up at them, surprised. He’d felt how fine a weapon it was but how could it help with a mountain troll?
“Must be some magic about it,” Kar explained. “Their blades did little more than scratch it. Alto tried yours and had it ready for the knackers to make sausage out of it in no time.”
Namitus saw he wasn’t the only one to grimace at the thought of sausage made out of a troll. He hoped he’d never be that hungry! “Magic? How did a blade such as this come to be all the way up here?”
“A fitting question and no doubt a tale deserving told. Another time,” Kar said. “Yet you’ll find both things and people turn up in the strangest of places.”
“What did you find?” Alto asked Namitus, bringing the conversation back to their immediate surroundings.
“It’s a way out,” Namitus confirmed to the gasps of delight from the others. He shook his head, deflating their excitement. “I barely made it through the cave to get there; none of you would stand a chance. And on the other end I found a goblin camp, perhaps an entire village.”
“You’re not sure?” Tristam asked with a frown.
Namitus shook his head. “I didn’t dare stick my head out. I overheard a man talking to a—” Namitus hesitated before he shrugged. “I don’t know what it was, but it sounded big and very unhappy that we’re still alive.”
“Pity you didn’t get a look at it,” Kar mused aloud.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’m quite pleased that I didn’t,” Namitus admitted. “When it was done threatening the man, I was nearly driven back off the ledge I stood on by a blast of air.”
“Was it hot air?” Kar asked.
“Hot air?”
“Yes, air that’s warmer than it has any right to be—the definition of hot hasn’t changed, has it?” Kar snapped.
Namitus leaned back from the wizard’s ire. “Sorry, no. And no, it wasn’t hot. It blew against me and stung my face with dirt, and then it faded.”
“Dragon,” Kar muttered, nodding his head to himself.
“Why’d it matter if it was hot?”
“I wondered if it had breathed fire to make a point,” Kar explained. “If it wasn’t warm, it was just the gusts from its wings.”
“Saints above,” William muttered.
“Watch your mouth,” Tristam snapped at the crossbowman. “At least in front of the priest.”
Karthor’s lips curved up into a smile but he kept his head bowed and continued praying. His holy symbol let out a steady glow from where he held it in his hands.
“What’s up with him?” Namitus nodded toward Karthor and asked Alto.
“He’s asking for more divine favor after our earlier fight. Alto got himself run over by a pack of goblins and they stuck him full of holes,” William answered when Alto opened his mouth but failed to find {the} words to speak.
Alto blushed. “Just a spear in my hip,” he muttered. “I’m fine now.”
“Aye, thanks to Leander’s blessing,” Tristam said. “Never fail to give credit to a holy man or the saint he serves when it’s due. One day it’ll come back to you and if you’ve taken it lightly, it’ll be harm you’ll earn, not good.”
Alto nodded at the sage advice of the experienced warrior. Namitus smirked at the boy’s reaction. He knew better than to question; he’d been around many different priests of different saints. There were saints for nearly every facet of existence. The saints were beings that embodied the traits or, in some cases sins, of existence. The saints themselves served a greater force, referred to as the Allfather or the Great One. Few people worshipped that being, at least not directly. It did no good since prayers were never answered.
“So now what?” Alto asked. He looked anxious to direct the attention away from himself. “We can’t go up the small tunn
el and the large one has goblins and worse in it. Do we go back to the mines?”
“There’s other ways out of the caves,” Namitus said. “The man, Barador, is supposed to bring a force of his own men down to deal with us. If he can make it down here, then we can make it out.”
“Bah, if that mountain troll can navigate these tunnels, then we should be able to skip and dance our way out,” Kar grumbled.
“Then let’s put on our dancing shoes,” Tristam said. “I’m tired of these caves.”
Chapter 14
Once Karthor rose up and nodded that he was ready, they started down the righthand tunnel. The cave remained broad and easy to walk through as it curved and arched up into the mountains. Tristam called a halt when the tunnel emptied into an immense cavern. The walls stretched away into the darkness. Even the ceiling of the new cave was so high it was beyond their lights.
“Kar, what is this place?” Tristam asked the wizard in a hushed voice. Alto understood the warrior’s desire for secrecy; there was a pressure in the dark cavern that seemed to weigh down on him as though something was waiting for them to reveal themselves.
“It’s a cave,” Kar snapped. “A big one, from the looks of it.”
“Can you light it?” Tristam ignored the wizard’s surly tone.
“Here I thought you brought me along for the conversation,” Kar quipped. He began whispering arcane words and twisted his fingers into positions possible only for the double jointed. When he finished, he held a pool of shimmering white flames in his left hand. He dipped his right hand into it and pulled out a fiery globe. The remaining flames changed colors from white to orange.
Kar drew back his right hand and threw the globe into the air. It sailed far and away, passing beyond the globe of light Karthor’s holy symbol radiated. It struck something far overhead and stuck to it. The flames lit up a small radius around it, but all it displayed was a stalactite-studded ceiling far overhead and several small black shapes that fluttered around when it impacted.
“Bats,” Tristam and Namitus both muttered.
“Good,” Karthor said.
“Bats are good?” Alto asked. He glanced at Trina and saw her watching the priest for his answer.
“It means there’s an opening to the surface nearby,” Karthor reasoned.
Alto and Trina’s eyes met. They shared a smile until the woman looked away.
“Long ways up,” Tristam observed. He turned to Kar. “Is that the best you can do?”
The wizard scowled and scooped out another globe of flames. He flung it into the air and then repeated the process until more than half a dozen of the flickering multi-colored lights dotted the ceiling. The final light was a purple flame that Kar tossed underhanded ahead of them. It landed on a ramp of stone that rose up ahead of them, splattering flames that flickered at the base of it.
“Big cave,” William remarked.
The cavern, displayed in multi-colored flickers of light, was massive. The ceiling was easily sixty feet above them and the far side hundreds of feet away. The sides were nearly a hundred feet apart. The floor of the cavern was littered with stalagmites, some large and others small. A few were so big they rose to join stalactites that hung from the ceiling, forming pillars that reflected the lights beautifully. Dark shadows around the walls gave credence that the large room served as more than a natural wonder; it was a junction for caves.
“There.” Tristam pointed ahead to the ramp Kar’s last flame had landed on. The cavern remained shrouded mostly in shadows at ground level but they could make out the shapes and silhouettes of the rocks and spires. The ramp was a natural stone arch that served as a bridge over the field of stalagmites. At the far end, it met high on the wall of the cavern. An opening was shrouded in shadow.
“This is amazing,” Patrina whispered.
Alto found himself nodding in agreement with her. He wondered if maybe now he could speak to her again.
“We’re not the only ones here,” William warned. He raised his crossbow and aimed it up the ramp. Two large creatures were walking across the ramp. They pointed and spoke to one another, gesturing wildly. One kept coming while the other turned and ran back.
“Those aren’t goblins,” Alto said. Even from a distance, he could tell they were massive. They wore clothing, including oversized boots, and had weapons in their hands. Not goblins and not trolls then, but what were they?
“Ogres. Strong as a mountain troll and a hair smarter, but without the tough hide.” Tristam turned to offer Alto a grin. “Ready for this, son?”
Alto grabbed his longsword and drew it. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Let’s be quick about it,” Kar advised. “Seems we’ve drawn some interest down here as well.”
They followed Kar’s gesture and saw goblins popping up from the entrances to the other caves. Tristam cursed and started toward the ramp at a jog. Alto jerked when Tristam called to him and ran after him. The others followed, staying as close as they dared. Within a few moments, one growing group of goblins at a cave entrance gave a cry and chased after them. Another followed and soon they had savage warriors in four groups chasing after them.
Tristam and Alto met the ogre a dozen feet up the ramp. Tristam dodged an overhead swing from the iron-bound wooden cudgel the ogre swung, nearly falling off the edge of the bridge. Alto thrust his sword at the towering humanoid but had the strike knocked aside with little more than a small cut on the ogre’s mighty forearm.
Alto pulled his blade back in time to react to the ogre’s second attempted overhand smash. He blocked it, using both hands to hold the longsword steady, and found himself staggering backwards. His hands were tingling, the shock from the broken block traveling up his arms to stun him.
A shout of rage from the ogre forced Alto to recover from the sheer brutality of the attack. He held up his sword and stared at it, stunned again. The blade had been shattered less than a foot from the cross-guard. He looked up at the ogre in shock and fear.
Tristam had stabbed the ogre twice by then, causing blood to flow from its thigh and its side. He ducked a horizontal swipe and sliced upwards, his blade digging deep into the ogre’s arm. That drew another throaty curse from the brute. Alto found himself glad he couldn’t understand the savage language.
“A little help here?” Tristam grunted. The ogre smacked him with his free hand, staggering Tristam and once again nearly dropping the man off the edge of the bridge.
Alto looked at his broken sword and shrugged. It had a jagged but sharp point on it. He’d used it like his old sword and paid the price. Maybe he could make up for it. Alto dug his heels in and sprang forward, holding his abbreviated weapon close to him.
Alto’s shoulder hit the ogre in the chest and side. He drove the creature up even as he felt he’d be nursing a sore shoulder for months. He jammed the sword in to the ogre’s belly, tearing through the hides the ogre wore and burying the blade until the cross-guard prevented a deeper wound. Alto felt the ogre stiffen against him. He twisted the hilt and thought to rip it out at an angle. Blood gushed out onto his hands and a heavy fist smashed onto his other shoulder, dropping him to the stone ramp.
Alto rolled and stared up, expecting the ogre to stomp on him or smash the club into his head. Instead, the ogre grabbed the broken sword and pulled it out, and then it fell to its knees and toppled over. The creature rolled once to the side and then fell off the ramp to crash onto the stalagmites below.
“Here,” Tristam said, breaking Alto out of his newest stupor.
Alto focused on the warrior and saw that Tristam was offering him the dropped cudgel the ogre had used. The young warrior rose up slowly and took it, and then nearly dropped it due to its weight. It was a massive club! He could swing it with one hand but he knew he’d tire quickly. Using both hands seemed a wiser course of action.
“Kar, can you stop them from chasing us?” Tristam shouted.
Kar muttered something acidic but threw his hands out to incant a spell. Fla
mes leapt up from the base of the ramp, reaching a dozen feet into the air and promising a fiery end to anyone foolish enough to test them. “Hurry up,” Kar called back to them.
Alto stared in awe. With that sort of a barrier, why would they need to hurry? They rushed up the ramp and still Alto stared. Kar grabbed his arm and pulled him. “It’s just a parlor trick, boy,” Kar hissed at him. “As soon as they realize it’s an illusion, they’ll be on to us!”
Alto stared at the flames even as he let Kar drag him up the ramp. “But they look so real!”
Kar chuckled. “That’s because I’m so good.”
They entered the cave at the top of the ramp and saw an almost immediate change. Unlike many of the other caves they’d explored, this one had wooden supports and the floor, walls, and ceiling had been chiseled smooth. It was both wide enough and large enough for the ogres and trolls they’d encountered to move without interference.
“This bodes well,” Kar offered.
“Alto, get up here!” Tristam called.
Alto offered a smile toward Kar and then jogged up past Trina, Karthor, and Namitus to rejoin Tristam. Tristam pointed ahead to a large wooden gate that ran across the passage.
“Think you can use that thing as a battering ram?”
Alto looked at the club in his hands. It had iron bands near the head and the base. “I’ll try.”
“Get up there,” Tristam said. “We’ll stand ready.”
Alto took the lead, jogging up toward the gate. With less than a dozen feet to go, Alto slowed. The bar for the door rested on his side. Why, if the lock was on his side, were the guards absent? The gate opened, swinging toward him silently.
Alto stopped in his tracks and stared at the two mountain trolls that returned slavering grins. Their long arms nearly reached the ground. Behind them, he saw others: ogres and shorter beings he couldn’t identify.
Child of Fate Page 14