Tristam cursed, his words at Alto’s shoulder. “Uh,” Alto started to say.
“Back to the caves!” Tristam snapped. He forced his voice louder so the others behind them could hear. “There’s too many; run back to the caves. Fly, you fools!”
Alto ran, his head twisted back to watch the trolls. They had to duck to get through the gate and could only come one at a time, but they broke into a lumbering jog once they’d done so.
“Just my luck,” Namitus said a moment later, distracting him. He’d fallen back to run beside Alto. “I’m the only one with a weapon that’s able to kill them.”
Alto, winded by the combat and the running, offered him a quick smile. “Buy me some time, would you? I’m tired.”
“Kar!” Tristam called to the wizard. He’d already slipped back to the front. “Can you do something about the gobs?”
“I’ve done all I can do,” Kar wheezed. Running, it seemed, was even more work for the wizard than it was for Alto.
Tristam cursed as he burst out of the passage and back onto the ramp. The goblins were still gathered at the base of the ramp but their numbers had grown. Kar gasped out a few laughs. “Stupid gobs,” he managed.
“Rope!” Namitus snapped.
“What?” Alto and Tristam both said.
“Just give me your rope!” Namitus said. He turned to William, who’d reclaimed the rope from the body of Drefan. William shrugged and handed it to him.
Namitus tossed one end off the edge of the bridge and then turned and tossed the other end over the other side. “Two at a time. Quick!”
Tristam understood the rogue’s plan immediately. “Trina, Kar, go!”
With little more than a moment of hesitation, the wizard and the Kelgryn woman grabbed the rope and timed their descent so they started off the opposite sides at the same time to counterbalance their weights.
“Come on,” Alto told Namitus.
Namitus looked at him and saw that Alto had moved to stand in the mouth of the cave. The trolls were closing fast and behind them came an assortment of brutes with nothing but evil in their hearts.
“We have to give them time to escape,” Alto explained.
Namitus drew his scimitar and looked at Alto. Alto was about to offer to take it and spare him when the man squared his shoulders and walked up next to him.
“Karthor and William next!” Tristam ordered.
“You go,” Karthor insisted. “It won’t take the goblins long to see what we’re doing. They’ll need your sword down there more than they’ll need me.”
Tristam grunted and grabbed the line. William fired his crossbow over Alto’s shoulder, the bolt hitting a troll in the forehead and glancing off. He cursed and grabbed the rope, and then lowered himself as fast as he and Tristam could.
Alto charged the trolls, hoping to gain the element of surprise. The trolls were bred and built for strength and savagery. Alto’s attempt at momentum earned him nothing more than the first strike of his heavy club on the arm of a troll. The troll shrugged the injury off and missed Alto’s head so closely, he felt a few of his hairs plucked by its passage.
Namitus dove under the long arms of the other troll. He rolled and came up behind the troll that was backing Alto up. He slashed across its back, parting the thick hide like paper and making it howl in agony. It spun and swung at him, forcing him to dodge and roll to get away. The two trolls collided, their arms striking one another. They pummeled one another and pushed to get apart, and then turned as one on Namitus.
“Go!” Namitus shouted through them to Alto and Karthor. “Get down that rope. I’ll find a way.”
“There is no way!” Alto shouted. He raised his club in both hands and started forward but Karthor grabbed his shoulder.
“There’s more than our lives at stake here,” Karthor said. “Two nations might go to war over this.”
Alto stared at Namitus. The other trolls and ogres were fast approaching behind him. He blinked the blurriness out of his eyes and let Karthor pull him back. Namitus was dancing back and forth, leaping to avoid their lethal reach while he lashed out with the curved blade.
“Keep her safe,” Namitus called out as Karthor placed the rope in Alto’s hands.
Alto let go of the rope and started back, pushing past the priest. Karthor pushed him back but Alto was persistent and turned away. “I’m grabbing that rope and going down; if you don’t grab the other end, I’ll fall and probably die. Do you want to be responsible for losing two people today?”
Alto stopped and stared at him. “You wouldn’t!”
Karthor grabbed the rope and walked to the edge. He backed to the edge and stared over it, and then stepped off.
Alto threw himself at the rope. He caught it but his body rolled over the far edge. It burned through his hands until he closed his grip enough to stop it; he wrapped his wrist around it and felt himself lowering slowly. He saw Karthor climbing to his feet. Tristam and William were letting his end of the rope raise one hand at a time to lower Alto to the ground.
Alto hit the ground and let go. He stumbled over and stared up, hoping against the impossible that Namitus would appear. He saw Karthor rushing over to him out of the corner of his eye but he paid the cunning priest no mind. Karthor held his holy symbol over Alto’s clenched fists. The stinging faded as the blood from his torn flesh clotted and the skin knit back together.
“Look!” Trina cried.
Alto spun, forcing Karthor to stumble as his shoulder hit the healer. Namitus had managed to get around the trolls. His sword slashed back and forth. The trolls held back, showing fear for the first time. Namitus lunged toward them, forcing them back a step; he turned and ran across the bridge and away from the edge so that they lost sight of him above them.
When next they saw the rogue, he was flying through the air off the far side of the bridge. He stretched his arm out and caught a stalagmite that had grown nearly high enough to touch the stalactite that hung from the ceiling. He spun around it, slowing his fall and putting himself into a spin. His left leg smashed into a smaller stalagmite before he crashed into the floor of the cavern.
“We’ve got to go,” Tristam growled.
“So go!” Alto snarled. He turned and ran across the floor of the cavern, dodging around the spires of rock. The shadows grew longer as he passed under the bridge where Kar’s illusory flames still flickered.
He looked up to find the rock Namitus had tried to break his fall with and circled around it. Namitus lay on the ground, his face pointed away from Alto. Alto slowed, and then hurried over to check on the man. He reached down and jerked his hand back as a light fell on him.
“Don’t touch him,” Karthor said. The priest knelt next to him reached over the rogue. He shook his head. “He’s broken up pretty bad.”
“He’s alive?”
“Aye, but I don’t know if I can save him. If you move him, you might make it worse.”
“We’ll find out,” Alto said. He scooped his fallen comrade up. “Let’s go.”
Karthor nodded and led the way back to the others. Tristam’s eyes were narrowed as they approached. “He’s alive,” Alto answered the unasked question.
“Let’s go,” Tristam said. He turned and pointed. “That tunnel.”
They moved through the field of spires to the furthest cave from the base of the ramp. Tristam led the way until as sound of him swearing traveled back to the others. Alto pushed through the crowd, taking care to keep from jostling Namitus as much as possible. A stone and wood wall blocked the tunnel, complete with an oversized door set in the middle of it.
“Alto, bring your key,” Tristam ordered.
Alto lowered Namitus to the ground and turned to grab the club from William that he’d dropped when he fell off the ramp. He stepped forward and tried to figure out best how to smash the door with the iron-shod cudgel. A wooden plaque on the wall next to the door made him pause. He stared at it, trying to read it, and could only come up with one word that made no
sense. “Trolwerkz!”
Alto brought his cudgel back and was about to try a two-handed swing when the door pulled open and the ugliest face he’d ever seen stared out at him. It was green and possessed an over-large nose that was matched only by the giant canine teeth that protruded beyond its lips. A large wart graced the creature’s chin but it failed to distract from the feral-looking grin that split the monster’s face.
Alto gasped and stumbled back. The creature reached a thick green arm out, its fingers capped by black nails that looked like they could carve stone. The fingers and hand moved, beckoning them forward.
“Ey dere!” the creature said. It looked past him at the others. The frightful grin faded. “Get in here,” he said before backing out of the doorway.
Chapter 15
Alto glanced at Namitus and then leaned in closer to peer through the door. Dozens of scents hit him at once, stinging his nose and making his eyes water. There were tables set up in a large room and on the tables were bottles, glasses, flasks, tubing, and countless other things he couldn’t guess at.
“Get Namitus,” Tristam ordered someone behind Alto. Alto stepped in, his club raised and at the ready.
“You duzzint need dat.” The creature gestured at Alto’s club.
Alto blinked the vapors out of his eyes and tried to focus. The room was hot and wet, courtesy of three large bubbling cauldrons. The fires beneath the large iron pots provided light enough for him to make out the large green creature that moved through the room. It reminded him of a mountain troll, except it wore a leather apron and spoke the language of men. Sort of.
“Yous isn’t here for da potions, is you?”
Alto blinked and turned to see the others slowly entering the room behind him. He wondered if his eyes were as big as theirs were. William and Karthor carried the unconscious Namitus between them.
“What did it say?” Tristam asked him.
“Thork said yous isn’t here for da potions, is you?” the creature asked again.
“Swamp troll!” Kar cried out as he entered. He started digging through his pockets and finally cried out in triumph when he pulled out a bag. He stopped when he noticed everyone was staring at him.
Alto turned back away from Kar to the troll. “Thork?”
“Yep, dat’s me. Thork.”
“And you’re a swamp troll?” Alto couldn’t believe he was having a conversation with a troll.
Thork shrugged. “Been years since Thork’s been in da swamp.”
“They prefer warmer weather,” Kar offered. Thork nodded in agreement.
“How can you two understand him?” Tristam asked.
Alto turned to look at the warrior. “I don’t know; I just can. He’s got a strong accent but it’s not that bad.” This time it was Kar who nodded in support.
“Sarya’s gonna be really mad ’bout dis,” Thork said. He picked his head up and pointed a finger at each of them, counting as he went. “One an one an one an one an one an one an one…well, dat one’s sleeping. Still, dat’s lots! Yep, dis is gonna get messy.”
“Who’s Sarya?” Alto asked. “And why’s she going to be mad?”
“Sarya’s da most scariest fing in da world!” Thork said.
“Is Sarya in charge? What about Barador?”
Thork snorted, spraying troll spittle over some of the flasks on a table. One of them hissed and fizzled. “Barndoor is an idjit!”
“Is Sarya a dragon?” Alto asked.
“Yep!” Thork nodded his head vigorously.
“My head hurts,” Tristam muttered.
“You can understand him now?” Alto asked his leader.
Tristam nodded. “Some. I wish I couldn’t, though.”
Thork grinned. “So is we gonna do dis?”
“Do what?”
“Bashins!” Thork picked up a large spear with decorations hanging from the base of the blade and runes carved into the shaft, and then he grabbed a shield he’d been using as a cutting board. He scraped whatever he’d been dicing on it onto the table and slipped his large fingers into the shield’s straps.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not. We’ve been running for days, we’re hungry, and our friend is hurt pretty bad. There are several goblins and trolls trying to find us and they might come through here any minute. I don’t suppose you could point us on our way to getting out of these caves?”
Thork lowered his weapon and shield and frowned. He shifted his jaw and sucked on a tooth before he shrugged. “Okay.”
Alto heard someone cough behind him. Rather than risk his luck and turn around, he asked, “Really?”
Thork shrugged again. “Sure, why not? Thork’s getting tired of livin’ in dis stupid mountain.” The troll put his weapons down and walked over, coming so close to the others that they shuffled away in fear. Thork peered through a window and nodded his head. “Yep, yous is in trouble all right! Come dis way!”
The troll led them through a door in the back, and then rolled a massive barrel out of the way to reveal a trap door. “Get down dere! No noise an turn dat stupid light off.”
“Thork,” Alto hesitated. It was dark and he had no idea what awaited them.
“Go!” Tristam hissed at him. To add weight to the warrior’s words, Karthor cancelled the spell that made his holy symbol glow.
Alto ducked under the troll’s arm and climbed down the ladder. He waited while Namitus was passed down to him and then backed into the dark to make room for the others. They climbed down one at a time and Thork shut the trap door. The barrel rolled back in place above them, raining some dirt down through cracks in the doorway.
Several minutes passed while they waited in the dark. Kar started to mutter something at one point but a hushed command from Tristam stopped him. The dark began to grow heavy around them, pressing in and making breathing difficult. Alto felt like they were back in the massive cavern with the imagined presence of something terrible when the barrel rolled back and the trap door opened above them. Light flooded in and was accompanied with heavily scented air that smelled sweeter than anything they could remember.
“Yous really made Barndoor mad!” Thork guffawed above them. He held the barrel back while they scrambled out as fast as they could.
“Why are you helping us?” Tristam asked the troll once they were back in the main room of the troll’s home.
Thork sucked on his tooth again while he considered the question. “You’re not like dem other stupids; you talked to Thork.”
“Are other trolls like you?” Alto asked.
Thork let out a great laugh that grew until it seemed it was shaking the walls around them. “Da trolls up here is stupid,” Thork said once he’d stopped laughing. “Swamp trolls is better, but most of dem never leave da swamp.”
“And you have,” Alto concluded.
Thork grinned. “Thork been all over da place!”
“Saints preserve us, a worldly troll,” Kar muttered.
Tristam leveled a glare at the wizard before he turned back to the strange creature before them. “Thork, can you help us get out of these caves?”
“Thork can do better den dat!” He turned to a shelf along the wall and started going through vials of liquids with surprising grace. He popped the corks on a couple to sniff them, and then put them back or, in one case, drank one down. He belched loudly before holding one up and grinning. He turned and thrust the potion toward them. “Have your bashed friend drink dis!”
Alto mouthed the word, “Bashed?” Karthor took the open potion and sniffed it. He looked perplexed, and then offered it to Kar. Kar scowled and shook his head without taking it.
“Crafting potions requires exacting measurements and research,” the wizard stated.
“Try it,” Alto urged. Kar focused a severe gaze at him but the farm boy forced himself to ignore it.
Karthor frowned. “It may be his only chance.”
Alto laid Namitus on the floor and Karthor held the potion to his lips. He slowly drippe
d a few drops into his open mouth, and then fed him more as it began to run down the rogue’s throat. Namitus swallowed in his sleep and coughed softly. Once he settled, Karthor poured more of the potion in the man’s mouth and looked up in surprise. The flask had run dry.
Thork took the flask back and grinned. “Watch dis!” he said, staring at the unconscious man.
Namitus groaned and stiffened, and then started to tremble. He rolled over, pulling free of Karthor’s grip and curling into a ball. A moment later, he relaxed and straightened, and then blinked his eyes open and looked at all of them. He let out a rattling sigh and smiled, and then his eyes fell on the upside down image of Thork’s head above him.
Namitus yelped and leapt to his feet. He reached for his sword and pulled it free, smashing some bottles and knocking a few tufts of a strange weed off the table beside him. Instead of being alarmed or threatened, Thork guffawed at his reaction.
Namitus stopped when he realized no one else had their weapons drawn. He turned and looked around, surprised. He squawked when Trina slammed into him and squeezed him in a hug worthy of the mightiest of Kelgryn jarls.
“Him’s gonna need another potion,” Thork suggested with a grin.
Alto felt his chest tighten as he watched Patrina hug Namitus. It wasn’t until she backed away from him that she said, “You’re not forgiven. I’m just glad you’re not dead.”
Namitus blushed and turned to look at the troll. “Um, hello.”
“Thork,” the troll said and offered his hand.
Namitus stared at the oversized digits and then looked up at the troll. He reached out slowly and nearly had his arm ripped off by the way the troll pumped his hand up and down. Kar sniffed loudly for effect and muttered, “Amateurs!”
“We’re in your debt,” Tristam said to the troll. “But we’ve no way to repay you.”
Thork shrugged. “Fings have a funny way of coming round,” he said. He turned and walked over to a pile in the corner of his workshop. “Bonky!”
Alto turned to look at the others. He wasn’t sure it was possible, but Namitus looked even more confused than the rest of them were at the troll’s behavior. Then Alto realized his friend had been unconscious when they’d met the troll. He had every right to be upset!
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