Ru Emerson - Keep on the Borderlands

Blor had torn one of the moldy-looking hangings from the wall and was slicing it to shreds. A pile of gold coins glittered in the lamplight, spilling over his fingers.

“Funny,” he said. “I remembered one of our aunts sewing heregg-coins into the hems of her curtains and blankets.”

“I’d forgotten that. Bundle ’em up, Brother,” Jerdren said,“and be quick about it. M’Whan, you and Kadymus divide up that chestful, so wecan spread out the weight among us. Once we’re back in camp, we can make a faircount and sort out what to do with it all.”

“We’re going back to camp already?” Kadymus asked.

“Why go looking for another fight with what we’ve got?”Jerdren replied. “We’ve killed plenty of ’em, and whatever’s left down that lastpassage-well, we can come back and finish ’em off another day, if we want. Allthe same…” He thought a moment. “Let’s have a look at that key and see ifwe can figure out what it’s for.”

Eddis was wiping her blade on one of the hangings when Flerys came up beside her. The girl looked nervous for the first time since they’d leftthe Keep.

“Eddis? You mad at me?”

It took the woman a moment to remember yelling at the child to get out of the way.

“No, I’m not mad at you, Flerys. I just didn’t want you toget hurt. You mustn’t ever get in front of anyone swinging a sword the way Iwas.”

“Oh.” The child puzzled at this. “But I was afraid for you,Eddis.”

Eddis managed a smile, though the girl’s words worried her.Flerys had already lost her friend back in that bandit camp. I can’t be sure thechild won’t lose me either, Eddis thought. I can’t afford to let her care thatmuch.

“Just… stay close to M’Baddah for now, will you? Or me, ifI tell you to. You’ve got good aim with that bow, but I don’t know that you’reready for close fighting, and you aren’t big enough to bully things bigger thanthese kobolds, all right? There is a lot of training you’ll want, so you knowhow to hurt only your enemies in close fighting. Blorys and I are trained, so it’s safe for us to fight together.”

“Yes, Eddis.”

The company moved back along the passage toward the outside world, but at Jerdren’s insistence, made a quick check at its far end. There wasa locked door, just to the left of the short tunnel, and the key the chief had worn fit the lock.

“Treasure,” the man breathed as he turned the key and thedoor swung open.

Eddis caught her breath in a gasp and thrust Flerys behind her. The elves backed hastily away as a foul odor assaulted them. Jerdren, undeterred, took one of the lamps and stepped into the chamber to look around. The swordswoman closed her eyes. It’s a larder. The chief’s larder. That was ahuman head I saw on the shelf there-and next to it, a human skull.

Early morning found them waiting once more just within theclearing while Willow and M’Baddah searched for enemies out in the open. Theylay low for a while when Willow signed he could hear things flying overhead, fairly low to the ground.

“They may be stirges,” he whispered “Small but unpleasant.”

Unpleasant, he calls the nasty bloodsuckers, Eddis thought, and wrinkled her nose. Each was as long as her arm, and enough of them attacking a woman her size could leave her dead and completely drained of blood in no time. After a while, the elf stole back into the clearing, listened, and motioned them on.

Furtive noises and rustlings followed them as they worked their way toward the south ledge, where another cave loomed dark and forbidding. Blorys touched Jerdren’s arm to get his attention.

“I think this might be the cave Zebos described,” hewhispered. “All that prickly brush around the entrance and that fallen tree-theforked one-see?”

Jerdren nodded, then beckoned the others close to pass that on.

“Keep in mind what he told me,” Blor added quietly. “Thereare lots of long passages and guards everywhere-even where you might not expectthem. Goblins and orcs and possibly hobgoblins.”

“And remember what we discussed about prisoners,” Eddisadded. “Rescuing prisoners here is a high priority, right?”

Kadymus looked as if he wanted to disagree with her. She quelled him with a hard look.

Jerdren nodded again. “Sure. Any prisoners would be gratefulto us, and that could mean a reward. Or they may know where their captors have hidden treasure.”

The little thief brightened at that.

Unlike the previous day’s cavern, this seemed to be anaturally formed cave-at least for the first part of it. Here, it wasn’tentirely dark. Eddis could see faint light far down one corridor, enough that they could walk at a good pace. It was quiet for some distance, but as M’Baddahstarted into the main passage, he pulled back, gesturing urgently for his companions to get out of sight. Moments later, Eddis heard guttural-voiced beings come clomping and grumbling up the passage from her left. Two burly, shadowy forms passed the entry without slowing. The sound of their footsteps slowly faded. Willow eased into the open briefly to gaze after them, then came back to whisper.

“Goblins. Taking messages and food to guards on duty upthere. The guards are orcs, I think. One of the goblins asked, ‘How’s oldBear-face?’ and a guard cursed him.”

The elf moved silently into the passage once more, then beckoned. “It is all right. They kept going that direction, away from us.”

“Then we’ll go the other way,” Jerdren indicated the longpassage with faint light at its end.

It took time, moving quietly down the rough-hewn way and making sure they weren’t seen or heard. They could hear others, though. Harsh,guttural voices echoed along the stone ceiling. Several of them. They could make out moving shadows, cast by the dim light.

“Guard room,” Eddis murmured, and Willow nodded. Theswordswoman checked to make sure Flerys was staying close to M’Baddah and nockedan arrow.

Light shone on the left-hand wall of the passage, and another step would bring Jerdren into view. He met Eddis’ eyes, indicated the rightwall with a jerk of his head as he moved that way. He edged along in shadow for several steps, back to the wall, bow drawn partway. Eddis was right behind him, and M’Baddah came after her.

Five steps, six. Jerdren threw himself across the passage and into the light, firing three arrows rapidly and seemingly at random into the chamber beyond. Fire flared up in there, casting dark, long shadows in all directions. Startled yells filled the corridor as Jerdren pelted back out of sight, and Eddis took his place. She could make out little because of the light and commotion-creatures running in all directions-but she fired two arrows intothe confusion and ran. M’Baddah was already in front of her, shooting with hisusual deadly precision. Willow and M’Whan faced a volley of spears and arrows,but none of the weapons came anywhere near them.

Eddis stiffened as a squat, nasty-looking creature came into sight, sliding along the shadowed wall, spear in one hand, and braced itself to charge.

“M’Whan, your right!” she shouted and drew back her ownstring.

The orc’s head snapped her way, and she could make out anevil gleam of teeth as it grinned, and shifted direction-toward her. Her arrowburied itself deep in the brute’s eye, more by luck than aim, and the orc saggedto the floor.

There was a sudden silence in the chamber, except for a pained whimper. What are they up to? she wondered. Running feet alerted her, but the sound faded, going away. M’Whan darted into the chamber, bow clutched in onehand, a throwing spear in the other. Eddis threw herself after him.

She drew her sword as she came into the chamber, but there was no need. The low-burning fire against the far wall showed dead and dying orcs. There was no sign of M’Whan, though. She turned on one heel as the otherscame up. Flerys had a tight grip on one of her spears, and her eyes went wide as she gazed around the room. Blood ran across the floor and pooled in low places, and now several of the Keep men moved from orc to orc, finishing off the wounded. Aside from the bodies, there wasn’t much in the room: a barrel ofwater, a table and benches, a barrel full of spears. Eddis could see a passage in the far wall that led into darkness.