Ru Emerson - Keep on the Borderlands

On the floor of the ravine once more, they made the best possible time they could through the trees, until the merchant finally sagged between his supporters, air whooping into his lungs. Jerdren called a halt, waited while Panev tested their surroundings for evil, then ordered a brief rest in the dark shade of a small, tight copse of trees. The orc sank down warily, its back to one of the trees, eyes flicking from one to the other of the company, most of whom were watching it as closely.

Eddis stayed on her feet, looking around. “Jers, we’re closeto that door I marked earlier. I’m pretty sure we just passed it, back thatway.”

“Think so?”

“Pretty sure. I think we should bring out those bags now, ifwe plan on getting them at all. Chances are that dead ogre hasn’t beendiscovered yet, so we can likely slip in, grab those bags, and get back here without a problem.”

“What if they’ve found him, though?” Blorys asked.

Eddis shrugged. “We left the door ajar. Sensible goblinswould close and bar it again, wouldn’t they?”

“Unless they left it open as a trap,” he countered.

“Sure, but why would they? The way we left things, it looksas if he killed some of the goblins and was killed by them in turn, remember? Why would they expect someone to come back and spring such a trap? Besides, we fought hard for what’s in those sacks-including you, Blor. And you, Jers. If wewait another day or so, anyone walking through that guard room will know there’sa dead ogre in that den. And there goes our chance to retrieve any of those bags.”

Jerdren considered this. “Your call, Eddis. We need a properrest here anyway, so it’s not like we’d be waiting for you.”

She looked over the rest of the company. “M’Whan and Willow?”The elf stood and drew his sword for answer. “And…”

“I’ll come,” Blorys said.

“And I.” Mead drew a slender wand from his belt and got tohis feet.

“Good. Let’s go. And let’s get this much straight ahead oftime-we’re not taking chances here, all right? If it looks wrong, we don’t goin. If we decide to go in, we grab what we left in hiding and get out, fast.”She glanced at M’Baddah, at Flerys sitting cross-legged close to him. Thechild’s eyes were closed, her head bobbing close to his shoulder. He glanced atthe child himself, smiled faintly, and waved her on her way.

It was a little farther than she’d thought but not much. Thedoor was still ajar, the chamber beyond utterly silent. Willow made them wait while he listened, but when they finally entered the den, there was nothing in sight but the dead ogre and his possessions, and the fallen goblins they’ddragged in to keep him company. Eddis kept guard at the inner door while the others worked to separate out the bags of coin, the brandy, and other things of value. Blorys came over to join her, then.

“We’ve got it all, I think. Let’s get out of here.” Eddisnodded and strode across the fetid chamber, only drawing a deep breath when she was finally outside.

They made it back to join the rest of their company anddistributed the bags among those who’d be less vital in a fight, should anythingfall on them between here and the camp.

The orc was still huddled on the ground, back braced against a gnarled tree. It looked up warily as Jerdren came over to stand before it, but the man merely dropped a dagger and a pair of silver coins at the creature’sfeet.

“Tell it we kept our word, and tell it to go,” he said toWillow. “We will let it live if it does that.”

Willow spoke for some moments in the rough-sounding tongue. The orc replied briefly. Without another glance around at the humans and elves, it scrabbled for the blade and the coins, leaped to its feet, and raced off through the trees, heading farther up the ravine.

Jerdren turned away. “Let’s go. It’ll be dark soon, and thiswill be no place for us.”

As they came back into relatively open ground, a bowstring twanged from nearby. Willow gasped and fell bonelessly. A dark-fletched arrow quivered in his back. Jerdren urgently waved the ex-prisoners and those helping them back into the copse. Mead gazed in horror at his twin, then knelt to lay a hand against his throat.

“He is breathing,” the mage said unsteadily, “but I cannot-”

“Wait,” Panev said and gripped Mead’s forearm. “Find the oneswho did this, lest we are all killed here. I will save your brother.”

The mage swallowed hard. Trembling fingers sought something in a small pouch at his belt and drew it out. He closed his eyes and concentrated, tears slipping silently down his face.

“Tree,” he mouthed to Jerdren. “There! Up above us!” He drewback as M’Whan and M’Baddah moved into position. They had seen what Mead hadfound. Half a breath after, two arrows tore through the leaves and branches from opposite sides. With a gurgling cry, an orc fell to the ground and lay in a still huddle, M’Baddah’s arrow deep in its chest, M’Whan’s nearly as deep in itsback.

“That it? Just one?” Jerdren whispered.

Mead nodded. His dark eyes, his whole attention, was fixed on his fallen brother who lay as still as the dead orc.

Panev had drawn a small wooden box from his belt-pouch, and, having prayed over the contents, he sprinkled a few grains of a yellowish powder all around the arrow. Head bowed over the slender elf, he remained still for some time, praying in a breathy whisper. Mead started, hand outstretched in protest as the priest slowly withdrew the arrow. The priest’s other hand clampeddown on the mage’s arm.

Eddis watched, astonished. Willow was still breathing in shallow gasps, but the outpouring of blood didn’t follow the point. Willowfetched a deep breath, let it out on a sigh, and seemed to sleep. The priest sat back on his heels, his face gray with exhaustion.

“You… restored his life?” Jerdren whispered.

“No,” Panev replied softly. “Though I think he would havedied quickly, without what I used.” He sighed. “Mind no one else takes such ablow between now and morning, because I cannot use that powder again this day.”

“We’re going, now,” Jerdren informed him.

They reached the campsite not long before the sun set. A cool wind sprang up as the last rays of sun left the treetops, and Eddis pulled her cloak close. Two of the Keep men went for water and another built a fire in the second pit, over the trove they’d already buried. Jerdren set another to dig outthe other. There were two spare blankets and an extra cloak to share out for those they’d rescued. The merchant and his still-bespelled wife were huddledtogether under the cloak, close to the fire, the two guards each wrapped in a blanket. M’Baddah, Mead, and the priest tended to wounds and the torn bare feetof the rescued guards.

There was hard bread to begin with and a thin soup once the fire was properly going. Willow woke long enough to drink a little broth and eat the bread his brother held for him, then fell asleep once more. The merchant and his wife lay sleeping close to the fire.

“They are exhausted only, I think,” Mead said, “and afraid.The armsmen will be all right.”

“If we can send them back to the Keep, they’ll recover,”Jerdren agreed. He raised his voice a little to include all the company. “Thatwas good work today, all of you. By tomorrow evening, our horses should be back here. Any of you wants to go with ’em, there’s no shame in that, and you’veearned your share of what we’ve found so far. But I say we’ve got a rest coming.We’ll stay here tomorrow.” He glanced at Eddis, who nodded.

“Sensible,” she said. “We can use the time to upgrade yourmap and plan our next move.”

“I thought so,” he said. “How’s the arm?”