Ru Emerson - Keep on the Borderlands

“Just stiff.” She glanced at him. “We’ve found a fair amountof treasure so far. Maybe we should send it back with the merchant and his wife, lodge it with the castellan?”

“You think that’s wise?” Blorys asked. “I mean, the man’shonest, but what if we finish up here and for some reason some of us would rather not return to the Keep? Makes sense to me not to keep everything out here, of course. It could be found by accident-someone coming by and digging theash out of the fire pit, going a little too deep. Or if something followed us back here and saw where we’d buried their coins and such? Eddis is right though.There’s a fair amount of gold and all and that after just two days. Maybe we’relucky, but maybe there’s that much more, back there. In which case, we’d be wiseto send some back to be locked in Ferec’s vaults. Make certain we’ll all get afair share, whichever way we go.”

Jerdren considered this, finally nodded. “Makes sense. We’lldo that.” He looked at Eddis. “So. What’s next?”

“Why ask me?” she said gloomily. “You may as well tossM’Baddah’s fortune-sticks and ask them. Still, we know there’s morecaves, we’ve seen some of the openings, and what Zebos told Blor bears that out.It’s odd, though. Kobolds, hobgoblins, orcs, and goblins all living that closetogether. From what I’ve always heard, they’d be warring with each other, and itwould be nasty and brutish. But so far, all we’ve seen is barred doors andguards.”

“Maybe someone’s brought them together,” Blorys suggested.

Jerdren laughed shortly. “Why anyone would-”

“Why not, Brother? Some warlord ousted from another land.Maybe even a powerful sorcerer who’s been chased off by others of his kind.Someone who wants to rule the lands hereabout, possibly take over the Keep-maybeeventually rule all the realm.” He looked at Jerdren, who grinned and gesturedfor him to go on. “It just seems to me that anyone with such ambitions and halfa brain wouldn’t flaunt himself right under the castellan’s nose the way thosebandits did. You’d want time to build a fighting force, time to acquire funds tobuy weapons-all that.”

Jerdren considered this but finally smiled and shook his head.

Blorys sighed gustily. “Don’t discount the idea. Probablyit’s wild and foolish both, but I’m just saying it’s possible.”

“I won’t, Brother,” Jerdren assured him. “Not here. Only afool would do that, and I’m foolhardy-according to you, anyway. But even youwouldn’t say I’m foolish.”

“Things are working out well,” Jerdren told himself as hepaced around the camp perimeter and watched his company getting ready for another day of fighting. “Our company,” he added and cast a sidelong look atEddis, who was some distance away, checking her arrows. “A full day to rest up,thanks to those prisoners we rescued, a good hot soup last night, thanks to the riders, and fresh supplies.” His map was up to date, showing the caves they hadcleared thus far, how many monsters they’d killed. He had a separate list hekept deep in his belt pouch of how much trove they’d amassed and where they’dhidden it.

Now the guards were gone again, heading back to the Keep at first light with the four rescued prisoners, and Jerdren-and Eddis-had threemore men-at-arms.

He cast Eddis another sidelong glance. Shed recovered nicely from that wounded arm, though shed been cross most of the previous day.

But she’s never been cut like that before, he remindedhimself. First one’s always a shock. At the moment, she was talking to the girlBlot. No, Flerys. Funny, insisting on the name change. The kid was used to being called Blot, wasn’t she? Odd, too, the way the swordswoman left the girl inM’Baddah’s charge most of the time. I thought women doted on children.

Mead had stowed his spellbook and was dividing the arrows he’d found in the ogre’s cave, half to his brother, half to M’Baddah.

“Magic arrows-huh,” Jerdren said dubiously. He hadn’tfelt anything unusual about them, but since elf and outlander were the best archers, it made sense to give them the extra shafts.

The company was about ready to move out. Time for a last look at the map.

Eddis came over as he unfolded the thing. “I thought weworked everything out last night,” she said. “We’re still going back after therest of those hobgoblins, right?”

He shrugged. “I was just thinking. Usually, there’s onetorture chamber per clan-or so I’ve heard. Sure, we didn’t take out the leadersor finish ’em all off like we did the kobolds, but I’m thinking they’ll keep.”

“The leaders know by now that we’re out here someplace,”Eddis reminded him. “ You said only a pack of fools would give themthe chance to come at us.”

“Yeah. We killed just about every hobgoblin we found. Whywould they come looking for us? Anyway-” he shrugged that aside-“you got methinking about prisoners. Maybe you’re right, Eddis. Nobody deserves to die likethat. Remember that madman’s story about the fellows who rescued him and thengot grabbed themselves? Way he described ’em, I’d say it was bugbears.”

“I wouldn’t know, but those men are probably dead by now,Jers. It’s been too long since Zebos got out.” She sighed faintly. “If we aren’tgoing back to that last cave, what’s your idea?”

“Farther in and up,” Jerdren said promptly. “Something elsethe madman told Blor-how the creatures close to the road weren’t as deadly asthose farther in and higher up? We can waste a lot of time killing kobolds and their kind, Eddis. Creatures that are a nuisance but not deadly, and there’s alot of ground to cover here-more than I would ever have thought back at theKeep. I’m thinking we get farther back in and up on the ledges, where we can geta better feel for what’s here. Me, I’m all for scouring out these cavesentirely, but even I can see that isn’t likely. Snow’ll bury us to our chinsbefore we get that far. Autumn’s well on, and this summery heat can’t last muchlonger. Besides, say we completely clean out one cave like we did with those kobolds, maybe something else comes along right behind us and fills it up, and there we are again? I say we start picking our fights, get smart about it. We kill off bugbears and others like ’em, maybe the goblins and orcs’ll see thedamage we can do, and they’ll up and run for it.”

“Could be. Good point, though-picking our fights.” Eddis tookthe map from him and eyed it for some moments, finally shrugged and handed it back. “Farther back in it is. Keeping in mind that we’ve got a few new fightersto break in.”

“They’ll do all right, and we still have our priest and ourmage,” Jerdren reminded her.

“Yeah, well, whatever else we accomplish here, we can atleast leave something of a map for any who follow us.”

“Don’t talk like that, Eddis!” Blorys protested. He’d come upbehind them. “You sound like you think we’ll all die here!”

She shook her head, smiled up at him. Her eyes were warm. So were Blorys’. Jerdren blinked and looked away. Eddis and my brother? When didthat start? Blor’d never smiled at a woman that way in his young life, and Eddis…

Even more unnerving, he felt disappointed. As if I would have a chance with her… He shook the thought off, let his eyes wander. Man like mehasn’t any business wanting a woman, even a fighter like Eddis.

“I’m not planning on it,” Eddis told him, “but I agree withJers. Let’s pick our fights from now on. It’s no good battling rats when there’sbear in the woods. Another thing,” she added with a sidelong glance Jerdren’sdirection. “We did all right against that ogre, but if we find ourselves in aspot like that again, and it looks like we’re losing-well, that won’t help theKeep or us. At that point, there is nothing wrong with turning tail and running.”