Keep on the Borderlands

15

“Things are working out well,” Jerdren told himself as he paced around the camp perimeter and watched his company getting ready for another day of fighting. “Our company,” he added and cast a sidelong look at Eddis, 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 had cleared thus far, how many monsters they’d killed. He had a separate list he kept deep in his belt pouch of how much trove they’d amassed and where they’d hidden 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 three more 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 reminded himself. First one’s always a shock. At the moment, she was talking to the girl Blot. 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 in M’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’t felt 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 we worked everything out last night,” she said. “We’re still going back after the rest of those hobgoblins, right?”

He shrugged. “I was just thinking. Usually, there’s one torture chamber per clan—or so I’ve heard. Sure, we didn’t take out the leaders or 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 them the chance to come at us.”

“Yeah. We killed just about every hobgoblin we found. Why would they come looking for us? Anyway—” he shrugged that aside—“you got me thinking about prisoners. Maybe you’re right, Eddis. Nobody deserves to die like that. Remember that madman’s story about the fellows who rescued him and then got 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’t going back to that last cave, what’s your idea?”

“Farther in and up,” Jerdren said promptly. “Something else the madman told Blor—how the creatures close to the road weren’t as deadly as those 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 a lot of ground to cover here—more than I would ever have thought back at the Keep. I’m thinking we get farther back in and up on the ledges, where we can get a better feel for what’s here. Me, I’m all for scouring out these caves entirely, but even I can see that isn’t likely. Snow’ll bury us to our chins before we get that far. Autumn’s well on, and this summery heat can’t last much longer. 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 the damage we can do, and they’ll up and run for it.”

“Could be. Good point, though—picking our fights.” Eddis took the 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 fighters to break in.”

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

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

“Don’t talk like that, Eddis!” Blorys protested. He’d come up behind 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 did that 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 me hasn’t any business wanting a woman, even a fighter like Eddis.

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

Jerdren stared at her, astonished.

“Dead heroes don’t kill anyone,” she reminded him. “Smart heroes back off and go find another cave to play in.”

Jerdren let his head fall back, and he laughed heartily. “Gods, but you have a tongue on you, woman! Don’t look at me like that, Brother. She’s right, and I’m smart enough to see it.” He folded the map and put it away as he got to his feet. “If everyone’s ready,” he added, “we’d better move out.

They hadn’t gone far when Willow, who was ahead, stopped and held up a hand for silence. “I hear something overhead,” he said softly. “A droning noise.”

“Stirge,” Jerdren said flatly. “Stay close, all of you, and keep your eyes open. If one lands on you—”

He spun around as Flerys yelped. An insect as long as her upper body was clinging to Eddis’ back, its long proboscis feeling along the side of her face as she swore under her breath and furiously swatted at it.

“Hold still, I’ll get it,” Blorys said, but Eddis spun around and slammed into the nearest tree, squashing the thing between her and the trunk. Green muck and blood splattered. The swordswoman staggered away, nose wrinkling at the foul odor and the mess. M’Baddah was at her side then, rubbing briskly at her neck, armor, and leather cap with the cloth that held his spare bowstrings.

“Get moving, now!” Jerdren ordered. “There’s never just one of those things.”

Eddis nodded, dragged out her own bowstring cloth, and mopped at her face as they started out again.

They heard the deep, whining buzz several times but saw no more of the bloodsuckers. Once within the ravine, they moved north, staying fairly close to the rock wall, moving warily but quickly now, crossing the few open places at a near run.

When the ledge at their right hand began to curve south, Jerdren called a halt so they could get their breath back and study the lay of the land. The trees were very thick here, the air musty and humid. From the little he could see, he thought they might be near the inner curve of the ravine. Good as anywhere for a start. A few moments later, they went on.

The rock face rose steep and crumbly here, but there were plenty of handholds, and Blorys found a way up they could all negotiate. In the thick dust, Jerdren could make out footprints. Lots of them, and very big. A few paces on, Willow found a rough trail that worked its way up the ledge.

The trees came together again, leaving them in a twilightlike gloom. The cave that came into sight among the trees was even darker. There were signs on both sides of the entry, written in several languages, including Common.

“Safety to humanoids,” Eddis read in a low voice. “Welcome!” Her lips twisted. “Someone has a sense of humor.”

“Hope it’s not more hobgoblins,” Jerdren murmured. “Man could get bored, fighting them twice in a row.”

He sent M’Baddah and Mead on ahead, holding back the rest of the party until they could check the opening.

Silence, broken only by the echoing kruk! of a raven, somewhere off to the south. The scouts returned quickly.

“I sense large beings, evil ones,” the mage said, “and the passage smells like wet dogs.”

Jerdren nodded grimly. “Our luck’s holding,” he said quietly. “We’ve got bugbears in there. Watch for traps. They’ll have ’em all over the place. Remember—they’re big and fast but not very bright.”

There was no door on the cavern entry and no guards, though they could hear harsh laughter coming from their left. The passage ended almost at once, joining another that went off right and left. Distant torchlight faintly illuminated the right passage, and Jerdren could make out a room the other direction by the flickering light of a fire. Low voices came from that direction.

The air in this tunnel was cool and unpleasantly moist. It still smelled like wet dog, but he could also make out the savory odor of roasting meat.

“Left,” Jerdren said quietly and stepped back to let M’Baddah and Willow take the lead as he drew his sword.

The passage was quiet and empty. Just short of the room, they passed a flight of stairs going up into gloom on their right. M’Baddah stopped just short of the light, and Jerdren came up behind him. It’s a guard room, he thought. Cots, blankets… and guards.

Two cots piled with filthy looking furs and cushions had been shoved against the far wall, a massive bronze gong suspended from the ceiling between them. Three bugbears, dad in leather armor, sat around a brazier mid-room, keeping a close eye on long spits of meat. Some guards, Jerdren thought.

He beckoned Mead close and murmured against his ear, “Make sure none of ’em get to that gong.”

The mage nodded.

Eddis set an arrow to her bowstring and glanced at Jerdren, nodded once, and moved quietly into the room, back against the wall, M’Baddah right on her heels. Jerdren tapped two of the Keep archers to watch the stairs and the passage behind them. Blorys sheathed his sword and drew a pair of throwing knives.

The three bugbears turned slowly as someone’s foot scraped across the stone floor. Only just aware they’ve been invaded? Jerdren wondered. They didn’t seem too concerned about it. One bared its teeth in what might have been a smile, scooped up the nearest skewer, and bit into the meat, then slowly got to its feet, holding it out to Eddis. The other two followed his lead.

“Don’t trust that, you men,” Eddis warned and leaped aside as one lunged, trying to pin her to the wall. She let go her bowstring, but the arrow merely sliced along the bugbear’s neck. Bleeding but barely damaged, he lunged at her again.

Off to Jerdren’s right, someone yelled in pain, and one of the bugbears snarled triumphantly. Jerdren slashed at the bugbear after Eddis, fell back as the brute swiped at him with the skewer. Eddis’ second arrow clove deep into the bugbear’s arm, but didn’t slow the creature at all. One of the Keep men jammed his spear between flaps of leathers and yelped as the wood was torn from his grasp.

“Get back, Jers!” Eddis yelled, and he realized he was between her and the bugbear. The end of the spear barely missed his head as he ducked and got out of the way, coming up behind the creature and throwing himself on its back. The bugbear swung partway round to deal with this new threat, flailing wildly with the skewer. Chunks of meat went flying, and hot grease burned the back of Jerdren’s hand.

Eddis came around the brute, caught hold of the spear, and shoved with all her strength. Jerdren was slammed into the wall, the breath knocked out of him, but the bugbear slowly sagged at the knees and went over. Eddis ran her sword into its eye, to make sure of it, then came around and hauled her co-captain to his feet.

“What were you doing?” she demanded.

He grinned and forced air into battered lungs. “You said get his back, right?”

A quick glance assured him that the other two bugbears were engaged and that neither was anywhere near that gong. “Come on,” he added. “This is taking too long and making too much noise.”

The second bugbear went down moments later, but three of the Keep men were bloody, and one wasn’t moving. The third bugbear began to back away, then turned and ran for the gong. Jerdren threw himself after, but Mead grabbed his arm.

“Wait,” he said. The bugbear caught hold of the heavy dub used as a striker, but couldn’t seem to lift it. “Enfeeblement,” the mage said.

“Hah! Well done!” Jerdren pelted across the floor, sword up and out. The bugbear turned and slapped him backhand, throwing him into the wall where he sat, dazed and blinking. He watched the creature go down under the attack of four spearmen and M’Baddah, who finished it off with his sword.

“Brother?” Blorys came running.

“Thought… Mead said he used… Enfeeblement… on it,” Jerdren gasped.

“I did.” The mage laid gentle hands on the man’s head, then helped him to his feet. “That blow would have killed you otherwise. Can you stand?”

“I’ll take care of him,” Blor said. “You deal with our wounded so we can get moving.”

“Good… idea,” Jerdren said. “Don’t… need any more of ’em in here.”

“One man dead, Jers,” Blorys told him. “One of the new fellows got tangled up with someone else, and they both went down. Second man’ll live, though.”

“Which way next?” Eddis asked as Blor helped Jerdren over to join the others. “Up or down?”

“There is great evil up those steps,” Panev said. He was turning one of his short wands in his hands. “Down the passage, I sense pain, but it is too far to tell much else.”

“Masters live up, dungeons are down—usually,” Jerdren said. “If we go after the prisoners right now, we’ll be done fighting for the day, and we’d be fools to leave any bugbears alive here. Those hobgoblins might not come after us, but bugbears would.”

“There can’t be many of them,” Blorys said. “They don’t crowd together like kobolds, but a bugbear chief’ll be as hard to kill as that ogre.”

“I know,” Jerdren replied. “All right, we’re going up first. You wounded, stay back, out of the way, keep watch for us. Mage and Panev, if we find a chief’s quarters up there, we’ll need you to hit them first, hard as you can. Get ’em off balance for us. We’re not going for a fair fight here.”

The steps were very steep, but fortunately there weren’t many of them. A short corridor with a closed door branched off to the left. Jerdren led the way past that and down a right-branching passage, but it ended almost immediately with a padlocked door.

“Nothing to sneak up behind us there,” Jerdren murmured and started for the other door. Panev took up a position near the wooden panel and began to pray. Another of those silence spells, Jerdren hoped. Mead drew a slender wand and pressed past him. At the mage’s gesture, two of the Keep men caught hold of the latch, ready to pull the door open.

“The rest of you, stay back,” he murmured.

The men yanked hard, and the door slammed into the outer wall. Jerdren was aware of massive clutter and a huge bed. Two bugbears piled out of it, one female, the other a scarred brute with graying fur. The male was reaching for his battle-axe when Mead’s wand spat a gout of flame. Fire roared through the room and as suddenly vanished, but the bedding was smoldering and the female’s fur ablaze. She howled and rolled on the floor. The male caught up his axe, but now the metal handle glowed dull red, and he dropped it with a shout of surprise. Eddis, M’Baddah, and Blorys crowded the entry then fired arrows at the chief, moving into the room so others could deal with his mate. Hit several times but not badly wounded, the chief began backing slowly away. All at once, he turned and vanished. Part of the wall had turned with him, and now clicked back into place. The bugbear was on the far side.

“Don’t let him escape!” Eddis shouted. “He’ll alert the others!”

Panev crossed the chamber to lay his hands on the wall.

The female lay still, blood pooling around her singed body. Blorys was fighting to retrieve his sword from the back of her neck. One of the spearmen had found water to pour on the bedding, and black smoke was suddenly everywhere. Furs smoldered, giving off an awful smell.

“Quick look around in here, folks,” Jerdren ordered. “There’s bound to be wealth here, but no sense getting killed by smoke trying to find it. You, by the door—the smoke may bring guards, so you keep a good watch. Impressive, Mead,” he added.

The elf mage smiled. “You said to slow them. It seems to have worked.”

“I found the mechanism for the secret door,” Panev said. “The passage beyond is dark, and I think it is blocked not too far on by another such door.”

“We better check that,” Jerdren said, and he sent Blorys and two of the armsmen to guard the priest. They were back in short order.

“Beyond the second door is a very evil place,” the priest said. “I sense twisting passages, lost souls, and a reek I only encountered once before. I think there is a minotaur.”

“Minotaur!” Jerdren’s eyes lit.

Eddis hauled him around by the shoulders and gave him a good shake. “I’ve heard about them, Jers. Damned few of us would survive an encounter with a minotaur, and that’s if we got far enough into the maze to find it! We’re not done with these bugbears and any prisoners they’re holding. Or did you forget?”

Jerdren sighed, shook his head.

“The smoke’s starting to clear out, but we’re still at a dead end passage, because I am not counting that secret door. I say a very quick search here and we’re gone before we’re trapped.”

“What—by half a dozen bugbears?” Jerdren demanded. “We’re better than that.”

Eddis scowled, and he turned to shuffle his feet through the things on the floor as he moved toward one of the tables.

“Her’s got gold earrings,” Flerys said, pointing at the dead female with her spear. It was the first thing Jerdren had heard her say all day.

“So she has. You take them, girl, and put them somewhere safe,” Jerdren said. He abandoned the table and went over to where Mead was slowly moving, his eyes searching along a high shelf.

“Thought so,” the mage said. “There—a chest, see it?”

It proved heavy, and Mead insisted they use care getting it down. Kadymus broke the lock, to reveal a heavy, pale statue.

“Worth something,” Jerdren said, “but too heavy to bother with, leave it. Look—there’s a pile of coins under it. We’ll divide that for carrying. What’s that leather tube, Mead?”

The mage drew it out and turned it carefully in his hands, then peered down the open end. “Potions for healing. Good! They’ll be needed.”

Jerdren waited while the party divided up the silver, then led the way back out. “Quiet here?” he asked the men on guard, and one of them nodded.

Back down the stairs, and along the main passage. It was quiet here at the moment, and Jerdren could smell smoke from the chief’s chambers. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have alerted anyone else up this way. Where the long passage ended, he could make out low voices off to his right.

The other direction, a natural cave sloped up, heading roughly north and out of sight around a bend. Willow went a ways along the slope and stood listening, then came back.

“There are more bugbears that way, but not close, and I believe there is a closed door between them and us. Sleeping quarters, I would say.”

Blorys came back from the right-hand passage. “Steps heading down, just up there. I can hear guards down there and someone moaning.”

“That’ll be the dungeons, then,” Jerdren said quietly. “Leave the barracks for the time being.”

Panev went ahead, hands clasped together and lips moving silently, the rest following. At the base of the stairs, the priest stood aside to let the others pass. Jerdren paused while they were still in shadow. There was no door.

It’s a dungeon, all right, Jerdren thought. You couldn’t mistake the sounds or smells of such a place. He could see guards now: five bugbears sitting at a table right in front of the entry, though they weren’t watching it. Jerdren quietly drew his sword and started forward, the others right on his heels.

Just inside the chamber, he slapped his sword against the wall, and shouted, “Who wants to fight?”

The bugbears leaped to their feet, catching up spears and throwing them in one lightning-fast move. Jerdren dropped to one knee, swearing through his teeth as bruised bone protested.

Behind him, someone cried out, and Eddis yelled, “Are you mad, Jers? No, Flerys—behind me and stay close, do it now!”

She brushed past him then, knocking him off balance and back into the wall, leaping out of the way, sword swinging in a shining arc as M’Baddah’s bowstring twanged and one of the black-fletched arrows Mead had found buried itself in a hairy shoulder. The bugbear roared a curse and clutched at it but couldn’t pull it free.

Spears were flying both ways. Jerdren shoved to his feet, got a two-handed grip on his sword-hilt, and settled in next to Eddis, hacking and slicing, though so far all he’d done was leave cuts in poorly tanned, hardened leather armor. He ducked as one of the brutes jabbed at him with a thick spear, slammed his blade down across the exposed forearm. Blood ran down the bugbear’s fingers and pooled on the floor, and it lost its grip on the spear. M’Baddah’s arrows finished it in short order.

A crossbow quarrel pinned one bugbear to the wall by its hand. The beast snarled and strove to tear it free, but too late. Eddis stabbed high, plunging the sword deep into the female bugbear’s throat, angling up. The creature sagged, quarrel tearing through its hand as it went down. A little blood trickled from the gaping wound, then stopped.

“Good one!” Jerdren shouted. Eddis rolled her eyes and backed away from the entry, drawing Flerys with her.

“Move!” she ordered him. “You want to get pinned by one of your own spearmen?”

Another cry of pain from up the hallway, then Mead strode into the open, lips moving and hands out before him. A spear whistled by his head, barely missing his ear, but he stood his ground and brought his hands together.

It was the same spell he’d used on the bandits, Jerdren thought, but in this enclosed place, the result was incredibly bright and loud. The bugbears were caught dead center. By the time the light faded, all the guards lay unmoving, and the air was filled with the stench of burning hair. Sword at the ready, Jerdren moved forward to check the bodies, but Mead shook his head.

Brief silence, broken by a sudden clamor of voices from the far ends of the chamber. Men, Jerdren thought—but other things, too.

“All right, people! We’ve got the guards down, and we’ve got locked cells at both ends of the room here! Anyone hurt back there, get help from our priest here, or Mead, or M’Baddah. Kadymus, I need you!”

He was aware of Eddis’ sneer as the young thief swaggered into the dungeon and edged around the dead guards to search for keys.

Willow joined Jerdren, who was looking up and down the long, narrow chamber. “Panev’s silence spell is holding. Any guards up that slope won’t have heard anything.”

“Good. We’ll move fast anyway,” Jerdren said. “We don’t know when they change guards here, and we’ll be slowed by our injured and what hurt men we find here.”

The priest nodded and went back to keep watch partway up the stairs, taking two of the archers with him.

“Kadymus, keys?” Jerdren added tersely.

“Ahead of you,” the thief announced and handed over a heavy ring of them before producing his bundle of lock-picks.

“You go to the right, boy, but wait until Blor or Eddis checks that pen before you open it. I’ll take the other. Two of you Keep spearmen come with me, in case there’s trouble.”

He strode down the passage and peered into the gloomy pen. The air was fetid, close, as though the straw littering the floor hadn’t been changed in a long time. There were several beings inside, chained together, but the only light was down by the entry, so he couldn’t make out much else.

“Light,” Jerdren demanded, and one of the Keep men broke out a candle lantern and flint and tinder.

An odd lot, Jerdren thought as he peered into the cell: three hobgoblins, two gnolls and—yes, a bugbear. And a wild-looking, wild-eyed man, who blinked and threw up an arm to shield his face from the light. The bugbear grumbled as his chains tightened, and the man kicked at him.

“Die of it, ye filth,” he growled.

Jerdren grinned.

“Wouldn’t be a feller named Hebold, would you?” he asked.

“Might be. Who asks?”

“Fellow who’s talked to a merchant named Zebos. Fellow who was rescued from hobgoblins a while back, just around here. Said he’d appreciate if we found you and got you out.”

The man stared at him for a long moment, then began to laugh. “Beats all, how the luck follows a man! Aye, I’m Hebold, all right. Break me out of this foul pit, and I’m for another chance to smite a few monsters.”

“I’ll see you get it,” Jerdren said. He finally had the right key, and the lock turned easily. “But what about these others?”

“Don’t speak Kobold or Gnoll myself, but he does.” Hebold indicated the bugbear with a jerk of his head. “And, being here as long as I have, I’ve picked up enough Bugbear to get by on. He’s in for leading a revolt against their chief. Was a lot more of ’em, but they’re all gone now. Likely dead and probably eaten as well. Him and them other creatures have been planning how to get free, kill what bugbears are still around here. I was trying to get ’em to take me along, but not getting too far.” He grinned fiercely. “Seems they don’t think a man’s strength counts for much, compared to theirs, and they weren’t too sure they could trust me.”

“Would you trust them, if we were to let ’em out of here?” Jerdren asked.

The man shrugged. Didn’t know or didn’t care, perhaps.

“Mead!” Jerdren called out, and when the mage came up, he explained. “Any way to tell if we can trust ’em not to pick a fight with us if we loose ’em?”

“They’ll die if they stay here,” the mage said. “They’ll starve, if nothing else. Wait.” He stepped into the cell, squatted down, his hands moving in a curious gesture as he asked a question in some language Jerdren didn’t know. The hobgoblins sat up straight, and one of them replied, the words spilling from it. The gnolls spoke then, more haltingly. The bugbear merely growled deep in his throat.

“I asked if they would fight bugbears if we released and armed them. They said yes, and they told the truth.”

“Great,” Jerdren said. “I think. Someone find these fellows weapons! Those dead guards won’t be needing theirs.”

“I will go talk to the others,” Mead said and strode down to the far end of the chamber. Jerdren ran through a number of keys before he found the one to free the chain from the wall and then the one to undo the shackles. Hebold came into the passage blinking and stretching.

He was a big man, Jerdren realized: as tall as he, but half again as broad through the shoulders, and his neck was massive. Hair paler gold than Eddis’ was tangled wildly with a red-gold beard and moustache that Jerdren thought must ordinarily be very neatly trimmed. His eyes were an unexpected brown—so pale as to be nearly tan.

“By Kord, it feels good to move again. I owe you a life, man. Now, where’s these bugbears?” he added eagerly.

“Soon,” Jerdren promised as they started back toward the entry. “There’s a few more prisoners there. We’ll free them before we move on.” A look assured him that Kadymus had the cell open.

Mead emerged moments later, two wan-looking men following him, and an assortment of thinnish kobolds, goblins, and orcs stumbling in their wake. A dwarf came last. He gazed down at the dead bugbears and spat, then reached into the mess to come up with a battle-axe. His eyes gleamed as he patted the haft.

“All clear down there?” Jerdren asked.

Kadymus nodded.

“All right, let’s do this fast. Mead, you translate for me. You prisoners don’t owe us a thing, but if you want to help us, there is a guard room or a barracks up the passage from here, beyond the stairs. We believe all the other guards here are dead. The chief’s wife is dead, but he went out a secret door, and our priest says there’s a minotaur on the other side. Now, he may have run, but I think myself he’s gone to find help. Any who want to come with us when we leave here, so long as you swear not to harm us, you can do that. We’ll know if you lie. Any who want to stay and fight—that’s your choice.”

“Minotaur!” Hebold’s eyes gleamed.

Jerdren winked at Eddis, who sighed. “Any of you men, or you, dwarf, who want to stay with us, we’ll arm and feed you best we can, and see you’re rewarded for helping us. We’re doing our best to cleanse these caves, though. You might find yourselves dead, just as any of us might.”

“Better than what the bugbears offered,” one of the men said.

“For a chance to avenge my murdered clansmen?” the dwarf demanded in a harsh voice. “But I am armed already, human. This axe was taken from me when I was brought here, ten days ago.”

“Good. Stay with us, and stay close,” Jerdren ordered. “We’re getting out of here and back to our camp, fast as we can. We’ll talk then.”

The kobolds, the bugbear, and gnolls needed no urging to attack the remaining bugbears. Jerdren led the way up the stairs then stood aside to let them race up the passage. He grinned at the ensuing howls of surprise and pain. There was a very brief clash of weapons up the sloping passage. Eddis tapped his shoulder and gestured the other way, then started out at a long-legged stride for the outside world, Flerys right on her heels, and M’Baddah behind the child. Kadymus, a heavy sword in one hand and a bugbear mace in the other, came on behind them.

They made the outside without incident, but the sky was a dirty black. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a muddy flare of lighting briefly lit the clouds, somewhere to the south. More thunder—distant, for the moment, but by the wind and the look of the sky, the storm was moving straight for them.

“Not good!” Eddis had to raise her voice to be heard above the wail of wind over stone and through trees. “We’d better find shelter, unless we’re going to run all the way back to camp! But under all those trees is the worst place to be in a storm like this!”

“It’s not that close!” Jerdren replied. “If we go now….”

He looked back to make sure everyone was out of the cave. The rest of his company—their company—was out. Two of the hobgoblins, one bleeding from a head wound, came into the open and tore down the hill, running as fast as they could for level ground.

Hebold was staring all around him, teeth bared in a fierce smile. “Know this place,” the man said suddenly. “There’s orcs over yonder—east of here. The filth. I owe ’em something.”

He swung around jerkily, waved an arm. The rebel bugbear came into the open, two bugbear heads dangling from one hand, a heavy broadsword in the other. The gnolls were with him. Hebold shouted something Jerdren couldn’t understand, slapped his chest with the axe, and took off running. The bugbear threw aside his trophies and followed, the gnolls and a hobgoblin loping after.

Blorys stared after them. “He’s mad!”

“No,” Jerdren said. “Angry. Do you suppose we should go after—”

“You’re the madman, Jers!” Eddis yelled. “We’ve got wounded, we’ve got rescued prisoners, and there’s a bugbear chief probably making a deal with a minotaur right now, and it’s not gonna be good for us if we’re here when that deal’s made! We are not in any shape just now to take on a twisty cavern full of orcs!” Tense silence, which she broke. “That—that ‘hero’ doesn’t have any responsibility except to himself, Jers! You and I have others depending on us not to get them killed for no good purpose, remember?”

He sighed and finally nodded. “You’re right, of course. Let’s go.”