Against the Giants (36 page)

“What kind of cave is this?” Lhors asked.

The walls were almost glassy, oddly rough-shaped but smooth
to the touch.

“Never mind that. What’s this
place?”
Agya demanded.

“It is a place south of the Yeomanry,” Nemis told her. “The
fiery mountains are volcanoes, and the smoke and steam they make can be deadly
to breathe. This cave was once a passage for such fire, but it has been blocked
off for long years, and it is now too small for giants to bother about.”

“And how,” Khlened demanded pointedly, “do you know
that,
I wonder? You’re a secretive man, mage!”

“Food first,” Vlandar said. “I know it’s hot here, but we’ll
do better for a warm soup. I’ll take on the cooking. Lhors, Khlened, there were
some broken bushes near where we came in. See if you can find them. We’ll want a
fire for light and soup both. But be careful and
stay out of sight.
There
may be guards about.”

* * *

An hour or so later, they’d eaten and the fire was dying down
to embers. Malowan had constructed two tightly wrapped torches from brushwood
and found places to mount them high in the walls so they would have some light.
He and Agya were wrapping more torches for the rest of the night and the morrow.

After their meager meal, Nemis told the tale of his
apprenticeship among the drow, his journey to this place, and how he had killed
his former master and escaped that life.

Khlened, to Lhors’ surprise, heard Nemis out.

“Could happen t’any of us,” the barbarian said finally.
“Guess I can see why y’told Vlandar and Mal before th’ rest of us.”

“There was no point in telling everyone,” Malowan said. “For
all we knew, we might never have come this far.”

“Aye, well,” the barbarian said. “What’s to do here, then?
Y’think this Eclavdra—drow witch or whatever she is—is here?”

“She came here now and again as the guest of the fire giant
king, old Snurre,” Nemis replied. He seemed to have difficulty speaking, as if
unwilling to say what he had so long kept quiet. “She has her own dwelling deep
underground—a deadly place far from here. She has—or had—a scroll she kept in
her chambers here that takes her back to that dwelling. I traveled here with her
sometimes.”

“Could you locate those chambers?” Vlandar asked.

Nemis shrugged. “The only time I was allowed to carry a
message to King Snurre—it was years ago, and I am not certain I remember the
ways of the first floor. It was dark, and there were guards everywhere….”
His voice faded, and he stared at the far wall. After a long silence, he roused
himself with visible effort. “I know the level below that well. Often I went
with her to council meetings with other drow. Below that, it is all caves and
horrible creatures and darkness.”

“I know how good your memory is,” Malowan told the mage. “If
you went there once, however long ago, you will remember it. A man who can
memorize as many spells as you—”

Nemis smiled crookedly. “Yes, but I
want
to remember
my spells. I have tried to forget many of my experiences here, you know.”

“Well, we can doubtless get inside,” Vlandar said, “and Nemis
may well be able to guide us through. The question is, do we want to do that?”

Everyone’s eyes were on him except for Florimund, who was
curled up on the floor, his eyes only partway open. The half-elf seemed to have
given up, Lhors thought—the way Gran’s husband had when the fever took him.

“Why not?” Khlened asked. “We’ve done well so far. Lost no
one yet, have we? I’ve wealth to keep me in comfort for at least a year or two
and tales to tell….”

“And we’ve done some damage to both the Steading and the
Rift,” Vlandar put in. “We’ve learned who’s made an alliance with the giants to
attack our lands. Now we’re in a place that may kill us before we can get word
to my king. If that happens, we’ve accomplished little indeed.”

“Speak plain, sir,” Bleryn put in.

Vlandar nodded. “Nemis can tell you better than I about the
dark elves. I know only from tales and legend that they are deadly fighters and
dire magicians with no love for any who live under the sun. Fire giants
themselves—remember the two in the Steading’s smithy? They are powerful and
smarter than most giants. Beyond that, this land is deadly. The fumes from the
fires will make you giddy, the smoke will make you cough, and the heat will sap
the water from your body and leave you weak and brain-mazed. If we decide to
continue on, we must be swift and keep good watch on each other for signs of
water-lack or Rime-sickness. For my own part, I would like to return to my king
with word that we found this drow witch and destroyed her. If not, I would at
least like evidence of her hiding place below ground so that the king can
assemble magicians powerful enough to deal with her and her underlings.”

“There is something else,” Nemis said quietly. “Eclavdra’s
scroll. If we can find it, I can use it to get us out of here in an instant. A
brief incantation, and we can all be sitting at an inn in Cryllor.”

“You mean we could go then—poof, gone like with that bar?”

Nemis nodded.

“Then,” the barbarian said slowly as if reasoning it out for
himself, “I say we go in, find this nasty she-wizard, and finish all this. I’ll
kill a few more ogres or even take on a giant or two t’be out o’ this place.”

“Aye,” Bleryn said, “he speaks for me as well.”

The rangers nodded in unison. Gerikh shrugged and managed a
smile.

“Quit now?” Malowan shook his head firmly. “I think not.”

“I go where ’e goes,” Agya added defiantly, and Malowan
patted her shoulder.

“Lhors?” Vlandar turned to him. “What do you say?”

Lhors was none too happy about trying to sneak through a
fortress of larger and smarter giants, but the thought of being out of here once
and for all…

“I’m with you, sir. To the end.”

“Good,” Vlandar said. His eyes were warm as he looked around
the company. “Sleep then, people. You’ll need all you can get tonight.”

* * *

During the last watch, Nemis had worked up what maps he could
for the party, using blank sheets from his spellbook.

“This I can tell you,” the mage had said as he passed around
maps, “no one who is not mad would enter that hall. Snurre is held by the drow
to be a dolt, but a cunning one. We should kill him if we can. Some of his
guards will still fight, but most of the others will flee. Not all serve him
willingly.”

“If we can do that without wasting time by seeking him out,”
Vlandar said, “then so be it, but our first priority is to find proof of drow
involvement and where they might be found.”

They all stood in the cavern. Everyone was ready, but
everyone also seemed hesitant to begin. The next few hours would either see the
accomplishment of their mission or the end of their lives.

Suddenly Nemis drew the fire sword Malowan had garnered in
the Steadings treasury and held it high. “May Pelor, god of healing and light,
see us through the reek and the walls and know our hearts and guide us through
this hellish place.”

“And may Heironeous,” Malowan added, “he of honor and
justice, strengthen our hearts, knowing our cause is just and right.”

“Kord, you who give strength and courage, smile on us,” said
Khlened.

Bleryn grinned at him fiercely. “May Ulaa, god of mountains
and gemstones, grant us all courage in dark places… and great trove.”

Agya brought her chin up. “Rudd who guards thieves, make luck
ours in there.”

“Trithereon,” Lhors murmured, “for my father, who truly
served him.”

“I ask the blessing of Kelanen, god of swords,” Vlandar said,
“that my blade protect us all and bring us all safely away.”

“Dalt, father of locks and keys, remember your servant,”
Gerikh prayed, “and let me aid these who rescued me.”

The rangers eyed each other. Rowan gripped her sister’s arm
and said, “Let Lydia, goddess of music and daylight, hear me. When we walk in
the dark, let us remember why we do this: so that ordinary folk may be allowed
to live happily and freely under the sun. Let us remember such good, simple
things lest the darkness swallow us, body and soul.”

Maera merely bowed her head and said nothing.

* * *

It was the hour just after dawn when the party emerged, but
they could barely tell by the sky. There was perhaps a bit more light in the
east, though that might have been another volcano. The fire giants seemed to
keep the same pattern as the hill and frost giants. There were no outside guards
posted and no one was in sight as they neared the pile of hardened lava and
slag. Still, everyone kept under cover as best as they could, flitting from
boulder to boulder and sprinting when in the open.

Nemis led the way right up to the main entrance, with Khlened
and Bleryn bringing up the rear. Once they reached the heavy-looking metal door,
the mage gave Malowan a small nod as if to say, “Do what we discussed.”

The mage used a spell to charm the door open. It swung in
soundlessly, revealing a corridor lit by well-spaced torches. The hall was made
of the same black rock as the outer walls, though here tapestries broke the
surface instead of vents. No one was in sight.

Malowan fixed his eyes on the dark opening, whispering
urgently. When the paladin was done, Nemis touched Khlened’s arm to get the
barbarian’s attention and sent his eyes toward the nearest tapestry. They could
see it moving in and out slightly, as if someone sat behind it, breathing
heavily.

Guard,
the mage signed grimly.

Khlened’s eyes flicked from the mage to Bleryn. The dwarf
nodded, and the two moved as one, running forward silently to throw themselves
at the drape. They vanished behind it, and someone with a very deep voice made a
startled grunt. The only other sound was the unpleasant crunch of the
barbarian’s morning star crashing down on something—perhaps an unhelmed skull.

Bleryn leaned out to draw a hand across his throat. Khlened
hung back long enough to rub his spiked ball on the tapestry, then stepped aside
so Nemis could again lead the way.

The passage widened abruptly, turning into a vast hall that
went at an angle east to west. Lhors, not far behind the dwarf, thought he could
make out a broad hallway going north partway down and another going south. At
the far end of the long, dimly lit chamber, Lhors thought he could see steps
going up to a dais and an empty throne. The youth caught his breath as Malowan
pressed past him and Agya and gestured for them to stay back.

Perhaps twenty long paces away, two odd-looking creatures
stood, swinging black morning stars casually.

They have two heads each! Lhors realized.

Agya tapped his arm sharply to sign the same information a
breath later.

The creatures were huge, built rather like men. Atop their
massive, black-skinned shoulders, were two heads, and each head faced a
different direction. There would be no sneaking past two such guards.

Malowan edged forward to join Nemis, who stood in shadow
watching the guards. The two men conversed in cautious sign. As Vlandar came
over to join them, Nemis signed,
Wait here.

Before the warrior could find out what the mage wanted to do,
Nemis strode into the dim torchlight. Vlandar gave the paladin an astonished
look, and Malowan gestured,
Wait.

The creatures might have been fearsome in appearance, but
they didn’t seem too bright. Perhaps one brain was divided among two heads.

The creatures both saw the mage at the same moment and simply
stared at him. Nemis moved out into the hall and turned partway around. Lhors
could see him give the creatures a toothy smile as he said, “Well, if it isn’t
my old friends, Meghos and Zogry.”

One head each stared at him still, but the other two shifted
back to keep watch over the vast chamber and its passages. Vlandar froze as one
head seemed to linger on the shadow where they hid. When it moved on without
raising a cry, he drew back into deeper darkness, bringing his company with him.
Malowan whispered something against his ear. Vlandar nodded and gestured with
his free hand for Lhors to stay where he was. A moment later, Vlandar eased
along the shadows of the wall and began to move slowly but purposefully toward
Nemis and the guards.

Malowan touched Lhors’ arm. “There are spears,” he
whispered. “See them?”

Lhors looked where the paladin pointed. The ettins had long
weapons leaning against the wall. Lhors nodded carefully.

“Rowan and Vlandar will create a diversion while Nemis keeps
the noise contained. You get one of the spears and kill one of those creatures.
Can you?”

Lhors swallowed dread and nodded again.

“How tha’ little man know us?” one creature said, diverting
the youth’s attention. It spoke Common, but with a thick accent made worse
because it seemed to be missing most of its front teeth. Its other head came
around to stare at Nemis.

“What, Meghos? You don remember the boy you used to stalk
through the lowest caverns? The mage’s ’prentice you ’ad so much fun terrifying,
down there?”

“Cannot be,” the second replied promptly. “’E’s got a beard
an’ ’e’s lots bigger.”

“
Much
bigger,” Nemis corrected him gravely, “and you’ve
come up in Snurre’s graces.”

“Uh?” both asked blankly.

“You guard Snurre,” Nemis said with another flash of teeth.
“How sad,” he added incisively, the smile vanishing on the moment, “that you
will not be able to enjoy the task any longer.”

“’Ere!” The first snorted indignantly. “You insulting us?”

Nemis shrugged and smiled.

Vlandar had come up right behind the creatures in utter
silence, unnoticed by either. He ran forward with two swords drawn, and before
the awkwardly shaped ettin was properly aware of its danger, Vlandar was inside
his reach, both blades stabbing up into the creature’s back. The creature howled
in pain, but the sound was somehow flat and muffled.