Against the Giants

9

The party made it back into the hall before the guards couldsee them. Everyone fanned out around the door, which the paladin shut, leaving just enough of a crack to see through.

The hallway was broad enough for the two giants to come on side by side-barely. One of them was grumbling under his breath, and Lhorscaught the word “orders” but nothing else. The two stopped where they were,effectively blocking the passage.

“Blast Ukruz and his orders!” the first giant snarled loudly.

The other mumbled something in response. He sounded more bored than upset.

“You saw ’em out there, Jinag! Old Furks and his brutes andstupid little Hookin. Ask me, Hookin was drunk and said the wrong words to Furks. Furks hated ’im anyway.”

“Furks hated everyone but his wolves,” Jinag said. “Ukruz’llskin us or feed us them nasty norkers if we don’t get back to-” He turned tolook down the passage. “What’s that?”

The other giant peered into the gloom of the passage behind them. Rowan eased down onto one knee and drew her bowstring back, but before she could fire, the two went back the way they’d come and disappeared down thehallway to the right.

“They won’t stay there long,” Nemis said. “I made a voicespell down there, but it’s only good for a few words.”

“We don’t dare alert the guards searching for us,” Malowansaid, “and there are norkers in the entry.”

“Not anymore, there aren’t,” Rowan hissed. “Look!”

Lhors couldn’t make out much in the gloom, but he couldclearly make out the sound of scuffling feet and the occasional clink of armor.

Vlandar gripped Lhors’ shoulder and pushed him toward thepantry. “Back, everyone! Back into the pantry! Quickly! We’ll let them pass andtry for the entry again.”

“If they pass,” Maera muttered, but she was on herway, stopping just short of the kitchen to be certain it was empty before easing out of sight.

Lhors followed, but as he reached the kitchen he glanced over his shoulder, caught his boot on a raised stone and nearly went headlong. Malowan hauled him up, but Agya glared at him.

“Pick up y’r feet, y’ oaf,” she hissed.

The youth bit back a retort and followed her into the next room, his thoughts furious. Agya was still mumbling to herself until both Malowan and Maera gestured sharply for her to be still. The little thief glared at Lhors, as if the reprimand was his fault. He glared back defiantly. He thought, my father would never have put me on a quest with such an arrogant, full of herself, spoiled rotten, lousy little flat-chested wretch of a thief!

It wasn’t necessarily all true, but the outburst-even in hisown head-made him feel a little better.

Malowan had the pantry door open as everyone filed in, pulled it shut behind them, then laid his hands against the easternmost wall. After several long, unnerving moments, he nodded. “They’ve passed,” he murmuredsoftly, “small, foul creatures and at least two giants or ogre guards. They wentthrough a door, I think. My sense of them diminished all at once, and I am certain I just heard a door shut.”

“What about th’ others?” Khlened asked softly.

Nemis touched a finger to the barbarian’s lips. “They’renear. Shhh.”

Silence. Lhors could hear nothing but the beating of his own heart.

“Do you sense something?” Vlandar asked the mage quietly.

Nemis replied, “I cannot be certain it was the same twoguards we just saw, but someone came from down south and went toward the feast hall.”

“Well then,” Vlandar said, “the feast hall seems to bebecoming too popular for our purpose. We’ll head down the hall and into thearmory. They’ve searched that, and it’s open at both ends, if I read the mapright.”

“Let’s be at it then,” Malowan said as he pulled the doortoward him. He stepped out first, sword at the ready, but the room was deathly quiet.

“Fast and quiet, lad,” Vlandar said as Lhors edged throughthe opening. “We’ll get out safe.”

The youth merely nodded. He wasn’t certain he could trust hisvoice, and he really disliked that musty little chamber with the steps leading down into utter darkness.

The kitchen was deserted except for the bodies. Lhors wondered why no one had removed them, then realized they hadn’t been dead thatlong-and the only ones who knew about the bodies were the guards who were busysearching for the killers. He swallowed.

It was quiet across the way as well. The doors into the feast hall were closed. Vlandar nodded then drew Lhors into the hall. They stayed hard against the right-hand wall as the others came out, and Vlandar began to edge south away from the light.

Lhors fought a sudden urge to run. Vlandar would keep him safe, he reminded himself, if Vlandar wasn’t killed. Most of thecreatures in this place were at least half again the warrior’s height, and thesmaller ones-those norkers-must make up for lack of size in fierceness.

Nemis edged past them. “No one down there,” he whispered.

Vlandar nodded.

Suddenly Rowan, who brought up the rear, hissed a warning. The latch on the feast hall door moved, and the door slammed open. Two obviously drunken giants staggered into the corridor and fetched up hard against the opposite wall. One swung a massive fist at the other. The blow connected, but only slightly. The second giant fell back a pace and grabbed for his blade. The first drew himself up straight with a sottish arrogance and slapped the second open-handed, sending him reeling to the floor. The brute shook his head to clear it and fought his way onto hands and knees. Halfway up, he flailed for balance, sat hard, and his massive, red-rimmed eyes glared straight at Lhors.

Lhors froze.

The giant froze for an instant as comprehension slowly dawned in his eyes, then he bellowed a warning in Giantish. His companion turned, drawing a long-bladed dagger from his belt. The other staggered to his feet and reeled back across the hall as he fumbled for his weapon. He hauled a club from his belt, but the heavy weapon cost him his balance and he fell again. The dagger-wielding brute snarled at him, then squared his shoulders and lurched at Lhors, blade raised to skewer him.

Vlandar grabbed Lhors and pulled him back against the wall. “Take them down! Quick!”

The mage was already working. He fell back next to Vlandar and said, “Quiet-it’s my last, though!”

Rowan fired an arrow at the dagger-wielder, but it skipped off his scalp, leaving only a slight gash. She swore and tried again. The second went into his shoulder, but not deeply enough. The brute snarled a curse, then yanked it loose and threw it aside. Blood ran down his face, but he ignored it.

Maera and Malowan dealt with the other brute, who managed a drunken swing at the paladin. His own momentum threw him off-balance, and Maera drove her spear into his ear. He yanked his head around, bellowing in pain, and the ranger was thrown hard against the wall. Malowan came up behind him and thrust his sword into the brutes eye, killing him instantly.

Khlened and Vlandar were trying to finish off the other giant. Vlandar got behind him finally and slashed at the exposed backs of the monster’s knees. The giant fell, screaming.

Lhors yelped as both doors to the feast hall were thrust open. Two of the young giants and a very aged one stood there-none armed orarmored, though they looked deadly enough to him. They could break me in half, he thought.

“Back, Lhors!” Vlandar yelled. “Ready your spears! Khlened,finish him! Rest of you, behind me and down the hall, now!”

But Rowan ignored him and ran to help her dazed sister to her feet. Khlened fell back, his sword ripped out of his hands, as the giant rolled away with the barbarians blade still planted firmly in his leg.

“Damn all!” the barbarian snarled. He scooped up the club andswung it two-handed, bringing it down on the drunks head. The giant collapsed.

“Leave the blade!” Vlandar ordered. “We’ve company, youfool!”

Khlened spun around just as the old male drew back, urgently tugging at the giant-youths.

“They’re afraid!” the barbarian laughed harshly.

But as he made another grab for his sword, someone beyond the feast hall roared out an order. Four heavily armed giants came charging across the chamber, clubs out. The floor shook with their advance. Lhors could hear another voice-female and very angry, shouting in Giantish at someone inside thechamber.

“Hells!” Nemis said flatly. “That’s Nosnra himself I put tosleep, and she’s waking him!”

“Back!” Vlandar ordered. “The south passage is narrow enoughthey’ll have to come at us one at a time. Move!”

Vlandar, Malowan and Khlened covered their backs as the company sprinted for the passageway. Maera turned just before leaving the room and launched a spear. It sailed into the foremost giant, impaling him just below the sternum. Roaring in pain and fury, the giant fell.

The paladin shook his head as he entered the hallway with his sword raised. “Too many, Vlandar,” he said.

Rowan edged past him to draw her bow. One of her arrows buried itself to the fletchings in a giant’s throat, and he fell, bleedingheavily. The younger giants looked down at him, at each other, then turned and ran.

“Nemis,” Vlandar ordered, “do what you can! We can’t fightthem all!”

“Kenesthris!” the mage shouted and waved his hands in acomplex gesture. As he spoke, one of the doors swung around on its own and slammed shut. “I can’t control both, and even that may not hold long!”

Before any of the guards could attack, someone inside the chamber shouted an order and shoved his way into the hall. He was enormous, taller than his guards by a head, and hugely fat. His eyes were bleary, but if he was drunk he didn’t move like it. The brute ducked back into the chamber andshouted another order. One of the club-wielders came out, followed by two more. The fourth was apparently beating on the other door to get it open.

Rowan shot several arrows in quick order. One of the giants fell, a shaft through his mouth and another in his eye. Another two sidestepped him and came on, clubs upraised.

Nemis sent a crackling fireball at them. The lead giant could not evade in time and took it head-on. He began screaming and beating his clothes as the deadly flames engulfed him. His own comrades cut him down, probably not so much out of mercy as to get him out of the way. The other giants hesitated at such resistance and backed into the feast hall, brushing sparks from their clothing.

“Back!” Vlandar shouted and pointed his blade toward thekitchen.

Nemis turned and ran, stopping just inside to ready another spell. Agya and Lhors went next, followed by Rowan, who was still supporting Maera. The warriors came next, and Vlandar grabbed Nemis’ arm as the mage begananother spell.

“Save it!” he ordered. “There’s no time.”

“They’ll know which way we went!” Khlened shouted. He sworeas a flaming arrow zipped past him. The arrow quivered in the door frame as the giant moved out of sight, but Lhors could hear him in there, shouting orders. The female was screaming something, but he could make no sense of it.

“Move, all of you!” Vlandar ordered. “The whole Steading’llbe roused against us before much longer. Rowan, grab that torch on the hearth and light it!”

“Down?” Nemis asked as he backed away.

“No choice,” the warrior replied steadily, but Lhors didn’tthink he looked very happy about it.

Vlandar picked Maera up and ran with her. Rowan scooped up the torch, plunged it into the fire until it caught, then followed. Everyone else filed in behind her. Malowan brought up the rear, backing around the corner just as loud voices reached them and the bespelled door slammed back into the wall.

“That cost me a good blade,” Khlened mumbled as he leanedinto the pantry door to shut it.

“Better than your life,” Rowan snapped breathlessly.

“Silence, all of you!” Vlandar hissed. “Nemis, what can youdo with stone?”

“Enough, I think,” the mage said. He was peering down thestairs. “There is no one anywhere nearby down there, but if there is a way out,I cannot sense it from here.”

“We’ll find one,” Vlandar said grimly. “We’ve no choice now.Go! All of you! Down! We’ll follow.”

Maera, finally beginning to shake off her daze, edged past them. “My eyes are better in dark, and I don’t trust anyone but me or Rowan withour only light. I’ll go first.”

She went down a long, straight flight. Lhors went next, with the barbarian right behind him. Some distance down, the youth thought he saw light ahead beside Maera’s flickering torch, and when they reached the laststep, he could clearly see the ranger and the chamber beyond. Two torches were shoved in niches on the far wall-but it wasn’t far enough for Lhors. It lookedlike a short corridor, but it was closed off at both ends, and there were no doors or openings of any kind that he could see.

Maera turned in place, staring thoughtfully at the walls while her sister laid her ear against one. “It’s not a trap,” she assured Lhors.

“How can y’tell?” Khlened asked. He looked very pale in theruddy light.

Agya came up behind him, sling in one hand and a stone for it in the other, then set herself to watch the stairs, only relaxing when Malowan came down. Nemis came last, some moments behind Vlandar.

“It’s still quiet up there,” he said, “but I would move asfar from the stairs as you can.”

“Aye,” Khlened said. “The giants’ll know we’ve come here bynow. Won’t be much for ’em to take us, will it?”

“This is not a trap,” Maera repeated, this time loudenough for everyone to hear. She tugged at Lhors’ sleeve and brought him backfrom the door that led to the stairs. “The giants have no reason to build astair down to a dead end. The doors are hidden, but they are here.”

“The giants will not come down those stairs immediately,”Nemis said, “not after the fight we just gave them. They will take time toregroup and better prepare themselves. But in a moment, those stairs will collapse. I set a device partway down that is dissolving the bonds between the stones.”

Khlened caught his breath sharply as the little chamber rumbled and shook. Shards of stone and a puff of dust sifted down from the chamber.

“I suggest we move away,” Nemis said with forced calm.

The party quickly shuffled into the rear of the chamber as fast as they could. They had gathered in a tight huddle when the entire staircase fell with an ear-shattering rumble. Everyone spent several moments coughing and sneezing away the dust and grit.

“There,” the mage said after a while. He looked pleased. “Theway is blocked from bottom to top, and Mal used a spell to seal the upper door. It’s as good as any locking spell I have, but I had learned none for today.”

“Just as well,” Malowan said. “We had more need of yourprotective spells.”

“Look,” Maera said. “See? The dust is going. There’s a holeor two in this place.”

“Holes,” Khlened whispered. The barbarian was sweating, hiseyes fixed on the blocked entry. “What if there’s no bigger opening?”

“There is,” Nemis said firmly, “and I will find it, but Iwould like a few minutes to rest and catch my breath first.”

“Huh,” Agya snorted. “If there’s a door from this place, I’llfind it right now.”

“No,” Malowan said. “Nemis is right. Sit and catch yourbreath. He and I need to be certain there’s no great danger for us out there.”

The mage smiled tiredly. “Danger? What? In the dungeons ofthe Steading?” His lips moved briefly, soundlessly. “There are creatures near,but not very near. They are not coming any closer. We’ll do here, for themoment.”

“We’d been better above,” Khlened said, possibly to himself.

Malowan shook his head. “Four giants and a hobgoblin guardingthe way out, and at least four giant guards with clubs and their chief in the feast hall. We managed by luck and skill to injure or kill some, but that luck would not have lasted.”

“It would not,” Nemis said, his eyes closed. “Nosnra wasbellowing orders for one of them to loose his cave bear.”

“Bear?” Agya whispered, her eyes suddenly huge.

“It cannot come this way,” Malowan reminded her. “Besides allof that, Nosnra’s lady was bellowing for aid. We could never have held outagainst a dozen or more giants.”

The barbarian grunted.

“So, that was Yk’nea?” Rowan asked. “I thought itmight be, the way she was shouting orders-especially at the last. Did you hearher? She sounded genuinely afraid.”

“She was,” Nemis said. “She was shouting at Nosnra-somethingabout ‘they do not accept failure’ or some such.”

Malowan moved away from the wall where he had been listening. “Nemis, there is more than one stair to the dungeon level, you know.”

“I know, but there is nothing to be done for it now. We seemto have thrown off pursuit for the time being. I think we are safe for a while at least.”

“Safe?” Khlened inquired dryly. “How can we be safe when y’just cut off our only way out?”

“It was not our only exit,” Nemis replied, “but itwill cut off our pursuers for now. Returning to the fortress is no longer an option with the whole place roused against us. We must find another way.”

Khlened growled something that Lhors couldn’t make out andstomped away.

“We must take a short while to rest,” Vlandar said, “thenmove on. We’ll set watches two at a time so no one falls asleep. Nemis, wouldyou rather have another watch than the first?”

Nemis shrugged. “I’m no more tired than you or anyone else.I’ll take first with Agya. She wants to find doors, and I would like to testwhat I can of the space around this chamber.”

Vlandar nodded and moved into the far corner, pulled his hood low over his eyes, and stretched out on the stone floor. Khlened was already down, eyes closed, and as Lhors looked for a place that might somehow be more comfortable, he saw the rangers settle with their backs against the wall and lean into each other to rest sitting up. Rowan’s strung bow lay by her leg, twoarrows set close to the string where she could readily lay hands on them. Maera had two spears leaning against the wall near her shoulder.

Lhors feared that despite what they knew from the scrolls, the giants had other ways to the lower levels. He didn’t want to think aboutsuch a thing. He’d be too afraid to sleep, and he desperately needed to rest. Hepulled two boar spears from his case and settled down against the wall partway between Vlandar and Rowan. The warrior seemed to be asleep.

As Lhors settled his small pack under his head and lay down, he caught Rowan looking at him. The ranger glanced at his spears, smiled at him, and nodded approvingly. She then closed her eyes. Lhors sighed very faintly and closed his own.