Child of Fate (10 page)

Instead, Tristam pulled the shield off his
horse and drew his sword, and then led the mount down the road
toward the mine entrance. “We’ll deal with that later,” he said in
reference to Kar’s observation. “Might be a theft or a deserter.
Not worth bothering with now. We’ve work to do and people missing.
Get yourselves together and meet me at the mine. And be quick about
it!”

“Can’t see a thing in here,” Alto muttered as
he followed Namitus into the cave with his sword in hand. His bow
had broken when he’d fallen on it, leaving him with little choice
for weapons. Trina was behind him and Drefan followed her and had
his sword drawn and ready. He’d recovered from the fall but his
breathing had become labored. Trina was calmer now that they were
moving but the wild look in her eyes promised she was far from
pleased.

“It’s not much farther,” Namitus whispered.
He cleared his throat and pushed on through the darkness.

Alto scowled. He could barely see the fingers
in front of his face. The light that came in from the chimney
they’d climbed down was farther and farther behind. He’d left his
pack on his horse, not expecting he’d need torches or food.

Alto perked up and hissed, “What’s that
noise?” He heard an odd humming noise that had just started. It
rose and fell as they moved, but the volume never seemed to waver.
Had it been there all along and he hadn’t noticed it?

The strange noise disappeared instantly.
“Sorry,” Namitus said, “I sing when I get nervous.”

“You were singing?”

“Humming,” he admitted.

“Oh, well, yeah, probably not a good idea.
Especially if there are others in these caves.”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s okay, though, we’re
here.”

Alto bumped into the boy in the dark. He
worked past him and stubbed his foot against a rock in the tunnel.
Gritting his teeth in pain, Alto felt with his foot and identified
the cave-in.

“Now what?” Trina hissed from behind
them.

“Now we try to dig it out,” Alto said.

Trina barked out a short laugh. “We’re in the
side of a mountain! You’ll bring the whole roof down on us! I was
wrong earlier. You’re not soldiers. You’re not smart enough to be
soldiers!”

“And you’re not nice enough to be a girl, but
you still look like one,” Alto vented as he spun in the dark tunnel
to face her. “We’re all trapped down here. Why don’t you stop being
a brat and start helping?”

She stared at him, her eyes finding his in
spite of the near total darkness. They glared at one another for a
long moment before she finally relented. He saw her silhouette sag
slightly before she said, “Another game?”

Alto bit his tongue to hide his sigh. “What
this time?”

“Let’s pretend we just met.”

Alto nodded, the gesture lost in the
darkness. “Hi, I’m Alto, of the Blades of Leander. We’re—”

Alto’s introduction was interrupted by a
cough from Drefan.

“Fine, I’m a trainee with the Blades of
Leander.”

“I thought you looked a little young to be a
warrior,” she said. “And who are the Blades of Leander? Are you
members of the church?”

Alto chuckled. “No, we’re just men helping
out where we can to make some gold. I’m, uh—”

“Oh, just tell her already,” Drefan wheezed.
He’d had trouble breathing since his fall earlier. Walking it off,
as he’d predicted, wasn’t making it any better. “He’s trying to
earn enough gold to pay for a donation to heal his father. Such
selfless devotion is sure to woo the heart of a young maiden.”

Alto was glad for the darkness to hide the
color of his cheeks. Trina’s lips parted but she said nothing.
“What of you?” Alto blurted out.

“Trina. Well, Patrina is my given name. My
father is the Jarl of Holgasford.”

Drefan burst out laughing, but it turned
quickly into a wheezing cough. When he caught his breath, he
managed in a ragged voice to say, “I was right when I called you my
lady.”

“You’re a, uh, princess?” Alto gasped.

He saw her shake her head, the long braid of
hair behind her jerking around with the movement. “No! Just the
chieftain’s daughter!”

“Which is basically the same thing,” Namitus
said.

“Why don’t you sound or look like her?” Alto
said, turning to her companion.

“We’re not related,” he said.

“Namitus isn’t a Kelgryn,” Patrina said.

Alto backed up a step so he wouldn’t need to
keep twisting his head back and forth between them. “Are you
betrothed? I’ve heard royalty does that sometimes.”

Drefan coughed again.

“The ship I was on was waylaid by the
Kelgryn. Her father took me in as a servant,” Namitus said.

“You’re a slave?”

“Not really,” he admitted. “I mean, it’s
never felt like that. They treat me like one of their own.”

“Namitus charmed my father,” Trina added.

Alto grunted softly. “I want to know more,
but now’s not the time. Let’s see about this cave-in. We’ve got to
get Drefan to Karthor; he’s our priest and I bet he can help
him.”

“I’m right here,” Drefan muttered.

Alto ignored him and turned back to the rocks
blocking the tunnel. He climbed up slowly, feeling as much as
seeing the blockage. He tested each rock and when he found one that
was loose, he tried to move it out of the way. Soon he had to pass
them back where Namitus, Drefan, and Trina took turns trying to
haul the rocks far enough down the passage to make it possible for
them to continue.

“Wait!” Alto said several minutes later. They
stopped, all of them gasping for breath from the hard work. The
noise the farm boy had heard drifted to the others. A clanging
noise drifted through the rocks, although at uneven intervals. Alto
put his head to the rocks and listened, only to pull it away a
moment later after another clang sounded. “I think somebody’s
digging on the other side!”

“That’s probably not a good thing,” Drefan
mused.

“He’s right,” Trina said. “They must be
looking for us.”

Alto reached down to his hip to where his
knife was sheathed. He drew it and held it out to Trina hilt-first.
“Do you know how to use this?”

Trina took it and held it up close to her
face so she could see it clearly. “Kelgryn women aren’t like your
Kingdom women. We know how to hunt and how to fight.”

Alto smirked. “If you’d met my sisters, you’d
know you don’t know much about Kingdom women!”

“Fall back. If they want to dig us out, let
them,” Alto urged.

“Good idea,” Drefan muttered. The rogue
turned and led the way back down the passage but he tripped and
fell after only a few feet.

“Drefan!” Alto pushed past Trina and Namitus
to reach his companion.

Drefan groaned and tried to push himself up.
“Just tripped,” he wheezed, gasping between words.

“You’re hurt worse than you let on,” Alto
accused. He reached down to help pick him up and felt Drefan
shudder when his hand pressed against his ribs. Alto loosened his
grip and tried again, pulling Drefan by the shoulders.

“Knocked my ribs in,” Drefan admitted. “Just
need to rest a minute. Hard to catch my breath. Hurts to breathe
deep.”

Alto helped him back to where the tunnel
widened into the natural cavern. The light was better and, aside
from the puddles near the chimney, the floor was dry. Drefan sat on
the floor and leaned against the wall over the cave, cradling his
tender ribs with his arms.

“Give me your sword.”

Alto turned to see Trina standing over
Drefan.

“You’re a bit young for that,” Drefan tried
to joke.

“You’re worthless in a fight and I’m not.
Give me your sword or I’ll kick you in the ribs!”

“Trina!” Namitus hissed from where he was
crouched, looking down the passage.

“Drefan, she’s right. You can’t fight. I’ll
guard the passage but it might be good to have someone else with a
blade ready,” Alto said.

Drefan grimaced but drew his sword. It took
him three tries to pull it fully free, and then he handed it to
Alto. “You keep quiet about this or I’ll tell her about the serving
girl,” he hissed.

Alto’s eyes widened but he turned away before
Trina could see him. He thrust the sword toward Namitus. “Here,
take it.”

Namitus looked past him at Patrina. He waved
to her. “She’s better with it. Like she said, she was practically
born with a sword in one hand and an axe in the other.”

Alto turned to see Trina’s smug expression.
“Told you,” she said in a too-sweet voice.

“Wasn’t sure you could swing it over your
head is all,” Alto snapped back at her.

Her mouth dropped to an O and her eyes
widened to match it. Alto chuckled and turned away, heading back to
stand beside Namitus.

“You just wait,” Trina muttered. “I’ll show
you.”

The sound of rock grating and crunching came
from the hallway, pulling all of their attention. More rocks
shifted, grinding against one another and then shifting and
falling. Yellow light beamed down the hallway, drawing a hissed
oath from Drefan as the sudden brightness blinded them. They
recoiled to hide themselves and, when their eyes adjusted, they
realized it was only the light of a torch or a lantern shining
through the hole.

The hole widened rapidly as the workers on
the other side labored to clear it. More light flooded through and
then it was blocked up again as small bodies began to crawl
through. A guttural language Alto had only heard once before
reached his ears.

“Goblins!” he hissed. He raised his sword and
jumped in front of Namitus, taking up the passage.

He saw several of the short creatures rushing
down the passage. The first paused at the sight of him, only to be
bowled over by the two behind him. Alto waited while they sorted
themselves out, knowing if he had any sense he should wade in and
strike at them. Everything he’d heard and knew about goblins urged
him forward but it didn’t seem fair to cut down a defenseless
enemy.

They rose up and charged at him, thrusting
spears and brandishing their short-bladed swords. They were small
enough to rush down the passage two at a time, their numbers making
him hesitate until it was nearly too late.

Trina saved him, jamming her shoulder and hip
into his side and knocking him out of the way so she could parry
the spear and spin away from the sword that thrust at them. The
spin saved her but allowed the third goblin to slip around the
other two and come up on her flank. More were rushing down the
tunnel toward them.

“Stop defending!” Alto chastised himself. He
smashed his sword down and hammered the blade out of the third
goblin’s hand before he could jam it into Trina’s back. He grabbed
her arm with his other hand and yanked her back out of the way,
sending her spinning and falling onto the cavern floor safely
behind him.

The goblins were surprised at their
constantly changing targets. Alto kept his momentum going and
kicked the spear-wielding goblin under the chin, snapping its
gaping mouth shut and shattering its teeth with the blow. He swung
across with his sword as soon as he had both feet on the ground and
hewed into the raised arm and side of the other goblin. He
staggered away, pulling free of Alto’s broadsword and collapsing
against the wall.

Alto looked up in time to see the others
nearly upon him. They snarled and gibbered at him. Alto snarled
back, caught up in his success. He leapt at them and cut across
with his heavy sword, killing the first and making the rest
scramble to avoid his sweeping blade.

Alto pulled his sword back before the goblins
could recover and come at him. He swung it easily, keeping them on
edge, and then feinted forward toward the one on the right. It
cowered, holding up his meager blade in hopes it would protect him.
The other leapt at Alto, expecting an opening.

Alto put his limited training to use with the
feint. Rather than smashing down on the goblin in front of him, he
whipped his sword back and cleaved the arm and head off the second
goblin. He turned back to the first one and saw him throw down his
sword and press his head to the ground with his hands over his
head.

Alto was stunned by the surrender. He stared
at the goblin, his momentum halted. The fire drained from him and
he realized what he’d just done. He’d killed not one goblin, but
several. He turned to look down the tunnel, realizing that four
more goblins stood in the corridor and stared at him. They looked
at one another and then back at him.

“Where’s the girl? That’s not them!”

Alto jerked his head up. The voice came from
behind the goblins, from a human-sized figure silhouetted by the
torchlight. Another voice answered him. “Don’t matter. They went
that way and the map says there’s no way out! We don’t get her
back, we can’t run far enough to escape the boss.”

He’d heard enough to confirm Trina and
Namitus’s story. Alto snarled and took a step forward, brandishing
his sword. It was his life or theirs. The goblins and their masters
could surrender but he could not. The goblins stepped back and
looked at one another again.

“Surrender!” Alto challenged both the goblins
and the men behind them. He didn’t know if the goblins could
understand him but he had to give them a chance. “We’ll help you
escape. You won’t have to see your boss again.”

“Kill him!”

Alto jumped forward, kicking one goblin
between the legs and smashing his hilt into the face of another. He
lashed out while the others were stunned, killing one and then
driving his blade through the parry of the last one in an overhand
strike that left his sword stuck in the goblin’s skull. Alto had to
plant his foot in the corpse’s chest to yank his blade free.

The two men had climbed through the cave-in
and were rushing toward him, both with swords in hand. Alto held
his ground, doubt gnawing at him. Facing goblins was one thing.
They were little better than the wolf he’d wrestled. Humans were no
different than him. Even if they held different reasons and
beliefs, they could be as skilled and as dangerous.