Child of Fate (19 page)

Kar drew back his right hand and threw the
globe into the air. It sailed far and away, passing beyond the
globe of light Karthor’s holy symbol radiated. It struck something
far overhead and stuck to it. The flames lit up a small radius
around it, but all it displayed was a stalactite-studded ceiling
far overhead and several small black shapes that fluttered around
when it impacted.

“Bats,” Tristam and Namitus both
muttered.

“Good,” Karthor said.

“Bats are good?” Alto asked. He glanced at
Trina and saw her watching the priest for his answer.

“It means there’s an opening to the surface
nearby,” Karthor reasoned.

Alto and Trina’s eyes met. They shared a
smile until the woman looked away.

“Long ways up,” Tristam observed. He turned
to Kar. “Is that the best you can do?”

The wizard scowled and scooped out another
globe of flames. He flung it into the air and then repeated the
process until more than half a dozen of the flickering
multi-colored lights dotted the ceiling. The final light was a
purple flame that Kar tossed underhanded ahead of them. It landed
on a ramp of stone that rose up ahead of them, splattering flames
that flickered at the base of it.

“Big cave,” William remarked.

The cavern, displayed in multi-colored
flickers of light, was massive. The ceiling was easily sixty feet
above them and the far side hundreds of feet away. The sides were
nearly a hundred feet apart. The floor of the cavern was littered
with stalagmites, some large and others small. A few were so big
they rose to join stalactites that hung from the ceiling, forming
pillars that reflected the lights beautifully. Dark shadows around
the walls gave credence that the large room served as more than a
natural wonder; it was a junction for caves.

“There.” Tristam pointed ahead to the ramp
Kar’s last flame had landed on. The cavern remained shrouded mostly
in shadows at ground level but they could make out the shapes and
silhouettes of the rocks and spires. The ramp was a natural stone
arch that served as a bridge over the field of stalagmites. At the
far end, it met high on the wall of the cavern. An opening was
shrouded in shadow.

“This is amazing,” Patrina whispered.

Alto found himself nodding in agreement with
her. He wondered if maybe now he could speak to her again.

“We’re not the only ones here,” William
warned. He raised his crossbow and aimed it up the ramp. Two large
creatures were walking across the ramp. They pointed and spoke to
one another, gesturing wildly. One kept coming while the other
turned and ran back.

“Those aren’t goblins,” Alto said. Even from
a distance, he could tell they were massive. They wore clothing,
including oversized boots, and had weapons in their hands. Not
goblins and not trolls then, but what were they?

“Ogres. Strong as a mountain troll and a hair
smarter, but without the tough hide.” Tristam turned to offer Alto
a grin. “Ready for this, son?”

Alto grabbed his longsword and drew it. “As
ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Let’s be quick about it,” Kar advised.
“Seems we’ve drawn some interest down here as well.”

They followed Kar’s gesture and saw goblins
popping up from the entrances to the other caves. Tristam cursed
and started toward the ramp at a jog. Alto jerked when Tristam
called to him and ran after him. The others followed, staying as
close as they dared. Within a few moments, one growing group of
goblins at a cave entrance gave a cry and chased after them.
Another followed and soon they had savage warriors in four groups
chasing after them.

Tristam and Alto met the ogre a dozen feet up
the ramp. Tristam dodged an overhead swing from the iron-bound
wooden cudgel the ogre swung, nearly falling off the edge of the
bridge. Alto thrust his sword at the towering humanoid but had the
strike knocked aside with little more than a small cut on the
ogre’s mighty forearm.

Alto pulled his blade back in time to react
to the ogre’s second attempted overhand smash. He blocked it, using
both hands to hold the longsword steady, and found himself
staggering backwards. His hands were tingling, the shock from the
broken block traveling up his arms to stun him.

A shout of rage from the ogre forced Alto to
recover from the sheer brutality of the attack. He held up his
sword and stared at it, stunned again. The blade had been shattered
less than a foot from the cross-guard. He looked up at the ogre in
shock and fear.

Tristam had stabbed the ogre twice by then,
causing blood to flow from its thigh and its side. He ducked a
horizontal swipe and sliced upwards, his blade digging deep into
the ogre’s arm. That drew another throaty curse from the brute.
Alto found himself glad he couldn’t understand the savage
language.

“A little help here?” Tristam grunted. The
ogre smacked him with his free hand, staggering Tristam and once
again nearly dropping the man off the edge of the bridge.

Alto looked at his broken sword and shrugged.
It had a jagged but sharp point on it. He’d used it like his old
sword and paid the price. Maybe he could make up for it. Alto dug
his heels in and sprang forward, holding his abbreviated weapon
close to him.

Alto’s shoulder hit the ogre in the chest and
side. He drove the creature up even as he felt he’d be nursing a
sore shoulder for months. He jammed the sword in to the ogre’s
belly, tearing through the hides the ogre wore and burying the
blade until the cross-guard prevented a deeper wound. Alto felt the
ogre stiffen against him. He twisted the hilt and thought to rip it
out at an angle. Blood gushed out onto his hands and a heavy fist
smashed onto his other shoulder, dropping him to the stone
ramp.

Alto rolled and stared up, expecting the ogre
to stomp on him or smash the club into his head. Instead, the ogre
grabbed the broken sword and pulled it out, and then it fell to its
knees and toppled over. The creature rolled once to the side and
then fell off the ramp to crash onto the stalagmites below.

“Here,” Tristam said, breaking Alto out of
his newest stupor.

Alto focused on the warrior and saw that
Tristam was offering him the dropped cudgel the ogre had used. The
young warrior rose up slowly and took it, and then nearly dropped
it due to its weight. It was a massive club! He could swing it with
one hand but he knew he’d tire quickly. Using both hands seemed a
wiser course of action.

“Kar, can you stop them from chasing us?”
Tristam shouted.

Kar muttered something acidic but threw his
hands out to incant a spell. Flames leapt up from the base of the
ramp, reaching a dozen feet into the air and promising a fiery end
to anyone foolish enough to test them. “Hurry up,” Kar called back
to them.

Alto stared in awe. With that sort of a
barrier, why would they need to hurry? They rushed up the ramp and
still Alto stared. Kar grabbed his arm and pulled him. “It’s just a
parlor trick, boy,” Kar hissed at him. “As soon as they realize
it’s an illusion, they’ll be on to us!”

Alto stared at the flames even as he let Kar
drag him up the ramp. “But they look so real!”

Kar chuckled. “That’s because I’m so
good.”

They entered the cave at the top of the ramp
and saw an almost immediate change. Unlike many of the other caves
they’d explored, this one had wooden supports and the floor, walls,
and ceiling had been chiseled smooth. It was both wide enough and
large enough for the ogres and trolls they’d encountered to move
without interference.

“This bodes well,” Kar offered.

“Alto, get up here!” Tristam called.

Alto offered a smile toward Kar and then
jogged up past Trina, Karthor, and Namitus to rejoin Tristam.
Tristam pointed ahead to a large wooden gate that ran across the
passage.

“Think you can use that thing as a battering
ram?”

Alto looked at the club in his hands. It had
iron bands near the head and the base. “I’ll try.”

“Get up there,” Tristam said. “We’ll stand
ready.”

Alto took the lead, jogging up toward the
gate. With less than a dozen feet to go, Alto slowed. The bar for
the door rested on his side. Why, if the lock was on his side, were
the guards absent? The gate opened, swinging toward him
silently.

Alto stopped in his tracks and stared at the
two mountain trolls that returned slavering grins. Their long arms
nearly reached the ground. Behind them, he saw others: ogres and
shorter beings he couldn’t identify.

Tristam cursed, his words at Alto’s shoulder.
“Uh,” Alto started to say.

“Back to the caves!” Tristam snapped. He
forced his voice louder so the others behind them could hear.
“There’s too many; run back to the caves. Fly, you fools!”

Alto ran, his head twisted back to watch the
trolls. They had to duck to get through the gate and could only
come one at a time, but they broke into a lumbering jog once they’d
done so.

“Just my luck,” Namitus said a moment later,
distracting him. He’d fallen back to run beside Alto. “I’m the only
one with a weapon that’s able to kill them.”

Alto, winded by the combat and the running,
offered him a quick smile. “Buy me some time, would you? I’m
tired.”

“Kar!” Tristam called to the wizard. He’d
already slipped back to the front. “Can you do something about the
gobs?”

“I’ve done all I can do,” Kar wheezed.
Running, it seemed, was even more work for the wizard than it was
for Alto.

Tristam cursed as he burst out of the passage
and back onto the ramp. The goblins were still gathered at the base
of the ramp but their numbers had grown. Kar gasped out a few
laughs. “Stupid gobs,” he managed.

“Rope!” Namitus snapped.

“What?” Alto and Tristam both said.

“Just give me your rope!” Namitus said. He
turned to William, who’d reclaimed the rope from the body of
Drefan. William shrugged and handed it to him.

Namitus tossed one end off the edge of the
bridge and then turned and tossed the other end over the other
side. “Two at a time. Quick!”

Tristam understood the rogue’s plan
immediately. “Trina, Kar, go!”

With little more than a moment of hesitation,
the wizard and the Kelgryn woman grabbed the rope and timed their
descent so they started off the opposite sides at the same time to
counterbalance their weights.

“Come on,” Alto told Namitus.

Namitus looked at him and saw that Alto had
moved to stand in the mouth of the cave. The trolls were closing
fast and behind them came an assortment of brutes with nothing but
evil in their hearts.

“We have to give them time to escape,” Alto
explained.

Namitus drew his scimitar and looked at Alto.
Alto was about to offer to take it and spare him when the man
squared his shoulders and walked up next to him.

“Karthor and William next!” Tristam
ordered.

“You go,” Karthor insisted. “It won’t take
the goblins long to see what we’re doing. They’ll need your sword
down there more than they’ll need me.”

Tristam grunted and grabbed the line. William
fired his crossbow over Alto’s shoulder, the bolt hitting a troll
in the forehead and glancing off. He cursed and grabbed the rope,
and then lowered himself as fast as he and Tristam could.

Alto charged the trolls, hoping to gain the
element of surprise. The trolls were bred and built for strength
and savagery. Alto’s attempt at momentum earned him nothing more
than the first strike of his heavy club on the arm of a troll. The
troll shrugged the injury off and missed Alto’s head so closely, he
felt a few of his hairs plucked by its passage.

Namitus dove under the long arms of the other
troll. He rolled and came up behind the troll that was backing Alto
up. He slashed across its back, parting the thick hide like paper
and making it howl in agony. It spun and swung at him, forcing him
to dodge and roll to get away. The two trolls collided, their arms
striking one another. They pummeled one another and pushed to get
apart, and then turned as one on Namitus.

“Go!” Namitus shouted through them to Alto
and Karthor. “Get down that rope. I’ll find a way.”

“There is no way!” Alto shouted. He raised
his club in both hands and started forward but Karthor grabbed his
shoulder.

“There’s more than our lives at stake here,”
Karthor said. “Two nations might go to war over this.”

Alto stared at Namitus. The other trolls and
ogres were fast approaching behind him. He blinked the blurriness
out of his eyes and let Karthor pull him back. Namitus was dancing
back and forth, leaping to avoid their lethal reach while he lashed
out with the curved blade.

“Keep her safe,” Namitus called out as
Karthor placed the rope in Alto’s hands.

Alto let go of the rope and started back,
pushing past the priest. Karthor pushed him back but Alto was
persistent and turned away. “I’m grabbing that rope and going down;
if you don’t grab the other end, I’ll fall and probably die. Do you
want to be responsible for losing two people today?”

Alto stopped and stared at him. “You
wouldn’t!”

Karthor grabbed the rope and walked to the
edge. He backed to the edge and stared over it, and then stepped
off.

Alto threw himself at the rope. He caught it
but his body rolled over the far edge. It burned through his hands
until he closed his grip enough to stop it; he wrapped his wrist
around it and felt himself lowering slowly. He saw Karthor climbing
to his feet. Tristam and William were letting his end of the rope
raise one hand at a time to lower Alto to the ground.

Alto hit the ground and let go. He stumbled
over and stared up, hoping against the impossible that Namitus
would appear. He saw Karthor rushing over to him out of the corner
of his eye but he paid the cunning priest no mind. Karthor held his
holy symbol over Alto’s clenched fists. The stinging faded as the
blood from his torn flesh clotted and the skin knit back
together.