“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.