Lhors gaped at the giggling, fur-clad mass of giant, then eyed Nemis sidelong.
The mage grinned at him. “One of my favorite spells. He’lllaugh until he passes out from lack of wind. By the time he recovers, we shall be long gone.”
“But he’ll raise the alarm,” Lhors said.
Nemis shook his head and held up a pinch of powder. “Withthis under his nose he won’t recall a thing that’s happened this entire day.”The mage had to raise his voice to be heard over the crazed laughter.
The giant tangled in the morning star was beginning to show signs of consciousness. Bleryn came up behind him and drove his sword deep into the creature’s throat, then backed away as blood arced across the chamber andran down the far wall. The dwarf turned away, teeth set in a mirthless grin. “Soshould all’ve ’em die,” he snarled.
“Not all,” Malowan said evenly.
The dwarf glared at him. Khlened tugged at Bleryn’s sleeveand led him aside, talking rapidly in a low voice. Probably explaining about paladins-at least this particular paladin, Lhors thought. The dwarf lookedskeptical but finally shrugged.
The insane giggling had been fading and suddenly ceased. The giant lay limp against the wall, eyes closed and mouth open. Nemis mumbled to himself a moment, then nodded in satisfaction and smeared the powder under the creature’s nostrils. He was vigorously scrubbing his finger down his cloak as hestepped back.
“Let us go,” Vlandar said. He led the way into a passage inthe east wall that immediately bent south. A short distance on, Malowan, Gerikh, and Agya edged around him. Nemis again brought up the rear.
Like the previous passages and chamber, the ice let in a greenish light so that they could see a goodly distance both ways. The floor was solid ice, but so tracked with hair from hides, mud, dirt and bits of crushed stone that it might as well have been stone. They stopped halfway down to rest, then went on around the bend, heading toward the Rift ledge once again.
They emerged from the tunnel to a bone-chilling wind. At Vlandar’s gesture, Agya and Malowan crept close to the edge while the rest ofthe company waited in the shelter of the tunnel. Florimund, who leaned heavily on Maera, whispered something against her ear. She nodded and led him over to where he could sit with his back against the wall. Malowan and Agya returned swiftly, and the paladin signed something to Vlandar that Lhors couldn’t follow.The warrior brought them back up the passage and took out the map from the Steadings trove. He set Nemis to keep watch while Malowan did the same to the rear.
“Our way is out there,” he told them quietly. “Left though.See here”-he pointed at an area on the map-“where another tunnel heads east thenbends south from a three-way join? The center tunnel opens into a cavern where there are hiding places with guards behind them. We shall see.”
Florimund whispered something to Maera. The ranger, who’dsettled herself and Florimund several paces back, murmured something to her sister, who cast up her eyes but came over to speak to Vlandar.
“Warrior,” she said softly. “Florimund remembers this place.He thinks. He recalls cold and three tunnels branching. He says his guards went by the lowest one. He remembers little from there except for a vast chamber and a throne. He says his guards were afraid of the middle way.”
“Afraid?” Vlandar asked. “Why?”
She shrugged, but Maera came over then, her lips set. “Hedoes not speak Giantish, Vlandar. Oh, certain words as any prisoner might learn. But like most of our kind, he is sensitive to atmosphere, even if not as sensitive as a true elf. He sensed the fear in his guards’ speech the same as Iwould.”
Rowan grimaced. She looked apologetic. Likely because Maera is always angry, Lhors thought. It seemed a foolish point for anger. Vlandar was right to wonder what the ex-prisoner knew and how, since he seems to remember so little otherwise. Maera was already deep in some discussion with Florimund, their heads close together.
“We will not take the south passage,” Vlandar said quicklyand very quietly, as if he did not want the rangers or Florimund to overhear him. “There is a mark on the map-Nosnra’s, if Nemis is right-and it cuts acrossthe south passage. Nemis or Mal can check for us, but by this map, Nosnra saw the left passage as a dead end but the other as deadly. This leaves the middle passage or the Rift itself.”
“Was up t’ me,” Agya broke in firmly, “th’ Rift is dead last.Somethin’ down there smells worse’n anything I ever found in city, even in th’Sink. I’d wager somethin’ nasty down there kills things but eats only bits andleaves th’ rest to stink.”
“I agree,” Malowan said. He’d come back to join them. Hecupped a small charm in his hands, and his eyes were still fixed on their backtrail. “Pure evil dwells in those depths, but the descent would kill usbefore we encountered it. The walls are steep and iced, and the wind is dire. There is nothing close behind or aware of us back there. We had better go.”
Vlandar nodded and put Lhors next to him as they set out again. Nemis lead the way, and Malowan brought up the rear.
They paused briefly at the three-way branch when Agya gestured urgently. The little thief clutched Malowan’s free hand as she slidinto the left-hand passage, her nose twitching. Her hands moved in sign, too rapid for Lhors to follow, and the two retreated quickly.
“Ogres,” Malowan whispered, “and no moving air. It’s a deadend.”
Florimund seemed to be arguing with Maera and Rowan and gesturing feebly toward the southwest branch. Lhors thought Maera looked angry with her sister, but the two rangers came quietly, holding up their fellow as Vlandar started down the center passage. He slowed as the passage narrowed, tested the air himself, listened intently, then sent Nemis and Malowan both ahead, keeping everyone else back.
“Giants, or somethin like,” Agya whispered. She was right atLhors’ elbow and cross because Malowan hadn’t taken her with him. “No wolves,though-I don’t think.”
Khlened and Bleryn argued briefly with Vlandar. Of course they’d want to bellow and charge in, letting surprise give them an advantage.Vlandar simply shook his head and shifted the grip on his sword as he settled against the wall to wait.
Malowan was back almost at once. He held up eight fingers, then the sign for “giants.” Nemis returned some moments later and beckonedeveryone close.
“I used my beneath notice spell and got into the chamberitself. There’s a giant at the entrance to a fairly large cave, here”-he drew aknife and scratched lines in the ice wall. “They cannot all be seen from theentry, and they can watch each other. They’re an elite bunch, not like the lastones. One hidden south of the entry and four back behind a ledge that divides the cavern.” The mage waited until everyone had a chance to look at his sketchedmap, then used a spell to melt a little of the ice, erasing it. “There’s onethat’s different, though. The rest were all business, but he was laughing,gossiping, or just nattering from the sound of it.”
Seven elite guards and one elder. It didn’t sound to Lhors asthough it made better odds for them. Vlandar seemed to think the same way. His face was very grim. “Weapons?” he asked.
“Pikes and spears, plus some boulders to throw. There’s toomany for a straight-on attack, and the ones behind that ledge are ready to ambush anyone who attacks the others. We need a plan before we go in.”
Vlandar squatted on his heels and brought out the map. Nemis indicated where the ledge was and where he’d seen or sensed guards. “Eight ofthem, ten of us, but we aren’t all fighters.”
“And they’re at least twice our size and in familiarterritory,” Malowan added.
“Two of us have magic,” Khlened put in, “plus a thief, andth’ rangers and Lhors with spears and bow.”
Lhors was surprised. The berserker might actually be learning that not every battle had to be a melee. Dead berserkers cannot spend treasure, the youth thought.