"I trust our new-found friend, Taenaran," she replied to the half-elf in their native tongue and watched as his eyes flashed once, only to be replaced by the calm, flat gaze that signaled his withdrawal behind walls so steep she had never managed to scale them. Their mission drove her onward, however, and so she had little time to worry over what her words might have done to Taenaran. Instead, she turned to the rest of her companions and said, "We should follow Yurz's lead. He has guided us well so far."
Which was the truth, she thought. Despite her initial apprehension about the depth of Yurz's enchanted devotion, the druid had found herself relaxing ever so slightly with each twist and turn of the passage. Not only had Yurz proven a knowledgeable guide, steering them clear of several dangerous sections of tunnel and carefully leading them through a cavern littered with piercers, but the bespelled creature had also helped them elude three goblin patrols. In each case Yurz had cocked his head to the side, listening, then had hastily ushered the group down a small side tunnel as a noisy band of goblins tramped through the main tunnel.
"Besides," she continued, "we might have a greater chance of bypassing the traitor's defenses if we come up from below the citadel."
She watched as the others nodded in reluctant agreement, even, she was relieved to see, Taenaran. "I don't like it," the half-elf said, "but I can clearly see the wisdom in it." He reached out and gave Marissa's shoulder a squeeze. "I trust you," he finished in Elvish. Marissa fought back tears as she watched the half-elf turn and gather his gear.
"Great," Roberc muttered, once again mounting Cavan, "that's just great. I've always wanted to spend my time skulking around goblin tunnels. It's so much better than just about anything else I could think of."
"Wonderful, little friend," Borovazk responded, clapping the halfling heartily on his back. "Now you will get your chance, eh?"
Marissa's tears turned to laughter as the halfling fighter's curse-laden response echoed in the tunnel. Wiping the moisture from her eyes, she turned to follow Yurz down the passageway.
Within her, the war drum thrummed to its implacable pulse.
Taen stood silently in the darkness, listening. The caverns and tunnels running through the depths of the Sunrise Mountains held a rhythm and a life all their own. Within their twisting shafts and dripping grottos untouched by natural light, the half-elf could hear the echoing drip of water falling into still, deep pools; the trickle and flow of underground streams plunging mindlessly along their paths; the clattering of dirt and rock sliding down cavern walls, thrown by the subtle shifting of the earth all around them; and most of all, Taen could sense the movement of hidden creatures slithering, crawling, and running through the darkness.
He'd journeyed into enough dungeons and underground lairs to become familiar with the pulse of life beneath the earth, but he had never grown used to feeling like an intruder, an unwanted visitor from another plane of existence. To him, the darkness had a hundred eyes, each one peering at him from within the shadowy depths of the subterranean night.
"Where are they?" Roberc whispered from somewhere nearby, nearly causing Taen to jump.
The half-elf and his companions all huddled in the darkness, waiting for Borovazk and Yurz to return from scouting the tunnel ahead. Taen had extinguished his arcane light, not wanting to take a chance that its illumination would attract unwanted attention, so they waited beneath a blanket of night, relying upon Cavan's sense of smell and their own instincts to ward them against any danger.
"They will return soon enough," Marissa replied softly from somewhere to Taen's left.
The half-elf hoped so. Though they hadn't stopped too long ago, the group's constant skulking through the lower caverns of the citadel was beginning to wear upon his nerves. The fingers of his left hand twitched slightly, moving unbidden in the patterns of an offensive spell he found himself eager to use. Such thoughts, he knew, were not helpful when engaged in a mission of infiltration, but they were his nonetheless. It wasn't as if he regularly found himself following the lead of an enchanted goblin into the belly of a mountain, the half-elf reasoned-though that thought brought a wave of resentment spilling over him.
Damn Marissa and her spell of enchantment! Taen had given her his trust, and he'd meant it when he told her so, but he found their whole situation, as well as their relationship, completely frustrating. She was like a raging river, always moving on her own path, slowly wearing down anything, or anyone, that stood in her way.
The sound of footfalls padding lightly up the corridor drew Taen's attention. Cavan let out a soft growl then settled down. The half-elf relaxed at that, for at the first sign of danger, the war-dog would have immediately alerted Roberc.
"Passage ahead is clear," Borovazk whispered, "though we found signs of goblins moving through to eastern caves."
"Man right," Yurz confirmed. "Tribe patrols just passed. Yurz thinks we have only short time before they return. We must move."
Taen gestured and a soft light floated a few feet before him, scattering the darkness. He blinked a few times to adjust his vision then moved forward, following the enchanted goblin. The others fell in behind them quickly, bypassing several small side passages that ran off of the main tunnel. The uneven stone passage twisted and turned, undulating through the mountain depths like a stone serpent.
Taen doggedly followed their swift-footed goblin guide along the sharply sloping trail and across a series of thin stone ledges. Finally, after nearly half a candle's journey, Yurz stopped their march. The tunnel through which they had been traversing ended abruptly in a jagged wall of stone. Taen traced his hands across the length of the interposing stone while the others caught their breath, but the half-elf found nothing.
"You've lead us into a dead end, Yurz," he said to the goblin, not quite keeping the accusation from his voice.
Yurz shook its head violently in denial as the others gathered around. "No, elfling," the creature whined piteously. "Me not lead Pretty Lady and friends to dead end. We now at entrance to upper caverns," he said, pointing toward the ceiling.
Taen followed the direction of the creature's finger, eventually discovering a roughly circular hole that opened into the tunnel's ceiling where it met the jagged wall. Walking carefully beneath the hole, he peered up into its depths and swore softly. What had at first looked like nothing more than a heavily shadowed section of the tunnel was actually a naturally occurring chimney leading up into darkness. He would probably never have found it were it not for Yurz's knowledge of the area.
"Well, so it is," Taen said, returning to the group. "So it is." He placed a hand upon the goblin's shoulder. "Good work, Yurz."
The creature beamed, its orange skin flushing a deeper tone in the dim light. "We go up and soon see Big Chief!"
"That will be nice, Yurz," Marissa said as she drew close to the goblin, "but before we enjoy your Big Chief's hospitality, we'd like to see the inside of the citadel."
Taen watched the creature's eyes widen. "Oh no," Yurz replied hastily. "Pretty Lady not want to visit man-castle. Ugly One there." The goblin shook his head as if to emphasize the point.
Marissa sighed heavily and Taen could see her arrange her face in mock sadness. "I understand, Yurz," she said. "It's just that I so wanted to see the citadel. You wouldn't consider letting us see it as a favor to me, would you?"
Taen almost felt sorry for the hapless goblin as he watched the creature's face trace the battle of fear and awe waged in his enchanted heart. It was clear which side had won when Yurz reached out a grime-covered hand to Marissa.
"Pretty Lady no worry," he said with eyes glistening with eagerness. "Yurz will lead her to man-castle. First we go to upper caverns then over bridge to the place of the dead. Then we be in man-castle pretty quick."