† The great ruby, symbol of happiness, red as blood … wards off evil spirits, and is an antidote to snake venom.
If the ruby could combat snake venom, perhaps it would have an effect on Gellick’s venom also. It was a slim chance. But it was all the chance they had.
He looked up, met Barda’s eyes, and saw that the big man at last understood what he was doing.
“She is still breathing. But we need time,” Lief muttered. Barda nodded and turned again to face the door. Without a word, Prin took Jasmine’s dagger and crept over to stand beside him. The big man glanced at her and tried to wave her away, but she shook her head and did not move.
The gnomes were battering the door with something heavy now, heaving and shouting in time. The door’s bolt was rattling and the wood was beginning to splinter. It would not hold for much longer.
Barda stood grimly, sword in hand, waiting. Beside him, eyes wide and terrified, was Prin. She winced with every crash against the door, but stood her ground.
Jasmine lay deathly still, her fingers curled around the Belt. Lief bent his head and whispered in her ear. “Jasmine, fight the poison. Fight it!” he breathed. “The ruby is in your hand. The ruby is helping you.”
Jasmine’s face did not change. But Lief thought he saw the sun-browned fingers move, very slightly. She had heard him. He was sure of it.
There was another crash, and the sound of cracking wood. Kree cried a warning and flew to Barda. Prin squealed in terror. Lief turned and saw that the door was shuddering violently. Its hinges were bursting. The bolt had half fallen away. One more blow, or two …
Beside him, Jasmine gave a long, low sigh. He glanced down, and gasped in amazement. Red light was glowing between her curled fingers.
It was the ruby. The ruby, working its magic, showing its power.
Jasmine’s eyes opened sleepily. Lief’s heart leaped as he saw that they were clear, no longer filled with pain. But she was weak, terribly weak.
“Lief!” roared Barda. “They have broken through!”
Lief stood Jasmine’s shield in front of her to give her some protection, and ran to the door. Through the gaping holes in the shuddering wood he could see grinning gnome faces and the glinting of axes.
Barda was flailing with his sword, slashing at the holes as gnome hands and feet crept forward. Prin was by his side, stabbing bravely with Jasmine’s dagger. So far they had prevented entry. But it would not be long before the door gave way completely, falling inward. When that happened, the gnomes would rush over it like water over a collapsing dam. Then all would be lost.
“Prin!” Lief shouted. “Go to Jasmine! She is reviving, but slowly. Protect her, and Filli, if you can.”
He took Prin’s place as she hurried to do his bidding. Barda had never stopped beating the gnomes back, but his grim, sweating face was even more determined now that he knew Jasmine was still alive.
An angry voice shrilled from the other side of the door. A voice Lief recognized. “You cannot win, you fools! Give in now and we will be merciful and kill you quickly. Keep us waiting here and we will make you pay! We will make you suffer!”
It was Gla-Thon, the worker who had complained about having to toil for Gellick. Lief licked his lips and shouted back.
“Are you afraid, Gla-Thon, that your master the toad will be angry if you dally with us here instead of collecting flies? Ah, there was once a time when gnomes were their own masters.”
“And a time, I have heard, when the halls of Dread Mountain did not stink like garbage carts,” Barda called, following Lief’s lead. “And when their treasure was not covered in toad slime, but was the envy of all.”
“Shut your mouths!” shrieked Gla-Thon in fury.
“The great toad has made us strong!” called another voice that Lief was sure belonged to the red-bearded Ri-Nan. “It came to us and offered to protect us from the Shadow Lord and his Guards. It offered to let us use its poison, on certain — conditions. These conditions were hard, but we were glad to accept them. Gellick’s venom has made us powerful.”
“Oh, yes,” Lief jeered. “It helped you drive away the Kin, so that now your paths and gnome-rests are smothered by thorny Boolong trees in which Vraal can lie in wait. It enslaved you, so that now you toil day and night in Gellick’s service, half starved and in fear of your lives. You have indeed made a wonderful bargain.”
There was silence outside the door. Lief and Barda glanced at each other. Was it possible that they were winning this battle of words?
“We could help you rid yourselves of your tyrant,” Lief called, crossing his fingers for luck. “Do you not want to be free again?”
There was another long silence.
“No weapon can kill Gellick.” When it came at last, Gla-Thon’s voice was dull with despair. “Gellick’s hide is too thick for swords and arrows to pierce. Even axes have no effect. Many have paid with their lives for daring to try to win our freedom.”
“No one can survive Gellick’s venom,” called another, older voice. “I, Fa-Glin, leader of the Dread Gnomes, tell you this. You saw yourself what happened to your companion — through just a tiny arrow wound in her hand.”
“What happened to me?” The voice rang out, strong and laughing.
As a stunned silence fell outside the door, Lief and Barda spun around. Jasmine was standing behind them, leaning on Prin’s shoulder. She looked pale and weak, but she grinned at them and wordlessly held out the Belt of Deltora. Lief took it, and quickly fastened it around his waist, covering it with his shirt once more.
“The venom did not harm me, Fa-Glin!” Jasmine shouted. “Our magic is too strong. The toad cannot kill us, but we have weapons powerful enough to kill it.”
She paused, swaying. Then she made a great effort, raised her head, and called again, her voice as confident as before. “Do you want our help? If so, lay down your weapons, send in three members of your party, and we will talk.”
The meeting between Barda, Lief, Jasmine, and the three representatives of the gnomes, Gla-Thon, Ri-Nan, and Fa-Glin, lasted for well over an hour. While it was taking place, Prin, Kree, and Filli watched silently from a corner of the breeding cave. None of them trusted the gnomes, and the fact that the white-bearded Fa-Glin wore a fringed jacket that was plainly made from Kin skin did little to change their minds.
Discussion was difficult and angry at first. But, as Lief had suspected, in her heart Gla-Thon was determined not to let the chance of defeating Gellick pass by. Fa-Glin, astounded by Jasmine’s magical recovery, was on her side. And at last even Ri-Nan gave in and a decision was reached. With the gnomes’ help, the visitors would kill Gellick. In return they would receive their freedom, and the dull green stone embedded in the toad’s forehead.
“It seems a poor reward,” murmured old Fa-Glin, regarding them with suspicion. “And how do you know it is there, may I ask? The stone appeared in Gellick’s brow only a little more than sixteen years ago.”
“We have ways of knowing such things,” said Jasmine quickly. “Have you not seen for yourselves how strong our magic is?”
“I have heard tell that toad-stones can weave powerful spells,” Gla-Thon put in. “And this one is very large.” She turned to the companions. “No doubt that is why you want it?”
Lief, Barda, and Jasmine nodded, but they could see that Fa-Glin was not convinced. Plainly he was still not sure that they were to be trusted.
“Gellick will be sleeping now,” Ri-Nan said. “Entering the treasure cavern at this time is forbidden. If Gellick wakes …”
“The toad will not wake,” Barda said firmly. “And if it does, we are the ones who will suffer. We will enter the cavern alone. All we ask is that you show us the way.”