He sighed and finally nodded. “You’re right, of course. Let’s go.”
16
They made it to level ground without incident, but as Jerdren turned to lead the way east, lightning flared, turning the forest blue-white, and a nearby tree exploded. Thunder shattered the air. Jerdren staggered to his feet, but his legs gave way. He looked dazed, and blood trickled from his nose.
“Back!” Blorys shouted above the din of sudden wind, drenching rain, and more thunder. “We could all die out here! Back to that cavern!”
Thunder roared, drowning his words.
“No!” M’Baddah blocked the way. “We would never make it, not in this weather!” He pointed. “This way—against the cliff! Perhaps we can find an overhang! Everybody move—now!”
Eddis helped Blorys get Jerdren moving, letting Flerys carry her bow. Another brilliant flare of lightning and a loud crack! M’Baddah jumped back just in time to avoid a huge branch that crashed down from high above, then leaped over it and kept going.
There was no overhang, only more trees, and the lightning had intensified as they fled, thunder deafening and non-stop. Wind drove the rain sideways, lashing their faces and hands, soaking everything.
M’Baddah waved his arms and pointed as they came into the open. Just ahead, a vast, dark opening loomed. Eddis caught up to him, and her nose wrinkled.
“Gods, M’Baddah! I never smelled anything so horrid!” She had to yell to be heard.
“You want to look for another shelter, woman?” Jerdren yelled back.
Lightning stabbed into the trees a short distance away. Flame and smoke licked greedily up the branches but was doused by the rain.
“Or you want to die out here? Come on, we won’t go in very far!”
“You got that part right!” Eddis screamed and ripped her sword from the sheath as she stepped into darkness. Flerys hesitated, then dove after the woman as thunder cracked across the sky. The rest followed hastily.
They huddled together as near the entrance as they dared.
“Keep watch,” Jerdren ordered. “Every last one of us, both out there and behind us. And we’ll stay close together, if no one minds.”
“What are you watching for?” Eddis snarled at him. “Anything in here is dead. Very, very dead.”
“Who knows? Whatever killed what you’re smelling?”
The storm raged on. Bushes bent to the ground under the intense downpour and more branches came crashing down. Lightning was everywhere and though the storm seemed to be gradually moving away, each time Jerdren started to get up, another strike hit close by.
“I swear,” he mumbled, “the filthy storm is trying to keep us here!”
“None of that,” M’Baddah said sharply, before Eddis could reply.
Flerys hunkered down between M’Baddah and Eddis, her face buried in the outlander’s cloak. She started violently whenever thunder cracked nearby. Kadymus alone seemed unfazed. He was wandering around, straying farther from the others by the moment.
“Wretched little dungeon-bird, you stay put!” Eddis ordered him, but the thief shook his head. “Don’t disturb anything in here!” she added sharply.
“You said it yourself, Eddis,” he replied with the smile that so annoyed her. “Everything in here’s long dead. But, you know, with such a mess all around, there’s just got to be something valuable hidden!”
He’d search for golden eggs in a pile of chicken droppings, Eddis thought. “Listen to me, you light-fingered little man. You come away from this cave reeking of dead things and you will sleep in the road. Because you will not have a place around the fire tonight!”
Kadymus held out his hands and laughed. “I won’t touch anything dead, all right? But it can’t hurt to look, can it?”
“If it’s you that’s looking, it just might—” Eddis said, then shrugged and fell silent.
Jerdren shook his head. “Blor, keep an eye on him. Kadymus, you stay where we can see you. You should know by now that any cave in this place can hold just about anything. And I’m not talking about treasure.”
“If there is treasure—” the thief grinned—“I’m the one to find it. C’mon, Blor. You hold the lamp for me, and I’ll share evens with you.”
“You’ll share evens with all of us, you little rat,” Eddis growled, but she doubted he’d heard her. He was already wandering around, peering into the gloom while Blor got out flint and tinder and lit the stub of candle in his lantern. “Keep him quiet and close, will you, my friend?” she asked quietly as Blorys looked down at her on his way back into the reeking cavern. “This place is—I don’t know! I just feel like something’s back there in the dark, watching us.”
“I know what you mean, Eddis.” He smiled. “Though, if you ask me, something killed whatever lived here and left. The place feels deserted.” He looked around in alarm as Mead got to his feet. “What?”
The elf shook his head. “Do not alarm any of our wounded, please. I just wish to test the place. There is no life in this chamber, but…” His voice trailed off, and Eddis could hear him mumbling under his breath. “I cannot detect anything close by,” he said finally, and he sounded frustrated. “But I feel something wrong.”
“Oh. Great,” Eddis muttered. She came halfway around and onto her feet, sword and dagger out, as Kadymus’ low mumbling suddenly stopped.
“Hey!” he announced. “There’s an odd thing over here!” And as Blorys came up with the lamp. “Oh, sorry. Guess it’s just a puddle, but it looked strange, like it was moving, and I—” He yelped. “Gods above, it’s coming at me! Look out!”
Eddis threw herself to her feet, sword in hand as Blorys caught the thief by his collar and yanked him back. Candlelight shone on something pearly, gray, and snakelike. It reared from the cave floor to snap at Eddis, who threw herself to one side. The thing followed, and Blor hauled out his sword to slash at the thing.
Mead’s voice echoed. “Get away from it!”
Blorys stared. “My sword! What’s it done to my sword?”
The blade was smoking, dissolving. Molten metal splattered to the cavern floor, and he threw the hilt with an oath as it began to steam. Eddis tugged at his arm.
“Get away from it!” the mage yelled again. “It is gray ooze, and it eats anything metal!”
Kadymus shrieked and pelted back across the chamber, stopping only when he reached the mouth of the cave. The ooze puddled on the bone-littered floor, but it was already beginning to form itself for another strike. Eddis hauled Blorys around with all the strength in her, and they ran.
“Eats… metal!” Blorys sounded as stunned as he looked. He rounded on Kadymus. “That was my best sword! I’ve had it since before I went in the army! You filthy, wretched, light-fingered, little—!”
“Be grateful you still have your armor,” Mead said sharply as the man paused for words. “And the metal buckle of the belt that holds up your pants. Jerdren,” he added, “it seems to me that the storm is moving on. So, unless you know how to stop gray ooze, we had better get out of here. That thing knows we are here, and I have nothing that will even slow it!”
“Out,” Jerdren ordered sharply. “Everyone, out—now!”
It was still raining heavily, and the wind blew hard, tearing small branches free to pelt down on the company as it wrapped sodden cloaks around their legs. But the storm was as short-lived as it was fierce. By the time they reached the road, the rain had turned to a thin drizzle, and the sky overhead was a deep blue.
It took time to get a fire going, since all their wood was soaked. The company devoured the bland mess their provisioner cooked up for them, then spent the remaining daylight hours tending to minor wounds, drying cloaks and blankets. One of the Keep men brewed hot mulled wine.
“Wonder where our big, bad hero wound up,” Eddis remarked sourly as she sipped the spicy, steaming liquid. “One muscle-bound brute and a handful of weakened monsters taking on an orc den? He must be mad.”