“Great,” Jerdren muttered. “So, where’s this temple? Every cave opening on this map of Zebos’, we’ve marked. We know what’s there—or was.”
Hebold studied the map closely, holding it nearly to his nose. “No. There’s one missing. Should be just… here.” He pointed. “When we went after the gnolls, we could see it. Another cave, a little lower down the slope and nearer the center of the ravine.”
“Undead,” Jerdren said. He thought, finally looked at Eddis. “We need to talk.”
“Yes,” Panev said. “And each member of this company must decide whether to continue to fight. Such a temple will be a place of great evil.”
In the end, the entire company—including Flerys, who was startled to be given a vote—chose to go.
Kadymus grinned widely. “A temple! Think what treasure we’ll find!”
“No!” Panev shook his head fiercely. “In such a place, you touch things at your peril. I will instruct you before we go into battle.”
The party from the Keep arrived early the next afternoon. Eddis was beginning to feel nervy. Every weapon she owned was freshly edged, and there was nothing left to do but wait.
M’Baddah, Willow, and Mead had gone up the ravine that morning, to see if they could locate the cave Hebold claimed to have seen. They’d found it, but hadn’t dared go too close. Mead’s reveal spell showed danger and great evil, but he couldn’t tell anything more specific than that. They had also seen twenty or more dead hobgoblins near the foot of the cliff near the bugbears’ cave but had no explanation for what had killed them.
The Keep guards brought food and a hide full of new arrows and quarrels, spears and daggers—and a parcel and message for the priest.
Panev read the message and drew Eddis and Jerdren aside. “The curate tells me that visiting priest and his two acolytes have been arrested. A search of their rooms revealed evidence that they are not the holy men they pretend to be but servants of a secret, evil brotherhood. They also found a map that shows these caves. The curate sends his blessings to the company and all the potions and wands he could gather. I see Hieroneous’ hand in this.” He smiled. “Things will go well, if we are all well prepared.” He walked off, deep in thought.
“Always do, don’t they?” Jerdren asked of no one and went over to talk to Hebold.
Eddis gazed after him, then went in search of Blorys. Jers had been acting odd—like his old, wild self—ever since Hebold first showed up. Blorys might not be able to do anything with him either, but he’d stand a better chance.
Eddis took third watch with M’Baddah and one of the spearmen. It was very dark and cold, and utterly silent except for someone snoring near the fire, and the occasional shifting of the picketed horses. The hour over, she woke Jerdren and lay down close to the fire.
A man’s yell of pain and the screams of terrified horses had her on her feet scant moments later. There was chaos all around the fire, as men ran to protect the horses, and others headed toward the dash of weaponry, far enough into the trees that it was hard to tell who was fighting whom—or what.
“Lights!” Eddis shouted. “You and you, let’s get some lights out there, or we’ll wind up killing each other!”
The battle had moved to the road by the time she and Blorys came running, each carrying a lantern and drawn sword. Three men were down, one wailing in agony. Beyond them, five heavily armed hobgoblins fought furiously. Jerdren and Hebold were battling side by side, finishing off one fallen brute, but the others seemed unharmed as yet.
The unexpected light distracted one of them. M’Baddah and his son charged it, M’Whan lunging as his father swung the curved blade, two-handed. Blood ran down the creature’s face, blinding it, but as M’Baddah brought the blade around again, it caught him by the forearm and yanked, dragging the outlander onto his blade. The outlander shouted in sudden pain, the outcry drowned by M’Whan’s, “Father!”
The youth stabbed, again and again. Eddis handed the lantern to one of the bleeding men stumbling back from the fray and ran to help. Blorys came hard on her heels, and as Eddis jabbed at the brute, Blor shoved the lantern at its face. Momentarily blinded, it snarled and slapped the thing aside. Blor staggered but managed to stay on his feet. Eddis was behind it, then, out of its reach and safely away from M’Whan’s flailing sword.
No room to swing the sword, without cutting one of their own, she thought, and lunged, plunging the point into the unprotected back of the hobgoblin’s knee. It bellowed in rage and pain, dropped M’Baddah, and swung around to face her, but M’Whan and Blorys attacked now, cutting it badly. It was swaying as it turned from her to face this new threat, and it went down. Eddis brought her sword down hard across the back of its neck, again and again until it no longer moved.
She fell back, winded. Two more hobgoblins had fallen since she had sprung to the attack, but more men littered the road, and she could still hear the high-pitched, shrill cry of a terrified horse, back in the camp.
M’Whan knelt to help his father, and Eddis came around to steady the man as the youth got him on his feet.
“How bad?” she asked. Her lieutenant’s face was ashen.
“My arm—above the wrist. I think it is broken.” He gripped M’Whan’s shoulder tightly. “Thanks to you three, it is only that.”
“Gods,” Eddis whispered and shook her head to clear it. “M’Whan, get him out of the middle of this. Blor—?”
But Blorys had already moved off to help his brother and two spearmen take down another of the attackers. Eddis ran to aid three of the Keep men who’d ridden out that day. They were backing nervously away from a massive brute who bled from a dozen or more shallow cuts, their spears trailing in the dirt.
“Don’t run!” she shouted. “You’ll give him a better chance to cut you down. Stay there, keep those spears at the ready!”
The creature turned to face her as she ran in, yelling wildly, her sword swinging. Two more cuts—a deep one across the back of its sword hand, another down the side of its face, and the hobgoblin backed away and bounded forward and took a vicious swipe at her head. Eddis’ heels caught on one of the fallen men, and she went down. The brute loomed over her, teeth bared in a horrid grin, sword raised to pin her to the ground. She rolled, coming up onto her knees, staggering to her feet. Furtive movement caught her eye. Kadymus, a thick-bladed dagger in each hand, was sneaking up on the creature, and Flerys came flying out of the dark, spear ready to thrust. The brief distraction cost Eddis, but a quick jump back kept the hobgoblin’s sword from more than scratching her arm.
With a yell of fury, Flerys jabbed her spear at the creature’s back but lost her balance as the point bounced off armor. The little thief brought one dagger down, the other up, burying one blade in the hobgoblin’s sword-arm, the other in its neck.
It bellowed and turned to strike. Eddis’ sword bit deep across the backs of its legs, felling it, and Kadymus leaped to slam two more daggers deep in its neck. It shuddered and went limp. Flerys edged around it and came running, dinging fiercely as the swordswoman stroked her hair. Eddis’ eyes moved, taking in their surroundings. No fighting close by, and the monsters still standing were surrounded.
“Are you all right?” she asked the girl finally.
A sharp nod.
“Sure?”
The thin body trembled against hers. Afraid, Eddis thought, but a moment later, Flerys burst into tears.
“Thought it killed Eddis,” she whispered tearfully. “Don’t want filthy monsters killing Eddis.”
The fighting was over as suddenly as it had begun. The last hobgoblin tried to flee, but Hebold ran after it and cut it down with the double-bladed axe he’d picked up in the dungeons.
Eddis surveyed the damage. Four dead hobgoblins—five now, as spearmen dispatched the last of the wounded. Men seemed to be everywhere, fallen, bloody, moaning. Some weren’t moving.