"No one can do everything, " Trap said. "We'll just have to find him, but in the meantime, we'll have to stay here. Maybe he'll come back. "
"Go find Beglug now, " Umpth said, his ear to the metal rim of the wheel. "Big feet come. "
"The bugbears, " Trap said, taking a good grip on his hoopak. He reached in his pouch where he kept his slinging stones. He wanted one of the flame balls he had picked up in Deepdel. They should have been easy to find, he reasoned, since he had wrapped them in his extra shirt, but the round stones from the river had worked their way to the bottom of the pouch and in the darkness he could not tell one from the other.
Since they could not run away and leave the little merchesti behind, they led the ponies up the western side of the hill behind them and stood their ground on the forested slope just above the campfire. Three large trees separated them from the clear area around the campsite. No one made a decision or gave an order, it just seemed the thing to do.
On the opposite slope they heard snarls and muttered orders as the group of humanoids regrouped for their attack. A howl and a growled order suggested the leader was having trouble with his troops.
Grod announced his intention to find Beglug and disappeared up the hillside. Umpth, his expression full of fear, dashed back and forth from the campsite to the ponies, bringing the packs and the bedding they had not had time to load onto the pack pony. No one warned him that in his desire to gather up their possessions, he was pointing the way to where the others hid. By the time he finished his trotting, the ponies were loaded. If they could locate the other gully dwarf and the little fiend, they could escape.
"Go find Beglug?" Umpth suggested in a frightened voice. He threw a timid glance over his shoulder. "All go find Beglug. "
"We can't be running around in the woods in the dark, " Halmarain said. "Our only chance is to stay together, though I can't think what we can do against bugbears. " Her voice trembled, but she stood ready.
"See if you can remember a spell, " Ripple suggested to Halmarain. "Maybe if you decide on one before they attack, you can use your magic. "
"I'm trying, " the little wizard whispered and muttered under her breath. She squeaked slightly as they saw movement under the trees on the other side of the stream. The dozen large humanoids stepped out into the moonlight across the stream from the campfire. They had not seen the four travelers beneath the shadows of the trees on the hillside, nor the ponies tethered further up the slope.
"Now it wears out, " Trap muttered in disgust as he discovered he was visible again. "If we ever see Orander again, I'm going to speak to him about his magic. " He took off the ring and stored it back in his pouch, feeling for the second one.
"I wish this ring had some magic, " Ripple said, holding up her hand for him to see she was wearing the ring she had taken from Orander's chest. "I wish it would make me twice as large as a bugbear and then they'd see something-oops!"
Branches snapped as Ripple shot up to nearly fifteen feet in height.
"Wow! Big jiggies! How did you do that?" her brother asked, stepping quickly away from the enlarging feet of his sister. "Can you make me big too?"
"I don't know how I did it, " she said as she stepped away from the confining tree limbs. As she pushed one aside, they heard a squall of fear. Ripple looked up, reached out and plucked Beglug out of the tree. When she lowered him to the ground, he looked around with sleepy eyes and yawned widely.
"If Grod were here we could… " Trap had intended to say "leave, " but there was no point. Their talk, the noise of Ripple's growth, and Beglug's howl of fright had drawn the bugbears. They had not seen Ripple, since she was still hidden from them by the leaves of the tall trees.
The largest of the bugbears charged toward the trees, but after three steps he stopped, roared at the others, and let them pass him by. He followed close behind, whacking two bugbears whose pace had slowed. They splashed through the stream, passed the dying campfire, and started up the slope.
Ripple pushed past the concealing trees and stepped into the open to meet the first two attackers. The human-oids skidded to a stop and stared up at her. Both were bugbears, seven feet tall and used to thinking of themselves as the largest and most fierce creatures in the world. They stood staring, their low foreheads wrinkled in confusion, their tall, pointed ears twitching.
"Hello, " Ripple said as she reached out and grabbed the nearest by the arm and slung him back on his companions.
"I'm glad you came to visit, " she caught the second's spear which he pointed at her as he tried to back away. His own grip on his weapon jerked him forward.
"Let's play a game. "
She caught him up by the shoulder and slammed him into three others, knocking all four back into the stream.
Trap had found the second of the two rings he had taken from Orander's treasure chest. He slipped it on his finger, drew a stone from his pouch and fitted it into the sling of his hoopak. He caught sight of the largest bugbear who had slipped out from behind the rest of the retreating group. The humanoid used the night shadows to slip around behind Ripple.
"This should stop you, " he murmured as he whirled his hoopak. Unfortunately, while his attention was on the sling and twirling it over his head, he forgot about the ring. He took a step forward to put more force behind his throw. His unlucky step carried him well away from the trees and he slammed up against a bugbear who was just coming out of the shadows on the far side of the stream.
The stone went wild and struck Ripple on the back of her left calf. She jerked her leg back and kicked the bug-bear who was sneaking up on her from behind. He gave a howl as he sailed through the air, slammed into the trunk of a tree, and slid to the ground.
Trap, slightly stunned by his collision with the bugbear, shook his head, glanced at the ring on his finger, and crowed with delight.
"That was fun!"
He stared at one of the bugbears who had regained his feet after being bowled over by Ripple. The male kender took a step in the bugbear's direction and slammed into him. The big humanoid went flying back into the stream.
"One more time, " Trap said, his ears ringing from the impact. He took a step toward another bugbear, but his aim was slightly off and the bugbear, suddenly noticing Ripple was turning her attention toward him, backed away. Trap found himself on the hillside, beneath the shadows of the trees, and he had found a target. He had collided with Grod. Luckily, the gully dwarf had been near the end of the giant step.
Grod picked himself up. "No find Beglug, " he said. "Was coming back. " The last sounded as if it could be an accusation, as if Trap had not needed to be so abrupt in approaching him.
"We found Beglug and Umpth's looking after him, " Trap told Grod. "You go help him. "
The kender turned, ready for another giant step, but most of the bugbears and hobgoblins-those still able to stand-were retreating across the creek. Ripple was scourging them with her whippik, which, since she had been holding it when she made her wish, had grown with her.
The stunned leader had regained consciousness again. He had found his short spear and his spear-throwing stick, which the humanoids called an atl-atl. He was taking aim on Ripple's retreating back when Trap whipped out a stone and sent it flying toward the bugbear. This time he had found an exploding fire globe, and it crashed into the back of the humanoid leader. The bugbear felt the fire through his leather vest and ran howling toward the stream.
Most of the bugbears and hobgoblins had lost their larger weapons. Some had been dropped in the tumble down the hill. Others had been knocked from their hands when Ripple had thrown one attacker into a group of the others. Two had axes, and one a short spear, but their reach could not match that of the giant kender girl. She delivered a rain of stinging blows with the leather loop of the huge whippik.