"Green glow in flash," grunted the orc, "mean Gruumsh in gem."
Gruumsh was in the emerald? her psyche fairly shouted with horror. "If Gruumsh is in the emerald," she asked, "then Gruumsh fought his own devotees?"
"Gruumsh strong," muttered the druid. "Gruumsh like strong. You strong. You use gem. Show One-Eye."
Yddith relaxed. She understood why she had been kidnapped instead of killed. Indeed, realizing it was in the druid's interest to keep her alive, she felt considerably more relaxed. Comforted by this realization, it wasn't long before she slept.
The night was short for the others. They rested briefly, but kept moving even in the hours of darkness so they could rescue Yddith before Hassq killed her. Of course, none of them could understand why Hassq hadn't killed her outright to steal the necklace. It would have been easy to snatch the gem, place it around his own neck, transform into an eagle, and fly off to Calmet in a fraction of the time that the druid's hike up the mountain was taking. Jozan believed that Yddith was chosen by Pelor to provide some kind of key to victory over Calmet, but Alhandra considered it unseemly to expect help from the gods when the gods had empowered you to do it yourself. She made it very clear that she didn't think Yddith was any kind of key. She planned to rescue the barmaid because no woman should be carried into slavery and humiliation, not because Yddith was a key.
Krusk ventured no opinions. He kept his eyes on the prisoner and maintained position a pace behind their frightened orc guide. So far, the prisoner had proven to be an asset, but that didn't mean the barbarian trusted him. The prisoner stopped and Krusk immediately reached for his axe. Before he could draw it, the orc turned and motioned to Krusk.
"Here close," whispered the orc in his gruff dialect. "Give rope."
Krusk offered his rope reluctantly, remembering that Yddith had been the last to touch it before he coiled it in his bag and headed off to rescue her. After a pause, Krusk acceded to the orc's request and carefully scrutinized every motion that the prisoner made with the rope.
The orc shook out the rope in his hands and formed a noose with it. Looking to Krusk for reassurance, he carefully stepped into the underbrush and crouched. Krusk kept a keen eye on him, but the prisoner's posture didn't indicate any intent to escape. The prisoner surveyed the ground intently. After a while, the barbarian saw the orc pull back on the rope and hold up a squirming rodent. The noose was tight enough that the giant rat couldn't squeal. The orc proudly returned to the rest of the group.
Krusk wasn't at all sure what the prisoner was doing, so he signaled for the others to remain and followed the orc quietly and carefully along a lightly used game trail in the underbrush. The prisoner stopped, played out the slack on the rope, and threw the rat underhand to a spot slightly ahead on the path.
The barbarian could see that the rat was struggling to free itself, wriggling pathetically in the last throes of asphyxiation when it hit the ground. If it had looked like the unfortunate rodent was in trouble before, it was in double jeopardy when it touched down. A snare collapsed on the struggling vermin and snatched it up so that it hung from a spry tree limb. Krusk understood as he walked up beside the smiling orc and used his greataxe to slice the animal free. The orc hadn't been certain where the trigger of the trap was; the struggling rat was meant to set off the trap, even if the orc's aim missed the exact trip point. If the orc had picked up a rock or limb big enough to trigger the trap, Krusk would have assumed it was meant for a weapon.
He begrudgingly acknowledged the orc's wisdom, but when the prisoner whispered, "Good trap. Clear now," Krusk shoved him back down the trail.
It was still a murdering orc, he reminded himself.
The prisoner and the half-breed returned to the others and attempted to develop a plan. Krusk thought they could sneak up on the camp and have Jozan invoke an area of silence around the druid. Under that plan, Hassq wouldn't be able to cast any spells that required power words or invocations, and Krusk felt certain he could put an arrow through any of the guards who might threaten Yddith once the orcs became aware of their attackers. While Jozan silenced the druid and Krusk provided cover, Alhandra would enter the camp and cut Yddith free. Once Yddith was clear, they would turn their attention to the druid himself.
The most surprising part of their deliberation was discovering that their prisoner also wanted a chance to strike at Hassq. Whether Qorrg, for so he introduced himself, had a long-term grudge against the druid, or merely wanted revenge for being placed in a situation where he became a prisoner of war was uncertain. All Krusk could be sure of was that the orc's eye lit up with undisguised pleasure whenever they spoke of killing Hassq.
Certainly, the plan was simple. Unfortunately, that didn't mean the enemy would cooperate. Indeed, the plan didn't survive coming into proximity with the enemy. Qorrg was extremely capable of moving silently through the underbrush, and the barbarian was even better. Alhandra was slow, but competent. The problem was Jozan, who had never been called upon to be truly stealthy before. Krusk winced as Jozan clumsily stepped on every brittle branch and root. It was clear to the barbarian that they would never get near Hassq's camp without the druid being forewarned.
When Krusk asked for alternate suggestions, Alhandra proposed a ruse. She anticipated having the orc tie Krusk's rope loosely around Jozan's hands. Then, pretending that the cleric was his prisoner, Qorrg would march Jozan straight up to the druid. Krusk and Alhandra would hide in the trees and be ready to attack when the moment was ripe or if anything went wrong. Krusk looked at Qorrg with plain mistrust, but he assured the orc that an arrow would be aimed at his back through the entire masquerade. If anything did go wrong, Qorrg would be the first to die.
Setting up the ploy required but a minute. Then Krusk and Alhandra faded into the trees with only seconds to spare before a group of Hassq's henchmen appeared on the trail ahead of Qorrg and Jozan.
For a moment, Krusk thought the orc was tempted to throw in with his old team. He caressed the feathers of the nocked arrow's fletching and drew the bow, ready to drop the orc where he stood. As though he was aware of Krusk's intention, Qorrg insisted that Jozan was his prize only and that he was determined to take the cleric to Hassq personally.
"Qorrg find strong foe! Bring Hassq!" shouted the orc.
"Bring!" commanded the masked leader of the orcs, little realizing the charade in which he was a participant.
Qorrg quickly obeyed, shoving Jozan forward convincingly. The two followed their escort of four orcs straight back to Hassq's camp, while Krusk and Alhandra stalked behind unseen.
The impromptu plan worked well enough against the orc guards, but Hassq had obviously not become their leader through luck alone. When he saw the bound priest approaching under guard, he immediately leapt to his feet and shouted for his minions.
"Trick! Fight!" screeched the druid, and confused warriors began converging on both Qorrg and Jozan.
Krusk grinned with satisfaction as his arrow burst from an orc's chest. He had barely nocked another when, to his surprise, Qorrg sliced into an onrushing orc, giving Jozan the time he needed to invoke a holy membrane of silence over the druid. When Krusk let the arrow fly, it streaked across the clearing and vibrated obscenely in another orc's neck, it's bloody tip lodged in the orc's shoulder armor. He also saw Hassq smirk menacingly at Jozan's spell as if the druid could merely shrug off the priest's effort.
By this time, Krusk was vaguely aware of the paladin fighting her way toward Yddith. He watched the paladin thrusting and slashing and deemed it most appropriate to aim his arrows at the main attraction. Just as Hassq reached for his leather bag and started pulling the emerald necklace out of it, Krusk's arrow pierced the druid's hand. The druid dropped the necklace in an involuntary spasm of pain, but Krusk cursed to himself as he saw the druid immediately tracing a pattern in the air. The arrow waved strangely from the impaled hand as he did so. Hassq seemed to be conjuring power out of the earth and trees themselves to throw at the barbarian.