"There are many great dwarf bards."
"Well, I am not one of them," insisted Tordek, "and you would do well to remember it."
"All right, forget I said anything."
"That will be a feat worthy of Clangeddin Silverbeard, the way you keep nattering on."
To look at anything other than Devis, Tordek glanced at the uppermost bridge soaring more than sixty feet above them, both anxious for and dreading the moment when they crossed back over and faced Hargrimm in the forge. The spirit of Andaron did not seem deceitful, but one could never be sure with the dead. Even if what he proposed were true, it was still a speculation that would ensure their deaths if proved false. There was no other way that Tordek knew to eliminate the danger posed by the Arms of Andaron.
"Let's go," he said, rising to follow Lidda's careful descent to the bridge. They waited until Vadania and Gulo joined them before hastening across. Tordek braced his shoulder against the heavy gate and pushed. To his pleasant surprise, he felt the great mass move more easily than he expected. Andaron's gauntlets lent him far more than protection; they also imbued him with magical strength.
Beyond the gate they saw that dozens of benches surrounded the plaza. Most were smashed to ugly fragments scattered at the posts that once formed their legs. Tordek knew that long ago, dwarf mothers sat there and watched their children at play. Vadania noticed that his gaze lingered on the scene. She touched his arm as Lidda and Devis loped toward the big door.
"You are troubled," she said.
Tordek made a noncommittal grunt and headed toward the door.
"You fear that by heeding Andaron's suggestion you might be delivering to Hargrimm the very thing he needs to complete his summoning."
"The thought occurred to me," said Tordek. He brushed his armored fingers over the handle of Andaron's hammer. A faint, electric tingle stroked his fingers in return, and he withdrew his hand from the enchanted weapon. "Maybe the half-elf's right. We should take this damned thing and flee, hiding it where that demon will never find it."
"Yet he found the others," said Vadania, "all of them. Hargrimm had centuries to search, and he will have centuries more if no one puts an end to him."
Tordek grunted an affirmative.
"You must have faith," she told him.
"That I have," he replied. "The Soul-Forger surely blesses our quest."
"I mean in yourself," she said, "and in your friends."
He stopped walking and turned to her. "You know I trust you, lass, and Lidda, too, for all her jests. The bard, well, he has his uses, I suppose."
"He could have left us if he truly wished it," she said. "If all he desired was a tale, he has it by now. Lidda has her adventure and her treasure. I know that the forges will stop spewing out their infernal poisons as soon as Hargrimm finishes repairing the shattered weapons. Yet all of us remain, and there's only one reason for that. One thing holds us together in this quest, and that is you."
She looked down at him with such a confident and tender expression that he turned away rather than face her words. He cleared his throat a few times without speaking.
"My thanks," he said at last. He turned back and looked her in the eye. "Andaron could have used a counselor like you."
They joined Lidda and Devis at the far wall, where they had given up on the main door and now listened at one of the lesser portals.
"Barred," said Lidda quietly. "They probably left someone on the other side after all. Maybe I can pick one of these others."
Gulo growled at the same moment that Vadania turned her head to listen. Above the bridge they had just crossed, a large, dark figure glided down to stand at the open gate. Even in the faint light from the tip of his long spear, there was no mistaking the massive shoulders and horned brow of Zagreb. His deep chuckle rumbled all the way across the plaza as he lifted one hand to beckon his prey to him.
"Damn," spat Tordek. "If he is showing himself, there must be reinforcements coming. Keep working on that door, Lidda. You, bard, stay with her. Vadania, you and Gulo come with me. Spread out as we get close."
He shrugged his shield down onto his arm and gripped it tight, ready to crouch behind it at the first sign that the half-dragon intended to belch flame at him again. With his war axe raised in guard, he walked slowly toward the center of the plaza. To either side, Gulo and Vadania moved to flank the monster.
Zagreb ignored them both. He twirled his spear and grinned as he locked gazes with Tordek.
"You ran from me last time," he said. "This time you have nowhere to go."
A premonition tickled his neck, and Tordek whirled around to see Lidda and Devis. The halfling worked intently on the lock while the half-elf plucked out a tune on his lute, no doubt working some spell.
Neither of them saw the pale limbs of Sandrine climbing down toward them along the wall above.
The plaza trembled as Zagreb charged toward Tordek.
The dwarf shouted a warning even as he turned to defend himself. The half-dragon's spear smashed his shield aside and numbed his arm. Tordek slashed wildly and missed his foe completely. The sharp edge of his axe drew a line of sparks on the flinty plaza surface.
"Gulo!" cried Vadania.
From the corner of his eye, Tordek saw the faint glimmering that rained upon the druid after she cast some of her spells. She pointed at the half-dragon. "Kill!"
The dire wolverine lunged low, but Zagreb leaped up and took to the air. The first powerful slap of his wings felt like a blow on Tordek's face, and the sound rang in his ears as the half-dragon rose high above them.
"Here, you abomination!" Vadania whirled her sling and let fly. The missile shot past Zagreb's face, but it was enough to get his attention. He grinned as he swooped toward Vadania, his jaws opening like an infernal stove.
"Here's your foe!" shouted Tordek. "Fight me!"
It was too late. The dragon's flame poured out, engulfing Vadania as Zagreb swept past her. Fire lingered on the stones as he went by even as the flames on Vadania shook and vanished.
The druid rose from her protective crouch, already swinging her sling for another shot. There was not so much as a smudge on her silver hair.
Tordek smiled grimly as he realized that she must have anticipated another meeting with the half-dragon and prepared herself a ward against fire. Unfortunately, unless she had another spell to draw him into close battle, Zagreb could harass them until Sandrine dealt with the others and the goblin horde arrived.
Tordek felt a throb of heat against his leg. Looking down, he saw the head of Andaron's hammer pulsing with an eager, red aura. While it had not harmed his flesh, the blow it struck when Hargrimm hurled it at him was mighty indeed. He did not like the prospect of employing the weapon again.
"Let her go!" shouted Devis.
Tordek spared a glance at the door and saw Sandrine climbing up the wall. In one slender arm she cradled Lidda. The halfling's head lolled as her arms clung weakly to her kidnapper. Her eyes were open, so Tordek knew she was somehow charmed.
"Look out, Tordek!" Vadania cried.
He threw himself down, rolling out of the way as Zagreb swept past again. This time the half-dragon's long spear came nowhere near Tordek. Gulo roared as he charged futilely toward where the half-dragon had just been. Before the wolverine could reach the spot, the monster was safely out of reach.
Tordek kept an eye on Zagreb as he ran back toward the wall. Devis drank a potion to give himself an arachnid's clinging touch. He leaped onto the wall and ran after the retreating Sandrine, longsword in hand.
"Get her!" calledTordek, feeling useless as he watched the bard give chase.
Despite his natural grace, Devis loped awkwardly on two legs and a hand, while Sandrine moved away as nimbly as a spider. They darted up and down the wall, the vampire easily running around the half-elf's clumsy rushes.