"And?"
"They"ve gone to Drogan."
The death rattle sounded in Corporal Trispeer"s throat and he died.
The growing chaos aided the band in getting out of Adpar"s palace. They took some wrong turns in the labyrinth of pa.s.sages, and had a skirmish or two with warriors encountered, but generally the populace were too busy fighting their own battles.
But the exit they found was nowhere near the way they came in.
"Looks like we"ve come out further north," Stryke reckoned.
"What do we do, go back in and try again?" Jup said.
"No, it"s too much of a risk." He pointed. "If we can cross that stretch of water yonder, then veer east, we should reach the marsh near where we left the horses."
Coilla frowned. "h.e.l.l of a diversion, isn"t it?"
"I reckon going back into the palace is more chancy. One of those factions is going to come out on top any time soon.
Then they"ll notice interlopers."
"Let"s get started, shall we?" Alfray suggested. "We"re too exposed here."
They traversed a spread of jagged rocks at double time, reached a flat and faced the water. It was covered in green sc.u.m.
"Smells about as pleasant as everything else here," Haskeer ob-served. "How deep do you think it is, Stryke?"
"Only one way to find out." He eased himself in. It was cold, but his feet touched the bottom at waist-height. "Going"s a bit soft, but it seems all right otherwise. Come on."
They followed him, weapons held high, and began wading.
"We should get extra pay for this," Haskeer moaned.
"Extra?"Jup said. "h.e.l.l, Sergeant, we don"t getany at the moment."
"Yeah! I"d forgotten that!"
They carried on for another ten minutes. It looked as if they were going to make it. The marshy sh.o.r.e was in sight.
Then there was turbulence in the water a few yards ahead. Bubbles reached the surface and burst. The band stopped.
More mini whirlpools appeared in other places. More bubbles drifted up.
"Maybe this wasn"t such a good idea after all," Jup muttered.
A plume of water erupted. Dead ahead, a nyadd appeared.
In short order more emerged from the fetid liquid clutching their saw-toothed weapons.
"Remember what you said about fighting them in their own element, Stryke?" Coilla reminded him.
"It"s too late to turn back now, Corporal."
Splashes from behind had them turning. More nyadds were coming up. They began moving in, front and behind.
"Let"s carve some flesh," Stryke growled.
The back half of the band took up a rearguard action, led by Jup and Haskeer. Stryke, Coilla and Alfray were in the vanguard of the coming fight. As it stood, the band outnumbered the nyadds they faced. But Stryke reckoned fighting in water at least evened the odds.
He augmented his sword with a knife and lashed out at the fore-most creature. His sword struck the creature"s crusty sh.e.l.l and did some damage. Blood trickled. But the wound wasn"t sufficient to put the war-rior out of the fight. Stryke gritted his teeth and went in again, this time aided by a couple of grunts harrying the nyadd from either side. Theysucceeded in battering it into a dive.
Coilla proceeded to toss throwing knives at the enemy"s heads. But every shot meant a lost blade and her supply was limited. She spent two knives to no good effect, then her next shot connected with the side of her target"s head. The nyadd bellowed and disappeared beneath the water, leaving a widening cloud of red.
A triumphant roar from behind marked their first confirmed kill. "We"re thinning their ranks," Stryke yelled, "but not fast enough. If more come-!"
He broke off as a nyadd propelled itself towards him waving its jagged spear. The warrior swiped at him. Stryke ducked, and in doing so took himself below the surface. The cold, foul water covered his head. He counted to three, hoping that meant the swing had pa.s.sed, and resurfaced.
The nyadd was practically on top of him. Stryke rammed his swordinto its belly with all his might. The carapace crunched and shattered. Blood flowed. Another great gout issued from the creature"s mouth and it disappeared beneath the water. Stryke coughed up a lungful of the putrid stuff.
Haskeer and Jup were hacking at a foe from both sides. They"d already torn open one of its arms, and it was fighting to keep them off.
Wading in, Haskeer aimed a heavy blow at the creature"s neck. The nyadd moved down, instinctively seeking the protection of water. It would have done better going in any other direction. The blade cleaved its head, spilling brains.
That left just four nyadds, and though they looked no less murder-ous, Stryke was confident they could be overcome.
The whole band went for three of them.
Except Coilla, who splashed forward to engage the remaining one, which lurked apart. She didn"t see another emerge from the water on her blind side, moving with remarkable speed. She spun at the last minute, two nyadds to deal with.
One raised its sword.
Kestix had noticed. "Look out, Corporal!" he yelled, propelling him-self in her direction.
He got between her and the second nyadd"s swinging blade. If he hoped to deflect it with his own sword, he miscalculated.
The nyadd"s wickedly sharp weapon cut into his chest as if into b.u.t.ter. There was an explosion of gore. Kestix cried out in agony.
"No!"Coilla screamed. Then she had to pay heed to the other raider, bringing up her own sword to block his.
Kestix, still alive but grievously wounded, had been grabbed by his a.s.sailant. He struggled feebly. His cries had been heard by the others. Several, including Stryke, answered the call.
They got there just in time to see him dragged under water by the submerging nyadd. Only a b.l.o.o.d.y stain was left behind.
A couple of grunts splashed around, ducking their heads under try-ing to save their comrade.
"Leave it!" Stryke ordered. "It"s too late for him."
They turned their grief-driven fury on the remaining nyadds.
Near defeating them, they noticed fresh turbulence and bubbles breaking out all around.
"s.h.i.t, chief," Jup panted, "we can"t take much more of this!"
The band braced themselves for a last stand.
More heads began appearing.
But they weren"t nyadds. They were Merz. Dozens of them, armed with trident spears and daggers.
"G.o.ds!" Alfray exclaimed. "Are they out for us too?"
"I don"t think so," Stryke replied.
His judgement proved true. The merz set about the few nyadds still present, tearing into them with savagery born of injustice.
One of the merz turned and raised a dripping hand to the orcs. It was a salute.
Stryke wasn"t alone in returning it.
"We owe them one," he told his comrades. "Now let"s get out of here."
They left the slaughter and made their way to the bank, mourning Kestix.
23.
The journey back to Liffin and Talag was a sombre affair. Things were no less dismal on the return journey to Drogan, despite their victory.
"Is any of this worth one orc"s life?" Alfray wondered. "Let alone one as valiant as Kestix?"
"Risking our lives is what we do," Stryke reminded him. "And orcs have died for less good causes."
"You"re really sure thisis a good cause? Gathering together a bunch of objects we don"t know the purpose of for some end we can"t see?"
"We have to believe that, Alfray. And I"m sure the day will come when we"ll toast Kestix, and the others who have fallen, as heroes of a new order. But don"t ask me what that might be. I just feel it has to be better." Stryke wished he entirely believed that himself. As it was he was trying not to show the crushing sense of responsibility he felt at their comrade"s death.
For his part, Alfray fell silent and stared up at the band"s war banner he was clutching. He seemed to draw some kind of comfort from it, perhaps musing on the unity it represented. Or that which it once did.
They were almost within sight of Drogan Forest when Jup called out, "Eyes west!"
A large party of riders was heading their way, and they weren"t far off.
"I think they"re Hebrew"s men," the dwarf reported."Don"t we ever get any peace?" Coilla complained.
"Not today, by the looks of it," Stryke replied. "Burn leather."
They broke into a gallop.
"They"ve seen us!" Haskeer yelled. "And they"re putting on a h.e.l.l of a spurt!"
A chase began in earnest. The band rode at breakneck speed for the sanctuary of the forest. But the custodians were determined and gaining.
Urging the Wolverines onward, Stryke found himself at the back of their onward rush. Then disaster struck. As the rest of the band rounded a bend and disappeared from sight, his horse caught its hoof in a rabbit hole and went down.
Stryke was thrown clear. As he scrambled to his feet the horse rose and bolted.
The thunder of other hoofs had him spinning around.
A charging mob of custodians was bearing down on him. Stryke looked around desperately for cover. None presented itself. He drew his sword.
A great shadow covered him.
Just above, a dragon hovered, the beat of its mighty wings throwing up dust and leaves. The custodians, terrified, pulled up to a skidding halt. Several of them tumbled from their saddles at the violence of their halt.
For his part, Stryke was sure he was finished. It was one of Jennesta"s war dragons, he was sure of that, and he expected nothing but incineration.
The dragon sank down between him and the human posse. When it was near level he saw that the handler was Glozellan herself.
She extended a hand. "Get on, Stryke," she urged. "Come on! What have you to lose?"
He climbed the beast"s scaly hide and sat behind her.
"Hold tight!" she shouted and they were away.
The climb was fast and dizzying. Stryke looked down. He saw sil-very snaking rivers, green pastures, burgeoning forests. From up here it didn"t look like a land raped.
He tried shouting questions at Glozellan over the wind"s rush, but she either couldn"t hear or ignored him. They flew north.
Perhaps an hour elapsed. They approached a mountain. Unerringly, the dragon made for its plateau. Minutes later they touched down.
"Get off," the brownie ordered.
He slid to the ground.
"What"s happening, Glozellan?" he asked. "Am I a prisoner?"
"I can"t explain now. You"ll be safe here."
She stuck her heels into the dragon"s flanks. It began rising again.
"Wait!" he cried. "Don"t leave me here!"
"I"ll be back!" she called. "Have courage."