by Wilson Harp
“We’ll go slow and make them come at us,” Horas said. “Medrick, do you have your fire spells ready?”
“Yes,” replied the young wizard. “Just give me the signal.”
“Ok, let’s charge in. I’ll go to the right, Karl to the left. Val and Berni will surge forward. Medrick, get in the middle of us and wait for the right moment to hit them with your magic.”
Horas waited until everyone acknowledged his instructions, then lifted his axe high and charged forward with a loud yell. Karl was right beside him at a full run. Just as the brothers had described, the corridor widened suddenly as the passageway leveled out from the downward slope. Horas spun to his right and heard a bolt from a crossbow whiz past his ear. His shield shone brightly into the room as he brought his axe down onto the head of a goblin attempting to reload his crossbow.
Two more goblins rushed at the big warrior, but he dispatched them quickly with sharp, precise chops from his axe. The magical light that shone from Medrick’s staff and Horas’ shield showed that the widening area was an intersection of three tunnels. Goblins were rushing out of both the left and right passageways that met up with the entrance. Horas saw four goblins with crossbows coming from the right passageway and was about to signal for Medrick to use his magic when a burst of flame erupted around the creatures. Karl, Val and Berni were mowing through the goblins behind Horas as he chopped through three more goblins to reach the mouth of the right passageway. He paused and looked down the tunnel. He couldn’t hear any more goblins coming that way.
“It’s clear over here, Horas,” said Val.
Horas turned to look at the others and was surprised to see that Berni stood right beside him. She could move quietly for wearing all of her equipment. Val, Karl and Medrick were at the other tunnel entrance, peering into the darkness as far as Medrick’s light would let them.
“Which way do we go?” asked Berni.
“Let’s go this way,” said Horas.
“What if our escape is cut off by goblins coming up this other way?” asked Karl.
“Then we will have to fight our way out,” replied Horas stepping into the corridor in front of him.
The tunnel was sloped down slightly, and the smell of smoke below was evident within a dozen steps. Horas held his enchanted shield in front of him as he moved slowly forward. The light from the spell Medrick had cast on it glowed steady and allowed Horas to see twenty feet in front of him. The wizard’s staff was held above the party and provided more light around them so that they could see the floor and spot any tripwires or snares.
Horas could hear the sound of coarse goblin voices and quick, steady movements in the distance as he continued forward. The light from his shield did not reveal anything in the tunnel until he went around a sharp turn. He expected an ambush and was not disappointed. He raised his shield when he saw the goblins with their crossbows and went a little pale as six bolts punched through his heavy wooden shield. One of the points jutted out less than an inch from his arm. He heard Karl and Val give a battle cry and push past him. He lowered his shield and watched as the brothers sliced and smashed the goblins, leaving their corpses on the ground. The sound of bare goblin feet flapping in terror exposed the cowardice of the goblins that were likely supposed to have charged forward after the crossbows were fired.
Horas motioned the others forward and chased after the goblins down a narrowing tunnel that suddenly opened into a large cavern. Goblins were running from the room down another tunnel that looked to be cut into the stone wall directly across from their entrance. The sound of a few crossbows firing made Horas duck reflexively, but all of the bolts missed their marks. A large green stone idol, crudely carved into the shape of a goblin god, dominated a large section of the room off to his left. Horas saw a goblin wearing many necklaces of beads and a tattered garment standing between the legs of the idol.
Horas moved toward the idol, but several goblins jumped in his way blocking his path. Karl and Val were wading through a thick swarm of goblins near the entrance, and Horas saw Berni up on a narrow walkway some ten feet off the floor killing goblins who were reloading crossbows. Horas was chopping his way through the goblins keeping him from their spellcaster when a burst of flame shot from the hands of the robed goblin. Horas threw his shield up and tumbled onto his back. He looked over the edge of the shield to see the burnt bodies of the goblins who had been blocking him. Medrick was on his knees muttering an incantation not far from Horas.
The robed goblin raised his hands again and was muttering the words of his magic when a bolt of lightning blasted into him. The bright flash blinded Horas for a few seconds. He felt the concussion of the blast sweep across him, and when he could finally see again, the great green idol lay in dozens of pieces all along the far side of the room. He couldn’t see where the goblin spellcaster was.
“Karl? Berni? Are you safe?” Val called out.
Horas looked over to see Medrick slowly standing.
Val was looking into the rubble when both Berni and his brother answered that they were fine. They both climbed out from where they had fallen among the debris.
“What was that?” Horas asked Medrick.
“Lightning. I didn’t know if I could conjure it, but I guess it worked. Didn’t think about what it would do in an enclosed area.”
“Why didn’t you use fire on him?”
“I did, but he had some sort of protection against my fire magic. I was hoping the lightning would work.”
“It appears it did more than work. Are you going to be fine?”
“Yes, just a little shaken up.”
Horas looked around the room and didn’t see any of the goblins even twitching. “Let’s rest a few seconds before we go on.”
Berni had some blood on her face, and her steel helmet had a good sized dent in it. Karl was breathing hard and covered in dust. Other than that, Horas couldn’t see any injuries on the group of friends.
“Let’s start to look around and see if they had anything of value. Karl and Berni, check near the idol. Val, Medrick and I will check this side of the room,” Horas said.
The party was looking through the rubble and bodies for anything of value when Horas heard a noise coming from the far hallway. He stood and walked towards the hallway holding his shield ready. After a few seconds he realized it was the sound of many boots coming towards their room. Goblins didn’t wear boots.
“Everyone back to the main shaft,” he ordered.
Val turned and had started into the shaft when he suddenly stopped.
“Orcs!” Val whispered sharply as he backed into the room. All of the adventurers could now clearly hear the sounds of boots coming from both tunnels. Medrick lifted his staff to try and locate another exit hidden in the shadows, but there was none. They were trapped.
“We fight our way through to the entrance,” Horas said.
Karl and he took positions near the tunnel that would lead to their freedom while Val moved around to guard their rear. Medrick readied a spell, and Berni gripped her spear tightly. For the first time, real fear descended on the group as the orcs rounded the curve in the tunnel.
The orcs didn’t slow their steady walk forward. They didn’t seem surprised to find the adventurers waiting for them. Horas counted eight orcs. They all carried heavy shields and wore long hauberks of black iron mail.
An orc at the rear of the group grunted something in their foul language, and the first four of his troops moved quickly towards Horas and Karl. Horas heard a similar command behind him but was focused on the heavy maces the orcs charging him held above their heads. Karl moved first and swung out with his own mace. The orc he swung at ducked low. Horas heard a crunching sound and Karl’s scream of agony. Horas lifted his shield to block the swing aimed at his head. The blow was powerful and drove him into the wall. Almost immediately, his shield was struck again and again, buffeting the big man onto his knees. He glanced behind him to see Berni and Val under nets and Medrick lying still on the
ground. Karl was still screaming as Horas tried to stand. The next blow skipped off of his shield and cracked into the top of his skull. Blackness took him.
Horas awoke to a hand over his mouth. He opened his eyes and then immediately shut them again as his vision blurred and spun. He took a few deep breaths and tried to open his eyes again. This time he saw a young elven face peering back at him in the dim light. The elf looked concerned, but not eager to take his hand away from Horas’ mouth. Horas realized that his head really hurt and his vision was still blurred. He moved his arms and legs to make sure they were working. When he did, he glanced around him. He was in a strongly built wooden cage. He reached up and pulled the elf’s hand away from his mouth. The elf let him go and nodded at him.
Horas realized he was leaning against one of the sides of the cage and sat fully up. He winced as his head grazed the top of the low built cage. He could feel blood, still slightly sticky, coating the side of his face. He looked from side to side and saw three other cages nearby, each with a person in it. The elf, slightly built and even younger than Horas first imagined, moved to the next cage and put his hand over Val’s mouth.
Horas looked around at the rest of the room. It was lit by low burning braziers and a few torches on the wall. It was at least sixty feet long and thirty feet wide. A tall chair sat on a stone platform not far from the cages at what Horas assumed to be the front of the room. Three tunnels left the chamber, though Horas had no idea where any of them might go. The most striking thing to Horas was the dead goblins and orcs littering the room. The orcs were all heavily armored, just as those who had captured his party.
Horas noticed Val sitting up and looking around as well. The elf moved to the next cage and put his hand over Berni’s face.
“Where are we, Horas?” Val whispered. The elf looked over at them and motioned them to silence.
Horas found the door to the cage and tried to open it, but it was tied shut. He reached for his belt knife and realized that his belt was missing, as were the rest of his belongings. He had his boots and his clothes, but his armor, weapons, supplies and everything else were gone.
The elf moved to the fourth cage, and Horas saw that it was Medrick. Val and Berni were mouthing words to each other, but Horas looked for a fifth cage. He didn’t see one. He shifted around in his confined area to look in the darker corners near the back of the room, but he didn’t see any other cages.
The sounds of boots coming near the room from the closest tunnel made all of the friends look over in a panic. The elf moved quickly to the side of the entrance and then, to Horas’ amazement, climbed up the side of the entryway and stood on a very narrow lip of rock above it. He had his arms fully stretched out and used his fingers to find a near impossible grip to hold himself in place. Horas saw that the elf wore a black soft leather shirt and black leather leggings. His shoes looked thin and supple, and a black bow was fixed across his back. A black leather quiver hung from an odd shoulder strap. A long knife with what appeared to be an ivory handle was tucked casually in his belt.
Two orcs came into view of the prisoners from the tunnel. They both stopped and looked around at the carnage in the room. They cut their eyes to the prisoners and stood silent for a few seconds listening. Horas figured that they didn’t hear the elf sitting almost on top of them, because they slowly walked into the room looking around carefully. When the second orc had entered, the elf released his grip and landed silently behind him. As he dropped, he drew the knife from his belt, and as he landed, he stabbed it hilt deep into the side of the second orc’s throat. The orc gurgled and fell as the elf pulled the blade free. The first orc swung around, and the elf, almost casually, thrust his knife into that orc’s throat as well.
The elf wiped his blade on the leg of one of the orcs and walked over to Horas’ cage. He quickly sliced through the thick rope that tied the cage shut and moved on to open the rest of the cages. Once all of the cages had been opened, he motioned them to stretch a bit and then went over near a tunnel on the far wall and stood there looking at them. The four friends crawled out of their cages and looked around as they rubbed their legs and stretched. The left side of Berni’s face was completely black and swollen. Medrick had two large knots on his forehead and had dried blood caked into his beard from a split open lip. Val couldn’t bear to have his left arm touched. Horas thought it might be broken by the way it looked. He looked around at the carnage in the room and counted at least fifteen orcs and a dozen or more goblins.
Finally Horas walked stiffly over to the elf, followed by the others. When they had gathered together, the elf motioned them forward, but Val grabbed the elf’s shoulder. Horas tensed as he remembered how fast and deadly the elf moved. The elf simply turned to Val and said a few words. Horas, Val and Berni all looked confused as it sounded like gibberish, but Medrick leaned forward and said something to the elf in the same language.
When the elf responded, Medrick looked at the others.
“He is speaking a very old form of elvish, ancient really. I can’t understand very much, but he asked what you wanted, Val.”
“Ask him where Karl is. Did he see him?”
Medrick turned back to the elf and stammered and stuttered as he tried to find the words. The elf nodded and said a few short phrases back to the wizard.
“He said that the orcs took one of the prisoners further into the tunnels. The man had a broken leg, and it was too dangerous to try and get him.”
“We have to get him!” demanded Val, a little too loudly.
“Shhh, we’ll get him Val, but we don’t have any weapons with us,” whispered Berni. “It will be ok, let’s just go get some more help.”
The elf motioned them forward and led the way up the dark tunnel. The adventurers were having a hard time traversing up the twisting way in the dark, so Medrick started to cast a light spell. The elf stopped and said something in a harsh tone.
“He said that they can sense magic. We are to hold onto the person in front of us and go slow,” said Medrick.
After several minutes, they entered a wide room with a couple of dim braziers burning. The toppled green stone idol had been clumsily remade, but six goblin corpses showed that new violence had happened since it had been repaired. The party continued until they came to the fork in the tunnels that led to freedom and escape. The elf motioned them to stop and quietly went up the passageway that led to the mine’s entrance. About a minute later he returned and motioned them to follow him.
It was night when they left the cave, and the thin sliver of the new moon was low in the night sky. Horas figured they had about four hours until dawn. The party made its way down the steep crack that led to the mine’s entrance and then along the foothills leading back to the Shadowmist Wood. Val’s arm throbbed, and shards of pain shot through it whenever he was jostled, so they had to stop and fashion a sling out of his shirt. They would take him to the shrine when they made it back to Black Oak, but until then he was just going to have to deal with the pain. They dared not stop until they had made it to safety.
About an hour away from the mine, they heard the sound of orc horns blowing across the hills. The elf looked back the way they had come, and a small smile appeared on his face. Horas didn’t know whether the elf thought they had successfully escaped or if he hoped a pursuit would be coming. The horns encouraged the group to find its second wind, and they were soon inside the tree line of the woods.
Horas realized the elf was leading them toward the ruins of Long Branch. At least he hoped so, as he was starting to experience some lightheadedness. The others had also started to show signs of fatigue and disorientation. Their wounds and lack of sleep would not allow any of them to continue much longer.
The elf led them deftly through the woods until they came to a trail heading towards the south. Val and Horas recognized it as the trail just to the north of Long Branch. The elf motioned them to stay still and darted off down the trail. Seconds later they saw him creeping back toward them. But i
t wasn’t the elf; it was a man he knew.
“Lendin?” asked Horas as he recognized his friend.
“Horas? What are you doing out here?”
“The elf rescued us from some orcs.” Horas fell onto his knees, as did Medrick. Berni guided Val over to a fallen tree to sit.
“What elf?” asked Lendin, looking at his friends in the dim light that penetrated the woods at that hour.
“He ran right at you. You had to see him on the trail.”
“I heard movement and was on watch, so I came up the trail. You were captured?” Lendin came closer to them. “Oh Divine! You are all injured. You’re covered in blood. Where are your weapons and armor?”
“It’s a long story,” sighed Val as he slumped against Berni.
Lendin turned back to look down the trail at Long Branch and called for help. Within seconds the sounds of others coming from the camp were heard.
“Where is Karl?” Lendin asked.
“They captured him. The elf said it was too dangerous to go after him at the time,” Horas answered.
“The elf? Wait, there were orcs in the goblin mine?”
“Yes,” replied Medrick. “We need to get to Black Oak and report what we saw.”
Several of the hunters who were camped at Long Branch were coming up the trail with torches.
“We will get you there,” said Lendin. “But first let’s take you into the camp and let you rest and tend your wounds.”
Horas nodded as the men of the camp started helping the battered party towards safety and rest. He looked back at the hills they had escaped.
“We’ll find you, Karl. That’s a promise.”
Rescue
Martel entered the front door of the inn and looked around. He searched the common room until he saw a man covered in bruises and cuts. The man’s arm was wrapped in bandages and tied to his chest in a sling. That was the man he was looking for. He went over to the table and sat down.
