"Keep your group hidden in the bushes and behind boulders until the travelers are even with you," the death knight cautioned. "Then capture the two kender and the little fiend. They are not to be injured."
"Kill the others," Malewik nodded, wrinkled his nose, and opened his mouth in a silent laugh.
"Kill them or leave them, I don't care," Kaldre said. He was not interested in three dwarves. Gully dwarves were of no use to him, and he had never understood the purpose of the small one that was traveling with them. His orders were to get a stone the girl kender had in a pocket or pouch and to secure the little fiend. The male kender had a magic viewing disk belonging to Draaddis Vulter, and the wizard wanted it back, but the death knight's priorities were plain.
"Kill the kender if you have to, but bring them to me to search," he ordered Malewik. "Do not harm the little fiend or I'll skin you alive." With those last instructions he sent the kobold leader down the hill to join the others.
Kaldre knew he would have to watch the thieving humanoid. Malewik's eyes had brightened when the death knight had ordered him to bring the kender to him to be searched. Kobolds were alert to anything that smacked of value and could be stolen.
"Remember, we're taking what the kender carry and the fiend to the wizard," Kaldre reminded Malewik. "You don't want to fail Draaddis Vulter, do you?"
"Kobolds is not making wizard mad," Malewik said and for once he did not laugh.
Kaldre wanted to ride down the mountainside himself, but the fear that he engendered in the kobolds radiated from him like a cloud and might alert the kender before they reached the ambush. There were drawbacks to his renewed existence, he decided. Still, once the kobolds sprung the trap, he could be on them before they had time to search the kender.
Fear of Jaerume Kaldre would make them capture the kender and the little fiend, but they should then be too interested in killing the dwarves to do more than disarm the prisoners and hold them until the bloody work of destruction was over.
Below him he could see Malewik working his way down to his people. They were crouched behind bushes and boulders on both sides of the trail where a gentle slope gave them easy access to their prey.
Movement off to Kaldre's left caught his attention. He turned his head just in time to see a goblin slip behind a bush. The death knight recognized the hardened leather helmet with the rusting metal plates attached. The humanoid was the leader of the band that had attacked the kobolds in the maze of gullies at the southern tip of the Vingaard Mountains.
The stupid humanoids were still following, wanting revenge for the attack.
Kaldre had lost five of his followers to the goblins before he had routed them, more with fear than with weapons. He had killed three, but they had numbered more than forty. While he watched, four advanced toward the ambush. They were moving cautiously, as if not sure whether to attack or not.
Not, he decided.
He had routed them once, he could do it again. He turned his horse and moved slowly over the crest of the ridge. Hidden by the growth at the top, he was able to ride out of sight of the trail. Cursing the kender, who had alerted the goblins by shouting up and down the gullies, he gritted his teeth and spurred the horse along the steep slope.
Because of the kender he had to leave the scene of the ambush to drive off the goblins. Because of the kender the kobold might find the gate stone the female carried and damage it in some way before the death knight could get back to them.
A shout might have warned the goblins off, but it might also alert the kender who were said to have sharp ears. Kaldre rode straight at the goblins, hoping they did not cry out. Unfortunately he had not seen all the band. Two had crept closer to his position than he had realized. His eye had been on the leader and he flushed two who were further up the slope and nearer to him, though they had been well hidden until he rode by the bushes where they had taken cover.
They broke and ran, shouting a warning as they went. Neither took more than ten steps before the death knight was on them. His swinging sword decapitated one and hacked through the shoulder of the second, leaving the goblin on the ground, screaming in misery. The rest of the goblins broke away, all except one, smaller than the rest.
A goblin shaman.
Unafraid of the death knight, he threw a spell, a greenish cloud that spread itself as it neared Kaldre. Not sure what the magic of a goblin could do to him, the death knight hauled back on the reins of his mount. The horse skidded and managed to turn away from the greenish cloud, but he slipped and lost his footing on the muddy mountainside.
As Kaldre went down, he saw another, blue white mist leave the hands of the shaman. He was crouched, just getting to his feet and knew he could not escape the second spell. As it closed over him with a cold deeper than death, his arms and legs froze into immobility.
Helpless, held in place by the freezing spell, Kaldre expected the goblins to attack and hack him to pieces, but they backed away, down the mountain. It was then he realized that less than half the goblins had been creeping up the spur.
Where were the rest of them?
Chapter 21
All kender love travel, and my Uncle Trapspringer was no exception…
As they journeyed north, Trap felt the warmth of the sun on his left cheek, while his right was cooled by a late afternoon breeze. Soon they should begin looking for a place to camp for the night. He was looking about for a stream-they should camp near water-when he saw a snake gliding over the grass. The reptile's intended victim was a bright blue bird who tugged at a worm.
"Oh, no you don't," Trap shouted and forgot he was leading his pony. He released the reins and scampered up the gentle incline. He picked up a rock, flipped his hoopak up and set the stone in the pouch. His aim wasn't as good as it should have been, but he did startle the snake.
"Your pony!" Halmarain cried, pointing down the slope. Trap's mount, freed from the restraints of the reins, had left the trail and wandered off down the slope toward a smooth stretch of range grass.
"Hey, where are you going?" Trap shouted at the animal and dashed after it.
The pony saw the kender chasing it and trotted away. It stopped just long enough to grab a bite of grass and chewed as it moved off again.
"Come here," Trap laughed, not at all irritated with the animal. It seemed to be teasing him, playing a game, and he was willing to take part in the fun.
"Will you stop clowning around and catch that pony?" the wizard yelled at him as the rest of the party approached an area of low bushes and boulders.
Trap turned his head to answer. Definitely not a good idea, he decided. While he had been looking back over his shoulder, he had stepped into a shallow swale of loose rock. He lost his footing and fell sprawling. By the time he regained his feet he realized the pony had trotted farther away.
"I won't be long, he's stopped-" Trap forgot what he'd been saying. He had reached a clump of bushes and out of it came a goblin. The kender stared at the humanoid, who seemed as surprised as Trap, for a long, uncertain moment. Trap recovered first.
"Hello. Would you mind helping me catch my pony?" he asked brightly. "Do you live here? Maybe you know where the rocks are. The grass hides them you see, and-"
"Kill kender, eat pony," the goblin interrupted with a snarl and stepped forward with his spiked club raised.
"No. I don't think so. I don't like that idea at all," Trap said, dancing back just as a second goblin appeared from concealment behind a second bush. Then he paused.
"Eat pony? Wow! That would be interesting. What does pony taste like?" He would not want to make a meal of his mount, but the question intrigued him.
It also intrigued the goblins. Their battles were usually against their own kind, kobolds, or humans, and neither of the two had ever found themselves in conversation with their enemies. They exchanged puzzled looks, apparently not knowing whether they should answer, or how.
Their confusion gave Trap just enough time to slip a hand into his pouch and fumble
for one of the two rings he carried. When he had slipped one on his finger, he looked down at himself. He was still visible, so he knew he must be wearing the one that let him take giant steps. He took one step backward and nearly fell over the cliff behind him.
"Wow! That was close. Not such a good idea," he told himself as he teetered on the edge and looked down at the drop of thirty feet. Bruises were not interesting at all.
The goblins stared at his sudden removal from the reach of their weapons, but an enemy running away was something they understood. They howled and chased after him. One stumbled on the uneven ground and fell on his face, but the other skidded across the stones seemingly too intent on his prey to fall.
Trap heard a shout from up the mountains and saw more goblins. He heard Halmarain cry out, Beglug wailed, and then came the high pitched scream of a kobold. He saw one of the small humanoids racing for cover.
For a brief second, Trap stood on the edge of the precipice, wondering what was happening. Kobolds and goblins again. Up the slope he saw a goblin stagger into sight with a kobold spear in his chest. A hundred yards away the goblin who had suggested eating his pony was chasing the kender's mount. The animal trotted back toward the trail. The other goblin charged Trap as Ripple screamed his name.
Since he wore the magic ring, Trap knew he was in no danger and had planned to tease the goblin, stepping out of the way. He knew he was being attacked, but he was not at all angry about it. When Ripple called to him, he lost all interest in the game. His sister needed him, and he had no time for his attacker.
Holding his hoopak in front of him like a spear, he stepped forward, using the force of his giant step to drive the sharp, metal-tipped point through the humanoid's belly. The goblin's spear had been pointed at him and Trap had twisted to avoid the point, still it clipped the shoulder of his tunic. When the goblin fell backward, Trap jerked his hoopak free and looked around.
He had decided his first course of action would be to rescue his pony, but if his sister was in trouble, he wanted to get to her. What to do-which way to go? Would he reach Ripple faster if he caught his mount? No, he decided, but he was not going to allow the goblin to eat his pony either.
He reached into his pouch, hoping to find a sharp stone, but the only shapes his fingers found were round, smooth creek stones. He pulled one out and was setting it in the sling of his hoopak when he realized he had one of the glass flame balls from Deepdel.
"Great! Even Better," he told his hoopak. "Do your best," he murmured as he swung the weapon and let fly with the glass ball. He had aimed for the broad back of the goblin, but he had not reckoned on the uneven ground. In its attempt to catch the pony, the goblin had leaped up onto a pile of boulders, and the flame ball caught it on the back of its thighs. The liquid and powder flew when the glass broke, spreading the fire down the back of its legs and onto its buttocks.
The humanoid took two steps before it realized it was on fire. It gave a howl and a leap, hitting the ground hard as it landed in a sitting position. As it rolled on the ground, Trap dashed past on his way to find Ripple.
One of his giant steps took him past the burning goblin. The second brought him into a collision with a humanoid who stepped out of the brush and directly into his path. The force of Trap's magic steps knocked the goblin side-ways and off its feet. Its helmet flew off and its head hit a rock with a sickening crunch.
Trap fell between two bushes and landed so hard he was stunned. He lay on his side, wondering what had happened to him. Nothing felt broken, but he was several moments getting his breath. He stood up, still weak and a little dizzy. An interesting feeling, he thought; one of those experiences he would not have missed but one he had no desire to repeat.
Somewhere ahead was his sister and she would not have shouted for him if she had not been in trouble. He staggered, found himself bouncing about all over the mountainside, and fell sprawling again before he remembered he still wore the magic ring. What he needed, he decided, was the other one so he would be invisible.
He sat up, dug in his pouch and found the second ring. When he stood he could not see his own feet. He spotted his hoopak that he had laid on the ground while searching for the ring and picked it up. When he lifted it off the ground, it too became invisible. With the weapon in his hand he raced up the trail.
The first person he saw was Umpth who sat on the ground, one hand on the wheel and the other on his metal helmet.
"Wheel, make hurting stop… wheel, make hurting stop…"
Trap ran past the gully dwarf, who did not seem to be in any danger. He shouted for Ripple. The sound of his voice brought a goblin from behind a bush, his spear arm back and ready to strike. His small eyes searched for the source of the voice.
Trap slid to a stop and grabbed the spear out of the startled goblin's hand. The humanoid goggled as its weapon disappeared. His mouth was still open when the kender swung the heavy shaft and caught the goblin in the throat. The goblin was just collapsing, the stupid look still on its face when Trap ran by on his way to find Ripple.
A few steps further on he passed a bush that was half burned away. Up ahead he smelled smoke. He rounded a curve in the trail, skidded to a stop, and backed up two steps.
Halmarain was holding her staff in both hands, using it like a club. The end was glowing and where it touched a bush, fire sprouted. As she swung the staff in his direction a kobold stepped in sight behind her.
"Look out!" Trap called out. He had not indicated any direction, but she whirled around and struck the small humanoid on the head and shoulders with her staff. When the kobold ducked, the tip of the staff touched its clothing, and the staff set the kobold's sleeve on fire. The creature gave a squeal of fright and disappeared, the smell of burning cloth and flesh following it.
"Trap, where are you?" she asked, keeping her voice low as she searched the area. Her head moved in little jerks as she watched nervously for attacking enemies.
"Here I am, but where is Ripple?" Trap pulled off the ring and dropped it in his pouch. "I don't see Grod and Beglug either."
"I don't know," Halmarain whispered. "I haven't seen anyone since the goblins and kobolds attacked. You can't see ten feet in this brush. The gully dwarves ran away, I think."
"Umpth didn't," Trap pointed back down the trail. He could still hear the leader of the Aglest clan moaning.
"What's happening?" he demanded. "Who is fighting who and why? Little jiggies! I didn't know we could have so much fun in the hills."
He had just finished speaking when they heard running footsteps and Grod rounded a bend in the trail. He was breathing hard. The tears had left flesh colored tracks down his dirty cheeks. He wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"No catch kobolds," he said; each word came out as a gasp. "Where Umpth?"
"He's back on the trail," Trap said. "Did you see Ripple? And where is Beglug?"
"You were chasing the kobolds?" the little wizard showed her disbelief.
"Go after kobolds," Grod said. He was better able to get his breath. "Kobolds catch Pretty Kender and Lava Belly. Goblins come. Kobolds run away. Take Pretty Kender and Lava Belly." More tears trickled down Grod's dirty cheeks. "Don't want them take Pretty Kender."
"They took Ripple?" Trap pushed past the little human and the gully dwarf and ran up the trail.
"Where are you going?" Halmarain cried, forgetting to keep her voice down.
"To find my sister!" he shouted back.
Trap had begun his quest at a sprint, but he learned not even his anger at the kobolds for taking Ripple could maintain his fast pace. He continued at a fast trot. On the eastern side of the spur he could make better time. He was pleased with his speed. Faster than his feet, his mind ran all sorts of possibilities for daring rescues.
"I'll put on my magic ring of invisibility and…"
He had forgotten the magic rings.
He should find the one that allowed him giant steps and he'd catch up with the kobolds in minutes. He slipped his hand in one of his
pouches, as usual found the wrong ring and had to try again. His fingers scrambled blindly in the purse, the ring slipped on his thumb.
"Now," he said, racing along with fifty foot steps. The trail led directly east, right over the top of the hill. He had taken no more than twelve giant steps before he realized the fallacy of his plan. He had been moving too fast to keep an eye on the kobolds' trail.
"They must have angled off in another direction," he said to himself and took two steps toward the top of the ridge that ran along the spur of the hill. The second step took him over a precipice.
Chapter 22
… and in the great book, Astinus recorded the anger of the Dark Queen.
"I'll tear his head from his shoulders!" Takhisis raged. "I'll boil the flesh from his body!"
The Dark Queen continued with her threats and even Draaddis trembled at the horrors. He could only catch part of them. Takhisis was so angry she had reverted to her dragon shape and all five heads were raging at one time. The sphere was filled, first with one fire breathing head and then another would take its place, but out of sight of the wizard the continued imprecations and threats interrupted and roared over each other.
"Loosing the kender was bad enough," the Dark Queen shouted. "To lose the kobolds as well? He will pay for his incompetence."
Draaddis stood quietly, not daring to interrupt. He let her rage herself out. Hours passed before she was calm again.
"Where is he? What does your winged rat tell you?" she asked after her tirade was over.
"Jaerume Kaldre is still in the mountains, my queen. The freezing spell the goblin used was powerful. He is still in the foothills, frozen by the spell, but he will soon be on the trail of the kobolds. Bad luck-as well as the goblins-has been his adversary, but he did instill in the little humanoids the need to bring the kender and the merchesti to us."
Tales of Uncle Trapspringer ll-3 Page 16
