by T. H. Lain
"Surely," she said, "we could at least wait until morning?"
Shrugging, Regdar looked down at Ian. The half-elf delivered the bad news.
"These orcs have been here a while. It would be just like them to have dug out a few more exits from their lair. It's a long time till dawn. If the orc leader thinks we're on his trail, or just doesn't want to hang around now that we've wiped out one of his war bands, they could slip out a tunnel we know nothing about."
No one in the party looked particularly happy with the thought of following the orc leader into his den in the middle of the night, but Naull was particularly unhappy about it.
"I really don't have much more in the spell department," she said again.
"Chances are good," Regdar answered, "that there aren't many orcs left in there. Like Ian said, an orc leader's going to want to keep his warriors close. He probably took nearly all of them out on the raid."
The fighter didn't sound like he'd convinced himself of that, but Naull looked at the faces of the rest of the party. They'd lost a comrade and didn't seem in the mood for rational thought.
"All right, then. What's the plan?"
Ian could see the best in darkness, so he was to head down the slope first. They chose to approach the lair from the southwest, mainly because it looked like the easiest way down, except for the path past the wagons. No one wanted to go that way. If there were any guards, they'd be there. To the north were the caves themselves, and the slope became a cliff that way. They had no doubt that with ropes and Trebba's assistance they could climb down and perhaps surprise the orcs from above, but since orcs could see in the dark and they couldn't, they'd be more likely to be spotted and shot full of arrows before they could retreat.
Trebba would go with Ian. She told the rest of the party to stay back as far as they could and follow their footsteps exactly, but she felt-and everyone else agreed-that she'd have the best chance of spotting a trap before stepping in it than anyone. It would be slow going, but the trees and underbrush provided plenty of cover.
Naull worried about that. What if they were wrong about guards? Orcs could be behind every tree between here and the caves-more than a hundred yards away, if Ian was right-and it would be a simple matter for outlying pickets to let them enter and shut the trap behind them. When she brought this up, though, Regdar's answer was less than satisfying.
"Ian thinks it's unlikely, and we'll have to risk it. I think he's right that the orcs wouldn't leave many warriors behind to guard their loot, just because of the trust issue. If that's true, there can't be more than a handful of warriors down there."
Define "handful," Naull mused glumly.
She was to try to stay in the middle of the party, right in front of Early, with Regdar bringing up the rear. They'd used the last of their coalblack on his plate armor and the two fighters' swords in an effort to minimize any reflection there might be in the dim light, but nothing could cover the clanking Regdar made when he moved at any speed. They hoped the orcs wouldn't notice until the vanguard was upon them.
If I'd known we were going to be sneaking around, the wizard thought sourly, I would've brought along a silence spell.
She made a mental note to ask more questions before she prepared her spells every morning. "Are we likely to be storming an orc lair in the pitch darkness tonight?" hadn't seemed like a pertinent question eighteen hours before.
Despite her sour thoughts, Naull kept her concentration following in Early's footsteps. She let a part of her mind review her spells again, desperate to come up with a combination that might deal with any surprises. Still, she just didn't have anything that would be much help against more orcs than they hoped to face.
Suddenly, Ian froze. In the gloom, Naull saw him grasp Trebba's shoulder and the thief held out both her hands and crouched down. It was the signal they'd agreed upon to indicate "Stop!"
Whether the cloud cover broke a little, letting the moon's light in just a tiny bit more, or whether cold Wee Jas chose to look down with uncharacteristic kindness on one of her less-devoted servants, Naull found she could make out the half-elf and what lay just beyond him. A damp wind blew through the dell. The light continued to grow as the cloud cover moved away. With a start of surprise Naull realized that she could see the cave mouth they were heading toward. It lay to the left, recessed into the northernmost wall of the valley. Naull could almost feel orc archers waiting there in the complete darkness of the cave mouth, but no arrows flew.
After a minute or more of silent waiting and watching, Ian motioned the others forward again. As Naull closed in, she heard Trebba's whisper.
"I want to check it out," the thief said. "There could still be a trap in the entrance, or an alarm of some kind."
Ian shrugged and prepared to go with her.
"Don't ring any doorbells," he joked.
"Go ahead," Naull whispered. "I'll get Early and Regdar to move up. We can get to the cave mouth quickly from here if you need us."
Trebba nodded and moved off into the shadows.
"Be careful," Naull added.
She wondered if it was too late for any of them to be careful enough, but she drove the thought as far out of her mind as possible.
The Lair
Trebba and Ian disappeared into the cave mouth, and for a few short, agonizing moments, Naull, Early, and Regdar crouched in the darkness.
Ian soon appeared in the dim light outside the cave mouth. He stood nearly erect and waved. By their pre-arranged plan, Early started forward, moving quickly up to the cliff wall then along the edge to where the ranger stood. Naull waited until Early passed the orcs' septic hole and followed. Regdar came last.
Naull gave a sharp intake of breath as she arrived at the cave mouth. Trebba sat with her back against the rough stone wall, her hand clutched to her right shoulder. The thief was in obvious pain. Her breasts rose and fell with labored breathing.
"I'm all right. I'm all right," she chanted.
Beside her lay a bloody bolt and what looked like a few yards of string.
When Regdar arrived, Ian said, "Trebba found a tripwire strung across the entrance. It would've sounded some sort of alarm. She disabled it, but then that-" the half-elf pointed to the dart on the ground-"shot out of the ceiling. It would've gotten her right in the top of the skull, but she twisted out of the way."
"Not far enough," Trebba gasped. "But I'm all right. Help me up."
The rogue stood with Regdar's assistance. Early looked at the wound while Ian studied the arrow.
"Nasty," the big man said, "but it's clean. Good job." He inclined his head to Ian.
"I don't think the bolt was poisoned," Ian replied. "Or if it was, the poison lost its effect, sitting up there for so long."
"Thanks ever so much, guys," Trebba said with disdain.
She moved her pack's straps over to her uninjured shoulder.
"You all right?" Regdar asked. "You could wait here."
Trebba shook her head and answered, "No. If there's more traps in there, you're going to need someone to find them."
Early looked into the darkness and said, "I can't see more than my hand in front of my face."
In answer, Naull drew a few items out of her pouches.
"Better than torches," Regdar agreed.
A few murmured words later and an eye-sized stone in the wizard's hand lit up with a heatless flame like that of a torch. One smooth motion later, Naull had the stone affixed to a small, cheap ring. She opened and closed her hand over it a few times, illuminating the cave mouth and dimming it to near-darkness again in the process.
"Nice trick," Early said. "I seen light spells, o'course, but that ring's handy."
"Keeps my hands free but lets me cut off the light if we need to." Naull took the ring off and handed it to Trebba. "If you're going first, though, you'll need it."
The rogue nodded and took the ring. The party headed in; Trebba first, shielding the light as much as she could. Regdar and Ian followed, and lastly Naull
and Early came side-by-side.
In truth, Naull expected the cave to simply open into one large cavern, but she realized quickly that that wasn't going to happen. The orcs were lucky in their choice of lairs. The cave turned into a tunnel that twisted and fell away to the right almost immediately. Trebba uncovered and disabled another alarm or trap-she didn't bother telling them which it was- and the party started moving a little more quickly.
The passage wound away and down for perhaps a hundred more feet. In the dim light, they could see the next turn, the next dive, and then nothing. The ranger reached out and grasped the rogue's belt, stopping her short.
"Shh… listen."
As one, the party held its breath. They heard noises that sounded like speech, coming from ahead of them.
Trebba moved forward alone, returning a few moments later.
"There's an intersection up there, and some light coming from around the right corner. To the left it's dark, but it goes up really steeply. I didn't see or hear anything, but I couldn't look around without moving into the open."
Regdar nodded.
"Trebba, Ian, you take point," he said. "I bet the orcs're around that way to the right and that's their living area, but there may be some up and to the left. Be careful." He turned to Early and Naull and continued, "Early, you go next, with me right behind. When we see around the corner, if it is the main orc lair, I'm gonna want you-" Regdar pointed to the big man there-"to get up front with me in a hurry. Trebba, you drop back with Naull and make sure nothing comes down on us from the left. If things look clear, you can start shooting into the main cavern, but keep those arrows out of our backs."
Naull smiled slightly at the fighter's joke but she knew he was in earnest.
Trebba started to move away, but Regdar grabbed her hand and said, "If Ian is right, we'll have a more or less even fight on our hands. I want to get into the cavern, if that's what it is, as quickly as possible. Most of us're more maneuverable than the orcs, but I don't want any surprises. Something drops down from that other passage, shout your head off. They'll know we're here if that happens anyway."
"All right."
As Trebba and Ian moved forward, Early watched but Regdar hesitated.
"What do you think, Naull?" he asked in a voice too quiet for anyone but the small woman to hear.
"It's a decent plan," she answered nervously. "I hope Ian is right about the orcs, though, or we could be headed for trouble."
Regdar shook his head. He doesn't want to do this, either, she thought suddenly. She almost asked him again to call the whole attack off, but the moment passed.
As the party approached, the sounds grew in volume. Foul orc speech and cursing came from the passage to the right, and they saw the firelight flicker on the uneven stone. Trebba skillfully slipped up around the corner and back again. In the dim light she nodded and held up five fingers.
Regdar and Early moved up. Early had his long sword and shield ready, but Regdar bent and strung his large bow.
With a glance up the passage to the left, the two fighters went around the corner. A shout of surprise from the orcs greeted them, and Regdar's bow twanged. The arrow took a heavyset orc in the chest. He spun around in place and fell, right near the fire.
"That's four to go!" Early shouted.
He started rushing forward and Regdar, dropping his bow, swept out his sword, and followed.
The melee that ensued was fast and brutal. Early and Regdar barreled into the remaining orcs at full speed. Though the brutes had their gear on and their weapons out, they weren't prepared for two large humans-one nearly seven feet tall and screaming like a madman and the other encased almost entirely in blackened plate armor and wielding a sword almost as long as he was tall-attacking them in their lair. They gave ground quickly. When Ian entered the fray, one orc threw down its weapon and turned to run.
With a yelp, the orc sprawled on its face, one of Ian's small axes buried in its back. In a flash Ian yanked a second axe from his belt and rushed forward to duel with a big orc. Its two-handed axe blows cleft nothing but air as the half-elf played with his prey. When the orc tossed a quick glance over its shoulder toward the exit, the tip of the half-elf's rapier thrust forward and pierced the orc through the neck.
Naull watched both the battle and the dark passage leading up. She thought about casting her last light spell up there, but Trebba had the ring out and she could see the hole in the "ceiling" that led to an upper area. Nothing stirred up there, so Naull turned back to the fight.
With three orcs down in only twice as many seconds, the fight was nearly over. Early and Regdar each fought to keep the last few humanoids at bay, but they didn't want them to escape, either. Beyond the fire they could see another passage-a large, dark cave mouth. If the two fled down there, who knew how long it would take to catch them. Better to finish the last of them off in the open, rather than hunt them through their warren.
The last of them? Naull thought.
She scanned the three-now four, as Early's foe was down, too-orc corpses in the room. She glanced up at the last just as Regdar drove his bastard sword into its guts.
No, that's not the leader, either, she concluded.
She'd seen the leader only briefly back at the ambush site, but none of these orcs were nearly as well armed and armored as he had been. She wouldn't forget that two-handed cleaver anytime soon.
"Regdar!" she called out to tell him, but then Trebba screamed.
By bad coincidence, both women were paying attention to the battle and not the hole at just the wrong time. As if they'd known of the watchers' distraction, two large orcs sprang down through the chute. One right after the other bore down on the wizard and the rogue. The first drove the point of a longspear into Trebba's stomach as she turned back to face them. The dark woman collapsed sideways with a gasp, blocking the passage for a precious second. Naull leaped back before she could suffer a similar fate.
The wizard found herself alone at the top of the passage facing two huge orcs. Up close, their yellow fangs looked huge and their breath stank of rotten meat. One croaked evilly as it twisted its spear in Trebba's stomach and she whimpered on the ground, rolling away. The other swept a cruelly familiar two-handed sword from its back sheath and stepped toward Naull.
The wizard fell backward, holding one hand up as if in futile defense, but the sound that escaped the small woman's hps wasn't a scream. The sword came down hard, but sheared off at the last second as it struck a magical, invisible shield. Naull tried to back-step and she tumbled backward into the larger room.
The orc with the spear wrenched it out of Trebba's body, then leaped past Naull and down toward the fighters. Regdar turned when Trebba screamed and cried out with rage, starting back up the passage. The orc stabbed at the more lightly-armored Early. Trebba's blood spattered the man's wooden shield as it turned the blow aside, but Early's riposte also flew wide. The orc spun in place and brought the back of the spear around like a club, striking the big man in the sword arm and causing him to cry out in pain and drop his weapon.
Just then, a roar erupted from the cave beyond the fire. Ian had said no orc leader would leave many of his followers in a cave alone with their captured loot, and he hadn't been wrong. Five orc warriors had stayed behind along with the spear-wielder and now the party saw why. The orc "leader" was merely a lieutenant.
The creature erupting from the cave mouth had to be the humanoids' true commander.
It had the jutting chin and fangs of an orc, but stood nearly half again as tall. Its bare, elongated arms hung down past its tree trunk thighs and below its perpetually bent knees. Gold and silver along with bone and hide ornamented its brown, stringy hair, and it wielded a huge club covered in spikes and wrapped with leather thongs.
"An ogre!" Ian cried out in dismay.
The ogre bellowed and started toward the ranger. Ian was farthest into the cavern, almost up to the fire after his duel with the orc, and it was obvious the creature wanted the closes
t target first.
Naull struggled to rise to her feat, to do anything to help, but she had to roll away as the sword-wielding orc lieutenant bounded toward her. Thankfully the orc didn't reach her. Regdar jumped between them and the two huge weapons rang against each other. The orc had the momentum, and Regdar's sword bounced back.
"Naull, if you've got any surprises hidden, now would be a good time!"
The wizard chose quickly. Not even bothering to stand up, she rose to her knees and pointed at the orc fighting Regdar. Two bright missiles, like those that had killed an orc at the ambush, streaked from her fingertips and struck the brutish lieutenant full in the chest. He lurched backward and roared, but didn't fall.
Regdar screamed in frustration and struck with his bastard sword. The orc tried to parry but the blow pushed the creature's own blade back across its chest and the edge of Regdar's weapon bit into the humanoid's bicep. Blood from a deep cut flowed down its arm.
The orc backstepped but ran up against the cavern's wall. It didn't try going up and to the left. Even without Trebba's body in the way, stepping up on the uneven ground might have brought catastrophe. It had no choice but to answer Regdar, blow for blow. The two dueled as Naull watched, feeling helpless. She looked around for anything that might save them.
Across the entrance, Early battled bravely against the spear-wielding orc, but he was obviously overmatched. He'd drawn his backup weapon, a dagger, but no matter how he tried he couldn't get close enough to use it. Every time he pushed inside the orc's reach, the spear turned and the orc walloped him with the wooden butt. It didn't cause him much pain, but it backed him up. Meanwhile, the pointed end of the weapon had jabbed Early twice, once in the thigh and once in the shoulder. The big man was tiring and there was nothing Naull could do.
