The Staff Of Naught Part 11

Chapter 14.

Inside a strange little house built on stilts that were themselves resting on large coils of heavy wire, a man who wore a thick brown wool shirt put down a cup of steaming liquid just as the tremors that shook the building began to subside. Even then the cup went into a perfectly shaped indentation in the table clearly meant for just this purpose. Steel bolts anch.o.r.ed the table to the floor and virtually everything in the house was made of that metal or iron. He was apparently a mix of human and some other races for he was extremely short for the species or tall for gnome or halfling, had a long nose and tremendous ears that stretched nearly to the top of his head. Next to the man stood a squat dwarf, his skin mostly black with patches of pale white shining through when he lifted his arm so that his underarm appeared.

"The Black Fire runs hot," said Edorin Firefist as he looked down at the strange little fellow.

"The Black Fire always runs hot," said Lorim. "That is why kings and queens purchase our goods and leave us to our own devices, Edos. Does it run particularly hot today or have you come to make more demands for you, share of the ore?"

"I will tell you when I want more ore and you will then deliver it," said the dwarf, his face a mask of impenetrable cragginess. "I tell you the Black Fire is running hot because the Black Fire is running hot."

"Thank you for your report, Edos. Does this mean that we can expect higher quality weapons out of the forge for the next month?"

"Higher quality, lower volume," said the dwarf his face still impa.s.sive.

"If there is nothing else, Edos, then I have other matters to which to attend," said Lorim and once again picked up his cup of coffee and took a small sip. There was another minor quake outside and the paintings on the wall shook briefly but apparently without harm. The dwarf nodded his head; the short beard black with soot briefly touched his shirt front, and he then left the building. A moment later a woman came out from a door on the other side of the room. She was dark skinned naturally, not an effect of the soot, and had purple eyes and silver hair. "The dwarf is a fool," she said.

"He is a Firefist," said Lorim, "and even the darklings must recognize the power in that."

"Craggen Steep is a legend," she snorted, "for children and weak minded humans. He may take the name Firefist but anyone of that family has long since pa.s.sed the barriers of the living, if there ever were rulers of that mythical realm."

"He is a master smith, an Edos as the dwarves say, and his appearance in our little township has provided the monks with great wealth to go with their fighting spirit. If he were to leave then much would change and not for the better."

"You are a fool then, Lorim," said the woman with a sneer as she held her head tilted upwards at a sharp angle. "The dwarf is using you in the same way you use the monks. He is in this for his own reasons and when the darkness enshrouds them no more you will regret ever trusting him."

"I've heard all this many times before, Lilithia," said Lorim and took another sip from the piping hot metal cup. "You have not come up from below in many months. To what do I owe this little trip?"

"You are to have visitors soon," she said. "Important visitors with important things."

"Elaborate, woman," said Lorim and sat back and gazed at her with narrowed eyes. The metal chair sc.r.a.ped against the metal floor giving out a prolonged squeal, the woman winced, turned her head down and right and her hands flew to her ears.

"You do that intentionally," she said. "And someday the great spider will have her way with your essence."

"Yes, yes, Lilithia," said Lorim moving his torso and the chair squeaked yet again. "Yet your purchases of our swords diminish not in volume. Your wars with the denizens of the Deep Below do not abate?"

"Our political concerns are not for your consumption, Lorim," said the woman and her hand went to a spider brooch that appeared to creep up her collar. She took the thing and looked at with soft eyes before she placed it further down her silken shirt. "There is a girl coming, a little girl, a human little girl," said the woman her purple eyes now gleaming with excitement. She licked her lips and smiled. "This girl is carrying something that we want."

"A girl, traveling alone?"

"Must you interrupt? You surface dwellers with your puny life spans are always in such a hurry. Be patient and I will tell you everything and I will tell you the price we will pay for this item."

"Go on, Lilithia," said Lorim and put down his cup and leaned back in his seat.

"The girl is working for an ally of ours although she does not know it. She travels in a merchant wagon led by a man I'm told you deal with, his name is Tanner."

The man's long ears twitched at this. "Yes, we know Tanner well. He is a good merchant who treats us fairly with both price and goods. I would hate to alienate such an ally unless the reward was quite high, quite high indeed."

"Merchants are as common as the black gnolls," sniffed the woman. "Where you squash one ten more arise. You need not worry that this endeavor will not be profitable to you, Lorim. You need not even kill the merchant and his family. Simply let them pa.s.s into the hills without incident. We will take care of the rest."

"Not as easily done as you might imagine, my dear Lilithia," said the strange little man. "The Thilnog Monks do not take orders from me when it comes to who pa.s.ses unmolested into their territories nor do they take kindly to interference on the mountain from any source, be it human, hobgoblin, or darkling."

"Are you not the Trade Captain of the Maw?" she said pulling back her head with a motion of contempt. "Have you not the right to authorize which merchants are allowed onto the mountain and do you not supply the monks with the fruits of your labor? Surely they will allow one little wagon full of people to enter the territories unmolested, unsearched, if you request it."

"I'm certain that if I worded the request properly the monks might well honor it," said Lorim and leaned back in his chair. "But if the wagon ended up being the cause of any trouble the monks would come looking for me. I would need some sort of compensation should this train of events come to pa.s.s."

The slim darkling smiled and pulled out a satchel from her belt, "I knew we could come to some sort of an accommodation, Lorim," she said and spilled out a palm full of red, green, and white gemstones that glittered on the table like so many stars in the sky. "That is for you. If the plan comes off as antic.i.p.ated and we are able to acquire the item there will be more for you to give to the monks for any suffering the incident might cause them."

"Pretty baubles, no doubt," said Lorim but this time his tongue, overly long like his ears, came out and licked a wide swath over his lips. "But, I was thinking of a more ... carnal ... incentive for my trouble. If the monks kill me for this I'd like to go to great Svorag with at least one fond memory."

The darkling woman looked at the snarled features of the little man and stood a little bit taller and threw back her shoulders subtly. "You are truly a disgusting example of your species. I find it excites me." And with that began to pull off the silken shirt she wore.

Chapter 15.

The narrow trail the wagon traveled was cut through huge boulders many times the size of the vehicle itself and they lay strewn around the side of a hill as if a group of giants finished a sloppily played game of catch just a few hours before. Tanner was at the reins as the donkeys carefully picked their way over the debris of the road which looked to have suffered a landslide in the not too distant past. Beside him sat Lousa while the others were either in the wagon or trailing behind on their mounts. The road was not wide enough to accommodate both the wagon and riders to the side. In fact, the wagon teetered precariously as they rounded a narrow bend that led further up the mountainside. A jet of yellow gas erupted a few dozen yards to the right of the wagon with a sibilant hiss and the odor immediately overwhelmed them.

"Did you fart again," shrieked Shalalee to her brother as they rocked from side to side in the back of the wagon.

"Gross," said Ariana as she wrinkled her nose.

"It wasn't me," said Tylan and pointed his finger at Humbort who held his nose and tried to breathe through his mouth.

"It wasn't me," said the man in a nasally voice.

"I did it," shouted Unerus and stood up to wave his rear at the party but just then a jolt from the wagon sent him sprawling into the arms of Shalalee who caught him and the two rolled to the wagon floor unable to gain their balance for a long moment. When they finally separated the boy's face was bright red and he moved quickly to sit down on the bench.

"What's wrong with you," asked Ariana but Amara interrupted quickly. "Children, it's going to be a rough ride from here on out so you better brace yourselves."

Back in the front of the wagon Lousa looked to Tanner and said in a low voice, "That was easy."

"Too easy," said Tanner who looked ahead and not at the woman. "I've made this trip a dozen times and the monks are usually extremely thorough in making certain I'm not bringing spies or contraband onto the mountain."

"Why would they let us past so easily then?"

Tanner shook his head. "It has to be because they know we're carrying something, something that someone wants."

"There is only one way they could know," said Lousa and looked around for the telltale blue glow. They had sent the ghost off a few hours before they approached the border with orders to rejoin them further up the trail. The creature went with little protest and had yet to reappear.

"Khemer is up to something," said Tanner. "I just wish I knew what it was."

"What would he have to gain by selling the staff to one of the Thilnog Monks," said Lousa. "It doesn't make any sense. He has no corporeal presence. He can't use money, he can't taste food, what possible item of value could anyone offer him? We are going to destroy the staff which is the only thing that I can see being of use to him."

"Perhaps he is helping us," said Tanner with a shrug of his broad shoulders that touched Lousa's for a moment before the merchant pulled away and moved a few inches towards the other side of the wagon seat. "If we take him at his word then he might have promised the monks something in return for pa.s.sage in order to make it easier for us."

"What in Doria could he possibly promise?" asked Lousa and held both palms up with a shake of her head. "He has nothing. The only information he has is how to destroy the staff."

Tanner sat in silence for long moments before he finally shook his head. "I don't know, but what can we do about it?"

"Nothing," said the woman, her eyes growing dark and stormy. "Nothing at all."

"Another thing," said Tanner with a look up the hillside where a small cavalcade of rocks suddenly tumbled down far enough up the mountain not to be of any nuisance. "Normally we'd have an escort of the yellow-clad monks taking us all the way to town, now there is no one."

"I suppose we should count our blessings then," said Lousa. "No interfering eyes to overhear loose conversations. The children are good enough but they are kids after all and p.r.o.ne to speaking out of turn."

"Actually, I meant that the slopes of this mountain house many dangerous creatures and without the protection of the monks ..." said Tanner the words no sooner out of his mouth when the voice of Shamki suddenly barked out.

"Attackers, up slope!"

By the time Tanner managed to pull back the reins and stop the horses, Lousa was already off the wagon having leapt to a nearby rock where she stood hands above her as she looked to and fro among the rocks. Shamki's war horse gave out a loud cry from behind the wagon but the merchant's view was completely blocked. "Stay in the wagon, kids!" he shouted out and grabbed at the long knife he kept under the seat. His first stab missed and the second time his fingers closed on the blade not the hilt causing him to cry out in pain.

"Daddy!" cried Shalalee as she poked her head out from the wagon.

"I'm okay," said Tanner and shoved her back as he put his palm against her forehead and heaved. She flew backwards into the wagon and sprawled into Ariana and sent the smaller girl flying.

Next came the sound of sizzling bacon and Tanner looked up in time to see a wall of fire rush from Lousa's hands as she pointed to something on the ground beneath her feet. "Fry little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds," she shrieked, her emerald eyes blazing like gemstones and her green hair flaring out behind her.

"Got him," shrieked Unerus just into Tanner's view as he stabbed down into the rocks with the little sword that Shamki had cut down from his practice blade although the merchant was still completely unable to see the nature of the attackers. Then a burst of reddish brown liquid suddenly emerged from Unerus's left and Shamki's blade, flat side towards the boy, came down with a thwack that sent the boy sprawling over the rocks. The liquid splattered where he stood a moment before with a nasty sizzling sound. Unerus somehow managed to catch himself in mid fall with his left hand, spun feet over head, and landed on his toes on top of nearby boulder.

"Eyes," said Shamki apparently in a normal tone of voice although the word sounded above the din of the rest of the battle.

Unerus nodded to the big fighter and immediately leapt towards the wagon and this time Tanner finally saw the creatures that they fought. It looked like a scorpion with a long body broken into segments except where normally he would expect to see a poison laden stinger there was a bulbous bulge glowing dark red. Unerus landed behind the thing, leaned to the right so as to get his body out of the direct path of the tail, and stabbed down with his blade neatly skewering the thing that writhed for a moment or two before going limp.

"Fie, fie!" screamed Shamki pointing his sword higher up the cliff and Tanner barely spotted the creature that watched from above. It was like the little things although infinitely bigger, the size of a draft horse at least if not bigger. Its own tail, also ending in the red bulbous end, waved over its head and pointed at the half-orc menacingly. Shamki seemed to take no note of the danger and leapt over a boulder towards it but then suddenly darted to the side as the tail swiveled to point at him. In another motion the warrior covered three more strides each time making sudden shifts to the left or the right, as the tail tried to track him it was always a step behind. Then with a swiftness that belied its size, the creature's six legs blazed into motion and it was twenty yards up the rock strewn hillside in the blink of an eye.

"Get it, Shamki," shrieked Unerus as he scrambled up some rocks far below the half-orc.

Shamki turned back to the wagon with a shake of his head. "No chase."

Tanner felt a sharp pain in his hand and realized he gripped the wagon rail with all his strength and that blood was flowing freely from a large gash across three fingers.

"Anyone hurt?" said Humbort who stepped out from behind the wagon and held several wads of cloth. Right behind him was Hazlebub and she had pulled out a little gla.s.s vial filled with a smoky white liquid. She looked at Tanner's hand, "You're hurt?"

"It's nothing," he said. "I did it to myself when I went for my knife."

The witch came over but Almara was too quick as she emerged from the back of the wagon with a wet rag and some clean cloth. "Let me see that, Tanner. Why don't you let them's that trained to fight do the fighting?" He started to protest but saw the cast of her eyes and meekly allowed her to take his hand and start to clean the wound.

"I'm fine," said Unerus and slapped at Shalalee who poked at his shirt. But when the girl touched his ribs he suddenly inhaled and clenched his teeth.

"Take off your shirt," said the tall girl and put her hands on her hips and stared down at the boy who was a year older than she was.

"I said I'm fine," insisted Unerus and again pulled away from her but even that subtle movement caused him to gasp and for a moment he had trouble with his breath and gave off a wheeze.

"Broken ribs," said Hazlebub as she came up from behind Shalalee. "Let the girly tend you or I will," she said with a strange little cackle and wiggled the fingers on both hands so that they looked like a cat clawing at a ball of yarn.

Unerus looked at the old woman for a moment and then gave a short sigh, which brought forth another wince and said, "Fine then." He tried to lift the leather jerkin over his head but the process of raising his arms brought forth another wince and he lowered them and started to fumble with the string ties that pulled the top tight at the neck.

"Here, let me help you," said Shalalee, batted his hand away, undid the string, and then lifted the coa.r.s.e wool jerkin over his head. The boy was skinny to the point of emaciation; his ribs poked out and in addition to the quickly growing purple and green bruise on his chest there were a number of scars and burns from old wounds that made him look more like a war veteran than a twelve year old boy. "Oh," said the girl and took a step backwards.

"I'm ok," said Unerus and made a move to put back on his shirt but the girl reached forward with her hand and touched him gently on the chest.

"No, it's okay," she said and stared at the young boy for a moment.

"You want to be wrapping cloth real tight around him, like a mummy," said Hazlebub still watching the two. "Keep them ribs in place."

Shalalee looked at the small bandages in her hand and then dashed off to the wagon, "I'll be right back!"

Unerus sat down on a rock and touched his ribs with a forefinger and immediately gave another little grunt of pain, although he then sat upright as Shamki returned from up the hill and sat down next to him.

"Fight good, always watch!"

"I didn't know they could shoot out fire like that or I wouldn't have stood there," said Unerus and looked back to the rock, blackened by the sizzling goo.

"Here, Ariana," said Hazlebub and walked over to one of the dead little scorpion creatures and picked it by a pincer. "The tail fire is good for a love potion I know."

"Ewww," said the girl, wrinkled her nose, and backing away. "Who wants a stupid love potion?"

Shalalee came back from the wagon at that moment with a bolt of heavy cotton, a pair of steel scissors, and a box of pins. She looked at the two for a moment, her face settling in a sort of doe eyed smile before she moved back over to Shamki and Unerus.

"Oh, you'd be surprised little miss," said Hazlebub. "Lots of folks want love potions and pay good money to get *em. Now, what you do is take the little b.u.g.g.e.rs by the head; come over and do it young lady," she went on with a motion of her free hand.

Ariana looked at Lousa who was still on top of the rock as she scanned the region, left, right, and then up to the sky and then went over to the old witch. "Stupid love potions."

Chapter 16.

The little campfire burned brightly and illuminated a large wagon where half a dozen people of various size and shapes sat and enjoyed a meal. High above them in the rocky hills sat two men and a woman looking down. One of them, a squat little crossbreed creature with immensely long ears smoked a thick cigar which gave off an odor that made the other two stay upwind of him.

"Rmmg," growled the ma.s.sive furred creature whose mouth looked almost big enough to swallow the gnome-like fellow whole, "Do you have to smoke those things, Lorim."

"Who pays your salary Radvor?" asked Lorim, blowing a puff of smoke directly at the Bugbear and looking at him with his yellow eyes.

"Mmmmgg, you do," said the bugbear, pulling a ma.s.sive hammer from the ground and thumping the head into his palm. "They look dangerous, tough. The orc, he knows the ways of fighting and he is teaching the boy."