Glass
and Roses, Chapter 2
Valdimer
collapsed onto the floor of the cave. He shivered as Berit fired
bolt after bolt from her crossbow around the cave's entrance. He
went to grab a potion from his belt, but found that they had frozen
over from the cold. They had wandered too high into the mountains.
He heard the goblins that were chasing them holler as they retreated.
Berit
turned to the rest of the small band, shooting them a poisonous look.
"You stupid brutes! They've got us surrounded." The
twins had hired five mercenaries to protect them and carry their
supplies on their journey north. Three remained.
One
of the hirelings, a tall and muscular devilborn, stood up. His
golden eyes seemed oddly relaxed compared to the danger that lurked
just outside the cave. He folded his maroon arms. "We're safe
in here. The cave mouth forms a bottleneck. We can pick off any
goblins that try to come through at range."
"Safe?!"
Berit howled over the snowstorm that blew by outside. "You were
supposed to find a safe trail through the mountains, but you found
one infested with goblins! You were supposed to keep us safe from
attacks, but we've lost two good fighters in as many minutes! Tell
me how I'm supposed to feel safe, Dror!"
Valdimer
wiped the frost from his face and tried to stand up. His feet were
too numb, however, and he slumped back down. "I don't enjoy
agreeing with my sister, but we can't leave the cave without getting
slaughtered, and staying here won't help. We have to see if there's
another way out."
Berit
ignored his advice and turned on him. "And you! You're the one
who said we should try to conserve coin by hiring cheaper help. Look
where that got us!" She thrashed her arm towards the three
mercenaries. Pantar furrowed her brow and glared back at Berit, but
Dror shook his head and grinned, his horns nearly scraping the cavern
ceiling. Nathen, the third hireling, didn't respond. He had sat
down against the wall of the cave, clutching his side. Valdimer's
gut sank when he realized Nathen had stopped shivering.
Pantar
noticed at the same time, and scrambled to Nathen's side. "Nathen,
no! Wake up, we must keep going."
"I
can't...feel..." Nathan muttered. Pantar removed his hand from
his side to find a bloody wound, with a goblin arrow embedded deep in
his flesh. Nathen's eyelids fluttered. "It's better than
freezing..." he whispered. Pantar attempted to pour a bloodroot
potion down his throat, then checked his pulse. Her head fell and
she muttered a dwarven curse.
Berit
returned her glare to Dror. "We won't be taking any more of
your advice," she said. "You will protect us through the
rest of this cave, and when we reach the next point of civilization-"
"If
we do," Valdimer groaned.
"When,"
Berit said firmly. "Then you will leave our services."
Dror
wrinkled his nose and nodded. "Not a problem. Boss," he
added with contempt.
Pantar
helped Valdimer to his feet and checked him for wounds. There were
none, but the half-elf seemed to be on the verge of frostbite. He
dug in his herb pouch, his numb fingers clutching at the various
pockets and spilling their contents around the bottom of the bag. He
made a mental note to clean it up later, but in the meantime, he
found a hearthleaf and began to chew on it. It would keep him warm
enough to walk, for at least another hour.
Berit
led the small group deeper into the narrow cave, while Pantar kept
watch at the back for any goblins that tried to follow them.
Valdimer flinched every time he heard her crossbow fire, knowing her
dwarven darkvision had spotted another malformed silhouette sneaking
towards them. Dror held his longsword in both hands. Valdimer kept
an eye on him whenever he seemed to be getting closer to Berit.
They
followed the course of a frozen stream that ran through the caverns,
hoping to find where it exited the mountain. Valdimer's steps were
slowing, and he felt the cold creeping back into his legs. Pantar
gave him a shoulder to lean on, but Berit would not slow down. She
was ahead by a dozen paces when Dror suddenly started running towards
her with his sword still drawn.
Valdimer
drew his rod, but his reflexes were slowed by the cold. Before he
could charge a spell, Dror had tackled Berit. Then there was dust,
and rocks were falling from the ceiling. Valdimer charged ahead and
stumbled into a wall of debris. “Berit! Stay off her!” The
dust covered his glasses, and he couldn't see.
“I
just saved her, idiot,” he heard Dror's voice say. Berit coughed
and added, “I'm fine.” Valdimer blinked and tried to figure out
what to do next, but Pantar interrupted him.
“We
have company!” she said. Valdimer turned and heard the chittering
of goblins drawing closer from the tunnel they came from. He
realized that they were trapped against the wall of rubble, and
without Berit and Dror's bows, they would not be able to hold them
all off. He patted himself down to find a solution and pulled out a
small metal package from a pocket.
“I
can take out some of them before they get to us, and then maybe we
can cut down some more before one of us is knocked out,” Pantar was
saying. “It doesn't look good for us, but if we hug the wall
there's a slim chance we might-”
“We
need to charge at them,” Valdimer said.
Pantar
looked at him like he had sprouted faerie wings. “You've lost your
mind. Now I'm definitely going to die because you won't help.”
“No,
I have a plan.” Valdimer put the metal package down on the wall of
rubble. “We don't shoot any, and as soon as they're just there,”
he pointed to a spot on the ground three feet ahead of them, “we
dash through them as quickly as possible.”
“They'll
kill us.”
“Not
right away.” Valdimer twisted a mechanism on the package. “Even
goblins can be surprised.” Pantar frowned and her eyes were wide,
but she nodded. “Berit! Step away from the debris!”
Eyes
appeared around the bend, and the miniscule humanoids were suddenly
upon them. Pantar and Valdimer ran into the horde, deflecting their
swords and spears as much as possible. Valdimer took a scratch in
the side, but most of the goblins had so much momentum that they ran
right past him and Pantar and had to stop at the cave-in.
Perfect.
The
metal package exploded, shattering the rubble wall and vaporizing all
the goblins who had gotten too close to it. Valdimer and Pantar
themselves were thrown forward by the blast. A goblin landed next to
Pantar, and she stabbed her dagger into it, then used that to get
back to her feet. The remaining goblins scattered into the crevasses
of the cave.
Valdimer,
now far from numb, returned to where the cave had collapsed. He saw
Dror clearing the remnants of the rubble while Berit stood behind and
adjusted her dusty vest. She looked up at Valdimer for a brief
second, then at Dror. “Good work, all of you. Dror, I trust you
can find a way out of here now?”
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