City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [32]
“So where do we find this broken church?” he said, glancing back at Lei.
“I’m afraid my family never visited Malleon’s Gate on my trips to Sharn,” said Lei. “Perhaps you should ask for directions.”
Daine studied the few bystanders. “Somehow I think we’d be more likely to get a knife in the gut than useful advice. Let’s keep on.”
They explored the streets. Gleaming red eyes watched suspiciously from the shadows, but Daine kept his dagger in view and no one approached. On one street, a sharp shriek pierced the gloom as a harpy passed overhead. The half-human creature spun around and a ball of spit and phlegm struck Daine in the face.
Daine grabbed Pierce’s arm before the warforged could release an arrow. “Let it go,” he said. “We’re the outsiders here.” He wiped his face and rubbed his hand on his cloak.
Turning a corner they came upon a granite statue of a club-wielding goblin, its face frozen in rage. “I’m not sure about the taste,” Jode said, “but it’s nice to see an attempt to bring a little artistic flair to the region.”
“It’s not a statue,” said Lei. She studied the perfect lines of the statue. “This unfortunate fellow was once very much alive. Something changed him to stone. Medusa, unless I miss my guess. Though I suppose it could be a basilisk.”
Jode stumbled, and looking down found that he had tripped over the arm of a shattered second statue. “Lovely! Can we get this over with? Dinner with Councilor Teral is sounding more attractive every minute.”
The next living residents they encountered were a pair of goblins—a male and a female—engaged in a heated debate. Sheathing his dagger, Jode walked over and hailed them in the Goblin tongue—somehow managing to make even that harsh language seem cheerful. The goblins were momentarily dumbfounded by the interruption, but their demeanor changed once Jode produced a few copper crowns. The male goblin reached for the coins with a snarl, but as he did his companion struck him in the head with a mighty double-fisted blow and he sank senseless to the ground. The woman took the coins and engaged in a brief, animated conversation.
Jode returned to the group, and the goblin dragged her fallen comrade out of the street.
“What did she say?” Lei asked.
“She said that she sympathized, as her fool of a husband wouldn’t ask for directions either.” Jode grinned. “But I’ve got directions, and I’d say there’s at least half-odds that she was telling the truth.”
“Lead on, then.”
The broken church had been abandoned long ago, its holy trappings stripped away and only bare fragments remaining of the once-beautiful windows of colored crystal. Fire and acid had scarred the walls. On the steps, two monsters were engaged in a brutal battle.
One was a minotaur—at least eight feet tall. Powerful muscles rippled beneath a sleek coat of black fur. He wore a black loincloth embroidered with golden sigils, and his long horns were bound with bands of brass. His opponent was a bugbear—a seven-foot blend of ursine and goblin features. His light brown fur was unkempt and patchy, his clothes torn, and one of his fangs was missing. The two were fighting barehanded, and it was clear that the bugbear was getting the worst of it. Studying the steps, Daine noticed the bugbear’s missing fang lying a few feet away.
Daine could see that the bugbear was barely standing. The minotaur ended the battle with a single mighty head butt. The bugbear fell down the steps, blood streaming from nose and mouth. It did came to a stop, its head resting on the second step, and did not move again.
The minotaur studied its fallen foe for a moment, then looked over at Daine.