Crypt of the shadowking - Mark Anthony [27]
"I hope no one notices we've put on a little weight all of a sudden," Caledan commented wryly.
They were halfway down the staircase when suddenly a small, unnoticed rip in one of Caledan's sacks opened wider. A single, brilliant emerald slipped out of his jerkin and tumbled down the stairs. The gem bounced brightly down the stairwell and came to rest on a stone step, right at the foot of a Zhentarim warrior who had been walking in their direction.
Mari and Caledan froze. The Zhentarim was a grizzled fellow, an officer of some sort. Slowly he bent down and picked up the shining emerald. He stared at it thoughtfully for a moment, then looked up at Mari and Caledan, baring his yellowed teeth in a grin. The two grinned back weakly.
"Robbers in the tower!" the Zhent shouted. 'To arms! To arms!" The thunder of booted feet and the ringing of drawn swords echoed up the stairwell. The Zhentarim officer lunged at Caledan, managing to grab his leg out from under him. Caledan fell, trying to kick away the soldier's tenacious hold. Mari grabbed a torch from an iron sconce on the wall and brought it down hard on the Zhent's head. He groaned and fell backward, bowling over the first of the guards who had come dashing to the scene.
Mari pulled Caledan to his feet, and the two scrambled back up the stairwell. "Now what?" she shouted.
"I was just about to ask you that," Caledan returned.
Once again they burst back into the topmost chamber. Avdis, who had just managed to gain his feet, stared at them in renewed horror and then promptly slumped back to the floor. They slammed the chamber's door shut and slid home the bolt just as the first guards reached the landing. Immediately the door resounded with forceful blows.
"That's not going to hold them for very long," Mari said, eyeing the door nervously.
"Then you'd better think of something fast."
"Me? This was all your idea," she retorted hotly.
The door shook under additional pounding.
Mari glared at him angrily. "A window, Caldorien," she said flatly. 'Try a window."
Unfortunately, the outside walls of the tower offered only a sheer drop to the ground far below. The only chance lay with the west window, where there was a decidedly crumbly-looking bridge about twenty feet down, spanning the gap from this tower to the next.
"We'll never make it to the bridge," Caledan said after peering out the window. "Even if we don't break our legs, the impact would probably destroy that rickety thing."
"What's the alternative?" Mari asked in exasperation.
The door shuddered violently. One more blow and it would fly apart.
"All right, let's try it," Caledan snapped.
Mari threw her arms tightly around his neck. The door burst open in a spray of splintering wood, and a dozen guards charged into the room, swords drawn. Gripping Mari tightly, Caledan jumped out of the window. With one hand, he grabbed a handful of the tangled ivy that snaked up the west face of the tower. The tendrils could not support both his and Mari's weight, and the vines ripped from the wall as the two fell.
They landed hard on the narrow stone bridge that arched between the two towers. Mari felt the stones shift beneath them with the impact, but the derelict old bridge withstood the shock. Though winded and bruised, the two scrambled to their feet. Guards shouted angrily from the window above, but Mari and Caledan dashed across the bridge.
They froze in midstep.
The door in the next tower flew open. A half-dozen guards stood in the opening. Mari and Caledan spun around, only to view a similar obstacle behind them. They were trapped.
Something hissed past Mari's ear. She looked up to see one of the Zhent officers above, reloading a crossbow. From both directions the guards began to edge their way carefully onto the bridge. Mari felt the