Darkwalker on Moonshae - Douglas Niles [65]
“Push up!” Pawldo ordered, and the three humans strained upward against the grid. Slowly, the heavy metal lifted from the hole as they stepped to the floor above. As they laid the grate back onto the floor, it clanged noisily and unexpectedly against a stone floor. Tristan gasped, and then they were all silent, frozen, listening for a response. No sound broke the silence of the dank passage. Finally, they began to breathe again, and silently they eased the grate back into its place.
Tristan’s eyes, grown accustomed to near total darkness, now served him well in the dimly lit passage. He saw that they stood in the middle of a wide corridor. The grate in the floor seemed to be some sort of drain, for gutters in each side of the corridor carried a steady flow of water to the tunnel.
They saw walls, ceiling, and floor all constructed of smooth stone. The craftsmanship, though crude, seemed very solid. The corridor reached perhaps fifteen feet from side to side, and twelve feet to the ceiling. The only illumination was a light at one end of the corridor and seemed to be coming from far away, as if the light traveled around several corners before reaching the companions.
“Let’s have a look,” suggested Tristan, nodding in the direction of the light.
The others agreed, and they assumed their original formation, now without torchlight. They walked for several minutes, Tristan and Robyn cautiously leading. They passed a darkened corridor leading to the right, and another, but wordlessly agreed to continue forward.
A snort erupted from the second side passage just after they passed it, and they whirled toward the sound. Daryth and Pawldo seemed to disappear as they crouched in the darkened shadows of the gutter.
The scrape of heavy footsteps announced the appearance of a stooping Firbolg. It lurched into the corridor and then stood, swaying from side to side. Suddenly, he gave forth a tremendous belch, and blinked at Tristan and Robyn, standing side by side before him.
The prince, smelling strong spirits on the stumbling Firbolg, realized that the creature was drunk, but the reason didn’t matter when the filthy creature grunted an unintelligible oath and leaped at Robyn with an upraised fist.
Tristan quickly drew his knife and slashed upward at the Firbolg’s fist. At the same time a figure darted from the shadows and hurtled itself at the Firbolg’s side. A gleaming dagger was thrust, and suddenly the creature’s throat exploded in blood. Soundlessly, it dropped to the ground.
The prince stared at Daryth in awe, realizing that his friend had slain the Firbolg with one blow – cutting the creature’s neck by surprise.
“Quick! Let’s get him out of sight!” Pawldo urged. “Pull him into the gutter.”
They dragged the heavy corpse to the side and concealed it as best they could in the shadowy depression. When they moved on through the darkness toward the unseen light source, Tristan saw that Robyn walked a little closer to him than before.
They neared the corner, where they paused, noting that the light was brighter now, as if it were just around one more corner.
“Stay here,” cautioned Daryth.
They did as he suggested while he advanced silently, finally lying down on the floor and peering around the corner at ground level. In seconds, he returned to them.
“There’s a big iron door in the wall,” he explained. “It’s got a big lock on it, but I might be able to open it. Oh, and there’s a giant asleep in a chair outside the door.”
“Some afterthought,” grumbled Pawldo.
“This could be a cell,” whispered Robyn excitedly. “I’ll bet that’s where Keren is!”
They each moved forward and looked around the corner. Twenty feet away, a Firbolg slouched in a huge chair, snoring contentedly. A large jug lay on its side at his feet and a smoky torch flickered in a wall socket above the chair.
Next to the Firbolg stood the door Daryth had described, and that portal seemed formidable indeed.
A surface of dull black iron dotted with heavy bolts, the entire thing hung from three massive iron hinges. In the center of the door was