Dragons of Winter Night - Margaret Weis [40]
“Tell that to the Dragon Highlord, you miserable dog-eaters,” snarled the draconian. “I’m sure his lordship’ll be interested in your opinion. Or rather, his dragon’ll be interested. You have your orders. Now dig, all of you.”
There were sounds of scraping, sounds of stones being dragged aside. Rivulets of dirt and dust started to sift down through the cracks. The big beam shivered slightly but held.
The companions stared at each other, almost holding their breaths, each remembering the strange draconians who had attacked the Inn. “Somebody’s after us,” Raistlin had said.
“What are we looking for in this rubble?” croaked a goblin in the goblin tongue. “Silver? Jewels?”
Tanis and Caramon, who spoke a little goblin, strained to hear.
“Naw,” said the first goblin, who had grumbled about orders. “Spies or some such wanted personally by the Dragon Highlord for questioning.”
“In here?” the goblin asked in amazement.
“That’s what I said,” snarled his companion. “You saw how far I got. The lizardmen say they had them trapped in the Inn when the dragon hit it. Said none of them escaped, and so the Highlord figures they must still be here. If you ask me—the dracos screwed up and now we’ve got to pay for their mistakes.”
The sounds of digging and of rock moving grew louder, as did the sound of goblin voices, occasionally punctuated by a sharp order in the guttural voice of the draconians. There must be fifty of them up there! Tanis thought, stunned.
Riverwind quietly lifted his sword out of the water and began wiping it dry. Caramon, his usually cheerful face somber, released Tika and found his sword. Tanis didn’t have a sword, Riverwind tossed him his dagger. Tika started to draw her sword, but Tanis shook his head. They would be fighting in close quarters, and Tika needed lots of room. The half-elf looked questioningly at Raistlin.
The mage shook his head. “I will try, Tanis,” he whispered. “But I am very tired. Very tired. And I can’t think, I can’t concentrate.” He bowed his head, shivering violently in his wet robes. He was exerting all his effort not to cough and give them away, muffling his choking in his sleeve.
One spell will finish him, if he gets that off, Tanis realized. Still, he may be luckier than the rest of us. At least he won’t be taken alive.
The sounds above them grew louder and louder. Goblins are strong, tireless workers. They wanted to finish this job quickly, then get back to looting Tarsis. The companions waited in grim silence below. An almost steady stream of dirt and crushed rock dropped down upon them, along with fresh rainwater. They gripped their weapons. It was only a matter of minutes, maybe, before they were discovered.
Then, suddenly, there were new sounds. They heard the goblins yell in fear, the draconians shout to them, ordering them back to work. But they could hear the sounds of shovels and picks being dropped down onto the rocks above them, then the cursing of the draconians as they tried to stop what was apparently a full-scale goblin revolt.
And above the noise of the shrieking goblins rose a loud, clear, high pitched call, which was answered by another call farther away. It was like the call of an eagle, soaring above the plains at sunset. But this call was right above them.
There was a scream—a draconian. Then a rending sound—as if the body of the creature were being ripped apart. More screams, the clash of steel being drawn, another call and another answer—this one much nearer.
“What is that?” Caramon asked, his eyes wide. “It isn’t a dragon. It sounds like—like some gigantic bird of prey!”
“Whatever it is, it’s tearing the draconians to shreds!” Goldmoon said in awe as they listened. The screaming sounds stopped abruptly, leaving a silence behind that was almost worse. What new evil replaced the old?
Then came the sound of rocks and stones, mortar and timber being lifted and sent crashing to the streets. Whatever was up there was intent on reaching them!
“It’s eaten all the draconians,” whispered Caramon gruffly, “and now it’s after us!”
Tika turned deathly white,