Pool of Radiance - James M. Ward [50]
Ren lay silent for more than a minute, then rose slowly and shook himself head to foot. "God, I need a bath! I've fought some of the most disgusting creatures in the Realms, and I've never felt this filthy…" He noticed their expressions of concern turning to relief. "Some valiant fighter, huh?" he asked, embarrassed.
"We should all stand up so well," Tarl said sincerely. "For a minute there, I thought I was-"
"Hey, you two, come and take a look at this." Shal was standing near the frog she had just killed, pointing at it. A grayish-green band encircled the creature's broad, damp neck. If it hadn't been for a triangle of silver that hung from it, the band would barely have been visible. The triangle, embossed with a small silver pyramid, glistened even in the dull light from the larger room. "It looks like a collar or something," said Shal, gingerly reaching for the medallion.
Ren grabbed her outstretched hand with startling speed. "Don't touch it!" he hissed. "Who knows what cursed master these god-awful animals served? That's not a symbol I'm familiar with, but these creatures sure weren't sent by anything friendly."
"Look here!" whispered Tarl. He had come around the frog from the other side and was holding up the far end of the stretch of canvas on which Ren and the frog had landed. Underneath was a veritable armory of weapons-ball and chains, throwing hammers, daggers, throwing stars, axes, shields, armor. Most were rusted or corroded, but two items stood out from the rest: a dagger and a hammer, both of which shone as though a metalsmith had polished them the day before. Each glowed with an eerie green light, and each was in mint condition and obviously of top quality.
"Those wouldn't glow like that unless there was some danger nearby," hissed Ren. "My own daggers do the same." He pulled Right from his boot, and sure enough, it was gleaming with a bluish light. "Listen…" whispered Ren. He pointed toward a gaping hole in the wall of the muddy room where the frogs lay dead. The sound of grating humanoid voices drifted through the air like the buzz of so many cicadas. Quickly Ren handed the hammer to Tarl, keeping the dagger for himself.
Together the three moved silently back into the larger room and worked their way along the wall to the opening. Ren crouched down and glanced cautiously through the hole, then quickly pulled back behind what remained of the wall. "There's a lot of them-orcs, hobgoblins, kobolds… a real mixed lot," he whispered. "Must be at least forty of them. We've got to get out of here-maybe back through the barracks and over the wall."
Tarl shook his head. "We haven't located what we came for," he whispered. "Our information is only partial, and the undead still walk."
"At least we know what kind of creatures are here," argued Shal, also in a hushed voice. "We can tell the council and they can send troops."
"No," insisted Tarl. "I think we should talk with them and try to get more information about their leader."
Ren tugged gently on Tarl's collar. "You're a nut case, my cleric friend. I speak orcish well enough to know that their idea of a pleasant conversation is to say, 'Die, human scum!' " He tugged lightly on Tarl's collar again and whispered with intensity, "Do you understand me? We've got to get out of here!"
"Get out of here?" The sharp, barking voice of a kobold sounded behind them. "Get out of here?" He let out a low chuckle, a perverted sound, like a dog growling.
Tarl and Shal turned to see a kobold strut through the doorway with an entourage of about two dozen orcs and goblins behind him. Ren watched as the troop of humanoids began to climb in through the hole in the wall.
"The party? The party? Is this the party?" snorted a fat orc, obviously, from his dress, a leader of the troop.
"Yes, master," barked the kobold. "The three of them… ours for the taking for the Lord of the Ruins."
The lead orc's yellow, piggy eyes gleamed brightly, and he snorted again in his excitement. "Torture the party… kill the party… get big praise from the Lord of the Ruins!"
"Power