Pool of Radiance_ Ruins of Myth Drannor - Carrie Bebris [66]
“Abandon this one!” Durwyn called out. He pushed her forward, turning around to guard their backs. “Go, Kestrel! Lead the way. I’ll be right behind you.”
Would the others follow? She had no time to speculate. With a quick survey and a split-second decision, she darted across the ward.
Pa-pum. Pa-pum.
Durwyn shadowed her steps. He paused, however, to pick up a large chunk of granite, which he launched at the legs of Faeril’s opponent. The statue tottered, ceasing its offensive just long enough for the cleric to break free of combat and join the retreat. Ghleanna and Jarial also followed.
They had to dodge the blows of several already-animated statues before reaching terrain where no guardians yet stirred. Kestrel steered as far as possible from statues that had not yet awakened, hoping to minimize the number of attackers. The likenesses were positioned, however, so that no intruder could bypass them all. Every hundred paces or so they awakened another one.
Pa-pum. Pa-pum. The thumping grew louder as they traversed the ward. Whatever was making that noise, they were running toward it.
At last, they reached the second iron door. As they ducked inside, Kestrel quickly scanned the interior for the source of the thumping sound. Spotting nothing, she turned around to see whether Corran had joined them.
“Damn him!” She could have spat nails. The paladin remained behind, stubbornly trying to hold his ground. Before she could stop him, Durwyn headed back to aid Corran. “Durwyn! No!”
The fighter could not return the way they had come, for by now the statues Kestrel’s party had awakened were fully animated. He was forced to chose a less direct path, rousing new guardians in the process. He reached the beleaguered paladin just in time to block a strike that would have hit Corran from behind.
Damn Corran D’Arcey to the Abyss! His arrogance now endangered Durwyn as well. The statues were closing in on them-and those that weren’t headed toward the door where Kestrel and the others stood watching.
Pa-pum. Pa-pum.
Durwyn shouted at his comrade, but the distance, the everpresent heartbeat, and the sounds of the stone dwarves’ laborious movements prevented Kestrel from making out the words. Whatever he said, however, seemed to sink through Corran’s thick skull. The two began to retreat, Durwyn leading them along a circuitous route past the last of the sleeping statues. A dozen stone dwarves approached from all sides.
Ghleanna muttered something. Kestrel, her attention divided between Durwyn’s plight and the half-dozen statues marching her own way, missed what she said and asked her to repeat it. When she glanced at the sorceress, however, she realized Ghleanna was casting a spell.
A huge mass of sticky strands suddenly draped itself over most of the dwarves chasing Durwyn and Corran. The enormous spider web gummed up the statues’ movements, impeding their pursuit. At the same time Jarial uttered a command of his own at the dwarves approaching the door. Their advance instantly slowed to a rate that would have looked comic had the danger they posed not been so great.
The two fighters still had to dodge the blows of four unaffected statues that blocked their path. As they darted past, one of the dwarves landed a strike on Durwyn’s left arm, nearly severing the limb. The warrior cried out and gripped his arm to his side, but kept moving.
Pa-pum. Pa-pum.
Kestrel forced herself to watch their final approach but could not look at Durwyn’s face. The agony she’d seen flash across it had been so intense it left her own knees weak. Blood streamed down his side.
Anger at Corran battled fear for her friend. Her friend. She hadn’t thought of Durwyn that way until this moment, but she’d probably be dead right now if he hadn’t stayed behind in the courtyard waiting for her. He’d been a faithful companion to her, to them all-which was why he was now injured. She regretted every unkind or impatient thought she’d ever had toward him.
The two made