Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [108]
The finder's stone fell to the ground, still encased in the beholder's vine mouth. The stone glowed more softly once again, but the beholder had had enough.
It retreated into the hole in the rubble and disappeared from view.
Alias cut the vine mouth away from Nameless's glowing yellow crystal and took it up in her hand. She thought of Nameless, and the stone still indicated he was beyond the pile of rubble. Alias climbed up to the hole the beholder had escaped through and followed.
Grypht watched with horror as Dragonbait's soul sister chased after the beholder without a thought for what lay in wait on the other side. She's just like Dragonbait-headstrong and foolhardy, the saurial wizard thought. Dragonbait and Breck were still busy battling the remaining orcs, bigger orcs than the others and better fighters, probably a chieftain and his three bodyguards.
There's no getting around it, Grypht thought. He had to follow Alias. Shoving Zhara toward Akabar, the great saurial moved toward the battle, drawing a bit of gauzy fabric from his pocket.
Grypht tapped his foot impatiently as he surveyed the ground for the remaining component that he needed to fuel his spell. Spying an orc that Dragonbait had felled with his flaming sword, the wizard snatched up a bit of the dead creature's flaming clothing. He blew on the flame until a mere wisp of smoke rose from the clothing. Grypht held the gauze in the smoke as he uttered in saurial, "Wraithform."
Akabar and Zhara watched as the saurial wizard's body faded into insubstantiality. Like a wisp of smoke drawn by a funnel of air, the saurial's ethereal body drifted into the hole in the rubble after Alias and the beholder.
*****
On the other side of the rubble, the passage was flooded with sunshine pouring in from the well shaft overhead. Alias blinked in the bright light. Before she was able to see clearly or stand to defend herself with her weapon, she was grabbed by several pairs of strong, hairy orc hands. Thinking rapidly, she dropped the finder's stone, and it fell back into the hole, unnoticed. The orcs pulled her away from the pile of rubble, laid her on the floor, and held her pinned down.by her legs and arms.
A grating, high-pitched voice shouted, "I have your singer, nameless one. She will be a servant of Moander's yet, but you can still share her. If you don't show yourself immediately, however, I'll have these orcs slice out her tongue.
Moander doesn't need her voice-only her skill as an assassin."
One of the orcs kicked Alias in the ribs, and she cried out in spite of herself.
Hiding with Olive in the ceiling hole he'd dug out the night before, Finder stiffened.
Olive bit her lip. Could it really be Alias? she wondered. How in the Nine Hells had she gotten here? Why in Tymora's name had she allowed herself to be captured? That girl is nothing but trouble, the halfling thought with annoyance.
Now Finder would give away their hiding place, and they'd end up compost for Moander's vines.
However, Finder said nothing immediately. Instead, he drew the horn of blasting from his belt and let it fall from the hole to the ground. Xaran and the other orcs spun around at the clattering of the brass instrument on the rocks. One of the orcs released his grip on Alias and rushed forward to grab the horn. The moment the creature came into view, Finder dropped down from the hole, using the orc's body to break his fall. The ore fell to the ground, and Finder slit the creature's throat with Olive's sword.
The other orcs howled, ready to avenge their comrade, but Xaran shouted, "Don't let go of the woman!" and the orcs obeyed. Thus Finder was given the opportunity to rise to his feet.
"No more false moves, nameless one," the beholder said. "Remember, you still have your singer's tongue to consider. Drop your weapon."
Finder dropped Olive's sword and stood motionless. He could see now that the orcs did indeed have Alias pinned to the floor. "Are you all right?" he asked the swordswoman.
"I'm just fine," Alias growled