Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [64]
Instinctively Finder obeyed. In a few moments, he opened his eyes. "I dropped my dagger," he said.
Olive laughed. The bard was dying, and he was still fussing about a lost dagger.
"I'll buy you another for your birthday," she said.
Finder shook his head from side to side. "My grandfather gave me that dagger."
Olive sighed. "Well, if you were thinking about going back to get it, forget it.
I've given you a potion to slow the poison, but we've got to get you to a healer before the potion wears off. If we can just get you to the road, we should be able to get help from travelers. Do you think you can walk?"
With Olive's assistance, Finder rolled over and struggled to sit up. He couldn't use his injured hand at all. It was the size of a small melon and streaked with red and white lines, which ran up his wrists beneath the sleeve of his shirt. He was shaking slightly, though it was a warm afternoon. "I've got potions to neutralize poison in my workshop," he said. "It would be easier to get back down there."
"Are you crazy?" Olive shouted. "The place is crawling with orcs with crossbows!
You nearly died down there!"
"We saw only four orcs. You probably blinded one with your torch, and I killed the two that grabbed you. If I hadn't panicked like an idiot, I would have realized that left only one for me to handle while you took care of the other lock. The one that's left will get bored soon and go back to its warren. By then, I'll be rested, and we can try again. Instead of trying to show off this time, I'll let you take care of the locks. An expert of your caliber should be able to open them without setting off the silent alarm or catching the poison needle."
Olive wanted to grab the bard and give him a good shaking, but in his condition, she didn't think he could take it. She tried to remain calm, to reason with him.
"First," she argued, "orcs breed like rabbits, and where there's four there's forty. And don't forget, they still have a pal somewhere who disintegrates ceilings. Suppose they set up a guard in the passage just in case we turn out to be really stupid and come back? Secondly, I'm good with locks, but no one is perfect; there's no guarantee I can bypass the alarm on the first lock or open the second lock fast enough in case I fail with the alarm."
"The orcs would all rather be snug back in their warren than standing guard in a cold tunnel," Finder argued. "They've come to rely on their alarm. It worked this time. They'll assume it will work again. They won't set a guard. As for your talents with locks you're too modest. Olive girl. I know you can do it." He turned his most charming grin on the halfling.
Olive fought the urge to please him. "Finder, I don't want to stay here," she insisted. "I want to get to the road before dark."
Finder glared at Olive. "All right. Go," the bard said coldly.
Olive looked at him with astonishment. She couldn't believe he'd send her away.
"Finder, I'm not leaving you. You can't stay here. You have to try to get to the road with me."
Finder's chill expression thawed, and a rueful expression crossed his face. He reached out with his uninjured hand and pushed a stray strand of the halfling's hair out of her eyes. "Olive," he said softly, "I don't want to die by the side of a road waiting for rescue. This place is my home. I'd rather be here when that potion wears off."
"You aren't going to die waiting beside a road," Olive snapped angrily. "There are plenty of grain caravans and adventuring parties and soldiers traveling on the road this time of year. Most of them travel with healers, or at least with potions."
"It's half a day's walk to the road, Olive. I'd never make it. I'm too weak.
You'd better go now, in case there are any orcs searching aboveground."
Olive dug her fingernails into her palms, trying to keep from screaming-or crying. "Oh, sweet Selune!" she said. "You have to try, Finder!"
Finder chuckled dryly.