Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [5]
"We're still a long way from the ship," Liriel reminded the man. She stripped off the extra swordbelt she carried and handed it to him. He buckled it on without a word and then drew the sword, regarding its keen edge with pleasure. After a few practice swings to get the feel of the blade and to awaken muscles stiff from disuse, he followed the drow out into the tunnel.
The way was lit by an occasional torch thrust into a wall bracket, so Hrolfwas able to walk with assurance, if not silence. The drow set a slow, steady pace, trying to minimize the noise of Hrolf's heavy footsteps. She could fight well when necessary, but she knew the wisdom of avoiding trouble. So far, despite the encounter with the magic-wielding ghoul, breaching the dungeon's defenses had seemed almost too easy. But then, no one expected anyone to try to sneak in. Liriel suspected that getting out would be another matter entirely.
A faint sound caught her ear. From a nearby passage came the reverberating tread of many boots and the guttural speech of goblinkin. She pushed Hrolf into an alcove and shielded them both with her sheltering piwafwi. To her relief, Hrolf the Unruly did not protest this precaution or leap out roaring to engage the goblins in battle. The captain and the drow waited for many moments, then watched silently as the guards marched past in sharp formation. They were squat, muscular creatures-goblin hybrids of some sort-broad as dwarves and haphazardly garbed in ill-fitting, cast-off leather armor. Obviously overfed and underpaid, the guards nevertheless carried a daunting assortment of well-honed weapons. All told, there were twelve of them, enough to give pause even to the darkelven and the unruly.
The goblin patrol halted in the tunnel ahead, gibbering among themselves and shouldering off the packs they carried. Liriel muttered a curse.
"What're they doing?" Hrolf asked, his voice just above a whisper.
"Taking a break," she responded in kind. Whispering caused the voice to carry too far, and Liriel was frequently amazed that few humans seemed to realize this. Dark elves whispered when they intended to be heard-the audible equivalent of a knowing smile.
"They're blocking the tunnel," the drow added grimly, "and we don't have time to wait them out."
The captain pondered this for a moment, and then patted the short sword strapped to Liriel's hip. "i've heard tell that a drow can take a dozen goblins, easy."
The girl shrugged. She could handle a sword well enough and throw knives with deadly precision, but her skills were slanted more toward magic than mayhem. "Some drow can. I'm not one of them."
"Ah, but do yonder goblins know that?"
The drow snapped a look back at the captain, surprised that a human had offered such a devious-yet simplesolution. They shared a quick, companionable grin, and she accepted his plan with a nod.
Hrolf patted her shoulder, then drew his sword. "Go, lass. If the ugly little bastards don't spook, i'll be right behind you."
Against reason, despite the suspicious nature bred and ingrained in her by her treacherous kindred, Liriel believed him.
She pulled her sword and walked, silent and invisible, into the circle of goblins. Then, tossing back her piwafwi, she dropped into a menacing crouch and presented her blade. "Hi, boys," she purred in the goblin tongue. "Want to play?"
The sudden appearance of a battle-ready drow in their midst stole whatever courage the creatures possessed. The goblins squeaked in terror and fled, leaving their packs and many of their weapons behind in their panic.
Hrolf strode to the drow's side, grinning broadly. "Well done! D'you think, though, that they'll be back-bringing friends?"
"Not a chance," Liriel said flatly. "They're guards, and they ran. If they admit that,