The Lost Library of Cormanthy - Mel Odom [139]
Chomack dived at him.
Baylee turned and fled to the left. Pound for pound, he didn't want to go against the hobgoblin. He didn't fight to see who was the better sword. He fought to win, and the hobgoblin had size and strength on his side. Landing on the next bookcase, only three more shelves away from the stair railing where Krystarn Fellhammer was still climbing toward the top of the room, he reached into one of the pockets of the gnomish leather. He brought out a handful of caltrops and scattered them across the top of the bookcase in front of him.
Chomack obviously didn't see the move. The hobgoblin landed heavily on top of the bookcase, then immediately roared out in pain, trying to find a way of standing that didn't cause agony. He drew up a boot that held four caltrops sticking out of the sole. Blood already seeped from the wounds.
Baylee unleashed a blow at once, slashing the hobgoblin across the chest. The force of the contact drove the big humanoid back, sending him roaring onto three of his fellows battling a pair of watch members below. All four hobgoblins crashed to the ground.
Chomack's battle-axe dropped to the top of the library shelves. Curious about the make and design, Baylee lifted it by the haft, finding it far lighter than any he'd ever hefted. A slight tingling raced through his arm. A hobgoblin reached up for him, wrapping its fingers around one of the ranger's ankles. Instinctively, Baylee chopped with the battle-axe, amazed at how easily it parted flesh, muscle, and bone. The amputated arm dropped away as the hobgoblin roared in pain.
Using some of the ties on the gnomish armor, he secured the battle-axe, then draped it across his shoulders. The weight was negligible and it held to his back easily.
Turning his attention to the drow, Baylee raced across the remaining
bookcases. The dark elf was past the halfway mark on the stairs.
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Baylee sheathed the long sword and took out the enchanted rope again. Throwing it upward, he said the command word. The magic in the rope caused it to slither up at once. It attached to the tallest staircase railing. With another word, Baylee commanded the rope to knot itself.
Once the knots were in place, the sixty-foot rope shortened to fifty feet, but it was long enough to reach him. He gripped it tightly, then swarmed up the rope. Perspiration soaked the gnomish leathers, and his muscles ached as he pulled.
The unnatural grace Krystarn Fellhammer exhibited unnerved him somewhat. He hadn't gone over ten feet before the rope beneath him quivered, letting him know someone else had grabbed it. He reached for one of the small throwing knives hidden in the gnomish leather workman's armor, ready to sacrifice the rope if he had to.
"It's me," Cordyan yelled up.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Helping. Or do you think you're going to be able to take that drow on all by yourself?"
Shut up and save your breath for climbing, Xuxa ordered.
Baylee turned his attention back overhead. Krystarn Fellhammer had
reached the uppermost railing, twenty feet above him. He pulled harder as he watched the drow disappear from view further back on the ledge.
A sudden explosion of fire and light came from below. A heartbeat later, a wave of concussive force slammed against him, bruising his chest against the railing in front of him. He held his position, looking back over his shoulder.
Scoontiphp remained by the whirling maelstrom in the center of the room. His clothing shifted, torn by the winds. The lightning dancing from the palms of his hands. Calebaan stood nearby, defending the baelnorn from any hobgoblins who crept around the net of steel Cthulad and the Waterdhavian watch had put up.
The sphere of whirling winds detonated again, scattering sparks from the baelnorn's lightning. The gems seemed to slow,