(Well, here it is...Chapter Three. I haven't been slacking off, believe it or not, I HAVE been writing it, but the past few days have been very hectic and I didn't finish it until now. To the questions asked in the reviews, yes, I too am a fan of Tomi Undergallows, and he will be appearing in the second half of the story. As for Tymofarrar, I like him a lot too, but considering Deekin doesn't meet up with him again, it'll be kind of hard to slip him in again. Maybe I'll fit some flashbacks in there, though. As for Xanos, he'll be in it more later on, I promise.
I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the fic, regardless of whether or not I forced them to do so (sorry about that, Lisie and Lissette). When I had the idea this fic, I had no idea it would be popular, and wasn't even originally going to narrate it from Deekin's point of view. Thanks for supporting me and encouraging me to keep it up, you guys rock! Here's more for you.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. Really.)
Dependence I: Heartsinger
Chapter Three
The kobolds were huddled about a measly mage-fire which threatened to die off at every puff of wind, keeping the magic-wielders constantly working. Night had fallen while they were swimming from the halflings' wrath, which meant no sun to warm the frozen environment. In addition to that, they hadn't been very well-prepared after all, so most were starving as well as freezing.
One kobold--who had a prominent icicle forming on the tip of his snout--clutched his empty stomach and bawled, "Me NEVERS be so miserable, EVERS, and it be all Urko's fault, yip!" A glare as icy as the weather overtook Urko's eyes, turned in the complainer's direction. Standing up, Urko contrived to concoct a retort, failed, and yipped angrily as he aimed a kick at the complainer. However, the day's events had left him out-of-sorts, and he kicked the fire instead.
"Me foot, yipe yipe, me foot!" Urko yelped, yanking the burnt foot out and patting his roasted toes in the snow until they cooled. Unfortunately, this mishap stamped out the fire, leaving them with only a blackened pit in the ground to solace themselves. Many dozens of eyes regarded Urko coolly; straightening himself, Urko attempted to save his pride and standing in the group by saying they should be getting back to the caves anyway, and started off again. With a resonation of resigned sighs, the bunch gradually got to their feet and trailed after.
Deekin was the last to get up, having been writing by the fire. The process had been trying, on account of he couldn't feel his fingers, but it had taken his mind off his troubles somewhat, and allowed him to vent his vexation at the stupid, reckless creatures he was forced to travel with. Punctuating a final sentence, he smiled satifactorily, tucked his writing supplies back in his pack (after profusely thanking the ink for not turning into a solid block of ice), and resumed walking after the others.
Now that he was up and moving again, Deekin's blood flow piqued and warmed him, and he was able to more fully appreciate his surroundings. The snow, though a poetic shade of lily-white in the light of the half-hidden moon, was overly abundant and widely uninterrupted for miles, so it soon grew tedious. The stars, however, were miraculous; having spent almost his entire life cooped up in a cave, Deekin found the the night sky a rare and breathtaking sight. Staring up at the twinkling beacons and trying to identify constellations he'd only read about was great fun, and well worth stumbling over every other rock, kobold, or some other obstacle he failed to notice. Despite the biting cold and the evil eye increasingly more kobolds were giving him, Deekin was enjoying himself for the first time since they left the caves, and he wasn't about to stop stargazing just yet.
A sudden deep, throaty growl from ahead caught Deekin's attention, drawing it to a pack of odd, hairy creatures, who stood on their hind legs and possessed equally sharp sets of teeth and claws, their dark tails swishing impatiently. They resembled a strange cross between a human and a hyena, and each was twice the size of a single kobold and at least five times as strong. These intimidating creatures were called gnolls, were every bit as aggressive and dangerous as they looked, and were standing right in front of the kobolds. Deekin didn't feel like stargazing anymore.
The largest gnoll--the leader, apparently--lurched forward and demanded in a low, chilling voice, "Who is in charge here?"
"That be me," Urko replied, bravely stepping apart from the rest. The gnolls' leader snorted derisively at the scaly little thing's spunk, then growled again.
Surveying the gnolls' tense stances, Deekin nervously realized the beasts were just barely restraining themselves from attacking. If the gnolls attacked, the kobolds were good as dead; Deekin prayed Urko wouldn't say or do anything stupid.
"Grr, Urko gots weapon and nots be afraid to use it!" Urko threatened, unsheathing the poisonous dagger and cutting arcs through the air, trying to fend the gnolls off. The head gnoll easily reached down, wrenched the dagger from his grip and flung it far away. Many kobolds began shivering in terror; Deekin slapped his forehead and silently asked the gods why they hated him so.
Fortunately, the head gnoll seemed unperturbed by this act of defiance, and continued to address them in his gravelly voice.
"Your master made a deal with J'Nah, our...master," the gnoll told them, grimacing when he said "master" as though the word was a chunk of maggot-ridden meat he was loathe to taste. "We have come to collect her part of the bargain: the tower statue." Deekin's eyes widened at this.
"Nopes," Urko said firmly, crossing his spindly arms and shaking his head. "We no does that, yip. Boss tells us we brings tower statue to him, yip, and he be scarier than you." The leading gnoll's face fell, along with all civil fronts. In a flash, he snatched Urko by the torso and tossed him a great distance. Soaring over the heads of his fellows, Urko whined pathetically before smashing headlong into the ground.
"Then we'll take the statue from your lifeless bodies!" the gnoll leader snarled, and with a series of guttural bellows the canine beasts assailed them.
Deekin dashed away in horror, then tripped as something grabbed him by the ankle.
"No," Urko huffed, pushing himself up and giving Deekin a pointed glare, still latched onto his ankle."You stays. You fights, yip."
"But...but Deekin gots to hides statue!" Deekin protested, pulling his foot free. He glanced over at the battle before he started running again, and was surprised to see that working in compact squads, the kobolds had already taken down several gnolls; the fight must have been easier when they could anticipate their opponents' strength.
Nevertheless, for every gnoll corpse there were at least five kobold corpses--they were definately losing. Deekin bolted.
"Deekin gonna make it," he panted to himself. "Deekin gonna make it...Deekin gonna--" He cut himself off as a gnoll seized him by the leg, suspending him upside-down above the ground. Panicking, Deekin recalled an incantation Tymofarrar had taught him. Focusing as well as he could in this awkward position, he rapidly prepared the spell, twisted himself upwards at the waist, shoved his hand in the gnoll's face and cast "Color Spray".
The conjuration caught the gnoll completely off-guard; temporarily blinded by the burst of shimmering colors, it grunted in dismay and staggered backwards, dropping Deekin with a sickening CRUNCH.
Ignoring the unpleasant sound and abrupt back pain, Deekin leapt to his feet and nabbed a crossbow and a quiver of bolts off a nearby kobold corpse. The gnoll blinked and recovered its sight just in time to see a small green kobold launch a bolt between its eyes.
Deekin cheered quietly as the gnoll fell, blood and brains oozing out the back of its skull, then looked back over to the main battle. The other kobolds were retreating into a gray stone building he hadn't noticed before, and for some reason the gnolls weren't following. Shoving the crossbow in his pack and scampering as quickly as a small reptilian laden with a heavy pack and an oversized crossbow could, Deekin sped past the gnolls into the building, shut the door tightly behind him, spaced himself well away from it, and slumped to the floor to regain some energy as his eyes wandered the room, stopping on one kobold of the two dozen crammed in there.
"Urko," he asked tentatively, "you still be alive?"
"Grr, no thanks to you," Urko grumbled, rubbing his sore neck and swiping at a bat that swooped down too close to his face, then gave Deekin a critical expression. "You not lets gnolls gets statue, yip?" Deekin shook his head.
"Nopes, Deekin still gots it," he replied, patting his pack lightly and gazing about the dusty, dark stone room they now inhabited, generously cloaked with cobwebs and resting bats. "Umm...where we be, anyways?"
"Who cares?" Urko asked carelessly, then ambled down a couple of steps at the back of the room and, with the aid of a few other kobolds, pushed open a heavy stone door leading further in. Before slipping past it, he added, "All that matters is that there be no gnolls heres, yip. Now let's finds good hidings spot and hopes it stays that way." The other kobolds agreed and went in after him, Deekin among them.
As they descended, the area grew darker. Cave-dwellers as they were, this in itself didn't bother them, and their eyes swiftly adjusted to the low light levels. What did unnerve them were the ear-shattering screams which echoed throughout the place.
Doing their best to disregard the fear-inspiring wails, the kobold clustered together and held their weapons at ready. The beady eyes of rats gleamed eerily at them from the shadows, but the rodents stayed where they were, wise enough not to attack when the reptilians were all together.
Carefully, the kobolds edged their way around a tall stone column with curious symbols carved along its length, and made it to the door.
"Deekin wonders if this be haunted crypt," Deekin pondered thoughtfully in a hushed tone as Urko and some others heaved this door open as well.
Padding softly through the aged halls, the stifling silence broken only when they trod upon the long-dry bones which littered the floor, the kobolds meandered their way deeper into the place.
"Yip, looks at this!" one kobold piped up suddenly, causing more than a few to jump.
"What you wants?" Urko hissed at the speaker, who pointed to a pile of fat red rubies laying on the floor. The other kobolds scrambled to gather them, but Deekin hung back. Something wasn't right...
Then, right before Deekin's very eyes, the scattered, broken bones upon the floor reassembled themselves into whole skeletons, various rusted weapons flying into their brittle gray hands.
"Now Deekin knows this be haunted crypt!" he yiped, alerting the others. Eyes widening in disbelieving horror, they shrieked and ran; swinging their weapons and lopping off unlucky heads, the skeletons gave chase.
It seemed to go on forever for Deekin, pursued into the crypt's dark depths, winding through one damp, musty passage after another, losing some skeletons only to have more join the hellish, undead ranks.
At last, the kobolds fled into an open, empty room and slammed the door shut behind them, wheezing from exertion, with long pauses between inhales to listen and ascertain the undead were unable to get at them.
"We...we rests now, maybe?" Deekin inquired, catching his breath. Without looking over, Urko nodded.
"Yes, yip...we rests now."
(Tune in again soon for the next suspenseful chapter! And please, keep those reviews coming.)