5
Maintaining his equipment every day provided a twofold purpose for Corwin. Aside from the obvious—it kept his sword and armor in top condition—the activity gave him the time to reflect. The same with brushing down Katla. The white mare grazed in contentment as Corwin stroked the brush along her flanks.
The camp was quiet. Rorin quietly prayed to Moradin as Glannor played a reverent tune on his lute. Mood music, he'd explained. Alisia tended to her own horse, brushing her roan mare. Kaegan turned a spit over a fire, roasting a pair of rabbits, as Albrec watched him warily from across the flickering glow of the flames.
Finally, Kaegan said, "Albrec, are you going to continue to stare?"
"I'm only watching you to ensure you don't put anything harmful in the food," the halfling said.
The rest of the party paused their activities at Albrec's accusation. Corwin put an arm gently across Katla's back to silently watch the proceedings, his fingers stroking her hide.
"You think I would actually poison everyone's supper?" the half-orc said.
"Yes," Albrec said.
"What have I done to earn your suspicion?"
"You're an orc."
"Half-orc."
"You still have orcish blood."
"Stay yer tongue, me boy," Rorin said. "Yon Kaegan was raised by the monks of Candlekeep, not the savage orcish tribes."
"Doesn't matter," Albrec said. "Orc blood is orc blood. Even a drop in one's veins is enough to corrupt him to the evils and savagery of the orcish race. There is no redemption."
"That is a harsh thing to say," Alisia said, moving from her horse to the light of the campfire.
"Orcs are the traditional enemies of dwarvenkind," Rorin said. "If anyone should have reason to distrust an orc, 'tis I. I hold no grudge against Kaegan."
"Good for you," Albrec said. "I do hold a grudge against any orc and their kin."
"Why the hatred?" the elf asked.
Albrec looked up into Alisia's face, his gaze softening. The halfling was still smitten by her.
"I was raised in Waterdeep as an orphan because of orcs," Albrec said. "My parents were traders, and on one trade run from the village of my birth to Waterdeep the caravan was attacked by a band of orcs. They killed almost everyone in the caravan. I survived the slaughter because I was but a tot hidden in my parents' cart. I would have been discovered had not a troop of Waterdhavian soldiers interrupted them. Even though I was a child when it happened, I still have the images of my unarmed parents pleading for their lives as the orcs tortured them merely for their depraved pleasure before killing them."
"Albrec learned to use the blade," Glannor said, "so his blood debt could be paid."
"You're not the only one touched by the savagery of orcs, Albrec," Kaegan said. "My own conception is a testament to their cruelty. My mother was riding to Candlekeep from Baldur's Gate when the party she was with were attacked. The men in the party, including my mother's husband, were all slain. The women were ravished."
Alisia looked at Corwin, and his neck and ears warmed under her gaze. "Let Corwin assuage your concerns," she said.
"That's right," Albrec said. "Do your paladin thing on Kaegan."
Corwin frowned. "I had already done my 'paladin thing,' as you call it, back in Candlekeep. On all of you. The tenets of my faith and my ethos as a paladin prevent me from allying with those who may be inherently evil or may harbor the desire to commit acts of malice."
"And Kaegan passed?"
"I'm here with him, aren't I?" Corwin resumed brushing Katla. "I fear we're not making good time. We should break camp and get moving before the sun rises."
"We're making decent time," Albrec said.
"But not good enough. We should catch them before they get to their destination and perform the wizard's ritual over the gems."
"The road we're on takes us into the Western Heartlands," Alisia said. "We'll leave Amn sometime tomorrow."
"Why the long journey in the first place?" Albrec said. "Why didn't the wizard just gate the thieves into Candlekeep from the place where he intends to perform the ritual?"
"He probably realized the wizards at Candlekeep could track the point of origin of the gate," Rorin said. "He needed to recruit the thieves, too. He probably sought a cosmopolitan place that had mercenaries for hire from all six of the races he needed and was located far from where he wanted to perform the ritual. Amn probably met his requirements."
"It's all speculation of course," Corwin said, "but Rorin's conjecture is sound."
"Could the Zhentarim be involved?" Alisia suggested.
"The Zhentarim are far reaching in their schemes," the paladin said, "but Zhentil Keep is near the Dalelands. The trail would have had to turn northeast several leagues past for a more direct route."
A howl pierced the night, and all in the group fell silent. Alisia moved toward her horse.
"Wolves," Albrec remarked.
"Not wolves," Alisia said. "Worse."
"Gnolls?" Corwin asked, stooping to pick up his sheathed sword.
"Yes."
"How can you tell?" the halfling questioned.
"I recognize the howl of gnolls," the elven ranger said.
"It's advisable not to question a ranger's ear for the sounds of the wilderness," the paladin said.
"They probably smell our campfire and the meat roasting over it," Alisia said.
The elf grabbed her bow and slung her quiver over her shoulder. Corwin freed his blade from its scabbard with a steely ring. The others gathered their weapons and formed a line with Corwin and Alisia. Corwin closed his eyes and bowed his head, calling upon the power of Tyr. The god answered, and he sensed the rabble of evil gnolls approaching through the dense woods to the southeast.
Alisia drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it to her bow. She drew back on the string.
She let the arrow fly as soon as a gnoll showed its hyena-like head as it emerged from the trees. The shaft flew true, plunging deep into the creature's throat. It squealed and toppled back, and Alisia quickly launched another arrow. A second gnoll tumbled to the ground beside its slain fellow.
Twelve more gnolls emerged from the woods, clutching a variety of well-worn weaponry. Corwin gripped his great sword in both hands and charged. An arrow flew past his head and struck a gnoll in the eye. The paladin raised his sword to parry a gnoll's overhead blow. He deflected the double-bladed axe stroke and used the momentum to whirl around, delivering a lateral stroke across the gnoll's belly. The creature toppled over, and Corwin cleaved the head off a maul-wielding gnoll.
He turned in time to see Albrec, a short sword in each hand, thrust both blades through a gnoll's gut. The halfling pulled the swords free and parried a halberd.
Corwin advanced to help the halfling, but Albrec ducked between the halberd-wielding gnoll's legs and stood up behind it. The halfling delivered two rapid strokes against the back of gnoll's legs. The creature slumped to its knees, and Albrec thrust a sword between the gnoll's shoulder blades.
Corwin redirected his charge to intercept a gnoll advancing on Alisia. The elf fired an arrow almost point blank, and the shaft struck the gnoll in the shoulder. She drew her sword, using her bow to parry the gnoll's battleaxe. She hacked into the gnoll's rib cage as the creature clubbed the side of her head with a fist, knocking her off her feet.. Corwin clove the injured gnoll's head clean off with his great sword.
Rorin and Kaegan, having dispatched a number of gnolls themselves, engaged the last one standing. Kaegan, unarmed, hurled the gnoll over his shoulder and laid it out flat on its back. Rorin clobbered the gnoll's head with his hammer, and the creature lay still.
Corwin knelt beside Alisia and saw the blood trickling from her hairline. He cradled her gently in his arms, effortlessly lifting her off the ground. When her eyelids fluttered open, Corwin breathed easier. She put a hand to her wound and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Marauders," Rorin said, kicking the head of the gnoll he had just slain.
"Did the wizard send them?" Albrec asked.
"I doubt it," Corwin said. "They were drawn to the smell of our cooking food. Encounters like this aren't uncommon in the long stretches between civilized lands."
"The wizard shouldn't even know about us," Kaegan said.
"The wizard has to realize that Candlekeep would send a party of our type after him," Alisia said.
Corwin carried Alisia to the side of the fire and set her down. He hustled to his saddle and took some salves and poultices from his saddlebags. He returned to Alisia's side and sat beside her. She watched him as he applied a salve to the cut on her forehead.
"You are gentle," she said, "for a human."
He allowed a smile. "I learned more than swordcraft from my mentor."
Corwin reached for his saddlebag to grab another type of salve, and he caught Albrec staring at him. The halfling's arms were folded across his chest, and his face was twisted in a scowl. Thinking nothing of Albrec's posture, the paladin continued his ministrations.
"Leave this on overnight," Corwin explained. "By morn the cut should be gone."
"My thanks," Alisia said, smiling.
"Why didn't you just do your paladin thing?" Albrec asked.
"And what 'paladin thing' would that be?" Corwin said.
"Your healing power."
"He means your laying on of hands," Kaegan said, which earned a glare from Albrec.
"I can only do that once a day," Corwin said. "That power is best saved for grievous wounds."
"Right," Albrec said. "Why use that power to instantly heal her when you can apply your ointments, which would give you more time to woo the lady elf."
"Watch yer tongue, boy," Rorin said. "Yon Corwin be a paladin."
"He's still a man," Albrec said. "He's still prone to a man's inclination to appreciate the beauty of a woman."
"The halfling's jealous," Kaegan said.
"Silence, half-breed," Albrec snapped.
"Enough," Corwin said. "Our strife amongst ourselves serves no purpose but to hinder our mission."
"Agreed," Rorin said.
-
"What is this place?" Celesta asked.
"It is called the Battle of the Bones," Territ said. "Three centuries past, it was the site of a great battle. A horde of orcs and goblins were confronted by a host of humans, elves, and dwarves marching under the banners of Tyr, Corellan, and Moradin. The do-gooder gods and their followers prevailed, but at great cost in lives and landscape. So grave was the desolation that even now only the undead inhabit this place."
"Then why did we stop?"
Athmek strode into view from the front of the wagon. "Encircle me and link arms," he commanded.
The group hesitated, exchanged glances.
"Do it now," Athmek growled.
Celesta felt herself lifted off the ground as Territ and Rizzan linked their arms through hers. Kraat, Thak, and Fangor completed the circle around the shade wizard. Athmek closed his eyes and began reciting a chant in archaic verse.
The Topaz of Halflingkind, hanging around Celesta's neck, thrummed with power, levitating on its chain, threatening to jump off her. The other Hearts of Knowledge likewise suspended in midair, anchored by their chains around their respective necks. They seemed to want to converge on Athmek.
The wizard completed his incantation, and the Hearts of Knowledge dropped to hang once again from their chains.
"What in the hells was that?" Territ demanded.
Athmek left the confines of the circle, breaking Thak's link with Fangor as he did. As the rest of those forming the circle broke their links with one another, Celesta dropped to the ground. She picked herself up and watched in horror as the ground shifted around them.
Zombies by the score rose from the ashen soil and turned to face Athmek as if awaiting his command.
"Our pursuers will meet their doom here," the wizard said.