Chapter 14
The band reached the foot of Stone Tooth three days later. They looked upon the oddly shaped rock nearly two thousand feet above them, naturally formed much like an upside-down fang. Celdern looked at his map just to insure they were on the correct path. Folding it up and placing it in his vest, then waved on the others to follow him.
"This way, around the hill a ways. We should reach the entrance to the fortress in an hour or so."
Saeola yawned, stretching her arms above her head. "Good. I'm so bored..."
"I rather enjoy the peace," Miri said.
"If you're bored, milady, I assure you a few orcs will probably show up soon. My last band learned they usually have scouting and hunting parties out around this time... And if we find them, we need to kill them all, because we don't want the main group to have any warning, should we run into them." Celdern warned.
"Great!" Saeola said cheerfully.
"Great my foot..." Miri sighed, pushing her bangs back.
"I have to agree with Saeola on this one. As Sero said, if I can't do anything else, I can smash orcs!" Ky'itae grinned, brandishing her bastard sword while her druid friend rolled his blue eyes.
"You're all insane..." The Calishite grumbled.
Saeola slung her arm around Miri in reply. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
"Or push them off a cliff..." The cleric retorted.
"Some of us will push ourselves off a cliff. Isn't dat righ', dove?" Faelar grinned, referring to his choice of exiting the Nether Mountains so many months ago.
"Oh! You'd do that for me?" Saeola snickered teasingly at him.
"Thought I already did. You didn't like it then, why woulda now? If I rememba correctly, ya screamed at me fer nearly giving you a 'eart attack." Faelar grinned back, purposely leaving out for the newer party members exactly why Saeola had been so scared over the incident.
"Of COURSE it nearly gave me a heart attack! You threw us both off a cliff!"
"Pssh. I knew whot I was doin'. Yer still alive, ain'tcha?"
"Feh."
Miri, who was now well ahead of the two half-elves with the other two party members, called out to them. "Are you two coming or what? Jeez..."
"Already gone, Miri." Faelar said, jogging in front of the cleric and springing into the trees.
"Odd one, he is." Celdern chuckled, scanning the road ahead.
"You have NO idea," Saeola grumbled as she joined them as well.
- - - - -
They passed on in relative silence for a while longer, slowly ascending up the high hillside, Faelar following them through the trees. Suddenly, the thief yelled from above, "'OI! DOVE, DUCK!"
Saeola judged, from the sound of his voice, that this wasn't a joke. So she instantly complied. A smart move on her part, as no later than a second than she had, an arrow whizzed right above her head, landing with a thud on the tree behind her. Another small vish! filled the air, and a moment later, an orcan archer stumbled out of the bushes, a dagger lodged in his throat.
Faelar leapt down in front of the party, Quickdeath and Glorykiller withdrawn. "Dere's more, get ready." He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, Serosa'ruth coming up beside him, longswords unsheathed and poised for attack.
Saeola quickly stood and drew an arrow back on her bow, readying herself as well. Miri drew her two daggers, positioning herself beside the half-elf. "Got your wish," She chuckled.
"I guess I did," Saeola smirked.
Celdern had moved to the back, his mandolin out by the time seven more orcs burst out ahead, axes ready. "You guys attack, and I'll back you up here." At a few skeptical looks, he sighed, "Trust me. Bardic arts are useful in their own ways."
Already charging into the fray, Faelar and Serosa'ruth merely waved their arms in response. Saeola drew an arrow back and fired at the orc closest to her, striking it in the eye and she hastily drew another arrow.
Faelar and the two elves each took on an orc on their own, slicing through the monsters' flesh. Celdern began fiercely strumming his instrument, lowly singing. Magical energy surged from his bardic song, energizing his allies and protecting them against minor attacks. When an orc came too close, he quickly flipped his mandolin back over his shoulder and withdrew his scimitar.
Miri took on an orc of her own, easily dodging the creature's blows. She was quick on her feet, striking here and there with her daggers. Plunging the curved blades in the orc's flesh before drawing them out quickly to dodge the next attack.
Celdern quickly offed the challenging orc with a slice to the throat, while Serosa'ruth slashed an "X" through an orc's torso and pushed off the dying monster to plunge into his next target. Ky'itae lopped her orc's head off, grinning almost ferally at the evil being's blood spray that stained her hair and armor.
Faelar punctured the stomach of his opponent with Glorykiller and in the same movement, twisted his torso around and flung his free arm out, Quickdeath flying out and landing in the base of the final orc's skull.
Saeola pried her own sword free from a fallen orc and glanced over her shoulder. "Was that the last of 'em?"
Faelar nodded, wiping some blood off his lip, "Yeah, fer now, at least."
Miri cleaned her daggers of blood. "Jeez, good thing for us you saw them, Faelar. Saeola would've lost her head!"
"Yeah... Thanks, I owe you one," Saeola agreed.
Faelar waved his hand in dismissal, "Ya should know I'd neva let anythin' 'appen to ya guys if I could 'elp it. I'm not a complete goofball... I think." He finished his statement with a small smile and a wink.
Saeola chuckled. "Some would disagree."
"Do we keep going forward now?" Miri asked to no one in particular.
Speaking up for the first time in a few hours, Serosa'ruth nodded, "Celdern, lead the way to Khundrukar."
"Aye, as ye wish." Celdern sheathed his scimitar and wove through the group to retake the head.
- - - - -
A few hours later, the party followed Celdern around a bend and into broad, shallow steps led up into a steep fissure in the rock. Here, the bard pointed out the moss-ridden stone double-doors standing ten feet tall. Luckily for the group, the sturdy doors stood slightly ajar, enough for them to slip in one-by-one. Serosa'ruth looked around and took note of two small arrow slits on the walls surrounding them. His ears detected no movement of archers, so he relaxed his muscles slightly.
The group filed in, finding themselves in a large hall, where they stood on a narrow ledge overlooking a rather deep crevasse that split the room in two. A narrow and rickety-looking bridge served as the only passage over the abyss. The elves and half-elves switched to the infrared spectrum as the only light source came from the door opening.
Celdern muttered lowly and touched his eyes, which soon glowed in infrared vision as well. He leaned over to Miri, holding a scroll in his hand, "Would you like me to cast a Darkvision spell for you? Torches will probably make us too easy to track." He whispered, wary of any monsters lurking about.
Miri tossed him a glare and was about to retort with a nasty comment when she remembered Serosa'ruth's words. Her gaze softened and she glanced away, voice low. "U-Uh... y-yes... Thank you..."
"Welcome." Celdern uttered lowly, knowing the words to scroll by heart. In a moment, the scroll disappeared and Miri's eyes began to glow lowly with Darkvision.
Saeola whistled lowly. "This looks fun."
"Well... looks like the only way across is the bridge. Shall we proceed?" Before waiting for an answer, Serosa'ruth slowly and carefully stepped onto the rickety bridge, holding on to the ropes on the sides. Ky'itae followed behind him and Faelar soon after her.
The thief motioned for Saeola to come next, "C'mon, dove... you're next in line." He whispered, offering his gloved hand out to help her on.
Saeola sighed softly and nodded, moving over and taking his offered hand as she carefully stepped onto the bridge. It wobbled underneath her feet and she felt like she was going to fall over, tightening her grip on Faelar's hand as a result. She made a face, but said nothing.
The two humans carefully followed, the group slowly walking single-file over the bridge when Serosa'ruth suddenly stopped. Ky'itae bumped into him. "Hey! What's the--" The druid shoved her head down before she could finish, and just as he did, an arrow flew and lodged into his forearm. Serosa'ruth ripped the missile weapon out, and no blood spewed forth -- apparently it had only hit his bracer.
"Dammit! More orcs!" The druid snarled, jerking his head to the side as another arrow zipped by. "Two archers."
"Shit. I see dem now... damn... Dove, ya got room ta shoot yer bow?" Faelar asked, deflecting an arrow with his short sword.
Miri yelped and ducked, covering her head with her hands and making the bridge sway as Saeola nodded. "Yeah, just duck yourself!" She said, drawing an arrow back on her bow. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she quickly locked onto one of the two orcs, firing the arrow at it to land the hit straight between the creature's eyes.
"'Ey, nice shot, dove." Faelar complimented as he crouched down to stay out of her way, "But dat otha one's coverin' 'imself behind dat pillar." Leaning just far out enough to shoot, the last orc shot his arrow, which flew over and past the party.
"Well, that was a crappy shot." Ky'itae snorted.
"Maybe not," Serosa'ruth said warily, pointing behind them to the other end of the bridge. The arrow struck through one of the supporting ropes, tearing it all the way through. The bridge lurched and tilted over, but before the crew could lose their balance, the other supporting rope snapped from the weight, sending the bridge hurtling towards the rock wall in front of them. They slammed into the rock, jerking them all. Without a strong grab-hold, Saeola fell back and began to fall towards the seemingly bottomless gap below.
Quickly sliding his hand down the rope a bit to lower himself, Faelar just managed to snag hold of Saeola's forearm and held tight. He panted from the effort and tangled his other hand within the bridge ropes to secure his own hold on it. "I... gotcha dove." He gasped. "You all righ'?"
Saeola felt as if her heart was going to leap from her chest. She thought for sure that she was going to fall to her death. Then Faelar caught her and she let out a shakily breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She glanced up at him, blinking rapidly. "Y-Yes," She stammered. "W-What about you...?"
"My arms're on fire, but otherwise intact." Faelar managed to pull a grin.
"Ugh... I hate heights..." Celdern groaned as he looked down below from his place at the bottom of the dangling bridge.
Miri, directly above Celdern, wailed. "Now what do we do?"
"We're going to stay calm and hold on. Give me a few moments." Serosa'ruth answered. He grabbed on to the edge of one of the boards and half-pushed, half-jumped up, levitating to boost himself higher. He landed over the edge of the rock, withdrawing his blades in flight. The surprised orc fumbled for another arrow, but never managed to shoot it as Serosa'ruth quickly decapitated him. Sighing, the fighter/druid sheathed his swords and ran over to check on the others, "Keep hanging! I'll get you up in a second. Ky, can you climb up to me?"
"I-I think so." The elven woman began to clamber up the wood and ropes, before nearing the rock. Serosa'ruth reached down and pulled her up to him.
Once she was safely on the ground again, her friend directed her to grab one end of the remaining support rope and to pull it upwards while he yelled down to the others. "Hang on tight, we're gonna pull the bridge up!" And proceed to take the other support rope to yank it up in unison with Ky'itae's pulling.
And once safely on the solid ground, Miri scrambled away from the edge while Saeola released Faelar's hand and also moved away, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Her stomach had lurched from the fall.
"Stupid orc..." Miri muttered once she had regained her breath.
Faelar panted again, sliding down to lean against the wall and regain his breath while he rubbed his sore arms, "Ugh... gimme a moment... I think dat slam inta da wall nearly popped me arms outtader sockets."
"Well... looks like we can't go back this way now, anyway." Serosa'ruth sighed, looking at the destroyed bridge.
Saeola frowned and glanced over her shoulder at the destroyed bridge as she stood up. "Then here's hoping there's another way out..."
"I can hear water down there," Ky'itae pointed down into the chasm. "And we passed by a river on the way up, so if all else fails, we can look for a lower location of the water and see if we can find the way that leads outside."
"Sounds good to me," Saeola said with a nod.
"Yeah, as long as we aren't trapped in here..." Miri mumbled, shuddering as she stood up herself.
Faelar seemed to mentally sort out something before nodding in agreement, "Yeah... I don't think I've got anythin' dat would teleport or take us all out, so dat sounds good."
"I could try opening an entrance in the rock, but only if it's very, very close to the outside," Serosa'ruth sighed, "So finding the water is probably best... And I guess it's a good thing I'm a decent cave tracker. Faelar, you ready to go?" The rogue rolled his arms to loosen them up and nodded, "Very well then... onwards, my friends." The druid motioned for the others to follow him through the next set of stone doors.
Saeola approached the other half-elf before he could move, however, and rubbed the back of her neck with a shy glance. "Thanks. For saving me, I mean," She said before hurriedly following after Serosa'ruth. Having her life saved meant someone cared whether she died or not. And that was something new to her.
Faelar watched her go as he rose in mild bemusement before cracking a small smile, "Anytime, dove." He responded in barely above a whisper.
"That's two you owe him." Celdern whispered in a half-teasing tone to Saeola as they entered another chamber. This one was empty and much like a natural cave. Serosa'ruth and Ky'itae scanned the room carefully, examining the various piles of rubble and old wooden chests and crates.
Saeola chuckled, glancing over at Celdern as Miri passed them to help the other two elves examine the room. "Yeah," She chuckled. "I'll have to make those up soon."
"If you get the chance. Pretty quick, ain't he?" Celdern rubbed his goatee, nodding in acknowledgement of the thief's skill. Serosa'ruth and Ky'itae returned from their scavenging, shaking their heads.
"Nothing here." Ky'itae sighed, looking at the four visible exits out of the room, "Which way?
"That'd be Celdern's call, I think," Saeola said, glancing at the bard as Miri nudged over an empty chest curiously.
Celdern rubbed his goatee again in thought, trying to remember which way his last party had gone, as the map had stopped at the entrance, and even if it went further, it was too dark to read it anyway, and it wasn't legible in infrared.
"Let's see... last time... we went...hm... In that entrance," He pointed to the south, "it was just a few prisoner cells, and we managed to free two locals, but I don't think the orcs have anyone new in here, as I would've heard about it in Blasingdell by now. Next we went... directly ahead. Nothing for a bit of a stretch, then we found ourselves right in the middle of an orc encampment... that's as far as we got before the orcs killed off the other two and I managed to escape. I've no idea what's beyond the other passages, though. We did manage to kill a few orcs, and I was in a crew of half what we are now, so we might be able to make it through the camp."
Saeola rubbed her chin. "Maybe... but should we really risk that?"
"I think we can manage," Miri piped up. "Faelar has invisibility spells he can cast just in case, right?"
Faelar nodded, "I 'ave a 'Mass Invisibility' dat'll work, but you all 'ave ta be no more dan two feet apart fer me to cast it on everyone at once."
"Then it's settled!" Ky'itae pounded a fist into her open palm, "Orc smashin' time!" She grinned, her canines unusually long.
Saeola grinned and punched the air. "All right!"
"Speak for yourselves," Miri groaned.
"Gladly." Saeola stuck her tongue out at the cleric.
"Lead us as close as you can, then, Celdern, then Faelar can cast his spell." Serosa'ruth ordered in a soft tone. The bard nodded, taking the lead.
"Follow me then, and keep very, very quiet. Orcs are stupid, but their ears aren't half bad."
"And keep on your toes," Saeola added before following after Celdern, Miri shuffling close behind.
The six moved what seemed relatively quietly, though the druid seemed to cringe ever other step. Only he seemed to make absolutely no sound through the rocks, as if specially trained to be ultimately stealthy in caverns... or anywhere else, for that matter. The druid rarely made much noise from movement, no matter where he was. After a few turns, Celdern stopped, nodding to the others. "Far as we can go without being seen." He whispered. Faelar took his cue and chanted very lowly, wiggling his fingers in the air before everyone disappeared from sight.
"Remember, yer invisibility is gone da second any one o' us makes an aggressive move." The thief warned.
"Dually noted," Miri whispered, taking a hold of Saeola's wrist to ensure she didn't get too far away and cause the cloak to drop.
Saeola didn't seem to care and nodded silently. "Let's do this."
The others, either from skill or knowledge of the area, went on their own without grasping each other's hand, and they all entered a long, narrow cavern littered with more crates, barrels, sacks, and other supplies. Only four orcs occupied the area at the moment, and so Faelar sacrificed their invisibility to fling out three poison daggers, instantly killing the same amount of orcs. Before the final orc realized the danger, the thief had sliced through his eye, permanently silencing the monster.
"Well, we're clear 'ere." Faelar sighed. "Shall we look around? Might 'ave somethin' useful in all dese ransacked items."
"Couldn't hurt," Saeola agreed, prying her wrist free from Miri and cautiously moving about the area.
They inspected the area closely, finding nothing but food and trinkets when Celdern overturned a rock and found a small strongbox. He pulled out a small piece of wire and picked at the lock, finally releasing it and opening the box. He pulled out a small flask, "Holy water," he observed to the others, then eyed the other contents, "And a bunch of gold coins." He pocketed the flask and the coins, "Well, we're maybe a hundred or so gold richer, but that's it. Any luck for you guys?"
Saeola kicked a large, heavy chest over on its side with her foot. "Nope." Miri stood up from her crouched position, having been examining something. "Nothing here..."
"Well... where to nex-- hold on." Serosa'ruth paused, feeling along the wall, "...There's a door here." He pushed a bit on the wall, and the rock pivoted in the center, revealing a chamber cluttered with furniture. Yellowed skulls dangled from the ceiling, and smoke from a small fire put the room in a haze. On the opposite of the end of the room, an orc in ragged black robes looked up from her desk and snarled in rage. "...Crap."
Saeola cringed and instantly drew her blade, taking a defensive stand. "Nice going, green one."
Not bothering to make a retort, Serosa'ruth back-flipped and dodged a fireball sent his way. By the time he stood on his feet again, his swords were out.
Miri quickly drew her daggers and backed away. "A priestess. Screwed."
"All creatures bleed." Faelar growled, springing forward and through the door to engage the shaman head-on.
"True enough," Saeola agreed and followed, darting forward to take a swing at the creature's legs.
The orc female growled and motioned her arms. Two other orcs sprang out from behind furniture and attacked the two-half-elves while the monster priestess threw a flask out at the entrance. It shattered on the floor and red-hot flames surrounded the door, preventing entrance or exit. Serosa'ruth stopped short of the fire and cursed.
Miri also skidded to a halt, leaping away from the flames and nearly crashing into Serosa'ruth. "Ah! Oh no, they're trapped in there!"
Ky'itae bit her lip and turned to Serosa'ruth, "Don't druids know how to form water?"
"Yes, but I can't cast it powerful enough to put out that." The male elf growled, "Either we'll have to hope Faelar can douse it, or we'll have to hope they can last during the time the alchemist's fire spell is active."
Saeola dodged a spell thrown at her before deflecting another one with her blade. She glanced toward the blocked doorway with a grimace. Damn! There's no way Faelar and I can take this one down by ourselves!
Faelar stabbed the orc facing him in the throat before flinging his arm out in Saeola's direction. The ranger felt an odd sensation over her skin for a moment, then nothing. A moment later, the shaman pointed her staff at the young woman, shooting a bolt of red and orange magical energy that looked much like a screaming skull. The spell bounced off of Saeola and slammed into the orc priestess. Her rebounded Cause Fear spell took effect immediately, and the shaman scrambled out through a previously hidden door, slamming it behind her. This left only one more orc guard, who suddenly felt very uneasy about the odds.
Saeola made a face and lunged, chopping the remaining orc's head off. "Damn," She said, standing and smirking at Faelar. "I owe you thrice."
"Ya can make it up lata, dove." Faelar grinned, the pointed at the still-strongly burning fire at the main entrance, and then the exit the shaman took, "Whot should we do?"
Saeola lowered her bloodstained sword and glanced from the fire to the door. "...Let's go after that shaman. I'm sure Serosa'ruth can figure out how to follow us."
"Yes, I'm sure I can." Serosa'ruth called through the wall of fire, "I can still hear you. Go ahead. We'll catch up later. Just make sure to stay alive."
Saeola blinked, then waved. "All right! Be careful yourself!" She then nodded to Faelar and headed through the door.