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In this lower spiral there was no light at all.
Surrounded by complete darkness, Jilian ran as she had never run before, counting her steps, trusting her dwarven instincts and the skills of the tu
Well, it's mine, too, Jilian thought fiercely. And no ogre built this place. Dwarves did. "You don't belong here, you ugly rust-heap!" she shouted. "You aren't fit to use a good delving!"
Behind her the ogre roared again and quickened its pace.
Again counting her steps, and putting blind faith in the good judgment of dwarven delvers, she sprinted another dozen paces, then stopped, turned to her right, and scurried forward. In the upper spiral there had been a small cubicle opening to the left. In the lower tu
It was there. Jilian found the opening and scurried through, holding her breath as the ogre raced past… and stopped. For a long moment there was silence, then she heard its rasping breath, returning. It knew she had eluded it, and it was coming back to search. Quickly, Jilian felt around on the floor. Her hand closed on a small, flat stone. She eased herself to the portal, edged partway into the tu
She hadn't gained much. Within seconds the ogre was in pursuit again and closing. She ran and let dwarven instinct guide her flying feet.
Abruptly, she realized that she could see the walls.
There was light ahead, and it was growing. The lower end of the spiral-shaft was ahead.
Another hundred yards and the tu
"So far, so good," Jilian panted, then turned as a thunderous growl erupted behind her. Only yards away, the ogre had emerged from the tu
It still held a hand over one eye.
"I'm warning you," Jilian shouted, "I'm getting very tired of this.
You'd better go away and leave me alone." The ogre growled again and started for her. Jilian picked up a rock and flung it, aiming for the thing's other eye. The rock bounced off the monster's nose.
"Oh, rust," Jilian swore. "That's only made things worse." She hefted her sword and squared her stance sideways to the approaching ogre. "I didn't want to have to do this," she muttered.
As the monster charged, Jilian braced her feet and swung the sword with all her strength.
Chapter 21
Atop the pass, the others had split up. Wiwgover sent Bobbin sailing off westward to have a look at the backtrail, then swung into his saddle and spurred his horse down the twisting, perilous path that led away into the
Vale of Respite. Chane Feldstone started after him, then glanced aside and recognized the cavern behind the rockfall. "Tu
Without a backward look, he dashed into the cavern and ran, his hammer at the ready. Within a few yards, his nostrils caught the earthy scent of ogre, and he gritted his teeth. "Jilian," he whispered. "Ah, Reorx.
Jilian…"
Chestal Thicketsway was right behind the dwarf, followed by a whining, complaining, voiceless voice that seemed to object fiercely to being dragged through subterranean places.
The wizard Glenshadow watched them go, then chose a peak and began to climb. He noticed almost immediately that the crystal atop his staff had cleared as soon as Chane Feldstone went underground. It was something important to remember, regarding Spellbinder. Glenshadow climbed, seeking an ice pool that would give him seeing eyes.
Down and down the searchers went, the dwarf and the kender pounding down a long, corkscrew spiral in the heart of the mountain; the mounted man descending the slope, looking everywhere, trying to see everything. In the cavern with the light shaft, Chane found prints in the dust on the stone floor and paused, then hurried on. Jilian was ahead somewhere, with the ogre in pursuit. As one, Chane and Chess darted into the far tu
The downward slope eased, and the tu
And if Jilian had managed to escape the ogre in the tu
The tu
The dwarf raised his hammer. As Chane skidded to a halt, the kender bumped into him from behind, then dashed aside to wield his hoopak.
But there was nothing to attack. Chane and Chess gathered there, staring in wonder.
Jilian was a spi
Cloven carnage was just collapsing, almost at her twirling feet. The head and shoulders of an ogre thudded down on top of a tangled pile of bloody parts, just as the dwarven girl's sword flashed around again and took off the top of its skull, above its eyes.
"By the Hammer of Kharas," Chane swore.
"Yuk," Chestal Thicketsway said.
"What in the name of all the gods?" Wingover's voice came from just upslope. "Jilian? Are you… are you all right?"
Jilian pivoted a few more times, then got her balance.
Wordlessly the girl lowered the point of her sword and rested on its hilt as she tried to catch her breath. She stared at the pile of sliced ogre, then turned away, wrinkling her nose. At the sight of Chane, she ran to him. "I knew you'd come," she puffed, "but that… he didn't give me any time to wait for you."
Chane simply stared at the dismembered ogre, speechless.
"He was rude," Jilian explained. "He wasn't behaving well at all."
Chane began to shake his head, slowly.
"That's Cleft," Jilian introduced, pointing at the stack of ogre parts.
"That's one way to put it," Chess noted. "Although 'sliced' would be a better word. Wow! Look at that! Feet…shins… knees… hands… thighs… nothing is co
Wow!"
Wingover had dismounted, and now he, too, stood and stared.
"I never realized that ogres had two stomachs," Chess remarked, poking around in the gore of the monster with a stick.
Chane took Jilian's sword and began to clean it, still shaking his head.