Child of Fate (20 page)

“Look!” Trina cried.

Alto spun, forcing Karthor to stumble as his
shoulder hit the healer. Namitus had managed to get around the
trolls. His sword slashed back and forth. The trolls held back,
showing fear for the first time. Namitus lunged toward them,
forcing them back a step; he turned and ran across the bridge and
away from the edge so that they lost sight of him above them.

When next they saw the rogue, he was flying
through the air off the far side of the bridge. He stretched his
arm out and caught a stalagmite that had grown nearly high enough
to touch the stalactite that hung from the ceiling. He spun around
it, slowing his fall and putting himself into a spin. His left leg
smashed into a smaller stalagmite before he crashed into the floor
of the cavern.

“We’ve got to go,” Tristam growled.

“So go!” Alto snarled. He turned and ran
across the floor of the cavern, dodging around the spires of rock.
The shadows grew longer as he passed under the bridge where Kar’s
illusory flames still flickered.

He looked up to find the rock Namitus had
tried to break his fall with and circled around it. Namitus lay on
the ground, his face pointed away from Alto. Alto slowed, and then
hurried over to check on the man. He reached down and jerked his
hand back as a light fell on him.

“Don’t touch him,” Karthor said. The priest
knelt next to him reached over the rogue. He shook his head. “He’s
broken up pretty bad.”

“He’s alive?”

“Aye, but I don’t know if I can save him. If
you move him, you might make it worse.”

“We’ll find out,” Alto said. He scooped his
fallen comrade up. “Let’s go.”

Karthor nodded and led the way back to the
others. Tristam’s eyes were narrowed as they approached. “He’s
alive,” Alto answered the unasked question.

“Let’s go,” Tristam said. He turned and
pointed. “That tunnel.”

They moved through the field of spires to the
furthest cave from the base of the ramp. Tristam led the way until
as sound of him swearing traveled back to the others. Alto pushed
through the crowd, taking care to keep from jostling Namitus as
much as possible. A stone and wood wall blocked the tunnel,
complete with an oversized door set in the middle of it.

“Alto, bring your key,” Tristam ordered.

Alto lowered Namitus to the ground and turned
to grab the club from William that he’d dropped when he fell off
the ramp. He stepped forward and tried to figure out best how to
smash the door with the iron-shod cudgel. A wooden plaque on the
wall next to the door made him pause. He stared at it, trying to
read it, and could only come up with one word that made no sense.
“Trolwerkz!”

Alto brought his cudgel back and was about to
try a two-handed swing when the door pulled open and the ugliest
face he’d ever seen stared out at him. It was green and possessed
an over-large nose that was matched only by the giant canine teeth
that protruded beyond its lips. A large wart graced the creature’s
chin but it failed to distract from the feral-looking grin that
split the monster’s face.

Alto gasped and stumbled back. The creature
reached a thick green arm out, its fingers capped by black nails
that looked like they could carve stone. The fingers and hand
moved, beckoning them forward.

“Ey dere!” the creature said. It looked past
him at the others. The frightful grin faded. “Get in here,” he said
before backing out of the doorway.

Alto glanced at Namitus and then leaned in
closer to peer through the door. Dozens of scents hit him at once,
stinging his nose and making his eyes water. There were tables set
up in a large room and on the tables were bottles, glasses, flasks,
tubing, and countless other things he couldn’t guess at.

“Get Namitus,” Tristam ordered someone behind
Alto. Alto stepped in, his club raised and at the ready.

“You duzzint need dat.” The creature gestured
at Alto’s club.

Alto blinked the vapors out of his eyes and
tried to focus. The room was hot and wet, courtesy of three large
bubbling cauldrons. The fires beneath the large iron pots provided
light enough for him to make out the large green creature that
moved through the room. It reminded him of a mountain troll, except
it wore a leather apron and spoke the language of men. Sort of.

“Yous isn’t here for da potions, is you?”

Alto blinked and turned to see the others
slowly entering the room behind him. He wondered if his eyes were
as big as theirs were. William and Karthor carried the unconscious
Namitus between them.

“What did it say?” Tristam asked him.

“Thork said yous isn’t here for da potions,
is you?” the creature asked again.

“Swamp troll!” Kar cried out as he entered.
He started digging through his pockets and finally cried out in
triumph when he pulled out a bag. He stopped when he noticed
everyone was staring at him.

Alto turned back away from Kar to the troll.
“Thork?”

“Yep, dat’s me. Thork.”

“And you’re a swamp troll?” Alto couldn’t
believe he was having a conversation with a troll.

Thork shrugged. “Been years since Thork’s
been in da swamp.”

“They prefer warmer weather,” Kar offered.
Thork nodded in agreement.

“How can you two understand him?” Tristam
asked.

Alto turned to look at the warrior. “I don’t
know; I just can. He’s got a strong accent but it’s not that bad.”
This time it was Kar who nodded in support.

“Sarya’s gonna be really mad ’bout dis,”
Thork said. He picked his head up and pointed a finger at each of
them, counting as he went. “One an one an one an one an one an one
an one…well, dat one’s sleeping. Still, dat’s lots! Yep, dis is
gonna get messy.”

“Who’s Sarya?” Alto asked. “And why’s she
going to be mad?”

“Sarya’s da most scariest fing in da world!”
Thork said.

“Is Sarya in charge? What about Barador?”

Thork snorted, spraying troll spittle over
some of the flasks on a table. One of them hissed and fizzled.
“Barndoor is an idjit!”

“Is Sarya a dragon?” Alto asked.

“Yep!” Thork nodded his head vigorously.

“My head hurts,” Tristam muttered.

“You can understand him now?” Alto asked his
leader.

Tristam nodded. “Some. I wish I couldn’t,
though.”

Thork grinned. “So is we gonna do dis?”

“Do what?”

“Bashins!” Thork picked up a large spear with
decorations hanging from the base of the blade and runes carved
into the shaft, and then he grabbed a shield he’d been using as a
cutting board. He scraped whatever he’d been dicing on it onto the
table and slipped his large fingers into the shield’s straps.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not.
We’ve been running for days, we’re hungry, and our friend is hurt
pretty bad. There are several goblins and trolls trying to find us
and they might come through here any minute. I don’t suppose you
could point us on our way to getting out of these caves?”

Thork lowered his weapon and shield and
frowned. He shifted his jaw and sucked on a tooth before he
shrugged. “Okay.”

Alto heard someone cough behind him. Rather
than risk his luck and turn around, he asked, “Really?”

Thork shrugged again. “Sure, why not? Thork’s
getting tired of livin’ in dis stupid mountain.” The troll put his
weapons down and walked over, coming so close to the others that
they shuffled away in fear. Thork peered through a window and
nodded his head. “Yep, yous is in trouble all right! Come dis
way!”

The troll led them through a door in the
back, and then rolled a massive barrel out of the way to reveal a
trap door. “Get down dere! No noise an turn dat stupid light
off.”

“Thork,” Alto hesitated. It was dark and he
had no idea what awaited them.

“Go!” Tristam hissed at him. To add weight to
the warrior’s words, Karthor cancelled the spell that made his holy
symbol glow.

Alto ducked under the troll’s arm and climbed
down the ladder. He waited while Namitus was passed down to him and
then backed into the dark to make room for the others. They climbed
down one at a time and Thork shut the trap door. The barrel rolled
back in place above them, raining some dirt down through cracks in
the doorway.

Several minutes passed while they waited in
the dark. Kar started to mutter something at one point but a hushed
command from Tristam stopped him. The dark began to grow heavy
around them, pressing in and making breathing difficult. Alto felt
like they were back in the massive cavern with the imagined
presence of something terrible when the barrel rolled back and the
trap door opened above them. Light flooded in and was accompanied
with heavily scented air that smelled sweeter than anything they
could remember.

“Yous really made Barndoor mad!” Thork
guffawed above them. He held the barrel back while they scrambled
out as fast as they could.

“Why are you helping us?” Tristam asked the
troll once they were back in the main room of the troll’s home.

Thork sucked on his tooth again while he
considered the question. “You’re not like dem other stupids; you
talked to Thork.”

“Are other trolls like you?” Alto asked.

Thork let out a great laugh that grew until
it seemed it was shaking the walls around them. “Da trolls up here
is stupid,” Thork said once he’d stopped laughing. “Swamp trolls is
better, but most of dem never leave da swamp.”

“And you have,” Alto concluded.

Thork grinned. “Thork been all over da
place!”

“Saints preserve us, a worldly troll,” Kar
muttered.

Tristam leveled a glare at the wizard before
he turned back to the strange creature before them. “Thork, can you
help us get out of these caves?”

“Thork can do better den dat!” He turned to a
shelf along the wall and started going through vials of liquids
with surprising grace. He popped the corks on a couple to sniff
them, and then put them back or, in one case, drank one down. He
belched loudly before holding one up and grinning. He turned and
thrust the potion toward them. “Have your bashed friend drink
dis!”

Alto mouthed the word, “Bashed?” Karthor took
the open potion and sniffed it. He looked perplexed, and then
offered it to Kar. Kar scowled and shook his head without taking
it.

“Crafting potions requires exacting
measurements and research,” the wizard stated.

“Try it,” Alto urged. Kar focused a severe
gaze at him but the farm boy forced himself to ignore it.

Karthor frowned. “It may be his only
chance.”

Alto laid Namitus on the floor and Karthor
held the potion to his lips. He slowly dripped a few drops into his
open mouth, and then fed him more as it began to run down the
rogue’s throat. Namitus swallowed in his sleep and coughed softly.
Once he settled, Karthor poured more of the potion in the man’s
mouth and looked up in surprise. The flask had run dry.

Thork took the flask back and grinned. “Watch
dis!” he said, staring at the unconscious man.

Namitus groaned and stiffened, and then
started to tremble. He rolled over, pulling free of Karthor’s grip
and curling into a ball. A moment later, he relaxed and
straightened, and then blinked his eyes open and looked at all of
them. He let out a rattling sigh and smiled, and then his eyes fell
on the upside down image of Thork’s head above him.

Namitus yelped and leapt to his feet. He
reached for his sword and pulled it free, smashing some bottles and
knocking a few tufts of a strange weed off the table beside him.
Instead of being alarmed or threatened, Thork guffawed at his
reaction.

Namitus stopped when he realized no one else
had their weapons drawn. He turned and looked around, surprised. He
squawked when Trina slammed into him and squeezed him in a hug
worthy of the mightiest of Kelgryn jarls.

“Him’s gonna need another potion,” Thork
suggested with a grin.

Alto felt his chest tighten as he watched
Patrina hug Namitus. It wasn’t until she backed away from him that
she said, “You’re not forgiven. I’m just glad you’re not dead.”

Namitus blushed and turned to look at the
troll. “Um, hello.”

“Thork,” the troll said and offered his
hand.

Namitus stared at the oversized digits and
then looked up at the troll. He reached out slowly and nearly had
his arm ripped off by the way the troll pumped his hand up and
down. Kar sniffed loudly for effect and muttered, “Amateurs!”

“We’re in your debt,” Tristam said to the
troll. “But we’ve no way to repay you.”

Thork shrugged. “Fings have a funny way of
coming round,” he said. He turned and walked over to a pile in the
corner of his workshop. “Bonky!”

Alto turned to look at the others. He wasn’t
sure it was possible, but Namitus looked even more confused than
the rest of them were at the troll’s behavior. Then Alto realized
his friend had been unconscious when they’d met the troll. He had
every right to be upset!

Thork reached behind a table and lifted out a
goblin with bright blue skin. It flailed its arms until Thork set
it down on the ground. The goblin snorted and pulled its hide tunic
back into place.

“Bonky, take dese people to da surface,”
Thork told him. The goblin, Bonky, turned and scrunched one eye
closed while he studied them. He crossed his arms and shook his
head.

“His name is Bonky?” Tristam wondered
aloud.

Thork nodded. “Him’s my assistant.”

“Why isn’t he talking?” Trina asked.

“Barndoor cut out Bonky’s tongue,” Thork
said. “Him can hear you jus fine.” To the goblin’s credit, he
opened his mouth and pointed at the stub of a tongue that
remained.

“A swamp troll toying with magic and he’s got
a goblin assistant!” Kar threw his hands in the air.