Priestess of War (The Bowl of Souls Book 10), page 29
The ogres erupted into roars of agreement. There was much exulting and clapping of backs. It would only be later as they tried to sleep that they would remember the sorrow of friends lost.
Fist left them to their rejoicing and returned to the shelf where Locksher and Qenzic sat. Once again, he lay back. Exhaustion rolling over him. “So tired.”
Maryanne, who had returned with him, looked down at Rufus laying there on his back snoring with his rear legs sticking up in the air. She clasped her hands together. “Aww, he looks cute when he’s small like that. It makes me want to cuddle him. Fist, you should make him sleep small like that every night.”
“I hate to ruin your mood,” Qenzic interjected, his expression still as dour as it had been earlier. “But what if the Priestess of War decides to send another attack against us in the morning? Stuck in here, we’d have no warning until they were upon us. How would we mount a defense crammed in here?”
“I agree that we are in a difficult situation,” Locksher agreed. “If we had known what would happen ahead of time. We could have been much better prepared.”
“Yeah? Well, we weren’t,” Qenzic replied.
“Rufus and I will get up just before the sun and go to scout the pass. If something comes we will hurry back and warn you,” Fist promised with a yawn. Maryanne scooted back up next to him and he laid his head back on her lap. His eyes began to droop.
“And if the flies are just as thick? What good does it do us if we can’t leave the cave. Are we supposed to wait in here while you bonded try to go out there and fight alone?” Qenzic pressed.
“I will think on it,” Locksher replied. “There are several spells I could enact to help us to perhaps weaponize the field that protects us. In fact, I . . .”
The wizard’s words floated away in a jumble as Fist drifted off to sleep. He didn’t dream this night. Neither did he notice when Justan tried to contact him from the swamps of Malaroo.
The modified wards were active all night, killing all flies who tried to enter the cave. They even served a secondary purpose as late that evening, several of the tribespeople who had not made it back to the cave early on, came running at them. The ogres, infested with larvae, their minds filled with bloodlust, rushed into the cave only to be electrified clean by the field.
They fell to the ground twitching and were brought over to Locksher who made sure that they would survive. Ten ogres returned to the Thunder People that way and the tribe took this as a sign that the gods of the mountain were on their side.
Locksher woke Fist early. The wizard was surprisingly perky for one that had gone so long without sleep while continually using his power. Rufus, quick to recover as usual, returned to his regular size and walked with Fist to the cave entrance. They left Squirrel behind. The little beast wouldn’t be able to tell the others much, but if there was an emergency that needed their attention, he could let them know.
The cave floor was covered with piles of dead flies, their dried husks blown in by the occasional gusts of wind from outside. Fist and the rogue horse endured the painful zap of the wards and pushed through another pile of flies, this one nearly waist high.
The sky was just beginning to turn blue with the sun’s approach. There weren’t many live flies in the air at the moment. Though it would heat up later that day, the chill morning air had caused them to go aground. The rocky shelf of the Thunder People’s camp was black with them.
Briefly, Fist considered casting a few lightning spells to wipe as many out as he could, but decided against it. He had a task at hand. Why start the day tiring himself out with spells that would hardly make a dent in the fly population when he didn’t yet know what lay ahead?
Rufus took a deep breath. “Ooh! Smells bad.”
Fist didn’t agree. The fresh air was a great improvement over the smell of hundreds of dirty ogres crammed into one cave. Nevertheless, he knew what the rogue horse referred to. The various camp sites had been discarded, many of them with meat in some state of being cooked or prepared. There was now an underlying smell of rot in the air as the flies had spent the day feasting and laying eggs.
He climbed onto Rufus’ back and the rogue horse took him up the trails and pathways that led to the clifftops. They rode out to the edge and though the ground was gray with flies, he could see no enemies marching down the pass.
Fist was momentarily relieved, but as they rode further eastward along the clifftop he saw something strange in the distance. The terrain seemed different. “What do you see, Rufus?”
The rogue horse, whose senses were more refined than his, also noticed the change. “Ooh. Its higher out there.”
“Higher?” Fist prodded the rogue horse further along.
They reached the far edge of the cliffs and when they still couldn’t make out the change, he had Rufus climb down the sheer cliff to the slope so that they could get closer. After an hour’s ride through rough terrain that most creatures would find impassable, Rufus climbed to a high shelf and Fist saw exactly what had happened.
“Uh oh,” Rufus said.
Uh oh, Squirrel echoed from behind Fist’s eyes.
Fist returned to a very worried group of friends who had feared the worst when he did not return right away. Maryanne was furious. The gnome demanded to know why he had not woken her to come along with him and it took Fist several minutes to calm her down so that he could tell them what he had found.
“She has blocked us off,” Fist said.
“What are you saying?” Locksher asked.
He took a deep breath. “The passes were empty. I saw no dead or infected. Just flies.”
“That sounds like a good thing,” said Qenzic cautiously.
“But she has cut off our route of attack,” Fist said. “She has raised tall sheer walls blocking every pass and clifftop between us and the lake.”
“Making sure that we cannot help the Academy army on the day of the attack,” Locksher finished.
Qenzic let out a low sigh. “Leaving us to the flies. She can just ignore us now. Sooner or later we’ll be overwhelmed.”
Fist hoped the flies wouldn’t be a problem if they could survive just a day or two longer until Lenny arrived with Master Porthos. The old witch would surely be able to keep them at bay. Surely. If only he were allowed tell the rest of his friends about it.
“There has to be a way!” Maryanne did not like the idea of being kept out of the fight. She began to pace back and forth nervously. With as little room as there was around them, this looked more than a little awkward. “But-but . . . Oh! What if we were able to reopen the old trails? You know, the ones that Locksher destroyed with his rocks?”
“You mean with the whole mountainside fallen across them?” Qenzic scoffed.
“It’s hard to be sure,” Fist said, scratching his head. “I couldn’t see the far side from where Rufus and I were, but it wouldn’t make sense for the priestess to be so thorough cutting us off from this direction while leaving those other ways open.”
There was a stretch of silence as the friends brooded before Locksher finally spoke.
“I don’t know that the situation is quite so grim as it seems,” the wizard said cheerfully.
Qenzic sent Locksher a scowl. “What were you smoking in that pipe last night?”
The wizard ignored him. “Maryanne is right. We should attempt to clear a way through those side trails. At the very least, it will be the method the Priestess of War should least expect.”
“Alright,” Fist said. It would be a longer journey, adding several hours to the journey, perhaps a day if they had to take the longest route. “But the way may be blocked even then.”
“Cassandra is underestimating us,” Locksher declared. He grasped Qenzic’s shoulder to get the warrior’s attention. “A wall of rock in our path? The fact that she used this particular method to block us off means that she got very little out of Lyramoor.”
Qenzic’s look quickly changed from dour to interested. “I know he wouldn’t talk, but why do you say that?”
“Because Fist and I happen to be quite good at earth magic. If Lyramoor had told her our true talents and abilities, she would have chosen a much more effective method. All we have to do is burrow a hole through the walls. The methods for doing that are quite simple.”
“Good on Lyramoor,” Charz said with a nod. The rock giant had woken from his slumber fully recovered from his wound the day before. He and Burl had been laughing about it just before Fist arrived.
Fist frowned. “Maybe, but if she was watching through the eyes of those lupolds we fought, she would know that I have earth magic.”
“But you are an ogre,” he said. “Most wizards see ogres with powers as a ridiculous aberration. Hardly a threat. Likely she thinks you are my pet.”
“Hey!” said Maryanne, sticking up for Fist.
“He’s got a point,” Charz said.
Fist wasn’t offended, knowing quite well how the wizards at the Mage School saw his powers. “It might not be that simple. We could travel all the way there and find that she made those walls in such a way that our magic can’t tunnel through.”
Locksher waved that concern away. “There is always a way. Especially if she doesn’t know where we’ll be coming from.”
“You’re forgetting about the flies,” Qenzic reminded them. “Come on! We’re stuck in a blasted cave! What does it matter how fancy your spells are if we can’t leave?”
“I have been giving that some thought as well,” Locksher said. “I have thought of a way we could possibly-.”
“Wait! Wait!” said Maryanne, shushing them, her eyes wide. A smile suddenly split her face and she smacked Fist’s arm. “Ha! They’re here! They’re here!”
“What are you talking about?” Charz wondered.
Fist’s brow rose as it dawned on him what she was talking about. “Now? But-.”
“Last night, I was so tired that I fell asleep right after talking to Sarine,” she said. “Bill was so worried about us that they traveled through the night. He was just now close enough to be able to reach me. They are close by. Their path is just blocked by that landslide!”
Fist laughed. That was fantastic news. He hadn’t expected Lenny and Old Bill to arrive for another day, just before it was time for the attack. He frowned. “Wait, did you warn them about the flies?”
“Bill says we won’t have to worry about the flies anymore!” she said.
“You two have me completely lost,” Charz said. “Bill’s here? How?”
Locksher let out an uncharacteristic curse. He shook a finger at them. “This is Valrek’s doing isn’t it? Him and his secrets! Oh, I should have known. You two have been sharing too many mysterious looks these last few weeks. I had marked them off as being explained by your love affair, but now it makes much more sense.”
“I think you’ve all gone crazy,” Qenzic said.
“There’s another force coming, isn’t there?” Locksher said, his pointing finger turning into a fist that he shook at Fist and Maryanne. “Waiting just on the other side of those closed pathways. I knew you were much too insistent on diverting resources to opening them up!”
“It’s not a big force,” Fist said. “Just a small group that Head Wizard Valtrek sent up apart from the army.” He lowered his voice just above a whisper. “They have a secret weapon with them that’s supposed to help us in the fight.”
Locksher’s anger faded somewhat. “What kind of secret weapon?”
“We don’t know!” Maryanne said happily. “Valtrek told Sarine and Bill not to tell me in case I was captured and tortured to give away all our strategies!”
“Like Lyramoor was,” Qenzic said, his voice hollow of emotion.
Charz let out a laugh. “Well, I ain’t gonna be down at this point. That jerk Valtrek’s plan’s worked so far.”
“Also, they have Master Porthos with them,” Fist said trying to keep things enthusiastic. “So the flies shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
“Really?” the graduate said. “You knew that this whole time and said nothing?”
“I-I didn’t expect them to be here for another day,” Fist said. “Besides, I wasn’t sure if he would be able to help or not.”
“Well, let’s find out!” Maryanne said and began pushing her way through the press of ogres to the cave’s entrance. The way was packed with ogres peering outside. There was a rumble of confusion.
The gnome stumbled through the painful wards and let out a laugh as she looked at the camp around her. “Come on! Everyone! Come out and see!”
Her friends followed her out and hesitantly, a few ogres braved the wards to join them. The flies were gone. There were little dead husks littering the ground like flakes of pepper, but there wasn’t a live fly to be seen.
“It worked! Master Porthos used his magic to make them leave!” she said.
Locksher released the spell creating the electric wards and the Thunder People spilled out into the open. There were cries of triumph and celebration. Crag praised the gods and Fist for finding a way to rescue them.
Fist and his friends traveled to the point of the landslide. Together, Fist and Locksher began using their magic to clear a path through the rock, carving a passage wide enough and flat enough that the wagons would be able to drive through. It wasn’t quick work and at times it was easier to borrow the brawn of the ogre tribe, with Charz’ and Rufus’ help, to move stubborn boulders.
It took all morning, but by the time the sun was at its zenith, Fist made the last push. He cut out a block of rock and lowered it into the ground. Two merchant wagons came into view. Standing in front of them, grins on their faces, were Lenny and Old Bill.
Maryanne rushed over to Bill and Fist ran alongside her.
He lifted Lenny into a tight hug. “Lenny! I’m so glad to see you!”
Lenny wheezed out a laugh and patted him on the back. “Okay, you big blasted ogre! Set me down already!”
Fist set him onto the ground. “I’m sorry about missing your wedding.”
“Darlan told me all about what happened,” Lenny said, smacking Fist’s arm. “Don’t you worry. Even Bettie got over it. I-.” He turned his head to look at the little animal that dropped down onto his shoulder. “Hey there, little guy. No, Squirrel. I don’t want a nut right now.”
“Wee?” Rufus said in his huffing voice. The rogue horse trotted up to them, his broad mouth stretching into a toothy grin. He leaned close to the dwarf, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air around him.
“Holee turds with wings,” Lenny said, his eyes wide with shock. “Monkeyface?”
“You know each other?” Fist said in surprise.
“Wee!” The rogue horse tackled the dwarf. They rolled across the rocky ground, both of them bursting out with laughter.
Locksher walked past them and approached Bill, a stern look on his face. “Okay, Bill. Give it up. What is this secret weapon?”
Chapter Nineteen
Fist grinned as he watched Rufus wrestle with Lenny. The ogre had been looking forward to this reunion ever since Rufus had showed him his memory of the dwarf. What a marvelous turn of events to learn that Lenny had been the one to turn the rogue horse over to the Prophet after centuries spent in smugglers’ hands.
“Alright. Alright! Enough, dag-blast it! Lemme get some air!” Lenny said. Reluctantly the rogue horse backed off of him. Lenny climbed to his feet and began dusting himself off. “Yer almost as bad as Gwyrtha! What’s goin’ on here, Fist? What the hell’s Monkeyface doin’ all the way up here?”
“Ooh! Roo-Fuss!” Rufus corrected.
“What?” Lenny said.
“He’s trying to tell you that his name is really Rufus,” Fist explained. “He doesn’t like being called Monkeyface.”
Rufus let out an irritated snort. “No!”
Lenny raised his hands defensively. “Okay. Shoot. Rufus it is. That’s a fine name fer a rogue . . . wait a dag-gum minute! You two are bonded together, ain’t you?”
“Yes. It happened over a month ago.” Fist told Lenny about how he had run into Rufus fighting a dragon on the shores of the black lake.
The dwarf shook his head in amazement. “I’ll be pickled. To think that John held Monkeyf-.” He nodded to the rogue horse. “Rufus aside all this time just to give him to you. I tell you it makes this dwarf’s heart dag-gum proud I had somethin’ to do with it.”
They heard an exclamation of dismay and turned to see Qenzic talking to the three Academy guards at the second wagon. Fist immediately recognized them from the war. He knew Swen fairly well, but the other two were only acquaintances.
Lenny sighed and scratched his head. “I suppose I’d better go over and give Qenzic my condolences about old Lyramoor. Blast it, that was like a punch to my belly when Bill told me. I wanted to tell the other Academy folks about it right away, but Bill said it had to be secret ’till we got here. Blasted secrets!”
“I didn’t know you knew Lyramoor all that well,” Fist said
“Yeah. Back when he was a slave. Tried to help him a couple times but . . . hell I was a young fool back then. When I saw him again at the Mage School durin’ the war, he durn near tried to cut me in pieces. But we had us a good talk about it and . . .” the dwarf’s voice trailed off.
“I’m sorry, Lenny,” Fist said. “He was my friend too.”
“Ooh! Me too,” Rufus agreed.
And me, said Squirrel sadly.
The dwarf nodded and rubbed a hand over his face. “I tell you, it seems like my past’s been comin’ back to haunt me lately.”
Rufus followed Lenny as the dwarf went over to talk with the Academy guards at the second wagon. Fist and Squirrel joined Maryanne and Old Bill, who was still arguing with Locksher.
“I’ve already told you I can’t reveal that yet, Wizard Locksher,” said Bill. The old dwarf stood with arms folded, his expression firm. “Not it’s dimensions. Not the type of magic it uses or even if it uses magic at all! Not until just before the battle starts. Those are the orders.”
