Greyhawk: Classics, Book 01 - Against the Giants by Ru Emerson

Author:Ru Emerson [Emerson, Ru]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-1379-4
Publisher: Fanversion Publishing
Published: 2021-05-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

As they neared the open doorway, Maera gestured for Lhors to ease over to the south wall with her while Rowan kept to the north. She fit an arrow to the string as she vanished into the dark opening that went straight north. Maera signed for Lhors to stay where he was and watch while she slipped partway down the angled passage.

It wasn’t quite as dark that way—enough that Lhors could tell the passage branched again farther on. Ruddy light stained the walls down there, and he could hear the distant sound of a hammer battering metal into shape and, when that ceased, the loud huff of a bellows. I was right about the smithy, he thought. He felt a little better. Maybe he had contributed something after all.

Maera was back almost at once, and Rowan came back a moment later. The rangers exchanged rapid and complex sign Lhors couldn’t follow, then Maera moved light-footed toward the opening straight ahead. Lhors tightened his grip on the spear and was glad the rangers couldn’t hear his wildly beating heart.

The chamber was a horror of bloodstained flooring, instruments that left him sick and weak at the knees. Some had obvious uses. Others he couldn’t begin to imagine their exact purpose. High-burning fires licked at metal clamps or turned huge twisted branding irons a glowing red. In the midst of all this, two giants slept heavily, back to back on a filthy mat. The one facing out was smiling, as if in the midst of a pleasant dream.

Maera edged forward, gesturing for her sister to come with her, but Rowan shook her head fiercely, then beckoned, drawing her sister and Lhors back up the hall and into the shadow of the angled hallway.

“You want to kill them, Maera? Why?”

Maera sighed, clearly exasperated. “Can you even ask? They are torturers. They deserve to die!”

“Yes,” Rowan replied sourly. “So what do we do then, murder them while they sleep or let them waken first and then kill them?”

“Why let them waken?” Maera demanded. “Go in, kill them, and be done with it! It is not sporting, but this is not sport, sister. This is survival.”

“Do not lecture me, sister,” Rowan retorted. “Whatever they are, whatever they have done, that does not justify acting in the same fashion. Leave them. I doubt they will waken while we are here. If they do, then death is their fate, but I will not dishonor myself with their blood, nor allow you to do so.”

“Arrogant,” Maera hissed. “Is it not arrogant of you to assume we will be able to kill them if they waken?”

“If, was, could have been,” Rowan replied evenly. “It does not matter, Maera. I will not aid you in this.”

Maera’s lips twisted, but she finally sighed and gestured assent. “You would better serve Heironeous than Ehlonna,” she said acidly.

Before Rowan could reply, her twin was gone, moving at a swift pace to rejoin the others.

Rowan laid a hand on Lhors’ shoulder. “I am sorry you had to be party to that,” she said quietly.

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