The Gates of Thorbardin h2-5 Page 9

  The return on the sealed pack would be small compared to what it would cost Rogar Goldbuckle to pay his gambling debt.

  It had been no mean adventure, this journey. Wingover had chosen his routes with care, going north to Pax Tharkas by one route and returning by another to avoid ambushers and other unpleasantries of the wilderness. He had ridden alert and slept with his senses awake, and still there had been incidents — the cave ogre that had almost killed him on a mountain trail somewhere near Wayreth Forest; the landslide that had blocked his path just south of Pax Tharkas; the band of murderous thieves that had picked up his trail on Regret Ridge and pursued until he was forced to teach them some manners; the flooded ford that had forced him to change course. It was that flooded ford that led him into the hidden valley where the bird had screamed a warning at him, and where he had barely escaped with his life when a pack of huge hunting cats chased him.

  All that, and goblins, too.

  Wingover shook his head now in perplexity. Why were there goblins south of Pax Tharkas? He had never heard of goblins in these lands. Other places, of course, but not here. It reminded him of the talk he had heard in Pax Tharkas — dire rumors, all hazy and confusing, of omens and prophesies, of strange sightings in remote places.

  There were even rumors of people somewhere to the north who swore they had seen dragons.

  And just the past night — a double eclipse of the moons. Wingover had heard philosophers and stargazers speculate on such things, but he had never before seen such a sight. It had almost cost him his horse and his pack. Geekay had spooked at the sight and pulled loose from his halter, and Wingover had chased the animal for a half-mile before catching him.

  Did it mean something? He thought of Garon Wendesthalas and wondered where he was. Elves usually knew more about such phenomena than most people. Maybe he would see the elf in Barter, and could ask him about it then.

  Wingover twisted about in his saddle, easing the fatigue of travel, and pulled his elkhide jacket tighter about him. The horse was rounding a bend in the sloping trail, and a fresh wind had sprung up. It was cold at this altitude, even in early autumn.

  Cold and — he noticed abruptly — strangely quiet. He looked around. The usual daytime sounds of the mountains, the chittering of small creatures, the myriad calls of cliff-birds, had gone silent. The only sound was the wind sighing forlornly.

  Without seeming to have noticed — one learned such skills if one would survive in the wildernesses of Ansalon — Wingover eased his sword around so that its hilt rested across the vent of his saddle, inches from his hand. Eyes that missed little scanned the landscape, searching for anything out of place or out of order.

  Wingover's eyes were as pale as the frost on his reddish whiskers, and as alert as those of the darting shoal-kite for which he was named. He studied the rising stonefall to his left, the bouldered slope falling away to the right, the gametrail winding out of sight ahead, and stretching around as one too long a'saddle — his own backtrail. Nothing caught his eye, nothing out of the ordinary, and yet the silence hung and all his senses responded to it.

  Angling near a wide cleft in the stonefall, he reined the horse into cover and stopped, listening. At first there was nothing to hear, then from somewhere came a faint scuffling sound, as of shod feet creeping through gravel. Many shod feet. And now the errant wind carried a smell that alerted him. It was an odor he recognized. A cloying, unpleasant odor.

  Wingover frowned, testing the air. Goblins again! What were goblins doing this far south?

  Again he heard the furtive, scuffling noises, and this time he heard metalic sounds as well — little clinks as of weapons being drawn. Silently he dismounted, slipping his animal's reins into a crack in the rock. He freed the lashes behind his saddle and righted the flinthide shield there, pulling its strap onto his left arm, gripping the guidon with hard fingers. Sword drawn, Wingover crouched, slipped from the cover of the rocks, and sprinted forward on soft-soled feet, following the gametrail.

  Just ahead someone was in trouble.

  Fifty yards from where the man had dismounted, the dim trail topped a ridge and disappeared. Crawling the last few feet, Wingover looked beyond.

  The game trail veered away to the right, following a slope. Some distance away it made a switchback turn, angling downward toward a distant, meadowed valley. On the trail below, a single walker strode along — a tall, lithe figure clad in furs and leathers against the cold. Wingover could not see his face, but he knew his race. Distance and angle could not hide the lean, graceful form, the gliding stride of an elf.

  The elf turned slightly, surveying the landscape, and Wingover recognized him. An old friend. Garon Wendesthalas. The elf carried a pack and a bow, and Wingover suspected he was going to Barter as he was.

  But on the brushy slope between them, crouching in cover and watching the elf approach, were goblins armed, armored goblins waiting in ambush.

  He counted eight that he could see and cover where two or three more might be.

  Wingover crouched, waiting. There was no question what was about to happen. For whatever reason goblins might have — curiosity about what was in the elf's pack, perhaps, or simply for sport — the goblins were ready to pounce on the elf, to bring him down with their weapons.

  Garon Wendesthalas has been taking care of himself for a long time,

  Wingover told himself, slitted eyes studying the goblins. The goblins may wish they had never met this elf.

  Still, he told himself as goblin faces turned toward one another, wide mouths grinning in wicked anticipation, what are friends for, if not to interfere?

  With a shrug he got his feet under him, howled a battle cry as wild as any goblin could ever have heard, and plunged down the slope, directly into the crouched goblins' ambush.

  With gravity doubling the speed of his long legs, Wingover descended on them and through them, spinning completely around as he pierced their line. His sword was a flashing rage, singing around him, first bright-bladed and then suddenly dark with goblin blood. A goblin head bounced from a rock and rolled down the slope ahead of him. Two more goblins died before they could turn, one severed from shoulder to breastbone, one cloven through the back, through ribs and spine. Another raised an axe and was bowled over by Wingover's flinthide shield. Still another tried to lift a short sword and failed because he had no arm.

  In an instant of howling fury, the man was through them and beyond, flailing for balance as he plunged on down the slope. "Goblins!" he shouted. "Ambush!"

  Directly below now, the elf dropped his pack, brought around his bow, drew, and let fly. The arrow whisked past Wingover, and somewhere above and behind the man a gurgle and a thud sounded. At a glance he saw the severed head of the first goblin, bouncing merrily along beside him.

  A thrown axe sailed past Wingover, embedding itself in loose stone just at the elf's feet. Another of his arrows flew to answer it. On the path,

  Wingover braced his legs, skidded and somersaulted to a jarring halt… then got his feet under him again and dodged as a bronze dart whisked past him from uphill.

  "Good morning," he shouted to the elf, then filled his lungs, let loose another battle howl, and headed back up the slope. The elf was right behind him.

  The slope above was a confusion of goblins — most of them dead or dying, but some still very much alive. For a moment some of these scrambled, clawing upward, trying to climb the slope. But one, a creature slightly larger than the others and heavily armored, shouted guttural orders and regrouped them.

  Going uphill was far slower than coming down had been, and now Wingover and the elf found themselves facing a ready enemy who held the higher ground.

  Darts and thrown stones landed about them. Wingover held the lead, wielding his shield to deflect what he could. But a dart scored the human's leg, leaving a bloody gash. Two goblins hoisted a huge stone between them, raising it above their heads.

  Behind Wingover, the elf said, "Drop."

  H
e dropped, half-covered by his shield, and the elf loosed an arrow. It took a goblin full in the throat. The second one staggered back under the sudden weight of the stone, and fell.

  With a hiss, the goblin leader lifted the fallen creature to his feet and gripped the back of his neck with one strong hand. In the other he held a heavy broadaxe. Pushing his companion ahead of him he charged down on Wingover, who was just scrambling to his feet. Before he could get his shield up, the goblins were on him. His sword impaled one, but the weapon was wrenched aside as the leader flung the expendable one forward and raised his axe in both hands.

  Dropping sword and shield, Wingover flung himself upward and grappled the creature. Goblin stench seared his nostrils as he gripped the axehandle, struggling to keep it from completing its swing. Goblin teeth snapped at his throat, grazing the skin. Claws of a goblin hand raked his face, going for his eyes, and a hard-soled boot flailed at his legs. He twisted, thrust, and threw the goblin onto its back, going down with it.

  Instantly, the locked pair were rolling and bouncing down the slope, grappling and pummeling as they went.

  The broadaxe, jarred free, skidded down the slope ahead of them and came to rest on the trail. The rolling combat landed beside it, the goblin on top, going for Wingover's throat. With a heave, Wingover threw the creature over his head, spun, and leaped just as the goblin struggled to hands and knees. Straddling the creature, the man got his toes under the base of its brass chestplate, hooked his fingers under the back-plate, and put all his strength into prying them apart. Held by stout straps, the two pieces of armor closed like a trap around the goblin's neck. Wingover strained harder. Clawing at the man's booted feet, the goblin staggered upright, reeling and struggling to breathe as the clamp tightened at its neck. Its face seemed to swell, its eyes bulged, it staggered and fell, carrying the man with it. A broadaxe descended and crunched into the ground, barely missing both of them, and Wingover's hold slipped. He heard another of the elf's arrows pierce armor somewhere near.

  Panting, he stood. On the ground, the goblin gasped for breath, then rolled and came to its feet, wild eyes glaring, taloned fingers reaching.

  "I've had enough of this," Wingover decided. With a long stride he ducked the goblin's arms and drove a hard fist full into its face. The creature toppled like a felled tree and lay still.

  Stone clattered, and Garon Wendesthalas came down the slope. He glanced at Wingover, then crouched beside the goblin. "Alive," he said. "One of them got away, up the hillside. He was out of reach before I could bring him down."

  "I left my horse up there," Wingover panted.

  "Well, if that goblin is going to find him, it already has. What are they doing here? I haven't heard of goblins in these lands… at least not any time lately." The elf looked up quizzically. "And by the way, good morning to you, too, Wingover."

  "Hope you didn't mind my crashing your party," the man said.

  "Not at all. There were plenty to go around. Frankly, I'm glad you showed up. I knew they were here — smelled them a ways back — but I didn't know how many, or exactly where they were. But I still can't imagine what they're doing this far south."

  "That's what I want to know, too." Wingover squatted on his heels, tilting his head to study the wide, feral face of the unconscious goblin.

  Dark blood seeped from its nose and mouth. "Maybe he'll tell us about it, if he wakes Up.

  As though on cue, the goblin stirred and groaned. Garon knelt and lifted one of the creature's eyelids with his thumb. "He's coming around. Let's peel this armor off of him. He'll be more talkative without his shell."

  "Whatever you say. You've dealt with goblins."

  "When I had to." The elf glanced at Wingover, melancholy elven eyes curious. "I gather you made it to Pax Tharkas?"

  "Made it, and the pack I'm bringing back will cost Rogar Goldbuckle a fine purse. But then, the bet was his idea."

  'What if he decides to pay you in kind, by freeing you of your debt of service to him?"

  "He won't. Goldbuckle's a wily old dwarf, and he won't put money ahead of collectible service. But then, I don't mind. He staked me when I needed it most… I owe him a service whenever he decides to call on me. Probably wind up some day fighting a trader's duel with somebody too big for an old dwarf to handle."

  They stripped the goblin of his armor and threw it away. No human or elf would ever willingly put the smelly, tarnished armor next to his own skin.

  Garon Wendesthalas used strong rope to bind the creature hand and foot, then drew a slim, needle-pointed dagger and set its hilt in a crack in the stone path, the… pointing straight up. As the goblin regained consciousness, hissing and cursing, the elf rolled him over onto his belly, dragged him forward, and lifted his head so that his right eye was directly over the dagger's point.

  Wingover watched, fascinated. "What are you doing!"

  "Creatures of darkness cherish their eyes," the elf said. Holding the goblin's round head in a strong grip, he said, "Tell us now, goblin… why are you here? Who sent you?

  "You can fry in molten stone, elf!" The goblin tried to twist away and could not. "I won't tell you anything. I'll-"

  Gyron shrugged and pushed the head down. The goblin's scream was a shrill hiss, echoing from mountainside.". Matter-of-factly, Garon raised the round head and repositioned it. "This is a little something that elves have learned — the hard way — from goblins," he told Wingover. Then to the goblin he said, "You still have one eye left. Who sent you here?"

  The creature writhed and whimpered. "I can't say! I can't!"

  Grim-faced, Garon Wendesthalas pushed the creature's head down until eye touched knife-point. "Yes, you can," the elf said. "Who sent you?"

  "I can't… ahh! Darkmoor! The commander! I answer to the — !" Abruptly the goblin stiffened. Tiny bolts of lightning writhed along its body, twisting in bright weaves around arms and legs, a dancing fabric of blue bolts as fine as spider lace. The bolts lasted only for an instant, then the goblin's pale, flabby body went rigid, the wide spike-toothed mouth opened and heavy, dark smoke gusted from it.

  The creature went limp. Garon pulled the body away from the dagger and rolled it over, his long, elven face twisting in disgust. "Dead," he said.

  "So I see," Wingover shrugged. "You didn't kill him, though."

  "No. He truly couldn't say more. He had a spell upon him, and it killed him rather than let him tell us anything else. Do you know anyone called

  'Commander' or 'Darkmoor?' "

  Wingover shook his head. "It isn't a goblin name. Doesn't sound dwarven, either. It might be elven, but what kind of elf would associate with goblins?"

  "It sounds to me like a human name," Garon said. He glanced at the man, wide eyes thoughtful. "Maybe the question is, what sort of human would associate with goblins?"

  "I guess I'd better go see about my horse and pack. Are you bound for

  Barter?"

  The elf nodded. "There have been a lot of rumors lately, about trouble in the north. And omens. Did you see the eclipses7"

  "Yes. And I thought about you, Garon Wendesthalas. I thought maybe you could tell me what it means."

  "Maybe nothing," the elf said. "Or it might mean that something very bad is about to happen." He looked around at the grim carnage of the goblin encounter. "Far worse than this. Maybe we'll learn more at Barter. It's the place to listen, if there is something to be known."

  Climbing the slope, Wingover collected his sword and shield, and paused to study some of the dead goblins there. A scouting party, he decided. But scouting for what? And for whom?

  The horse was where he had left it, skittish and wildeyed but still reined within the cleft of rock. Several yards away, though, was the sprawled body of another dead goblin. Its skull had been crushed.

  "Don't blame you a bit, Geekay," Wingover reassured the horse. "I don't like goblins, either."

  When Wingover came down the trail, Garon Wenndesthalas was waiting for him. The human dismounted. "Sling your
pack up here with mine," he told the elf. "I'll walk with you."

  Wendesthalas tied his pack to Geekay's saddle skirt and turned away, his long stride setting a brisk pace. Wingover walked beside him, leading

  Geekay, and found himself thinking about the manner of the elf's inquisition of the goblin. He glanced at the lithe, almosthuman ranger pacing him. In many ways, it seemed to Wingover, the race of elves could be the gentlest of the people of Krynn. And in many ways the wisest. Yet there was nothing gentle and seemingly little wise in Garon's treatment of the goblin.

  Is it possible for me to really understand him or his kind, the man wondered. Can any race ever truly understand any other?

  He mulled it over for a few minutes, then decided. Probably not.

  Wingover turned his thoughts to another race. He had a gambling debt to collect from Rogar Goldbuckle. Not that the dwarf would try to cheat him.

  Such was not Goldbuckle's way. Still, dwarves could be full of surprises.

  Chapter 10

  Though it had started only as a seasonal encampment, a meeting place for those of various races whose lot it was to go abroad and trade commodities to supply their various realms, Barter now was a bustling little town.

  Resting in a sheltered valley west of Thorbardin, it was a truce village, a place of respite from whatever conflicts and hostilities might be currently going on around it. A motley collection of low stone cubicles — favored by the mountain dwarves — log structures where hill dwarves could find comfort, shacks, shanties, tree houses in the few trees large enough to contain them, mud huts, and a few airy elven lofts, Barter catered to any who were willing to trade in peace.

  Here elves, dwarves, humans, and occasionally kender walked the same paths and sat at the same tables with robed sorcerers and outlaw clerics.

  Here voices might be — and often were — raised in hot discussion, but outright violence was not condoned. Here even the bitterest of enemies stayed their hands and held their tempers.

  For Barter was Barter. As in any place and any time, no matter what grand intrigues may be afoot, no matter what wars might be raging across the lands, still there had to be a means of trade and a place to do it. As in all places and all times, each people had need of what the others had in plenty, if only for the building of weapons to fight against one another.