Out into the gallery and along the wall they went, moving as quickly as they could while remaining silent. Soft noises came from the direction of the living quarters, and Chuck wondered whether he had really timed his sleep properly. They wouldn’t know until they finally got out. If they got out. They reached the corner without incident, and Chuck’s sharp eyes barely made out the mark he had left on the pillar. A cough brought him up short, and the others skidded to a halt behind him.
From behind the nearest pillar a kobold’s head peeked out, a feral grin on its face and saliva dripping from its mouth. Almost immediately an arrow flew from Stu’s bow, impaling the creature’s forehead and dropping it to the ground. The six exchanged relieved glances, but their elation disappeared as more of the creatures piled into view. It appeared that the prison guard had gone for reinforcements.
The kobolds had wisely lured the prisoners and would-be rescuer from the cul-de-sac of the prison wing and into the open space of the great hall. The friends were now trapped in the corner with no real cover. Neither running nor hiding was an option. Even if they got to the secret door in time to get it open—and that in itself was unlikely—the kobolds would be able to break it down quickly. There would be no escape. The companions’ only chance was to fight and kill enough of the kobolds to let them go rather than suffer more losses. Luckily, kobolds had never gotten the hang of archery, so the friends wouldn’t have to worry about dodging arrows.
Chuck thought back to the fight at the campsite and tried to see the positive in their current situation. Despite Jimmy’s claims to the contrary, the fight in the woods was pretty lopsided—it hadn’t taken long for them to be overwhelmed. But they had several advantages this time around. First, they weren’t surrounded. While being trapped in the corner meant there was nowhere to run, it also meant that their foes could only come from one direction. Second, they were fully awake and alert. Their bodies may not have been at the top of their game, but at least everyone was standing and ready. That said, he was all too aware of the huge disadvantage to him personally. There was no tree for him to climb for cover.
Allison was determined to take her newly acquired role of battle medic seriously. She gave TJ a pointed look and stood in front of him, ready to do better than last time. He smiled and nodded. “I’ll just shoot from behind you. No more stupid dagger tricks for me.”
The first wave of kobolds stormed forward, egged on by those behind. Stu drew and fired as rapidly as he could, and with each arrow one of the beasts crumpled to the ground. Howls of pain and rage echoed across the gallery. The ones that managed to cross the distance were met head-on by Jimmy and his spinning sword, which had once again become an enormous blade. His extended reach gave him a tremendous advantage, and the first several didn’t even get a chance to swing their big clubs before the blade flashed across their torsos, cutting them open and sending them to their knees.
A second rank came into view, wielding wickedly curved swords rather than clubs and carrying shields with which they could defend against ranged attacks. The kobolds weren’t quick enough with the shields to block Stu’s arrows, but they caused him to spend more time aiming between each shot, and this meant more enemies were able to engage Jimmy. Three bore down on him at once, shields at the ready and swords flashing through the air. A blade aimed at his head was easily deflected by his sword, but that left the bottom half of him exposed, and the other two lunged with their weapons, hoping to skewer him. Somehow he was able to get his enormous sword back around to parry, but the blades still drew blood along the side of his abdomen. He grimaced in pain.
The kobold who had aimed high renewed its attack, swinging down at his head with both hands. Jimmy retreated a step and managed to block the blow, but the other two lunged again, pushing him back another step. For all his boasting, his body didn’t seem to be entirely recovered from the beating he’d taken. His reflexes were just a little bit off, and his sword felt heavier than usual.
“This would be a good time for some help!” he called out, stepping back once more.
Stu continued to fire his arrows, but the three kobolds around Jimmy dodged in and out, giving him no clear targets. He could pick off only the ones that peeked their heads out from behind pillars or tried sneaking along the walls to flank them. Eventually, the kobolds learned that they were sitting ducks when advancing. Finally, they gave up trying, and he was left with no further targets.
TJ had been trying to conserve his spells as long as his fighter friend continued to hold his own. Now that things started to turn against the big man, he flung his hands out, sending bolts of energy toward the kobolds. Magically guided, they streaked past Jimmy and scored direct hits in the middle of his attackers’ chests. None dropped, but they all staggered back slightly, allowing Jimmy to regain his footing and lash out. The three had clearly fought together extensively, because while the one Jimmy targeted appeared dazed and unable to parry, the other two swung their blades in tandem, deflecting his heavy sword from scoring. Jimmy grunted in frustration and took a wild swing at one of the two who had parried, but his target was prepared and easily stepped out of the way, the blade passing harmlessly in front of it.
The one on his left suddenly cried out and dropped to a knee as his leg buckled beneath him, a dagger buried to the hilt. A blur of motion turned into a second dagger that lodged itself into his elbow, and the kobold’s fingers spasmed, causing it to drop its sword. Seeing an opportunity, Jimmy slashed forward, taking the creature’s sword arm off completely. It toppled to the floor.
With one of their comrades down, the remaining two looked anxious about their chances, and Jimmy’s face broke into a broad grin. He lashed out high at one and low at the other, and then repeated the pattern in the opposite direction. Each of his blows were deflected by the kobolds’ swords, but each block was slightly slower than the one before. Both Jimmy and his quarry knew it was only a matter of time before his blade landed true. He went through the high-low pattern one more time, but rather than repeating it again on the way back, he swept his sword across the two, from low to high. The kobolds, expecting the opposite, had their shields out of position, and his blade slid across both of them without resistance. They fell in a heap atop their dead comrade.
A lull had come over the room. Stu had nearly run out of arrows and became selective in his shots, firing only when he knew he could hit. The kobolds had backed off, though the friends knew there were still plenty more. Chuck casually walked forward to where the dead kobolds lay and retrieved the two throwing daggers. He wiped them off on a kobold’s fur, his nose wrinkling at the stench, then replaced them in sheaths hidden inside his sleeves.
Grinning, the small man tittered. “Good thing they didn’t have a cave troll. Might I suggest this be the time to start moving again?” Chuck made an “after you” gesture toward the hidden door.
A voice boomed out. “No, I don’t believe it is!” A shape stepped out from behind one of the pillars. A very big shape. The very big shape of an ogre in plate armor from neck to boots. The ogre carried a shield the size of a wagon wheel in one hand and a sword half as long as Jimmy’s in the other. It shot them a feral grin and drawled, “I don’t believe it is.”
CHAPTER 22
“What . . . the . . . ?” was all Chuck could stutter as they looked up in horror.
“Their chief, that is,” came a small voice from behind, and everyone but Jimmy turned to look for the source. It was the goblin they had rescued, whom everyone had forgotten as soon as the fighting started.
TJ rolled his eyes at the diminutive creature. “You couldn’t have mentioned him earlier?” He took a couple steps forward and announced in a commanding voice, “I am Galphalon the wizard, and I seek peaceful passage for our fellowship. We have already shown our prowess in battle. Do you want to suffer the same fate as your minions?” He tried to raise himself to his full height, but his back was still stiff from the ordeal of the last several days.