"Well, at least she doesn't cost too much to feed," said Homsbuck as he whacked the princess on the buttocks with casual familiarity. "And I've got to admit that she doesn't talk too much. This spell certainly has its good points!"
Somehow, Mika felt offended on the princess's behalf and spoke up, drawing Hornsbuck back to the fire.
"Why are we eating here? It's so cold and drafty."
"Figured the draft might wash away the smell of the food," said Hornsbuck. "I've always figured that there must be some critters living down here. I don't know what they are, and I've never seen any, but it doesn't hurt to take precautions."
"Critters? Like what?" asked Mika, the meat suddenly lying heavy in his stomach.
"Don't know," Hornsbuck said with a shrug. "Could be almost anything. All sorts of critters like the dark better than the light. Could be kobolds or gnolls or bugbears or trolls or gnomes, dwarves, goblins, or even ores, for all I know. I can't say for sure. I just keep my eyes open when I'm down here, and I don't dally."
"How long will it take to get to the city?" Mika asked, looking around uneasily at the mention of all the horrible possibilities.
"Two days, two nights," said Hornsbuck. "If we don't run into any trouble. I figure that with two of us, it'll be easier to keep watch, although RedTail and Tam should let us know if any thing's on our trail. Leastwise, I hope so."
So did Mika. They packed up and set out again after their brief respite, following a long, confusing set of tunnels. Mika had only admiration for Horns-buck's amazing memory, for as far as he could tell, the older man consulted no map other than that which he held in his mind.
They had descended to a passage that lay even further below ground than the water tunnel when Mika noticed that it was becoming harder and harder to stay on his feet.
The path was rougher here, the walls and ceiling far less refined than the upper levels, and he stumbled often. It grew more and more tiring, just walking. He stopped for a minute, resting against the wall and felt the fatigue in his legs. Even Tam's tail lay limp between his legs, and he walked with his head hung low.
"Hornsbuck," Mika called. "Let us stop for the night. I am weary and would rest."
"Pah!" spat Hornsbuck. "You young pups have no endurance. Why, I could walk for many an hour more and never even feel it!" But Mika noticed that he did not argue the point further but set up camp in a matter of moments.
Camp was a rude affair with the roan tethered on one side and the wolves resting on the other. They ate their meat cold and raw and washed it down with water.
Mika lowered the princess to the ground, although Hornsbuck thought it a waste of time, and arranged her neatly along the wall, wiping her hands, wrists, and face with a dampened square of silk, ripped once again from the bottom of her dress.
The closer they got to their destination, the more Mika imagined what she might be like if she wakened.
"I've taken care of her well, under the circumstances," Mika assured himself, under his breath. "After all, what do I know about taking care of princesses? It's not like I asked for the job! That damn fool giant went and got himself killed; it's all his fault!"
Tam's dark eyes reflected laughter in the light of the torches, and after a moment, Mika grinned too. Then, lying down on the cold earth, he closed his eyes and slept.
Chapter 19
Something wakened Mika, although he was not sure what. A soft sound perhaps, a whisper of movement, or maybe just intuition. Whatever it was, it caused the short hairs on the back of his neck to rise up in prickles.
He lay there in the dark, for the torch had gone out while they slept. He strained against the darkness, trying to see, but it was hopeless; the dark was impenetrable.
Then it came, the softest sibilance of movement, yet he could not tell where it was coming from. Off to his left, or maybe even behind him.
His hand inched toward his sword, and he hoped that Hornsbuck was awake, too. Yet he could not call out to his comrade without letting whatever was lurking know he was awake…
He closed his hand round the handle of his sword, the metal cold and reassuring, but now there was no sound, no hint that he was not alone. Doubt swept over him and he wondered if he had been mistaken.
Perhaps it had been but a dream. Perhaps, it had been… Pain, excruciating pain, pierced his ankle like two red hot pincers, and shot up his leg, twisting and coursing through his body like fire through dry tinder.
Mika screamed aloud, all thought of silence abandoned as the agony continued to chew its way through his ankle. Lifting his sword, he slashed down at the unseen assailant, once, twice, three times, feeling his blade cut through little or nothing.
Light flooded the tunnel and a rough hand covered his mouth, choking off his screams. Mika thrashed about wildly, fighting the hand, and raised his sword to strike.
"Don't be barmy," Hornsbuck whispered harshly. "What's the matter with you? Are you tryin' to call every monster in the place down on us? Quit your noise!"
"My ankle! My ankle!" Mika gasped, doubling over and gripping his booted ankle with both hands, his sword dropping uselessly to the ground with a dull clang.
"Ain't nothin' but a measly centipede," growled Hornsbuck in disgust, wrenching the pincers of the creature open with his bare hands and thrusting it head first into the flame of the torch. It shrilled a brief high-pitched scream, then crumpled as the fire shriveled and blackened its segmented carapace.
Mika groaned with pain and bent nearly double, clutching his bloody ankle, for while the thing was dead, the awful pain continued.
"I don't understand why you're carrying on like this," said Hornsbuck, as he stared at Mika with disgust. "It was just a little one, barely even two feet long. Why, once when I was traveling-"
"Hornsbuck, I don't care if you eat them ten feet long for breakfast every morning," Mika said through clenched teeth. "The damn thing bit me, and it hurts like the devil. Aren't they poisonous?"
"Poisonous? Well, yes, I suppose they could be," mused Hornsbuck, stroking his beard as he tried to remember. "Maybe so, but not a lot," he finally concluded.
"Hornsbuck, a little bit dead works just the same as very dead," gasped Mika, propping himself up against the wall next to the princess. Steeling himself, he withdrew his bloodstained hand, pulled off his mutilated boot and examined the wound.
The skin was already turning purplish-blue on either side of the twin gashes, each of which extended the full width of the ankle and appeared relatively deep. The flesh was sore, and the lips of the wound had swollen shut, sealing inside whatever poison had been injected into his body.
Mika sighed deeply, noting the two crimson lines that were already inching their way up the calf of his leg, leaving a deep throbbing pain in their wake that seemed to increase as he watched.
Mika hated pain and blood, especially when it was his own, and even more so when he had to inflict it on himself on purpose. Yet there was nothing else to be done; if he did not treat the poison, it would only get worse. Much worse.
Under Hornsbuck's amused eye, Mika seared the blade of his knife in the flame of the torch, then, without pausing, slashed the flesh above the ankle, cutting across the two lines of poison. Blood flowed freely, pouring down his foot in dark streams. To his surprise, he felt immediate relief from the awful pain. Soon, the blood turned bright again and the flow diminished and then slowed to a trickle.
Acting nonchalantly, Mika rummaged in his pouch and found a horn of healing salve that he thought appropriate. Its principal ingredients were borage, bittersweet, red clover, golden seal, and mullein, all of which were used in cases of blood poisoning. To that he added a handful of cobwebs scooped from the walls, to aid in clotting.