“The denday Tammad is no doubt known for his wisdom,” Rellis answered immediately, giving me no opportunity to do something stupid like insisting on going. “This is, however, a matter with which he has had little experience. If he will accept my word as to the necessity for the presence of the wenda, I will most humbly offer my apologies should he feel upon his return that I have been proven wrong. Is this condition acceptable?”
Tammad didn’t hesitate long, but his mind tightened with vexation even as he accepted the offer so made to him. He still didn’t agree with Rellis, but the only way to say so was to insult the man. Those light blue eyes touched me briefly with disapproval, and I didn’t have to guess what he disapproved of. He’d reacted with a good deal of heat when he’d first looked at me in that brief mockery of a gown, but he really didn’t enjoy seeing me dressed that way in public, especially not through someone else’s decision. When he’d put me up for sale he hadn’t minded that my gown had been just about blown away by the wind, but the situation had changed and he just didn’t approve. I didn’t give a damn whether he approved or not, and I couldn’t resist standing just a little bit straighter.
“I will carry these,” Dallan said, lifting two of the bundles by their leather strings and slipping them over his left shoulder, just above his sword hilt. “There are two for you as well, denday Tammad, and the carrying of the fifth may be shared between us.”
Dallan’s voice was calm and friendly, but his mind was enjoying the annoyance he knew the barbarian was feeling. He felt no annoyance at all, and was actually looking forward to the trip.
“I will be pleased to carry these two bundles,” the barbarian agreed, picking up what seemed to be duplicates of Dallan’s packs. “The last, however, need be carried by neither of us. As the woman is to accompany us, she may as well be of some use. ”
He lifted the fifth bundle and tossed it at me, startling me into catching it with a squeak of surprise. It was long and round and looked as though it were heavy, but once I had my arms around it, I found it to be nothing more than bulky. It weighed very little, and Rellis and Dallan chuckled at the way I’d jumped when it was thrown at me. I cast a black look at the barbarian as he turned away from me, wondering just how pleasant the trip had to be for him. He seemed determined to make it as hard as possible for me, and I wasn’t above returning the favor, not with Dallan there to stand behind. As Rellis had mentioned earlier, even a man of my world could have won against that mighty l’lenda with me behind him.
The two guards turned to the large metal door, drew back the heavy metal bolt, then pulled the door open. Beyond was darkness lit with a single torch, uninviting in the extreme, but Tammad strode through the doorway into it as though he’d done it any number of times before. I was in no hurry to follow him, but Dallan took my wrist and did some striding of his own, and less than a minute later the metal door clanged closed behind us.
The area beyond the door was something like a stone terrace, with three broad steps leading further down into the darkness. The single torch on the wall was right above the terrace, flickering gently against the faint wind movement coming out of the darkness all around. We seemed to be in the heart of a mountain, and even the two giant forms to either side of me didn’t do much to reduce the chill of the place. When I found myself clutching the bundle I held and searching the darkness with my mind, I decided it was time to force myself to relax. Deep darkness is dangerous only when you don’t know what might be in it, and I wasn’t about to let anything alive get even as close as spitting distance.
“Are there no torches we might carry to light the way?” the barbarian asked, staring down the three carved steps. “A misstep in the darkness is certain without it, not to speak of losing what trail there is.”
“I am informed that torches are unnecessary,” Dallan answered. “Let us proceed as far as we may, and then reconsider the question. ”
He hitched up the leather ties over his shoulder and started down the steps, watching both where he put his feet and the deep blackness to either side of him. I glanced back at the door that had been closed behind us, seeing the small gong hanging to its left that I’d spotted when we’d first come through. If Dallan was leading off Tammad might simply follow him, the two of them forgetting all about me. If that happened I intended staying by the door until they were far enough ahead not to worry about and then ring the gong to be let out, but I’d run out of luck the first day I’d met the barbarian. Instead of ignoring me as he had done earlier, he reached a hand out into the middle of my back and pushed me ahead of him, down the broad steps of carved rock.
A trail of sorts waited at the bottom of the steps, the rock somewhat sharper under foot than the terrace had been. Not much of the torchlight reached that far, especially with the barbarian behind me cutting off what there was. I walked as slowly as I could with one arm partially raised in front of me, aiming for the dark shadow and fascinated thoughts that were all I could see of Dallan. I couldn’t imagine what he might be fascinated with, but as the seconds passed and my eyes adjusted more fully to the dark, I discovered that the walls of rock to either side of the wide trail, as well as that overhead and underfoot, glowed very faintly. The glow wasn’t bright enough to make seeing easy, but it was considerably better than pitch darkness.
“Should this continue, we will have very little difficulty following the trail downward,” Dallan said softly when we reached him. “Torches might well be considered an intrusion in this place.”
“Should we encounter no more than the trail, the dimness will indeed be pleasantly restful,” Tammad agreed, looking around himself. “As the woman is able to detect the approach of that which may be inimical, there should be little in the way of danger to halt us.”
Dallan made a sound of agreement and began moving ahead again, slowly but with more confidence than he had shown earlier. I followed after immediately, giving the barbarian no chance to put his hand on me again as he’d intended. It really annoyed me that he’d so casually assigned long-distance guard duty to me right after insisting that I stay behind, and if I could have let something horrible through that would have eaten him but left me alone, I would have. I didn’t know if there was anything horrible down there to let through, but if I came across something I’d be sure to see if there was anything I could do with it.
We followed the wide trail through the rock corridor behind Dallan for about fifteen minutes, conscious of a slight but definite downgrade and then, suddenly, the corridor ended. Beyond it was what seemed to be an immense cavern, its walls and ceiling lost in inky blackness, only the glow from the rock below our feet and some down-trending boulders left to show us the way. Dallan moved forward slowly until he stood beyond the edge of the rock corridor and then, one hand on the boulder to his left, began what seemed a considerably steeper descent. Again I followed him but with a good deal more reluctance, watching the greenish-glow I climbed on for any uneven gaps I might trip on, beginning to shiver from the increased coolness of the open, unwalled area. I could feel that sunlight and warmth had never touched that space for as long as the mountain had lived, and almost felt that I had to fend off the shadow-fingers of the rock as it tried to touch my flesh where it was bare. We had only just begun traveling through the mountain, but it was already reaching for my soul.
Being cold sometimes turns me morbid and overly imaginative, but brisk exercise takes care of that by substituting disgust. Dallan forged ahead as if he were running a foot race, Tammad came right behind me seemingly with the intention of running me down, and I, the only one there of a normal size, was caught between them and forced into a scrambling downhill rush. By the time we reached the bottom of the rock slope I was sweating, and the soles of my feet felt as though they’d been beaten. Dallan stood looking around into the darkness as he waited for us, and the barbarian passed me where I’d stopped to rub my feet and joined him.