RHIDAUNA, The Shadow of the Revenaunt, Book 1

CHAPTER 16 - GROBBELS

'Ghyll!' Olle was on his knees beside the hole in the ground.

'Hello!' Ghyll's voice sounded hollow. 'I'm all right. There is a second corridor, wait, I'll ...' The sound of his voice faded away. '... Put him up.'

'You shouldn't mumble, boy,' his foster brother cried, relieved. 'We don't understand a thing here. Whom are you putting up? '

'The ladder. I thought you wanted to come down?'

'Nah.' Olle chuckled. 'It's nice and quiet up here. Why? Can't you manage without us?'

A wooden ladder rattled up the hole, and a little while later, all Companions were in the underlying passage.

'Listen,' Ghyll said and he halted. In the distance, they could hear the clatter of weapons and the screams of shrill voices.

Without a word, Uwella shimmered and melted, flowing into her mountain lion-form. Her silver-gray fur faded into the darkness as she stole forwards. The others waited in silence.

A furious howl had Ghyll going for his weapon and then the mountain lion was back, her ears flat to her neck and her sharp teeth bared.

'It's war around that corner,' she said, once she was back in her own form. 'A group of daghuur against some Grobbels.' Her face was stormy and she pressed a hand to her right buttock.

'Grobbels?' Ghyll said.

'They're kobolds – like the Innies, but these are peaceful,' said Bo. 'They could be helpful finding that magical stone. Which means we'll have to help them first.'

Uwella snarled something unintelligible.

'What happened?' Ghyll said. 'Are you hurt?'

The girl curled her hands into claws. 'Don't dare laugh!' Then she turned. The grey fabric of her robe had been slashed away, exposing a section of her naked skin. The look she gave the others was so malevolent that no one even grinned.

Ghyll tut-tutted. 'Who did that? A daghuur?'

Uwella nodded. 'With his spear, cutting a whole piece out of my beautiful fur! Well? Go! Go kill them.'

Ghyll raised his sword, and a joyful buzzing filled the corridor. As he ran, Childegard's blade seemed like a fountain of flames in his hand. Without hesitation, the others followed him around the corner, running straight into the bloody fight. The bleeding was one-sided on the part of the Grobbels, who seemed to be losing. Ghyll halted to assess the situation, but an impatient elbow pushed him aside. With a wild yell, Torril threw himself at the nearest daghuur. Olle followed, his great sword going round like the wick of a runaway mill. In his wake, it rained knuckles and bones. Damion-tiger ran past on Ghyll's other side, his heavy black-and-white body crushing a bony archer against the wall before an arrow was loosed.

Just as Ghyll began to wonder what was left for him to do, he saw his prey appear before him. From beneath a plumed helmet, the hollow-eyed skull of a daghuur officer grinned at him. The jaw went up and down as if he was shouting orders, and with each move the bronze pauldrons on his shoulders rattled. He was bigger than the other skeletons, and the heavy gold chain around his neck told that he must have been important in life. The daghuur raised a rusty sword and took a wild swing. Ghyll caught the blow, and Childegard sang happily. Hallali! Get him, Sire. The blade sparked like a thunderstorm as Ghyll gripped it with two hands. He deftly dodged the next swipe of the undead officer, and with a massive stroke, he hacked his opponent in two, down to the bony pelvis. Clattering, the skeleton came apart in a pile of bones. Ghyll saw something glimmer, and with the tip of his sword he fished the gold chain from the remains. 'Trophy,' he shouted, laughing. Immediately afterwards, a silvery-grey flash knocked him to the ground. Sharp pain shot through his elbow. A fiery ball sped through where he'd just been, and burst hissing against the tunnel wall. From the corner of his eye, he could see Bo moving his hands in a crackling spell that fired lightning at a skeleton in a decaying red robe. The daghuur mage exploded in a mass of bones that bounced smoldering on the ground. Suddenly all was silent.