There, the rock wall had been roughly cut away, leading onto a thick ledge.
“We should stop here. I don’t know how far we are from the second one I saw, and this is as good a place as any to break for the night. It’s been an arduous day, and tomorrow’s not going to be any easier.” I cautiously stepped through the cutaway onto the ledge, testing the stability. But it felt solidly welded to the mountain, and as I examined the edge flush with the rock, I saw that someone had actually cut it out of a bigger outcropping. Unless there was a massive quake, the ledge wasn’t going anywhere.
As I stood, carefully stepping out onto the ledge, which was about seven feet wide, I saw something I hadn’t been able to see from below. A dark opening about six feet tall against the mountain. This wasn’t just a ledge. There was a cave that went with it—and we had no idea just what might be in that cave.
CHAPTER 52: INTO THE DEEP
Ray grasped Thornhold’s wrist,his face pale. Then, he let out a harsh sigh. “He’s still alive.”
“What’s wrong with him?” I couldn’t help myself. I knew that Ray hadn’t had time to examine him, but I had to ask anyway. “Never mind,” I said. “I know you don’t know yet.”
“Somebody hold a light so I can see his eyes,” Ray said, ignoring me.
Reggie held out his wrist, the flashlight of his watch shining down on Thornhold’s face. Ray opened Thornhold’s eyes, checking them. Then he began to examine him, looking for any wounds or injuries. Another moment, and he shook his head.
“I don’t know what’s wrong. He’s not injured, not that I can see. But he’s out cold?—”
“I know,” Reggie said, sniffing the air. “Can you smell it?”
Ray and I raised our noses and sniffed. I could smell a faint odor in the air that I didn’t recognize. But it smelled like…
“Lemon? Do I smell lemon? And there’s something beneath it—it smells like frankincense?”
“Copal,” Reggie said. “Lemongrass and copal both go into a sleeping spell. I think whoever it was, they knocked both of them out with a sleep spell. A simple low-level spell thatalmost anybody could counter if they had any decent magical resistance. But Brynn’s a fighter and Thornhold’s a dwarf, and neither one has any pluses against magic.”
“Crap. And we were already asleep, so it didn’t affect us,” I said.
“Not only that, but spells like Sleep have a limited area of effect. It probably just covered the area where Brynn and Thornhold were sitting watch,” Reggie said.
“Can you wake him up?” Ray asked.
“It will wear off in a moment. Quicker if I pour water on him—” He reached for his water bottle.
“No,” I said. “You don’t want him wet in this weather. Shake him. That might help.” I glanced nervously at the tunnel through which the creatures had dragged Brynn. “We need to go after her.”
Reggie smacked Thornhold across the face, then a second time, and a third. On the third strike, Thornhold let out a grunt and shot up, squinting. He caught Reggie’s hand.
“What are you doing, lad?” he said, then groaned. “My head—I feel like I drank a bottle of wine.”
“You were hit by a sleep spell,” Reggie said. “We had to wake you up somehow.”
“Sleep…Brynn?” Thornhold jumped to his feet, fully awake. “Where—what…”
“What were they?” I asked. “We came out of the tent just in time to see some sort of creatures dragging Brynn away, and you were flat on the floor.”
“I don’t know. All I remember is hearing a scuttling noise, then as I stood, I saw something coming toward us, and I was about to shout an alarm when…everything went dark.” He caught his breath. “Brynn? They took Brynn?”
I nodded. “Yes, and I know which tunnel. We needed you awake, so let’s head into the tunnel to follow them.” I headed toward the tunnel.
The others hurried to follow me.
“Do you have your weapons ready?” Ray asked.
We did, and as we approached the first tunnel, I steeled myself. The creatures had Brynn. They had taken her, but not Thornhold. Which suggested either they dragged her away because she was a woman, or because Thornhold was too heavy, or they didn’t have time before we came bounding out of the tent. Given that we weren’t sure if they were planning to kill her, or to keep her alive for some unknown reason, we had to be swift and silent.
We approached the tunnel opening and hesitated. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on any sounds that might be coming through. I could hear the faint chatter of voices, though I couldn’t understand what they were saying.
As I took a deep breath and stepped into the tunnel, trying to keep my footsteps soft. They had to know we’d follow, but I didn’t want to give them any help.
