Chapter Four

Songful Words

 

 

“You carry the egg, I’ll take the guards.”

I leapt out of the nest, brandishing my sword. The minotaur who’d spoke came at me, his axe raised. I rolled to the left, away from his death stoke, and came up swinging. My face contorted in confusion as singing filled the chamber, throwing off my strike.

“Is that you?” I shouted at Dormuris.

“No!” he bellowed back.

“Pemeria?” I said aloud. I wasn’t necessarily asking her, I was really just voicing my thoughts.

“No,” her muffled voice replied. “Though it is lovely.”

I didn’t have time to think about it. The minotaur had recovered and was coming at me again. The other one stood by the door, blocking the exit. I dodged another viscous swing, then launched myself forward, stabbing the blade into the minotaur’s armor. The mix of thick leather and chainmail kept me from drawing blood. I pulled the blade back quickly and heard the singing again.

“Weeeeeeell, a long time ago,

in a valley of green,

two adventurers were caught,

or so it did seem!”

What the f—

“It’s the sword!” I shouted to the elf. “The sword is singing!”

How that was possible, I had no idea. It didn’t even make sense, really. It was an inanimate object, but somehow it was singing about Dormuris and I. As I blocked the minotaurs strikes and thrusted forward with my own, the blade continued to sing.

“Seeking an egg of golden gleam,

they needed it badly,

more than they could dream!”

This was irritating. Every time I swung the blade, it belted out in song, describing our journey or what we were looking for. The minotaurs seemed amused at first, but as the sword sang about how we were going to steal an egg, their anger became evident.

“Crush the thieves!” the blind minotaur screeched.

From my peripheral, I could see the second minotaur guard lurching toward me. Now I was in real trouble. Two against one were difficult odds in general, but against two massive, horned beasts? I was pretty sure I was about to meet my end.

“Gods above,” I whispered, “help me!”

Thunder rocked the entire chamber. The ground shook beneath my feet and I stumbled to my knees. The two minotaur guards were more stable on their legs, but they seemed as confused as I was. Suddenly, frogs started raining from the ceiling. They were everywhere. I looked at Dormuris. He had set the egg down and was chanting and waving his arms.

“What is it with you and frogs?” I shouted. I scrambled backwards, away from the minotaurs, and watched as frogs covered the chamber floor. The creatures stepped on the frogs, crushing them and making the ground slick with blood. They toppled to the floor, falling on their axes. I grimaced. If that didn’t kill them … I couldn’t imagine the damage it caused.

“Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

I reached down and patted the pouch that Pemeria was in. My heart dropped into my stomach. The pouch was empty! I looked down and saw several frogs. I panicked until I saw her. Snatching her up off the floor, I put her back in my pouch and ran for the doorway. Dormuris moved as quickly as he could, but the egg was huge and was going to slow us down. The blind minotaur staggered around, trying to join the fray. I peered into the tunnel.

There were no guards, but considering our luck, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on their way. Dormuris reached the door, huffing and puffing. It was obvious he was struggling, but if I carried the egg, there wouldn’t be anyone to fend off the guards. I didn’t trust his magic enough to keep us safe. He was as likely to kill us all as he was to rescue us.

I sheathed my blade and reached into Dormuris’s pack to dig out the map. I found it and pulled it out, then unfolded it and traced the tunnel lines with my finger, trying to determine which way we should go.

“Bad news,” I said. “We have to backtrack and take the same way out we got in here.”

“Hopefully we won’t encounter any guards on the way,” Dormuris said.

“Hope in one hand and crap in the other and tell me which one fills up first,” I replied.

“Why would I crap in my hand?” the elf asked, offended.

“It’s a saying people use.”

“You humans are disgusting.”

“Yeah, well …” I didn’t have an argument against that. It was true. Humans are disgusting. “Just, whatever. Let’s go. If you start to lag behind, whistle so I can slow down.”

Dormuris nodded. I led the way out of the chamber, carrying the map in my left hand in the event I needed to draw my sword. Since I knew there weren’t many traps the way we had come, I let my urgency lead the way. Every so often, Dormuris would whistle and I would stop and wait for him to catch up.

We hadn’t gone far and the elf’s tunic was drenched in sweat. I could see his arms shaking with the exertion. I was about to offer to carry it when a minotaur stepped into the tunnel from a dimly illuminated corridor on the right. I stopped abruptly.

The massive creature ignored us and hurried past, heading the way we’d come. While I knew it was unlikely, I held the same hope Dormuris did about not running into any guards. As we neared the more populated areas, it was obvious that word had already spread like wildfire. The sound of hooved feet clattering on the stone floors, roars and shouts of anger filled the tunnel, echoing at every turn.

The gods must have been watching over us, for we had almost made it to the last tunnel before we saw another minotaur. It was the same one as before, the one who’d questioned us about patrolling the entrance. I slowed down and tried to walk in front of Dormuris to help hide the egg.

“You two again?” the beast questioned.

“Orders are orders,” I grunted deeply. “Dadak said there’s an intruder. He wants us at the entrance in case they get past everyone else.”

The minotaur snorted. “No intruder would get past me, and there’s only one way in.”

I knew from reading the map that appeared to be true, but I knew too that it would be foolish of any leader not to have a secret escape route. It wasn’t on the map, of course, but I was certain there was another way out.

“Dadak thinks they entered through the hidden entrance.”

The minotaur tilted his head. I smiled inwardly, knowing I’d piqued his interest.

“What hidden entrance?”

“Well, it’s an exit, really. For the Triad to escape if anything ever goes south. Can’t be too careful, you know? Anyway, duty calls.”

I kept myself in front of Dormuris as we walked past the guard, doing my best to shield his body with mine. Once we turned the corner, we hurried as fast as Dormuris could walk. The air grew cooler as we neared the opening that led to the outside.

“Wait!”

I looked over my shoulder to see the minotaur closing in on us. Pushing Dormuris ahead, I fell behind and waited for the minotaur to catch up. He snorted, and I cringed as small bits of snot misted into the air.

“Do you know where this hidden door is?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t. I only heard Dadak mention it.”

A slight tingle brushed my cheek. The minotaur’s face scrunched in confusion, then surprise, then anger. I knew immediately that Dormuris’s spell had faded. I shoved the map into my belt and drew my blade.

“Imposter!” the minotaur cried, drawing his enormous axe from its harness.

I retreated out of his reach and held my sword up defensively. The minotaur snorted and shook his head, then stamped his hoof forward and slid it back. Fear welled within me as the massive creature charged forward.

“Run!” I screamed to Dormuris, then I turned and sprinted as fast as I could. I passed the elf and latched my arm around him, pulling him along. The thunderous stomping was growing louder and closer.

Roughly a hundred feet ahead, I could see the cave opening. We were so close! I risked a glance back and saw the minotaur only a few paces away. The cave’s opening drew closer, but we weren’t going to make it. I shoved Dormuris aside, against the wall, and dropped to the ground. The rushing minotaur’s muscular legs slammed into me and he tripped, crashing to the ground and skidding out onto the ledge.

I scrambled to my feet and pulled Pemeria out of the pouch. Surprisingly, she looked fine.

“Sorry!” I said, then tossed her towards Dormuris’s feet.

My ribs burned something fierce, a few were probably broken. Forcing myself to move, I reached the ledge just as the minotaur was getting to his feet. I threw myself against him, sending jolts of sharp pain through my side, eliciting a scream born of pain and rage. I wasn’t heavy enough to knock the beast over and he tossed me to the ground like I was a mere child.

The sword slipped from my grasp and went clattering off the ledge, my last bit of hope going with it. I tried to crawl backwards, staring up at the minotaur as he stalked forward, death gleaming in his dark eyes. This was it. This was how I was going to die. If only I had my sword.

And then suddenly, impossibly, the sword was there in my hand. I sat up and thrust it forward, striking the beast in the abdomen. He roared in agony and staggered back, clutching his wound. The minotaur staggered too far and slipped off the precipice, disappearing from sight. I dropped the blade and crawled forward to peer over the edge.

Far below, the minotaur slammed into the mountain, tumbling and smashing among the jagged rocks. I backed up and got to my feet, then headed into the cave. Dormuris was slumped against the wall, a cut above his eye dripping blood down his face. Other than that, he seemed all right.

“You dead?” I asked.

The elf laughed softly. “I’m fine. You?”

“I’ve suffered worse, believe it or not.” I knelt and picked up Pemeria. “What about you?”

The frog croaked and looked at me, then hopped out of my hand. Dread filled me as I realized the frog I had grabbed wasn’t Pemeria.

“Oh gods,” I groaned.

“Don’t tell me …” Dormuris trailed off, then closed his eyes. “We have to go back in,” he said.

“You’re damn right we do,” I replied. “We can’t leave her. She acted like me leaving her in the woods was the worst thing I could ever do. I can’t imagine her anger if we left her with a bunch of oversized bulls.

“Stay here,” I said. “I’ll find her.”

“You aren’t in any shape to go in there alone,” the elf argued. “I’m coming with you.”

“We can’t lug that egg back in there.”

“You don’t have to,” Pemeria’s voice echoed in the tunnel. She came hopping into the light. I knelt and picked her up, the heaviness in my chest disappearing like a brief storm.

“Thank the gods you’re all right!”

“I tried calling to you in the room with the goose, but I guess you didn’t hear me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t. It was chaos, though. Please forgive me for leaving you in there.”

“I’ll think about it,” she answered.

I helped Dormuris to his feet and he rubbed the blood off his face with the sleeve of his robe. “Let’s get going before anything else happens,” I said.

I turned towards the ledge and stepped on the other frog. As soon as I felt it, I tried to lift my foot. It was hard to explain, but somehow my upper body and my legs didn’t get the same message, and I went sprawling face first to the ground. And Pemeria? She tumbled from my hands and fell off the ledge.