J.C. & Barb Hendee D 1 Dhampir (v2.1)

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way he could try a fast use of a stake with Brenden on top of his target, and
he hoped luck was with him now.
Water splashed out across both struggling forms on the ground, and Leesil saw
the smoke begin to rise. He grabbed Brenden by the shirt and jerked the
blacksmith upright with all his strength.
"Get Magiere!" he shouted to Brenden. "Get her out of here, now!"
Free of the blacksmith's weight, Ratboy clutched with both hands at the
stake, off-center through his chest. His body shivered as the garlic water
burned into him. Brenden pulled away and hurried off in Magiere's direction.
Leesil grabbed Brenden's torch from the ground in the same hand as his
stiletto, and moved outside the coffin barrier. As he turned, Ratboy was
climbing to his feet, body still quaking in pain, though the smoke had now
dissipated into a thin haze around him. Leesil didn't hesitate. He pointed the
crossbow at Ratboy and fired. Then he struck the oil-coated coffin with his
torch. The aging wood ignited like a pyre, trapping Ratboy behind. Leesil did
not bother to see if his quarrel had struck the charred undead, and threw down
the crossbow so he could fumble in the sack for another oil flask.
Across the room, a bloodied Chap tried to corner the disarmed nobleman, or at
least force him farther away from the cave opening and Magiere. Chap's
strategy against Ratboy had been to knock the undead off his feet and land on
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top, but even wounded, the nobleman was too large and strong for that ploy.
The dog was limited to snapping and biting at the nobleman's legs and hands,
doing little more than holding him at bay. And that would not last for long.
Brenden already had Magiere in his arms, having ripped off one of his shirt
sleeves to bind her bleeding neck. He grabbed her falchion as he stood up.
"Go, now!" Leesil ordered him, then backed into the tunnel's mouth behind
them and smashed another oil flask on the ground. "Chap, come on!"
Chap snapped at his opponent one last time, then wheeled and headed for the
tunnel at full speed. The nobleman was immediately behind the dog, but Chap
was too quick. As the dog rushed by into the tunnel, Leesil struck the oil on
the floor with his torch and backed hastily into the tunnel. The cave opening
went up in flames.
"Run!" Leesil yelled.
Neither Brenden nor Chap needed such coaxing. The blacksmith was well down
the tunnel when Leesil caught up to him, Magiere slung over his shoulder and
Chap now in the lead. Leesil could see blood already staining Brenden's back
from Magiere's wound.
Darkness and dust and fear ran with them.
When they reached the cave-in, Chap crawled immediately through the opening
on top of the debris. Brenden crawled through and began pulling Magiere's
still form after him. Leesil heard the sound of booted feet coming down the
tunnel. He did not have time to wonder how anyone could have gotten through
the flames.
"Hurry," he urged.
Magiere's feet slipped through the opening, and Leesil tossed the torch
through and followed as well. Sliding down the other side of the cave-in, he
stopped to dig in his sack. He had only one flask of oil left. Picking up the
torch, he pulled the flask's stopper with his teeth, spit it aside, and poured
half the oil over the boards caught in the debris. He then stuffed his
oil-stained sack into the opening and lit it. The gap through which they'd
crawled closed in flames.
"That will hold him for a while," Leesil said, trying not to breathe in
smoke, and clutching the remaining half-empty flask. "Go."
He barely remembered the rest of the flight down the tunnel, except that
every step was another drop of Magiere's blood lost. Brenden moved as fast as
he could in the cramped passage, and Chap's increasing pants suggested
approaching exhaustion. Leesil kept saying to him, "Keep going, boy. Just a
little farther now." His own face burned from the cuts Ratboy had dealt him.
When they reached the trapdoor to the decorative sitting room, Leesil set the
torch and half-empty flask on the tunnel floor and grabbed Brenden by the
shoulder.
"Give her to me and jump up," he said. "You'll have to lift both Chap and her
up one at a time."
Brenden dropped Magiere's feet to the ground, and Leesil caught her limp
body, pulling her close. As the strong blacksmith lifted Chap under his arm
and climbed the ladder, the dog whimpered softly, but did not struggle.
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If there were time, Leesil would have lowered Magiere to the floor, but,
instead, he leaned back against the tunnel wall so that he could free one hand
to lift her face to his own. Her complexion was almost white, and her wound
was still bleeding through the makeshift bandage. He held her tightly against
his chest and then tilted his head to place an ear near her mouth.
Her breathing was shallow and short, but he could hear it.
"Is she alive?" Brenden leaned through the opening, reaching down with one
hand.
"Yes," Leesil answered.
"Don't know how, with her neck cut open."
Leesil pushed Magiere over near the ladder. He lifted one of her arms up
until Brenden could grab her by the wrist. Stepping on the first rung, he
prepared to lift her as well from below, but as soon as Brenden gripped her
vestment with his other hand, he raised her with little effort.
"It'll be all right," Leesil said to her unconscious form. "Just don't die on
me."
He grabbed torch and oil and followed up the ladder. By the time he was out
of the tunnel and had kicked the trapdoor closed, Brenden had Magiere over his
shoulder again.
"Why bring the torch?" Brenden asked. "We don't need it now."
Leesil didn't answer. There was no time to argue with the blacksmith over
what he planned next. Instead of heading toward the shaft they'd entered
through, Leesil walked over and opened the room's main door.
"We can't get Magiere down the shaft, so we're going out the front. This
hallway should lead somewhere into the warehouse. Now move."
Brenden's eyes widened slightly, but then he nodded and headed out the door.
Chap followed him.
Leesil hesitated only for a blink. There was no other way to be certain no
one followed them, and perhaps he'd get lucky and burn those creatures to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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