Hastily retracing his steps, he stalked into the cell and extended the cup. "Here you are-and make no mistake! If you don't stick to our bargain, I'll get back here before the ogres catch me. You'll die before me!"
"Bargain?" The dwarf, whose face was streaked with grime, managed to look mildly perplexed. "Oh, you mean not to wake the guard?"
"What else would I mean?" growled Ariakas.
Ferros took a deep drink and looked sheepish. "Actu shy;ally, I exaggerated about the guard being a light sleeper. That slug could nap through an earthquake and never miss a snore-you didn't have anything to worry about from me."
The first flush of Ariakas's rage was replaced by an astonishing desire to laugh. He shook his head in mute surprise.
"I don't suppose I could get you to spring this lock?" inquired Ferros hopefully. "The key's on the big ring he wears at his belt. My Hylar cousins would be grateful."
"No." Ariakas shook his head. "The last thing I need's a hue and cry getting started over an escaped prisoner. Sorry, dwarf."
Surprising himself, Ariakas actually did feel sorry for the dwarf. There was something very capable, even important, about Ferros Windchisel that struck a chord of sympathy in the man. Still, it was not enough to over shy;rule his own objectives of rescue and escape.
Ferros slumped backward, apparently not surprised. "I suppose you're here about the lady?" he ventured.
Ariakas felt a shock. "What do you know about the lady?" he barked.
"Lots of fellows like you have come through here. Some of 'em died right down the hall from here, after the Painmaster finished his stuff."
"And yet it would seem that none has succeeded in rescuing her," Ariakas pressed.
"Well, no-if that's how you look at it."
The warrior didn't waste time pondering the dwarf's unusual phrasing. "How many ogres and human war shy;riors are there in this tower?" Ariakas asked.
"Ogres?" Ferros shrugged. "Too many, that's all I know. I've only seen one human, though. He was wear shy;ing a breastplate a lot like yours."
"No humans, then," Ariakas noted grimly, half to him shy;self. Then, with a rekindling of his anger, he remembered Oberon.
He turned to go. As a last thought, he spoke to the dwarf from the entrance to the cell. "I'll leave the catch on your door released. If you can get that collar off your neck, then I wish you good luck."
"Farewell-for now," said the dwarf cheerfully as Ari shy;akas pulled the portal shut. True to his word, the warrior drew the catch-bolt slightly short of its socket. He didn't think that the dwarf could manage to escape, and this way the position of the bolt was so subtly altered that he suspected the guard would notice nothing amiss when next he brought Ferros Windchisel his water or food. Ariakas didn't speculate as to how long that might be.
The guarding ogre slumbered in blissful ignorance as the human crept past. Ariakas thought for a moment of slicing the great, blubber-ringed neck, but he quickly dis shy;carded the idea. All he needed was the ogre's replace shy;ment tromping down the steps to discover his cohort in a pool of fresh blood. No, he would take his chances with one more ogre in the tower.
The key ring hung from a clip at the ogre's huge belt. Dozens of metal keys arced around the heavy circlet of iron, but the warrior was elated to see that they were supported by a thin strip of leather. A quick flick of his dagger brought the keys into Ariakas's hand, without a disturbance in the slumbering ogre's snores.
Hefting the ring, careful to avoid jangling, Ariakas turned back into the dungeon. He crept silently past Fer-ros Windchisel's cell, through the corridor, and back to the foot of the secret stairway.
Chapter 6
The Pride of the Hylar
Creeping silently upward, Ariakas felt a mental weight dragging at his footsteps. His pace slowed, and finally he stopped altogether, no more than a dozen steps from the bottom of the secret stairway.
The urge to rescue the lady still drew him forward, but with the keys in his hands, he began to consider the prospects of a realistic plan. How would he get her through the keep and over the drawbridge with a castle full of ogres watching over them? The more he thought, the more he decided that some sort of diversion was essential to their chances of success.
Decision made, he turned and descended the stairs again, stealthily advancing into the dungeon to the door he had left partially unlatched. Sliding the catch-bolt qui shy;etly to the side, he stepped within.
"Is that you, warrior?" The voice rasped from the lightless cell. The dwarf's eyes were far more attuned to the darkness than were Ariakas's.
"I've come back to give you that chance at freedom," he announced without preamble. "You still want to escape?"
"More than anything-but why give me a chance now?" The dwarf's voice was tinged with skepticism; this stout Hylar would not be fooled by any tale of phil shy;anthropy. Ariakas's adjusting eyes showed him a look of shrewd appraisal on Ferros Windchisel's dirt-streaked face.
"I'm going to make my own escape, with the la- another prisoner. The more of us who get away, the more confusion we'll cause the ogres."
"Diversion, huh?" Ferros Windchisel digested this information with the pragmatism he had displayed all along. "Can you get me a weapon?"
Ariakas cursed sarcastically.
"The guard's dagger would do," Ferros offered help shy;fully. "You'll have to get the key for this collar off of him anyway."
"I've already got the key," Ariakas whispered, raising the ring.
Ferros nodded and took the iron circlet. He worked his way through four or five keys before he found one that fit. Then, with a satisfying click, the ring sprang open, and the dwarf was free. He immediately turned to the chain and collar that had held him close to the wall. As Ariakas had noted before, a second lock connected the chain to a bracket in the wall. Fumbling for a few moments, Ferros found the key to release that catch, and he turned back to the warrior. In one hand he now swung a five foot length of chain that terminated in the heavy collar.
"Not the ideal weapon," Ferros allowed, "but better than nothing."
Ariakas had to agree. He led the dwarf back to the secret stair and started climbing to the ground level. "I heard a bunch of 'em in the main entry," he told the dwarf. "Hopefully they'll have gone on to other things by now."
His heart fell as they reached the first exit, however, and plainly heard the boisterous shouting of ogres beyond the door. He slumped against the wall, memo shy;ries of the lady dancing through his mind. Fleetingly he thought of pushing the dwarf into the hall of ogres, but he knew that would create no useful diversion whatso shy;ever. He had to get Ferros out of the tower, get the ogres to chase him in pursuit.
"Have you seen where the drawbridge mechanism is?" asked Ferros Windchisel.
"Yes-the stairway goes right past the winch room."
"Well, if you feel like taking a chance, I'm willing to take a bigger one," offered the dwarf. "Let's go have a look at it."
Wondering what the stocky fellow had in mind, Aria shy;kas led him up the three spirals to the drawbridge room. "Last time I checked," the human warned in a strained whisper, "I saw two ogres standing guard in there."
"Only two?" replied Ferros Windchisel brightly. "That shouldn't be much of a problem."
Ariakas, in spite of himself, liked the hearty dwarf. "How'd a resourceful fellow such as yourself get tan shy;gled up with these scum buckets?" he asked.
"I had a que-some important business that brought me into the Khalkists," Ferros explained. "And then I didn't pay enough attention to routine precautions. Bastards took me prisoner while I was sleeping," he admitted ruefully.
Soon they reached the alcove leading to the draw shy;bridge room, and Ariakas carefully opened the concealed door and pressed aside the tapestry.
The two ogres remained. One looked out a slot in the wall where a supporting chain ran to the raised draw shy;bridge; the other was grumbling and pacing across the small floor space. The shadows and pillars obscured the rest of the room from view. The heavy door connecting the room to the rest of the tower stood open, but they could hear no sounds of other ogres on this level.
Drawing back the tapestry, the human lowered his voice to a faint whisper. "You close and bolt the door- that'll keep the rest of 'em from joining in. I'll try to get one ogre in the first rush. We can both finish the second one off."
Ferros nodded. They pulled the tapestry aside again, and signaling his advance by a touch on the dwarf's shoulder, Ariakas charged into the room. His sword drawn, he raced toward the ogre who looked out the wall opening.