Some time in Felsite"Elves again, Mr Madushkubuk."
"Again?" I said. "Are they running?"
"No, actually," Amante said. "There's four of them with pack animals. They don't seem alarmed."
Perhaps the elves had gotten over their fear of the Lonely Jungle, seeing how successful we'd been here. I stood up. "Wait. Have we actually
got anything to trade?"
We didn't, actually, aside from food and soap, neither of which I was inclined to offer to elves. The corpse of Bosa Dreadtin, now rotted to a skeleton, still lay outside our gates; I told some dwarves to go and salvage what remained of his gear. In fact--no--I'd go out there myself as well, get the job done faster.
I hadn't been aboveground for a while, and ooh that sun was strong. It stung my eyes.
Udib the cheese maker screamed suddenly. "
Ambush!"
What had looked like piles of dirt and vegetation to my dazzled vision suddenly erupted, revealing a group of goblin swordsmen, led by an axeman.
"Ushrir!" I yelled, dropping the troll fur shoe I'd picked up. "
Ushrir, help!"
We scattered. I didn't see what happened next; I heard Udib gasping behind me as she ran, and the growl of the axeman as he swung at her and missed. Then I tripped, and found myself flat on the ground, staring up at Adil Koladkil.
"I don't think so," the marksdwarf said coldly, raising her crossbow.
The goblin grunted in pain, then swung again, intent on his target. Udib raised a hand in desperation to defend herself, and the axe bit deeply. She screamed in pain.
"Hold on!" A thunder of approaching feet as the Crystalline Oceans rushed out of the gate. "We're here!" Ushrir shouted. "Get back to the fort!"
I saw what was about to happen to her, and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it. She was focused on taking down the axeman who threated Udib, to the exclusion of all else. I shouted anyway, to try to warn her about the swordsman rising up behind her.
She never heard.
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Topic: Ubenudil, Soaplanterns - Soapmaker's Guild Fort (Read 56988 times)