We washed our weapons, arms, and faces with what water we had, keeping an eye out for the two adults that had slithered away. But they never came back.
We walked on for another hour before we came toward some crags where we found a trickling stream. Nigel watered his mule while we refilled our canteens, and then bathed. The stream came down from the rocks and the mountain beyond and then disappeared into the ground. I pointed this out to Sige. ‘What do you think that means?’ I asked him.
He thought it over for a moment, his face screwing up into a puzzled look. Then he said slowly, ‘Well, it is going underground. So there must be a chamber or something that lets it flow down there.’
‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘Which means a cave. We are getting close.’
We re-slung our crossbows to our front so they would be ready. I had ‘borrowed’ some of Sige’s arrows while at camp, cut them down, and notched them for my crossbow. We walked a ways until there was a bend in the trail. I raised my hand to halt the others then slowly crawled to the edge so I could peek around, removing my hat so I wouldn’t reveal myself. I’m glad I did.
Around the bend, I saw a cliff face with a wooden door set in an opening. There was writing above the door but I couldn’t quite make it out from my vantage point. A lonely guard sat on a crate with his back against the wall. He was swarthy and wore poor-quality armor made from hide and leather, with a simple-looking scimitar laid across his knees. He had a boot off and was picking at his toenails with a small knife and gave no attention to anything else.
I ducked back behind the rock. ‘I think we’re here,’ I whispered to the others. Nigel walked back a ways up the trail and tied off his mule to a small branch growing out of the rock, then rejoined us. We made sure our swords were loose in their scabbards, working quietly. ‘He is about 30 yards right around this corner. I’ll step out and take the first shot. If I miss I need you to follow up immediately. Understood?’ Nigel nodded. ‘Sige, if we get into a melee, I need you to pretend he is a centipede and gut him. Understand?’ Sige nodded. I raised my crossbow in the high-ready position and took a deep breath.
I stepped out from behind the bend and brought the crossbow down, pushing it into my shoulder, and then braced against the rockface to aim. He was still picking at his toes, but looked up and saw me. He froze in puzzled surprise as I let the bolt loose and it sank into his chest. The other two stepped out behind me, Sige’s sword drawn and Nigel’s crossbow at the ready. But there was no need. He was dead.
We crept up to him and confirmed he had a necklace with a tooth on it. I yanked it off his neck to look at it. It had just one tusk strung on a leather lanyard. The Fangs added tusks and saber teeth to their necklaces as rewards or to indicate rank. The more strung onto a necklace, the more prestige that bandit would have. This one was either new or too incompetent to have earned more. He had a pig-like face and was filthy, and after turning out his pockets, we determined he was also quite poor.
Above the door was scrawled in red paint ‘The Maw of Fangs.’
‘Cute,’ I said. ‘Ok, you two. I will open the door and y’all be ready to shoot anything that comes out. Then I’ll go in first and y’all cover me. Nigel, you keep an eye on what’s behind us so no one sneaks up on us. Can you do that?’
He nodded and I placed a hand on the door handle.
Knowing that stealth was the key, I slowly opened the door and stood back so Nigel could have a clear aim of any threat inside. There was none, but we found a passage occasionally lit by torches leading down and around out of sight. We crept in, making as little sound as possible.
We were entering the Maw of Fangs.
This is part six of “Love’s Sendero.” Click here to read the next part. If you like these free stories, please subscribe. If you REALLY liked them, please consider leaving me a tip by purchasing it on Kindle for .99 (the cost for 1/3 of a cup of coffee).
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