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."Olive reached the other side of the first cave-in tunnel and slid down to the floor.She sighed.She'd gotten what she had to say out of her system.It hardly mattered that she hadn't said it to Finder's face.It wasn't as if he would pay any attention to her anyway.She padded silently down the stone passageways.After wriggling through the second cave-in tunnel.Olive proceeded more cautiously toward the third and last cave-in.She considered putting her torch out before going through it.No, she thought, it's better to see what I'm afraid of than to be afraid of what I don't see.She crawled up the mound of din and stone and into the tiny tunnel.About halfway through, where Finder had collapsed the first time they had come through, Olive found the bard's dagger.As she slipped it into her pack, she imagined how she might wrap it and give it to him as a birthday present.You'll have to get out of here alive with a neutralize poison potion first, she chided herself, or Finder may not make it to his next birthday.She emerged through the other side of the tunnel.She paused several minutes, peering into the darkness beyond the iron gate, looking for the telltale red gleam of orc eyes.When her head began to hurt from the strain of not blinking.Olive decided it was time to get going.She slid as quietly as possible down the pile of dirt and padded up to the iron gate.Without touching the gate or the lock, the halfling examined them for several minutes before she discovered a string between the gate and a hole in the wall nearby.Olive presumed that the string went all the way to the orc warren, where it triggered some sort of silent alarm.At any rate, the string was very well concealed.If she hadn't been certain that it was there, she might not have looked hard enough to find it.She checked for a second string, but didn't find one.Apparently the orcs weren't as paranoid as she was.Fortunately the alarm string was near the floor, so she could work on it comfortably.She wedged her torch in the grate, put her pack down, and pulled out the equipment she would need.She used a bit of putty to hold the string taut against the bottom bar of the iron grate.With a pair of scissors, she clipped the string where it was connected to the door.It took her only a few seconds to unlock the door.Then she spritzed the hinges of the gate with oil and pushed the gate open a foot."So far, so good," she whispered, picking up her torch and pack and slipping through the gap.She pushed the gate nearly, but not quite, closed.Then she tiptoed down the corridor.When she reached the gap in the wall that led to the tunnel the orcs had come from, Olive dashed across the open space, then pressed herself against the wall on the other side and waited a minute.She listened carefully, but she heard neither voices nor footfalls.Finder must have been right about the orcs relying on their alarm, she thought as she crept down to the second iron grate.The second lock was a masterful piece of workmanship, of fairly recent design.It definitely was not the kind she'd expect to see in an orc warren.The orcs' friend who possessed the disintegrate spell must have installed it, Olive decided.After setting her pack down again and disengaging the alarm, the halfling examined the other mechanisms with more care.The needle trap was especially nasty.It refilled and retriggered itself automatically.Olive pulled out an especially long pick.Holding it awkwardly from a position above the lock, with her hand safely out of the way, she twisted it in the keyhole and watched the trap spring.It was a very long, very sharp needle.Olive sprang it several more times, but the reserve of poison didn't show any signs of running low.Judging from its effect on Finder, Olive suspected it was too potent a poison to risk receiving even a trace dose.Olive turned and looked behind her, just to be sure there weren't any orcs watching her work.Assured that she was still alone in the hallway, she wedged her torch in the iron grate and turned her attention back to the trap.She drew out Finder's dagger.It was heavy, just right for bending needles.It took her three tries, but she managed to bring the blade down on the needle after it sprang out and before it retracted.It bent, but the force of the spring connected to it pulled it back into the mechanism.Once inside the retriggering box, however, the needle was jammed tight and couldn't spring out again.Olive sniffed once with pride, then spat on Finder's blade a few times and wiped it off on her cloak so as not to risk leaving any poison on it.After checking over her shoulder once again for any stray ores, she began work on the lock.It was a heavy one, and she broke two wire picks in it.She wondered momentarily whether it had been welded shut.She began to examine miscellaneous keys from her key collection.When she thought she had a near match, she wriggled both it and another wire about in the hole.She tried to put Finder's poisoned hand out of her mind.She couldn't allow anything to distract her.Olive had no idea how long she'd been fiddling with the gate, but when the lock finally gave way, her torch was burnt to a nub.When she pushed on the gate, the burning stick fell to the ground.The flame immediately went out, leaving only glowing cinders at her feet.The halfling picked up her pack and pushed the door open farther, not bothering to oil the hinges.They didn't squeak, suggesting that the door was probably used often.Olive tried to put that idea out of her mind.If the only key was Finder's unfinished melody, there wasn't an orc in the world who could open the door.She'd heard orcs singing several times, and she had been anything but impressed.Olive ran her hand along the polished steel door.There was no handle or lock."Listen up, door," she whispered.She sang the lyrics to the melody Finder had taught her as softly as she could.Something in the door made a clicking noise.Olive pushed on the door gently, and it swung open.Bright light flooded into the corridor from the workshop within.Olive slipped into the room and pushed the door closed behind her.It clicked again.She was locked safely inside.The halfling sighed with relief and leaned back against the door."Hello, Father," a voice said from inside the workshop.Olive stood bolt upright.A figure stood before her, dressed in black robes.He looked just like Finder, only younger, when he was in his prime.When he said the word "Father," his voice dripped with sarcasm."Flattery!" Olive gasped."But—but you're dead! Giogi killed you!""I've been hoping you would escape the Harpers' prison someday and return here," Flattery said.Since Flattery seemed unaware that she was not Finder, Olive realized she was seeing only a magical image of the evil mage, a message Flattery had left behind for Finder.Flattery had assumed his creator would be the only other person who could open the workshop door [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]