“All right everyone, I’ll go first. Be sure to keep tension on the rope and whatever you do don’t let it go slack and then jerk it.”
“Why not?” asked Danny.
“Because if you do the knot comes undone. That’s how we get the rope down when we’re at the bottom.”
Danny looked at the knot again.
“It’s perfectly safe,” Malkin assured him. “The next person to go down stands by the rope and keeps the tension on. Just keep doing that and we’ll be fine.”
The thief rigged a harness from a shorter piece of rope and attached it to the main rope with a peculiar looking knot.
“I’ll take a light with me and signal for the next one to follow,” she said, and with that she stepped backwards into the blackness and disappeared from view.
Danny kept tension on me rope as she worked her way down. The others watched the rope twitch as Malkin worked her way down the cuff face. Finally it lay still and they heard her call up to them.
“Okay. It’s about a hundred paces down. There’s plenty of rope and its an easy descent. Come on down one by one.”
Since he couldn’t lead, Wiz figured the leader’s next logical place was as rear guard. He let Danny and then June go down. Glandurg disdained the rope and scrambled down the cliff face like a fly. At last the rope was still again. Wiz picked up Malkin’s pack, slung it over one shoulder and started to work his way down the cuff.
In the back of Wiz’s mind a small voice kept telling him all this was wrong. You don’t find limestone caves beneath volcanoes. Halfway down the rope Wiz decided this was arrant pedantry and told the small voice to shut up.
The rope finned and steadied as someone took hold of it from the bottom. With that aid Wiz made good time the rest of the way down.
Thanks,” he said as his feet touched the ground Behind him the rope holder snorted Wiz turned to look His first impression was of Malkin in a silver fright wig. His second impression was of a lot of teeth, claws, flaming red eyes and really awful breath.
He yelled and ducked as the thing took a swipe at him. He rumbled for his staff, but the thing was too close, so he settled for tripping backwards and going flat on his back. The thing closed in for the kill and the world bunked.
The protection spell, Wiz thought. The protection spell kicked in. His second thought was that he wasn’t wearing the magic ring, so he must have been stunned by his fall and before he had time for a third thought, a liquid voice broke in.
“Oh, I hope you are all right. Not damaged in any way? Here, let me help you up.”
Thanks,” Wiz said, taking the preferred hand.
It wasn’t a hand, exactly. It was a claw. A very large claw. At the other end of the claw was a lobster—about thirty feet of lobster.
“Uh, thanks,” Wiz said again.
The lobster waved an antenna. “Think nothing of it. All in a day’s work, I can assure you.” Its voice was a warm rich baritone, not at all the way Wiz had expected a lobster to sound. Although come to that, Wiz realized, he didn’t really have an idea how a lobster should sound. Terribly sorry about that,” the lobster went on. Those creatures have no manners at all, not to mention absolutely no taste! Tasteless.”
The lobster gave Wiz’s hand a little squeeze before releasing it “On, and you’re molting too,” the lobster said delightedly. “How wonderful. You’re especially tender at this stage.” The lobster sighed. “And the sheik are such a bother.”
It occurred to Wiz that he might not be out of trouble yet.
“Uh, where are my friends?”
“Oh, they’re off chasing the rest of those things. They attacked them, you know.” A sniff of disdain. Tasteless. Utterly tasteless. No matter how much garlic and herbs you use, it’s like eating old leather.”
Wiz remembered the guardroom with the dismembered skeletons.
“Now you, on the other hand! Oh, think how wonderful you’ll smell all boiled up with lemon pepper and a bouquet garnish of herbs.”