two lengths of bamboo pipe and joined them. Then, from a small wooden case, he
cautiously extracted a feathered dart. He inserted it in one and raised the
blowpipe almost to his lips.
‘There’s enough poison on the tip of the dart to kill a dozen men,’ he said.
‘However, I doubt that it would do much harm, if any, if the dart sticks in
their thick fat. So…’
He waited a long time, the pipe now at his lips. Then, his cheeks swelled, and
the dart shot out. The bear to the right, roaring even louder, grabbed at the
missile stuck in its left eye. Smhee fitted another dart into the pipe and took
a step closer. The monster on the left lunged against the restraining collar and
chain. Smhee shot the second dart into its tongue.
The first beast struck fell to one side, its paws waving, and its roars
subsided. The other took longer to become quiet, but presently both were snoring
away.
‘Let’s hope they die,’ Smhee said. ‘I doubt we’ll have time to shoot them again
when we come back.’
Masha thought that a more immediate concern was that the roaring might have
alarmed the mage’s servants.
They went through a large cavern, the floor of which was littered with human,
cattle, and goat skeletons and bear dung. They breathed through their mouths
until they got to an exit. This was a doorway which led to a flight of steps. At
the top of the steps was another entrance with a closed massive wooden door.
Affixed to one side was a great wooden bar.
‘Another hindrance to pursuers,’ Smhee said. ‘Which will, in our case, be the