“Barry, huh?” Beleg muttered to himself and shook his head. “I should have guessed that rat would pull something like this.
“This one’s on me,” he continued ruefully. “I shouldn’t have left you here by yourself.” He took another long look around the room, now well lit after Virryn found a couple of unbroken lamps in a cabinet.
“It seems quite the struggle was had,” she noted, beating Beleg to the observation. “The blood will be difficult to clean.”
Beleg looked Kre up and down before chuckling, “His blood then? Impressive!”
“Yeah,” Kre said softly, “I got his leg just before he ran out of the room. It was…” he paused a moment, wondering how much to share. “It was a lucky blow.”
“No,” Beleg said, shaking his head. “I know his style. He doesn’t leave openings like that.” He jabbed a finger at Kre and grinned broadly, “It was my training that helped you beat that bastard. I’ll bet my life on it!”
Virryn shook her head, “Make your bets on your own time. We must get this place cleaned up before the morning. We were lucky this evening, but if anyone finds this mess, they will certainly become more suspicious of us all.”
“How did your scouting go?” Kre asked, partly hoping to change the subject and partly because he was keenly interested in knowing if they had found their companions.
Beleg put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair with a wide grin, “Excellently!”
“You found them?” Kre said, standing up excitedly. “You found Ortho and Gnore?”
“Well,” Beleg frowned, “I didn’t see them personally, but one of Grivallt’s friends described them perfectly. They even identified Kersath. Unfortunately, the dweorvkin are being held in a different part of this underground complex and Kersath is chained up in the Master’s suite. Apparently, he paid a pretty hefty sum to buy him before he even went to auction, but Kersath was described as being pretty badly injured.”
“His wounded bat trick? Talimar actually let him go through with it?”
Beleg shrugged. “We’ll have to ask him when we catch up with him. I’m sure he’s close though. He wouldn’t just leave Kersath like he is. And it’s the crimson wombat, not the wounded bat. That’s a whole other thing.”
Kre didn’t bother to ask, knowing that he was too tired to deal with the answer. As he swayed on his feet, Beleg clucked his tongue and sighed, “You must be exhausted after a fight with Barry. How about you get some rest while I help Virryn clean up.”
Having only enough energy to nod, Kre started for the bed in the other part of the room. “Wait!” Beleg called out sharply. “You seem to have forgotten something.”
Kre raised an eyebrow, “Um… good night?”
Beleg gestured to the twin swords lying on the floor, one still stained with blood. “Take care of your weapons,” he snapped. “First rule.”
“I thought the first rule was…”
“They’re all the first rule,” interrupted Beleg. “Every rule for being a part of this company is that important that they’re all the first rule. Now clean those before you turn in.”
Kre did as he was told, and when his head finally hit the pillow, he was out like a light.