Book 1 - The Black Company by Glen Cook Page A

and frightened by the quaking. He looked
grateful when Raven started unbuckling him.
    The great foot stamped again. Earth fell. In one corner a
supporting upright toppled. A trickle of loose soil began running
into the basement. The other beams groaned and shifted. I barely
controlled myself.
    Sometime during the tremor Raven stopped being Harden. Shifter
stopped being Cornie. Zouad looked them over and caught on. His
face hardened, went pale. As if he had more to fear from Raven and
Shapeshifter than from the Rebel.
    "Yeah," Raven said. "It's payoff time."
    The earth bucked. Overhead there was a remote rumble of falling
masonry. Lamps toppled and went out. The dust made the air almost
unbreathable. And Rebels came tumbling back down the stair, looking
over their shoulders.
    "Limper is here," Shifter said. He did not seem displeased. He
rose and faced the stair. He was Cornie again, and Raven was Harden
once more.
    Rebels piled into the room. I lost track of Raven in the press
and poor light. Somebody sealed the door up top. The Rebels got
quiet as mice. You could almost hear hearts hammering as they
watched the stair and wondered if the secret entrance were well
enough hidden.
    Despite several yards of intervening earth, I heard something
moving through the basement above. Drag-thump.
    Drag-thump. The rhythm of a crippled man walking. My gaze, too,
locked on the secret door.
    The earth shook its most violent yet. The doorway exploded
inward. The far end of the sub-basement caved in. Men screamed as
the earth swallowed them. The human herd shoved this way and that
in search of an escape that did not exist. Only Shifter and I were
not caught up in it. We watched from an island of calm.
    All the lamps had died. The only light came from the gap at the
head of the stair, sliding around a silhouette which, at that
moment, seemed vile just in its stance. I had cold, clammy skin and
violent shakes. It was not just because I had heard so much about
the Limper. He exuded something that made me feel like an
arachnophobe might if you dropped a big hairy spider into his
lap.
    I glanced at Shifter. He was Cornie, just another of the Rebel
crew. Did he have some special reason for not wanting to be
recognized by the Limper?
    He did something with his hands.
    A blinding light filled the pit. I could not see. I heard beams
creaking and giving way. This time I did not hesitate. I joined the
rush to the stair.
    I suppose the Limper was more startled than anyone else. He had
not expected any serious opposition. Shifter's trick caught him off
guard. The rush swept over him before he could protect himself.
    Shifter and I were the last up the stair. I skipped over the
Limper, a small man in brown who did not look terrible at all as he
writhed on the floor. I looked for the stair to the street level.
Shifter grabbed my arm. His grip was undeniable. "Help me." He
planted a boot against the Limper's ribs, started rolling him
through the entrance to the sub-basement.
    Down below, men groaned and cried out for help. Sections of
floor on our level were sagging, collapsing. More in fear that I would be trapped if we did not hurry than out of
any desire to inconvenience the Limper, I helped Shifter dump the
Taken into the pit.
    Shifter grinned, gave me a thumbs up. He did something with his
fingers. The collapse accelerated. He seized my arm and headed for
the stairs. We piled into the street amidst the grandest uproar in
Oar's recent history.
    The foxes were in the henhouse. Men were running hither and yon
yelling incoherently. Elmo and the Company were all around them,
driving them inward, cutting them down. The Rebels were too
confused to defend themselves.
    Had it not been for Shifter, I suppose, I would not have
survived that. He did something that turned the points of arrows
and swords. Cunning beast that I am, I stayed in his shadow till we
were safely behind Company lines.
     
     
    It was a great victory for the Lady. It exceeded Elmo's