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Cadderly froze in his tracks, trying to keep the beaht steady on the creature To the side, another "rock" shifted, forcing Cadderly’s attention As soon as he brought the light around, he realized that these were not stones all about hiher than Cadderly’s waist

Just as Cadderly decided that he must not make any sudden moves, must try to ease his way beyond these weird creatures, a toad shuffled somewhere behind hi the tight to bear and startling several otherup there to fight any da his burly arms over his chest, wjhich put them about three inches above the level of the deep snow The dwarf pointedly looked away frolow

"Uh-oh," Pikel muttered

"Cadderly is up there," Danica reminded the stubborn, yellow-bearded dwarf

Then Cadderly’s stupid," Ivan gruiant arm wrapped about him suddenly, and he was hoisted into the air, tucked in close to Vander’s side

"Hee hee hee" Pikel’s hten Ivan’sson of a red-haired dragon!" Ivan roared, kicking viciously but futilely against the firbolg’s powerful hold

"We should scale straight to the opening," Danica reasoned

"Right along Cadderly’s trail," Shayleigh agreed

"Might we hurry?" Vander asked of thewith all speed up the slope, following Cadderly’s obvious footprints Shayleigh ca little troublethe deep snow She kept her bow out and ready, playing a watchful role while Danica tracked

Vander plodded along behind her, trying to resist the urge to cave in the vicious Ivan’s thick skull, and Pikel caiant firbolg

They stood in the ion before the cave entrance a fewher elven heat-sensing vision, but she poked her head back out in athat the air was too war distinct

"Cadderly went in," Danica said, as much to firm her own resolve as to the others "And so must we"

"Nope," came Ivan’s predictable reply

The enchantht will not hold for long," Shayleigh reh up for even one of a dwarfs toughness"

"Better freezed than toasted," Ivan grunored the reh shook her head and followed

Vander set Ivan on the ground, drawing curious looks from both the dwarves

"Ill not force you into a dragon’s cave," the firbolg explained, and he walked by without waiting for a reply, squeezing in through the narrow entrance

"Oo," Pikel moaned, not so filled with humor now that they had come to a critical moment

Ivan stood resolute, his burly ar on the wet stone Pikel looked from his brother, to the cave, back to his brother, and back to the cave, not sure of what he should do

"Aw, go on," Ivan growled at hi the thick-headed fool to fight the dragon alone!"

Pikel’s cherubic face brightened considerably as Ivan grabbed hireen-bearded dwarf re on their on, that impish smile disappeared

Far down the trail frolow, Druzil watched the black for The iiant had co beside Cadderly? - but he was fairly confident that the other distant for, short, and stout creatures, belonged to Cadderly"s friends

The undead h Whether the creature could actually "see" the distant party, Druzil could not tell, but the ht and furious So it on without hesitation through the dark of night and under the light of day The creature hadn’t slowed, hadn’t rested (weary Druzil was beginning to wish it would!), and it and Druzil had covered a treround in a very short tiht, the creature low’s treeless high slope, ripping through the snow angrily, as if the white powder’s hindering depth was so away from Cadderly

As a creature of the fiery lower planes, Druzil was not fond of the chilling snow But as a creature of the chaotic lower planes, the i his clawed hands at the thought of the savagery that was soon to coently slid one foot in front of the other, inching his way toward the chaain, but the young priest feltinterest

Another few feet put hi strides would have gotten hi toto discern if that would be the wisest course

He started to lean ferward anxiously, wasaway

A toad hopped across to block the exit

Cadderly’s eyes widened with fear and darted fro for soroup, cutting off any retreat

Was this a deliberate herding tactic? the young priest wondered with complete astonishment Whatever it was, Cadderly knew that he had to act quickly He considered his

of Deneir He decided iht bea out of his path

The toad see its considerable belly against the stone It jerked upward suddenly - Cadderly feared for an instant that it was leaping at hi open and a gout of fla forth

Cadderly fell back a step as the s his face He let out a cry of surprise and heard the toads shuffling rapidly behind hiht his hand-crossbow up He didn’t look back, but kept his focus on the escape ahead and launched the quarrel He ran off at once, following the dart’s wake, fearing that a dozen small fireballs would incinerate hiot near the exit

The toad’sit init in

The quarrel had not exploded! The tongue had apparently caught it without crushing the vial And Cadderly, in full flight toward the toad and with nowhere else to run, had no readied alternatives, didn’t even have his enchanted walking stick or spindle-disks in hand He flicked the light tube frantically again, hoping against all reason to startle the for

Then the creatureand then retracting, and ain all directions

Cadderly threw his arh the spray and prudently ducked his head to avoid cracking it against the top ri strides out of the cavern before he dared to look back and confirhtened young priest ran, careening down the winding way, skidding to a stop and looking back, though he sensed that the tunnel had widened suddenly around hier thinking about the toads butthat sounded like a te tunnel Slowly, Cadderly turned his head about, and, even ht tube to bear

"Oh, ht ran along the scaly hide of the ie wyrht passed the dragon’s spearlike horns, crossed down the awesoed skull, past the closed eye to the iant Vander in half with hardly an effort

"Oh,priest , not even conscious of the fact that his knees had buckled under him