Gorgoroth (Haladras #2)

TEN

"Are you mad!" cried Skylar, once the companions had walked down the busy street some distance from the rug shop. "There's no way we can trust—"

Grüny whirled around faster than Skylar had ever seen him move before, stuck his face so close to Skylar's that he could feel hot breath on his skin. Grüny's eyes were narrowed, and his voice bit when he spoke, despite its low tone.

"I'd keep my mouth shut until we were alone, if I were you," he said, then straighten and continued leading them.

With a self-conscious glance to either side of him, Skylar pressed his lips firmly together and kept walking. He didn't want to wait to talk. Already, the plan felt out of control. He knew, though, that Grüny was right. They needed to find somewhere more private to regroup.

Grüny soon found a place for them. An old inn called the Rookery smashed between two larger buildings without any signs. So derelict did the inn look that were it not for the support of these structures it would probably crumble to the ground in a heap. Once again, Grüny charged them to leave the talking to him as they prepared to enter.

"If we keep letting him do all the talking," muttered Endrick, "we're going to end up ground into sausages and sold in the market."

They passed through a weathered door, which bore signs of having been painted green decades ago. The interior of the inn impressed Skylar less than its exterior. The heavily rutted wooden floor of the lobby creaked and groaned with such protestation that he feared it would give way beneath their feet. And, save a few crooked wall hanging, nothing of furniture resided there. Not that there was any room for any furniture. The lobby was scarcely large enough to accommodate all the companions. Besides a lack of space, the room contained no front desk, nor innkeeper to greet them. Just a closed door on the far wall.

Skylar began to wonder if maybe the inn had been abandoned.

For the second time that day, Grüny showed no sign of confusion or hesitation. Instead, he walked right up to the wooden door and rapped on it three times. For several moments, nothing happened. Still, Grüny stood there facing the door, undaunted. Then came the sound of scuffling from the other side, and a muffled voice. A slit peep-hole in the door, which Skylar had not noticed before, suddenly opened, and a pair of beady eyes peered out at the.

"What do you want?" demanded a raspy voice.

"Lodgings," replied Grüny.

"Is that so?"

In a rapid motion, the eyes jumped from one companion to the next. When the eyes rested on Skylar, his insides squirmed. Something in the way they stared at him, made him feel uneasy. When they moved on to Kendyl, he felt relieved.

Without warning, the eyes vanished and the peephole closed with a bang.

The companions looked at each other in confusion.

"I don't think she liked the look of you, Grüny," said Endrick, after it was apparent the person on the other side of the door had no intention of letting them in.

Grüny did not respond but remained with his eyes fixed on the closed door.

"We're probably better off, too," went on Endrick. "This place gives me the creeps."

Just then there was a loud knock which came from the other side of the door. Then several clicks. Then an ear-splitting screech as the rusty hinges turned and the door swung open. On the other side of the door stood a wrinkled old hag, with one hand on her hip and the other wielding a soup ladle. She stood scarcely taller than the man at the rug shop, but looked twice as vicious as any of the smugglers. Her lips were curled up in a snarl as she glared at them.