by P D Dennison
- Arch Mage Zeraan Taaselfee, The Annals of Time, Season: 0013A.2.
Chapter 8
Goblins
The first to rise the next morning, Ravak lit a fire, fed and watered Sleipner then began packing up as much as he could without disturbing the Silverleafs. Manya rose next and to Ravak’s surprise, she was on her feet and headed over to him, seemingly having no trouble at all moving about. He smiled broadly at her speedy recovery and her strength. Her wounds were all but healed from the potion of regeneration.
“Ravak, the other night you mentioned you had taken a bath. Might I ask where? I’m in desperate need.” She smiled half embarrassed at having to admit to it.
“Just down through that pass over there,” he motioned back toward the pass that led back to Deep Fiend Lake. “But there are goblins about and you might not want to go alone. It might be a good idea if you let me remove that tube from your lung before you bathe. I’m sure it could do with a good cleaning and perhaps a drought of the Healing Elixir would do you and your brother some good.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were flirting with me.” She smiled at him again with an eyebrow raised this time in a playful manner. After they had fought with the tube a little to get it out, Ravak disinfected the wound with a little of the grain alcohol and offered to lead her down to the lake as she took a sip of the potion.
“My mother gave me a dress for you.” He scrambled for his packs and dug it out. The style might not have been what Manya would normally wear, being a fine Northern woman’s travelling dress. Topped with fine cloth and an underlay of nice warm rabbit fur the dress was perfect for the still cool spring weather. The dress’d been crafted with beautifully treated and dyed green hide. Though Ravak’s mother stood several inches taller than Manya, it would have to do for now. She smiled broadly at him for even thinking of such a thing.
“Thank you. I’m sure it will do just fine. It’s a beautiful dress.” She held it up to herself, quite pleased to have something to wear that was not soaked in blood and torn to shreds.
Ravak felt intimidated by the bold southern woman and didn’t know how to act around her. He’d never encountered such confidence and wyrldly behaviour from a woman and rather enjoyed her disposition even if it did make him a little uncomfortable.
“I’ll go with you. I need a bath as well,” Turynn wiped his mouth after taking a sip of the Healing Elixir and was ready to head down to the lake himself. It was more a matter of keeping an eye on the young Barbarian around his sister, but a bath never did anyone any harm.
“We’ll all go. When we’re done, we can start looking for that keep. I’ve got a feeling we’ll have to approach it from the north side of the mountains. I’m sure it must lay far to the east. We Winter Wolf have spent very little time on that side of the range. It could have been there hidden away for ages in the Horror Hills and we’d have never seen it. Those hills are haunted and my people tend to stay clear of them.”
Once everyone had eaten and taken a bath, they were off along the north face of the Mystpeaks headed east through the forested Winter Wolf Hills.
Ravak felt a little uneasy as this was the direction he assumed the goblins had come from and felt quite certain they would encounter more of them if they had a camp up in these hills somewhere. The thickening forest scarcely let the spring sunlight filter through the trees, leaving splotches of light on the ground and on tree trunks. It played tricks on the mind. Ravak and Turynn both thought they’d seen something a couple of times that turned out to be shadow play in the trees. They walked along slowly with arrows nocked and ready to draw should they encounter any more wretched little goblins.
“Don’t worry, sister. As soon as we nab a few of those dragons’ eggs, old Ravak here is going to lead us right back over those peaks back home to Hilltop, aren’t you?”
The huge Barbarian lad nodded eagerly and smiled at the two.
They journeyed southeast along the base of the Mystpeaks for thirty days. Ravak and Turynn hunted for meat, they lived off the flora of the Mystpeaks which was scant in the early spring, but still there were Mountain Berry bushes which bore fruit even when the snow still lay on the ground, and there were other edible flowers that poked up the through the snow here and there that they could forage for greens. Water was one thing they had no trouble finding as the spring runoff left many little streams flowing down the side of the Mystpeaks from the snow covered glaciers above. The spring weather brought with it warmer days and nights with more sunshine and less snowfall. The journey was long but Ravak truly did know the north side of the Mystpeaks and the Winter Wolf Hills at the foot of the mountain range. He taught both Turynn and Manya a great deal about living in the wilds of the North. He showed great pride in the land his people had called home for so many generations. They saw the odd goblin patrol party here and there but managed to steer clear of them. With Ravak as their guide, he always managed to spot the goblins long before they ever had a clue the companions were anywhere near them.
The midday spring sun shone warmly on the thirty-first day out of the High Pass. It was well above the treetops now. All three were getting tired from the march through the forest. Manya suggested they stop to eat and rest. Turynn pulled out the small vellum map again at Ravak’s request and while the siblings ate.
He planned a route up to the top of a large ridge to the north of them to see if he was able to spot the three peaks illustrated on the map. Ravak hiked up through the trees to the base of the ridge and spotted himself a nice tree for climbing. Tying a rope to one of his arrows, he fired it into the tree and shimmied up to the ridge to have a look. The ridge was about fifteen feet above the treetops and gave Ravak an excellent vantage point of the mountaintops and forest. He was able to clearly see a small goblin encampment about a half-day’s journey east of them.
They’d cleared a large swath of trees from the forest on the top of a hill and had also cut a few paths through the trees on what he suspected were likely their water routes and regular patrols. It appeared as though they were clearing a road from somewhere within a small pass that disappeared into the mountains to the south of their camp. There seemed to be an organized work force at the location, methodically cutting and clearing trees and then burning the stumps to clear a road. Ravak made his way back down into the forest below and told the Silverleafs what he’d seen.
“A road?” said Turynn. “What on earth for? Besides, the pass over the peaks lies to the west of them.”
“As far as I know, yes, but that’s not to say they haven’t found another pass in the east that lay undiscovered until now. As I said, we tend to steer clear of the eastern Mystpeaks as the foothills out that way are haunted by dreadful things. I think we ought to get a little closer and take a look. We can sort of get a bird’s eye view if we follow that ridge I was on. It’s above the tree line. It seemed to head almost right to the point where the pass enters the mountains. I’d like to get a look from there to see if we can spot the three peaks on the map. That’s the only part of the range I don’t know so well. I’d bet southern coin to goat biscuits that those peaks are over in the east somewhere.”
The three headed back to where Ravak left his rope and climbed up. Manya had some trouble with the climb, stating ropes and goblins are more the pursuit of men than refined ladies, but Turynn was up the rope faster than Ravak could have thought possible. Ravak, speechless at the quick assent found himself quite impressed at the Southerner’s agility. The Barbarian harnessed Sleipner to the rope and shimmied up before the two men heaved the young ram up the rock wall with no small effort, Sleipner kicking and whaling the entire way. Once they’d caught their breath, they moved on along the ridge checking down into the forest from time to time to see if they’d passed any goblin sentries or patrols.
As the three drew closer, they could hear the echoing sound of many axes at work along with the sound of whips at the axe men’s’ backs. The smoke grew thicker from the fires of the burning wood. The
ridge came full up to the edge of the pass the goblins were cutting a swath into and the two men hunkered down onto their bellies and slithered toward the edge to get a closer look without the worry of being spotted, while Manya hung back with Sleipner.
One large goblin in full chainmail with a big scar under his right eye brandishing a nasty looking whip with a barbed tip seemed to be giving the orders. He whipped and yelled at all the other smaller goblins to chop and work harder. Every time one of the workers would stop for a drink of water, he’d wait for them to take a sip and whip them back into chopping. The goblin logging team moved quickly. They’d cut a path some fifteen yards across and about one hundred and fifty yards long through the dense forest into the pass. Not to mention the fact that they’d cleared out a sizable area for their camp and had already constructed a wooden palisade wall around it for defense. They’d even built wooden platforms for their tents to keep themselves dry and warm while they slept. The camp seemed well fortified and heavily guarded.
Ekes had been wrong. These little buggers were not stupid. In fact, in large numbers such as this, they were a force to be reckoned with. They had several crudely constructed catapults and ballista within the camp prepared for transport in the event they wanted to besiege a foe’s walls.
In addition to a decent array of siege weapons, the camp was defensively engineered. The outer wall, made of tall Rowenwoods formed a triangle shape with a tower at each corner. In each tower were two bowmen. The only gate into the camp had two goblin guards posted on either side of the entrance. Many more bowmen atop the walls, watching the forest for attackers, patrolled up and down the catwalk.
It appeared there were at least two patrols out in the trees around the camp checking the forest for intruders. The clearing they made appeared large enough that anyone attempting entry into the camp would have to cross a wide open ditch. This offered them even more of an upper hand as they’d filled with the chopped down trees and it wreaked of oil. If the goblins had to defend the little fort, they would light the wood and their enemies would have to find a way through their moat of fire. But the burning question still remained. What were goblins doing in the Mystpeaks at all?
They were smart enough to know they faced a far superior force to the North in both the Winter Wolf and White Bear Clans, not to mention the Black Crows who were less warring but still formidable in their own right, so it was certainly not land they sought. The Southerners knew of the goblins and knew they’d been warring with the gnomes since the First Age, but the goblins and gnomes stayed to the east of the Kingdom of Rowendale and dwelled in the Gnome Hills and the Red Desert around Gershmark Wall.
There was nothing to be mined on the east end of the Mystpeaks. Mined out at the dawn of the First Age as soon as trade became important to men, many of the shafts had collapsed back in on themselves. Thought haunted since well into the First Age, the Horror Hills certainly didn’t have anyone pining over the land. No one even knew what terrible thing had happened there to cause the dead to come back with such a vengeance for the living, but the Winter Wolf, the White Bear, and the Black Crows knew all too well to stay out of those hills. The land held a taint against the living. All the grass, shrubs, and trees had died yet their dry, grey husks stood as a warning to any who dared set foot on the unhallowed land. Any man fool enough to venture up into those hills never came out to tell the tale. Terror inducing wailing could be heard in the dark of night if one were anywhere near the hills during the witching hours.
And so the question gnawed at their minds; what were these blasted little rotters doing outside their lands and what would drive such self-focused greedy little beasts as these to risk life and limb in the Horror Hills to make it here?
Turynn had positioned himself on the very edge of the ridge. He hung onto a tree as he peeked down around the corner into the pass the goblins were cutting into.
“Around the edge of the cliff face, I can see three mountains configured as on the maps. Well spaced. The forest continues into the pass far enough that it appears it might wind toward a clearing in their midst.”
He stepped back to let Ravak and Manya each have a look. They all agreed it seemed a good possibility this might be the spot they sought. It would be nearly impossible to get through the pass with the goblins working as they were, so the three decided to wait until nightfall. They expected the goblins would rest for the night, then they would have their chance. They moved back a ways from the position on the ridge to a spot where they felt they could rest for a few hours and set their plan up for the evening.
“While we will have the cover of darkness on our side and the goblins will be resting back at their encampment, they can still see in the dark quite well and we’ll have to be very careful not to expose ourselves to the sentries positioned on the towers or to those walking patrols on the grounds about the fort. One on one we could take out several of them, but their numbers are simply too great and we’ll be overwhelmed if we try to make a stand. We have to move with stealth and speed.” Turynn spoke with great confidence as he explained the situation to them. He’d drawn little maps in the dust on the ridge to demonstrate his plan and gesticulated wildly to demonstrate the actions.
He wanted to use a similar plan as to how Ravak had gotten them up on the ridge in the first place, but planned things out in such a way as to ensure their stealth and silence. Sleipner being gagged and bound was a very important part of the plan after the commotion he’d caused being hoisted into the air up the side of the rock face. After taking stock of how much rope Ravak had and how well he was able to use the arrows for grappling, he decided they’d repel down into the pass. This would even allow them to lower little Sleipner down along with them, as he was a much-needed pack animal on the journey. Sleipner protested some to being bound and gagged, but all in all, Ravak felt he took it very well and demonstrated a great level of trust in his master, allowing him to do such a thing to the lamb after only a couple of moons of camaraderie.
As twilight approached, the sound of axes in the distance fell slowly silent and the smoke grew less dense as the fires died down for the coming night. The small party crept close to the edge of the ridge and peered down into the forest below where only hours before there’d been dozens of goblins busily chopping away and tending fires. There were no workers at the site. Axes lay haphazardly having been left carelessly after a day’s work. Slow fires continued to burn at the trunks left by the massive Rowenwoods, Firs, and Elms. Black smoke rose lazily up toward the ridge the companions looked down from. The goblins would mostly leave the area unattended at night as the small wooden fort wall they had constructed around their camp acted more or less as a palisade defending the mouth of the pass.
“This is all far too well planned for goblins.” Turynn rubbed his chin as he surveyed the work site one last time.
Ravak fired an arrow up into the tree at the edge of the ridge and began fashioning a harness to lower the little team down with. He sent Turynn down first, then Manya. Then he lowered Sleipner, who only made a couple of slightly frightened sounds as he wound slowly down into the trees below into the waiting arms of Turynn. They needed the rope system to escape once they had the dragon eggs and since they didn’t know where the pass led, it was prudent to leave this route open for future use. Ravak began to lower himself down about halfway. He lay the loose rope on rocks and into the little crags as he climbed down in order to ensure it wouldn’t be visible from the ground below if some goblin happened to absentmindedly look up. It took him some time to hide the rope and make his way down, but he finally reached the bottom, unbound Sleipner, and the group quietly and quickly slipped into the trees in the pass away from the goblin camp.
The ground was relatively flat inside the pass. At ground level they could see for quite a distance into the trees, but so far there was nothing ahead of them except rock and Rowenwoods to look at. They marched on for a good ways until they felt they’d moved sufficiently into the pass far enough from the goblin
camp that they wouldn’t be spotted. It was somewhere around two to three hours before dawn and the little party was growing weary from their long day of travel. They decided to move off the beaten path to one side of the pass and sleep. They didn’t light a fire as they did not want goblins to see the flames or the smoke the next day. All agreed they would take watches. Turynn took the first watch and Manya the second. Ravak took the third and when the Silverleafs awoke the next morning, they found him all packed up and ready to move with breakfasts laid out for them. Turynn yawned deeply and stepped over to the meal to have a quick bite.
“Hurry and eat, Manya. We have to get moving. Those goblins will be back in the pass soon burning their way through the trees and we’ll have a rough time making any headway through the smoke,” said Turynn as he munched on a handful of sweet and juicy Mountain Berries.