by Sam Barone
The day they departed the city, Alcinor had stood beside Draelin when the soldier received his final orders from King Eskkar – get Alcinor to the Pass, safeguard him while he worked, and supply him with whatever physical labor he might need to accomplish his mission. The Jkarian Pass must be closed.
To achieve that end, a pack train of forty horses plodded along behind the soldiers, filled not only with the usual sacks and skins holding food and water, but an odd collection of tools and lumber. Alcinor also had four men each carrying a ladder of various size. There would be few trees inside the pass. Thirty six supply bearers struggled alongside the beasts of burden, carrying another collection of special supplies required by Alcinor and his apprentices.
Nevertheless, the most important burden – sixteen oak logs, each about ten paces long, an arm length wide, and as straight as an arrow – rested on the shoulders of another hundred and forty porters and seventy-five mules.
Trella had scoured the countryside all the way to Akkad’s borders to find those mules, better animals than horses or oxen for hauling the unusual and unwieldy cargo. Each log rested in a skein of sturdy ropes that formed a sling supported by four mules, and assisted by eight husky laborers. They used smaller poles of oak passed under the log, to help carry the weight, and to support the mules over the rough terrain. Both men and beasts grunted under the heavy logs, as they struggled along.
At least the men enjoyed the luxury of cursing the brutal task, especially when the cavalcade entered the Jkarian Pass and started the long ascent toward the crest. The mules couldn’t swear at their burdens, but they did get to rest part of each day, when some of Draelin’s cavalry used their horses to take the animals place. The sweating bearers had no such relief, as they stumbled along from dawn to dusk.
Five days after starting the ascent into the Jkarian Pass, and just after midday, the heavily burdened cavalcade reached its destination. Even the final leg of the journey had taken longer than expected. A fast moving merchant caravan could cross the Pass through the Zagros Mountains in anywhere from six to ten days.
But the ever increasing slope of the trail had strained horses, mules and men. To Alcinor’s eye, they had arrived just in time to avoid complete exhaustion and collapse.
Thankfully, since the Akkadians first entered the Pass, they’d encountered only one caravan coming west, and Alcinor had been grateful to see that they were in fact only merchants and their armed guards. While there might be a spy or two mixed among them, he thought it highly unlikely that anyone would suspect his intentions. Even the odd cargo of logs would be ignored. After all, what could one do with a handful of logs in the middle of the mountains?
The engineer and the soldier rode side by side. “This is the place, Draelin.” Alcinor pointed toward the right. “Behind that boulder is a narrow path that leads away from the trail and into the mountains. It only lasts for about eight hundred paces before it comes to an end against the cliffs. There’s no other way in. But at the far end, there’s a good place to make camp. It’s large enough to hold your men and the supplies, and it’s far enough off the trail so that no one will see or hear them.”
“I don’t like the idea of being trapped in these rocks.” Draelin sounded dubious. “But at least we’ll be out of sight.”
“I’ll tell the men where to stack the logs. No sense carrying them all the way into the rocks.”
“As soon as they’re unloaded,” Draelin said, “I’m going to send the mules, bearers and any men we don’t need back to Akkad. The sooner we’re rid of the filthy beasts and the extra mouths to feed, the better. Then I’ll clean up our trail and send out the scouts.”
Alcinor led the men into the rocks, told them where to camp, and returned nearly to the mouth of the trail. Two hundred paces into the rocks, the cargo of precious logs and equipment had already been unloaded. Alcinor had only a few moments to thank the porters and bearers, before both men and mules had departed, anxious to get out of the Pass before the Elamites arrived.
Draelin’s soldiers were busy sweeping the ground clear of any tracks that indicated a large party had turned aside and ventured into the mountains. Before the last of the mules was out of sight, Draelin’s men had collected the animal droppings and carried them into the cliff, where they would be buried under piles of loose rocks.
“I’ve sent out four scouts, two toward the east and two on our back trail.” Draelin pointed to a pair of men moving east, just as they disappeared behind the rocks. “They’re on foot because we can’t take a chance on leaving horse tracks or droppings. Still, they should be able to run back and give us enough warning if anyone happens along the trail.”
Alcinor nodded at Draelin’s plans, though he had little interest in the soldiers’ activities. “I’m going to examine the cliff wall. Do you want to come along?”
Draelin glanced up at the rock face towering over them. “Not really, but I suppose I must.”
Alcinor led the way, moving back deeper into the cliffs for a hundred paces, then turning eastward. A few moments later, both men were scrambling over rocks and around boulders as they steadily climbed higher. When Alcinor reached a flat slab of rock, he halted to catch his breath.
Draelin glanced around. “Is this the place?”
“No, but you should see this.”
Alcinor crawled out along the top of a formation until he reached its edge, with Draelin following. A drop greater than two tall trees, at least a hundred paces, lay directly beneath them.
Flat on their bellies, both men peered out at the rocky vista spread out below them. About a hundred and thirty paces away lay part of the Jkarian Pass, with a good stretch visible from their vantage point.
“The highest part of the Pass is less than two miles east,” Alcinor said. “You can just glimpse it from here.”
Draelin crawled closer to the edge and stared. “I can’t even see the scouts. But I’ll take your word for it.” He twisted his head upwards. “Is that the cliff?”
“No, it’s a little further ahead, and a bit closer to the trail. But we have to climb even higher.” Alcinor wriggled away from the precipice and regained his feet. He led the way, moving higher and deeper into rock walls that towered overhead, following marks that he had scraped on the stones on his previous visit. Finally he stopped. “This is the place.”
Draelin’s eyes widened as he glanced around. “I can’t even see the main trail. How can you block the Pass from here?”
“Look up.”
The soldier did so, and Alcinor smiled at the look of amazement that appeared on Draelin’s face. Overhead a massive slab of rock towered over them, leaning at a sharp angle. It looked as if it waited for them to arrive, poised to crush them to death for daring to stand beneath it.
“Ishtar mother of the gods!” Draelin’s mouth stayed open, and he made a sign to ward off the evil spirits.
“Don’t worry, Draelin. It’s been standing here for many years, perhaps hundreds of years.”
“If you say so.” Draelin continued to stare at the rock wall leaning over them. “When Eskkar first told me you were going to bring down a mountain, I didn’t believe it. But looking at that thing, it looks ready to collapse at any moment.”
“It won’t come down, not yet.”
“I’m not so sure. I never felt fear run through me like that, not in my whole life. By the gods, how much does it weigh? It’s the size of a village! Bigger, even!”
“I’ve no idea,” Alcinor admitted. “More than we can imagine.”
Sounds of men climbing toward them reached Alcinor’s ears. The first of his workers had unpacked their loads, gathered their tools, and mounted the cliff in search of their leader. Mouths agape, they, too, kept glancing at the massive overhang.
Alcinor nodded in sympathy. The cliff did indeed appear threatening. “Well, Draelin, there’s no need for you up here. Go back down. Tell your men to send up water, at least three skins. My men are going to need a lot of water.”
&nb
sp; “May the gods be with you,” Draelin said, “but I’m not coming back up here again, not unless you need me.”
Alcinor ignored Draelin’s parting words. Instead the engineer strode deeper into the rocks, so deep that the sunlight scarcely penetrated. He reached the place where he’d left another mark scratched on the cliff face, a circle with a line through its center. Yes, this was where they would start.
Alcinor spread his fingers and pressed them to the rock surface. He rubbed them hard against the stone, then touched his fingers to his lips. He recognized the gritty taste of the limestone, and the faint hint of salt. The cliff’s surface, composed mainly of quartz and limestone was strong, very strong, but buried within that strength were tiny flecks of salt.
Those slight grains of impurity accounted for the occasional white streaks scattered over the cliff. If he were right, those impurities would be just enough to weaken the stone.
“You have stood proud and high for many years.” Alcinor spoke to the cliff face as if she were his mistress. “But you’ll come down when I ask you. You’ll struggle and resist, but in the end, you will yield.”
His assistant Jahiri, a few seasons older than the Engineer, joined him. On the journey up, Jahiri had ridden with the log bearers, watching over the precious cargo. His cheerful attitude set him apart from most of the builders. Unlike his master, Jahiri stood tall and broad, and the thick muscles on his shoulders and arms seemed more suitable to a common laborer.
Nevertheless, he had proved himself the most amenable to the Engineer’s new ways and methods. “Is this the slab?”
Alcinor moved a few paces deeper into the shadow. If he stretched himself upright and raised his arm, he could almost touch the massive slab of stone that leaned over his head. “Yes. This is where the cliff is tallest, and hopefully, weakest. We’ll start here.”
Jahiri squatted down and examined the rock surface beneath their feet. “We’ll have to level the footing first.” He lifted his eyes up. “And trim the beam to match the angle of the overhang.”
“Use the strongest and straightest log we have,” Alcinor said. “This one will carry the most weight, and will be the key to bringing down the mountain.”
Jahiri glanced up at the mountain towering over him. “Looking at this weight of stone, I wish we’d brought thicker beams.”
“These will have to do. If the logs were any thicker, we’d never have been able to carry them.”
The first work crew arrived, and Alcinor told them to begin. Under Jahiri’s direction, they started chipping the rock away. Another senior apprentice directed ten of Draelin’s soldiers, who grunted under the burden of man-handling the awkward size and bulk of the first heavy oak log.
They used ropes and brute strength to haul it up the rocks, cursing their bad luck the entire way. They fought against the massive bulk heavy weight which kept threatening to slide back down the slope, or crush their fingers and toes as it shifted with each movement.
The wood had come from the northern forest. Jahiri had travelled almost to the steppes. There the master apprentice selected twenty of the finest oak logs from the crafty woodmen who dwelt in the foothills. They had recognized the opportunity to demand a high price, and Jahiri had paid almost double what such lumber would usually cost.
Two ships had floated the logs down the Tigris, to a farm just north of Akkad. The logs were trimmed and inspected for soundness, then dried in the shade. When Alcinor and Jahiri had finished their preparations, sixteen logs remained, each one about ten paces long and each perfectly straight.
“Better to have to cut them down when we’re at the Pass, than try to make do with a shorter one,” Alcinor had declared at the time.
As soon as Jahiri and his men finished preparing the footing, Alcinor took his measurement with his special staff, nocked and marked along its length for different distances. He indicated where the log should be cut, and a wood cutter and his assistant started the sawing, using a bright new bronze blade made by the finest toolmaker in Akkad. Trella had indeed spared no expense.
The two men took their time with the saw, one man pulling the blade, while the other guided it from the other end. Then they reversed roles, with the second man pulling the blade back. The labor took skill and patience, but Alcinor wanted a straight cut, and these men knew how to deliver it.
Again and again the saw rasped its way through the thick log, cutting into it by tiny fractions. The hard wood fought the blade, and other men took turns at the labor until they completed the cut. Then the oak had to be trimmed with hammer and chisel to sit flat on the ground but angled on the top to match the slope of the overhang. The entire task would have taken a day or two back in Akkad, but Alcinor had the services of over ten skilled artisans, and the work proceeded rapidly.
Three times they attempted to raise the log and fit it against the cliff, but each time the oak beam needed further adjustment.
At last the log rested snugly at top and bottom. Jahiri selected a special tool he’d ordered made, a thick bronze strip as wide as his hand and formed into a half circle, to avoid damaging the log. Two men held the band in place, while Jahiri used his hammer against the metal surface, each blow wedging the log tighter and tighter against the overhang. The log resisted, and sometimes it took five or ten blows to move it the tiniest of fractions.
When Jahiri finished, sweat covered his brow and dripped onto his chest. Alcinor gave the order to halt. The heat under the cliff drained the men’s strength. “Enough for today. We’ll start again at dawn.” He led the tired and thirsty men down the hill. As soon as they reached the bottom, the laborers headed toward the camp and their supper.
Alcinor, however, found Draelin waiting for him.
Draelin said nothing until the others had gone on ahead. “A messenger just arrived from Akkad. Lord Eskkar says the Elamites are on the move toward the Jkarian Pass. Considering how long it took before the news reached the King, and the four days it took for the messenger to reach us, the enemy could be here any day now. How soon can you be ready?”
Alcinor’s satisfaction at today’s progress vanished. Frowning, he turned to stare up at the cliff face. “I need to put at least ten more support logs in place before we start chipping away at the cliff. They must be placed exactly straight so as to take the strain. If we’re rushed . . . if we’re off in our calculations, then the whole cliff could come down the wrong way, or not at all, and we’ll accomplish nothing.”
“So we’ve another five days, before you’re ready?”
Alcinor shook his head. “After the beams are in place, then we have to chip out more of the cliff wall. It’s like cutting down a tree. The first cut, the deepest, is at the base of the rock wall. That points the way the cliff should fall. Then the second cuts, well above the first, will cause the weight of the stone to shift onto the logs. That may take another two or three days.”
It took Draelin a moment to add up the days. “Damn the gods and that cursed rain. So we’ve got to be here at least eight days. What if the Elamites come before you’re ready?”
“Then we hide here in the rocks, Draelin, and hope they don’t find us. Unless you can hold them off until we finish?”
“Six thousand men? Maybe more?” Draelin snorted. “I don’t think so. Why didn’t we start sooner?”
“Because Lord Eskkar said that we had to seal the Pass at the last possible moment, so that the Elamites don’t find out about it and change their plans. Then they could just turn around and march back east, to join their other armies coming through the Dellen Pass. Remember, the logs took longer to arrive, and because of all the delays that held us up.”
“And now we may be too late. Well, let’s hope Ishtar smiles on you, and your plan works.” Draelin glanced up at the cliff towering over them. “Is there anything more my men can do to speed up the pace?”
“No, I don’t think so. This is not a job for unskilled workers, like digging a hole in the ground. I’ll keep my men working as hard and fa
st as they can. If we rush, we may accomplish nothing. It will take how ever long it takes to bring down the mountain.”
“Damn.” Draelin shook his head. “I’ll send my scouts deeper into the Pass, and double the guards on the camp.”
“Good. That should give us plenty of warning.”
“A warning may not mean much.”
Alcinor lifted his hands and let them drop. “We’ll do our best.”
The two men walked back through the maze of rocks that led to the camp. Neither would enjoy their supper much tonight.
Alcinor wondered if Lord Eskkar and Lady Trella had cut the time to finish the job too close. Draelin had told the engineer that the first Elamite invaders into the Land Between the Rivers would use this route. Their goal, according to Trella’s spies, was to ravage the lands north of Akkad, and hopefully draw Eskkar’s cavalry northward into a fight, weakening the city’s defenses.
A good plan, Alcinor had decided, as soon as he grasped the implications. Faced with so many threats, Akkad just did not have the manpower to fight the Elamites coming through the Jkarian Pass. Eskkar would be hard pressed to hold off the invaders’ main army.
Still, all of this meant little now. Alcinor had a task to do, and that was all that mattered. He glanced at the cliffs towering all around him, and wondered if he would get out of this place alive.
Chapter 15
The next morning, Alcinor led all five of his craftsmen up to the slope. He wanted each of them to see the first beam set into its place, so they would understand what they had to do next.
As he spoke, the day’s first crew of soldiers arrived, grunting under the weight of another log. Alcinor wanted all the beams carried up to the cliff face today, since he didn’t know when he might need one. Soon all the artisans were at work.
“You know what we need to do, Jahiri.” Alcinor had whispered the news of the approaching Elamites to his master apprentice last night. “We may have to take more chances than we planned.”