Zach went inside an inn called Inn of the Last Ranger. Rangers were a rare group of people, loners mostly; they tended to live deep within the wilderness and rarely visited civilization. Thus, he was intrigued by the name. Under the right circumstances, this inn might prove to be a valuable source of information. There were a variety of patrons inside including soldiers, villagers, a prostitute and some of the clergy of Ilian Nah. He seated himself at an open table by the hearth and enjoyed the warmth, listening to the conversations of those nearby while he waited for a server to bring him a mug of warm, spiced ale.
The conversations inside the inn did not carry much of interest to the assassin. The whore was looking for a soldier who would spend some coin on her, the soldiers were drinking and talking of whoring, the few farmers and locals that he saw kept very quiet and looked often at the soldiers. Zach wasn't surprised by this. From what he had seen, the Nashians were not as well respected by their subjugated peoples as he had heard. While most people seemed pleased with the advent of paved roads and improved trade, the strict code of behavior required by the Nashians was anathema to what most of these free people believed.
Zach drank one ale and decided to leave. There was little of value to learn from this inn. As he walked out into the cool air, he spied a trio of local men walking towards him that his instincts told him would be of interest. But, as much as he wished to spy upon the men who appeared to be foresters, he did not have time to tarry. Zach placed his hand on Morloth as he walked by the trio and listened to them mutter and grumble about the Nashians. Other than some derogatory comments about their new rulers, the only thing of interest that he heard were the names of two of the men: Tharas and Seth. Zach filed that away in his memory and hoped he would have another chance to visit this inn that was named for rangers. Zach continued on his way through Fort Ogrewall, passing by the brothels and other shops.
Like any large military force, this one needed women for a variety of reasons. Keeping the brothels full and flowing with coin was one reason. But other women provided more material services such as the seamstresses who kept the uniforms of the soldiers ready for the next battle, or the women who slaved in the kitchens to keep the soldiers fed while they were in garrison. Finding little of interest within town, he made his way back to Garrison Headquarters. He stopped at the portcullis and waited for the armed men to confirm his status. While Zach waited, a pair of knights approached the gate. Stunned, he recognized the armor that the knights wore. These were Zuharim! Clearly they belonged in Fort Ogrewall for none challenged them and the guards let them through without question. The presence of Zuharim Knights confirmed the rumors about the downfall of their ancient order. After a few moments the guards let Zach inside and escorted him to his quarters.
His quarters were bleak in typical soldier fashion, little more than a room with a cot, but he looked forward to sleeping dry. He lay down on his cot and thought about what was to come. The first part of this group's mission required traveling to the dominion of the ogre tribes high up in the mountain passes. Shalthazar wanted to persuade the ogres to join the coming war on the side of the Prophet-General. Zach wasn't sure how they were going to persuade the fickle ogres to do anything that they didn't want to do and wondered what exactly Shalthazar hoped to gain from them. It wasn't likely that they would enter any conflict without strong incentive; he wondered what the dark elf had in mind. Just as he began to sink into unconscious sleep, Balzath threw open the door and walked in.
"These are my quarters, Balzath. You can't just--" he groaned, annoyed. The witch cut him off.
"Yes, yes. How very nice, dear." Balzath placed her hand under his chin to look him in the eyes. Zach felt a slight tingling sensation and his vision became cloudy as pain raced through his skull. "I come and go as I please," the witch said sweetly, her bosom scant inches from his face. He was exceedingly annoyed that she would barge into his room and place a spell upon him. "And I just know you are happy to see me. So, let's go on a little trip!"
With that, the woman released Zach and skipped out of his room like a young girl. Zach shook his head as he gathered his things and followed. He looked forward to returning to Fort Ogrewall after this dubious mission so he could begin performing his new duties, he only hoped that he would someday be ordered to assassinate Balzath.
The witch led Zach to the stables where there were four horses saddled and ready for travel. Two of them were already mounted, their riders looking down upon Zach with disdain. Balzath and Zach climbed onto their mounts and the witch led the way out of the town. The traveling companions were silent. Zach thought it odd that Balzath did not tell him who these two men were. One of them looked familiar but Zach decided it would be better not to ask, they would reveal their identities to him soon enough.
The journey to the edge of Nashian held territory was uneventful and only took two days. The road between Fort Ogrewall and the foot of the Ogrewall Mountains was straight and controlled completely by Nashian Forces. Once they reached the foothills, however, the going became more difficult. A gradual increase in their elevation as they neared the mountains demonstrated that winter was not prepared to relinquish its icy grasp here.
The road ascended through the foothills and became more treacherous as it steadily narrowed to little more than a footpath, forcing the group to walk their horses. Giant boulders protruded from the ground like spines on the back of a dragon, true dragons were said to dwell in the high places of the Ogrewall Mountains. Zach recalled his encounter with the wasp dragon in the Underllars, which was something like a giant scorpion with the wings and the personality of an angry hornet. But true dragons were said to be great flying serpents, sinister and powerful. They were intelligent, cunning, and capable of great feats of trickery and magic. Shalthazar had foreseen that there might be some dangerous encounters through the pass and ordered two more to join their party. The first was Urelis. Zach thought the man was a sniveler, always worried about the state of his clothes and the set of his long blond hair. He was a something of a dandy in fact, yet he assumed there had to be something more substantial beneath the man's obsessive surface.
The other new member of the group was a priest called Ebonaar. Ebonaar was a truly loathsome fellow. He was bald and ugly and had beady eyes which were always darting about. The man carried a shiny black staff topped with a ram's head always gripped in his right hand, a hand that was actually a scaly lizard-like claw. Zach grimly recalled that he had been present when this malevolent priest had lost his hand. Ebonaar had assaulted him and Carym in Dockyard City. When Ebonaar cast a hideous spell, a screeching magical skull that sailed through the air, Carym struck the man's hand from his arm with a sword slash. Although the dark priest had escaped with his life, he nursed a vile hatred of Carym for his injury. When Ebonaar recognized that Zach had been a party to his disfigurement, he extended this hatred to the assassin.
To Zach's dismay, the priest jabbered incessantly as they went, complaining about his miserable lot in life. He claimed that his new benefactor, Tartarus, had given him his reptilian hand and had even given him terrifying new powers. Zach had been personally responsible for the deaths of many of Tartarus' followers under the guise of the Phantom, and it didn't take Ebonaar long to connect him to that too. Zach knew he would have to sleep with one eye open.
By the fourth day, the going had become too steep to continue with horses and the foursome had to set their mounts free. They decided it was time to make camp and found a cave which was large enough for all to sleep in. Unfortunately, a sleeping bear was displeased when it was awakened by Ebonaar's obnoxious voice. When the bear attacked, the priest killed it by inflicting a withering disease upon it. Then Urelis cursed the priest for wasting the meat which could have been used for food. The priest threatened to afflict the apprentice wizard with a vile plague, forcing Zach to step in tell them both to shut up. Meanwhile, Balzath started a fire and hummed to herself, occasionally stopping her song to laugh and at a joke that only she k
new.
"What a wonderful place you've found for us, Ebonaar!" hissed Urelis. "I'm going to get all bruised sleeping on these rocks. And all this dust will show up like a boiling sore on my black robes!"
"Urelis," said the priest with a gap-toothed leer and a hideous chuckle. "You know that if you sustain any injuries to your delicate backside, I have a nice spell that will take your mind off the pain." Urelis, to his credit, did not engage the priest further.
Zach retired to a corner of the cave and laid out his bedroll, hoping to avoid contact with all three of his companions. Just as the man began to drift off to sleep, he felt a presence next to him. He knew it was Balzath and he tried to ignore her, but the witch had wiggled her way into his bedroll and Zach knew there would be no ignoring her advances.
Zach emerged from the cave before dawn and scouted the area higher up on the trail ahead while his companions prepared themselves for the day's climb. The pre-dawn air was still and cold, and the harsh wind and dark clouds told Zach this would change for the worse the higher they climbed.
The road that had become a trail now became little more than meandering spaces between boulders used by mountain goats and other highland game. It was treacherous on the rocky slope and rocks constantly shifted loose beneath their feet. The large boulders, which had made good hand-holds and places to hide from the wind, disappeared as the grade steepened. A thin layer of snow made the trail more difficult to find and the bitter cold seeped through his leather gloves.
Zack only ranged far enough to find a suitable place for the group to make their next stop. While he could move about the boulders fairly well, despite the treacherous ground, his companions were not so well suited to climbing and the next stopping point would take time for them to reach. Once he found a suitable location, Zach paused and looked out over the world below. He hadn't really understood just how high, and how far, he had come on this journey. He let out a sigh as he looked out over the snow-covered hills. Their beauty was incredible. There was nothing like this in Hybrand and he was pleased with himself for making the decision to flee that doomed land. Zach had heard news that Hybrand was now completely under the wizard's control, having been liberated from the Arnathians by King Cannath and Commander Coronus. He grimly wondered what sort of deal Cannath had struck with this lot.
He leaned back against a boulder reaching for a piece of jerky, staring at the world. Losing focus, getting absorbed in the moment, could prove to be a fatal mistake in this harsh environment and Zach forced himself to snap out of it. With rumors of dragons and wyverns dwelling in these high places, and of course ogres, he was continuously concerned about the possibility of ambush. It was certainly possible that one of the great beasts had been watching their entire climb. Or perhaps the ogres were watching, waiting to set an ambush.
Ogres, he wondered. What on Llars are they? Zach had never seen one and had never met anyone who had. He had heard many rumors, some said that the ogres were large as giants. Other rumors alleged that ogres were man-sized, and others told of ogres that were smaller than dwarves; Zach doubted those rumors. Some folk said ogres were primitive and lived in caves and that they barely knew how to make fire, while others said that ogres were so advanced that even the gods feared them. Zach assumed there were kernels of truth among all these rumors and in the end, they would find out about ogres when they met ogres. He would satisfy himself, for the moment, to believe that they were, in fact, formidable.
Zach stood up from the boulder, brushed himself off and made his way back down the treacherous mountain path, dreading his unpleasant companions. His appointment to accompany Balzath on this mission seemed more punishment than reward, and the constant tension among his traveling companions was difficult to bear.
"It would be easy enough for that filthy priest to have an accident," offered Zach's companion voice. He smiled, imagining the diseased priest tumbling down the mountainside, his body battered and broken. What a shame that would be.
Zach returned to the cave to find his companions had broken camp and were ready to move out. He said nothing to them in the way of greeting and simply turned to lead the way back up the mountain. He was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their varied and annoying personalities. He particularly detested the priest who seemed to enjoy casting his filthy afflictions upon healthy animals that could have been used for food.
As the day wore on, the air became thinner and the going became significantly harder. The group was forced to stop for frequent breaks to catch their breath and even Urelis' incessant whining had ceased because he was having enough trouble just breathing.
Finally, the foursome reached the location Zach had scouted and they stopped to eat a cold meal somewhat protected from the wind. The longer this day wore on, the more Zach felt like the group was being watched, though he did not know if the source of his uneasiness stemmed from mountain dwelling ogres or something far worse. They were nearing a large plateau, Zach hoped the group would reach it before nightfall, but something intangible troubled him. The plateau might prove to be a good place to halt for the night, but it might also be occupied by something that would not want visitors.
"I'm going to scout farther ahead. We don't know what's up there waiting for us," he said to Balzath. The witch nodded, respecting Zach's experience in these matters, giving her assent.
"Where are you going?" hissed the priest as Zach shouldered past him. Zach stopped and glared at the ugly, pox-scarred, man who was not intimidated. "Looking for a way to betray us the way you betrayed your other friends?"
Zach's anger flared up. He reached for Morloth instinctively; he wanted to kill the disgusting priest. Before he could strike, Balzath drew a long slender wand and cracked the priest across the forehead.
"That was for your insolence!" she hissed. "Shadowblade works for me, not you." The priest had been put in his pace by the witch, yet Zach did not miss the hateful glare from his dark and beady eyes; and silent promises were exchanged between the two men. With a smirk, Zach turned and began his trek upward toward the plateau.
The climb was cold and arduous, his hands stung from the biting cold. Zach climbed as far as he felt he could go and still allow enough time to return for his companions. A stretch of sheer cliff face lay between him and the top of the plateau some twenty feet above. He paused to consider the options before him. He searched for a way around the difficult section but could find nothing easy. Returning to the cliff face, Zach realized it was not entirely sheer, there were enough small hand and foot holds that the four should be able to climb over it. It would be a difficult climb but he was confident the group could reach the plateau. However, his warrior's instincts also told him that it would be the perfect place for an ambush and his erstwhile companions would be hard pressed to defend against one. He knew that he should climb the face now and conduct a reconnaissance of the plateau, but there would not be time for him to climb it and return to the group if they wanted to reach the top before nightfall.
Zach knew he should return to his companions but thoughts of going on alone tempted him. He detested them, and the affections of that insane witch were grating on his nerves.
"Leave them behind, they are slowing you down!" urged the disembodied voice that had been plaguing him at inopportune moments ever since he left the Underllars.
"I'd like to, believe me," he admitted to the voice. "Balzath is mad, Urelis is an insufferable whiner and the priest just wants to kill me."
"We could kill him first."
"Perhaps," he said, enjoying that thought. "If he is not careful I will gut him like a fish."
"He is no match for us!" agreed the voice. "But we must be wary of his foul touch."
Zach turned around and made his way down the treacherous path, thoughts of spilling the dirty priest's innards bringing a smile to his face. He returned to the camp to find the priest and the wizard sitting by a small fire of dark flames. Zach wondered if the magical flames were in fact making things colder. The priest rub
bed his hands vigorously and cast Zach a hate-filled glare. Urelis muttered to himself but gave the assassin a nod of respect. Zach was surprised at that but held a healthy level of distrust for the wizard anyway.
Feeling mischievous, he stalked up to the fire and pretended to slip on a stone. As he feigned a fall to the rocky ground, Zach leaned over and fell onto the back of the huddled priest. Zach's forearm landed heavily on the man's back and propelled him headlong into a large rock. When the quivering priest arose from the dirt, blood trickled from a cut on his forehead.
"Oh, sorry about that," said Zach insincerely, on his feet again in a flash and brushing himself off. "Someone should remove that rock, it's liable to hurt someone."
The priest growled and began muttering a spell. As Zach drew his dagger and prepared to end the life of the pathetic priest, a shadow blocked out the sun and a terrifying shriek split the air.
"Dragon!" shouted Ebonaar, turning from his near duel with Zach to hide and cower among boulders which would provide them almost no measure of protection anyway. Urelis sneered at the sniveling priest and thrust his hands into the air, preparing to bend the power of magic to his bidding. Balzath drew her considerably powerful wand and chanted softly.
The dragon was as an impressive sight as any Zach had ever seen. It was at once graceful and proud and yet it seemed to embody the essence of hatred and malevolence. It was sleek and gray. Its eyes were dark, looking down upon them with seeming scorn as it passed. The intelligent beast flapped its wings to push it into a higher altitude. Then it circled lazily far above the companions. The dragon had to be at least three times the size of the biggest wasp dragon Zach had ever seen.
The Tomb of the Dark Paladin Page 15