Alto glanced around and looked up at the skyline of the mountains against the clouds. The stars were hidden but there was still enough light to see the outline of the ridges and mountaintops. He was traveling alone amongst the most unfriendly environment he'd ever seen. The odds had started out against him. With that grim thought in mind, Alto began to carefully pick his way down the treacherous slope.
By the time he reached the wide path at the bottom of the slope, Alto guessed close to an hour had passed. He was chilled again and wondering if stumbling into an enemy camp in the middle of the night was a good idea. A squeeze of the hilt at his side reassured him that he could deal with whatever he faced. He had his shield to light the way, after all.
As he approached, he found that he need not have worried. He saw a glow lighting up the landscape around a bend in the trail ahead. The sound of rocks crashing into one another and thudding onto the ground grew more frequent, as did commands called out in a harsh language that sounded like what the ogres and goblins had used, except one of the speakers had a deep voice that made the guttural words sound almost like the rocks themselves were speaking.
Alto moved up as quietly as he could and tried to stay concealed amongst the large rocks on the western edge of the path. When he rounded the corner, what he saw took his breath away. A man who looked to be nearly twice as tall as an ogre was barking out orders to the ogres that were struggling to carry and roll rocks and boulders. They were building what looked like a wall across the path, narrowing the path to a choke point. Timbers from trees that had been stripped free of branches were lying in a pile nearby. Others had already been used to start supporting the primitive rock wall.
Alto did a quick count and tallied up eight ogres plus the giant. He'd killed more but never had to face so many at once. Nor had he ever fought a giant. He leaned around a rock and stared at the giant again, marveling at the thickness of the enormous creature. His wrist alone was the size of Alto's chest!
Nine opponents, each of them strong enough to crush him with a single blow. Alto frowned and wondered if this was time he finally moved on. He watched them building the wall, marveling at the simple yet effective techniques. The giant didn't seem much for conversation but he was a skilled stonemason. Alto studied the wall, trying to find areas that looked weak enough for him to exploit if the opportunity arose. After a few moments, he shook his head. Short of using great strength to knock away the supports and then siege weapons to batter the rocks, the wall looked like it was going to become as permanent as the mountains around him.
Alto did notice one thing while studying the wall. As it grew taller, the ogres had to lift the boulders up. They strained under the weight of them, with many requiring two or even three ogres to lift. Alto grimaced at the thought of what one of those rocks falling on him would do. Then his grimace turned to a smile. Maybe he could even the odds a little.
He ducked behind the rocks and readied his bow. He frowned, seeing that he had only three arrows left in his quiver. With a shrug, he set them point first into the snow beside him for easy retrieval. Then he waited for the perfect moment. It came sooner than he expected.
Two groups of ogres were working. The first consisted of two ogres securing a log while a three-man team was readying a stone to lift. A third ogre was rolling a massive stone over to the wall where his partner waited to help him lift it. Alto fit his arrow to his string and pulled it back when the three ogres managed to hoist the rock up. As soon as they shifted and picked it up above their shoulders, one of the ogres had to duck underneath it and brace his shoulders against it while the other two shifted their grip. Alto let his arrow fly.
It struck the middle ogre in the hip just above his thigh. The strike was high but it served its purpose, forcing the ogre to howl and lurch to the side. The sudden movement unbalanced the rock and made them lose their grip. The ogre beneath it crumpled under its weight and softened the blow as it drove him to the ground with the sound of the wet cracking and popping of his bones.
The second team had just begun to lift their rock and the howling ogre distracted them. The rock fell, crushing the foot of one of the ogres and drawing an agonized scream from him. Alto loosed his second arrow at the wounded ogre's partner, hitting him high on the back between his shoulder and spine. The ogre staggered from the impact and turned around even as it raised its hand to try to figure out what had stung it. As it turned, Alto saw the barbed tip of his arrow had emerged from the hollow below and beside the ogre's neck.
The giant roared out a single word and spun around. He looked up the path towards Alto and spotted him before he could duck behind cover. The giant's quick reactions convinced him that while he might be a brute, he was nowhere near as slow-witted as the ogres were. Alto grabbed his third arrow and pulled it back at the same time the able-bodied ogres were turning and beginning to come after him. He let it fly and saw the giant grunt and jerk his head to the side. He slapped his hand to the side of his head and pulled it away. His palm was covered in blood from where Alto's arrow had grazed his head.
Alto dropped his bow and drew his sword. He leapt out into the open away from the rocks and waited until the first reaching ogre was close, and then he slammed the mountain on his shield and bathed the ogre in light.
The ogres closest to him faltered and raised their hands to block the light from their eyes. Alto leaped forward and gutted the closest one and then spun away and slammed his shield into the belly of another. The ogre grunted from the impact but held his ground until Alto's sword hacked into the side of his leg and made him crumple to the ground.
Alto leapt back from the flailing ogre, causing a third one that was reaching for him to overextend himself and trip over his fallen comrades. Alto sliced through his reaching hand, cutting it so that only the stub of his thumb and a small portion of his palm remained attached to his wrist. Another ogre leapt over the growing pile and sent Alto sliding back across the ground with a punch to his chest that drove the wind from him.
Alto rolled while he was still sliding on the snow-covered ground and rose up. He coughed and drew in a ragged breath, and then spun away from the ogre when it lunged towards him and reached with its arms wide. The ogre spun back to catch him but Alto ducked under the grasping arms and drove his sword up into its side. He yanked it free and spun away, spraying blood across the snow and causing the ogre to stagger and reach for the gushing wound.
The final two ogres approached but fell behind the giant. The giant snapped out orders to his men but what they were Alto couldn't determine. The two able-bodied ogres started pulling the wounded ogres back and checked to see if their wounds were mortal. The giant advanced on Alto, each of his strides eating up the distance it would take Alto four steps to make.
The giant pointed at Alto as he continued to back up, and then he reached down and picked up a rock that looked to be nearly twice the size of Alto's head. He raised it back and cast it towards him, causing Alto to duck and raise his shield at the same time.
The rock crashed into the upper portion of the shield and bounced away but the force of the blow knocked Alto onto the ground. His arm and shoulder throbbed and blood filled his mouth from where the rim of his shield had slammed into his lip and split it. Alto spit the blood out and climbed to his feet.
"Now you've made me mad," Alto spat, spraying blood into the snow.
The giant scowled at him and reached down for another rock. Alto ran forward, pumping his legs with everything he had to close the distance before the giant could drop the latest boulder on him.
Alto's unexpected charge surprised the giant. He stared at the charging warrior, one hand on the rock that came to Alto's knee. Alto stepped onto the rock, grinding the giant's thumb under his boot, and leapt off it while he thrust with his sword.
The giant stood and staggered back, but not without having its shoulder pierced by Alto's blade. Blood spurted from the wound and then ran down its arm after the initial surge. The giant snarled and spat out
something at Alto, and then turned and looked for a weapon to grab.
Alto took the opportunity to stab the giant in the thigh. He tried to saw the blade out when he yanked it free but the giant had jerked its leg back from him at the same time. Fresh blood sprayed onto the ground, melting the snow and making the dirt road slick.
The giant swatted at Alto but he managed to duck under the strike. Wind from the passing fist ruffled his hair. Alto tried to back away but the giant kicked at him next, the leather of his boot glancing off Alto's hip and side. Alto was lifted from the impact but he landed on his feet, even if he had to wave his arms and take several steps to stay upright. He turned around, placing his back against the loose rocks he'd once used to hide behind. He was breathing hard and expecting the giant to tower over him with its foot raised to squash him.
The giant was on one knee instead. It reached down and used its uninjured arm to brace itself while it rose back to its feet. Fresh blood poured in a stream from the deep puncture in its thigh. The giant spat out something in its language but held its ground. Behind the massive overseer, Alto could see the two remaining healthy ogres advancing on him with large rocks of their own in their hands. At least their rocks were only the size of his head.
Alto had heard stories of women being stoned long ago when they were accused of witchcraft. It did not sound like a pleasant way to die. He raised his shield and extended it out to absorb the strike of a thrown stone and then stepped away from the rocks behind him so he wouldn't trip. He felt a hitch in his hip when he moved but forced it to rotate through the full range of motion.
Both ogres threw their rocks at him. Alto was able to deflect one with his shield, even though it made his hand and wrist ache to do so. The other rock sailed past him. Even more dangerous, the giant stepped back in and swung at his head.
Alto ducked under the swinging fist but wasn't fast enough to lash out with his sword at it. Instead, he grunted when another rock crashed into him, this time bouncing off his ribs. He staggered back a step and shook it off, and then had to throw himself to the side to avoid the giant trying to squash him underfoot.
Alto pushed off the ground and rolled to his knees. He hacked with his sword in a backhanded swing that cut through the giant's boot and hewed into his heel. The giant yanked his foot away but the twisting motion caused him to slip on the blood-soaked ground he stood on. He fell back.
Alto used the sitting giant as a shield from the rock-throwing ogres. The giant was rolling onto his hip and trying to rise when Alto reached him and buried his sword in the giant's bottom. The giant thrashed and howled, kicking back and forcing Alto to step aside and trip to avoid being crushed. He jumped to his feet and stabbed up into the giant's side before yanking the blade out at an angle. Blood splattered Alto's feet and legs as it poured out of the wound.
The giant rolled away and slammed his hand into the ground, nearly squashing Alto. The warrior lashed out and gashed the giant deeply along the forearm. He ran up towards the giant's head as it lifted its freshly wounded arm and struggled to sit up after having been stung so many times. Alto slipped behind the giant, barely dodging one ogre-hurled rock by chance. The second rock slammed into the giant's back, earning a grunt. Alto held his sword overhead and reversed his grip before slamming it in to the hilt in the giant's back.
The giant stiffened from the strike and jerked away. Alto stumbled but held on to the bloody sword even as fresh blood poured from the new wound. He sliced again as the giant rose and tried to limp away from him, cutting into the muscles beside the giant's spine.
The giant staggered a few feet before he fell to his knees. He tried to regain his feet but collapsed forward. A final push to rise ended with the giant falling flat on his face and letting out a massive breath that blew the snow on the path up in a blizzard of flurries.
Alto turned around to see the two ogres staring at him. They looked at each other and dropped their rocks before turning and running through the narrow opening in the stone wall they'd been building. The other ogre that had its hand cut off was holding his wound with his other arm while sitting on the ground and staring at Alto. The ogre snarled as Alto walked towards him and made to rise. Alto slammed his shield into him, knocking him back down, and then cut his head off.
Alto turned and stared at the battleground. Blood soaked the ground, turning the snow red in the fading light from his shield and the lanterns the ogres had hung from posts driven into the ground near the wall.
He reactivated his shield and turned back to stare up at the path where the giant had fallen. Once he took his eyes off the giant, he realized the scenery looked familiar. He aimed his light up at the sloping rocks and then at the path again. Alto chuckled as he realized he was on the road north of Highpeak.
He turned to face the stone wall. He couldn't destroy it or do any appreciable damage that Sarya's forces couldn't repair in the blink of an eye. Beyond it, only a few hours away, lay Highpeak. He could get a horse there and make his way back to Holgasford in a week or less. Then he could begin the task of getting the materials needed for his sword.
Alto nodded and started forward. With the ogres and giant all dead, he was beginning to cool down again. He took a deep breath and pulled his bloody cloak tighter to him, and then grimaced from the injuries he'd taken. Giant-sized boots and rocks the size of melons left lasting marks.
Alto steeled himself and sheathed his sword. He had a long ways to go and he wouldn't get there any faster feeling sorry for himself.
Chapter 13
Tristam led the Blades of Leander into the palace, pushing past the guards who flanked them. The men at the doors reacted too late to stop him, though they cried out at the unexpected intrusion. Garrick stopped and slammed the left-hand guard back into the wall beside the door while Mordrim lowered the visor on his helm and slammed his head into the chest and stomach of the guard on the right.
The guards accompanying them hesitated but went to draw their weapons. Mordrim turned to face them, tapping his hammer in his hand while the guard he'd dropped retched onto the ground.
"There's a stench in this city and we mean to root it out," Tristam turned and called out to the gathered guards and people who started to assemble. "We'll burn it out if we must!"
"Burn it out?" Kar asked after Tristam turned and headed into the palace.
"You made one hell of a fire here last time. I'm betting on them remembering that," Tristam said.
The wizard chuckled and hurried after the warrior.
"See what I done back there? Took that guard out proper. Yours was still standing," Mordrim hissed to the barbarian.
Garrick scowled at the dwarf and opened his mouth to retort. An outcry from a pair of guards ahead of them made him snap his mouth shut and turn to face them.
"Draw steel and I'll show you the proper way to use it," Tristam shouted at the guard who had cried out. "We're not here to spill blood, yet. We're here to speak to the baron. If you're hoping to see the spring thaw, you'd be wise to take us to him."
The guard looked at the stern faces of Tristam and his men and then saw the other guards who trailed behind. "The baron's breaking his fast," he managed. He turned and pointed down a hall. "Door on the left."
"Smart man," Tristam said as he walked past him. Tristam opened the suggested door and strode in while everyone in the large dining room stopped and started at him and the procession of armed men that followed.
"Baron Mackay," Tristam greeted him with a nod. He saw Master Victor sitting at his left hand. "You've got some rats in this city and normally that wouldn't bother me as long as the gold was good. This time, one of my own is missing and things aren't adding up right. That makes this a matter that gold won't solve."
The baron turned to his aide. "Why is this the first I've heard of this?"
"They insisted on investigating themselves," Victor said. "This is the first I've heard of it since they stormed out this morning."
Baron Mackay studied Tristam's band
and frowned. "I see you are missing someone. Please, Tristam, tell me what the problem is."
Tristam was only too happy to growl out an explanation. "The problem is just that, we're down one and nobody seems to have seen anything. The guards last night and this morning say they saw nothing. Then there's this." He turned and took the log book that Kar offered him, already opened to the page. He pushed several dishes out of his way and slammed the book on the table.
"Baron, I don't expect you to notice the difference now, but this entry claims to have been made before midnight. When we found it, the ink was still wet," Kar explained.
Mackay studied the page and glanced at his aide. "There's a smudge here."
"It could be from the guard who penned it!" Victor protested.
Kar held up his hand to show the blackened ink on his finger. "Or it could be on my finger from when I proved it a few minutes ago. Ask the men at your north gate."
Baron Mackay nodded. He pushed his chair back and stood up. "Tristam, wait here while I personally investigate this."
Tristam's eyes narrowed. "That's what your man said he was going to do."
The baron turned to Victor. "And?"
"And they didn't give me a chance to look into things! My world doesn't revolve around their perceived emergencies. I've schedules to make and meetings to plan, among a host of other things."
The baron scowled but nodded. "Well, now it's a priority. I'll see to it myself."
"My lord! Surely you have important matters at hand. I'll see to this for you."
The baron shook his head. "We owe these men a great deal. Indeed, perhaps even this city itself. I will have answers." He turned to Tristam and asked, "Will you wait here?"
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