by B A Fleming
“That might be useful if we run into those Ice Gols again,” he quickly added as he stepped away from the conversation.
Gameard followed his movements across the room, still not entirely sure of Dralans’ actions.
*****
The Ice Gols army had progressed along the ridge above the valley its most southerly point. Many of his commanders had questioned this tactic between themselves, until they saw the horde of Ice Giants from the mountains of the Har-Koln thunder down the slopes and bow to Lord Yidvag. The Ice Giants wielded swords twice the size of that of the kingdoms’ men and with one swing the blades could both crush ribs and tear them apart. The hairy creatures ran on all fours with the swords strapped on their backs.
Those without swords carried axes. Their axe heads measured over a foot in length and each one weighed more than half the weight of the smallest of the Ice Gols. Far heavier as human axe heads, when wielded by the giants they would easily slice a man in half and kill a horse instantly. In all truthfulness, the giants were known as master craftsmen.
With the Ice Giants now joined, Lord Yidvag headed his army down the slopes. Hundreds of Ice Gols ahead of the main assembly continuously clearing the path ahead, as scouts tracked through the forest disposing of all creatures for hundreds of yards.
Chapter 17
Sadar Bazaar was an assortment of large passages that crisscrossed four streets wide each way with main roads entering from each direction. Canvas lined tents ran in between shopfronts and down most of the center of streets and small squares, and were filled with fragrant foods, vegetables, jewelry, pottery, luxury items, carpets, weapons, and all other manner of goods.
A group of slaves walked past Temar and Aryz Coun, and Casperi stopped momentarily to consider them. Slaving was not part of his life in the valley so to see these poor wretches was a surprise to him, although he didn’t show it.
He was thankful that his first sightings of slaves had been a few hours earlier, and at a distance, so that he was able to process it alone before entering the throng of the lower markets. He turned to see a beggar behind him, tugging at the top of his boot, and a boy thief sneaking towards him. He briefly drew his dagger, smiling at the boy who froze and started to back away from the party.
“Just watch that one,” observed Aryz Coun. “He’ll circle round and come at us from the other side.” Which the boy did several minutes later, only to be met with a swift hand to the back of his head.
White faced men weaved their way through the market carrying weighty parcels of metal that they sold to smiths. The prices seemed impossibly fair to Casperi, who, from learning the accounts with his father, thought the prices somewhat lower than those charged by the merchants back home.
“Those are merchants from the Morean Empire,” offered Aryz Coun. “There are some metals that we cannot get here and they get a much higher price than selling it in the main markets of Masterstone.”
In difference to his own experiences these white merchants seemed to keep intricate records of their sales in small parchment books with pencils in their coats. Whereas the merchants back home would roughly weigh out portions of metal and negotiate prices with smiths, the
merchants of Imuhagh carefully measured every ounce and assigned a cost to the nearest coin.
“I think I know a place we can get our answers, just a few streets away. It’s comfortable, no one will suspect us and it’s close enough to voices that we might hear a thing or two,” offered Temar.
“Yes, but the trick is not in the hearing, it’s listening to the right words, from the right mouths,” reposed Aryz Coun.
The market was a hive of activity as tired delivery men sat on crude benches in the middle of the street awaiting their next load, whilst others pulled and helped push overloaded flat bottom carts along through the narrow lanes to distant shops or customer homes. There were no horses or camels allowed within the lower city walls to help with the deliveries so the loads were taken by the dirty clothed, bare foot men who pushed, pulled, loaded and unloaded all types of goods from sunrise to sunset.
Haggling, arguing, and laughing could be heard on all quarters as the three made their way through the masses towards more seemly quarters. The came to the intersection of several smaller avenues and less than thirty steps down one of them they turned down a side lane. Within a minute, they were standing outside of a non-descript hostel.
A man put a hand on Aryz Coun’s chest to push him aside, aiming to strike Temar. Suddenly the man was on his knees, his palm reversed up behind his back in a painful grip. The mans’ eyes started to water.
Aryz Coun leaned over to him and in a whisper said, “I’m sure that my friend here is not the man you’re looking for. No reason for needless blood.”
The man nodded and Aryz Coun let go. The man fell forward, his wrist aching. He sat in a cat position for a few moments until Temar extended his hand and the man waved it away as he stood.
“You look like the man that slighted me.”
“Many have said the same,” replied Temar, looking him in the eye. “I hope you find the villain.”
“I will, and then I will remove his heart.”
“And thirsty work it will be,” laughed Aryz Coun, slapping him on his back and indicating a direction for him to leave.
The man took up the suggestion but looked again at Temar several times as he departed.
A trader walked out of a nearby inn. Aryz Coun drew his sword and set on the trader. He pushed the overweight man to the ground and stood over him.
“Speak, before I cut out your lungs and feed them to the birds.”
“I’m sorry, my lord. What is your pleasure?”
“Last time I dealt with you, swine, you fed me poor information, and for an expensive price.” He hadn’t, but Aryz Coun wished for the man to be in the defensive.
“I didn’t mean to lie to you. Is there one that you seek so that I may repay your mistrust?”
“I am happy help you to become, well, if not a wealthy man, then a well-off one, but if you try to cross me, I will start by cutting off your tongue and your right hand - then I will hurt you.”
The man winced, and Temar, smiling at Aryz Coun, offered his hand to the man, laying on his side with a hand raised up to protect himself. Casperi looked on surprised. He had heard of such tactics but was shocked to experience them.
“You can get everything in this city, and every service and debt. We serve our interest. We rule this land but accepts our neighbors for their labor. This is a place of refuge for all that come,” explained Aryz Coun as the trader straightened himself.
Although Casperi was inclined to take Aryz Coun at face value, he also knew that the man was smart enough to tell him only what he’d like to hear.
“Your master does not come from the Dominion of Imuhagh, nor the Empire of Morea, although he does stand like a noble would,” observed the man, indicating to Casperi. “What interest does your master have in my services?”
“He seeks knowledge in exchange for rare items of a foreign land.”
“My master is a trader of rare items and precious materials. Your business would offer him opportunity to explore products that others may not have acquired.”
“And what price would you be willing to offer for a
guarantee of first viewing of such items?”
“I don’t think even your young Prince could offer such a guarantee, but I’m sure there could be some arrangement?”
“For information?”
“Good information is expensive sire. Correct information, even moreso.”
*****
Eren was cautious about using magic unless it was absolutely necessary. He stopped and took out his flint and steel and set the thin torch alight. He set a steady pace as the tunnels rose and fell with the undulations of the hard stone walls. After an hour of smaller tunnels the party joined a larger tunnel where others branched off either side.
A short time later the main tunnel itself be
came merely one of many branches that quickly confused the party as they carefully made their way downwards, sometime spiraling or zig-zagging through the murky passages. They had completely lost all sense of direction, their trust now totally in the wayward Seer to lead them out of this darkness.
“These passages will be easy enough for me to navigate, to take us to the point of liming. But to leave the valley, to pass through the depths of the mountains to strange lands beyond would be all but impossible as the dragon has created minions to defend these paths, and they would not be easily defeated,” mentioned Eren to Nathe walking behind him.
“So, are you saying that Prince Casperi is dead then?”
“Oh no, not at all. He is definitely alive. If the princess can sense him then he is definitely alive. The issue is where.”
Occasionally they would come across a large cavern, which looked as if it would be used as a waypoint for activities. The evidence of previous small fires could be seen with refuse usually placed in piles behind small boulders or tucked into crags of larger stones.
The cold, dry air ensured that the rate of decay of anything was a minimum and the carcass of lost Tree Luma laid in
one corner of a cavern, obvious dead from starvation long ago.
As the Ice Gols were generally much larger creatures there tended to be plenty of room for the men as the ceilings in most parts of the caves were almost eight foot high. Just as they lost their sense of direction, so to, time had slipped away. Dralan suggested that they rest and began to unroll his swag.
“It is not time yet to sleep young knight. We still have many hours until the sky darkens high above us,” remarked the Seer.
“But it feels so late,” he replied, blushing while he restowed his sleeping bag.
“That is another trick of the tunnels, as time drifts from us, like the light.”
Torches had been fashioned for the journey and as the day wore on their light increasingly dimmed until only vague shadows we cast by them. Eren called a break and he and Nathe called Thais over to them.
“We need a light. Can you help us Thais?”
“I’ll try” she said, closing her eyes and mumbling something under her breath. She put her hands out in front of her and formed a cup with them. Slowly a soft ball of light started to appear, then after a few more moments it grew brighter until it was a shining light after a minute.
She threw it into the air above her and it illuminated everything for a good thirty paces in all directions. It hovered above her and the party rose again and set off through the dark with the ball of light gently following along above her head.
Nathe ran forward, Soze and Daak right behind him. Everyone seemed to glance reluctantly at each other for a moment and then they all fell in behind.
*****
The Ice Gols advanced down into the valley for over a day. The snow line progressed before them and Lord Yidvag had planned a campaign to follow within a week of it. A party of Grangols watched the forces approach and moved carefully in place for several hours.
Some small spears were fashioned, and those at watch had carefully directed their forces to varying positions around the small valley so that their ambush could be as quick and effective as possible. The trick was to take down as many of the advancing army before they engaged in one to one combat, as they all could see that the numbers were sharply stacked against them.
The plan was to attack from three sides and leave the fourth side, a small passage out, the only available escape route. The younger Grangol were positioned high above loaded with bows and arrows and told to kill any that tried to escape.
The clearing crews had continued past the main Grangols forces, focused on potential combatants on the forest floor, they failed to notice the monkey like creatures far above them. The Ice Gols army, five aside marched slowly forward.
On his own command, the strongest of the Grangol swung down on one of the vines, landing on an enemy from behind, driving them forward into another’s blade, who looked up and smiled at his luck as he landed in front of his opponent.
They landed on mass together, hacking firstly at the Ice Gols from above and then seeking to finish them off once they reached the ground. The powerful ape like arms of the Grangols that each carried a weapon initially provided strong opposition to the Ice Gols army. After a few minutes of fighting they retreated to the trees, the Grangols commander landing back down in front of the Ice Gols troops.
“Why do you come here, beast of darkness?” he called out, looking directly at Lord Yidvag, positioned several hundred feet behind the first line of troops. The huge ice Gol dismounted from his yak and steadily walked towards the front of his troops, two Ice Giants either side. The Ice Gols parted and bowed as he passed.
“This is my realm now, and all that live here shall serve me,” answered Lord Yidvag as he flung back his cloak revealing a chain mail vest, shoulder and elbow plates, and steel upper leg trousers.
The armor stopped just below the knees so that he was easily able to move quickly if warranted.
“The Grangol serve no one, beast.”
“All Grangol serve me now or I will tear each apart, limb by limb.”
Quickly the Grangol scattered about in the trees above.
“Hunt them all down, kill them all,” Lord Yidvag screamed at his kinsmen.
The ongoing Grangol attack was ill thought out and involved repeated attack and retreats. Their numbers progressively lessened with every round. Lord Yidvag was careless with the lives of his soldiers and sent in more than five to one, including Ice Giants, who quickly dispatched the creatures as the Grangol landed on them in wave after wave from the trees. He listened to the shouts of pain as the Ice Gols finished them off. Within the hour all the attacking Grangol laid dead as the youngsters sat silently high up in the trees hoping to escape notice.
Lord Yidvag looked up at them through dark green shadows and smiled. His commanders asked if they should send a division up to flush the creatures out. He sneered and called for the troops to continue their march.
*****
After a full two days, the mercenaries and soldiers were delighted to exit the caves. Although cautious at first, they had setup cold camp on the first night out. As first light appeared several of the men sought out wood, and many of them stood within the cave entrance and took in the view of the valley, covered in white and grey.
Veer was surprised by where the party had exited the cave, and Gameard commented that he had camped in this cave entrance many years before without any knowledge of where it could have led. They were further down the valley than had initially thought and more south than their path up. Below them, steep ledges were interrupted by a maze of troughs and valleys that led down from the mountains at the south west end of the valley.
The path before them followed the flow of a small but
formidable waterfall that spanned less than fifty feet across to their south. The southern side of the valley received the first snows of the season. A recent storm had left a thick blanket across the forest floor.
They gathered tightly around the camp fire, hot mugs of tea or beans in hand. Although there had been concern over meeting more Ice Gols, it seemed that they were now firmly behind the lines of the marauding creatures and so left that problem to those further down the valley to handle. Veer had pointed out that it was important to pass through these forests quickly, to avoid further confrontations and troubles, and many agreed that more than just Grangols were a threat in the southern woods.
Curran and Orate, and Dwane and Edgar took up their usual role of advanced trackers. The party would make their way down into the Grangols forests, following the Ice Gols invasion and then seek a path around them as they approached Tharkomad. Nathe, Curran, Veer, Gameard and Dralan had spent several hours the night before quietly debating the route that the Ice Gols would take although it was finally agreed that either way they would need to take Tharkomad as a first measure if they were to continue through the v
alley.
The reasoning as to why they were in the valley was unclear, as no such invasion had occurred in recorded history. Dralan suggested that the reason would reveal itself in time and the others agreed. Eren had remained distant from the conversation, preferring to continue his discussions of magical philosophy with Thais to the side.
Even with a snow storm in between them, the evidence of the Ice Gols incursion was obvious a few hours across from their camp. Curran and his men kept a keen watch ahead of the party, especially as they came closer to Grangol territory. The scouts moved along the difficult trail, sometimes carved by rainwater with tiny gullies that were easily skipped across by wild game. Eventually, as darkness had just settled between the thick branches, the group stopped in a small, narrow clearing.
They chose to make cold camp so as to not leave trace of their passing. The party laid down in the corners of the clearing, under the night shadows cast by the trees.
Although it was a moonlit night, the canopy provided ample space to hide those sleeping. The Ice Gols were most likely to be within half a day’s journey ahead them but with so many small valleys in the immediate area, they may not be able to see a small fire, although it was better not to give them the opportunity.
*****
Casperi sat on the verandah of the rooms afforded to him by Queen Emba. The Imuhagh were very good hosts and the two days they had spent in their hospitality had been rewarding for both the equipment that was needed and information, both gathered on several trips to the lower markets. The guards kept a close eye on Temar and Aryz Coun, and although not entirely comfortable with their presence, the role play of them as guards of the young Prince was tolerated.
“My Lord,” Aryz Coun gestured with a bow as two Imuhagh guards looked on. “Would you be seeking refreshments?”