Chapter 17

The four of us crept across the valley floor, moving ever closer to the mountain that was our goal. I had thought of waiting until nightfall, but the orcs could see nearly as well as me at night. The need to be cautious slowed our progress, and we only made it halfway across the valley by nightfall. We’d been forced to abandon the oxen, knowing that they were probably doomed. We gathered at the base of a gnarled tree, huddled together to avoid the rain that had started again in the afternoon.

“We can’t camp here,” Ket said in a low voice. “We’re too exposed to the enemy if they happen by.”

“You are right.” I looked to the north, but the mountain was shrouded in darkness and rain. “We need to keep moving.” The others nodded unhappily, and I led us out into the rain. We slogged on for another hour; the land here had more soil and less solid rock, and the stuff clung to our boots. I did my best to find solid ground, but we were soon exhausted.

“Ornthalas,” Vall called softly. “We have to stop. Pel is not able to keep up.”

I turned to look, and saw how the little halfling leaned heavily on her mate. Ket’s shoulders slumped under his armor, and I looked at Vall. “I will do my best to find us a place.” It took me a half hour, but I finally spotted a place where a large rock had been undercut, leaving enough space to crawl underneath. The floor was above the surrounding ground level, so it was dry under the rock.

Pel and Ket were able to duck down to get into the shelter of the rock, but Vall and I had to crawl on our hands and knees. We spread our bedrolls on the rocky ground, and lay down to rest.

I awoke suddenly, and sat up, nearly bashing my head on the low ceiling. The rain was still falling, and it was still night. According to my timekeeping talisman, we had been asleep for two hours. I looked around, but saw nothing. Then, the sound of metal clinking against rock came from my left. I watched, not daring to move, as a pair of orcs stepped out from behind a tree some thirty paces away.

Vall moved close to me, and I placed my hand over her mouth and pointed toward the orcs. We had all huddled together for warmth in the night air, and our movements had awakened the halflings. They stared at me with wide eyes as I motioned for them to stay quiet.

Four more orcs appeared, walking together on a path that would take them right by us. There was no wind, thankfully, so their chances of smelling us were not good, unless they got very close. Moving slowly, I drew my hunter’s cloak around Vall and me. We could shield Pel and Ket behind us, and Vall reached out to pull the pair close to her.

The orcs kept appearing, and now there were a dozen, all heavily armed and armored warriors, marching past our hiding place. We could not hope to fight that many in the open and live, so I sat there, holding my cloak up like a shield, and willing them to not see or smell us.

One of the orcs stopped and said something to his fellows as he pointed at the ground. Some of the warriors turned and began looking intently in different directions. Vall pressed her mouth to my ear. “They’ve seen a track,” she hissed. She leaned back a little and murmured a couple of words while tugging at her ear.

Off to our left, a loud cry went up, like a woman calling out. The orcs turned as one, and ran off toward the sound. We all sat very still until we were sure they had left, and then Vall smiled at me. “That ghostly sound traveled away from me for about ten minutes, drawing them a good half league away.”

“If they followed it that far,” Ket put in. “We need to get out of here before they circle back.”

I gathered up my bedroll, and, when everyone was ready, we crawled out of our shelter. I led us in the direction the orcs had come from, in the expectation that they would not double back past the place they found the track. That took us west, and then I turned north, using my talisman as a guide. I picked my way through the valley, skirting trees and rocks. I stopped frequently to listen, but I didn’t dare climb a rock or a tree to look around, for fear of being seen.

The first traces of dawn glowed in the eastern sky as we finally reached the foot of the mountain. The peaks towered far over our heads, and the ground sloped steeply upward until it met the sheer rock wall of the mountain. I could see no path or gate, and the slope was covered in loose rock that would be treacherous to walk on. I was at a loss; which way should we go?

“Look!” Vall called out, holding up the talisman we had used to find Pel’s book.

“We know where the book is,” I said as I walked up to her.

She snorted and turned the talisman’s face to me. The green arrow pointed at the mountain, not at Pel. She lowered it and peered at the face. “It’s pointing west, and it has a distance, and I think it’s not too far.”

“Let us find out.” I turned west and started out; leading the others along the edge of the valley floor for what scant cover it gave us. We walked for an hour, took a short break to eat, and then we kept walking for another hour, until Vall called me to her.

“We have to go that way,” she pointed up the hill to our north.

I looked, and sighed in dismay. The hillside was rocky, strewn with more loose rock, and completely without anything to hide behind. “If there are orcs within a league, they will surely see us.”

“Again, we have no choice,” Vall reminded me. “Sooner or later, a patrol will find us.”

She was right, and I pointed up the hill. “This way.” Using my bow stave as a walking stick, I led Vall and the halflings up the hill. The loose rocks would slide if stepped on, so we had to set our feet for each step. I began to sweat from the exertion, and I often turned to look at the others.

We were halfway to the top, when something clattered off a rock to my left. I turned instantly, and saw an arrow rolling across the ground. Alarmed, I turned around and looked out over the valley, and I went cold. Orcs! The nearest was fifty paces from the bottom of the hill, and there were at least twenty of them. Two of them were archers, and a pair of arrows flew in and struck near Ket and Pel. “Run!”

I knelt on a solid rock to keep from sliding down, nocked an arrow, and let it fly at the nearest orc. The clothyard shaft buried itself in the orc’s belly, and he dropped to his knees with a bellow. I fired twice more, scoring one serious hit, and one that stuck in the warrior’s shield, and then I scrambled up the hill after Vall. They were climbing on all fours, and I ran behind them, using my bow stave for support.

The orcish archers fired steadily at us, but I knew that firing up or down hill was a much different thing than when your target was at the same level. The halflings topped the hill, and I had caught up to Vall in the climb. We stepped up onto the level ground together, and then Vall screamed as an arrow smashed into her back.

“Vall!” I screamed, and looked back down the hill. The nearest orcs were halfway up, and only the loose rock prevented them from running us down. I grabbed my mate around the shoulders and hauled her away from the edge. The open area was perhaps thirty paces square – and there were only sheer walls on three of the four sides. Vall stumbled along beside me, and then her legs gave out and she dropped to her knees with an agonized grunt. She raised her head, and fumbled with the talisman she somehow still held.

“Close!” she called hoarsely. “Pel!” She lifted the talisman, and the girl took it.

“What do I do?” She called desperately.

“The depot must be here,” I called. I had turned to face the slope, and I waited for the first orc to appear. I didn’t have to wait long, and I sent the first warrior tumbling back down the hill with a solid hit to his chest. “Hurry!” I yelled. Two more orcs appeared, and I drove them back with three more arrows.

“I found it,” Pel called to me. “Come on!”

I stood up and turned around. Pel stood at a doorway set in the rock wall, with Ket behind her. Vall knelt where she fell, an arrow protruding from her back below her left shoulder. I slung my bow and ran to her. “Vall, we have to go.” I put my hands on her shoulders, and she slumped over. Stooping, I gathered her in my arms and started toward the entrance.

“Hurry, they’re coming!” Pel waved me onward, and Ket stepped out, his sword drawn.

I staggered toward the door, as Vall was much heavier with her pack and other equipment, than she had been when I first rescued her. I heard the orcish warriors when they gained the top, and Ket shoved me through the door, and then he crowded in behind me.

“Close the door!”

“I don’t know HOW to close the door!” Pel called desperately. “They’re coming!”

I knelt with Vall in my arms, and turned to look at the doorway. The lead pair of orcs was nearly at the door, and I set Vall down and drew my sword. Then, the door slammed closed with a grind of stone on metal, and a hollow boom. I sagged in relief, and then I remembered my mate. “Vall?” I turned to face her, to find that she was curled up on her side. I laid my sword aside, and bent to touch her face. Her skin was cold and sweaty, and her skin had a grayish cast. Wait, there was light in here?

I looked up to see that we were in a long tunnel, with lights much like those in the tunnels we had seen at Pel’s grandfather’s home. This tunnel was perhaps twice as wide and tall as the other, and the air smelled ... old. I shook myself and looked down at Vall.

I dared not move the arrow, and I didn’t know if I could heal her. I had to try, and I placed my hands on her back near the wound, and spoke the words. Blue fire flowed from my hands, and spread across her back and down through the area around the arrow. I focused all of my energy on the spell, and I fell forward as my hands dropped and the fire stopped flowing. With the last of my strength, I lay over her hip, and then everything went dark.

“Ornthalas!”

I jerked my head up as I heard my name. I looked up, and there stood a strange apparition the like I had never imagined. It was the size of an orcish warrior, and it had two arms with oddly shaped hands that were much larger than any orc’s. Its head and body were shaped something like an orc, but its eyes glowed a bluish white. The light shone off the thing’s body, and then I noticed it had no legs. The torso went straight down, with no legs or feet. Instead, I could see parts of at least two wheels under it. Then, to my shock, it spoke. “This one must go to sick bay,” it told me in the human tongue. “It is dying.”

“Her name is Vall!” I stood and faced the thing.

It moved forward, reached down with both hands, and scooped Vall up with no apparent effort. “Follow me,” it said as it rotated in place, and then moved off down the hall at an amazing pace. I ran after the thing as fast as my legs could carry me, leaving Pel and Ket far behind. The thing turned a corner, and I raced along behind it. It made two more turns, and I staggered up to the doorway, my heart thudding heavily in my chest. My lungs were on fire, and I leaned on the doorframe while my vision threatened to fade completely.

After a minute, my vision cleared enough for me to look into the room. It was a chamber the size of the tavern we’d stayed in, but this room had pale blue walls, a white ceiling, and an oddly patterned floor. Vall lay in the center of the room on something like a bed. She was on her side, facing me, and she was completely naked. Her clothing and equipment lay discarded at the foot of the bed, and she appeared to be asleep. The part she laid on was covered in light green cloth, and a pair of arms attached to something that looked like a barrel covered her from the belly down with sheet.