Chapter 19: Rebuilding Glimmer

We returned to Blue Pass with all the elves but they continued on, they were returning to Green Heart. Surprisingly only two had been killed but several had been wounded. Aveline and I patrolled south several times to guide soldiers from King’s Pass. It was almost spring and we had returned for a bit of rest.

I glanced at the commander when he and another came to our table. Aveline glanced at them when they sat and I leaned back, “We just returned.”

The commander nodded, “I know. The king is sending men to Glimmer. Both to rebuild it and to start running patrols.”

I glanced at Aveline, “The way south from Glimmer is not easy unless they plan to use the hidden stair and the old troll cave.”

He smiled, “Which is why I thought of you. You have been in the cave and seen the stairs. Is the cave large enough to make it into a stable or barracks?”

I thought about it and nodded, “I would say yes to a barracks. You could put a stable there but keeping supplies to feed them, especially in the winter would not work.”

He nodded and looked at the other man, “This is engineer Allison. He was thinking the same but they still want to look at Glimmer and maybe try to rebuild it.”

I looked at Aveline and she smiled, “It might be fun.”

I snorted but nodded to the commander, “We could escort them and spend a little time there.”

He stood, “Good. Take Mr Allison to Crossing where his men are waiting.”

The trip to Crossing was easy but leading his men who had wagons was not. We had to scout the way ahead while watching for orcs. The month to Glimmer took six weeks with the wagons. I walked into the area in front of the troll cave and sniffed but the smell was old. Aveline grinned as she headed for the cave and I went after her.

She was very quiet when she saw all the bones. I turned when Allison came in and his face went white. I took my pack off and pulled out a lantern before crossing to the stairs. I set my pack aside and started up with Aveline and Allison following. The stairs went in and began going back and forth as they climbed what had once been a crack.

Most of the stairs were made from cut stone. Fifteen hundred steps later we came to where the stairs were blocked by fallen stones. Allison moved closer to look before snorting, “These are loose and will be easy to clear.”

I smiled, “It will be the climb up the men will not like.”

He nodded and we turned to climb down. The men were already moving the skeletons out and two large pits had been dug a little way from the cave. One for the foul ones and another for the elves or men. We began to do patrols while the men cleared the cavern and then the stairs. Once the stairs were clear we move up into the ruins and began patrolling to the north.

It was a few weeks before we saw the party of dark brothers. They were scouting the edge of the mountains to the west with a lot more following. Aveline whispered in my ear, “They are migrating.”

I nodded as I watched the dark brothers but when one slipped out of the brush and pointed back towards Glimmer I stiffened. Aveline hissed as I nocked an arrow and aimed before releasing. She was right behind me and her arrow took the scout leader while mine took the one that had come out of the brush.

We kept shooting as the dark brothers scattered. We moved forward and after them and killed those we found. We finally turned and headed straight back to Glimmer to give the men a warning. If dark brothers knew they might attack but more than likely they would bring orcs. It was two days before we reached the fortress.

The outer walls were the first they had started working on and they had done away with the gates. A rope ladder hung down on one side and we climbed up before pulling it over the wall. While we had been out two more parties of men had arrived with supplies to help. Most were up here while a few were cutting trees below.

They were building a wall around the cave entrance and the area they kept the horses. I found Allison and told him and he nodded, “We have been expecting it.”

He turned to call another man and they started keeping sentries on the wall. I slipped out with Aveline and moved into the brush as we headed north again. When we reached the foothills we began to search. We moved slowly and stayed in the brush and finally found the dark elf watchers. There were four and hidden in two trees, we moved closer and killed them.

We moved out further and found the clan of dark brothers a couple of days away. They were camped beside a stream and by the look they were getting ready for a fight. We were on a low rise a few hundred paces away. We stayed for another two days before we saw the first orc army and turned to head back to Glimmer.

We moved quickly and walked day and night and made it in just two days. Allison had sent riders with spare horses to both the elves at Saladen’s Keep and another to King’s Pass. We slept for a half day before going out and to the north. We made a blind to keep watch a day from Glimmer and settled down to wait.

We were up on one of the mountains and hidden with a view that extended for leagues to the north. It was a week before I shifted and reached out to wake Aveline, “They are coming.”

She sat up and came to kneel beside me. In the distance we could see a larger army of orcs. I smiled, “I do not see the dark brothers.”

Aveline snorted, “They might not come. They might continue to the east. They will let the orcs do their work.”

I glanced at her and turned to grab my pack, “Time to go.”

We ran most of the way back and pulled up the rope ladder. The fortress was full of men and we looked at each other as Allison came towards us with two men and two elves. After we told them about the orcs they began to plan. I glanced at Aveline, “Want to bet they send someone around to the cave?”

She thought about it before nodding. I sighed as we headed towards the stairs and started down. The area behind the walls was filled with horses and wagons. The walls were not even close to being tall enough to stop a force attacking it. Aveline shook her head as we pushed through and went out the gate.

They had cut trees down outside the walls which made me winch. I had thought about it and there was a rugged narrow pass to the west. We walked into the forest on the other side of the clearing and continued to the west. We reached the mouth of the pass and that was where we found the camp of dark brothers.

There were at least fifty and they were wearing chain shirts. I looked at Aveline and she shook her head as she took her quiver off. We hid our bows and quivers before pulling our short swords and starting around one side to come in behind them. One dark brother stepped out from behind a bush and I lunged and stabbed up under his chin and into his head.