With a quick look of farewell to the others she slowly walked out of the chamber holding whatever Connell had given to her close to her heart.
Marcos turned to the two kings. “You must hold the line here.” He warned them. “If this place falls, even should we slay Sur’kar the horrors he would bring against you will cause great death to the people of the east.”
“Fortunately the Morne have never excelled at siege warfare.” Gaelan replied.
“Do not underestimate your foe,” Marcos said sharply. “The Morne will not be alone. Sur’kar’s lieutenants, who are skilled in the arts of war, will lead them.”
King Wolhan nodded. “And we will be ready for them, Timosh will hold fast.”
Marcos mounted his horse and quieted the anxious mount with a touch of his hand. “We begin our quest in earnest now. There are many dangers beyond these walls, both old and terrible. Keep your eyes open and your swords at hand, there are no truly safe places so do not be fooled.”
“Once beyond these walls I must not use my powers.” He continued while the others mounted. “We are going into Sur’kar’s lands and his eye’s are everywhere. Should we be detected he will fall upon us with all his might. Only by cunning and stealth will we succeed.”
Connell grinned and whispered to Casius. “It just keeps getting better and better.
Unlike Connell, Casius could not force a grin. With Marcos’s power withheld he knew their danger had greatly increased.
“Remember one thing Casius,” Connell said drawing his attention. “Anyone we meet out there will be an enemy more likely than not.”
Once they had all mounted Marcos turned his horse to face the men within the hall. “Keep heart and stand firm.” He said loudly. “Word is spreading through the free lands and men of the east are heeding the call to arms. No matter what darkness befalls this place you are not alone. As long as one man resists, Sur’kar has failed.” He raised his hand in salute and spurred his mount through the narrow arch and out onto the broken ground of Moinar-Thur with the others giving chase.
Down the barren slope they raced, the scraggly trees of the forest edge growing nearer with each hoof beat. Casius spared a quick glimpse over his shoulder and saw that the gate was already closed. With that portal sealed behind him he felt suddenly alone and very vulnerable.
From the top of the tower he thought he had caught a glimpse of D’Yana’s golden hair. He was forced to look away and grasp the reins tightly as his horse leapt a large stone.
They rode into the wood the tangled limbs only a few feet above their heads. The wind whistled through the skeletal branches adding to the eeriness of the place.
The hours passed slowly as they skirted deep grottos and passed within the shadows cast by stone monoliths that seemed to have only recently burst up from the hard stony soil.
From the deepest grottos seeped foul vapors reeking of sulfur. On several occasions they were forced aside as the noxious fumes overwhelmed them. With watery eyes and burning throats they followed Suni whom seemed to be unaffected.
Casius leaned precariously over the grottos rim; the results were always the same. No matter how hard he tried he could not see what lay within the deep fissures. Lacking that knowledge he was nervous whenever they were riding close to one of the crumbling rims.
With the setting sun they took shelter beneath a massive outcropping of stone. A frigid wind arose in the west bringing with it a light snow that made their efforts to keep a small fire burning futile.
At dawn they set out cold and stiff, cresting a low rise they entered a small clearing in the trees. Suni reined his horse in and pointed to the north. In the haze they could discern the shadowy outline of a squat tower rising above the trees in the distance.
“Re’lith,” Connell said. “The first of three watch towers stretching westward into Moinar-Thur. They were constructed to give Timosh advanced warning of a Morne attack. Bonfires lit upon their crowns would signal danger to the keep.”
Their view of Re’lith only lasted a short while, its silhouette fading back into the gray haze as they moved onward.
By mid afternoon the gnarled wood ended at the edge of a dry riverbed. Overgrown with thick brush and stunted trees it appeared that it had been many years since water last coursed within its banks.
Beyond the far bank stretched a snow-covered grassland. On the distant horizon they could discern a line of low hills crowned with scattered boulders.
Several hours of daylight remained, however Marcos suggested they make camp within the shelter of the riverbed.
“Here our fire will be sheltered from prying eyes,” He said explaining his decision. “Once upon the plain we will not have that luxury and our camps will be cold indeed.”
No matter his reasons, Casius was grateful for the chance to stretch his legs. The Morne saddle was far from comfortable. Its shape was ill suited for a human rider.
After seeing to his mounts needs he spent the better part of an hour learning how to throw a punch from Suni. His arms ached and his shoulders burned. He never would have thought that there were so many ways to strike an opponent with your hand.
“The way of the fist can take a lifetime to master,” Suni said when they had finished. “I am well versed in the art but there are many who surpass me.”
Casius was puzzled by his uncharacteristic revelation. “I thought only the best of Anghor’s warriors could become Anghor Shok?”
Suni nodded his head once in response. “Anghor Shok must be adept at many skills. There are those among the Anghor who spend a lifetime mastering one fighting form. They are revered by my people and through their teachings all Anghor benefits.”
Casius looked on as Suni tucked his Kalmari back into his sash. “How do you face an opponent who is distant?” He asked. “A man with a bow would have an advantage over you.”
Suni shrugged his shoulders slightly. “I suffice,” He answered cryptically.
“I’m sure you do,” Casius said with a shake of his head. He knew pressing Suni would not gain him the answer he sought.
That night Connell and Casius stood the second watch. Several hours past midnight they noticed strange eruptions of light on the southern horizon.
“A distant storm perhaps?” Casius wondered aloud.
“I hear no thunder,” Connell replied. “And the light pulses too slowly for it to be lightning.”
“Maybe we should wake Marcos,” Casius suggested. “He may want to see this.”
“I am as puzzled as you are.” Marcos said from the darkness behind them startling both men.
“Damn you,” Connell said with a chuckle. “Make a little noise as you move about.”
Marcos ignored the remark. “I feel no emanations of power, but at this distance I can not be certain.” He paused watching the strange illumination closely. “What ever the cause, it is not a natural phenomenon.”
“Are you not blind to the power our foe uses?” Connell asked.
“I am,” Marcos confirmed. “If the power violates the laws of nature however it greatly disturbs the Phay’ge. Those perturbations I can detect.” With a nod he returned to the riverbed and seated himself about the fire.
Connell watched the light for several more minutes until he was satisfied that it posed no immediate threat. “It draws no closer,” He said to Casius. “I’m going to the other side of camp call me if there is any change.” He clasped Casius’s shoulder and disappeared into the darkness.
Casius blew into his hands for warmth and pulled the odd smelling Morne robe tighter about him. He moved about the edge of the camp keeping an eye to the south. He was yawning when Suni stepped out of the darkness.
“Rest now,” He said flatly. “I will keep the watch until dawn.” If he was concerned by Casius’s lack of attention he said nothing.
Casius was too tired to argue and he bid the enigmatic warrior a good night. At the fire he found Connell stirring the coals and adding more wood scavenged from the under growth.
He wrapped himself in his saddle blanket and watched as flames sprouted on the wood. “You would think after all this time Suni would trust us.”
Connell looked up from the fire. “I do not think trust is in his vocabulary.” He lay down and made himself as comfortable as he could on the cold ground. “It is his duty that defines him,” Connell continued. “Remember he is the sworn protector of Marcos, our lives are not his concern.”
Casius let the heat from the fire relax his cold muscles and he drifted off to sleep listening to damp wood popping in the fire.
The sun rose behind a veil of steel gray clouds. It was a dawn that promised more cold weather. After a frugal meal they set off across the plain.
The landscape was well suited for riding and many miles fell behind them before they made camp in the shelter of a low outcropping of loose stone.
Suni awakened them around midnight to see the mysterious lights. They were much brighter and tinted a pale shade of emerald; the color was sickly and boded ill. They could see now that the light emanated from the ground and was reflected by the low clouds above. It lasted only a few hours before it stopped as suddenly as it occurred.
“Maybe we should head more to the west and avoid whatever is causing that glow.” Casius suggested. He knew that they were near the dark lands of Sur’kar, and he had no desire to see what could cause such a light.
“We cannot,” Marcos answered with a shake of his head. “There are but two ways into the west through the Black watch mountains. Both are perilous, the northern way leads through the Un’eldur. A high pass that opens into the very lands of Tarok-Nor. It is heavily guarded and would be a sure death to any who would hazard it.” Marcos pointed southwest. “The way ahead is less perilous, but not by much.
“We seek the lesser of the two evils, Gorcrahlg it is named. A narrow break in the mountains that opens out onto the northern edge of the Gaul-Tyrian wastes.
“Between us and the pass lays the Ravenslaugh, a fetid marsh of stagnant water and fell beasts that are found nowhere else in the world.” Marcos paused looking to the place where the flickering glow had appeared. “The waters of the marsh are born within Tarok-Nor and pass through the dark land before finding their way through the mountains. They are poisonous and taint the marsh, making it an abomination.”
“Then this light comes from the marsh?” Casius asked seeing where Marcos had looked.
“The Ravenslaugh may hold the key,” Marcos answered. “We will learn more tomorrow, by then we will be able to see the marsh for ourselves.”
The following day they rode through a line of low hills. By late afternoon they stopped upon a hills crown and stood gazing southward.
Before them lay the Ravenslaugh, a network of black waterways and dense reeds the color of dried blood. The dark water roiled and a thin fog rose from it into the crisp air. In places the reeds gave way to steaming mud flats and dense copse of trees clothed in hanging sheets of dank moss.
A deep frown creased Marcos’s brow. “It has grown,” he stated quietly. “We must head east around this corruption.” He turned his horse eastward and set off at a brisk trot.
They followed the marshes edge until it turned southward. As the light failed Marcos led them to a low rise in the ground far from the fetid mud of the marshes edge.
They wrapped themselves in their blankets and ate a cold meal. No one slept; their eyes kept drifting to where the swamp lay. It was a dark night and the overcast sky obscured what little light the stars would have given them. The darkness was so complete that Casius could not see his hand when he held it before his face.
He grew tired of waiting and was preparing to lie down when a sudden burst of emerald brilliance lit the darkness. The light faded becoming a faint glow that swirled within the stagnant water. Occasionally the light would erupt from the dark water in a flash that illuminated the landscape for miles.
“What is it?” Casius asked Marcos looking away from the disturbing light.
“A manifestation of the Na Phay’ge.” Marcos replied. “It is a display of the raw power that has accumulated within this cursed place.” Marcos seated himself with his back turned to the light. “There is no danger to us as long as we stay clear of the marsh.”
A woman’s terrified scream rent the night air. Outlined against the dim light she ran towards the mires edge, the water and mud pulling at her, causing her to fall.
Everyone jumped to their feet, Marcos gripped Connell’s arm. “Stop!” He shouted to Casius who was racing down the slope towards the reeds at the marshes bank.
The power of his voice caused Casius to stagger. “We have to help her!” He shouted looking back towards Marcos.
Marcos shook his head. “She is beyond any aid we can offer.” He said sadly releasing his hold on Connell. “ Go to her and you will die, she is a vengeful spirit, someone who was slain in those waters long ago.”
Casius looked back to the woman. She held her arms out to him pleading for help. In the flashes of light he could see her eyes were milky white orbs set in a face contorted into a scowl of fury.
Appalled by the sight he retreated back to their campsite. The ghastly specter howled in fury and raced towards him stopping at the waters edge as if she had slammed into a wall.
The horses rolled their eyes and pulled at their fetters.
Marcos came to his feet and walked down towards the bank. He stopped well back from the sodden ground and stood facing the dire woman.
Hissing threateningly she crouched as if she would spring forward and rip his heart out.
“Go from this place and find peace,” he said in a voice full of pity. “You will find no victims this night.”
She screamed in frustration and faded away into the darkness.
Marcos stood watching as the unearthly light within the water dimmed and darkness covered all.
“There stands a veil between life and death,” Marcos said rejoining them at their camp. “In places of great power it can be crossed by those who have passed beyond.
“Sur’kar is wielding great power in his preparations for war. This false winter is a casting most dire and the force required for it is phenomenal. Some of that power has found its way into this marsh corrupting all that lives within it.
“No matter what we see or hear, stay clear of the marsh.” He warned them. “The Na Phay’ge is evil by its very nature and so will be any effect caused by it. Stay alert, tomorrow we will camp further away from the shore.”
Casius shivered, he could still see her gaunt face and lifeless eyes full of hate and hunger.
They continue to skirt around the marsh for five days. Camping well away from the edge, they would sit and watch while the power within it lit the night. Of the specter they saw no further sign but other shadows moved among the reeds and mud flats. Dark shapes that never fully revealed themselves.
The swamp curved away westward bordered by a line of barren hills. Beyond them rose the Blackwatch Mountains, the jagged peaks forming an impossibly high wall of dark stone curving from the north to south.
They entered the hills and rode towards the mountains where a narrow gap lay within the peaks. Above them the cloud cover was breaking up and patches of brilliant blue were visible. Even the air was warmer, the snow on the ground could now be found only in thin patches that lay within the deepest shadows.
On the northern side of the gap dark clouds roiled fitfully beyond the mountain peaks, lightning flashed through the dark mass, filling the air with rumbling peals of thunder.
“Tarok’ nor,” Marcos said nodding to the disturbed sky. “The furnaces of Trothgar are once again aflame, poisoning the sky with the smoke of his malignant desires.”
Casius looked away from the turbulent sky and from the corner of his eye he saw movement on a distant hilltop behind them. Turning in his saddle he saw four more dark forms race over the crest.
They resembled wolves with dark banded gray fur; at a loping run they came their feral ey
es burning brightly in the sun.
“Wolves!” Casius exclaimed drawing his sword.
“Fell hounds!” Marcos corrected, “They have our spoor.”
Connell spotted a large outcropping of weathered stone less than a mile to the south. “There!” He pointed to the boulders with his sword. “Head for the stones!” He shouted spurring his horse forward. “We’ll make our stand there.”
Casius let his horse run for all it was worth. The Morne steed was powerful, and the wind howled in his ears.
The Hounds fell behind, unable to keep up with the terrified horses. Up the steep slope the dark horses charged their hooves tearing deep gouges in the soil. Amid the boulders they plunged, rearing at the end of the narrow hollow they had entered.
Connell leapt to the ground and scrambled up the rock face his heavy bow slung across his shoulder. Casius was thrown to the ground, but he quickly recovered taking his bow in hand he followed Connell and stood on a nearby boulder an arrow set to string.
The Fell Hounds slowed as they neared the rocks. Sensing that their prey no longer fled, they moved with more caution.
Casius could not believe the size of them. As big as a small horse with wide wedge shaped heads. The striped beasts were a fearsome sight. From their snarling maws hung huge canines, the length of a mans arm dripping with saliva.
One of the hounds darted forward leaping to gain the stone upon which Connell stood. With a surprised yelp it fell back, two arrows piercing its side. With a swipe of its huge fangs it snapped the shafts and leapt forward as if it were never wounded.
Casius let loose another shaft striking the beast squarely in the chest. It fell dead on the boulders at Connell’s feet.
The remaining Hounds charged closing the gap quickly. Casius had enough time to release one more arrow. The Hound he struck never slowed, even with the shaft buried deep in its neck.
Aethir Page 18
