City of Steel (Chaos Awakens Book 3)

by Heath Pfaff

  “I’m not sure. If she’s not back soon we’ll be moving on with or without the Unth’s permission. Crow and Tilda aren’t going to get any warmer waiting around here. At least if we’re moving they’ll maintain some body heat, and perhaps we can find more wood, or a better place to camp.” Xandrith laid out the complete skeleton of his plans. Plan may have been too strong a word.

  “If the Unth attack, I’ll be ready for them.” Haley said confidently.

  Movement in the distance caught Xan’s attention. “I think that might be them now.” He pointed. “I guess we won’t have to wait to see how this is going to play out. Go get Tilda and Crow, and be ready to react quickly in case they decide to attack. Let’s not be caught by surprise again.”

  Haley nodded once and then was rushing off to the back of the cave to get Tilda and Crow. Before the Unth had even gotten close enough to fully take shape the four companions were standing in the cave opening, ready and waiting for their strange visitors.

  Xandrith counted heads as they approached. There were three of them. One of them, Xandrith thought, was the woman they’d encountered earlier. The other two seemed more masculine, though it was difficult to tell with their carapace covering and alien features. Xandrith stepped out into the cold wind as they approached, leaving the others back in the relative shelter of the cave.

  “I see you had no trouble finding us.” He said, displaying his hands palms up in a sign of peaceful greeting.

  The shortest of the Unth stepped forward before the group. He ignored Xan’s comment. “The Ranger says you are possessed of a beneficial compulsion to slay the troll menace. The Unth do not allow strangers to their peeks. We have been isolated for thousands of years and have never welcomed company.”

  Xandrith opened his mouth to speak, but the Unth went on before he could. “The trolls have laid siege to our home. They push upon our front gate and seek to steal what we protect. Though we have never allowed it in the past, we will make an exception now. We will escort you to the wall, and you may make use of our camps along that line. You will not be allowed near the city. If any of you attempt to enter our city, you will be killed.”

  Xandrith looked back at his friends, then at the Unth. Those weren’t exactly friendly terms, but he hadn’t exactly anticipated the Unth would be even that friendly. Xandrith nodded. “That will be fine. Our business is with the trolls and their god.”

  “Follow us.” The Unth said, gesturing back up the mountain. “Stay close. The paths grow dangerous the higher up the mountain we go.”

  The companions fell in behind the Unth and started their journey back up the mountain. For a time they kept to the path, traveling much the same way that Xandrith would have gone had he been making the journey alone. After nearly a mile and a half of walking on the relatively easy winding path up the mountain, the Unth changed directions and led the party to a narrow cave hidden behind an outcropping of fallen debris.

  The entrance to the cave was narrow enough that Xandrith had to walk sideways, and low enough that he had to also crouch to move forward. He was almost thankful that the troll attack had broken his horns off earlier. Passing through the entrance into the hidden paths beyond would have been almost impossible otherwise. When Xandrith finally made his way all the way through the narrow channel, he exited into a wide open cave with a narrow ribbon of rock leading across a vast abyss. There were no handholds on the walkway, and the path was just wide enough for a person to stand with their feet shoulder width apart.

  “This is the best way up the mountain?” Xandrith asked, eyeing the path with a speculative glare.

  Two of the Unth had already started up the path, and the third following behind Xan and his friends spoke. “This is the only way up the mountain that leads to the wall and circumvents the trolls. Any other path wouldn’t bring us to our destination, or would bring us directly into the midst of the horde.”

  Xandrith grunted. “Well, I guess we go this way then.” He took his first step onto the narrow path, keeping his eyes focused ahead. The footing was clear and the path seemed sturdy despite its narrow nature. Xandrith had run along narrower walkways and he wasn’t particularly worried for himself or even Haley. Crow he figured could manage the walk as well, but Tilda wasn’t exactly in the prime of her youth.

  The others fell in behind him and he chanced a glance back at Tilda. The old woman had stepped onto the path easy enough and seemed calm. Xandrith gave an internal shrug and began following the Unth. They weren’t moving as quickly anymore, and as long as they took their time and were careful there shouldn’t be any problems. Xandrith looked ahead at the trail. It twirled away into the darkness and he couldn’t tell exactly how far it went.

  They walked in silence, their concentration fixed on the narrow road ahead. Strangely enough, no matter how far into the cave they seemed to go darkness never fully enveloped the travelers. Xandrith wasn’t certain where the light was coming from, but a feint gray light kept their immediate vicinity glowing faintly. It was far from bright, but it was enough to see by.

  “The Unth make me nervous.” Xandrith’s own voice startled him from his focus on the path for a second and he almost misplaced a foot.

  “Are you alright?” Haley asked from behind him.

  “Yes, just became distracted for a second.” Xan replied.

  “Well, don’t do that anymore. I don’t think I can grab you if you fall.” She sounded angry.

  “Noted.” Xan answered, looking angrily over his shoulder at his doppelganger for the barest moment.

  Fake-Xan was walking on Xandrith’s right side, stepping through the abyss as though it were just more walkway. If he was bothered by the agitated look Xan gave him, he didn’t show it.

  “I am surprised they’re allowing us further up the mountain, but their eagerness to protect the Wellspring puts me ill at ease.” Young Xan pressed on as though he hadn’t almost gotten his older, realer self killed.

  Xan replied with a noncommittal grunt.

  Young Xan went on. “What if they’re just using us to an end? They allow us to take care of their troll problem, and then what use do they have for us? We know how to get into their territory. They’ve shown us this path. I’m not sure they’re going to let us leave this place.”

  Xandrith thought about that for a moment. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. There was still much to do before they would need to worry about leaving the mountain top, and the odds were not in their favor. Would the Unth pose a problem if they succeeded?

  “I’m not saying we should make a scene now, or treat them with any undue hostility, but it might be worth keeping in mind that it isn’t in the Unth’s best interest to let us go when we succeed.”

  “If we succeed.” Xandrith said aloud. He winced as he said it, realizing he was speaking to his imaginary friend again.

  “We’ll be fine.” Haley said and placed a hand on Xan’s shoulder.

  “Of course.” Xan replied, shooting another angry look at his younger self.

  Young Xan offered a lopsided grin in return. “You know better than to talk to me. I mean, I can hear your thoughts. You don’t have to say anything.”

  Xandrith focused his attention forward again, ignoring the nonexistent him.

  “Fine, I’ll go away for a while, but keep your eyes on the Unth. They’re a threat.” With those words, young Xan vanished form existence again.

  For all that Xandrith found his younger self annoying and troublesome, the illusion was right. The Unth weren’t to be trusted. They had agreed to allow him and his companions into their territory with little real effort. Xandrith would gladly swear to never share the secret of the tunnels with anyone if he succeeded in facing the troll god, but would the Unth take him at his word? That didn’t seem likely. They were not a trusting people. Xandrith would need to find a time to express his worries to the others in his group. Though, he realized, they might have already come to the same conclusions on their own. Still, it would be a good
idea to make sure they were all prepared if trouble arose.

  The path they were following soon became steeper. The narrow ribbon of rock was rising higher into the mountains, and as it did so, it became more difficult to traverse. Xandrith watched Tilda carefully as they went. She was a mage without magic, an elderly human with no special gifts or abilities, and the path they were taking wasn’t an easy one. Xan could see the toll the road was taking having an effect on her. Her feet weren’t rising as high with every step, and her look of concentration was slipping away as exhaustion warred with focus.

  They reached a point in the road where the elevation jumped suddenly. There was a ledge nearly five feet high that had to be climbed. The Unth jumped up the ledge with perfect balance, but Xandrith stopped.

  “Wait!” He called out. The Unth stopped and looked back at him. “We’ll need a moment to climb this. We are not accustomed to traveling such precarious roads.” He was speaking for Tilda, but he didn’t call her out.

  The Unth looked back and forth between the three of them, and then stopped and waited. Xandrith walked to the edge of the wall and leaned his back against it.

  “Haley, could you go up and help Crow and Tilda reach the top?” He gestured up the wall. Haley nodded her reply and stepped forward. She stepped on Xan’s knee, then on his shoulder, and hopped up the ledge. They both knew she could have scaled that gap without any difficulty, but Haley was perceptive. She could tell that Xandrith wasn’t doing this for her benefit and she played along without complaining. Crow was next. He seemed less certain of what they were doing, but he followed Haley’s example except that he used Haley’s offered hand to pull himself up the last bit of the ledge.

  Tilda came next. She smiled at Xan and squeezed his shoulder as he helped her get up to his knee, and then to his shoulder. He stood up once she was securely on his shoulder and lifted her easily into the waiting hands of Crow who had taken Haley’s place atop the wall. Xandrith turned back to the wall and climbed quickly to the top of the ledge, falling in behind Tilda. The last of the Unth came up behind him in short order. Xandrith slowed his pace a bit and let the others move forward.

  “Is that the worst of the road?” Xandrith asked the Unth behind him once the others had traveled a bit further ahead.

  “No, it gets far worse once this tunnel leads back out into the snow.”

  “I’m not sure we can all make that climb.” Xandrith didn’t look at Tilda.

  “There is no other way up the mountain, and we will not be turning back.” The Unth’s reply was cold and direct.

  “Have the Unth no compassion?” Xandrith asked, finding it difficult to hide the anger in his voice.

  The Unth did not reply. Xandrith picked up his pace and rejoined the rest of the group, his mind troubled. What would they do when they reached the more difficult stretch of road ahead? They might find a place that Tilda wouldn’t be able to cross. There was only so much they could do without proper climbing equipment, and what little Xan had in his pack had been damaged during the plummet into the Forge earlier. He had a half a set of climbing cleats, and his rope was gone. That wouldn’t help anyone.

  An hour later the ribbon through the darkness opened up into a wide flat area that had a pit for a fire and some rudimentary walls at its edges. It looked like it had been built as a campsite. Xandrith found himself convinced that the whole area, the winding ribbon of rock and the campsite, had been crafted by the Unth. It seemed unlikely that such a long and narrow pathway would remain so neatly intact on its own.

  The Unth stopped without warning and immediately went to work on lighting a fire. Tilda nearly collapsed by the fireside, and Crow joined her quickly. Haley fell in with them, opening her pack to draw out rations. Xandrith stood away from the others however, keeping near the short wall of the apparent campsite. He was deeply troubled. Even with a break, and Xandrith had no idea how long the Unth intended to rest, Tilda wasn’t going to make it once they were back outside in the weather. Xan could only guess how much further up the mountain they’d come, but he knew it would be getting colder and more difficult to breathe with every inch of progress they made towards the sky shrouded peaks.

  “This must have been difficult to build.” Xandrith commented as he let his mind gnaw over the problem at hand.

  The Unth didn’t reply. They had gathered into a group and seemed to be preparing some sort of food over the fire. Xandrith guessed that they had no intention of sharing whatever it was. None of them so much as looked at him.

  “How much further does this trail go?” Xandrith asked, looking for some way of opening a dialogue with the Unth.

  “Another hour and we will be on the outward trail.” The male that had led the way so far spoke, though he didn’t make eye contact with Xan.

  That meant they had one more hour until Tilda’s life was going to become much more difficult. “And this is the only way to get to the wall?” Xan asked again.

  “Yes, we have told you that before.” The Unth Xan had talked to while walking answered. This one did meet Xan’s gaze, and the assassin could feel the hostility as their glances crossed.

  “How often do your people travel these roads?” Xandrith pressed, still looking for a path into a less hostile conversation.

  There was no reply from the Unth.

  “In our lands it’s considered friendly to converse over the sharing of food.” The assassin wasn’t giving up so easily.

  “We are not your friends, and we are not sharing food.” The female Unth spoke, no eye contact.

  “You guys probably don’t have many friends.” Xan commented idly. This didn’t receive a response. He gave up with a sigh and sat down amongst his companions. He gestured for them all to lean in close.

  “Don’t trust the Unth. They may be taking us where we want to go, I hope, but I don’t believe they intend to let us leave.” Xandrith told the others in as low a voice as he could manage. He waited until they had all nodded acknowledgement that they’d heard him before going on.

  “The path ahead is worse than what we’ve already passed. We’re going to have to work together to make sure we all get to where we’re going. In about an hour we’ll be passing back to the outside of the mountain, and from there on we can expect to have to do a lot more climbing.” Xan warned.

  Tilda looked calm as she spoke. “I’m not sure I can make the climb, my friends. I can walk for days, but the cold and my age are getting to me. I’m not sure I could have made it up that ledge without your help.

  “The Unth refuse to let us go back, and they won’t take us to an easier path. I don’t believe that this is the only way to get where we’re going, but it’s the only way they’re willing to take us. I’m sorry Tilda, but we’re going to have to keep going. We will do what we can to help you up the mountain.” Xandrith wasn’t happy to have to say those words.

  Tilda just shrugged. “I knew things would be rough when I agreed to go up the mountain with you. I will give it everything I have.”

  Crow put an arm around the old woman’s shoulders. “I’ll make sure you get to the top.” He said confidently.

  “You’re a good man, Crow.” Xandrith said with a grin. “Sorry I tried to kill you before.”

  Crow shrugged. “It’s a hazard of my line of work.”

  Xan nodded. “Mine too.”

  It was difficult to ascertain exactly how long they rested, but Xandrith would have guessed it wasn’t a full hour. The Unth packed up their few supplies and started moving again without any warning, leaving Xandrith and his crew to hastily ready themselves for travel. Xan considered protesting, but decided against it when he came to the all too obvious realization that their guides wouldn’t care.

  The camping site narrowed back out into the same ribbon of rock that it had been before and continued to rise upwards towards the mountain peak. They walked for some time before a circle of natural light opened up ahead of them, accompanied by the howling of mountain wind. They were finally approaching
the cave exit, and the more difficult stretch of the road ahead.

  Xandrith had intentionally taken up a position directly ahead Tilda. Crow was behind her, and Haley was following him. The assassin hoped that between him and the very confident Crow they’d be able to help the older woman past any rough spots ahead. The Unth didn’t have any climbing equipment with them, and Xan took that as a good sign. If there was any climbing to be done, at least it wouldn’t entail the need for rope.

  It wasn’t long before Xandrith was stepping through the cave exit and into the howling winds of the mountain top. The wind had picked up, or at least was stronger higher up the mountain. It tore across the rocky ground carrying a pounding flurry of white, icy shrapnel with it. The visibility was poor, but it was good enough for Xan to see that their cave had opened up onto a narrow walkway set against a jagged wall of gray stone. There were juts in the stone that pushed out almost the whole length of the path.

  The Unth had already started their way up the path, leaning into the wall as they crawled around the jutting sections of stone. Xandrith stepped out after them and immediately noticed that the path was covered in ice and lose stone. Treacherous may have been too kind a word.

  “The footing is bad here. Be mindful of where you step.” Xandrith warned the others as he began to move along the rock wall. The path was wide enough to walk facing forward, but narrow enough that Xandrith didn’t feel safe doing so. He walked partially facing the wall, leaning towards it slightly so that if he should lose balance he’d hopefully fall forward. His left hand he offered to Tilda.

  “Keep your hand in mine. If you slip, I’ll make sure you don’t go far.” He told her, though part of that was bravado. He wasn’t exactly certain he could keep her from falling if she went backwards off the cliff, there was very little to get a solid grip on. It would be difficult to catch himself, let alone himself and another falling person.