As to their features, they all seemed fierce of face, hair down to their shoulders, some braided, others loose. Their beards whether braided or not were forked and reached down to the mid of their chests. As Tip had noted, each had hair of a different color: Raggi's black to go with his black eyes; Bolki's a honey brown, and he had hazel eyes; Vekk had brown hair, too, but darker than Bolki's; Born's hair looked to be ginger; and Ralk's hair was a dark auburn shot through with grey. As to the eye colors of these latter three, Tip did not know, for after the Elves and Warrows had made themselves known to the Dwarves back at the ruins of Annory, Loric had gone off with that trio, and Tip was just now seeing them in a placid setting, where the dregs of battle and dead maggot-folk did not catch at the heart and the eye.
Ralk looked at the fire and said, "It would not do for us to be caught as were the Grg. Even so"-he reached into a saddlebag and withdrew a packet-"ere you quench the flames, we could all use a good mug of tea."
Loric grinned and reached for the packet, and Ralk said, "Vekk and Born and I will stand ward." He turned to the other two Dwarves and hefted his axe and grunted, "Trekant."
They set off in three different directions.
Tip stood and stepped to the ponies and began unloading them. Phais joined him, and soon they were rubbing down the animals with twisted sheaves of grass.
"A mission to Aven."
"Aye," replied Loric, nodding to Ralk.
"Ooo," said Beau, "that reminds me…" Fishing under his collar, Beau removed the thong with its pewter token from 'round his neck and gave it over to Tip. Tip took the disk and sighed, then slipped the leather cord over his head and tucked the coin 'neath his jerkin.
Over the rim of his cup, Ralk's gaze followed this exchange. He set his cup to the ground. "Your mission you may keep to yourselves, but as to what you have seen and heard, bear you any news?"
Loric glanced at Phais, and she said, "Modru of Gron has begun a war to conquer all of Mithgar."
"Modru," growled Ralk. "Aye, that we knew." He gestured for Phais to continue.
"Challerain Keep has fallen and High King Blaine calls for all Free Folk to join together to overthrow the Rupt."
As Ralk nodded, "He left out the Warrows," muttered Beau.
Phais glanced at the buccan, and then looked back at Ralk. "Borne by Eloran, news has come from the High Plane: the way from Neddra to Mithgar has been sundered."
Ralk's eyes flew wide.
Loric said, "Adon did so to stop the invasion of the Rupt, or so the herald said."
Ralk clenched a fist. "Good," he gritted, then added, "though it has come late."
Beau looked at him. "Not too late, I hope."
Ralk frowned. "That I cannot say." He turned his gaze once again to Phais.
"Crestan Pass is held by one of Modru's Hordes, and the way is barred."
"Ah, then that is why you have come this way to reach Aven. Yet there is the pass over the Quadran-"
"Quadran Pass is blocked, for Drimmen-deeve is under attack by the Foul Folk," said Phais, "and it seems that Modru has made an ally of at least one Dragon, for Skail of the Barrens did come and war with fire against the Drimma."
Ralk gasped in dismay. "Kraggen-cor under attack, and by Drakes?"
"By a Horde and a Drake," confirmed Loric.
"Kruk!" exploded Raggi, sitting nearby. The Dwarf leapt to his feet and began stalking back and forth, rage on his face.
"Ka ta det?" asked Bolki, looking in surprise at Raggi, and Raggi stopped pacing long enough to step to Bolki and speak in a low voice… and Bolki gasped in dismay.
"Gflnar Slot is occupied by a small force of Rflpt, though we did slay a few as we broke through the ring of their guard.
"At this end of the slot the village of Stede has been destroyed… much the same as Annory."
"I say," said Beau, "could it be that the same maggot-folk who destroyed Stede also destroyed Annory? If so, well then, we've avenged those we saw lying dead in that ravine."
"That I do not know, wee one," said Phais, then she looked at Ralk.
Ralk shrugged.
Phais took a sip of her tea, then said, "But for the detail, that is the news we hold. Hast thou any question, then ask it, for on the morrow we leave for Gfinarring Gap and beyond."
Ralk held up a hand, palm out. "No you will not, Lady Phais."
As Tip took in a deep breath, fearing what was to come, Phais raised an eyebrow. "Why so?" asked the Dara.
"Because, Lady, that way, too, is held by the foe."
Chapter 24
Laric slammed clenched fist into palm. "Vash! Modru blocks the ways so that the High King cannot unify his forces and bring them to bear."
Phais frowned. "The gap, it is wide; mayhap we can steal through in the night."
Ralk threw up a hand of negation, saying, "Nay, Lady, a full Horde holds the gap, and worse yet, they have a Ghath among their ranks."
Loric and Phais drew air in between clenched teeth.
"What is it?" asked Beau. "This Ghath thing, I mean."
"A Draedan," gritted Loric.
"A Gargon," growled Ralk.
"Oh, my," breathed Beau, turning to Tip. "One of those fearcasters."
Tip groaned and looked up at Phais. "If we are to deliver the coin, we've got to find a way 'round. Does it mean we must ride back across Gunar and up to Ralo Pass? Cross over if it's not blocked? Ride another thousand miles west looking for a way into Tugal?" Tip jumped to his feet. "Is this the way it is always to be, that we are driven south and west when we want north and east?"
Ralk looked at Tip. "Tell me, Waeran, is the delivery of this coin important?"
Tip took a deep breath and let it out. "I don't know. It seemed so to the Kingsman who bore it. Before he died at my mill he gave me the charge to see that it was carried to King Agron."
Ralk cocked an appraising eyebrow. "You are a miller, eh?"
Surprised by the question, Tip nodded, then plopped back down.
"A good and honorable craft," said Ralk. His gaze swept over all of them, then he turned to Raggi. "Raggi, da skal vad dek gein va Chucah. "
Raggi's eyes flew wide. "Det ta a Chakka na."
"Ne va net."
Raggi bowed his head. "Ma da taka."
Now Ralk turned to Tipperton and the others. "There is a way to go across the Grimwall, a way known to few who are not of the Chakka, yet Raggi will show you the way. But should you choose this path, you cannot take your horses, for only ponies are small enough to go through, and even then it is a squeeze."
Phais looked at the ponies and then the horses. "We will trade ye our three horses for three of thy ponies."
Ralk blanched and pushed out his hands, as if warding a blow. "Nay, we cannot, will not. Were we merely to use your steeds as pack animals or as dray horses to draw a wagon, then yes, we would trade and trade gladly. But we have no ponies to spare, and those we do have are needed to bear us throughout much of Gunar, and horses we will not ride."
Phais shook her head. "I do not understand."
Ralk leaned forward. "We are sent by Okar, DelfLord of the Red Hills, to scout out the strength of the enemy within Gflnar, for there will come a time when Chakka will attack this Horde standing in the gap."
"In spite of the Gargon?" asked Tip.
Ralk nodded. "Okar has sent for a Mage. It is said that they know of ways to deal with the fearcasters.
"In the meanwhile we are to ride the land at their back and see if they hold more forces arears. And that, Lady Phais, is why we need our mounts, for we must cover much ground in the coming days, then ride back unto the Red Hills with news of what we find."
Phais shook her head in puzzlement. "But thy mission would go swifter from the back of a horse."
Ralk shook his head. "Hear me, Lady Phais, in the name of Durek, no Chak will ever ride a horse."
Tip looked 'round to see Raggi nodding in agreement and whispering translations to Bolki, that Dwarf nodding as well; and Tip had no doub
t that Vekk and Born would concur if asked, though for the moment those two stood at distant guard.
"Why not?" asked Beau, but Ralk merely looked at him and did not reply.
"Then thou art saying that if we use this secret way, we must walk across a reach of Valon." Phais's words were a statement and not a question.
"Aye," confirmed Ralk. "That I am. Unless of course you can find mounts in Valon to ride. Yet I fear that most of that land is abandoned, for a Ghath stands at the western door, and who knows what strides within the margins of that realm?"
Phais looked at Loric and Tip and Beau, then said, "Even walking we can reach Darda Galion ere we could go the longer way around, assuming that way is not enemy-held as well."
"Darda Galion?" Beau frowned.
"To get fresh steeds from our kindred," explained Loric.
"But wait," protested Tip. "What if the Horde has moved on?"
Ralk cocked an eyebrow.
"I mean," continued Tip, "if they've pulled out, say to attack someplace south-"
"Pendwyr," murmured Loric.
"Yes, such as Caer Pendwyr," agreed Tip, "well then, we'd be taking a long walk for nought."
"Tip's right," said Beau. "We must make certain that the gap is still held."
Ralk shrugged. "They were still there yester."
Tipperton's face fell. "Oh."
"Nevertheless," said Loric, "Sir Tipperton's advice is well taken. We should see that what was true yester still holds true on the morrow."
Phais nodded, then turned to Ralk. "Given that the gap is yet held, we will accept thine offer to lead us a different way, for we have little choice elsewise."
"Aye," grunted Ralk, "your choices are spare. Even so, I must have your word to keep the way of this path most private."
"Wouldst thou accept a pledge unto Elwydd?"
"Indeed."
"Then in the name of Adon's daughter, Elwydd, I do so swear."
Now Ralk looked at Loric, and he repeated the oath… as did Tipperton and Beau.
In the early morn, Raggi slowed the pace, for they were nearing Gunarring Gap, a choke point in times of peril, for here the Ralo and Gap and Reach and Pendwyr roads all merged to feed through the breach. Wide left of the combined Ralo and Gap roads they fared, wide to the north a mile or more, riding in furze and whin and pine and out of sight from the road, to remain unseen by any foe who might happen along that way.
Wide they rode in the gorse, and even wider now, for as they neared they could see trails of smoke wafting upward from the direction of the pass, as if many fires burned.
And Tipperton found his heart hammering and his stomach clenched in apprehension. And he looked at Beau to find that buccan, too, ill at ease, unsettled.
" 'Tis the Gargon, wee one," said Phais. "We all feel the pulse of his dread."
Now Raggi shushed them with a finger to his lips and guided them all to the backside of a hill that would overlook the passage through, where they dismounted and made their way through deep heather and a scattered growth of scrub pine and up to the crest, moving the last few feet in a crouch, all of their breathing quick with anxiety.
They lay on their stomachs and peered at the slot afar, and Tip's heart clenched and Beau groaned, for thousands of tents and campfires and animals penned in corrals filled a gap stirring with folk. And here and there black flags flew, bearing red rings of fire. In the center stood a lone black tent, a broad space all 'round, and with his heart Hammering Tip knew without asking that therein resided the Ghath.
Phais sighed and turned to Raggi. "Lead on to thy hidden path, Raggi, for Modru yet holds the way."
***
Northeasterly they fared for three days, an arm of the Gunarring looming on their right, its dark jagged peaks stabbing upward into the crisp, clean air. Yet spring was full upon the land, here in the last week of May, and in the lengthening days fragrant blossoms flowered, grasses grew, and late buds unfurled on awakened trees to join foliage green and splendid. And water seemed to run everywhere, down from the slopes of the Gunarring, pellucid bournes bearing pure drink outward to quench the thirst of the foothills and the plains beyond. And animals scurried upon the slopes, some burrowing, others freezing in alarm as the riders fared past, hoping in their stillness to remain unseen. And birds sang in the meadows and the trees and upon the high rock above, mating, nesting, engendering life. And nowhere in this eternal cycle of renewal was any acknowledgement of the vast war that had come.
Nigh sundown of the third day, Raggi turned easterly, and they followed him in through the hills and to a high aspen grove on the slopes of the Gunarring, where they made camp amid the trembling leaves.
"Thou canst take our steeds back unto thy comrades and use them as pack animals," said Phais, "for I would not abandon them unto the wilds."
"Even so, Lady Phais," replied Raggi, pausing in the sharpening of his axe, "when my squad comes this way again, we cannot take the horses through."
"Mayhap in thy scouting thou wilt find someone with need," said Phais, turning now to Loric. "Hast thou aught to suggest, chier?"
Loric frowned, then said, "Nigh the Alnawood lies a barony, at least 'twas so long past-in the time of Fallon the Fox, ere the destruction of Rwn. Mayhap it still exists."
"Fallon the Fox, the trickster Bard?" asked Tipperton.
"Aye."
"Why, there must be a hundred songs about him, and many of his sire and dam."
Loric nodded but did not speak.
"Delon the Bard and Ferai the Ferret and Fallon the Fox their son. And now I discover they lived in the Alnawood right here in Gunar. Oh, but I would like to go there, and go there now." Tipperton looked at his lute, but did not take it up. He sighed and then rubbed his fingers across his cheeks, and they came away wet. "Oh, Loric, is this the way it always is in war? That we are driven to choices we'd rather not make? Impelled down dark paths by circumstances not of our choosing?"
Loric took a deep breath, then said, "Most of life's roads have unknown ends, yet in war more of the ways are perilous. That we are driven down these dark and deadly paths instead of choosing a brighter lane is a tyranny of war, an affliction forced upon us by the foe."
Raggi spit on his whetstone, then took it again to his axe blade. "The sooner they are dead," he growled, "the sooner we can return to paths of our own choosing."
"This is the way," said Raggi, pointing at the stony path leading up into the enshadowed Gunarring steeps. "The horses cannot go farther."
It was early morn, with the sun yet to rise above the peaks though dawn was well past. Raggi had had them prepare their backpacks, and then he'd led them to the far edge of the aspen grove, and now they looked upon the narrow way before them.
"We call it the Walkover," said Raggi, "though in Chakur its name is va Chuka. Twenty miles it extends, twisting and turning, and near the top you will find a long, low, constricting tunnel. Even were the path not narrow, this corridor would still bar horses. Cha! Well-fed ponies at times find it difficult to squeeze through."
Beau looked up the way, then shifted his shoulders to settle the pack he carried. He glanced at the others and said, "The day isn't growing any shorter, and the sooner started the sooner done, as my Aunt Rose would say."
"Thine Aunt Rose had the right of it," said Phais. She turned to Raggi. "I thank thee, my friend, for thou hast guided us well. Would that we could fare onward together, but thou hast thine own mission to follow just as we have ours. May Elwydd light thy way."
'At this benediction Raggi's face broke into a smile, and he replied, "And may the hand of Adon shield you all."
"Bye, Raggi. Take care of that cut like I told you," said Beau. Then he turned and started up the way.
"Take care, little Waeran," said Raggi after him.
"Fare you well," said Tip, and hitched his lute strap into a better position.
"And you as well," replied Raggi as Tip set off after Beau.
"Chdkka shok, Chdkka cor, Raggi," said Loric, a
dding, "ko ka ska."
At these words Raggi's eyes flew wide, for few other than the Chakka knew the Dwarven tongue, and yet here was an Elf who had just spoken to him in Chakur.
Loric cast Raggi a grin and a salute as the Dwarf stood mute, and then Loric turned to catch the Waerlinga.
"May thine axe remain sharp, my friend," said Phais, last, starting to turn.
"My Lady, should our paths cross again, it will be an honor to serve you and yours," replied Raggi.
Phais turned back and without a word kissed him on the cheek, then set off after the others.
With gnarled fingers Raggi touched his cheek where she had kissed him, and his eyes glistered as he called after, "Can it be done, I'll find a home for the horses."
With Loric leading and Phais following, they walked up the slope to the first twist along the narrow way, and Loric paused and looked back. Raggi yet stood at the edge of the aspens, watching. All waved, and with two hands Raggi raised his axe overhead. Then Loric and the others passed 'round the bend and out from Raggi's view.
With a sigh he turned and stepped in among the trees, and all about him the aspen leaves trembled in the shadows of early morn.
All that morning they wended upward along the slender path, the way steep at times and at other times relatively flat and rarely sloping down. But always it was narrow, strait, stone rising up about them or falling away sheer. Here and there tenacious grasses and scrub pines and mosses clung to crevices in the rock, and now and then they would see a cascade of flowers clinging to the lichen-spotted stone. The air became crisper the higher they went, and from time to time they came to places where ice yet clung stubbornly to enshadowed clefts.
"My, my," said Beau at a particular stretch, "no wonder horses can't come, and it's a marvel that ponies do."
Tip nodded in agreement. "I'm of a mind that even the Dwarves must have to sidle along, given the breadth of their shoulders."
And still they twisted and turned and gained ever upward, pausing now and then to set down their packs and rest their weary legs.
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