| |
The next morning, the group moved at a slower pace. Their experience with the arch tree fresh in their minds, they kept a careful watch not only for dangerous animals, or the approach of armed men, but on every tree. Horatio seemed content in Dave’s pack, and did not bark or make any other sound.
It must have been about 10 o’clock in the morning when they finally reached the edge of the forest and the trail entered the broken rocks that formed the beginnings of the cliff they had seen earlier. Stopping for lunch, Dave let Horatio out of his pack. The little lup ran around their camp and up to everyone for a scratch or pet like an ordinary puppy. Dave and Al searched the cliff face to see the trail and to look for danger.
Dave pointed about halfway up the cliff face. “Doesn’t that look like a nest there? It’s huge, but we would expect it to be huge for those vuls.”
Al scanned the cliff face with his binoculars. “Yes,” said Al. “Now that I know what I’m looking for, I think I see three or four more. I think those vuls are going to cause us a real problem if we’re in the open and near their nesting area.”
“On the other hand,’ said Dave, “we know this trail has been used recently by Bigelow, and so it must be possible to climb to the ridge. I suppose we could wait until nightfall.”
“How do we know those vuls need to see us? Maybe they can find us by smell. At least during the day we can see them coming. At night only you, Arlana, and Hanomer will see well enough to have a chance.”
Ahead of them, the trail crossed a rock-strewn stretch, and then snaked between large boulders. Checking that the way was clear and that there were no vuls in the air, they made a dash as a group to the shadow of the first boulder. Al gave Dave a nudge. Looking up the cliff, Dave could see that several vuls had left their eyries and were now gliding parallel to the cliff.
Led by Al, the group made a second dash to the base of the cliff. Dave glanced up nervously. By now at least a dozen vuls were circling overhead, their deep-throated cries echoing off the cliff face.
“Let’s keep moving,” said Al.
Dave waited for the others to pass so he could cover Arlana’s back. If one of those monstrosities comes down, it’s not going to get her!
The cliff was dusky brown sandstone with flecks of quartz. The path began to climb from ledge to ledge in a series of steps with a scramble up a steep section in between. They cowered under an overhang as the dark shadow of a vul swept past them silently.
Ahead was another vertical scramble up to the next ledge.
“Everybody wait here and cover me. I’ll head up and then cover you when you come after me,” said Al.
Al waited until the sky was free of vuls, and then started climbing to the next ledge. The path went up at an angle of approximately sixty degrees. Al had to pick his way from step to step.
“Watch out!” shouted Dave. A vul with talons outstretched banked in an attempt to snatch Al off the scramble. Al flattened himself just in time, and the claws scraped on the rocks. Dave dashed out with Gram and swung at the vul as it tried to bank away from the cliff. The sword sheared off a claw and the vul shrieked in fury, leaving a trail of black, foul-smelling blood.
When Al had made it to the top of the cliff, Arlana went next. Dave marveled at her lithe form as she ran up the scramble without seeming to have to look for the next step. She had adjusted her skin color so that it was almost the same dusky brown as the rock.
Nice trick, thought Dave. I wish I had that kind of control over my skin color. All I can manage is really light and really dark.
The wounding of the vul seemed to provide a break, so Larsen, Chartrand, and Tandor went next, while Dave covered them with Gram drawn. When they had also made it to the top, Dave followed. Another vul swooped. Peeking out of the haversack, Horatio let out a low growl. Dave was only halfway up the scramble, but braced himself, and swung his body around to face the incoming vul. His pack prevented him from getting onto his back, but he braced his legs, held Gram at the ready, and waited for the vul. The vul veered away, so Dave continued his dogged scramble to the next ledge with one hand, holding Gram with the other.
Crouching under an overhang with the others, Dave looked around. The others looked frightened. Arlana had more fear in her eyes that he ever remembered seeing before, even during the worst of the Battle for Halcyon.
We can’t stay here, he thought. The path did not head up to another ledge, but disappeared into a long narrow crack in the cliff.
“I know that the trail has been pretty obvious since the last bread crumb,” said Al, “but I want to put a transmitter here. I wish I could have left them a note to go back. I don’t know how they’ll manage this climb, harassed by vuls, as a party of two.”
“You know Linder,” said Al. “He wouldn’t turn back no matter what you wrote in your note. He’ll manage. He’ll stick with us and he’ll also find a way while looking after Thomas. Al tied a bread crumb with a note to a small bush eking out a meager existence on the side of the cliff.
“Alright, is everyone ready?” asked Dave. There were nods all around. Dave went first this time. The crack was narrow but the trail continued on with no immediate danger in sight. The sheer walls rose several hundred feet and he could see hazy blue sky above. Dave waved for the others to join him. With Hanomer leading, they travelled single file along the rugged path. Rock shards littered the ground, and from time to time, a vul flew over them. After about two hundred meters the crack opened up into a circular space about seventy meters across. It looked as if they were at the bottom of a well. The walls were relatively smooth and unbroken. Vuls sat on the rim of this rock well, looking down at them, their screeches filling the air. Across from them was the circular mouth of a tunnel, and the path ran straight across the circular space and disappeared into the blackness. Off to their right, a thin trickle of water from the wall formed a small pool.
“If we have to go into that tunnel, let’s take a break by that pool,” said Dave. “The vuls can’t get us here easily if we stay close to the wall. If they try to land and attack us, we’ll make them pay.”
“Surely you’re not thinking of camping here for the night?” asked Al.
“No, I still want to try the tunnel in daylight, otherwise we won’t see the exits if it’s dark outside.”
Keeping a sharp eye on the vuls on the bowl rim, they refreshed their water bottles from the pool and had a quick meal back in the crack. Stroking their light gourds to illuminate them, they crept around the perimeter of the bowl and headed into the tunnel.
The tunnel mouth was about ten meters in diameter, but quickly narrowed to a square passage about three meters on a side. The tunnel ran straight. It looked as if some sections had been deliberately widened a long time ago. After about one hundred meters, the passage opened into a large chamber. A beam of light from a fissure in the roof played on a large section of rock that had fallen from above ages ago.
They lost the trail. There seemed to be several passages out of this cavern.
“Now what do we do?” asked Chartrand.
“I think,” said Al, “we ought to split into three groups and follow each of the passages for a few hundred meters and then return here to decide which way to go.”
Dave and Arlana, took the left passage, which narrowed so much that they had to wriggle forward. It opened up again into a series of chambers. The fourth chamber, which was considerably larger than the other two, had a slope of broken rock at one end. A beam of light illuminated the top of this ramp.
Dave eagerly scrambled toward the shaft of light. He squeezed through the narrow opening and stepped out into twilight in front of a pier of rock thrusting out of the ground in a forest glade. The air was filled with the acrid smell of sulfur dioxide. Arlana joined him, and made a face at the fumes. They began to explore the glade to get their bearings, while scanning the sky for vuls. Arlana moved to the east and a few minutes later called to Dave to join her. He found her standing on a ledge looking east. Across a narrow valley and behind a shallow ridge they saw an area devoid of plant life. This shallow bowl behind the ridge was rent by fissures. Out of several of these fissures, plumes of smoke rose, blowing directly toward them. The shallow bowl had areas of hardened slag, some of which had spilled over the rim of the bowl and scorched the surrounding vegetation. In the midst of this desolation, high on a rocky crag rising out of the slag bowl, stood a fortress. Below them, in the valley, they could see the trail leaving the trees at the fringe of the devastated land and winding its way to the fortress main gate. The road looked recently repaired, where the vomit from the fissures had temporarily blocked it. The evening light was fading fast.
“I think we ought to head back, husband, to find the others.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I wonder what Bigelow wants from this forbidding place?”
Retracing their steps, they crawled back into the cavern through the narrow passage. This proved much more difficult than they anticipated since it meant crawling down a steeply sloping part of the passage, head first. When the passage opened up and they were able to turn around, the going became easier. In twenty minutes, they were back in the cavern with all the side passages and waited. Another thirty minutes passed and Dave began to be alarmed. Finally, Larsen and Chartrand came running back.
“Tandor and Al been captured,” gasped Chartrand as he bent over to catch his breath.
“They were captured by ... by lizard men,” added Larsen.
“Lizard men?” asked Dave.
“Trogs!” said Arlana, growing pale.
“What are Trogs?” asked Dave.
“They are another of the bent races made from the first men. They live underground and have scales instead of skin. They eat human flesh.”
“We need to go after them right away,” said Dave.
“We did go after them,” said Chartrand, “and we followed them until they left the underground passage and headed toward this fortress on a high rock. We won’t catch them before they’re inside. Hanomer’s still following them.”
“If we have no chance of immediate rescue, maybe you’d better start from the beginning, Chartrand,” said Arlana.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. Hanomer, Larsen, and I took the passage on the right. We came to a fork and kept to the right. After about one hundred meters, that passage came to a dead end. We retraced our steps and took the left fork, which joined another passage at a tee intersection. We thought we might have joined Al and Tandor’s passage, so we turned right, thinking that going left would take us back to our starting point.
“We heard Al shout. Then there was the sound of a scuffle with roars and curses in the Common Tongue. The curses had a strange timbre, unlike any sound made by a human—almost like hissing. We ran as fast as we could, but the distance was further than we thought. Hanomer found Al’s pack thrown into a shadowed corner, and scuff marks on the ground.
“With Hanomer leading, we continued down the passage as fast as we could go, hearing talk in the Common Tongue ahead of us. The accent was strong, but it sounded as if the leaders of the band were debating what to do. One wanted to take the captives back to their village cavern while the other insisted they had to take the prisoners to the wizard, Zambor. The first speaker said they couldn’t go out into the sun. The second said it was only a short trip and that it was already twilight.
“We followed them to the exit. The sun was nearly down, but there was enough light to see the band head up the road to the fortress. They were too far ahead for us to catch up. There were about twelve of these Trogs. We would be seen. That’s when Larsen and I decided we should come back to report and figure out what to do next.
“Show us where the attack happened,” said Dave.
With Chartrand leading, they retraced their steps to the widening of the passage. Chartrand indicated where they had found Al’s backpack. Their weapons and Tandor’s pack had disappeared. Dave showed the others a section of what appeared to be rock, which was in reality a cleverly disguised wooden door with a rock-like coating. Pulling one of the protuberances, Dave pulled open the noiseless door to reveal another passage. They could see where the attackers had positioned themselves for their assault.
“I think this is an outpost set by Zambor to intercept visitors,” said Dave. “I expect those Trogs will be coming back here soon to resume their post. We’d better leave.
“Arlana and I found another way out. Let’s head back.”
They emerged from the narrow passage to the cavern and sat under the trees where they could keep an eye on the fortress and the road. Having darkened their skin color, Dave and Arlana were almost invisible to the others in the darkness. Dave had no trouble seeing in this level of light.
Arlana touched Dave’s arm. Look husband, there’s a group leaving the front gate and heading down the trail. They’re Trogs—ugly brutes. I see twelve of them. That looks like the lot.
“They must be heading back to their ambush post,” whispered Arlana. “That must mean that Al and Tandor have been left in the fortress.”
“Pam and Little Thomas are in there as well.”
Larsen said, “Hanomer will be coming back to our meeting place. I’ll go back and wait for him.”
Dave studied the fortress carefully. The walls were at least twenty meters high with towers every fifty meters. In the centre was a massive keep that dwarfed the walls and rose perhaps two hundred meters above the top of the rock. A crenelated platform at the top was on level with their perch.
Clouds moved in and a gentle rain began. The four retreated back into the tunnel and continued the discussion.
“We should go right now,” said Dave. “We haven’t seen anyone on the walls. With this rain there will be even fewer guards.”
“But even if we’re successful in getting over the wall undetected, what do we do then?” asked Chartrand. “We don’t know the layout. We have no plan to hide ourselves and we don’t know where the prisoners are held. How can we proceed without a plan?”
“I don’t know,” said Dave. “I think we need to reconnoitre the fortress to see if there’s a way in. Maybe find a way to make a grappling hook to scale those walls—I know it’s a long shot.”
They waited in silence until Larsen and Hanomer rejoined them.
Dave had been looking in the direction of the fortress for a long time. “If Al were here, I’m sure he’d tell us we should pray for something ...”
Larsen chuckled, “You mean pray for one of those events, as Al would say, that atheists ascribe to improbable coincidence and Christians ascribe to providence? Yep, that sounds like a plan—sort of.”
“One more thing, while we’re thinking about what to do, we have to make sure that Linder and Thomas don’t walk into the same trap that we walked into. Two of us should wait by the trail to warn them.”
“Why don’t you and Arlana stay here,” suggested Larsen. “Your eyesight at night is so much better than ours, and with your skin color change, you can blend into these rocks much better than we can.
“Chartrand and I can take turns watching the trail during the day. We’ll also leave a bread crumb with a note outside the tunnel, telling Linder and Thomas what happened, and to wait for us.”
“Friend Chartrand, I will watch with Arlana and Dave,” said Hanomer. “I think they have the harder task. Watch should be kept up for twenty-four hours a day, in case something happens that affects our friends.”