Jimmy said, ‘Look!’ and pointed skyward.
The cloud of smoke that hung above them was glowing red from the reflected light of the fire below as a giant column of flames still rose toward the heavens. Against that angry backdrop a single figure could be seen riding in the air upon the back of a glowing red steed. It seemed to be descending, as if running downhill in a circle, and it was clearly making its way back to the heart of Murmandamus’s camp.
‘Son of a mangy bitch!’ swore Amos. ‘Can’t anything kill that dungeater?’
Guy looked about. ‘I don’t know, but now we have other worries.’ He began to climb down, and they discovered that the entire cavern had collapsed beneath them. Where the cave mouth had been, only a mass of rubble extending out into the gully could be seen. They picked their way through the debris, passing beyond several collapsed stone redoubts that had protected the city from attack from above, and at last reached the wash leading down into a canyon where horses were hidden.
Guy said, ‘The first four or five canyons will have been picked clean by those first to flee. If we’re to find mounts, we must look farther out.’
Arutha nodded. ‘Still, we have a choice: west toward Yabon, or east toward Highcastle.’
‘Toward Yabon,’ answered Guy. ‘If help’s coming, we have a chance of meeting it along the road.’ He scanned the area, looking for some sign of which was the most likely direction to travel. ‘Whatever units Murmandamus had up here will likely be disorganized now. We may yet get free of them.’
Amos chuckled. ‘Even his larger companies will be reluctant to stand in the way of a rout army. It isn’t exactly healthy.’
Guy said, ‘Still, if they find themselves cornered, they’ll fight like the rats they are. And at first light there’ll be thousands of reinforcements up here. We have only a few hours at best to get away.’
The sound of movement from the canyon caused all to draw weapons and move back into what little shelter was provided by the fallen rocks. Guy signalled for everyone to be ready.
They waited silently, and from around the corner a figure emerged. Guy sprang forward, halting his blow in midair.
‘Briana!’
The commander of the Third Company looked slightly dazed, blood flowing from a cut upon her temple. Seeing Guy she relaxed. ‘Protector,’ she said with relief. ‘We were forced to turn back. There was a patrol of trolls at the lower end of the canyon who were attempting to flee back to their own lines. We seemed to be fighting to get past each other. Then the explosion … we were showered with rocks. I don’t know what happened to the trolls. I think they fled…’ She pointed to her bleeding forehead. ‘Some of us were hurt.’
‘Who is with you?’ he asked.
Arutha stepped forward as Briana shook her head to clear it, then motioned, and into the glow from the conflagration in the city came two more guards, one obviously wounded, and a dozen or more children. With wide, startled eyes they regarded Arutha, Guy, and the others.
Briana said, ‘They had been trapped in a draw by some Dark Brothers. Some of my soldiers killed the Brothers, but we were separated. We’ve been finding stragglers for the last hour.’
Guy counted. ‘Sixteen.’ He turned to Arutha. ‘What do we do now?’
Arutha said, ‘Every man for himself or not, we can’t leave them.’
Amos turned, alerted by some approaching sound. ‘Whatever we do, we’d best do it somewhere else. Come along.’
Guy pointed over the rim of the draw and he and the others began helping the children climb. Soon they were all above the canyon rim and moving off toward the west.
Arutha was the last to reach the rim, and as the others vanished out of sight he dropped to his knees behind an outcropping of rock. Into view came a company of goblins, moving cautiously as if expecting attack at every turn while they attempted to return safely from their lines. From their bloodied appearance, it was clear they had already encountered some elements of the Armengarian rout. Arutha waited until he was sure the children were safely along, then took a rock and heaved it as far past the goblins as possible. The stone sped unobserved through the dark and clattered behind them. The goblins spun around and hurried along, as if fearing attack from behind. Arutha ducked along the ridge, running in a crouch, then jumped down to the next trail. Soon he overtook the last of their party, the man called Shigga, acting as rear guard.
Shigga motioned with his head. Arutha whispered, ‘Goblins.’
The spearman nodded and they moved down the trail, following the band of tiny fugitives.
• Chapter Fifteen •
Flight
Arutha motioned for a halt.
Everyone, including the children, moved against the rocks, hiding from possible observation. The entire party crouched down in a gully, one they had been following for the night. Dawn was approaching, and after the fiery destruction of Armengar, the hills behind the city had become a no-man’s land.
The fall of the city had been a victory for Murmandamus, but a vastly more costly one than he had expected. The hills behind Armengar had been thrown into chaos. The units already in place there had been overrun by the rout army fleeing the city. A large number of goblins and trolls had quit the hills and fled back toward Murmandamus’s camp.
In the first few hours after the fall of the city, Arutha’s party had seen few goblins or Dark Brothers, but it was obvious that Murmandamus had ordered a large number of his units back into the hills. At first Murmandamus’s forces had no clear advantage once in the rocks. There was no coordination among commanders and not enough soldiers had come into the hills to put the fleeing Armengarians at a clear numerical disadvantage. Bands of goblins and moredhel ventured into the gullies and washes behind the city in the darkness, seeking to overtake the fugitives, but many never returned. Now, the balance was shifting; soon the area would be entirely in the enemy’s control.
Arutha glanced back at the huddling children. Several of the little ones were close to exhaustion from a sleepless night and constant terror. The problem of finding a safe passage south was confounded by the inability of the youngest children to move quickly. And at each turn they ran the chance of encountering the enemy. Twice they had blundered into elements from the city, and Guy had ordered them along on their own, refusing to let this group become larger. Twice more they had discovered corpses, from both sides.
The sound of boots grew louder, and from the number and the lack of any attempt to hide their approach, Arutha judged this likely to be the enemy. He signalled and everyone faded back along the gully, until Arutha, Guy, Amos, Briana, and Shigga crouched down in the shadows before the huddling children. Jimmy and Locklear stayed in the midst of the children, keeping them quiet.
The patrol, led by a moredhel, consisted of trolls and goblins. The trolls were sniffing the air, but the heavy reek of smoke confounded their senses. They marched past the gully and down a large defile. When they were past, Arutha motioned and the company moved cautiously forward, travelling toward the west, away from the patrol’s line of march.
Suddenly a child yelled in fright, and Arutha and the others whirled around. Jimmy was leaping past the children, Locklear at his side, weapons drawn as the trolls attacked. Whether they had discovered the fugitives or had simply decided to double back along the defile, Arutha did not know, but he knew they must dispose of this patrol quickly or they would alert others.
Arutha lunged over Locklear’s shoulder and killed a troll forcing the boy back. Amos and Guy passed them and soon the entire company was engaged. Shigga thrust with his spear, killing another troll, while the moredhel faced Guy. The dark elf recognized the Protector of Armengar, for he shouted, ‘One-eye!’ He attacked with savage fury, pushing Guy backward, but Locklear duplicated Arutha’s trick, striking past Guy, killing the moredhel.
Abruptly it was over, with five trolls, an equal number of goblins, and the moredhel dead. Arutha was breathing heavily when he said, ‘It’s a good thing this is a narrow
gully. If they’d got around us, we’d never have survived.’
Guy regarded the greying sky and said, ‘We have to find some place to hide. The children are ready to drop, and there’s no place close where we can move over the mountains.’
Shigga said, ‘My kraal is not far, so I’ve travelled here, Protector. There’s a trail a mile more to the west, not often used. It leads to a shallow cave. Perhaps we can mask it. It’s a difficult climb…’
‘But we’ve no choice,’ said Amos.
Guy said, ‘Show us.’
Shigga set out at a trot, only slowing to glance around turns in the trail. When he at last climbed up on the rocks next to the defile, they began lifting the children. The last child had been handed up and Briana had climbed up after, when a shout came from the west. A half-dozen Armengarian soldiers were fighting a rearward action as a larger number of goblins pursued them toward Arutha and his companions.
Guy shouted to Briana, ‘Get the children out of here!’ Shigga crouched with his spear at the ready, while Briana hurried the children along toward the cave.
Arutha and the others joined with the Armengarians and blocked the defile, refusing to yield to the goblins. The goblins fought with a frantic quality, and suddenly Arutha shouted, ‘They’re fleeing from someone behind them!’
The pressure increased as goblins began to leap at the Armengarians. Guy ordered a slow withdrawal, and step by step they let the goblins push them back along the defile. Shigga crouched above the defile, guarding the slight trail to the cave from any goblin or troll who might attempt to climb toward the children, while Briana continued to usher the children upward. But the goblins chose to ignore them, seeking frantically to get past Guy’s detachment.
Then a shout from the other side, beyond Arutha’s vision, sounded, and several of the rearmost goblins began battling some other foe. The goblins ceased moving, as they were trapped between two groups of attackers.
A yell from behind caused Arutha to spin about. Jimmy and Locklear had been watching the rear, and another company of goblins was appearing at the far end of the defile. Without hesitation, Arutha shouted, ‘Climb! Get out!’
He and the boys leaped for the rocks, then stabbed downward at the goblins to allow Amos and Guy a chance to climb upward. Now Arutha could see what had caused the first band of goblins to flee back toward him. A company of dwarves was battling furiously against the goblins. Behind the dwarves, two elves could also be seen, who drew bows and fired over the heads of their shorter companions. Arutha recognized one of the elves and shouted, ‘Galain!’
The elf looked up and waved. He shouldered his bow and leaped up on the ridge, skirting the fighting in the gully below. With a long running leap he cleared another wash and landed on the side of the defile where Arutha stood. ‘Martin has gone on to Yabon! Are you all right?’
Arutha nodded as he drew a deep breath. ‘Yes, but the city’s gone.’
The elf said, ‘We know. Even miles away the explosion was seen. We’ve been encountering refugees all night. Most of the dwarves under Dolgan have formed a rough corridor along the high trail.’ He pointed back down the main trail they had used in coming to Armengar. ‘Most of those fleeing will get through.’
Guy said, ‘There are children in that cave up there.’ He waved to where Shigga crouched on the other side of the defile.
Galain called out, ‘Arian! There are children up there.’ He pointed toward the cave. The second detachment of goblins joined the fray and further conversation was halted. Several goblins attempted to climb up after those in the rocks, but Amos kicked one in the face and Jimmy ran another through, and the others thought better of it.
A momentary pause in the fight allowed Arian, the other elf, to yell, ‘We’ll get them out.’ The elf continued to shoot at the goblins while two dwarves scrambled up the small trail, to aid Shigga, Briana, and the two remaining Armengarian soldiers in getting the children safely down.
Galain said, ‘Calin sent a company of us to Stone Mountain, to honour Dolgan’s accepting the crown. When Martin arrived and told of what was going on up here, Dolgan set off at once. Arian and I decided to come along while the rest returned to Elvandar with word of Murmandamus’s march. Calin can’t leave our forests unprotected with Tomas gone, but I suspect he’ll send a company of archers to help the dwarves get the survivors over the mountain. The dwarves’ corridor is well held, from the Inclindel Gap to about a mile west of here. Dolgan’s warriors are all through the hills, so it’ll be lively up here for a while.’
The dwarves fought a holding action from behind a shield wall while those above handed the children down to two dwarves at the rear, who quickly led them to safety. Jimmy tugged at Guy’s sleeve and pointed to where a company of trolls was climbing up from below. Guy glanced about, seeing better than a dozen goblins still between himself and the dwarves, then pointed toward the east. He waved to Briana and Shigga, indicating they should flee with the children. Quickly Guy and the others scrambled behind the goblins, and leaped down. They ran back to the last intersection they had used, and moved down the shallow gully. Ducking into the same covering they had availed themselves of moments before, Guy said, ‘Those trolls coming up from below will make it impossible to reach the dwarves. Perhaps we can drop lower and move along until we’ve circled around them.’
Galain said, ‘It’s pretty chaotic up here. I was with the most forward elements of Dolgan’s army and they’ve come as far as they can. Now they’ll begin withdrawing. If we don’t overtake them quickly, we’ll be left behind.’
Further conversation was interrupted by shouts from above as more of Murmandamus’s forces ran along the ridges toward the invading dwarves. Guy signalled and they moved off at a crouched walk, deeper into the wash, heading down. After they had gone a few hundred more yards, Guy said, ‘Where are we?’
They all exchanged looks and realized they had taken a different way from the one they had come, and now they were somewhere to the west of the cavern that had emptied out behind the city. Jimmy glanced up and began to rise, then ducked down again. He pointed. ‘There’s a glow in the sky still, over there, so that must be where the city is.’
Guy swore softly. ‘We’re not as far east as I thought. I don’t know where this gully empties out.’
Arutha looked at the lightening sky. ‘We’d better keep moving.’ They hurried off, not certain where they were heading, but knowing that to be caught would be to die.
‘Riders,’ whispered Galain, who had been scouting ahead.
Arutha and Guy both pointed, and the elf said, ‘Renegades. A half dozen. The louts are taking their ease about a campfire. You’d think it was a picnic’
‘Any signs of others?’ asked Guy.
‘Nothing. I saw some movement farther to the west, but I think we’ve moved behind Murmandamus’s lines. If those lazing about the fire are any indication, things are pretty calm hereabouts.’
Guy gestured with his thumb across his throat. Arutha nodded. Amos pulled a belt knife and motioned for the boys to circle the camp. In a crouch they all moved I along, until Jimmy signalled and he and Locklear climbed up above the trail. The two squires moved quickly and silently, while Arutha, Amos, Galain, and Guy waited. They heard a startled shout and dashed forward.
The two squires had jumped a guard at the far end of the small camp, and the five other men had their backs turned. Three died without knowing someone was coming behind them, and the other two quickly followed. Guy glanced about. ‘Take their cloaks. If we’re questioned, we’ll likely be found out, but if we keep to the ridges, perhaps their sentries will think us only another band out looking for stragglers.’
The boys put cloaks of blue over their Armengarian brown leather. Arutha kept his own cloak of blue, while Amos donned one of green. Guy retained his black one. To a man the Armengarians wore brown, so the colours might disguise the fugitives for a while. Arutha tossed a grey cloak to Galain and said, ‘Here, try to look like a Dark Brother.’ r />
Dryly the elf said, ‘Arutha, you do not know what a test of friendship that remark is. I must have Martin explain such things to you.’
Arutha said, ‘Gladly, if it’s back home over wine in the company of our families.’
The bodies were rolled down into a gully. Jimmy leaped atop the ridge above the camp and climbed up another ridge above that, standing so that he might get some sense of where they were. ‘Damn!’ he swore as he jumped back down.
Arutha said, ‘What?’
‘A patrol, about a half-mile back along the trail. It’s not in any hurry, but it’s coming this way. Thirty or more riders.’
Guy said, ‘We leave now,’ and they mounted the renegades’ horses.
As they moved out, Arutha said, ‘Galain, I’ve not had a moment to ask of the others who travelled with Martin.’ He left the question unasked.
Galain said, ‘Martin was the only one to reach Stone Mountain.’ He shrugged. ‘We know Laurie’s boyhood friend is dead,’ he said of Roald, not using the dead man’s name in elven fashion. ‘Of Laurie and Baru Serpentslayer, we know nothing.’ Arutha could only nod. He felt regret at the death of Roald. The mercenary had proved a loyal companion. But he was more disturbed at Laurie’s unknown fate; he thought of Carline. He hoped for her sake Laurie was well. He put aside that worry for more immediate concerns and motioned for Galain to lead the way.
They moved eastward, taking the higher trail whenever possible. Galain rode in the van, and they did resemble a company of renegades led by a moredhel.
At a point where two trails met, they could again see the city. It squatted against the mountain, smoking rubble. The crater where the keep had stood still spewed forth black smoke. The rocks of the cliff face seemed to glow red in the early morning gloom. ‘Is there nothing left of the keep?’ Guy asked in quiet wonder.
Amos looked down, his face a stony mask. ‘It was there,’ he answered, pointing to a spot at the base of the cliff. Now only the raging inferno could be seen as the pool of naphtha burned unabated in the deep pit blown out of the rocks. Nothing which resembled the keep, the inner wall, moat, or the first dozen blocks of the city could be seen. Those buildings nearest the citadel still discernible were little more than piles of rubble. Only the outer wall remained intact, except where the barbican had been exploded. Everything was gutted, charred black, or glowing red. Amos said, ‘It’s all gone. Armengar is gone.’ No building remained intact, and the entire mountainside was shrouded by a blue black haze of smoke. Even outside the walls, the litter of bodies was appalling.