A Darkness at Sethanon (47 page)

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 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.”

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.

It was clear
that Murmandamus had taken a terrible beating in sacking the city,
but still his host dominated the plain outside the walls. Banners
flew and companies moved, as the moredhel warlord ordered his army to
march. Amos spat. “Look, he still has a larger army in reserve
than he threw at us,”

Arutha said with
fatigue in his voice, “You cost him close to fifteen thousand
dead -”

Guy interrupted.
“And he can still march more than thirty-five thousand against
Tyr-Sog . . .” Elements were moving, and the scouts and
outriders were already galloping toward their assigned places along
the line of march. Guy studied it for a moment, then said, “Damn
me! He’s not moving south! He’s moving his army
eastward!”

Arutha looked at
Amos, then at Guy. “But that makes no sense. He can hold the
dwarves to the west, pushing them back until he’s in Yabon.”

Jimmy said, “To
the east . . .”

“ . . .
lies Highcastle,” finished Arutha.

Guy nodded.
“He’s going to march his army down Cutter’s Gap,
right into Highcastle’s garrison.”

Arutha said,
“But why? He can overrun Highcastle in days, but he’ll be
left standing in the middle of the High Wold, unprotected on either
flank. He’s got no obvious goal.”

Guy said, “If
he strikes dead south, he can be in the Dimwood inside a month.”

“Sethanon,”
said Arutha.

Guy said, “I
don’t understand it. He can take Sethanon. Its garrison is
little more than an honour company. But once there, what? He can
winter, living on forage from the Dimwood and whatever city stores he
captures, but come spring, Lyam can hit him from the east and your
forces from the west. He’ll be between the hammer and the
anvil, with a five-hundred-mile retreat back into the mountains. It
would mean his destruction.”

Amos spat.
“Let’s not underestimate the nose-picker. He’s up
to something.”

Galain looked
about. “We’d best be going along. If he’s moving
east for certain, we’ll never be able to double back and reach
Inclindel. That patrol we saw will be a company of outriders. They’ll
stay up here along the entire line of march, following behind us.”

Guy nodded.
“Then we must reach Cutter’s Gap before his advanced
elements.”

Arutha spurred
his horse and they began the ride eastward.

For the balance
of the day they managed to keep ahead of any of Murmandamus’s
soldiers. Occasionally they would see flankers riding off from the
main army, far below on the plain, and there were signs of movement
behind them. But the trail began moving downward, and near sundown
Arutha said, “We’re going to be riding smack into their
outer pickets if we keep moving toward the plain.”

Guy said, “If
we continue riding past dark, we might slip into the woods at the
bottom of the hills. If we hug the foot of the mountains and ride all
night, we’ll enter the forest proper. I doubt even Murmandamus
will be sending large numbers of soldiers into the Edder Forest. He
can circle it easily enough. The Edder is no place I’d like to
be, but we’ll have cover. If we ride all night, we might stay
enough ahead of them to be safe . . . at least from them.”

Jimmy and
Locklear exchanged questioning looks, then Jimmy said, “Amos,
what’s he mean?”

Amos glanced at
Guy, who nodded. “The Edder’s a bad place, boy. We can -
could forest for about three miles or so into the woods along its
edge. A little farther in a man could hunt. But farther than that,
well - we don’t know what’s in there. Even the goblins
and Dark Brothers skirt the place. Whoever goes deep into the forest
just doesn’t come back. We don’t know what’s in
there. The Edder’s pretty damn big, so just about anything
could hide in there.”

Arutha said, “We
leap from the cauldron to the fire, then.”

“Perhaps,”
answered Guy. “Still, we know what we face if we ride the
plain.”

Jimmy said,
“Maybe we could slip by, keeping our disguises.”

It was Galain
who answered. “There is no chance, Jimmy. One look and any
moredhel knows an eledhel instantly. It is something we do not speak
of, but simply believe me. There is an instinctive recognition.”