It had been almost three hours since Dalmar and Lars had entered the wide expanse of the rolling hillsides that traversed the open plains of the Edran landscape when the sun began its descent towards the tops of the mountains in the distance. Throughout the day thusfar, the men had seen no person. Only the occasional low flying birds rising and falling above the tops of the swaying grasses and the chance spotting of a fox chasing after a mouse or rabbit had caught their eyes. Strangely, the world seemed to be hiding from these two warriors as if their disguise was not enough to hide their nature. Each of them found it odd that such a path engraved into the ground here should bear no travelers. Once a common route to the west of Altendon, this roadway was no longer as well traveled. Dalmar gave it little thought, but Lars, having lived in Altendon, had seen the days when travel was more common through this part of the world. But over the years, it was apparent there was more influence upon the road by the Crimson Reign. Making contact with the first peak of the mountains, the sun began to dip towards darkness as they finally reached the other side. The first two mountains began to rise to either side of the pathway striking a memory into Dalmar's mind, and he stopped his horse for a moment.
"Through that pass there a little ways is where I came through." Dalmar said, pointing along the rocky pathway leading to the west. "But I don't recall this road leading to the north around the treeline here and around the base of this rise."
"I would imagine that is the way to G'rvaldth." Lars said.
"G'rvaldth ?" Dalmar asked.
"It's a settlement that lies over the ridge there some two days ride along a winding path to the edge of the great desert where a number of springs rush down from the mountains. They say that once it served as a great trading post and stop between those traveling between Glorsheim and Edra." Lars smiled as he scanned the area. He became a bit agitated as he knew it was not wise, given their mission, to sit still in the middle of the pathway. Dalmar's line of sight moved back and forth between the two pathways now.
"Well, I know what's that way" Dalmar said pointing along the familiar westward roadway. "But it may not be such a bad idea to check out what's going on towards G'rvaldth. That sounds like the likely spot that we could find Lanthis."
"Aye..." Lars agreed. "But we shouldn't distract ourselves from the constraints of our mission, Zeke. Let's just scout the known pathway for now. Who knows? We may find another route to G'rvaldth." Dalmar looked at Lars and nodded. Lars saw the disappointment in Dalmar's eyes and his reluctance to agree. He knew the man was anxious to find his friend, and he understood as he had understood the bond between he and his own brother many times before. Lars understood that the bonds between this warrior and his companion were as brothers, and he respected that sense of family.
As he rode slightly behind his companion, Lars began to feel aware of another presence. His sixth sense began to tingle as the shadows of the mountainside began to close in around he and Dalmar, and he scanned more intently the slopes to either side. The sun was quickly closing on the edge of the world and soon it would be night. Dalmar seemed unaware of this mysterious presence, and he sped his horse and brought it beside Dalmar's horse.
"Don't look now, but I think we're being watched, Zeke." Lars said in a low voice. Instinctively, Dalmar turned his head to look at Lars, and then snapped back in a forward gaze.
"Who do you think it is, Lars?" Dalmar said, matching Lars' tone.
"Hard to say. Could be them, or it could be someone else." Lars replied. At that moment, a sound broke the strange silence of the impending evening. Trickling down the side of the south mountainside was a single rock as each of the riders turned to follow it tumbling into the roadway from above. The two men stopped and scanned the rocks above once more, their senses fully aware now. Each of the adventurers listened with eager intensity. The cool breeze blew across their ears, and the howl of a wolf far in the distance sounded out to its brethren. They heard nothing until Lars sat up straight in his saddle. In the distance, the keen dwarven ears caught the faint sounds of travelers to the west. "Riders. Coming this way. Get off the road, Zeke. This way!" Lars nervously turned his horse towards the north and forced his steed up the side of the looming mountain as Dalmar followed suit. A barrage of rubble loosened itself down the side of the mountain where their mounts dug into the hard ground and lifted their riders above the roadway. Lars peered ahead of their horses looking for a suitable place for them to cover themselves in the shadows of the mountains finding a small flat area hidden from view. "There!" Lars blurted as he jostled in his saddle. Dalmar looked and turned his horse towards the wide ledge jutting out from the mountain's side.
The two horses broke the edge of the strange rocky overlook as the shadow of the mountain's peak began to blanket them in the darkness of the descending dusk. Lars jumped down from his horse and grasped his horse by the mane and behind the shoulder, softly consoling the confused beast until his horse was resting. "Zeke, lay your horse down!" Lars furiously charged Dalmar. Dalmar looked at Lars with a bewildered stare, amazed at the dwarf's skills with his horse and unable to comply with Lars' request. "Zeke, talk it down, man. Grab it by the mane and shoulder, and force it down calmly like I did." Lars scanned the roadway below as he peered over the edge of the flat space in the mountainside. A cloud of dust had risen about the rocky path below as a line of horses began to move into the scene below. Two by two, a stream of proud men stood high on the back of their mounts, each adorning an array of swords, hammers, and axes. They bore no symbols, no insignia, but one: each bore a crimson sash about their waists.Lars' attention turned toward Dalmar who had most inelegantly forced his own horse to a laying position. The horse grunted and whinnied. Lars turned his head toward the column of men trotting through the pass as he sight was distracted by three men running down the side of the opposite mountain to greet their captain. The column slowed and eventually halted, gathering around their leader as he greeted his scouts.
Lars knew, at this moment, what those scouts had seen as he peered upon the conversations below. The scouts stood below the proudly sitting man above them as they gestured about the mountains. With one quick movement of the lead scouts arms, he pointed in the direction of Lars and Dalmar. Lars' heart jumped in his chest as tne leader's head swiveled to look in their direction. "We've been found out, Zeke. Run!" LArs grabbed his horse as it sprang to its feet, shaking its mane and snorting. Dalmar sprung to his feet as his horse did the same, and the two riders vaulted onto the back of their horses. Following suit, several riders from below plowed into the hard earth as a plume of dust and rock sprayed into the air from underneath their trampling hooves. Lars and Dalmar dared not look behind them as they trudged furiously over the terrain, not paying attention to the direction in which they rode. Their only concern was to escape.
The nervous gait of the two horses echoed the flight of their riders as they rounded the side of the mountain to the west and followed the line of the rocky slopes to the north and down the other side. The sounds of twenty riders in the near distance rumbled in their ears alongside the trouncing hooves of their own steeds as the entered into the northern pass beyond the road that they once comfortably traveled. The rocks and the trees were a blur to both Dalmar and Lars as they lowered their bodies against the undulating backs of their mounts. The frightened beasts seemed to soar over the ground, and Dalmar wondered if even his strength would be enough to keep him firmly seated. He turned quickly to look behind him, catching only a few riders amongst the trails of dust and growing darkness. Quickly, he peered at the sky. Night was upon them, and he knew at that moment that the shadow and cover of night would be their salvation if only they could gain some distance. "It's getting dark! We've got to find some cover!" shouted Dalmar to his friend. "Somewhere dark!"
"Split up! I'll meet you at the fork to G'valdth!" Lars shouted as he pulled the reins of his horse to the south around the base of the mountain. Dalmar sharply pulled the reins of his snorting beast to the north along the other mountain before him, never looking back until he had traversed the strange terrain. Like two dusty rivers of dirt and downdrafts, the two adventurers divided the attention of their enemy. Then, without warning, Dalmar's horse began to slow and his horse began to fight at the reins. The equine raised its two front hooves in the air and complained at the fury of its rider, its body shining with the sweat of hard riding. The horse couldn't take anymore of this hard riding and began to fight against its master. Dalmar, trying to keep his balance on the back of the scared horse, eventually lost his fight with the huge animal and was thrown from its back, landing with a dusty thud in the hard, uncaring earth. Dalmar took a large breath as his lungs filled back with air from being forced out as he hit the ground. He looked up spying six men barreling down upon him. Dalmar drew his swords as he hoisted himself to his feet only to see his own horse running off into the distance. Six men. This was better odds, and Dalmar knew it.
The rage of battles once known coarsed through Dalmar's body as he turned to meet his assailants. As the first horse screeched to a halt before him, five other men closely behind, Dalmar rushed the front of the horse causing it to rear up in the air. Its rider, flailing, fell backwards with a hard drop to the ground. Dalmar rounded the body of the scared horse and quickly plunged his sword through the breast of the first man. At first, rage seethed through the man's eyes, but quickly turned to shock as the blade slid through his heart and his eyes closed. But as he pulled his blade from the lifeless body, the body of the next horseman struck Dalmar sending his body tumbling over the ground. Dalmar rolled over on his stomach, shaking the momentary disorientation from his vision. Again, Dalmar's own will raised him to his feet with renewed vigor and rage as he clenched the hilts of his swords and threw his body against the offending rider's horse. With all of Dalmar's strength and fury, the horse lifted off the ground sending it and its rider into the air, rolling and tumbling on its back as the weight of the beast crushed the life out of the wearer of the red sash. This unfathomable act startled the remaining four riders as Dalmar belted out a loud roar escaping from his lungs like a ravenous beast. The horses jostled in their steps as one of the riders shouted, "Trample him down, boys!" The riders kicked his steed in its side as the beast bolted in Dalmar's direction. One by one they all sent their horses towards Dalmar. And then everything slowed down.
Dalmar saw the breasts of two horses rushing towards him, two more behind them waiting for their turn to take down this fierce warrior before them. Raising his two blade before him, Dalmar stood his ground. With two gestures in unison, Dalmar flicked each wrist, placing his mighty strength behind each toss, and sent the two blades tumbling through the air as, one by one, each pierced the bodies of the first two riders who wished to trample their foe before them. Dalmar spun on his foot as the two horses passed to either side of his body, their saddles scraping his chest as they ran past. The momentum of his spin carried his body around as he once again, faced the remaining two enemies closely behind the first two. Dalmar, raising his arms into the air, grabbed each one by the throat and hurled them onto the ground as their bodies left the backs of their horses. He slammed them to the earth where at once they were both stunned. Dalmar quickly pounced upon one of the men who struggled without breath, coughing and spewing a filth of language, spit, and blood as Dalmar reared back with a mighty fist. Then time returned as normal, and the warrior's gigantic fist thrust forward like the hammer of a god struck the man in his face, caving in the cheek and popping out his eyes to roll across the dusty ground. Smartly, Dalmar stood up and faced his other opponent. The fire in his soul raged, and he saw only the color of battle and the enemy before him. The man had rolled over to his belly, and soon began to crawl furiously away from the god of war before him. Nervously, the man made it to his feet and began to run away from the screaming wildly. Dalmar stood still, his eyes lowered and staring an invisible lightning bolt through the back of the scared man running off in the distance. Dalmar breathed. His body rose and fell like the breath of dragons and eventually calmed as the mountainscape returned to full view. Dalmar was now alone. Again.
Dalmar tried to remember how he had found his way to this spot. His mind traced the furious ride, and it wasn't long before he pieced the events together as they had happened. Where Dalmar once had one horse, he now had three. Three horses had escaped the scene shortly after their riders had left their backs including his own. Dalmar retrieved his own blades from the oozing bodies of the Crimson Reign, and gathered the horses together, stringing them in line by their reins. He had to find Lars. Lars said they would meet back at the fork before they entered the mountains. Conveniently, if Dalmar's sense of direction hadn't suffered a blow, that fork would eventually be found by continuing in the opposite direction to which he entered this valley and to the east a little bit. Dalmar hopped onto his horse, the beast unwary of its new rider. The horse whinnied and moved uneasily back and forth in place as it became accustomed to the new weight of its new companion. It would be a good idea to find some water and get these horses rested before traveling to the beginning of this mountain range he thought. The horses were nervous and still traumatized from the recent ordeal, and they wouldn't be much help if they did not trust him. Dalmar knew this, and he looked at the mountains before him looking for some water. Thinking of this, Dalmar, himself, had a powerful thirst as well.
Dalmar turned the horses to the south through the valley between the two mountains where he eventually found a stream of water to the east. The sounds of civilization and riding men had long been forgotten as the night progressed. He wondered if Lars was able to escape and if he made it to the fork. He would figure that out in due time, he thought. But his own horse would have certainly grown tired as his did, too. It was likely he would have had to stand his ground as well, and there were plenty of men for him to fight as Dalmar had. Dalmar tried to stay positive as he scooped the cool mountain water into his hands and drizzled it on his head. After a few moments and feeling refreshed, he mounted the captured horse and began trotting to the southeast around the mountain's base. The day had been long and he had gotten himself into more adventure than he wanted, but the cool night breeze gave him no comfort in the thought of bedding down for the night. He had a friend out there that might need his help. He had already lost touch with one friend. He was not about to abandon Lars now - even at the expense of his own well being. Dalmar trotted lazily through the mountain pass and looked up at the stars that were now fully visible. No clouds hung in the sky. Nothing covered the moon which now hung like a great crystal orb in the heavens. Now was the time when the goddess of the moon peered down on the earth of men, giving this avatar of mankind a moment of peace before returning to the good fight. It was then, as he was struck with the awe of the universe and the strange way that his destiny was unfolding, he remembered. He remembered the goddess, who had come down to bless him that evening - an evening not unlike this same evening - with the same sort of scene. The memory was one of a giant moon and a sky filled full of stars. At that moment, Dalmar smiled, and he knew that the goddess was with him.
Invino Veritas
4/8/12
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