aj II

Hezekiah motioned up the trail for Micah to go before him. They had climbed up the first bench in the mountain range to survey, and were now started across the long flat area that hovered before the next ascent. They orcs would have to be careful following them up because there were numerous places to set up ambushes. Hezekiah, Meb and Micah were going to move up the trail as fast as they could, catch up with the rest of the caravan and continue to act as the rear guard until they made it too the cave or met up with its guardians. Here and there were scattered a few mahogany trees, but the landscape consisted mainly of rocks with a few boulders on top of the different slopes. These extended out of the natural curve of the mountain, and only thin grass struggled out of the little soil available. There were a number of small canyons that wandered up to higher levels of the mountain and Hezekiah could just see the last dwarf as he left the first open area and entered the canyon they were following up the mountain.

As slowly as the caravan was moving they had no trouble catching up. The caravan was led now by Galahad, with his wife following him, then all of the maidens with the donkeys, and lastly they were followed by the warriors.

They reached the top of the first canyon which opened out onto a wide mound on the side of a mountain that was mainly covered in flat rocks which had fallen off the side of the cliff face they approached. The cliff face was cut in the middle with a small stream tumbling from inside, and this is where Galahad was headed. The trail leading up to the cut and the stream was lined with stakes. From a distance it looked like leather sacks were hanging from the top of them. Closer examination revealed that the leather sacks were in fact the impaled heads of orcs and goblins. To make it to the head of the stream everyone would have to pass under the glare of those cold dead eyes, and the maidens were not the only ones who paused and shivered. Looking up at the top of the cliff face above him Hezekiah noticed what he had first thought was a rock, stand up. He recognized Aj motioning hello to the caravan. Aj was the keeper of the Trail through the mountain, it wasn’t as much of a trail as a system of tunnels and caves that had been purposefully carved through the mountain, so that those who needed to get from one side to the other in the winter could, without going south all the way around the mountain range. Since Jericho had fallen the tunnel was the only way for travelers to make the trek to the land of the Dessert Dwarfs—in summer or winter. As the caravan started into the slot canyon that the stream had carved out of the cliff face, Aj motioned to Galahad that everything was good to proceed and that he would meet him at the top.

The caravan slowed on the trail that passed through the stream as the dwarves started going from rock to rock up the canyon leading the donkeys through the water. After a couple of minutes the dwarves had to gave up trying to keep their feet dry and just walked in the water. As they went up the canyon they continued to find stakes wedged into the rocks, capped with an orc or goblin head in various levels of decay. Eventually the caravan came out of the canyon onto a small flat that the stream wound through. The flat was covered with even more stakes. Clearly the warning to the orcs and goblins should be clear: they were not welcome in this area. Across the flat again the trail led into a canyon, but this one was not so rocky nor as steep on both sides. As they exited Galahad was greeted by Aj.

Aj; (äzh)

Hezekiah looked back over the grassland that he had just crossed. The caravan had left a clear path through the grass; because of this the orcs that were following them would know exactly where they had started up the mountain. Micah was standing on a rocky outcrop that overlooked the trail as it started up the first slope between two small bluffs. He scanned south through a looking glass. They had found the missing army of orcs. As they neared the canyon Meb had recounted the size of the armies. One had nearly doubled its size, and that had seemed impossible, until they realized their “missing” army had simply joined up with the other. Micah was watching the tail end of the hoard that the trolls had gathered march through Jericho and then into the pass behind the city. Micah turned and looked back down their path, paused for a moment, and then put away the looking glass and turned to Hezekiah and said, “They are still back there, but far enough back that it is safe to go straight to the cave. With the kobold dead they will have problems following us once we get in the stream. However, there is a new group coming up from the south and it isn’t aiming for Jericho, if it keeps in a straight line it is going to cross our path right where we are standing. Here look for yourself a minute. I think there is an ogre in this group.”

Since the ambush two days ago the orcs had kept a safe distance behind them. They followed but were cautious enough that the caravan could keep its steady pace. Galahad and Hezekiah had both needlessly worried about how the maidens would react when the caravan came to the river, however the crossing had been without incident. The armies had swept the grasslands of any resistance except for the group behind them and a few stray boars. The boars had been easy enough to dispatch, and the mud huts at the shallow spot they used to cross the river had been empty. Either the inhabitants of the huts had run off to escape the armies or were now a part of those that had entered the pass. Hezekiah moved to stand by Micah and looked south in the direction that Micah pointed through the glass. It took him a minute, but he found the movement. Doing some quick estimating in his head Hezekiah figured there were over three hundred bodies moving in the group. From this distance it looked like the group was made up of mostly orcs, but there was one very large shape that had to be either an ogre or a troll. Hezekiah trusted Micah, if he said it was an ogre then it must be an ogre.

Going up the mountain would be a slow process with the caravan needing many breaks. Other than some short rests and a couple of quick naps the caravan had been going steady for five days now, even the elves were starting to show signs of fatigue. Last night a number of the maidens had begged for a break, but Marry and Galahad had refused; reminding the maidens that they would not be safe until they had reached the cave. The “missing” army of orcs had everyone worried enough that it was not difficult for Galahad to convince them to keep moving; that and the fact that the maidens didn’t want to upset Marry. The caravan had kept moving. If they had stopped the group of orcs to the south would be between them and the mountain and then they would have been in trouble. They didn’t have enough warriors to make a stand on the plains. Once they made it to the cave they wouldn’t have far to go before everyone could sleep in safety.