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.