Aj III

Aj was a large man with a barrel chest, thick arms and stout legs. He wore solidly made clothing with the shirt having long sleeves that were rolled back at the ends. Under his large straight nose was a gray mustache, and behind the glasses he wore were large eyes which shown with a merry glint. Hezekiah saw the happy disposition of the man through those eyes the first time he had met him, three years ago when he traveled through the mountain, the sparkle would have been hard for Aj to hide, especially when he was telling a story. His shirt pockets bulged with small items and some gray hair dipped out under his hat. Aj was an organized person always well prepared and he thought things out well in advance. He had a small group of warriors with him, a mix of men and dwarves, ten each. That was the normal guard for the east side of the tunnels. The Trail was a family heirloom of sorts inherited by each successive generation of Aj’s family. He felt it his duty to not just defend his home, but to protect as much as he could the safety of the wildlife and nature on the east side of the mountain. As such the stakes were set up to discourage the undesirable presence of orcs and goblins.

Aj, with his family that was made up of a wife, one son and the sons’ wife lead a small community that survived on and in the mountain. They had set traps for the unknowing from the start of this point up the mountain. His group of warriors would lead the caravan safely up the canyon avoiding the traps that were set. As Aj conversed with Galahad most of the caravan took the chance to rest. Micah, Hezekiah and Meb moved through the resting dwarves and joined Aj and Galahad. Aj greeted them each with a handshake from his large paw of a hand. Aj said, with a glint in his eye, “Ah, Micah, I suspect it isn’t too much of a surprise for you and Zeph, but there is someone waiting for you in the tunnels. We were not sure how safe it would be out here, so I wouldn’t let them come with us.”

Hezekiah interrupted, “Before we take much more time discussing interrupted love lives I think we should move to a safer place. There is a large group of orcs following us and I would feel better if we were standing in a more defendable place, than out on this flat.”

Aj nodded his head in agreement saying, “Follow me, my men will protect you from stepping on the wrong spot, but make sure everyone knows not to go outside the stakes. Those traps are too hard to predict, and some of them are so old even I have a hard time remembering them. We don’t wander around on this level of the mountain much anymore.” With that he motioned for everyone to follow him and started up the trail.

Aj put the first dwarf in place giving him directions and then motioned for others to follow him and started up the trail. They had only gone a few feet before one of his dwarves took position next to a large rock, and began motioning the people in the caravan to go around on the south side. After another ten feet another dwarf took up position spreading his legs over a rock in the trail next to a crack in the canyons side, and motioned those following him to walk around him without disturbing the rock. The caravan progressed up the canyon in this manner with Aj’s troops taking up positions along the trail until only Aj was left at the front of the caravan, and then Aj picked up the pace.

Aj and the caravan continued to move up the canyon and through the stream until Aj stopped before a wide pool that crossed the bottom of the canyon floor. On the north side of the pool was a cliff face at the deepest point. He motioned for the caravan to wait and then he waded through the pool to the far side. Reaching down he moved something in the water and stood up. Ripples quickly filled the pool, and suddenly a long flat rock emerged from the depths. Simultaneously, that sheer cliff face had split in half, revealing the rest of the trail. The flat rock acted as a step into the opening. Aj had clambered onto the newly made bridge through the water and was already motioning the dwarfs to follow him.