The Dragonstone

CHAPTER 62

In the twilight they slipped the Brise into hiding in a cut long the southern shore. And as they assembled and packed the gear they planned to use to gain the top of the tower, Alos looked on in desperation and groaned, "This is madness, I say, madness. Assaulting a Wizard's tower. Sheer madness."

"We know what you think of it, Alos, old man," said Delon, as he arranged a climbing harness in his pack. "Nevertheless, it's what we must do. And you're welcome to come along."

"Me? Come along? I'm not foolish enough to go anywhere near. I'm staying here with the ship."

"Okubyomono," hissed Aiko, binding a rope into a hank.

Paying her no heed, Alos said, "When you all get caught, don't think I'm coming to fetch you. No sir. Come first light and I'm hauling anchor."

Arin paused in her preparations and stepped to the oldster and took him by the hand. "Alos, first light may be too soon, depending on what we find. I would have thee wait through two full nights ere taking leave."

Alos puffed and heaved and would not look her in the eye, yet she gently grasped his trembling chin and turned his face her way. A tear trickled down the oldster's cheek, and finally he nodded sharply once.

"Well and good, Alos. Well and good." Arin stepped away and strung her bow.

Soon all was set, and they unshipped the small dinghy from atop the cabin and lowered it into the water. Aiko and Burel hefted their backpacks and took up their weapons and clambered over the side and into the boat, and Egil ferried them to the shore yards away. On the next trip he tethered a rope to the small craft so that Alos could haul it back to the sloop, then he rowed the rest across.

All now ashore, Egil adjusted the straps on his own backpack, then turned to the others. "Ready?"

Ready.

"Then let's go."

As they turned to enter the jungle, Alos called out one last time, "If you get caught, I'll not lift a hand to save you. Not lift a hand, you hear?"

Into the undergrowth they disappeared: Arin leading the way, Aiko immediately after, with Burel, Delon, and Ferret following, Egil in line coming last.

Darkness engulfed them, for the sun had set and the moon with it as the eventide had swallowed the land. Above the canopy, stars now glittered brightly in the night sky, though only a faint glimmer of their light filtered down through the interlace to reach into the jungle below. Even though Ferret carried a hooded lantern, its light gleaming out through a slender crack, except for Arin with her Dylvana eyes, to the companions all was dark shapes looming at hand, black on black in blackness, and only by following closely did they not lose one another or the way ahead. And they did not wish to risk detection by opening the lantern hood wider to see through the ebony murk. In this utter gloom they could hear stirrings and swashings, and something scurried away through the thick leaf mold, and something else crashed through the brush, and they drew weapons and faced outward, seeing nothing, yet nothing came upon them. Through ferns and fronds they pressed, past dangling vines and small clinging plants and over great fallen trees, the trunks covered with moss and mold and wet toadstools and other soft, pliable growths.

Slowly the land rose, and upward they fared, and as they gained in altitude the darkness became less black, for the soil turned rocky and the jungle thinned. Finally they came into the open along a high rocky bluff, and down below lay Serpent Cove, what there was left of it.

Ferret slammed the lantern shutter down tight, for in the near distance stood the fortress, no more than a mile away, its stone walls flickering with yellow torchlight, its tower looming up in the darkness. Great iron gates stood in the center of the north-facing bastion wall, a barbican atop looking down into the cove below. A roadway issued out from the gates to run alongside the fortress and then, in a series of switchbacks, twist down to the pier below, where the dhow was moored.

Arin and her companions stood on the east bluff of Serpent Cove; the tower stood at the northwest corner of the bastion. After a moment Egil said, "There's no moon to reveal us, and only starlight above. We should be able to follow this bluff a good way, then work our way 'round sides and back, to seek advantage in what we might find, and if nothing better, continue on 'round to come straight at the tower and up its side as planned."

As they drew closer they could see warders posted atop the ramparts. And closer still they heard a clatter of gears, as of a portcullis being raised. The iron gates swung open, and a torch-bearing troop marched out and down the switchbacks toward the dhow as the portcullis behind clattered again.

"They look like Foul Folk," said Arin. "Loka, I ween."

"What would Drokha be doing here?" asked Delon.

"It is said that Black Mages draw the Foul Folk to them," replied Arin.

"And Ordrune is indeed a Black Mage," growled Egil.

"If what you say is true, Dara," said Delon, "then perhaps Trolls and Ghuls and Helsteeds and other such reside in Ordrune's tower. If so, then our task may be doubly hard."

Aiko touched her chest-there where a red tiger lay- but the golden warrior said nought.

Finally they faded into the fringes of the jungle and began slowly working their way 'round the fortress, pausing now and then to slip forward and see if there was aught to give advantage in going over the parapets rather than climbing up the outside of the tower.

The walls themselves stood some thirty feet high, and a wide strip of land had been cleared of growth about the bastion, the land laid bare to give archers above clear arrowcasts at any attacking foe, laid bare as well so that enemies could not easily come upon the fortress unseen. Even so, the companions had come prepared, for at Ferret's suggestion in Sabra, they had purchased reversible cloaks in the event they might prove useful, cloaks which would blend into the terrain-greyish brown on one side, grey-green on the other-cloaks that were now rolled and lashed to their packs. And as they examined the open strip and the bulwarks beyond, she whispered that they could cover themselves and crawl forward undetected across the bare land, or so she believed.

And the stars wheeled silently above as the comrades watched swart guards pace atop stone walls.

Finding nought to change their plans, back the companions faded into the jungle to creep 'round to the south, and then once again move forward to examine the back wall. Long they looked as the night deepened, and just as they had found on the eastern bulwark, there seemed no advantage here either, nothing to change their plan to climb the tower.

Once again they faded back. Slowly they worked around to the west as stars wheeled above. When they moved forward to the edge of the bush and examined the western ramparts, still climbing the tower seemed best.

Now they passed through the undergrowth and vines and trees to come opposite the northwest corner, to come opposite the high stone tower, wavering torchlight illuminating its inner side.

Delon murmured, "It seems your drawing was right, Egil: there appears to be no banquette around the outer wall of the tower."

"There are arrow slits, though," said Arin. "And if warded on the inside-"

"Fear not," said Delon. "From what I have seen, the walls and tower are large blocks piled atop one another, some mortared, others not. I believe there's enough crevices and handholds so that we can all free-climb the stone. We'll not need to drive a single rock-nail; our ascent will be silent."

Arin glanced at the sky. "It is nearing mid of night."

"Then let's go," said Egil, untying his cloak from his pack. He looked at Ferret in the starlight. "Dun side out?"

"Indeed," she replied.

Slowly, carefully, a yard at a time, on their stomachs they inched across the open terrain, listening for sounds of alarm while watching the movement upon the walls to see if there were any change. Now they came into the shadow of the tower, and all seemed at ease, yet of a sudden there was a flurry atop the ramparts and a great shouting erupted.

Ferret called out quietly, "Steady. Don't move. It may not be us."

With a grinding clatter, the portcullis was raised.

"Be ready to flee," sissed Egil. "They are too many to fight. We must at all odds avoid capture by that monster inside."

Aiko growled, but said nought.

Now several Drokha marched out to peer over the precipice and down into the cove.

Horrified screams came wailing from below, shrieking up and over the rim, followed by keening and blubbering and then more terrified shrieks. And a troop of Foul Folk came trampling up the final switchback and onto the verge above. And stumbling among them and jerked along, shackled and screaming and pleading, floundered a weeping one-eyed old man.

Alos.