Into the Forge

Chapter 35

B'eau waved as Tipperton held high his Elven bow and then waved back to him. Then Tip turned and disappeared beyond the ridge, and Beau wondered if he would ever see his friend alive again… or if he himself would live beyond the next three days.

Phais stepped to the Waerling. "Come, Beau, let us see if we can find aught worthwhile to eat." And together with Loric they set out toward the mess wagons, where perhaps some meal better than jerky and crue and plain water could be had… mayhap a green apple or two.

The following day Beau spent time with Melor, surveying the medicks in one of the hospital wains, making certain they knew all that was there. Too, they assessed those in Beau's bag and added a few for treating wounds in the field.

And when that was done, Beau walked along the base of the cliffs, and at every stream he searched out round pebbles to add to his slingstone supply, for even though they were not lead shot nor steel, still they would do in a pinch.

And he practiced slinging at targets, and in this he was not alone, for many an archer practiced at targets as well.

And Daelsmen and Baeron and Dylvana and Lian drilled with swords and long-knives and lances and spears, and maces and flails and morning stars and hammers.

And horses were groomed, tack checked, for it would not do to have a rein or cinch or other strap give way at a critical time.

And they bundled campfire wood, kindling and billets to take with them.

And in these two days scouts came and went, and the plateau was alive with activity… until in early afternoon of the second day, when at last it was time for the first wave to go.

And with no wagons among them, the Daelsmen set out.

After they were gone, Beau fidgeted and paced for eight candlemarks and it seemed as if the signal would never come. But finally a trumpet sounded, and Beau mounted his pony and along with the Dylvana he set out in the second wave.

And the Baeron stood and watched them go.

Down from the plateau they rode and out through the narrow pass, and in the lead of the cavalcade rode Ruar and Phais and Loric, all others coming after, with Beau and Melor far back among the ranks riding to war.

East they turned for Mineholt North, the gape of the valley lying but a mere two leagues away. Wending among rolling hills and crossing stretches of plains they rode, scouts to the fore and showing the way.

And Tipperton was not among these scouts, for 'twas other duties he filled.

Two miles they rode and then another, and 'round a mountainous flank, and in the distance ahead stood the wide mouth of the vale. And Beau's heart hammered to see its yawning gape.

Will it but chew us up and spit us out?

He did not know.

Within four candlemarks they had crossed the remaining league and turned northwestward into the gap. And from the slopes ahead there sounded a distant blat of a Rflptish horn, yet what it signified…

" 'Tis an alert from the Spaunen sentries," said Melor. "They have seen us."

"Oh, my," said Beau, but no more.

On they rode and on, up rising slopes and down, riding through swales and over crests across the valley floor.

And from the fore they could hear a growing noise, as of a thousand voices or more yawling wordlessly.

At last they topped the final rise, and they could see out before them a mile away ten thousand Rupt jeering and japing at the mere seven hundred Daelsmen standing silent on the slopes below but a half mile away.

"Oh, my," said Beau, his heart pounding as he scanned the breadth and depth of the enemy lines. "There are so very many of them and we are so few."

Yet the jeers of the Foul Folk diminished somewhat as the Elves came down the rise, but when the Spawn saw again how few were the foe, their voices rose once more in taunt.

All was going according to plan.

The Dylvana rode down the hill to join the Daelsmen, and from within the Swarm a signal sounded, and the Horde stirred.

Oh, my, are they going to attack?

Yet it was a shifting of Foul Folk, as more took up positions to the fore of the Swarm.

Indeed, all was going according to plan.

Now the Elves dismounted to stand by the Daelsmen, and Beau dismounted as well. And he stood looking at the foe; they seemed without number. And toward the rear of the ranks of the Horde and towering above all stood the Ogrus, six altogether, spread out along the wagons.

And still the Rucks and Hloks howled in glee, for although the severely outnumbered Daelsmen had been joined by an array of hated Elves, still all the advantage was with the Horde, their count at least five to one.

And the Elves and Daelsmen yet stood silent, unmoving, as if waiting.

Beyond the Horde and set into the stone face of the mountain, Beau saw the iron of two great gates. There stood the shut doors into Mineholt North, and he wondered if Tip and Bekki were within.

Candlemarks passed and the day grew old as the sun ran after a slender crescent moon fleeing down the sky. And yet once again the Ruptish sentry's horn sounded.

Within another four candlemarks, over the crest behind came riding the Baeron, huge men on huge horses. And the jeering and japing wavered at the sight of these formidable foe.

And with the Baeron trundled some thirty wagons, fully half of which were hospital wains, while the rest held food and water and weapons.

Within the Horde, Ghuls on Helsteeds rode together and dismounted, and from a tent and among them came a Ghul afoot and he led what appeared to be a shambling man into the center of them all. And one of the Ghuls sounded a horn, and the Horde fell silent.

The Ghuls stood quietly, and moments later in their midst the man turned and surveyed the slopes where now stood seven hundred Daelsmen, a thousand Elves, and five hundred Baeron. And then the man turned back to the Ghuls, and it seemed as if they listened closely.

Now the man was led away from circle center, and again he shambled. A horn sounded, and as the Ghuls rode among the Swarm, Rucks and Hloks took up positions facing the foe standing silent on the slope before them. And no longer did they jape and jeer.

Twilight came, and within the ranks of the allies a clarion called, and the Daelsmen and Elves and Baeron broke into small groups and set wood for campfires to the ground.

Beau sighed contentedly when he saw the flames come to life. "Oh, good," he said to Melor, "at last we can have some hot tea."

And as darkness fell in the vale of the mineholt, the fires of the allies burned on the hillside, and a half mile away the fires of the foe burned as well, as the two armies faced one another and waited for the coming of dawn.