Adeenya shook her head. She did not seem to think about it for even a moment. Taennen saw the annoyance on Jhoqo's face, but the man said nothing ill of her lack of an attempt.
Taennen stepped forward and said, 'Is it because of heavy passage in that spot, sir?'
Jhoqo smiled and nodded. 'That's it exactly, son. Well done,' he said.
Taennen returned the smile and fell back into his spot in the pacing order. He glanced at Adeenya, who had turned her eyes back to the horizon ahead, away from the treeline.
'You see, the trees have been somewhat damaged by the constant passing of the foul beasts of the forest that they spend their resources repairing themselves rather than growing stronger, bigger and brighter,' Jhoqo said.
Taennen had assumed as much but it was good to hear his commander affirm his conclusions. 'Fascinating, sir.'
Jhoqo pointed to a crumbling hump of dirt near the passage. 'Ah, further evidence of the beasts-that mound there… That's probably their attempt at burying a kill or their own feces. Maybe others use it and it grows all the time, covering their filth,' Jhoqo said.
Taennen's nose wrinkled, but he nodded. That made sense. Taennen glanced toward Adeenya again. She had moved several paces ahead, probably out of earshot. Her loss, he thought.
The mage Khatib stepped up next to Jhoqo, his hands cradling a parchment. 'Sir, I do not wish to interrupt, but I have checked the maps. We should reach the citadel inside of two bells,' he said.
'Excellent,' Taennen said with a smile.
Next to him, having fallen back from her lead, Adeenya said, 'Yes… excellent.'
Jhoqo called for a stop after another half-league and took advantage of the break to move himself a little closer to the woods. Taennen gave the man his privacy and moved to check on the prisoners. Jhoqo clearly had a personal interest in the woods, and Taennen left him to it. He watched as his commander stood several hundred paces away and stared at the forest, his back to his troops. The soldiers took the time to rest, their feet no doubt pounding like Taennen's from the long walk.
After a short time, Jhoqo returned to them, and they resumed their march. The air was dry, and Taennen sipped from his waterskin frequently as the dust of the plains coated his tongue.
The Maquar and Durpari, though not disdainful of one another, marched in separate groups with several paces between them. Adolescents at coming-of-age ceremonies could have learned much from the divisiveness the soldiers exhibited. Trust was difficult, he supposed. Their mission promised no shortage of danger, and the two forces would need to find some cohesion soon.
'Orir,' Taennen said, stepping closer to Adeenya. 'We must find a way for our people to bond. Their lives may well depend on it soon.'
'I agree, Durir. Suggestions?'
Jhoqo's voice broke in as they crested a hill. 'I think it may be moot for the moment. If this does not bring them together, I am uncertain what would.'
Taennen followed Jhoqo's gaze to where a form took shape in the distance. Tall and thin, it stood out dark and solid against the bright blue sky. It was farther off than his naked eye could distinguish, so he pulled a spyglass from his belt and held it to his eye. In the small circle of his view, Taennen saw it for the first time: Neversfall.
Through the lens it appeared like some child's construct of blocks. High walls on each side held what was likely a large courtyard. Two lean towers stood on each side of a third, larger tower that rose into the sky to at least twice the height of the others. What could only be windows showed as dark spots at a distance. The wood came from the Aerilpar, no doubt, but the stone? Taennen had always heard that magic was involved in the making of the tower, and now, seeing the sheer size of the thing, he believed it.
He handed the lens to Jhoqo who stared through it for a long time before returning it. Murmurs wove their way through the marching troops as the structure came into sight.
'Very impressive,' Jhoqo said.
Taennen offered the spyglass to Adeenya who studied the citadel through the lens for several breaths before handing the spyglass back to him.
'It makes you ponder how they craft such wonders, doesn't it?' she asked.
Taennen nodded.
'Well, no time like the present to find out-right Durir?' Adeenya said, before turning to Jhoqo and saying loudly, 'What's our approach, sir?'
Jhoqo called the troops to a halt with a wave of his arms and shouted orders that followed down the lines. 'Take twenty people, half Maquar and half Durpari, and scout outside the citadel, around its perimeter.'
Adeenya affirmed the order and saluted.
Jhoqo looked to Taennen before he continued. 'You will take ten more people, again from both parties, and secure the entrance. Once the perimeter is secure, scout the inside. The rest of us will stay here and guard the prisoners until you confirm the area is safe.'
Taennen accepted the order and motioned for Adeenya to lead the way through the lines to choose their squads. Jhoqo barked orders for troops to form up and to secure the prisoners in a holding position.
'Bright and true, Orir,' Taennen said as he walked beside the Durpari commander.
'Thank you, Durir. Splitting our units into combined commands should yield some results as well,' she said.
The two leaders chose twenty of their own soldiers and, after brief summations of special skills that existed among the troops, split them evenly. Adeenya rallied her new unit and began a wide circle to the west that would take them around the distant citadel. Taennen asked each of the Durpari soldiers in his command to state their names as a means of introduction. He repeated each name, hoping to commit it to memory. Impersonal commanders often led troops that did not care about their leader. Taennen never wanted to be that leader.
He offered a final salute to Jhoqo before moving toward the citadel at a jog, his troops behind him. Neversfall came into clearer focus with each step. Taennen felt the itch of mystery and intrigue but had learned that curiosity could kill even more easily than a sword. He called for sharp eyes from his soldiers and took pleasure in his vocation and the opportunities for discovery it offered.
After a considerable jog, Taennen called a stop and put his spyglass to his eye again. He scanned the area around the citadel, hoping the proximity might yield more results. He expected some sort of scarring on the walls, bodies on the ground, or some sign of disturbance. He found nothing but dirt, grass, and stone walls. He continued his scan to find the edge of the woods and was lowering his spyglass when a splash of color caught his eye, something that seemed out of place. He tried to focus in on where he had seen it but saw only green, leafy plants and brown tree trunks. Everything appeared normal until he realized that some of the plants were bouncing as though they had been disturbed. Taennen watched the area for several more moments, seeing nothing. He tucked his spyglass away once again and resumed his march to the citadel. If something had been in the woods, it was gone. Their mission could not wait. Taennen's excitement turned to caution as he approached the gates of Neversfall.
Rectangular blocks of stone as long as a man were carved smooth and fit together tightly to form the outer wall of Neversfall, with each block reaching a height near six men high. Clay and mud lined the cracks between the stones to seal out the gusts of wind common to plains, though the craftsmanship was extraordinary and the lines were thin and hard to find. Crenellated walks topped the wall, and narrow slabs of stone taller than a man stood every sixty or so paces atop the walkway. Each slab had an opening carved in the middle, arrow slits for archers. Two men could stand behind the slab atop the wall, totally protected. They could alternate their shots through the slit while still remaining well covered-a clever design.
The force that had come to Neversfall previously had also been comprised of both Maquar and Durpari troops. Adeenya wondered if those two forces had similar difficulties meshing together. Moreover, she wondered if her expedition would find that company and in what condition. She kept a fast pace, ordering her troops to spread wide and look for anything out of place as they circled the citadel west to east.
Behind the walls she could see the towers of the citadel, three giant fingers stroking the sky. The two smaller towers rose to twice the height of the wall, and the central tower was half that tall again. The high but sparse grass of the plains had been burned away from the citadel for several hundred paces. Adeenya ordered a contingent of her troops to the grassline to ensure no surprises waited there. She hoped to find clues to the location of the
