'That man, the one on the dark horse.'
'The one carrying a ragged bundle?' asked Farly.
'It is no bundle,' said Tipperton, 'but the corpse of his daughter instead.'
Linnet gasped. 'Corpse of-?'
'-His daughter,' repeated Tipperton. 'It is Mad Lord Tain, a Daelsman, a surrogate of Modru.'
Tipperton turned to Dinly. 'This news must reach King Blaine. For if Lord Tain is here, then so is the presence of Modru.' As Dinly's eyes widened in understanding, an ephemeral thought flitted through Tipperton's mind, but ere he could capture it, it was gone. Nevertheless he said, 'Something most foul is afoot, and I would have the King beware.' Now Tipperton looked at Farly. 'This news is too important for one alone to bear it.'
Farly nodded and said, 'I will also go.'
Again they turned their attention to the army, and now it came in among the Fists of Rakka, the men of Hyree and Chabba and Kistan greeting those of Hum and Sarain and Thyra.
And a score of men-Chabbains, Hyrinians, Kistanians, and several Fists of Rakka-gathered around Lord Tain as he whispered unto the remains of his daughter, the corpse seeming no more than a bundle of twigs to the Warrows afar. Yet in moments Lord Tain turned unto those around him and clenched a fist and seemed to be hissing orders. After a while, again Lord Tain turned to the corpse he bore, yet just ere he did, he looked long at the hills above and seemed to laugh.
'So they have joined forces, have they?'
'Aye, my lord,' said Farly, Dinly at his side nodding. 'Right about here, or so Tipperton gauges.' In the early- morning light, Farly pointed to a place on the map.
'And they marched off southeasterly along the rim of H?l's Crucible,' added Dinly.
King Blaine's eyes widened. 'Southeasterly?'
'Aye, my lord. Southeasterly,' said Dinly.
King Loden looked at the map and then at DelfLord Bekki. 'You know more of this region, Lord Bekki. What could be their goal?'
Bekki shook his head. 'They march toward the shield wall.'
'They also march toward the sea,' said Coron Eiron.
'Ships,' replied Skipskaptein Arnson. 'There may be ships awaiting them at the shores of the Avagon.'
'We must not let them escape,' growled DelfLord Volki.
King Blaine nodded and glanced at the others and finally at Linde. 'Sound the horns. We will pursue.'
'My lord,' said Arth of the Wilderland, 'forget not what these Waldans have said: the foe has a surrogate among them-'
'Coward Tain,' gritted Bekki.
'-and where there is a surrogate, there also is Modru's eyes and ears and voice.' The lad from Twoforks fell silent, awaiting his liege lord's response.
King Blaine nodded at Arth. 'I know, Lord Arth, but remember, we defeated one of his Hordes at the battle of the downs, and a surrogate was with them there. Nay, I'll not forget that Modru's presence rides among them, yet I'll not let that stay my hand, for the fate of the Planes rides on that which we now do, and to do nought is to allow evil to reign.'
'My lord,' said Arnson, 'seven of my ships are downstream of the bridge, and I can take those crews and set sail down the river and-'
'Do so,' said King Blaine, ere the skipskaptein had finished,' and set fire to any enemy ships you find waiting.'
Arnson smiled in triumph at his Jutlander counterpart and said,' I am sure Kapitan Dolf will be glad to hold ward at the bridge.'
'Indeed,' said King Blaine, even as Dolf glared at the Fjordlander. 'And now, Hrosmarshal Linde, sound the horn.'
And so Linde sounded her black-oxen horn, and Larana her trump of silver, and host and legion mounted up, and in squads and companies and brigades they followed two Warrows wending into the hills.
And nigh H?l's Crucible on a track through the crags, Arylin, Flandrena, and Vail, along with Tipperton, Linnet, and Nix, paralleled the march of the foe, turn by turn and from above the scouts keeping watch on the enemy.
The hideous stench of H?l's Crucible wafted over all as the tainted vapors rode outward on the chill wind, but by this time all had become inured to the malodorous reek. In his and Linnet's turn to observe, now and again Tipper-ton's eye was drawn to the vast rift and the dimly seen foothills and mountains beyond, and each time he looked an elusive thought seemed to slip 'round the edges of his mind, yet the more he pursued it, the more it fled his grasp. Nevertheless, as he rode in the valleys behind the watch hills, he said to Vail, 'I can't but help believe this is some viper's egg of a plan yet to be hatched by vile Modru.'
'Why so, Tipperton? -Oh, not that I disbelieve thee, yet I would have thy thoughts.'
'Well, although I cannot quite catch hold of a nagging suspicion on the edge of my mind, other things vex me as well, and I cannot read their riddle: look, the Fists of Rakka and the Lakh and Rovers and Askars make no effort to cover their tracks, nor do they go in stealth, taking advantage of the cover of these hills; they do not send sentries in among these ways to see if they are watched; 'tis almost as if they seek to be seen. Too, they veer not from this course, but the only thing ahead is the shield wall and beyond it a drop to the Avagon Sea.'
'Perhaps 'tis there ships await them, or ships yet to come,' said Flandrena, riding alongside.
'If not,' said Linnet, 'then when King Blaine and the host arrives he will have them trapped between H?l's Crucible and the deep blue sea.'
Vail nodded, then said, 'As do thee, Tipperton, I, too, think something is afoot, for they move at a deliberate pace, slow and unhasty, as if'-Vail shook her head-'I know not.'
Arylin signalled down from the hill above, and Vail said, 'They continue their course.'
Tipperton sighed, then said, 'Come, Linnet, it's our turn to ride ahead and set watch. Let's do so from that hill yon.'
Together they rode away, passing below the hill on which Arylin and Nix sat vigil.
'I am glad to see you survive, Lady Linde.'
Linde sighed and looked down at the wee Waldan riding at hand. 'There are but seventeen of us left, commander. Seventeen.'
'So few?' Rynna glanced back at the meager number of Harlingar riding after.
Linde's face drew gaunt. 'Aye. Of one thousand Jordians sent by King Ranor, only seventeen of the brigade yet live.'
'Oh my,' said Rynna.
They rode in silence for a while, and then Rynna asked,
'Where is the Gargon's head you bore away when you left Darda Erynian.'
'It is lost, Lady Rynna, lost, lying somewhere in the wrack of war. After the Battle of Gunarring Gap it was gone.'
'You fought there?'
'Aye. When word came that King Blaine had landed in Jugo, we set sail from Pendwyr and joined his force.'
'And the battle…?'
' 'Twas bloody, yet we won in the end.'
Again they rode without speaking, wending among the crags and hills, but at last Rynna said almost to herself, 'Like so many things.'
An eyebrow raised, Linde looked at the Waldan.
Rynna sighed. 'Many things lie somewhere, lost in the wreckage of war… innocence not the least of these.'
Linnet and Tipperton watched as the column of foe marched along the rim of the rift below. Sheltered by the hills and out of view of the enemy, Vail and Flandrena made their way southeastward to take up the vigil atop the next craggy mound. Leftward, Nix and Arylin made their way down from the previous station. In the far distance rightward Tip and Linnet could see the shield wall and beyond it the indigo waters of the Avagon sea.
'How is the health of your father, Arth?'
Arth shook his head. 'He is dead, Healer Darby, slain at the Battle of the Downs.'
