Khollo breathed out a sigh of relief. When the rider had begun speaking, he had feared some calamity had befallen the kingdom. But even if the vertaga were being chased from Ishkabur, that presented new dangers.
“This pass runs straight to Ishkabur,” Khollo muttered. “We should be careful. The vertaga fleeing from the city might come right through here.”
“You don’t think they will make for Dun Carryl?” Relam asked, surprised.
“Depends,” Khollo said with a shrug. “They may be trying to avoid leading enemies to Dun Carryl, preserving its secret location. Their main focus could be putting distance between themselves and Lord Horam’s army. And if that’s the case, then staying in the pass makes the most sense of all of their options. Plenty of time to disappear once they are away from Horam’s soldiers.”
“We’ll camp here tonight,” Relam decided. “And double the watch. In the morning, we’ll head into the Fells cautiously. Khollo, I’ll need you and Kanin to report everything you see and keep an eye out for those vertaga.”
“Of course, Relam,” Khollo replied. “We will help in any way we can.”
Relam nodded and turned to a soldier with a horn hanging by his side. “Give the order. Set up camp. Summon the lords, minor and major.”
The soldier nodded and licked his lips. Then, raising the horn, he blew three short series of notes. Immediately, the disciplined column split into hundreds of pieces as men began unpacking equipment, setting up tents, and digging trenches around the perimeter.
The evening passed uneventfully, the moon tracing its path through the night sky without any trouble emerging from the pass. When morning came, the well-rested Sthan army formed up in record time, and Relam gave the signal.
As the army moved forward slowly, Kanin and Khollo swooped through the pass, eyes and ears open for any sign of foes. When they turned up nothing unusual, Kanin climbed higher into the sky and they flew in a slow, lazy circle, looking down over a wider area of the Fells for anything obviously out of place. Then, Kanin dove and they began the process over again.
Relam’s prediction proved correct. The army was slowed and constricted by the twisting pass. Wagons were constantly getting stuck or delayed, and once the entire column came to a halt when two wagons ended up wedged side by side between two rock outcrops. Kanin and Khollo watched from above, thoroughly frustrated by the lack of progress.
Day after day passed. The army rose just as early in the Fells as it had in the Basin, but now it took longer to form up, the pace was slower, and it took longer to set up camp. In addition, the army was much more strung out and vulnerable. Those forced to march with the army on the ground, such as Relam, Janis, Sermas, and Hern, became snappish and irritable. In all that time, they saw neither hide nor horn of vertaga.
Eleven days into the Fells they came to the place where they would have to leave the pass and strike out across wilder terrain to reach Dun Carryl. Relam halted his forces at that point and ordered camp to be set up, though it was only a little after noon. As the column disintegrated behind him, he peered to the southeast, where the next leg of their journey would lead them. Seeing him alone and apparently troubled, Khollo and Kanin landed beside the young king, causing his horse to snort and prance.
“Something the matter?” Khollo asked pleasantly, nodding to the pine-covered foothills.
Relam nodded slowly. “We’ll never get the wagons through that.”
Khollo frowned and looked at the formidable natural barriers ahead. “You could be right,” he said finally. “There doesn’t seem to be much of a path. We could press on without them. Might even cover more distance faster that way.”
“Assault a fortress without siege engines?” Relam asked incredulously. “When we don’t know the strength of the defenders?”
“The vertaga did it,” Khollo pointed out.
“And they lost.”
He has a point, Kanin admitted.
Khollo’s lips twitched in the smallest of smiles. “So, what do you propose?”
“I don’t know,” Relam growled, pounding a fist against his saddle. “This whole journey has been one delay after another, riddled with accidents and problems. And we haven’t seen anything from the enemy! Unless you spotted some this morning while you were flying?”
“Nothing,” Khollo replied, shaking his head. “I must admit, it bothers me.”
Janis joined them, struggling with his horse. The beast was being incredibly skittish, snorting and rolling its eyes, prancing away from Kanin at every opportunity.
“What is our next move, your majesty?” he asked Relam. “Still, Gray Wind!” Janis added, barking at his horse. Gray Wind subsided for a moment, then went back to prancing nervously.
Relam smiled slightly. “No plan yet. I’m not sure what to do about these blasted mountains.”
“It would be a shame to drag siege engines all the way to this Dun Carryl place and find it abandoned or nonexistent,” Janis said quietly, looking up the heavily wooded slopes.
“Do you have a better plan?” Relam asked bitterly.
“Send out scouts,” Janis said immediately. “Send them to Dun Carryl and have them report what they find.”
“Remember what Khollo said about Ishkabur?” Relam said, twisting in his saddle to look at Janis. “They sent out scouts too, but none ever returned.”
“I’m not talking about conventional scouts,” Janis said quickly. “I was suggesting Khollo and Kanin.”
Relam was already shaking his head. “No, if there are vertaga watching us, I imagine the only thing keeping them from attacking is Kanin’s presence. They don’t know what to expect from a dragon. If he leaves, that element of the unknown is lost to us and we are vulnerable.”
“You mean more vulnerable than we already are?” Janis asked. “This pass was never meant
