“That’s horrible, living creatures turned to stone but still alive,” said Proteus. “No wonder the druids of your land want to destroy them so much. If they can’t function as a military unit why doesn’t your father just march on them, kill this Rock Lord, and end his reign once and for all.”
“My father swore never to launch an aggressive military campaign. The knights of gray and the druids of gray only go to battle if we are attacked by someone else,” said Jon. “That was one of the pledges he made to the Union of Grelm and the Five Nations so that they accepted his rule in the region.”
“But you said the rock beasts and you fight regularly,” said Sorus. “Why don’t you just wait for them to attack and then counterattack them all the way back to this Rock Lord.”
“My father,” said Jon with a shrug of his shoulders, “thinks that a violation of the spirit of his pledge. When attacked we only fight back to the edge of our borders and then leave off. I don’t agree with him myself but he’s still in charge of the lands and, until I’m in command, that’s the way it is.”
“Will you be the Gray Lord eventually,” said Sorus and looked at Jon closely with lips slightly parted.
Jon shrugged again, “I don’t know. My brother says he doesn’t want to be ruler and there are other men, older than I, who are powerful warriors and my father’s aides. My father didn’t get married until later in life and Val is twenty-five; I’m seventeen like my sister but my father is sixty. There’s Scar Blackheart, he’s an orc formerly of the Black Rose tribe of the Five Nations, and others as well. My father says that each generation has to rule themselves and overcome their own hardships so I don’t even know if Tanelorn will go on after he dies.”
Proteus and Sorus continued alongside Jon as their horses moved at a slow but steady pace. No one said anything for the next few miles, and soon a little eddy of the Frosty Run appeared in the clear morning air. Sorus rode ahead, dismounted, and plunged his head into the cool mountain-fed river for a moment. He then pulled out and shook his head back and forth before he ducked it back under for a second time. He repeated this process several more times until his ears were bright red and his face had a huge smile. “Now, that’s more like it,” he said and stood up straight, bent his back, and looked up into the blue sky where a few fluffy clouds drifted past. “I’m feeling better now!”
“Kids,” said Proteus and shook his head as a broad grin came across his face. “It takes me four days to recover from something like that.”
“You drink too much frequently?” said Jon although he also laughed at Sorus’s new found energy.
Proteus looked at Jon and raised his eyebrows, “Come on, Sir Sorus, let’s try and find a ford in the river so we can head up in the mountains, find that relic, and get back to my boys before the First Rider even knows we’re on the mission.”
Jon pulled on his reins and turned his horse north and upstream, “I’ll head north,” he said and spurred the two toned trotter into a canter.
“I guess we’ll go downstream,” said Proteus to Sorus and the young man looked up towards the square jawed former knight and managed to glance at the sun. He turned his head and closed his eyes, “Ughhh, maybe I’m not so great,” he muttered and bent over for a moment but managed to keep from a repeat performance.
“Mount up there, Nightwalk,” said Proteus, “and let’s find that ford before Sir I’ve got ten girlfriends back home finds one and starts to feel even better about himself.”
Sorus managed to get back on is horse and they took off downstream at a slower pace than Jon. It took them about twenty minutes to find a good spot to cross the river and they met up with Jon about half way back. A quick decision sent them across the river and within an hour they approached the foothills of the Mountains of the Orc.
“Where does that map say we head up?” said Sorus as they rode along the foothills and occasionally glanced towards the mountains that loomed high above them.
“It’s not really that fine a map, Sorus,” said Proteus with a glance towards the saddlebag where the map rested. “We should find a small trail somewhere along here and then head up. If we find the right one then we’ll find some ruins about halfway up the mountain but it might be dark by then.”
“Great, another night in the mountains,” said Sorus. “At least I’ve still got my cold weather gear from the last time.”
Soon enough they found a trail but, before they headed up, Sorus spent considerable time scouting out the region to look for any hidden ambushes. When Proteus looked to Jon the young knight nodded his head and said, “You can’t blame him after what happened before,” and then explained the death of Mikus to the older knight.
“The problem,” said Proteus in a low voice to Jon while Sorus was off, “is that an ambush might be around any corner and you can’t spend hours looking under every rock.”
“I know,” said Jon, “but I think we can afford to lose ten minutes here and he’ll learn in time that sometimes things just happen and no one is to blame.”
After the short delay they led the horses up into the mountains on the small trail. They spent most of the day in the slow ascent and stopped once when a goat almost ran headlong into them. Proteus took it down with a quick shot from a small bow he carried at his side and they dressed the creature quickly before they continued the journey.
“I don’t think we’ll make the ruin before nightfall,” said Proteus as he looked to the darkened sky. “We should find a campsite soon. There are goblins up in the hills most nights and they’ve been more aggressive of late.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” said Sorus as he continued to look at each large rock or tree in the hopes he might spot an attack before it happened. “Can we start a fire to cook the goat?” he said, “or should we try not to draw attention to ourselves with the smoke and light?”
Jon looked to Proteus who replied, “A fire should be all right if we keep it under an overhang. Smoke isn’t easy to see at night and the light won’t be visible from too far away if we keep it low.”
Soon enough they sat around a fire, goat haunch over the open flame, as they drank hot water and complained about the already cold temperature. “It’ll be colder later,” said Proteus. “Jon, do you think we should set watches or just try and get a good night’s sleep?”
Jon shrugged, “Watches are probably a good idea just to get into the habit. It might take us a couple of days up here to find the ruins and if we’re on the wrong path longer than that.”
“Sorus,” said Proteus to the young knight, “why don’t you get to sleep first to recover from your overindulgence, I’ll take the first watch after dinner, Jon you take the second, and Sorus can take over from you until morning.”
Late that night Jon shook Sorus’s shoulder as the boy lay curled under the heavy wool blanket and it took a moment for him to wake up, “Hmmm,” he grunted, “my watch?”
“Here,” said Jon and handed him a mug filled with hot liquid, “I stoked the fire a bit and boiled some water. This should wake you up, drink it and have some food as well, that helps on watch.”
“Thanks, Jon,” said the boy as he rolled out of his blanket and found his heavy boots in the dark after a missed grope or two. He knocked them together and flipped them over for a few seconds before he put them on his feet, while Jon crawled under his own heavy woolen blanket and began to breathe heavily within a few seconds.
The moon was low on the horizon when Sorus looked up from his cup of coffee towards the sky. Even at this lower altitude of the mountains the sky seemed clearer than on the ground near Black Dale and the twinkles of the stars gleamed like lanterns during a festival night. The moon was low on the horizon and the only sounds that came to the young knight’s ears were the snores of Proteus and the rhythmic croaks from the little frogs that lived in the trees. On the night he and Jon chased the goblins into the cave he didn’t notice such things and he couldn’t help but stare at the stars and listen to the new sounds for a moment before he shook off his wonder and looked around the camp. By the fire several chunks of goat meat sat in a pan and the coffee pot rested on a little mesh tray just next to the fire.
Sorus took a few steps over to it when a small crack from somewhere beyond the camp caused him to stop suddenly and snap to attention. In the night it was impossible to tell from what direction the noise came, but the camp rested against a little notch in the hillside which limited the possibilities. He stood frozen with the empty mug of coffee in one hand, strained his ears towards the darkness, and waited for another sound, but long minutes passed without a repeat. Sorus realized he wasn’t breathing and took in a large gulp of air when an owl flew silently overhead. It was only the fact that he happened to look in that direction that he noted the creature at all and he jumped backwards with a cry as it sailed a few feet over his head.
Proteus and Jon were up in a flash, both with swords in hand as the first looked into the darkness and then at Sorus, “What is it?” they said almost in unison.
