At last the seven, tattered and tired wanderers all, came to a point where they had a choice. The shore turned sharply to the east, and before them were the low, tree-covered sides of an arm of the Inferno Peaks that towered to their left. A dispute arose then.
Delver, backed by Shade, thought the group should again take to the high ground. The dwarf asserted that getting over the low ridges of this extension of the Inferno Peaks was child's play — an obviously slanted view, for Delver was born and raised in such terrain. That the half-elf concurred was surprising, but Shade explained that he had heard that an area of tidal marshes lay to the east of their location, making progress afoot that way an impossibility. 'We'll have to retrace our steps,' Shade told the others, 'as sure as I'm standing here talking to you, and come back to this spot. Why waste time in all that when we can do the right thing now?'
Barrel and his friends were of a contrary view. The burly fellow admitted that he'd even seen the tidewater marshes the half-elf had merely heard of, but he was of the opinion that they could skirt this inhospitable area and make for Ocherfort thereafter without climbing mountains again. 'I'm in with Barrel,' Smoker told Gord. 'No more mountaineering for me if it can be avoided.'
Gord called a vote then. 'Mountains!' said Delver, and both Shade and Dohojar agreed with him. 'Coast!' Barrel said loudly, with Post and Smoker nodding their assent to that. It was up to Gord, not as leader, but as the deciding vote. Biting his lip, the young man considered the alternatives, keeping in mind his actual purpose. Both sides watched him anxiously. That made him nervous, so Gord thought about it some more.
'I am unable to decide for the group,' he said finally, speaking each word slowly. 'Going Into the rugged mountains again is not my idea of a pleasant stroll, and the path along the shore is possibly usable, certainly more to my liking.' At that, Barrel grinned. 'But — and this is important,' and now the dwarf looked pleased, 'the quickest, most direct way for me is over those peaks yonder.'
'So? What do we do, cap'n?'
'It comes down for each of you to determine for himself, I guess,' the young adventurer admitted. 'I feel I must continue north, mountains or no. You three can head along the shore if you feel so inclined. I don't believe you are obligated to follow the course I must take.'
The matter was settled. Delver, Shade, and Doho-jar took a few steps northward, separating themselves from the three who preferred the coast route. Before any of them could start to say their farewells to the other three. Barrel cut loose with a stream of obscenities that practically made the air shimmer with their force. He shouldered his pack, grabbed his crossbow, and suggested that Smoker and Post do the same. Then the trio held a brief conference, exchanging quick words in low voices.
Gord didn't bother to try to overhear. He simply turned away to face the mountains and went down on his haunches, too saddened to speak. There was no going back on his decision, but he couldn't help feeling dejected over the loss of three such staunch fellows. Then Barrel's voice boomed out again from behind him.
'Well, godsblast it, cap'n! Are you just going to hunker there, or are we headin' up into those futterin' mountains?' Without waiting for a reply, Barrel, Smoker, and Post stumped by, their backs stiff, heading for where Delver and the others were standing. Gord got to his feet, caught up with the three of them, and wordlessly expressed his feelings by clasping each man around the shoulders.
It was an easy trek, as hikes over mountains go. and the seven were down on rolling ground again in a couple of days, none the worse for the passage. 'Just like I told you,' Delver said smugly. 'Bat-crap!' was the burly seafarer's only retort.
'Enough of those little pleasantries, you two,' Gord said — although he didn't really care if they insulted each other, because that meant they were in good spirits. 'I think we should angle away from the mountains a bit, so that we can travel on level ground if possible. The land ahead appears very hilly, but off to the west a bit it seems to grow level — and that glint looks to be a big lake.'
'Must be Emerald Lake,' Barrel volunteered. 'The headwaters of the Ocher River, so I've been told, though I've never seen it.'
'What makes you think that?' the dwarf asked curtly.
'The Seakings' Lands are my country, shorty,' Barrel shot back. 'You might know your stuff when it comes to heaps of granite, but don't think I don't know what's in my own land.'
They trudged across the steep hills, going west and slightly south along the route that seemed the least taxing. When the seven reached the low, level land beyond the steep foothills, night was falling. The last rays of the sun showed a toothy northern horizon — certainly more mountains, but they sunk away just a little to the west of due north. Gord's desire to gain the plain had been well founded. After an uneventful night, the party moved on, maintaining the northwesterly course. There was water ahead — the Ocher River, Barrel again asserted. Its valley enabled the seven to bypass the little spur of mountains and slog on into the heart of the hinterlands of the territory ruled by the Seakings. Fish from the river fed them that evening, and the waters of the Ocher washed bodies and clothing equally clean.
Gord was more relaxed that night than he had been in a long time. His turn at the watch was not scheduled until the hours just before sunrise, and as he ate his evening meal he was looking forward almost obsessively to getting six straight hours of sleep on a mattress of soft, grassy ground. He quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
It seemed like minutes later, but was actually several hours into the night, when Gord heard a whispered 'Zehaab!' and then felt Dohojar's hand shaking his shoulder as his eyes flew open. 'Shade says come quick! All hell's breaking loose across the river, and all of us should come and see in a hurry!'
Gord was up and ready in a moment. Dohojar was still rousing the others as he ran off in answer to the half-elf s summons.
Chapter 22
A globe of radiance washed over a dell plainly visible from their vantage point across the river and not more than a half-mile distant from the scene. As the light blossomed and made several figures near its center plainly visible, two things happened almost at the same time. Something dark spread itself over the glow, and the light was gone, leaving the depression in darkness again. At nearly the same instant, a group of capering little figures glowed greenly, outlined by some mystical means where they stood between river and dell.
'What's going on?' Gord asked as he came up beside the half-elf.
This is mild compared to what happened before you got here,' Shade hissed. He spoke as if he was afraid to be heard by those across the Ocher despite the distance between them.
'Sure, sure, but what happened before?'
Post thumped up and flopped down beside the two. Then Smoker and Dohojar came up, the Changa winded and gasping for breath from the hasty round trip he had just negotiated. Just as Gord was about to ask the half-elf again, Barrel came trotting up, his rolling gait unmistakable even in the gloom, and not far behind was the bandy- legged Delver bringing up the rear. 'No talking, any of you — except Shade, I mean,' the young adventurer ordered. 'Now, Shade, what's been going on over there?'
It seemed that a big audience encouraged the half-elf to be more explicit. 'I happened to be looking out that way at what must have been the start of a surprise attack. There wasn't much noise — isn't now, for that matter. All of a sudden there's a half-dozen pale blue balls of light in the dell. At first I thought they were will-o-wisps, but then those things winked out and a bright light floated in the air in our direction. That showed a bunch of folks.'
'I thought you said you witnessed an attack, not a show of lights.'
'As soon as those figures were exposed, Gord, damned if a bunch of big, black tentacles didn't come up right out of the ground and grab the men nearby. You could hear the yelling from here!'
'Oh, I see. Sorry, Shade.'
The half-elf was mollified at that. 'No need for apology. I guess I was trying to be too dramatic. The defenders took some losses. I heard screams from their camp too, when the dancing lights were floating through their area. Could the attackers use will-o-wisps as allies?'
'No,' Gord said softly. 'The spheres of blue light were cast from a spell, Shade.'
'It is a simple one, too,' Dohojar added.
