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Back to the previous chapter: Scouts
First Draft
The dirge-like song of the Sun Knights was just starting to fade as the footmen of the army marched east under the dreary sky. The noise of the hundreds of mounted knights preparing to catch up was incredible, Bilbus decided, as he walked cautiously close to the Bittrand household. The stables, and his horse, were just a couple of dozen paces away. His companions were still inside, preparing to travel with the army towards the ruins of Camelough.
Bilbus stopped at the corner of the household closest to the stables. He peered around the corner, looking for anyone who might spot him departing.
Breanna kneeled on the ground, her leather armor fastened as she had finished preparing for the upcoming battle. She was gathering herbs from the plants growing in the large yard of the estate. Her back was to the mountebank.
Making sure the flag wrapped around the spear he carried was tightly wrapped -- it would be difficult to explain the flag to anyone around here today -- Bilbus ran across the grounds to the stables.
Inside the stone building, Bilbus found that the stablehands were missing. He was sure he had seen them inside the estate house with everyone else. Bilbus quickly found Acquisition 2. He saddled his horse, adjusting the saddle blanket and cinching the saddle. The horse waited impatiently, sensing Bilbus's own nervousness. Bilbus slipped the spear/flagpole beneath his saddlebags, making sure it was securely held by a pair of leather straps hidden behind the bags.
He glanced down at his clothing again: the noble's outfit he had worn to the meeting with Lord Silverthorn in Londoun. It was still rumpled and dirty, with some tears and stains on it. Perfect! he thought to himself.
The thief then found Rishala's horse, two stalls from Acquisition 2. He pinned a note onto Rishala's saddle, making sure that the storyteller could not miss it, then jogged back to his own horse. Acquisition pranced towards the open doors of the stable as Bilbus fought the horse's nervous energy until he was sure he was going to be able to ride away.
Outside the stables, Bilbus saw that Breanna's back was still towards him. He reined Acquisition towards a nearby open gate and rode out. Once clear of the estate's walled grounds, Bilbus leaned forward and said, "Jingle, jingle, jingle." Acquisition 2 exploded into a full gallop, racing east towards the ruins of Camelough, but well away from the column of warriors.
A quarter of an hour later, Kasey, Sturm, and Rishala were in the stables, saddling their horses and making ready to leave with the mounted fighters. Rishala had just finished tying his horse's halter to a post when he spotted the note on his saddle. He pulled the note loose and read it.
"That idiot! Idiot!" he shouted. His horse started to rear in surprise.
Kasey peered over Farran's back to look at Rishala. "What?" he asked as if he had been addressed.
Eric wandered into the stables, a confused expression on his face. "Has anyone seen Bilbus?"
Rishala walked towards him. "That idiot! Here!"
Eric skimmed through the note. "What is he thinking?"
"Exactly! Idiot!"
Curiosity piqued, Sturm walked over to the two. Without another word, Eric gave the Sun Knight the note.
Unconsciously crumpling the note, Sturm growled, "Stupid! He just wants to wear the crowns."
Breanna and Adria entered the stables. Adria was in her leathers, with her long bow in hand and a pair of quarrels full of arrows slung over one shoulder. Breanna had her travel pack slung over one shoulder and a maille shirt in the other.
The apothecary held the chain shirt up. "Bilbus left his maille shirt with my backpack, along with a note that Adria or I should wear it." Her voice was puzzled.
Adria shook her head. "You can take it. I don't want something like that slowing me down." She glanced around at the men in the room. "Where's Bilbus?"
Rishala threw his arms up and walked away, shouting "Idiot!"
Sturm gave Adria the note. "Your husband rode on ahead of us. He is going to try to get into the Silver Towers to disrupt the orcs during the attack."
Adria's expression darkened.
Eric approached the assassain. He held out his fists. "Guess which hand?"
She slapped one of them far too roughly. Eric's expression was surprise as he turned the hand over and opened it, revealing an empty palm. Adria growled and stomped towards the stall where her horse waited.
Bilbus had slowed his horse quickly once he was out of sight of both the Bittrand estates and the column of footmen. He wanted to arrive ahead of the army, but not too far ahead of them. He had circled around to approach Camelough from the south, following the route that a third of the knights and half of the footmen were going to follow. His companions were going to be approaching on this route as well.
When he was able to see the distant Silver Towers and the rubbled plains that once held the city of Camelough, Bilbus pulled the spear loose from its carrying straps. He quickly untied the twine keeping the flag wrapped around the shaft of the spear, then unfurled the flag.
It was white. Bilbus had taken one of the Bittrands' pillow cases to use as the flag. On it he had painted a crude representation of the tentacle-faced monstrosity that adorned the coins and medallions he and his companions had recovered.
Holding the makeshift flagpole high, Bilbus again 'jingled' his horse to a gallop. Acquisition thundered directly towards the damaged and crumbling towers of the Imperial Palace, now more of a gray mottled color instead of the polished white limestone that they once were.
A single red flare shot upwards from the foundation of a building about five hundred paces ahead of Bilbus. Seconds later, half a dozen orcs climbed from the foundation and started jogging towards the charging horse and rider.
Bilbus slowed quickly as some of the orcs prepared bows. The others continued to close.
Channeling a dweomer onto himself, Bilbus shouted in the orc tongue, "The Sun Knights are coming! The Sun Knights are coming!"
He stopped his horse close to the orcs. One of them grabbed him and dragged him from the saddle. He fell to the ground painfully.
"The Sun Knights are coming. A big army! Hundreds! They are coming here!" the mountebank shouted desperately.
The orc dragged him back towards the ruined foundation. Bilbus found his feet and jogged alongside the orc, who held his arm tightly. The thief glanced over his shoulder. Acquisition 2 stood still, watching him leave with the orcs.
Bilbus whistled shrilly at the horse. "Acquisition 2, come on!"
The horse followed the human and orcs back to the ruins.
The orc led Bilbus down into the open pit of the foundation. From inside, Bilbus was impressed to see how thoroughly the orcs had improved the site. The brush and brambles growing around the edge of the stone walls hid several openings in the stones that gave the orcs an excellent field of view. The bottom of the pit had been dug out until orcs could stand -- and use their bows -- from near total cover. Several quivers filled with arrows were lined against the wall closest to the Silver Towers. Furs and pelts were arranged to provide sitting and sleeping places for the orc squad.
The orc pushed Bilbus roughly down onto one of the pelts.
Bilbus looked around at the eight orcs and said, still in Orc, "I need to warn the rest of you! Sun Knights are coming, and they are going to attack the Imperial Palace!" He pointed at the hill a mile away upon which was the Imperial Palace.
One of the orcs snarled, in rough Kelltic, "No tar king!"
Bilbus's eyes goggled as he looked at the orc. It looked familiar, and the distinctive pronunciation it used was impossible to forget.
Still speaking in Orc, "Did you serve in a human city a few months ago?"
Surprised, the orc replied in its native tongue. "Yes. Stupid humans" -- he dragged out the pronounciation of "humans" -- "do not know how to subjugate well. They obey. Always. I was told that it was a risky assignment, that I would get to teach the humans some lessons. Instead, I only shout at them and they obey. Most of them." The orc paused. "How did you know?"
Bilbus grinned. "I was spying on some humans, and I helped them get captured. I remember you yelling at us while we were in the cells."
The orc squinted at Bilbus. "I think I remember you. You did not obey, but I did not get to correct you. Yes, I remember you."
Bilbus stood and reached a hand towards the orc. "Lord Hogain. Pleased to meet you."
The orc grasped Bilbus forearm and squeezed painfully. "Sultz, Warrior Second Rank of Dark Cave Tribe."
The orc released his grip. Bilbus sat once again. "At least you managed to get transfered where there will be battle. The knights are coming soon. We need to warn your commanders."
Sultz shook his head. "We can not leave the post until relieved, or until the commanders order a withdrawal."
"You could let me go back there to warn them."
Sultz laughed. "You would be dead before you reached the gatehouse."
Bilbus grumbled to himself and leaned against the dirty stone wall, looking around as the orcs resumed their watch. Acquisition 2 stood behind the low wall of the foundation, grazing idly.
The song had ended some time ago, but the footmen continued to march towards Camelough. The knights had caught up with the footmen, and they had formed columns both ahead of and behind the hundreds of men on foot. Fifteen minutes ago, the force had split into three groups: a band of two hundred footmen and archers with a hundred knights who would approach the Silver Towers along the same route that the scouting expedition had taken, a band of three hundred archers, swordsmen, and pikemen who, with fifty knights, would approach the towers directly from the south, and a group of two hundred knights who would ride roughly in between the two forces, where they could reinforce either force. The party rode with the second group, approaching from the south. The lone ballista was with that force as well.
When they were within six hundred paces of the foundation in which Bilbus was held, a pair of white flare arrows shot into the sky. Orc archers in other two separate locations each fired a pair of white flare arrows as well. The human armies continued to close, slowly approaching archery range.
After a couple of minutes, a single red flare arrow sailed above the Silver Towers.
Orcs appeared suddenly from the three locations where flares had been launched, and a fourth squad climbed out of a different foundation. All four squads ran back towards the Silver Towers, stopping after an eight hundred pace sprint to cover. With one of the squads was a man on horseback.
One of the squads ran through a sizable small forest. Sir Cael Leith, leading the force that included the party, called out "Fire Arrows! Make sure no other orcs are hiding in the forest!"
The sudden barrage of flaming arrows, joined minutes later by a barrage from the force on the other side of the forest, quickly ignited the dry trees, many of which had already shed leaves for the season. The tinder-fueled flame quickly spread, destroying any cover that might have existed within the forest.
As the orc squads leapt from cover again -- this time with an additional eighty orcs -- Sir Leith ordered his Sun Knights to scout the foundations scattered about the field to ensure no other orcs were lying in ambush. The Lord High Commander watched the orcs fall back to the prominent hill of the Imperial Palace, rushing through the gatehouse into the inner walls.
The human armies rejoined a thousand paces from the Imperial Palace. The massed force of over eight hundred men and women closed on the grand castle under the grim skies.
Within the amassed army, the party rode together, a few tens of paces away from Sir Cael Leith and behind the wall of pikemen and swordsmen on foot.
Sturm shook his head and wobbled atop his warhorse.
Rishala looked at the Sun Knight. "Is something amiss?"
Sturm shook his head again and steadied himself. "Bilbus is sending me a vision, I think. It's like I am seeing through his eyes right now..." His voice trailed off.
Rishala shuddered.
"He is looking around. I think he is just inside the gatehouse. I can see the walls have been rebuilt. They look bad on the outside, but I think they're still strong. He's looking towards the main doors of the palace. Orcs are running into it. He's ... oh, Hells."
"What?" Rishala asked, worried.
"There are drow in the courtyard. Maybe thirty or forty of them. They all have bows like yours, Rishala. No, they're longbows that looks like yours. And they are moving far faster than normal. That is going to be messy if we have to close on the castle."
"Anything else?"
"Bilbus is following an orc into the palace. It's the grand throne room, I think. There is a Portal on the dais, and orcs are running into it. I think the orcs are retreating."
Across the field, Sir Leith called out "Hold!" The army stopped, still a hundred paces outside longbow range of the walls. The archers and footmen spread out, transforming from a column of foot soldiers into a wide rank, with archers twenty paces ahead of the footmen.
Most of the mounted knights arranged themselves on either end of the army, while a group remained near the center of it, available to fill any gaps in the line.
Bilbus followed Sultz into the Imperial Palace. The orc had been ushering him along while the mountebank tried to stop and inspect everything he saw. He was not sure if Sturm had received the thought message, but he hoped that the knight had. Sturm would have been the one most likely to understand the importance of what Bilbus saw.
All around the enormous throne room was chaos and confusion. Off to one side, several dozen orcs were helping one another strap large baskets to their backs. The orcs were unarmed, and the open baskets were piled with what looked to be provisions. A platoon of orcs -- forty of them following a Shadow Kindred -- were disappearing into the black opening of a Portal on the top of the dais, where King Uther Paendroeg's throne had once stood. Another Shadow Kindred paced restlessly next to the Portal.
The throne room was large enough that it would have completely swallowed the Ithell manor house. There would have been enough room to stack the manor house twice, one atop the other, before anyone could have reached the ceiling. Even in its poor condition after two millenia of neglect, the throne room was splendid to see.
"Come on, Lord Hogain," Sultz urged once again as he turned to face Bilbus.
Bilbus followed the orc towards the dais. The Portal had closed again -- the pink granite wall was solid. Eleven feet high, eleven feet wide, the stone wall looked identical to the section of wall the party had seen in the witch Axransa's tower near Hillsdale.
Bilbus climbed the twelve wide steps of the dais slowly, urging his horse to follow him. Sultz waited in front of the Portal as the Shadow Kindred started to weave a casting.
Bilbus felt his skin tingle as the dark, oily currents of Heka were directed into the unnatural pink stone. A section of the wall, ten feet by ten feet, started to disappear, replaced by a black opening. Bilbus hid his grin as he realized that he could duplicate the Shadow Kindred's magickal feat.
As Bilbus reached the Portal, he carefully drew a ring from its hidden pocket in his jacket. He glanced around once, trying not to look at the Shadow Kindred as he did so, then tossed the ring off to one side. If his companions found the ring, they would know he had been here.
With one last tug on the reins, Bilbus led Acquisition 2 into the Portal.
The first thing Bilbus noticed about the other side of the Portal was the darkness. The only light was some shining in from the throne room, as well as a pair of lanterns held by orcs just to one side of the Portal.
The second thing Bilbus noticed about the region beyond the Portal was the lack of color. Not just that the ground below was light gray, and the walls flanking the Portal were gray, but that everything was gray. His own skin was gray, and the light from the lanterns was a bright white.
A glance back through the Portal showed color, but none of it was apparent inside the Portal.
One of the orcs gave Sultz a lantern. Another offered Bilbus a pair of waterskins. Behind them, on the floor, were more unlit lanterns and several open casks with liquid.
As Bilbus glanced back out the Portal, he realized that the walls to either side of the Portal were not solid. It looked as if there was a raging storm -- angrily swirling impenetrable fog or clouds -- that stopped suddenly on the edge of the floor. Bilbus stared at it for nearly a minute before Sultz pointedly cleared his throat.
Bilbus turned and followed the orc into the darkness.
As they walked, Sultz started to speak. "You have never been in the Portals before."
"No. This is new."
"We are on an island. This island is called 'HKN'. It is about a mile in diameter, and round. All islands are the same size and shape."
"How many islands are there?"
Sultz shrugged. "Several, many, who knows? I have only been to a few."
"How do you know where you are if all the islands are like this one?"
"In the middle of each island is a signpost. It has four sides. Each side that goes somewhere has letters on it. The island is named after which ever letters are on the side that leads to a Portal. This island is called 'HKN' because the letters on the signpost that face the Portal are 'HKN'. There is only one Portal on each island, but there can be two or three tunnels, also."
"Tunnels through the fog?"
Sultz nodded.
"Why are there no colors?"
Sultz shrugged. "I am not a mage. Maybe it has something to do with the magick that created the Portals."
Some time elapsed before Bilbus saw the "signpost" Sultz had mentioned. It was a square stone post, with each face a foot wide. It was ten feet tall. On each of the sides were engraved letters in the harsh orcish writing. Bilbus stopped and quickly found a piece of paper on which he could duplicate the letters.
Sultz stopped again to watch.
"So, we're on 'HKN'?" Sultz nodded. "Where are we going?"
"'BHJ', then to 'ABE'. We leave the Portals at 'ABE'."
Bilbus nodded to himself as he wrote his translations for the orcish letters.
Beyond the signpost was another quiet walk until the two reached the far side of the island. The fog wall stopped abruptly for a ten foot section, revealing a ten foot wide tunnel that disappeared into the darkness. Sultz continued on into the tunnel.
Bilbus followed suit. After several minutes of quiet walking in the unchanging tunnel, the passage of time marked by the ringing of Acquisition 2's steel shoes on the stone ground, Bilbus asked, "How far away is 'BHJ'?"
"A day."
Bilbus looked at Sultz disbelievingly. "A day?!?"
"It is always a day to get from one island to the next. If you walk, it takes eight hours. If you run, it takes eight hours and you are tired. If you ride your horse as fast as it goes, it will take eight hours, and your horse will fall dead from exhaustion. If soldiers are forced to march longer than normal, they can reach a third island before daybreak the next day. That is how we were able to bring the drow reinforcements in before your human armies attacked. We will rest tonight on island 'BHJ', then travel tomorrow morning to 'ABE'."
Bilbus continued to walk along the endless stone corridor, surrounded by a silent storm that never encroached on the tunnel.
Rishala sat on his horse, ignoring his surroundings. He had shaped a Heka weave into a casting that he was now sending into the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Focusing on the weave, Rishala was able to watch the magickally-hastened drow as they ran towards the open doors of the Imperial Palace. A quick sweep about the grounds showed that there were neither orcs nor drow still on the grounds.
Rishala directed the weave into the grand throne room. Each of the doors to the throne room were over twenty paces tall and five wide, made from a metal that had held up well to two millenia of weather. The Caledonian tried not to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the room -- by and far the largest room Rishala had ever seen in his life. Several households could be dropped in the throne room, and all of them would still have room for livestock.
The drow rushed towards an open Portal on the far side of the throne room. It stood atop the dais where King Paendroeg's throne once stood. A Shadow Kindred paced restlessly next to the Portal, waiting for the forty drow to run through it.
As soon as the last drow was through the Portal, the Shadow Kindred stepped through as well. The black opening in the pink granite disappeared, leaving a solid wall once more.
Rishala directed his clairvoyance casting through the rest of the spacious grounds at a dizzying speed. There were plenty of signs that someone had quickly vacated the site, but no signs that anyone had stayed behind.
Rishala stopped concentrating on the weave for a few moments. He noticed Kasey was riding next to him.
"Kasey," the Caledonian said, "the orcs have retreated. They went through a Portal in the throne room, and no one remains on the grounds."
"Really?"
"As best as I can tell, the Silver Towers have been abandoned."
Kasey stood in his stirrups. "Knights of Kells!" he bellowed. "The orcs have withdrawn! Charge!"
Farran leaped forward, as did a number of other warhorses. Soon, a charge of a hundred Church Knights raced towards the open gates of the castle walls. The rest of the Church Knights rode forward at a more cautious pace. The party rode forward as well.
Half of an hour later, the party stood on the dais in front of the Portal. Dozens of knights milled around in the throne room, most with their horses, as hundreds of other warriors searched the rest of the palace grounds.
Eric had spotted the ring that Bilbus had discarded. He held it and looked at the signet on the ring. "Del Quintin." He glanced questioningly at Adria.
Kasey chimed in, "I didn't know the del Quintin family had been in the court of the Sun King!"
Adria looked at him and sighed loudly. "This is my brother Cain's ring. Bilbus had it, the last I knew."
Eric glanced around the throne room before his eyes settled on the Portal. "He went into the Portal?!?" Eric spewed a string of compound epithets drawn from every language he knew.
Adria's eyes widened as she picked out a few phrases that sounded Azirian. She noticed Breanna giggling to herself as the apothecary recognized some elven curses.
Five minutes later, Eric calmed down. He sheepishly looked around at the dozens of men and women in the throne room, all of whom were staring at him.
"Pardon me," he said as he quickly tried to stare intently somewhere where no one was standing.
Rishala had stared vacantly at the wall during the entire session of swearing. His eyes found focus again and he looked at his companions. Kasey had walked off towards a corner of the throne room, but the remainder were still nearby.
"I looked around the ruins of the city. It was a fast search, but I am pretty sure the orcs have all left. I spotted some places where they must have been keeping watch. Some of the ruins have been partially rebuilt, and there are quivers left behind with arrows in a couple of spots. I would like to go get the arrows and see if there are any of those signal arrows that were left behind."
"I'll go with you," Adria offered.
The two walked quickly down the stairs and across the throne room towards their horses.
The Lord High Commander of the Sun Knights approached the dais. Sturm intercepted him when he reached the top of the stairs.
"Lord High Commander? This is a Portal. It is identical to the one we encountered near Hillsdale."
Sir Leith ran a gauntleted hand along the pink stone. He peered around it, realizing that it stood a foot away from the wall. He pushed on it, trying to tip it against the wall. The Portal did not move.
The Lord High Commander turned to Sturm. "This is how the orcs got into the Silver Towers without anyone noticing?"
Sturm nodded. "We don't know yet where else there are Portals, but I think you can appreciate how dangerous these are. An army can be moved from place to place without having to cross the countryside. No trace and no warning until they attack."
"We can not leave this Portal unguarded. How do we destroy it?"
"I do not know if we can, Sir Leith. We were unable to move the one we found in Hillsdale. We brought the tower it was in down by setting fire to it. I don't know if even that destroyed the Portal."
"We can always post guards here. That slab of stone is not very wide. Only so many troops can squeeze into that space at once. With enough archers and pikes, we can probably stop any attempt to rush out of this Portal."
Sturm nodded. "I think it would be a good idea to post guards."
Sir Leith looked past Sturm as Kasey climbed back onto the dais. The Church Knight held a battered metal mug and a half-eaten roll.
"This tea is pretty good," Kasey said.
Sturm furrowed his eyebrows. "Where did you get it?"
Sticking the roll in his mouth, Kasey pointed towards a corner of the throne room. He bit a chunk off of the roll. While chewing it, he said, "Over there. The orcs left it."
"Kasey!"
"What? I'm hungry!" The Church Knight continued to contentedly eat the dry roll.
Sturm looked at Eric. "You know, we did see a signal arrow fire from the top of one of the towers."
"Do you think there are more up there?"
"We can find out."
Eric and Sturm looked around the throne room. There were over a dozen different doors out of the enormous room, not counting the 20-pace-tall doors at the far end.
They wandered through the palace for some time before finding the base of the Silver Towers proper. The two tall towers were physically positioned just behind the grand throne room, but their entrances were not close to the throne room exits.
The two started up the open interior of one of the towers. The few floors intact in the wide, tall tower were rotted wood that had not seen any maintenance or care since the Fall of Camelough. The upper floors had burned away -- nothing remained except a few broken timbers, still blackened from the distant time when the towers burned.
The top of the tower was different, however. Fresh timber, some of it from unidentifiable trees, had been laid to form planking across the upper platform. The wood was still rough, and not well fitted, but it formed a servicable top for the tower.
A hastily-assembled ladder reached the final ten feet to the roof. Eric followed Sturm up the ladder to the top of the tower.
It was open, ten paces in diameter inside the battlements. A single quiver with half a dozen arrows rested against the stone wall that surrounded the wooden roof. Eric walked over to the quiver as Sturm looked around at the vista beyond the tower.
On a clear day, the view would have been incredible. Even with the clouds overhead, Sturm could see for miles. The Vasmar to the north was partially obscured by rainfall a mile out to sea. The ruins of Camelough pocked the plains to the west, providing clusters of gray stones to break the fields of grass. The clusters of trees scattered about the plains were colorful in their browns, reds, and yellows. The largest cluster, a mile south of the palace, still burned from the fire arrows the armies had launched at it.
Most of the army were still arrayed on the plains below the hill upon which the towers stood. They were no longer on a war footing; instead, they had set up camp to await new orders. Dozens of tents had been erected, and the supply wagons had arrived. Smokes from a hundred small fires wafted into the sky.
Eric joined the Sun Knight in his survey of the lands that were once Camelough.
The Azirian said quietly, "This is an impressive view."
Sturm nodded without comment. He looked at the quiver Eric held. "What sort of arrows are they?"
Eric pulled one out. The arrow did not have a steel head. Instead, it had some sort of paper wrapping with a single string tied around it. A stiff section of twine jutted from the bottom of the paper.
Sturm took the arrow and partially unwrapped the paper. Inside was a dark powder that was dry and stiff. He scratched it a little, causing some of the powder to flake off. He grunted and wrapped the paper closed once more.
The Sun Knight and the explorer climbed down the tower's stairs. Several more minutes of searching through the partially-collapsed palace turned up another spiralling staircase. Sturm and Eric climbed the other Silver Tower, finding that it had not been rebuilt, and that it was in far worse condition.
When they returned to the grand throne room, Rishala and Adria had already returned from their hunt for flare arrows.
Sturm looked at them. "You found arrows?"
Rishala nodded. He produced eighteen more arrows similar to those Sturm and Eric had found. Six of the arrowheads had a single string tied around the paper wrap, while the other twelve had no string.
As Sturm inspected the arrows, Rishala said, "We also recovered two dozen regular arrows."
Eric looked at the pink stone slab on the dais. "He is still not back? How long are we going to wait for him?"
Rishala muttered quietly, "Idiot!"
Sturm looked at his companions. "We still have to travel to Clemendeev. Bilbus said the orcs have surrounded Altspire, and we can not let them take the sword that Kasey dreamed about."
Eric nodded to himself and exhaled slowly. "Yes. Let us wait for him tonight. If he has not returned in the morning, we will return to Londoun without him."
Rishala looked at the Portal. "What do we do with this? Block it in? Post guards?"
Sturm looked at the smooth pink stone of the Portal. "We already are going to leave guards here as long as we need. The opening is narrow enough that the guards should be able to keep it secure. If we have enough archers, we should be able to stop even a concentrated charge. The Church Knights have already sent men back to Londoun to report, and I suspect Sir Leith will be bringing Sun Knights here to help."
Some of the Church Knights had climbed up to the Portal. They pushed and leaned against it, trying in vain to tip the three-inch-thick slab of stone. It did not tilt. Even with several knights pushing against it, the Portal would not tip.
The party watched the knights futilely shoving for a few moments before losing interest. Kasey had walked back to the corner of the throne room, poking around the discarded provisions. He recovered two more of the dried hard rolls and a pouch of tea leaves. He wandered out of the throne room to find some hot water.
Breanna had settled on the floor of the throne room, opening her stuffed healing bag and organizing the contents once more. Adria paced nearby, ignoring everyone else.
The sound of stone scraping on stone startled all of them. Everyone in the throne room turned to face the dais.
The Church Knights had been pushing against one edge of the Portal. One of them looked at the rest of the throne room. "It moved. We pushed it."
Eric met Sturm's look and nodded. "Can you turn it around? Maybe only one side of the Portal works. We could put that face against the wall."
The knights started pushing, grunting and puffing. One side of the Portal slowly moved, inch by inch, until it was against the wall of the throne room. The knights switched to the other side, gradually moving it away from the wall. Several more minutes of effort ended with the Portal turned around to face the wall of the grand throne room. The back face of the Portal was indistinguishable from the other face.
Breanna looked at the pink granite-like stone. She shuddered. "We're not sleeping in here, right?"
Sturm answered. "No."
She looked over at him. "Good."
The sun was getting low in the sky, settling closer to the horizon, when the party left the Imperial Palace to join the army at the foot of the hill. Forty Church Knights had been selected to take the first watch in Uther Paendroeg's ancient throne room, and additional knights would relieve them in several hours.
The camp was subdued that evening, thoughts drifting to the stories of the Fall of Camelough and the realization that the remains of Uther Paendroeg were somewhere nearby, bones now long lost in the centuries past.
The mind-numbing endlessness of the tunnel through the fog had taken its toll on Bilbus and Sultz. Neither had spoken for hours. From time to time, Bilbus would take a sip from one of the waterskins, or look around, but the roiling fog that formed the walls and ceiling of the tunnel never cleared or thinned enough to see more than a few inches past the invisible force that held the fog at bay.
Bilbus had walked for several paces before he realized that the walls had ended. He stopped and turned around. He and Sultz were on another island.
Sultz continued walking straight ahead, towards a scattering of bright gray-white campfires. Bilbus jogged to catch up.
As they got closer, Bilbus could see the silhouettes of orcs surrounding most of the fires. The orcs were still very organized, with squad-sized groups of orcs surrounding modest fires all about. The orcs had laid out heavy, furry rugs, similar to those left behind in their guard posts.
Bilbus's voice was creaky as he talked for the first time in hours. "Does it get cold at night? How do you know it's night, anyway?"
Sultz shrugged. "It is never cold or hot here. Have you not noticed? And it is always night. Unless you think this is day."
Bilbus shook his head. The center of the island was now visible in the light of many fires. The "signpost" jutted from the featureless stone ground, the etched orcish markings visible in the flicker of numerous fires.
Below the signpost were some makeshift tables manned by orcs. Food had been piled on the tables.
Sultz grabbed a fist full of some strips of dried meats. He offered some to Bilbus, then reconsidered.
"Perhaps humans do not eat their own kind." Bilbus shook his head quickly. "Maybe you should take a roll or two." He nodded towards another table.
Bilbus grabbed two of the rolls, then found, to his dismay, that they were as hard as rock.
Sultz unrolled a large fur blanket and sat down on the ground, still eating his jerky. Bilbus put hobbles on his horse and sat on the bare stone next to Sultz. He drew his adamantine dagger and started chiseling a roll open.
It was very dry, and not particulary flavorful, but it was still food. Bilbus realized that it was the first meal that he had had since breakfast so long ago. Bilbus got up and rummaged through his saddle bags. He found a small bag of grain -- far less than he should have brought, he realized -- and started feeding his horse. The grain would be enough for tonight, but tomorrow might be a problem.
After he finished his meal, Sultz settled on his soft rug. "Sleep well, human. We have another day of walking tomorrow." The orc soon started to snore.
Bilbus tried to make himself comfortable on the stone floor. After several minutes, he gave up and decided to walk around the island.
He made sure he copied the orc letters inscribed on the sign post before he continued on around the island.
The orcs were not friendly. More than one commented loudly about the "fresh meat" someone had brought along. The drow were even less friendly. They stared at Bilbus wordlessly, forty pitch-black forms surrounding two large fires, their silvery-gray eyes glinting and reflecting the light of the fires, dozens of hellish flames watching his every move.
Continuing quickly beyond the drow, Bilbus found an unattended campfire. He kneeled next to it and held his hands out. The fire put out no heat. Bilbus even put his hands close to the flames. Still no heat. He waved a hand through the flame, expecting searing pain. All he felt was a thin breeze. Confused, Bilbus pulled his hand out of the fire and looked at it. His skin was normal -- or, at least, the grayish normal that Bilbus had experienced throughout the day.
Bilbus walked back towards the center of the island. He found Sultz still asleep on the sleeping rug.
So much for using my hammock, the mountebank thought as he looked around at the smooth surface of the island. Bilbus lay down on the stone floor and tried to find a comfortable position. He finally fell into a fitful sleep filled with dreams of slavering orcs and sneering drow.
The eastern horizon was ablaze with the approaching dawn when Sturm left his tent the following morning. He had dressed, but he was still adjusting the straps on his heavy leather jacket. His breath formed puffs of mist in the cool air, and the grass crunched lightly underfoot.
Ahead of the Sun Knight was Eric, his Azirian katana drawn as he moved fluidly through the various kata he had learned with that sword. The exercises looked like a dance, but Sturm recognized the practical efficiency of the training. The same moves, taken at full speed, would make Eric a very dangerous swordsman.
When Sturm was close to the Azirian, Eric quickly returned his sword to its scabbard. He waited for a moment, then visibly relaxed and turned towards Sturm.
Sturm asked, "Have you been to the palace yet?"
"No, I was going to complete practice first. I do not expect to see him. He would have awakened us if he had returned."
Sturm grunted in agreement. "Shall we check, anyway?"
Eric nodded. The two walked in silence up the ruined stone roadway, through the lower gatehouse and past the upper gatehouse, into the Imperial Palace. Church Knights milled about, many looking towards the Portal, others watching the rest of the throne room.
One of the knights near the entrance saluted Sturm in greeting. He nodded towards Eric, as well.
Sturm stopped to talk to the Church Knight. "Any activity at the Portal?"
The knight shook his head. "The Portal was quiet all night. We were instructed to look for a Lord Bilbus del Cartach possibly trying to return from an espionage mission, but no one came through. Some of the knights know how to detect Heka surges, but they did not see anything last night. One of our knights says he could feel an extremely odd weave of Heka in the Portal itself, but he did not understand it. We hope to have some priests here to inspect it next week."
Sturm nodded, then looked at Eric. "Well?"
"We can not wait indefinitely. Bilbus has a good idea of where we are going. He will have to catch up, if he can. We will let everyone else wake up and eat, then we will ride back to Londoun."
Eric turned and left the palace. Sturm walked with him back to the tents.
The rest of the party was awake and ready to leave within an hour of sunrise. They quietly readied their horses for travel, loaded their saddle bags, and left the encampment, riding west towards Sulster and Londoun, beyond.
Sir Cael Leith stood on the ramparts of the Upper Wall of the Imperial Palace, over the gatehouse. The view was impressive, though not as impressive as the view from the top of the Silver Tower that the orcs had restored. The steep hill dropped away below him, with the remains of a stone road switching back and forth a couple of times before reaching the Lower Wall and the outer gatehouse. The encampment of the army spread beyond the outer gatehouse, clusters of large white tents, groups of horses, hundreds of men, and dozens of wagons to carry provisions, parts, and the skilled men and women needed to keep the army in fighting condition.
The clouds of yesterday had blown away during the night, leaving a chilly but clear morning. Sir Leith could see for miles, past the plains of Camelough to the forests beyond. He was sure he would be able to see Sulster from the tops of the towers, if he had a spyglass.
Still looking over the armies, he spoke to his lieutenants, who stood to either side of him. "Look at this. We are standing on the walls of the Silver Towers. There, below us, is where the Sun Knights suffered their single worst loss ever. Camelough and the Silver Towers fell because we could not stop the orcs." He turned back to look at his lieutenants. "We finally have a chance to redeem ourselves. We have retaken the Silver Towers."
Making a decision, Sir Leith continued. "We will return to Londoun this afternoon. I will request an audience with the King of the Five Crowns. I will persuade him to allow the Sun Knights to reoccupy the Imperial Palace, to restore it. We can move our headquarters from Sunkeep to here. It is fitting that the Knights of the Sun be based in the ancient castle from which the Sun King ruled Avillonia. Remind me, as well, to reward Sir Sunblade for his work tracking the movements of these orcs. His reports would have been invaluable, had Sir Gittoes decided to forward them to us."
The lieutenants nodded as they grasped their Lord High Commander's intent. Sir Leith turned to look over the Plains of Camelough once more.
The quiet roaring and crackling behind them took a little while to register with the Sun Knights. Sir Leith turned around, looking for the source of the noise.
Above, smoke rose from both of the towers. Flames leaped out of the top of the western tower, the tower that the orcs had restored.
"What the hells?" Sir Leith asked as he started to run along the wall to the gatehouse tower and the stairs down to the ground level.
He never made it. One of the stone battlements on the upper wall exploded as he passed it, sending his instantly-lifeless body flying from the wall in a hail of stone. Both of Sir Leith's lieutenants were caught in the blast as well, throwing their mortally-wounded bodies backwards along the top of the wall.
The grounds of the Imperial Palace were immediate chaos. Church Knights charged out of the grand throne room, weapons at ready, as men from the encampment below raced up the hillside towards the upper gatehouse.
Two Church Knights kneeled next to the mangled body of Sir Leith. One of them desperately uttered a prayer to his god, trying to direct healing energies into the Sun Knight. The weave found no life force to use to anchor its energies, and it unraveled quickly.
Other knights raced up the stairs of the gatehouse towers. Along the wall atop the entrance to the Imperial Palace's grounds, they found the two heavily-wounded lieutenants. Desperate channelings of Heka were not enough to save the men, and the Church Knights soon started creating weaves to search for the source of the explosion.
The unraveling strands of dark Heka were easy to find. The battlement that had exploded was still partially standing, the heavy stones now loose and threatening to finish collapsing.
One of the Church Knights leaned close to the battlement. There were burn marks in the stones that seemed too regular. As he inspected the marks, he was able to make out letters. He read the marks.
"Fires on silver
Armies against armies
Orders twain leave
One returns struck"
End Book II: Out of the Shadows
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Continue to the next chapter: Book III: Portals
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Original Draft 2 October 2001
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