char. Tastes wretched but leaves
your teeth strong as steel!”
Alto grimaced at the thought of it.
“Kar’s right. We head out the north gate,”
Tristam said. “I remember a stable there, too, and the northern
side of the city is in better shape.”
“Here,” William said, tossing Alto a chunk
torn off a loaf of bread. “Eat up, lad; we’re in for a hard
day.”
Alto bit into it and chewed it down before
asking, “What’s to be hard?”
“Travel through the mountains is never
simple. Sounds travel funny and rocks may give and come crashing
down at any time,” William said.
Gerald chuckled. “That’s not counting the
rocks thrown by giants and ogres.”
“Ogres don’t throw boulders,” Kar snapped.
“Small rocks, maybe, but they prefer to smash you with their
clubs.”
“Aye, clubs that was once the trunks of
trees!” Gerald added.
Kar rolled his eyes at the man’s
boasting.
Alto stared back and forth between them. “So
falling rocks, echoing sounds, monsters—what else is there?”
“The mines themselves,” Tristam said. He
wiped his sword clean after running a stone over it and sheathed
it. “Enough scaring the boy; let’s be off. We earn no bounty
sitting and jawing like old women!”
“What’s wrong with the mines?” Alto asked
Karthor as the others rose and filed past.
“Cramped, dark, and sometimes foul. If the
mines have been overrun by gobs, then the runts will be dug in.
We’ll have a harder time digging them out,” he said.
“At least we’d be able to collect our
bounty,” Alto reasoned.
“Aye, if we make it back.”
Alto frowned but chose not to respond to the
dark words spoken by the priest. He followed them down the stairs
and began saddling Sebas. He finished before the others and helped
where he could, and then led his horse onto the cobblestone road of
the city.
In daylight, the sight of the pillaging was
worse than he’d imagined. Signs and tabards were burnt and
shredded. Doors and windows were smashed in. Entire buildings, in
many cases, had been burned to the ground. Stains on the ground
showed where people had fallen or been dragged away.
“Need a good thunderstorm to clean this
away,” Kar muttered.
“Not going to argue that,” Tristam agreed,
“but I’d just as soon it waited until we’re done with our
business.”
“Why?” Alto wondered aloud.
“All the reasons you don’t want to go into
the mountains?” Drefan reminded him. Alto nodded at the recent
memory. “Well, they get a lot worse when it’s raining. Falling
rocks become landslides. Creatures are forced out of flooded dens.
And the water falling from the sky adds to the water running off
the rocks, flash flooding the passes.”
Alto’s eyes widened. “I vote for no rain,
too.”
The others chuckled until Tristam bade them
mount and head for the northern gate. He led by example, climbing
into his saddle and guiding his steed through Highpeak. True to
Tristam’s words, there was less destruction the farther north they
went. When they reached the gate only a few minutes later, the
portcullis was down.
“Put those muscles to work, boy,” Tristam
called out.
Alto led Sebas over to the gatehouse and
dismounted. He tossed the reins over a fence and stepped to the
wheel that would raise the iron bars. He put his back to it and
started hauling on the spokes of the wheel, raising it steadily but
slowly.
“This proves they came in from the south
gate,” Drefan noted as Alto labored.
“Proves no such thing,” Kar said. “It only
proves that this morning the portcullis is down.”
“Bah, it was down last night, too!” Drefan
said. “We seen it!”
“You saw it,” Kar corrected. “And I’ll grant
you that. But a cunning invader might have come from the north and
destroyed the city, and then made it look as though they pillaged
it from the south.”
“You’re digging deep holes, wizard,” Tristam
cautioned.
Kar shrugged. “No deeper than our
light-fingered
your teeth strong as steel!”
Alto grimaced at the thought of it.
“Kar’s right. We head out the north gate,”
Tristam said. “I remember a stable there, too, and the northern
side of the city is in better shape.”
“Here,” William said, tossing Alto a chunk
torn off a loaf of bread. “Eat up, lad; we’re in for a hard
day.”
Alto bit into it and chewed it down before
asking, “What’s to be hard?”
“Travel through the mountains is never
simple. Sounds travel funny and rocks may give and come crashing
down at any time,” William said.
Gerald chuckled. “That’s not counting the
rocks thrown by giants and ogres.”
“Ogres don’t throw boulders,” Kar snapped.
“Small rocks, maybe, but they prefer to smash you with their
clubs.”
“Aye, clubs that was once the trunks of
trees!” Gerald added.
Kar rolled his eyes at the man’s
boasting.
Alto stared back and forth between them. “So
falling rocks, echoing sounds, monsters—what else is there?”
“The mines themselves,” Tristam said. He
wiped his sword clean after running a stone over it and sheathed
it. “Enough scaring the boy; let’s be off. We earn no bounty
sitting and jawing like old women!”
“What’s wrong with the mines?” Alto asked
Karthor as the others rose and filed past.
“Cramped, dark, and sometimes foul. If the
mines have been overrun by gobs, then the runts will be dug in.
We’ll have a harder time digging them out,” he said.
“At least we’d be able to collect our
bounty,” Alto reasoned.
“Aye, if we make it back.”
Alto frowned but chose not to respond to the
dark words spoken by the priest. He followed them down the stairs
and began saddling Sebas. He finished before the others and helped
where he could, and then led his horse onto the cobblestone road of
the city.
In daylight, the sight of the pillaging was
worse than he’d imagined. Signs and tabards were burnt and
shredded. Doors and windows were smashed in. Entire buildings, in
many cases, had been burned to the ground. Stains on the ground
showed where people had fallen or been dragged away.
“Need a good thunderstorm to clean this
away,” Kar muttered.
“Not going to argue that,” Tristam agreed,
“but I’d just as soon it waited until we’re done with our
business.”
“Why?” Alto wondered aloud.
“All the reasons you don’t want to go into
the mountains?” Drefan reminded him. Alto nodded at the recent
memory. “Well, they get a lot worse when it’s raining. Falling
rocks become landslides. Creatures are forced out of flooded dens.
And the water falling from the sky adds to the water running off
the rocks, flash flooding the passes.”
Alto’s eyes widened. “I vote for no rain,
too.”
The others chuckled until Tristam bade them
mount and head for the northern gate. He led by example, climbing
into his saddle and guiding his steed through Highpeak. True to
Tristam’s words, there was less destruction the farther north they
went. When they reached the gate only a few minutes later, the
portcullis was down.
“Put those muscles to work, boy,” Tristam
called out.
Alto led Sebas over to the gatehouse and
dismounted. He tossed the reins over a fence and stepped to the
wheel that would raise the iron bars. He put his back to it and
started hauling on the spokes of the wheel, raising it steadily but
slowly.
“This proves they came in from the south
gate,” Drefan noted as Alto labored.
“Proves no such thing,” Kar said. “It only
proves that this morning the portcullis is down.”
“Bah, it was down last night, too!” Drefan
said. “We seen it!”
“You saw it,” Kar corrected. “And I’ll grant
you that. But a cunning invader might have come from the north and
destroyed the city, and then made it look as though they pillaged
it from the south.”
“You’re digging deep holes, wizard,” Tristam
cautioned.
Kar shrugged. “No deeper than our
light-fingered
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