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a few of the many records scattered
about. “From the most recent report to the earliest accounts of
settlers on this coast and every report in between, they all agree
in detail and in tone Sire. The mountains were given the name
Warded as much to describe them as to name them.”
    “You, redhead,” the Knight turned his attention to
man on the left, “describe your experience.”
    The man stepped forward with an air of
self-confidence. He began to look to Deminar but caught himself and
faced the Red Knight. “Sire, we had passed through the foot hills
without incident and began to follow the natural terrain of valleys
and mountain passes, as we progressed a sense of foreboding and
danger grew among the men. Within a week every man had voiced their
concern.”
    While he listened to the man speak, the Red Knight
noted telltale signs that all three men had a connection to the
High Councilor. He thought nothing of it and had assumed Deminar
would hand pick anyone brought to be questioned. He glanced over to
Kalibra who was seated off to one side and was surprised to see
that her reaction was much more visceral. Her body language spoke
of insult and treachery. He briefly wondered why she would have
such a reaction to these men but didn’t give it much thought.
    “The first month was plagued by minor troubles. One
was navigation, even though a good number of us, including myself,
were experienced woodsmen and trackers, we would very often find
that a full day’s journey ended in an area we had passed before.”
The man appeared to be re-experiencing the journey as much as
remembering it.
    “Food was a constant issue throughout. In area after
area where man has never set foot, where game should be plentiful,
none could be found. We protected what food we could find,
especially at night. Whether it was guarded, hung high in a tree,
or covered in a stone mound, more often than not it was gone in the
morning with evidence that some predator had found and made off
with it unseen. Eventually we ended up divvying up whatever we
found that was edible and each man was responsible for his
own.”
    The Red Knight noted each of the other two men had
an equally somber expression as they nodded in agreement. He glance
at Kalibra to read her sense of it and to his surprise, found her
seething with anger. “Strange. What is she seeing
that I’m not?” The Knight’s attention returned to the
speaker but the question lingered.
    “The second month we started to make some headway by
shear force of will, that’s when the deaths started to occur. Men I
knew to be as sure footed as a mountain goat became absentminded
enough to misstep and fall to their death. Rock falls were common,
and the large predators we had seen evidence of, showed up
unexpectedly and often.”
    “We lost a third of our expedition in the second
month, it was at that point that a number of men decided to return.
Of the original sixty, twenty-two were dead and another twenty-four
decide to head back to the coast. My fellows and I,” he nodded to
the two men next to him, “were among the small group that pressed
on.”
    As he said ‘pressed on,’ the Red Knight noted the
look the man gave the High Councilor. Apparently before they left,
Deminar impressed upon them that failure was not an option. “A likely death before them and a sure death
behind them.” The Red Knight did not let his amusement show
but turned to Kalibra to see if she recognized the man’s plight.
The only thing the Knight saw in her was anger. Although to anyone
else her mood would not have been easily read.
    “The following weeks,” the man continued, “were a
struggle just to survive. First we lost”
    Kalibra launched from her chair, sword free. The
first of the speaker’s silent companions dropped to his knees while
his head rolled elsewhere. The second man barely had time to move
before Kalibra’s blade deftly slid between his ribs and withdrew,
piercing his heart. The speaker leapt