"You guys really need to cool down," Namitus said to Garrick and Mordrim when he joined them on his borrowed steed.
Kar scowled at the joke and spurred his horse to ride past them.
"Up here!" Patrina called back, her voice echoing off the steep walls that rose on either side of them.
When they joined her, they found her dismounted and standing near a large rift in the rock wall. The opening was shallow, going back no more than half a dozen feet, but it was large enough to fit three of their horses in.
"Not much of a cave," Tristam observed. "Which is fine by me
. I'm in no rush to find myself in another one already."
"It's not a cave, it's a sentry post," Patrina said. She pointed out a large stump that sat near the entrance, as well as a large skin of water that was frozen to the ground. Bones of small animals were tossed on the floor near the entrance.
"Sentry post for what?" Namitus asked.
Tristam was already looking up and down the path. He pointed
farther in and said, "Unless I miss my guess, there are some huts up there. A village, maybe?"
They walked their horses ahead, Garrick and Tristam taking the lead with their weapons in hand. It didn't take long to come to a clearing where six primitive huts were built. They were made of rocks, sticks, and the hides of large animals that were crudely stitched together. More important to them than the huts were the occupants. At the edge of the clearing
, a partially eaten and completely frozen body of an ogre lay on the ground. Other snow-covered ogre-sized lumps lay in the small village ahead of them.
"They've been killed," Namitus said after inspecting the gnawed
-on body closest to them.
Tristam snorted. "Ya think?"
Namitus stood up and pointed at Karthor. "He's the healer! Ask him."
Karthor glanced down at the corpse and shrugged. "The body's been eaten too much to know anything."
"Why's this one over here?" Tristam asked. He turned and looked at the village. "And where are they over there?"
Patrina and Garrick walked into the village and looked around. The fires were cold and the bodies frozen. Many had been chewed on by whatever animals found them first.
"What kills a village of ogres and just walks away?" Mordrim muttered. "No other dwarfs in these mountains anymore."
Garrick snickered. "Good thing
—the ogres would have still been here to greet us!"
Mordrim scowled at the barbarian.
"A sword did this." Patrina rose up from the ogre she'd just been studying. "I'm not sure what kind, but it was a blade that could sever limbs and still stab deep into their bodies."
Karthor studied the corpse at her feet and nodded. "Too narrow for a broadsword."
Patrina nodded and turned to stare at the path to the north that led out of the village. "Make sense. Alto gave my father his broadsword. He wields a long sword now."
"You think Alto did this?" Garrick blurted out. "He's a decent fighter but this many ogres? Come on!"
"Don't underestimate him!" Patrina hissed. "And besides, there are more huts than there are ogres here."
Tristam frowned as he studied where the bodies lay. He nodded after a moment. "I see how it could be done. The boy would have attacked them and kept moving. If he never gave them a chance at his back
, he could do it. There's enough room between the bodies he would have been okay. Not sure how he could cut through them that quickly, though."
"Beck's sword," Patrina muttered. She shook her head. "He took it from him after he killed him. Beck had boasted of it being a magical blade."
"Depending on how magical it is could spell trouble for the lad," Kar offered.
"What? Why?" Patrina spun to look at the wizard. "Kevard's Blade was a powerful magic, you said so yourself!"
Kar nodded. "I did say that. I meant it, too. But it may have been a different sort of magic."
Patrina's brows furrowed in confusion.
"There's different types of magic and even among those schools of sorcery, there are flavors that reflect everything from the invoker to the source of ethereal energies."
"The what?" Patrina asked.
Kar smiled. "It's complicated."
"It doesn't need to be," Karthor said, drawing a stern look from his father. "For wizards, sure, but for everyone else it can be put in common terms."
Kar snorted. "Oh really? And what would those common terms be, wise and learned priest?"
"What he's trying to tell you is that Beck was an evil man. His sword, therefore, was probably created by men with similar lack of morals. It would stand to reason that the magic has an evil taint to it."
Kar scowled at his son's overly simple explanation. "There's more than that layman's concept. The more a magical weapon is used for a task, the more intent it will pick up. The will of the wielder and the intent of its use will add to the taint my son speaks of."
"So Alto will bring a goodness to the sword," Patrina asserted.
Karthor and Kar looked at each other. "Um, perhaps," Karthor said.
Kar snorted. "Don't kid her, boy. The sword has years of spilling innocent blood. Over time, perhaps, but until that time and with the mood I saw Alto in, I fear more harm will
be done than good."
Karthor gestured around at the slaughtered ogres. "He butchered a village of ogres. True, ogres and savage and brutal people and this was a small group of them, but still, the ogres lay dead and there's no proof of Alto being wounded."
"He's wearing dwarven mail!" Mordrim piped up. "Saw it myself on him! Take more than an ogre to cleave that steel!"
"He came that way, probably when the ogres were sleeping
." Tristam pointed to the north. "I'd wager we find another dead sentry that way. He came through and killed them and alerted the guard that was in that cave. He came running and Alto met him and then killed him."
"So where is he now?" Patrina asked after she followed the steps of the battle Tristam described. "And why is he doing this? He must know he can't kill enough on his own to make a difference. Sooner or later they'll find him!"
"Maybe he's counting on that?" Kar reasoned. "Maybe he wants them to find him and take him back so he can meet Sarya."
"He's not that stupid!" Patrina snapped.
"Maybe he's just trying to find their main force?" Garrick offered. "This wasn't it but he didn't dare leave them behind him?"
"So instead he kills them and leaves a sign of his passage?" Namitus shook his head in disagreement.
"Namitus's right, there's no sense to it."
"There's a plan," Patrina muttered while studying the destroyed huts and fallen ogres. She narrowed her eyes and hurried over to a dead ogre. She kicked it until it broke free of the ground enough that she could confirm what she'd seen. "Here's one of his arrows," she said while pointing to it.
"We could be hours or days away from him," Karthor said. "I'd say at least a day based on these guys being partially eaten before they froze solid."
"Then we're wasting time," Patrina said. She walked over to Winter and swung up onto his back. "Come, let's go! We've much time to make up if we're going to stop him from doing something very stupid."
Chapter 10
Alto looked up as the chief of the goblin tribe fell dead at his feet. The other goblins, those not already dead or dying, turned and fled. Alto rushed after them, catching a few and adding them to the pile of corpses in the room. The rest managed to get past him and streak back through the tunnels of their small subterranean home.
In moments
, the cave was silent save for the crackling fire that made the room stink of smoke. Alto crouched low beneath the smoke and stared around. He was looking for movement or another tunnel that he had yet to explore.
The light dimmed on his shield and went out, prompting him to stand and summon the light again. He moved through the tunnels back to the surface, pausing to shine his light down each one and make sure he hadn't missed anything.
His eyes passed over the bloody bodies without pausing. They were evil creatures that the world was better off without. Even more so, for him they were a tool to an end.
"Where are you, Thork?" Alto growled as he neared the entrance to the small group of caves. He'd killed countless goblins, at least five camps
’ worth, and even destroyed two small villages of ogres. He'd yet to find a gathering of trolls but he knew it was only a matter of time. Then there were the mercenaries who served Sarya. They were still in the mountains somewhere.
Each village or camp Alto discovered
, he attacked and destroyed. The inhabitants fought at first, but now more and more of them were running when they saw him. His plan to strike fear into them was working, but not well enough. Thork hadn't arrived yet and Alto was getting angry. He'd been hunting in the mountains for weeks. Every day he made no progress on finding and killing Sarya was a day where her forces grew stronger and the dragon would be that much harder to reach.
Alto emerged from the cave to stand in the bright afternoon sunlight. A cold breeze whipped through the mountain pass but he failed to notice it. Instead
, he focused on the man who was standing next to two goblins. Both of the goblins were pointing at Alto and jabbering in their language.
"What's this? Where's the rest of your army?" The man wore a dark cloak with a hood to protect his face.
Alto tightened his grip on his sword and felt it throb in response. There was more blood to spill. "There's no army, just me," Alto said as he started down the mountainside to the wide part where the man stood with the goblins.
"I've seen three villages of goblins slaughtered and heard of an ogre tribe. You didn't do that by yourself," the man accused.
"Who are you?" Alto demanded.
"I think not. Put that sword away and come with me. I work for people who'd be willing to pay for a man with your skills."
"Where?" Alto came to a stop on the path with only a few strides separating them.
The man frowned and pushed his cloak back so he could rest his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Let's try this again. Who are you and where are the others?"
"I'm Alto."
Alto couldn't see the man's eyes beneath his hood but he did hear the muttered curse over the wind. The cloaked man drew his sword. "
Heard about you," he said while the goblins cried out and ran down the path away from them. "Heard you killed one of them knights and his lackeys."
"I'm not done killing
, either," Alto said as he stepped forward. He fought past the twinge in his leg from an ogre's club to his thigh.
"Don't do something you'll regret. A lot of people are paying good money for you. Put that sword away and I'll split the bounty with you."
Alto snarled, "I'll be dead. What good will it do me?"
The man pulled his hood back with his free hand to reveal dark curly hair and a matching beard. He shrugged. "They didn't say they was going to kill you."
"They killed everyone else," Alto growled as he leapt forward with his left leg. His right leg absorbed the landing but pain shot up it from where he'd been hurt. He smashed his sword into the cloaked man's, forcing him to back up a step.
Alto's opponent recovered
more quickly than he expected. He rolled his sword around Alto's and lunged forward, stabbing through the furs Alto wore but stopping when it hit his dwarven mail. The man grunted in surprise and then had his sword knocked aside by Alto's. He started to back away but Alto lunged forward again and slammed his glowing shield into his attacker's face.
Alto cursed when the
man fell back and slid off the edge of the path. He rolled down the hill to land on a rock, crying out in pain as he hit and then lay still. Alto stared at him, wondering if he'd killed him that easily. The man groaned and started to pick himself up, and then cried out when he tried to push off of one arm.
Alto smiled and picked his way down the side of the hill, taking care not to slide on the snow
-covered rocks. The wounded man managed to twist himself around and pull a knife from his boot. The foot on his other leg was twisted off to the side, a casualty of his fall.
"Mercy!"
the man cried out when Alto towered over him with sword and shield in hand. Each word sprayed blood from his split lips and broken nose. "I have money. It's yours if you spare me."
Alto looked around the extreme landscape surrounding them. "You want mercy here? A mountain lion or a bear would make a meal out of you if you're not killed for sport by an ogre or pack of wolves."
"That cave you came out of, it can provide shelter. I can rest there; just help me up there and take what you want," the man pleaded. He tossed his dagger away, proving that he meant no further threat.
"These men
who want me, who are they?"
He shook his head, earning a scowl from Alto. The warrior lowered his sword and took a step closer to bring it
next to the wounded man's leg.