Chapter Thirty–Seven
It was the third day after leaving the prisons at Dun Fee Aran before Jair and the little company from Culhaven reached the towering mountain range they called the Ravenshorn. Unable to use the open roadways than ran close to the banks of the Silver River as it wound south out of the mountains for fear of being seen, they were forced to traverse the deep forests above, picking their way at a slower pace through the tangled wilderness. The rains finally ceased on the second day out, slowed to a drizzle by midmorning, and turned to mist by noon. The air warmed as the skies cleared, and the clouds drifted east. When darkness slipped across the land, the moon and stars became visible through the trees. Their pace was slow, even after the rains had subsided, for the saturated earth could not absorb all of the surface water that had gathered, and the ground was muddied and slick with it. Stopping only for short periods of time to rest and eat, the company did its best to ignore the poor travel conditions and resolutely pressed ahead.
The sun appeared on the third day, brilliant and warm, filtering down in friendly streamers through the forest shadows, returning bits and pieces of color to the sodden land. The dark mass of the Ravenshorn came into view, barren rock rising up above the treeline. All morning they worked their way toward it, then on through the noonday, and by midafternoon they had reached the lower slopes and were starting up.
It was then that Slanter brought them to a halt.
«We have a problem,” he announced matter–of–factly. «If we try to cross through these mountains, it will take us days — weeks, maybe. Only other way in is by following the Silver River upstream to its source at Heaven’s Well. We can do that — if we’re careful — but sooner or later we will have to pass right under Graymark. Walkers will see us coming for sure.»
Foraker frowned. «There must be some way we can slip past them.»
«There isn’t,” Slanter grunted. «I ought to know.»
«Can we follow the river until we’re close to Graymark and then cross into the mountains?» Helt asked, his big frame lowering onto a boulder. «Can we come at it from another direction?»
The Gnome shook his head. «Not from where we are. Graymark sits on a cliff shelf that overlooks the whole of the land about it — the Ravenshorn, the Silver River, everything. Rock is barren and open — no cover at all.» He glanced at Stythys, who sat sullenly to one side. «That’s why the lizards like it there so well. Nothing could ever creep up on them.»
«Then we’ll have to go in at night,” Garet Jax said softly.
Again Slanter shook his head. «Break your neck if you try it. Cliffs are sheer drops all the way in and the paths are narrow and guarded. You’ll never make it.»
There was a long silence. «Well, what do you suggest?» Foraker asked finally.
Slanter shrugged. «I don’t suggest anything. I got you this far; the rest is up to you. Maybe the boy can hide you with his magic again.» He lifted his eyebrows at Jair. «How about, it — can you sing for half the night?»
Jair flushed. «There must be some way to get past the guards, Slanter!»
«Oh; it’s no problem for me.» The Gnome sniffed. «But the rest of you might have some trouble.»
«Helt has the night vision…» Foraker began thoughtfully.
But Garet Jax cut him short, beckoning to Stythys. «What suggestion would you make, Mwellret? This is your home. What would you do?»
Stythys let his lidded eyes narrow. «Findss your own way, little peopless. Sseekss another’ss foolissh aid. Leavess me be!»
Garet Jax studied him a moment, then walked over to him wordlessly, gray eyes so cold that Jair stepped back involuntarily. The Weapons Master’s finger lifted and came to rest on the Mwellret’s cloaked form.
«You seem to be telling me that you are no longer of any use to us,” he said softly.
The Mwellret seemed to shrink back within the robes then, slitted eyes glittering with hate. But he held no power over Garet Jax. The Weapons Master stood where he was, waiting.
Then a low hiss escaped the lizard’s mouth and its forked tongue licked out slowly. «Helpss you if you ssetss me free,” he whispered. «Takess you where no one sseess you.»
There was a long silence as the members of the little company glanced at one another suspiciously. «Don’t trust him,” Slanter said.
«Sstupid little Gnome cannot help you now,” Stythys sneered. «Needss my help, little friendss. Knowss wayss that no other can passs.»
«What ways do you know?» Garet Jax asked, his voice still soft.
But the Mwellret shook his head stubbornly. «Promisse firsst to sset me free, little peopless. Promisse.»
The Weapons Master’s lean face showed nothing of what he was thinking. «If you can get us into Graymark, you go free.»
Slanter’s face wrinkled with disapproval, and he spit into the earth. Standing with the others of the company, Jair waited for Stythys to say something more. But the Mwellret seemed to be thinking.
«You have our promise,” Foraker interjected, a hint of impatience in his voice. «Now tell us what way we must go.»
Stythys grinned, an evil, unpleasant smile that appeared to be almost a grimace. «Takess little peopless through Cavess of Night!»
«Why, you black… !» Slanter exploded in fury and came at the Mwellret in a rush. Helt caught him about the waist as he tried to push past and hauled him back, the Gnome yelling and struggling as if he had gone mad. Stythys’ laughter was a soft hiss as the members of the little company closed about Slanter to keep him back.
«What is it, Gnome?» Garet Jax demanded, one hand fastening about Slanter’s arm. «Do you know of these caves?»
Slanter wrenched himself free of the Weapons Master, though Helt still maintained his grip. «The Caves of Night, Garet Jax!» the Gnome snarled. «Death bins for the mountain Gnomes since the time they fell under the rule of the lizards! Thousands of my people were given over to the Caves, thrown within and lost! Now this… monster would do likewise with us!»
Garet Jax turned quickly back to Stythys. The long knife appeared as if by magic in one hand. «Be careful of your answer this time, Mwellret,” he advised softly.
But Stythys seemed unperturbed. «Liess from little Gnome. Cavess are passsagess into Graymark. Takess you beneath the mountainss, passt the walkerss. No one sseess.»
«Is there truly passage in?» Foraker asked Slanter.
The Gnome went suddenly still, rigid in Helt’s firm grip. «Doesn’t matter if there is. The Caves are no place for the living. Miles of tunnels cut within the Ravenshorn, black as any pit and filled with Procks! Have you heard of Procks? They are living things, formed of magic older than the lands — magic from the old world, it’s said. Living mouths of rock, all through the Caves. Everywhere you walk, the Procks are there in the cavern floor. One wrong step and they open, swallowing–you up, closing about you, crushing you into…» He was shaking with fury. «That was the way the lizards disposed of the mountain Gnomes — pushed them into the Caves!»
«But the Caves do offer a passage through.» Garet Jax turned Foraker’s question into a statement of fact.
«A passage useless to us!» Slanter exploded once more. «We can’t see to find our way! A dozen steps in and the Procks would have us!»
«Havess not me!» Stythys cut him short with a hiss. «Mine iss the ssecret of the Cavess of Night! Little peopless cannot passs, but my peopless know the way. Prockss cannot harm uss!»
They were all still then. Garet Jax stalked back to stand before the Mwellret. «The Caves of Night run to Graymark beneath the Ravenshorn — safe from the eyes of the walkers? And you can lead us through?»