Blades of the Banished - Robert Ryan Page 0,10

them carefully, but whether that was because they were searching for intruders, or due to habitual wariness, Lanrik could not be sure.

A few tense moments passed. He was ready to string his bow and shoot if the Azan saw the tracks left by him and Erlissa during the night, but the ground was hard, and if any trail was visible, it would likely be taken as alar marks.

The Azan apparently did not see anything unusual, for they kept riding. Their horses trotted nimbly down the steep trail, and the men only looked at the boulders with cursory interest.

When they had passed, Erlissa spoke. “I wonder if they’re looking for us, or if something else is going on?”

“It’s hard to know,” Lanrik answered. “But this much is good – that was a lot of horses, and whatever tracks we made coming up here will now be harder to find or to follow.”

She pursed her lips. “I suppose so. But I still wonder what those men were doing. They didn’t really look like they were searching. But if not, why travel in such a large and well-armed group?”

“A good question,” he said. “If I had to bet, I’d say that whatever they’re doing doesn’t concern us. But if that’s right, it only makes me wonder all the more where they’re going and what their purpose is.”

They watched for a while longer to ensure that no one else came, or that the first group did not return. But there was no further sign of anybody, nor any other sounding of a talnak horn.

Lanrik put the Azan from his mind and concentrated on the task at hand. They would soon reach the dark tower that Erlissa had seen in her vision, and what then? What subterfuge could he attempt that would distract the elùgroths?

Nothing came to mind as the day wore on. The shade from the boulders lessened, and the air grew stifling hot. The sky, too bright to look at for long, was a washed out blue. Above, he saw eagles circle as they rode the air. From time to time he even heard their calls, high-pitched and shrill.

The eagles were not the only animals though. In the distance he heard the bleating of sheep. It was a familiar sound, even a reassuring one, but he reminded himself that wherever there was livestock there were also people.

They took turns to sleep while the day progressed. It was uncomfortable in the heat, but there was still some shade near the larger boulders, and that was useful.

Night fell swiftly when it came. The stars burned suddenly bright, almost as though someone had turned on a lamp, and though the air cooled quickly, the boulders, warmed by the sun all day, continued to radiate waves of heat.

They saddled their horses and mounted. Carefully, they made their way out of cover and rejoined the trail. If elugs followed them up the mountain, they need not be trackers to do so. There was only one main path, and they were on it. If the elugs stuck to that, they would likely find them.

For that reason, Lanrik knew that he and Erlissa must travel fast. And yet it was hard to travel at speed and still slip through an enemy country unnoticed.

They moved ahead up the trail. If anything, it grew steeper. Boulders and large outcrops of rock became common. To their left, the shoulder of the mountain hulked above them. Immediately to their right, a deep abyss fell away into a valley far below. What was down there, Lanrik could not guess. It was a sea of shadows, but whenever the horses dislodged a rock on the precipice, it tumbled down into the pit for a long time before the noise subsided.

It was a strange land, even more so at night. Enemies could be anywhere, or there could be nothing but endless ridges of rock and dust and dry air. Fumes and foul smells drifted on the ever-changing breeze. And yet, just now, he smelled once more the fragrance of cedar trees. It was a scent that he liked, and it reminded him that no matter how hostile this land seemed to him, it still held at least some beauty.

The narrow trail widened. In the dark he saw the shadowy outline of the trees themselves, and the sweet smell grew suddenly strong. It was not a forest; there seemed no chance of such a thing in the Graèglin Dennath, and yet it was as close to it as