CHAPTER FIVE
THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS
As dawn turned the sky above the trees first grey, then glaringly pink, the traveling company was ready to depart. They were grouped as Mercius and Jax had decided; the strongest of the women paired with the weakest, each group containing one man, with the children distributed evenly amongst them. The men were only a dozen in number, and half were extremely old, but took pride in their duty all the same, and swore, one and all, that they would give their lives defending the travelers. Jax led the way, with Sophia by his side, and Mercius brought up the rear.
It didn’t take long, once they had begun the new leg of their journey, for them to come to denser forest that began slanting upwards toward the mountain slopes. There descended a quiet on the group as they weaved their way between trees and around fallen branches; their anxiety was palpable. Although they now had a new goal for which to strive, they were tense and expectant of the worst. Through the remainder of the day, however, they passed through the forest without incident.
As the sun sank behind them, nearing twilight, Jax ordered a halt, and he quickly began ordering a serviceable camp. There wasn’t much food to be had, and no fires, but the travelers, wearied by their ordeal, talked amiably until they fell into a restful sleep. Jax and Mercius had no rest, but patrolled the camp in attentive silence.
Before dawn, the meager camp was broken and the traveling company was again on the move. The morning air was brisk and refreshing, and they made good time; by mid-day the undergrowth had all but disappeared, and the terrain began slanting violently upwards before them. The trees remained thick around them, and the towering canopy gave them a sense of safety from the threat of the air. Mercius, meanwhile, took it upon himself to be the rearward scout. He knew that if an attack came on the villagers by land, they would have little warning; the demons of Asgoroth were fast and silent when on the hunt. He, therefore, took many sprinting trips back in the direction they had come, and off to either side. Deep in his heart he feared that the company would not survive another attack, no matter how lucky they were or how hard they fought. They were weakened in spirit now, even if they didn’t allow it to show. Thus, he traveled at least three times as far as any of the others, in the small hope of giving ample warning for them to hide and survive. Jax, he knew, was doing the same at the front of the pack, scouting forward and to either side to avoid ambush, leaving Sophia to lead.
The entire day was spent without an attack, and the travelers halted in the evening, footsore and exhausted, falling almost immediately into sleep on the hard, rocky ground. During the night, Jax and Mercius slept in shifts, relieving each other of the watch duty. Mercius' heart nearly soared when he realized that Jax trusted him far enough for this task. He performed it with attentiveness and alacrity. The only sounds he heard in the thick silence of the night were the normal noises of the forest. They were strange to his ears, but had a sound to them that was, simply put, natural. He had spent his years hearing the tortured screaming of humans and the slobbering snarls of demons. He was accustomed to them, but, comparatively, the sounds of the forest were glorious in their innocence.
Jax strolled up to his side an hour before dawn, and Mercius jumped; the man was absolutely silent, which was no small feat for a man of his size. “Come with me,” he said in a gruff whisper.
Mercius, fearing that this was some sort of test to see if he would abandon the watch, was hesitant and said, “Why? Where are we going?”
Jax grinned at him in the darkness, the moonlight gleaming off his teeth giving him a wolfish look; he understood Mercius' hesitation. “I have two lads, Darius and Peter, circling the camp so we can slip away. And they know that failing me is not in their best interest. We go to hunt.” With that he slipped into the darkness, as silently as he had come. Mercius followed, but not before he saw with his keen eyesight a young man stealthily pacing the outskirts of the sleeping travelers. His doubt quelled, he followed after Jax, catching him up quickly in several long, silent strides.
He followed Jax through the trees, two silent shadows in an all but silent night. Abruptly, the man in front of him came to a dead halt. Mercius stepped up to his side and cast a quick glance in his direction. His eyes were squinted into the moonlit darkness, and he sniffed the air searchingly. Mercius cast his gaze around the forest, searching for whatever prey it was they sought. Finally, after he could subdue his curiosity no more, he said in a whisper barely louder than silence, “What are we hunting?”
Jax answered him without turning his head: “I saw bear tracks while I was on watch. He is near; I can smell him. Big too, so be wary.” Slowly, so as not to make any sudden movements or rustles of clothing, he handed Mercius the long spear that he held. It ended in a foot of polished steel that reflected the moonlight dully. With the same careful movements, he unslung the long bow from his back and fitted an arrow to it, pulling it back just enough to have slight pressure on the string. “I think the thing is just rising for the day, in those bushes straight ahead. I will come around to the rear, and attack it. I will put as many arrows into it as I can, but it'll move quickly, and I can't kill it with one shot. Make your stand over there, between the two trees that slant away from each other.” He glanced at Mercius to be sure he saw the spot, and they shared a quick nod. “When he approaches, do what you can with the spear, but do not sacrifice your life. I will be in pursuit, and will do what I can when that time comes. If you hear his roar, and see no bear, come to me, for it'll be coming for vengeance on me. Remember, be wary and be quick. We only have one chance.” With that, he crept off into the darkness without a sound.
Mercius, equally silent, moved to his appointed position. There he waited for what seemed like hours, but couldn’t have been so long for there was still no evidence of light in the sky. Finally, he heard the night-muffled twang of a bowstring, followed immediately by a whimpering roar that rent the night. Jax had wounded it, but how badly, Mercius couldn’t tell. The stand of bushes in front of him was suddenly shaken and torn as the silhouetted beast plowed through them, headed directly for Mercius. It was enormous. It was as high at the shoulder as Mercius' head, and its massive paws seemed to shake the very earth. Mercius, being born and bred to cast aside fear and panic, stood his ground. The bear, bellowing, thundered on, unaware as of yet that there was another hunter in the woods, and his escape was not already at hand.
When the thing was still several strides away, it gave another whining roar and one of its hind legs collapsed. Jax had scored another hit, and slowed the thing down. As the bear turned to give a hate-filled bellow at the thing that had just wounded him further, Mercius took his chance and charged. Just as the thing swung its head back in the direction of its escape route, Mercius rammed his spear into its neck. It wasn’t a killing blow, but the thing thrashed his head violently and gave no more howling roars. Mercius, having been just quick enough to dislodge the steel of his spear, gripped the thing and, with all his weight behind the blow, thrust the tip deep into the bear’s chest. This time, the giant creature went down, and lay there rolling from one side to the other. Mercius stared at the thing bleeding and panting hoarsely on the forest floor. He had no pity, but wanted the thing to stop rolling, so he slammed his spear into the bear’s head, feeling the bone of its skull crushing.
Still staring at the fallen creature, Mercius felt a hand on his shoulder, and said, “What does bear meat taste like?”
Jax laughed uproariously and slammed his hand against Mercius' back. “Better than you can imagine, my boy,” he said, still laughing with abandon. “That was a fine kill, Mercius. Most people won’t stand in the path of a charging bear, but you were solid as a rock. Does anything scare you?” He was still chuckling, but Mercius got the sense that he was asking an honest question.
Not knowing how to respond, Mercius said dumbly, “I’m not sure yet.” This, for reasons unknown to Mercius, sent Jax into
more bellowing laughter. As he was laughing, Mercius caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned, spear raised, only to see a pair of women from the camp approaching nervously. Jax, oblivious to their presence and still whooping and guffawing, had sat on the ground. The women continued to look apprehensively at him, apparently wondering if he had lost his wits in the night. Mercius got their attention and bade them closer. They came, with wry crooked smiles on their faces, still glancing at the laughing giant seated on the ground. When Jax finally became aware of them, he quickly stifled his hilarity, only now and then letting out a renegade chuckle, wiped his eyes, and rose to his feet. When they looked questioningly between him and the bear, Jax said:
“Mercius has provided us with food. Go tell Lady Sophia of this, and that I request her to move all the people here with all haste. We will spend today doing what we must with the kill, and journey onward tomorrow with full stomachs. You can find your way back?” he asked, and waited only until they nodded. “Good. Remember, with all haste. There are still enemies out there, and we should not be separated from each other. Go now, and be quick!”
The ladies retreated in the direction from which they had come, both of them simultaneously casting quick glances over their shoulders at Mercius.
“Well,” Jax said to Mercius once they were gone. “Time to get down to business. Can you skin a bear, boy?” Mercius shook his head. “Very well. Watch closely.” With that, he pulled a long knife from his belt and began slicing into the carcass. Mercius watched intently.
Just as Jax was finishing the carving process, the villagers began to arrive in the clearing. Sophia approached the pair, then quickly left and began giving instructions for setting up a camp. It was to be temporary; they would stay just for a day and a night, and set off into the mountains with provisions for the arduous journey. Several fires were started throughout the small clearing, and soon the smell of bear meat cooking filled the air. It smelled glorious to Mercius, and he felt his mouth begin to water. The hide was stretched between two trees in order to have the fat scraped. The bones of the animal were to be put to various uses, and were boiled in the pots remaining in the villagers’ possession.
By midday, the majority of the work had been completed, and everyone settled down to an unexpected feast. Without the spices they were used to, the meat was slightly bland, but juicy and tender nonetheless, and all enjoyed it thoroughly. When night fell, at Mercius' urgings, the fires were doused and the guard was set. Sleep came readily to all who were allowed it, as their bellies were full and their minds momentarily at rest.
They were on the move again at dawn the following day. Mercius had refused to rest, fearing throughout the night that the fires and smoke had alerted Asgoroth to their location, and that they would have to fight or flee during the night. The coming of the sun did little to assuage his fears: Asgoroth knew where they were and where they were going. If he decided to attack, there would be little warning and even less hope. Nevertheless, he carried on, forcing himself to have hope.
The traveling company threaded their way into the foothills of the snow-covered mountains as the trees became fewer and the air took on a brisk chill. Each person was now carrying their share of the provisions provided by the slaughtered bear. Mercius noticed the great difference that food and a good night’s sleep had on the people: they still had the haunted look of apprehension on their faces, but they smiled more and had a new bounce in their step.
A two day march brought them to the point of no return. They had stopped infrequently and only briefly, walking well into the cold night and starting off again hours before dawn. Now they were stopped directly under a cleft in the mountains that Jax had guided them to. A quick meeting took place among the more prominent members of the small society, in which it was decided that no other course of action had been contrived, so they would carry on their chosen path through the treacherous mountains. There was snow on the ground as they snacked on dried meat and spring water, but not enough to impede progress. Ahead, however, the hills jutted up into the first serious climb of their trek, and they could see the dry patches of ground becoming less apparent as it ascended.
After all were fed, they began the ascent. It was relatively easy going at first, but the steep climb quickly turned their march into a grueling crawl. By the time they reached the highlands, the snow was nearly waist-deep on Mercius, and exhaustion came on quickly and without remorse. All of the able adults were obliged to carry at least one child. Mercius had one clinging to his back and another to his front as he trod through the snow at the rear of the pack. When, at long last and after numerous breaks, they stopped for the night, nearly everyone fell to the frozen ground with a communal exhalation of breath. By this time, the sun was already descending into the forest below them.
Jax and Mercius decided, after a quick discussion with Sophia, that it would be impossible to make the rest of their ascent before nightfall, and Jax didn’t like the idea of being caught halfway up the mountain in the middle of the night.
The travelers marched down into a shallow cleft that was out of the freezing wind and found a small hollow in the lee of the next slope in which to camp. Everyone wanted a fire, but Jax, much to Mercius' approval and relief, told them that a fire was far too dangerous on the relatively open expanse of snow.
Night fell. It came quickly, and with it came a bone chilling cold that was trying for all. They huddled as closely together as possible but none found comfort. They were nearly all robbed of sleep, but not only due to the cold. During the fourth hour of darkness, there came a terrible howling. It was blood-curdling in its wickedness, yet had a note of the deepest sorrow. When it started, it got the attention of everyone present in the hollow but, slowly, it turned into a nightmarish noise as it was joined by countless other voices, all adding their sorrow and evil to the first, until the sound from the mountains was a cacophonous chorus of evil, fear and despair.
Mercius approached Jax in the deepest part of the night and said, “Do you know what they are?”
“I was hoping you would have some insight,” Jax replied. “I heard them on my first journey through here, but not nearly as many, and not as intense, as I was here for a very short time. I suspect they are demons of some sort, but that is just an assumption.”
Mercius pondered this awhile then said, “They have the sound of demons. But I cannot understand it. It’s as if they are trying to speak, but have forgotten how. At times I can almost hear words in what they howl, but they are gone before I can grasp them.” Jax just looked at him, expressionless. After thinking some more, Mercius said, with furrowed brow, “I am sure that they're demons. And I believe that they have either invented a new form of language, either more primitive or much more sophisticated, or that they have been so long in isolation that they have forgotten how to speak. Whatever the case is, however, they will not be friendly to us, that is certain.”
Jax nodded his head and said, “Indeed. They sound as if they are friends to no one. Tomorrow will be difficult and we must make as much ground as we possibly can. I would like to crest the summit and be at least halfway down by the end of the march tomorrow. Once we are well out of the mountains it's only half a day to the city.”
Jax was right: the day was difficult, and it started out with sorrow: one of the women of the traveling company had succumbed to the cold in the night and died with a look of terrified pain on her face. Jax allowed no time for burial, so they left her as she was in the snow and began the arduous journey to the summit of the mountain.
Halfway up the slope one of the few remaining men in the group gave into the exhaustion that plagued them all and fell face-first into the snow, never to rise again. The spirits of the travelers became their enemy almost as much as the elements themselves. They were despairing of ever seeing the other side of the mountain, and their feet became steadily heavier.
Finally, a
midst swirling snow flurries kicked up by the gusting and blinding winds, they reached the summit of the mountain. It might have been a breathtaking view of hundreds of miles around, but they were shrouded in a hanging cloud that turned the world grey and limited their view to barely fifty yards. They rested for a short time, then carried on, invigorated somewhat by the fact that they were now on the downward slope. Jax’s goal, however, was not to be reached. They were still hours away from the halfway point of their descent when a thick cloud began to billow over the summit of the mountain as if it were chasing after them. They had just enough time to find a suitable sheltering place before searing, frozen winds whipped the blizzard of an intense snowstorm into their faces.
After several hours of huddling together and trying to keep the cold out of their bones, word began to go around the miserable camp that they had lost two more to the elements. This time, it was a mother and her young daughter. They were frozen together, and no one had the energy to even move them away from the rest. They lay where they had died, and the melancholy again swept over them all.
It seemed as if the snowstorm lasted for weeks, but when it finally blew over and the sun began peeking through, they could see that it was just beginning to rise, trying feebly to cast its light upon them. They were still shrouded in the grey aftermath of the storm when a panicked scream went out, bringing Jax and Mercius running to its source. They looked around frantically, weapons in hand, but could see no threat.
“What is it woman?” Jax said gruffly to the woman who had broken the silence of the camp.
“The bodies. Emily and Magpie. They’re gone!” She broke into soft sobs as Mercius and Jax began searching the area. The bodies were indeed gone, and now there was a palpable strain of fear running through the sadness of the company.
In a soft voice, Mercius asked Jax, “What do we do?”
“Nothing,” the man said. “We carry on and get out of these forsaken mountains as quickly as possible.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when a sound filled the air that they had all been fearing; a keening howl of wickedness and despair. Now, however, it was no distant echo; it was coming from all around them, and very near. Without warning, three large beasts leaped from the grey haze surrounding the villagers. They were clad all over in coarse tattered white hair, with beady red eyes peeking through. Their lipless mouths were open and snarling and howling, revealing inches-long fangs that were stained yellow and red and black. They had powerful limbs tipped only with hooked claws, and spiky rows of horns along their spines and legs. Mercius and Jax immediately rushed to join the ice-demons. They were quick, however, and in their element. As Mercius engaged the first, the other two evaded Jax by leaping high over his head, into the huddled mass of villagers. Those who had weapons began slashing wildly, to little avail. Mercius found his opponent to be a whirlwind the like of which he had never encountered. It lashed out with its terribly long, powerful arms, and Mercius was staining the snow beneath him red from his own wounds before he even had a chance to land a blow. Finally, after gaining many more gashes on his face and arms, Mercius was given an unlooked for opportunity. He heard a man behind him uttering his last shriek of pain, and the subsequent sound of him being torn apart amidst snarls and wicked wailing. The foe before him glanced over Mercius' shoulder with a look of longing in its bloody eyes. Mercius didn’t hesitate, but landed blow after blow upon the thing before it could recover. It was a dead, lifeless hump of hair and claws after the second blow, but Illuricht needed blood, and hacked away for several more moments. When he finally turned, what he saw was chaotic at best.
The villagers were no longer huddling together, so terrified they were. They were scattering, those with weapons the only ones remaining to face the two remaining demons. Jax was busy with one, trying desperately to at least wound it with the two curved blades he wielded. Mercius, now with Illuricht a living thing in his hand, leapt into the fray. His mind was on the one demon that Jax was not able to deal with, but with a grim smile he sliced his blade of death across the back of the legs of Jax’s foe as he ran past the pair, hopefully giving Jax the advantage and allowing him to end the thing. The second beast was not nearly as trying as the first; his blade had tasted blood, and wanted more. It was over nearly as soon as it began. Mercius quickly got close enough to the thing to sever one of its clawed arms before taking a leg, then cleaving its torso vertically, then, finally, severing its head and slamming the tip of his blade through it as it landed on the snow.
Jax, meanwhile, had gained just enough advantage from Mercius' passing stroke to kill the beast. It still writhed futilely in the bloody snow, unwilling to admit that it was dead.
As the blood thirst slowly drained from Mercius, he sheathed Illuricht and looked around at the chaos that the three demons had inflicted. Sophia was trying to gather the people just slightly further down the slope, but there were many dead and fatally wounded lying in the snow. It was a ghastly sight; limbs and heads of the murdered humans were strewn everywhere, and the snow had turned to a red slush with blood and shit and viscera. Mercius looked at Jax and saw him gazing at the fallen with deep sorrow etched on his features. His blades he still held, dripping black demon’s blood onto the churned snow at his feet. After several moments of his apparently deep and brooding reverie over the slain, he wiped the curved blades on the demon at his feet, spat on the corpse, and walked to Mercius. Mercius didn’t say anything, fearing he would say the wrong thing for he was not used to grief or how to deal with it. Instead, he gave Jax a questioning look.
“We should join the others,” Jax said. His voice was uncharacteristically raspy and monotone, and Mercius got the impression that he was fighting back tears, and so averted his gaze quickly.
“What of the wounded?” he said to the snow at his feet. There were still several people moaning and squirming on the ground, but they were all very obviously beyond any help that anyone could give them; they were simply waiting to die in agony.
“These cannot be helped,” Jax said, resolution creeping back into his voice. “I will ease their pain as much as possible, but we must be quick. I do not wish for any more trouble in these hills.” With that, he strode to the nearest person. It was an old man, one who had stood with a spear in his hand and faced the oncoming monsters. His left arm was clawed so badly that it was nearly unidentifiable as a limb; it hung in tatters of flesh and muscle, with white shards of bone sticking incongruously through the carnage. His belly had been sliced open, and he was vainly trying to shove his entrails back into his body with his good hand. The snow was saturated for yards around with his blood. Jax walked to his side and, entirely unconcerned with the foulness of the boy’s open wounds, grasped his hand and whispered something to him. Whatever it was, Mercius would never know, but it seemed to put the young man at ease: his muscles relaxed slightly and he laid his head comfortably in the snow. Still holding the man's hand, Jax pulled his large belt knife and pulled it smoothly across his throat. Without a gurgle or a whimper, his final life-blood poured from the wound. Jax gave his lifeless hand a final squeeze before moving on to the others. He performed much the same task with the remaining two wounded. It was done quickly, but with reverence and solemnity.
When he was finished, Jax approached Mercius and bade him follow. With a last look over his shoulder at the fallen humans and the slain demons, Mercius followed to where the others were waiting.
The miserable company was now just short of four dozen in number, and they were a sorrowful bunch. Most of the children had survived, but nearly all of them were now orphans, and they comprised nearly two-thirds of the entire party.
They had marched all day and well into the night, wearily but steadily. The fear of another attack from behind was enough to overcome the heaviness of their hearts at losing so many in the mountains. The warning that Jax had given them that the journey would be difficult for al
l and impossible for some now held new potency, and they all wondered why they had not listened more closely to his advice. They had all been so eager to pounce on the suggestion, as it was the only one available to them, that they had nearly entirely disregarded the danger that it entailed. Now they knew. The misery they felt, however, was nothing compared to the fear that the demons had inspired in them. They all frequently cast harried glances over their shoulders, fearing pursuit and annihilation.
The company reached a small clearing that was ideal for a camp. Jax gave the order to halt, after conferring shortly with Sophia, although he was obviously worried about stopping. Neither he nor Mercius slept at all that night; instead they walked the perimeter of the camp, with the two stout young men who had helped patrol the camp in the forest, Darius and Peter. The night filled them with a sense of dread that they could not shake, but it turned out to be for naught, because the sun rose slowly without any incident during the darkness. They broke camp immediately and trekked the remaining distance to the city.