Late in the evening, Cornar is awoken at arm’s length by one of his men. The aged warrior snaps awake, pushing himself up with one hand and the other grasping his serrated dagger. The warrior who had woken his teacher and leader steps back with a grin on his face.
“Grasil,” Cornar grunts and blinks once, looking at the warrior.
“The sun went down about half an hour ago,” Grasil calmly informs Cornar.
Both of Kalda’s moons illuminate the ground, just as Cornar thought. The nearest moon over head is full and shines bright. Cornar takes in a deep breath of cool tropical air before addressing the warrior.
“Wake those on the other side of the path,” Cornar instructs Grasil.
Both men silently move away from Cornar’s bedding. The elder warrior turns eastward and proceeds from tent to tent, waking the inhabitants.
Soon, every member of the expedition is awake and disassembling their camp. Cornar’s men are efficient and swiftly repack their tents and other sleeping gear.
As they prepare to leave, Iltar joins Cornar’s side at the mouth of the pathway, where the warrior is holding a circular compass; it is illuminated by the night lights, and Cornar adjusts the heading to be aligned with the stone path.
While Cornar is plotting their course, Iltar silently stares at the shadowy mountainside.
“Do you see that peak?” Cornar interrupts his reverie, pointing directly in front of him and Iltar. “We want to go just to the left of it.”
Cornar steps in front of the necromancer, noting the heading in a hushed whisper to himself. After a moment the warrior turns around and whistles to the others, gathering the rest of the party together and informing them of their heading.
“Nordal and Shen, I want both of you carving directions in the ground alongside the main group,” Cornar’s tone is firm and commanding. “The rest of you will follow myself and Iltar. We’ll keep with the elven path’s heading. That peak,” he turns and extends his arm toward the same mountain top he showed Iltar, “Will be our other guide. Aron, you are in charge of watching that peak. I believe the exact heading of the path leads just to the left of that mountain top; but we can adjust our course to the left once we get to the foothills of the mountain. And someone mark that pylon.”
With compass in hand, Cornar turns, checking the heading, and then strides forward and commands, “Let’s go!”
As the party moves, Shen and Nordal carve directional arrows in the ground beside the party, their swords starting together at the point and then spreading out.
Throughout the night the group travels quietly. Many of them had been on previous expeditions that required stealthy travel, and crossing this plain did not differ from any of those other occasions.
Several times Cornar stops the group and motions for one of the thieves to scout ahead into the dips and small craters that dot their path to the mountainside. The discoveries are uneventful, though, and the party presses onward to the rising peaks.
After four hours of traveling in the dark, the party reaches the rising foothills of the towering mountains. The two moons of Kalda are still high overhead, and they shed light on the southern face of the mountains.
Amid the moonlight they can see that almost exactly to the left of the peak they had been following is a darkened silhouette of a large cavern. The gaping hole sits just above the foothills, at the base of the steep surface. At this distance, over two grand phineals, the cave looms large.
Iltar moves a little forward ahead of the party and up along the rising ground. Satisfaction and anticipation spread across his face as he thinks, The cave, it’s here! Perhaps it houses a great dragon–
“Iltar!” Cornar calls out in a hushed voice. “We need to wait. Many of us are tired from the trek. Let’s find a place to hide out for the night.”
Standing above his companions, Iltar turns back with hesitation.
“Why not go into that cave?” Tilthan asks. The thief and his compatriots had been kept in the dark, and their ignorance prompted the unanswerable question. “It seems strange that you want to camp out here, Cornar… Surely it will be safer in there than being out in the open.”
“I doubt that,” Cornar responds, turning from the thief to survey the area.
The foothills of the mountains are lined with large gray boulders, big enough to conceal one or two men. Around the foothills the land is devoid of trees or any other large vegetation that could conceal them. A beaten path leads from the cave, with strange markings depressed within it, resembling tracks of an enormous creature.
“These rocks should do,” Cornar suggests to the rest of the expedition, pointing away from the suspicious path.
“Everyone settle in,” Cornar commands. “And try to stay quiet.”