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Tale of Fireeye Chapter 017 Western Contact

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On the Seventeenth Day of Second Moon, in the Fifth Year after the Fifteenth Raid after the Wall.

    It felt like we didn't sleep long on the mountain, but the sun had risen when I opened my eyes to a world of white.  The snowfall had worsened overnight, and was filling the air like a thick fog, limiting vision to well less than a twenty yards.  Once our shelter had been disassembled, Handar suggested tying ourselves together, lest one fall due to some hazard hidden under the snow that was accumulating on our path.  Being the lightest I was put in the front of the chain, and to my relief much was taken from my pack, in case the others should need to catch me.  Even so, my legs screamed in pain as we began our slow march.  

    I was more aware of our climb that day, counting out the hundred and fifty stairs between landings.  When we had ascended the third flight the stairs were replaced with a level path that passed between a pair of twin peaks.  Slowly, as we walked through the pass, the snow level rose, and when we reached the next rest platform, perhaps three hundred yards later, the snow was higher than my boots.  At this landing a stair descended, though the individual steps were hard to discern under their frozen blanket.  

    It was decided that we would descend more safely on full stomachs, and thankfully as we ate the weather relented.  The land was largely flat before us, and trees seemed scarce.  Far in the distance we could see shapes that suggested man-made structures.  Below us, it appeared the snow thinned, and none could be seen halfway between us and the base of the mountain.  

    Going down the mountain was more tiring than I had imagined, and being able to see the fall that a slip could cause was enough to make me nervous, even though I didn't normally fear heights.  It was nearly dark when we reached the last flight of stairs.  Something strange at the base of the mountain caught my eye, and I stopped the others.  Surely enough, a thin stream of smoke was rising from behind a large boulder.  In my fatigue I could only muster two words.  “Look there.”

    Ellie looked down at the rising smoke with concern.  “We don’t know anything about the people here, and we’re in no shape to walk into an ambush.”  He frowned as he studied our group.  "I should say, we're in no shape to walk out of one."

    The mountain to either side of the stair was barren, and steep enough to make the climb difficult even without its uneven face and covering of loose stones.  I motioned to the right.  “What if we move north of the stair? We might be able to see them from above, and it would be a good vantage point.”

    Wyatt studied at the gravel doubtfully.  “It’s too open.  What if they have archers?”

    Wayne laughed quietly patting his brother on the back.  “We have archers too, and Alexis and I have three of the best shields we could ask for.”  

    Ellie sighed, and looked to Handar as if for an answer.  The smith replied with a nod, and Ellie's movements assumed an air of urgent purpose as he laid down his pack.  “Helmets on.  We’ll move to that position, Wayne and Alexis in back.  Don't brandish any weapons until we've hailed them.  I don’t want to provoke needless bloodshed.”

    I was worried that all the rocks the others kicked loose as we clambered out across the mountain’s face would alert the unknown persons below us, but somehow we managed to take up our formation unnoticed.  I knelt with my bow held near the ground, and to my left Wayne mimicked the posture.  Having the broadest shield, Handar was chosen to center our first line, with Ellie on his right and a grumbling Wyatt on his left.  “I don’t like this.  There could be a hundred archers down there for all we know.”  

    Ellie knelt down, laughing as he lifted up a small stone and tossed it up a couple of times to judge its weight.  “We can see a part of the building they’re in.  If they have a hundred archers, then they are mostly beneath the ground.”  Ellie threw the stone towards the small wooden shed at the base of the mountain.

    I held my breath in anticipation.  While a hundred archers might have been an absurd estimate, I was fully expecting a dozen or more armed men to rush out, raining arrows down on us.  Instead, we were met with silence.  After several minutes, Handar lifted another stone and handed it to Ellie.  “Perhaps they went to sleep early.”  

    Ellie threw another stone.  And then another.  The five of us were showering stones upon the building before a we heard a man yelling below.  I pulled Wayne down, and we readied our bows hidden behind the lifted shields of our defenders.  Two men emerged, tall like Ellie though thinner, clean shaven with short cropped yellow hair and wearing red capes over shirts of chain. One of these yelled up to us in a voice akin to a young man born with a lisp.  “Who goes there, and why do you assault the Imperial Army?”  Excitement filled me.  Here were men of the west.  Surely Ellie’s kin would have gained fame in this land as well, and these would be able to lead us to them.  It seemed then that we would surely be only days away from returning victoriously to the Wall.

    Ellie took a step forward before he replied.  “I am Elric Fireeye, son of Stoutheart Gateholder, and I mean you no harm.  My companions and I have been ambushed once on our journey, and did not wish to repeat the experience.”  

    The caped men conferred with each other for a moment, and then the speaker called up again.  “Come down here, Elric Fireeye, and your group can share the warmth of our fire.  If there is someone I could send a message to, my companion will deliver it.”  

    I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach, and whispered to Ellie.  “This feels like a trap.  What would stop them from summoning a force of men to surround us in their shed?”  

    Ellie turned back to me, then looked to the others.  “Can we all wait for a time to sit by a fire?  I prefer a bit more walking in the cold over the risk of betrayal.”  Not being met with protest he turned back to the strangers.  “That won’t be necessary.   Our business is urgent, and we have not time to rest here, but if you can point us in the right direction we can reward the aid with silver.”  

    The men at the base of the mountain seemed unnerved by the plan, but the mention of silver stifled any protest that was in their hearts.  We used the stairs to finish descending the mountain, and two men were waiting for us at the bottom.  They were young looking, though I wondered if it was being deceived by their beardlessness, together with the fact that they were less muscular than any grown man I had seen before that day.  I supposed that even I, as small as I was, might be a match for one of them in a contest of strength.    It became clear as we approached them that the chain shirts they wore were meant to serve as armor, and each had also solid iron greaves and vambraces held on by leather straps, as well as a short two edged sword at his side.  Fear was painted on their faces, though they tried to conceal it.

    Ellie held out his hand to greet the men, and in an act that bewildered me at the time the first clasped his hand, rather than his wrist.  “Well met.  So, what is this urgent business you are after?”  

    Ellie pumped the man’s hand once with vigor before letting it go.  “We seek three men who came over this mountain twenty winters ago.  One of them is my father.”

    The men looked at one another nervously, unsure of how to reply, and I began to suspect all the more strongly that they could not be trusted.  “You should seek out the Emperor.  He would be able to answer such a thing.  We are mere guardsmen, left to watch an outpost none pass.”  He motioned towards a worn path in the grass.  “If you follow this road, it will turn to brick, and you will surely then soon meet travelers going to and from the capital.  That is your best path to find the answers you seek.”  

    Ellie pulled a silver Raider’s torque from his bags, and handed it to the man, satisfied with his answer.  “Thank you for your help.”  

    It was as we were about to walk away that Handar noticed a large pyre had been prepared close to the hut.  “Fireeye, if they light that fire, it will burn down their hut also.  We should help them move it a safe distance, in reward for their help.”  

    “No!” The guard who had spoken to us shouted out in panic, before trying to calm his voice.  “We will handle that.  Please, do not let us delay you.”

    Handar was beside the stacked wood before they could stop him, and pulled a burning torch from under the bottom.  “Nonsense!  The fire is already burning.  There is no time to spare!”  

    When the others lept forward to help, I grabbed Ellie’s arm for a moment, causing him to stop and turn back, and so he saw when in that instant the guard reached for his sword.  Buckler still mounted to his forearm, Ellie struck at the man’s elbow, a blow that landed with a crack, before swinging upward to strike also the man’s face.  Before his companion could react I had an arrow readied and aimed for the second man’s throat.  Ellie grabbed the injured man by the arm, twisting the broken elbow in such a way that his adversary fell to his knees.  He then called over his shoulder to our companions, who had turned their attention to the fight.  “Stop that fire!”  With his shield hand he caught hold of the man’s cape.  “Now, I want both of you to slowly ungird your swords.  I think we will be staying here for the night, after all.  It seems we have more to discuss than I thought.”


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