“Did you think I had abandoned you?” Bellimar inquired.
“It had crossed my mind,” Amric said.
“I understand how it appeared,” Bellimar said. “I assure you, however, that I did not depart until the conflict was decided.”
“Well and good if true, but why did you depart at all?”
“The battle was over and Halthak was offering to see to your wounds,” Bellimar said in a soothing tone. “I could not help much in that endeavor, so I set about making myself useful in a different way. I sought a more secure site for us to camp the night, higher in the crag and away from subsequent predators. I departed in haste, hoping to find such a site quickly, before the sounds of the battle drew anything else to us.”
“And yet you return instead at the break of dawn, while we spent the night on the ground.”
Bellimar nodded, seeming oblivious to the barbed nature of Amric’s comments. “Unfortunately, every location I found involved strenuous climbing, which I doubted you and Valkarr could manage in your weakened condition, and which would have meant abandoning the mounts. So instead I assumed a perch well above you, and kept watch from this higher vantage point. I had an unobstructed view of the surrounding area and any approach to this crevice. I regret that I could not shout down to inform you of my whereabouts, for fear of attracting unwanted attention, but I would of course have done so to warn of any approaching threats.”
“It all sounds reasonable, if a bit too carefully crafted,” Amric said. “And it does not explain why you could not share a word of your plan with Halthak before you left, or how you were able to descend undetected into our midst just now. I have been lying awake for more than an hour, listening to the healer’s intermittent snoring, and I was only aware of your presence moments before Halthak discovered you.”
Halthak’s face burned at Amric’s words. He had not realized the man was awake, had never seen him move nor heard his breathing change. Bellimar opened his mouth, but Amric held up a hand to forestall the reply.
“Nay,” he said. “I do not doubt that you can supply a ready explanation. Keep your secrets, old man. I already know there is more to you than meets the eye. I respect and even like you, Bellimar, and your aid has been invaluable thus far, but I want you to understand two things.”
The swordsman stepped close, pinning Bellimar with a stare. “First, if I judge for a moment that you have goals running contrary to our own, I will not hesitate to take necessary measures. Is that understood?”
The old man tilted his head, searching the warrior’s expression for a long moment before giving a grave nod. “Understood. And the second?”
“In the future,” the warrior said, his words ringing like cold iron, “if you feel the need to depart in the midst of a crisis without a word to anyone, stay gone.”
Bellimar inclined his head again. “Understood on that point as well.”
“And you, healer,” Amric said, rounding with a scowl on Halthak, who flinched back from him. “You misled me, and broke our agreement by lulling me to sleep.”
The Half-Ork, emboldened by Amric’s words being more scolding than angry, folded his arms across his chest and thrust out his lower jaw as he faced the other man.
“You needed the rest to recuperate from your injuries,” he said in what he hoped was a tone that brooked no argument. “I said I would only do as much as I thought you required, and I did just that. It is the physician’s prerogative to ignore the demands of a delirious patient.”
Amric glowered at him for a few more moments, before the hint of a grin cracked through. “So it is, healer, so it is. And we would be in dire straits indeed without your expert ministrations.” His voice regained its stern edge. “Still, you put us all at risk, and such dishonesty does not fit you well. If we are so unfortunate as to repeat those circumstances, sway me with words rather than deception. Promise me that?”
Halthak exhaled in relief, and nodded. “I would have woken you both had anything threatened.”
“Or we you,” Amric said with a snort that sounded suspiciously like a mock snore, but a private wink took the sting from his words. Valkarr gave a soft, sibilant laugh and turned away, striding to the entrance of the cleft. He stood silhouetted there, surveying the hillside.
Still seated upon his rock, Bellimar said, “There is something else I must mention.”
The old man’s half-smile returned as they all turned to face him, expectant.
“In my exploration of the heights above us last night,” he said. “I discovered something you should see for yourself.”
By the time he reached the safety of the broad stone ledge, Halthak was fighting for breath. Strong hands pulled him over the edge and to his feet, and he peered down into the yawning darkness of the cleft below. He battled a moment of vertigo as he stood with his heels on the precipice; it had not looked so high when he stood at the bottom, staring up the rock face with skepticism as he sought the handholds the others assured him were plentiful. Amric and Valkarr had scampered up before him with infuriating speed and ease, and it was some combination of curiosity, stubbornness, and unease at being left behind with Bellimar that had driven him to follow.
Bellimar stood far below, a distant bit of shadow wrapped in his cloak. He had chosen to remain on the ground, expressing doubt as to whether there was strength enough left in his aging limbs to ascend again by the route he had so recently descended. He claimed to have reached this spot by a less strenuous albeit more circuitous route during the night. Contemplating the return descent now, Halthak felt his chest tighten. He berated himself for following the warriors up here merely to witness Bellimar’s reported discovery, but then he raised his face to the sunrise and changed his mind.
The sun’s golden light caressed and warmed his face, and he shielded his eyes against its glare to look out upon a living sea of jade. Between the altitude gained from the large hill upon which the crag rested, and the further height of the ledge above the crest of that hill, they were looking out at a level with the tops of the trees. The thick, green canopy spread away from the crag on three sides past the limits of his vision, its surface rippling before the will of the wind. The healer found the ancient forest as beautiful from above as it was treacherous beneath. Here at least there was life, as flocks of birds wheeled and circled high overhead. Halthak felt a sudden, fierce longing to be as free of the evils below as were those birds. He wondered at how magnificent the view must be at the peak of the crag rather than merely partway up, but he could see no way to ascend further from their ledge.
The ledge wrapped around the face of the bluff, and Amric and Valkarr stood at its southernmost edge. They were conversing and pointing at something in the distance, and as Halthak moved toward them he saw the focus of their attention.
On the southern side of the crag, separated from them by a slender swath of trees, the rocky ground gave way to foothills and then rose into a sheer cliff that meandered east like a great stone curtain. Etched into its side was a shelf that ran ribbon-like for many miles above the forest. On its western end, it coiled back upon itself several times before it disappeared into the woodlands behind the crag. Halthak strained to trace its progress to the east, though he lost it eventually to distance and the glare of the rising sun. It seemed to end at or behind a solitary mountain, thrust away from its siblings huddled in the range behind it to reign alone and majestic above the forest. As he continued to stare, however, it dawned upon him that the mountain had too many sharp, angular edges to be the careless artistry of nature, and the myriad shadows upon its face were too uniform as well. Awe crept over him as he realized he was looking upon a mighty fortress, carved from the very top of the mountain. Halthak tried and failed to grasp the enormity of effort required to construct a single structure so massive. It could only be Stronghold, home of the reclusive Wyrgens, and their destination.