Except for the slurping and grunting of the ogres, the party ate in silence. Stone walls worn smooth by the wind rose to either side of the pass; Onyx considered the high, rocky cliffs curiously. If she were fighting as a dragon, those towering, stony ledges would be a perfect perch from which to swoop down onto an unsuspecting enemy.
Led suddenly cocked his head to the side. "Did you hear something?"
"You mean that tinkling, like bells, from back the way we came?" Onyx asked. "I've been hearing it for some time."
Led shot her an angry glance. "Why didn't you say some shy;thing? Can you tell what it is?" he added, before Onyx could reply to the first question.
"It sounds like a group of horsemen coming this way, and they're making no effort to be quiet."
Led set down his food and moved back up the slope fifty or sixty yards, to where the trail crested the pass. He stayed close to the rock walls, taking pains not to silhouette himself against the sky. After several moments, he trotted back to where Onyx and the ogres waited.
"If s what I thought," he said, "a squad of Solamnic Knights in full panoply riding up the trail. They've got banners flap shy;ping and bells ringing. It's a wonder they don't send a herald on ahead to announce that they're coming." He shook his head, snickering. "Thaf s the knights for you, all pomp and honor and stupidity masked as chivalry. I wish I could hide the wagon from them, but there isn't time. We'll have to make do."
Tapping three ogres, Led told them, "Stay with me. The rest of you, up into the rocks. You know the drill. Be ready for my signal, just in case. Be quick. There's one knight riding point- I don't want him to see anything unusual."
Twelve ogres clambered up tike rocky cliffs on both sides of the trail. Onyx was surprised at how quickly and completely the bulky creatures blended into the cover. To her further sur shy;prise, Led calmly resumed his lunch. He patted the rock next to him.
"Are you going to attack them?" Onyx asked.
"If necessary. Now sit down." Remembering rule number two, Onyx complied wordlessly.
Led had managed to down four hearty swigs of wine and put on a mask of innocent surprise by the time the jingling rang clear. A snapping blue banner emblazoned with a red rose appeared on the western edge of the pass. Slowly it topped the crest, fluttering on the end of a lance, followed by a crested helmet and finally the rest of a knight riding a horse draped in yellow. Through his open visor, Onyx could see that he was very young, his wispy blond mustache almost invisible against his pale upper lip. The knight spied the couple, accom shy;panied by three ogres, eating lunch on the rock. He rode straight toward them with no hesitation, but stopped the length of three horses short of them. The knight sat in stony silence and waited without looking at Onyx and Led.
The jingling of bells, clanking of weapons and armor, and clattering of hooves on frozen ground reverberated back and forth between the rock walls. Onyx spied eight more banners snapping in the chill wind. The knights on horseback beneath the banners topped the crest and proceeded down toward their point rider.
As the main group met up with the waiting knight, he jogged his horse backward to move behind the man at the fore of this larger procession. There could be no question about who led this group. The knight now in front wore a blue-and-red tunic over his armor. The visor of his helmet was also raised, revealing a deeply weathered face and a tremendous, drooping, snow-white mustache.
With a raised arm the commander of the knights brought them all to a halt. He sat still in his high saddle, surveying Led's party. With frank distaste, he stared at the ogres.
Led took the opportunity to lean close to Onyx and whisper, "Thankfully, Knights of Solamnia are completely predictable. Take your lead from me."
The commander spurred his horse several steps closer to Led. There was no welcome in his face. "I am Sir Harald Stip shy;pling. Part of my charge is safeguarding this road. Who are you? State your business."
Led calmly tore off a piece of jerky. "They call me Led-just Led. I'm a law-abiding trader carrying valuable cargo from Styx to Kernen." He appeared to be struck with an idea. "Say, I've heard rumors that there are bandits on the road. Perhaps we could travel together and you could protect my shipment. Isn't that your job?"
The knighf s eyes narrowed with disbelief. "What law-abid shy;ing trader would hire such guards as these ogres?"
"Here in the wilds, I'm at the mercy of what is available for hire. Ogres are plentiful and easily replaced."
"What are you transporting that needs such protection?"
"The wagon contains merchandise of value to me."
"We shall see," muttered Sir Harald. He waved his arm again. "Hugo, Tammerly, inspect the wagon." As Stippling spoke, two knights spurred their horses forward amid a jin shy;gling of bells and approached the wagon.
In response, Led waved his arm as well. The three ogres on the trail sprang to their feet, interposing themselves between the knights and the wagon.
Led slid off the rock and stood, hand on sword hilt. "Whaf s in that wagon is the business of the man who owns it, nobody else." Heart pumping with excitement, Onyx got to her feet and called an incantation to mind.
Leaning forward angrily in his saddle, Stippling sputtered, "This may be the frontier, but Knights of Solamnia are still the law. As the highest ranking knight here, I demand that you open the wagon." His expression stormy, Stippling drew his blade and waved it in a whistling circle above his head. The remaining six knights moved to surround the wagon, the ogres, Led, and Onyx. The two called Hugo and Tammerly drew their swords on the ogres in an obvious challenge.
The air in the narrow pass thrummed with a strained silence as both sides considered how far they would go to win the standoff.
Chapter 8
The cry of a hawk wheeling in tbe gray sky above cut the brittle silence. Heads tilted up, neither knights nor Led's party moved. Even the ogres seemed to sense the strain in the air. They stood as still as their large, hunch-shouldered bodies would allow.
Stippling broke the silence at last. "I'll warn you one last time. Open the wagon."
Led cleaned the dirt from under a fingernail with a small blade. "Or what?"
Led's indifference infuriated the haughty knight. For an answer Stippling snapped down the visor of his helm and clenched his fingers around the hilt of his sword. "Or face the consequences. I would have the woman withdraw, if I were you."
Led could feel Onyx stiffen with indignation. "Fortunately for my troops and my cargo, you're not me," he cut in before she could fashion a fiery reply. "She stays."
Truth to tell. Onyx was eagerly anticipating a battle that was, at last, not of her own making. It would give her the opportunity to compare the full measure of a human's reflexes to a dragon's. The muscles of this body felt more tightly strung than those of her dragon form. The blood did not hammer deafeningly at her temples in the usual manner. There was no acid with which to scald the flesh from a foe, no tail to deliver a killing blow. Onyx felt the blade in her right boot, cold against her calf; it was a sorry replacement for a dragon's claws. She'd have to rely heavily on her spellcast-ing. Onyx readied her two best enchantments.
Stippling seemed to be spoiling for a fight as well. He obvi shy;ously had no idea what he faced as he edged his horse for shy;ward. With swords and maces drawn, the knights followed his lead. Four knights rode past the wagon to the downhill side of the road, blocking escape. Four more, including the two Stippling had ordered to search the wagon, were still on the uphill side, spread out slightly ahead of their comman shy;der. Sensing what was to come, their horses pranced and tossed their heads in anticipation. Stippling leveled his sword at the chest of the bounty hunter.