Syln, a Kernian ogre whose extended belly made it look as though he sought to pretend-badly-to be one of his stouter cousins from the south, echoed his concern. “Need more guards. The city of the griffon should be stronger.”
“Wargroch will learn. No matter. We are home. We will make Garantha strong, eh, Syln?”
“Yes, Khleeg!” Despite his girth, Syln was a skilled fighter and a respected commander. His warriors were worth twice that of most other hands.
A horn sounded as they approached. Some of the sentries raised their weapons in salute. Khleeg relaxed, but only slightly. He would not be satisfied until he knew all that had gone on in his absence.
With a grinding sound, the gates slowly opened. Khleeg led the hand into the capital. In contrast to so many previous times when he had ridden with his lord at the head of a victorious army, the welcome he received was subdued and nearly silent. Warriors of the city guard stood at attention, and those who gathered to watch saluted with fists and weapons. All knew that the Grand Khan was not with the warriors; Khleeg’s swift return without their ruler was not a sign they took well.
“Wargroch must tell them,” he rumbled to Syln. “They must know the Grand Khan watches over Garantha, over all Golthuu.”
The gates shut behind the last of the ranks. Khleeg looked for the younger officer. Wargroch should have met them.
What he saw instead was an ogre who could not have been able to be in the city. He should have been arrested and executed on the spot.
“Atolgus!” he roared, thrusting a meaty finger in the direction where he glimpsed the betrayer.
A puzzled Syln straightened, trying to see.
From somewhere, a horn blew the call to battle. Khleeg started, realizing too late what that horn meant.
The guards flanking the column let out fierce roars and lunged at Khleeg’s warriors. The fighters in the ranks hesitated, confused by their own comrades attacking them in the very capital. They reacted in confusion, and several perished without even raising their weapons in defense.
“Traitors!” the hand commander shouted. “Krehgu u athu-defend lines! Defend!”
The warriors deeper in the column rushed to aid their embattled comrades. Khleeg surveyed the chaos. As with the earlier attack by Rauth, it was impossible to tell from his vantage point whether many in his vision were loyal or were betrayers. The actual line of struggle fluctuated madly, and as he watched, some of those caught up in the fighting broke into individual struggles that splintered off.
Khleeg hunted for a glimpse of Atolgus again. Kill the leader, and the other betrayers would lose heart. “Syln!”
The commander understood. Syln tapped two other mounted officers with the flat of his sword. “Follow him!”
They rode behind Khleeg as the Blodian forced his heavy steed through the packed fighters to where he had last observed the former chieftain. His mind still reeled at discovering Atolgus in the city. Atolgus should have been far south. It would have taken many days with the swiftest steed and the greatest of good fortune for him to ride to Garantha-longer with a column of warriors. Atolgus could not be in there!
Unless …
Two traitors tried to sideswipe Khleeg. He dispatched one with a bloody stroke across the throat. One of the officers who rode with him did battle with the second while Khleeg and the other continued on.
When he had first seen Atolgus, the young warrior had been standing atop a low, flat-roofed building waving his sword to signal his followers. Like magic, though, he had vanished from sight only a moment later. Yet, Khleeg was absolutely certain he had not imagined the image of the traitor.
A sharp pain tore at the calf of his right leg. Grunting, Khleeg drove off another traitor. He glanced down at the wound and was happy to note that the cut was a superficial one.
Wargroch must be dead. Atolgus could not have set the trap into play otherwise. Wargroch’s foolish dismissal of the hands protecting Garantha had signed his own death warrant.
What mattered was putting an end to the astounding uprising.
The officer with him grunted something unintelligible. Khleeg glanced his way and saw him pointing to their right.
Atolgus stood there watching the battle, the renegade’s expression almost gleeful. He looked mad, but not with blood-lust. His eyes had an animal wildness to them.
Khleeg urged his mount on. Atolgus saw him coming. The former chieftain grinned in greeting.
Another ogre blocked the Blodian’s path. Cursing, Khleeg swung at his new foe, trying simply to beat the other ogre back enough so he could go on after Atolgus. But the other warrior refused to give ground to the mounted Khleeg.
Golgren’s second in command finally cleaved the other’s skull. As he pulled the dripping blade up, he glanced toward Atolgus.
But once again, his quarry had vanished.
Another horn sounded, one from within the column. Khleeg looked over his shoulder to detect the hand commander trying to rally the loyal fighters. Meanwhile, the crowd of onlookers that had lined the way had vanished from view. Khleeg frowned. Ogres did not shy away from a fight. The populace should have chosen one side or another. And more than likely they would have chosen Khleeg’s, since he was the Grand Khan’s representative. Instead, though, they had, like Atolgus, disappeared.
Khleeg froze, uncertain where to go, what to do next. The hand commander was doing his best to keep his warriors together, but they couldn’t hold the ground where they had been forced to take a stand. They needed a far more defensible location.
Only one place came to mind.
With a snarl, Khleeg signaled to the other officer to turn around. As they returned to the column, he roared to Syln, “To the palace! Follow!”
It was a sign of the other ogre’s trust in Khleeg that the commander immediately obeyed. Under his guidance, what remained of the hand formed a square and began a slow but relentless move to the walled palace. Khleeg could not be certain the traitors were not already ensconced within, but if so, he could confront the guards at the entrance. Besides, they did not know all the hidden ways in and out of the ancient structure.
Golgren had hidden many secrets inside the palace that would help against an uprising. The Grand Khan was no fool; he had not ruled out such a dire event occurring during his reign.
The column retreated down the streets to the palace. The commander and his warriors followed Khleeg, trusting in him.
Khleeg only hoped their trust was not misplaced.
The palace walls rose in the distance. Khleeg rode up next to the officer. “Four riders with me! Your warriors fight to the gates!”
Syln slapped his fist against his breastplate and ordered four warriors to follow Khleeg. Golgren’s second in command led them down a side street.
They met no resistance. Khleeg’s eyes narrowed, but he saw no hidden threat. Atolgus had concentrated too much on his trap.
At a ruined structure southwest of the palace, Khleeg ordered everyone to dismount quickly. With reluctance, he slapped his horse on the flank, sending the animal racing off. The other horses chased after his steed.
The five loyal ogres silently entered the ruins. The official reason for the area still remaining in disrepair had to do with the precarious condition of the ground. The ruins had once been the villa of a valued ally of the predecessor to Golgren’s own lord, Zharang. A fire had supposedly destroyed the half restored villa midway through Zharang’s reign.
Only Khleeg knew the fire had been set at the Grand Lord’s behest. And that the villa had never been rebuilt in order for Golgren to disguise other work being done by his minions.
Khleeg knew exactly where to look for what he was seeking. It was hidden deep in a treacherous-looking section of the half restored villa, two levels below the surface. Anyone scavenging in the building would have had little reason to notice the pile of stone cluttering the section. Khleeg, ducking under a broken column originally carved by some skilled High Ogre artisan to resemble a living tree, made his way directly to it. As his warriors watched in puzzlement, he twisted a piece of marble near the top of the stones, before tugging hard on the entire pile.