Within an hour, they broke out of the trees entirely and began the ascent of Mount Kiator. The trail at first was wide and gradual as it wound its way up the slopes of the mountain. As they gained in elevation, the path narrowed as it ran along the edge of sheer cliffs. They watched as the sun disappeared behind the neighboring peaks to the west and continued on into the night. When the sky became totally dark, they stopped for the night and slept on the narrow trail.
***
The rider wound his way up the mountain path, which was illuminated by dozens of campfires. He maneuvered the horse carefully to avoid the clumps of soldiers as he continued on towards the summit. He shook his head at the disarray of the Jiadin camp and wondered what had possessed the general to camp his army in such an inaccessible location. Mobilizing the force would take hours, the rider knew, but he was glad that it was somebody else’s problem.
He finally reached the peak and headed for the large command tent. He dismounted and handed the reins to a sentry outside the tent. The other sentry nodded to the rider and held the flap open for him to enter. Inside the tent, the rider saw General Winus talking with Veltar’s assistant, Zygor.
“Ah welcome back,” greeted the General. “Have you located them?”
“I have,” grinned the rider. “Even better, I know their destination.”
“Excellent,” nodded the General. “I am anxious to put this part of the operation behind me. Where are they headed?”
“Mount Kiator,” declared the rider as he watched the General lean over a large map on the table. “They are probably on the slopes already.”
“On the slopes?” questioned Zygor. “How can that be? We have been watching the edges of the jungle for days. How did they get out?”
“At night,” answered the rider. “They knew you were up here watching. They crossed the plains at night and once in the forest, they knew you could not see them.”
“And how did they know we are up here?” questioned Zygor. “How could they possibly know unless someone told them?”
“Don’t look at me that way, Zygor,” the rider retorted. “I was not even informed of your location. Had Rejji not told me where I could find you, I would still be looking. As an army officer, I certainly would not expect to find the army on the peak of a mountain.”
“That is enough, Brakas,” reprimanded Winus. “We have no need for bickering amongst ourselves. If they are on the slopes, then there is no escape for them.”
“If they are on the slopes,” echoed Zygor. “We have followed Brakas’s advice before and they are still on the loose.”
“My information has always been accurate,” argued Brakas. “If Diakles had not gone after them alone the first time, they would be dead now instead of him. I also told you they would head for that village, but the army went north instead, and allowed them to enter the Qubari. I have always delivered what I promised to. Even the Chadang were laid bare for your plunder.”
“Enough,” shouted Winus. “You have done well, Brakas. I do not see the need for you to remain any longer. Continue your task of locating the free tribes. We have Rejji and his friends trapped now and there is no way out this time.”
“As you wish,” nodded Brakas. “I will head towards the mouth of the Taggot River. I suspect some of the tribes might have headed that way. I will enjoy your hospitality tonight and be on my way in the morning.”
“You may do as you wish,” sneered Zygor, “but you will be staying alone here tonight. We leave immediately.”
“Immediately?” questioned the General. “In the dark? They are trapped on that mountain and cannot escape. We can leave in the morning when the men can see the path.”
“We will leave now,” commanded Zygor. “I do not want to let them reach the top of the mountain. They could stay up there for weeks while we wait for them to come down. We know where they are now, and now is when we shall strike. Get your men moving.”
Brakas stared in disgust at General Winus kowtowing to Zygor. He turned and strode out of the tent and looked for a nice campfire to claim as his own.
***
Mistake woke Rejji as the first rays of the sun broke the eastern horizon. Rejji sat up and smiled at the pink sky.
“Another beautiful day is about to begin,” he smiled. “Where is Bakhai?”
“A little ways down the path communing with mountain goats,” she chuckled. “Hundreds of them passed by a short time ago.”
“Why didn’t you wake me sooner?” asked Rejji. “I know you are anxious to reach the top.”
“We did a bit of climbing yesterday,” answered Mistake, “and we have more ahead of us today. It will probably be more strenuous too. I figured if you were still sleeping that your body needed it.”
“Well I am up now,” yawned Rejji as he slowly rose to his feet. “Let’s get going.”
“You might want to get a bite to eat first,” laughed Mistake. “You will need your energy.”
Rejji walked to the edge of the cliff and stretched. He gazed out over the forests and followed the path they had taken the day before. As his eyes reached the base of Mount Kiator, he shook his head and looked again.
“Jiadin!” he shouted. “An army of them and they are coming this way. Get Bakhai. We have to get out of here.”
Bakhai had heard the shout and was already running towards Rejji. He stood on the edge next to Rejji and watched as the Jiadin army rode towards the path at the base of the mountain.
“We have to slow them down,” stated Bakhai. “With horses they will be on us before high sun.”
“Maybe not,” interjected Mistake as she looked up at the trail above them. “They may be able to ride to where we are now, but not much further. Look at the trail above us.”
The trail above the trio began to rise steeply and started to switchback for several hundred feet up. After that, it became a narrow ledge running along a sheer vertical wall until it passed out of sight.
“Start going up,” called Bakhai as he raced down the path. “I will catch up to you.”
Rejji started to ask him where he was going, but Mistake pulled his arm and proceeded up the path. They raced up the windy path as swiftly as they could scramble. Rejji turned to see if Bakhai was following and froze. He saw Bakhai running up the path towards him and hundreds of mountain goats heading down. It was a solid stream of mountain goats that took up the entire trail for many paces and all of them were on a collision course with the Jiadin army. He laughed as Bakhai caught up with him and turned to see Mistake shaking her head in wonder.
“It ought to slow them down some,” grinned Bakhai.
The trio was panting with exertion by the time they reached the end of the switchbacks. Mistake halted and looked at the trail ahead. This section of the mountain was a sheer vertical face of rock with a very narrow ledge passing along it.
“I don’t think we want to run along this,” cautioned Mistake. “In fact, if there weren’t a hundred Jiadin coming up the trail behind us, I think I might be rethinking how bad I want to get to the top of this mountain.”
“How long is it?” Rejji asked.
“No way of knowing,” frowned Mistake. “It curves around the mountain so I can’t see the end of it.”
Shouts came from below mixed with the sounds of horses and goats. The sounds appeared to echo off the walls of the mountain. The shouting increased and then they heard the scream of a man falling a long distance.
“Whatever distance we put between them and us now, is what it should remain,” suggested Rejji. “I doubt they can go any faster than we can once they get down to single file.”
“They will still have bows,” commented Mistake. “I don’t want to be dodging arrows while we try to walk this ledge. Just staying on it will be hard enough.”
“What happens when we reach the top?” queried Bakhai. “There is only one way down this mountain and they will be coming up it.”