V: Look Who Lives in the Mountains (part two)

"…Those are very… long mountains," Neeshka heaved a deep sigh, climbing on another ledge. They had to leave horses back in the Greycloaks' camp – narrow rocky paths left no chances of riding.

"An' no decent opposition," Khelgar added in the same tone. "Those Bonegnashers were almost a shame."

"Uh-huh," Adele nodded ironically. "Not that I'm reproaching you or something, but we seemed to have wanted to make a deal with orcs – not hack them."

"Deal," the dwarf snorted. "All yer talkin' not goin' do ya any good, lass, mark my words. Time wastin' that is."

"No, it's not. Time saving it is, actually."

"Pfft! Why's that?"

"Well, if we had had a deal with Yaisog, we wouldn't have had to kill him. If we hadn't had to kill him, Neeshka wouldn't have got that cut in her leg…"

"…Exactly," the tiefling muttered, wincing at the memory.

"…And if she hadn't got it, we wouldn't have had to set camp for several hours until Elanee got it healed for her enough to move on. So…" Adele shrugged, smiling at the dwarf, "…we would have saved a few hours. Go on, argue with me."

Khelgar opened his mouth to say something, but apparently couldn't come up with any appropriate answer, so he had to settle with a common one:

"An' no fun in that! I say we comb the mountains an' kill all the smelly bastards – ya'll see, we'll stumble across the emissary some time."

"Now that is a sound plan," Qara drawled with apparent sarcasm. "Why don't we move to these mountains for the rest of our days? I suggest to set fire to as much as possible of those tree-like snags and to smoke the orcs out of their caves."

"Yeah, wow, cool," Neeshka muttered. "And we'll bring to Neverwinter a burnt corpse of Issani. Emissary-on-grill, bon appetite, lord Nasher."

Adele sighed in her mind and gazed at Elanee. The elf was silent as usual, but looked around with interest and curiosity she vainly tried to hide. It seemed that the druidess never happened to visit mountains before – and even despite their several-days travel she still looked fresh and confident, as if the mere presence somewhere in the wilderness filled her with strength. Eyeing her for some time, Adele shifted her gaze back to the narrow path they followed… and stopped, staring at a huge pile of rocks blocking their way.

"Damn…" she whispered.

"Yeah," Khelgar agreed, measuring an impressive pile with his eyes. "Seems we'll hafta find another way around. Would take a dwarven engineering team a week to clear away this rockslide."

"Can't we just climb it over?" Neeshka wondered.

"We can't, I'm afraid," Elanee answered pensively. "The rocks will collapse under us. This slide happened not a while ago, so the stones are still… loose. See, there's not much dirt between them..."

The air suddenly lit up with a blaze of blinding flash, came a heat blast… and the stone pile exploded into pieces. Adele shrank back, shielding her head with her arms from flying rocks, but the pieces were too fine to inflict any damage. As the stone dust settled down a little, the travelers exchanged glances, making sure everybody was unharmed, and all together stared at Qara, who was standing behind twirling her staff with a small satisfied smirk.

"What?" she arched her eyebrow at their glances. "That pile was begging for a fireball."

"…"

The sorceress rolled her eyes: "Oh, come on! It was fun, wasn't it? The way it blew up."

"Ya careful with that in the mountains, ya sapper!" Khelgar finally exploded. "It could cause a landslide, ya know!"

"Oh well, after all, it worked," Adele smiled briefly, hoping to prevent a fight. "Guess, Tymora still looks out for us, careless fools. Let's go."

But before they could advance much further, a group of orcs rushed out from behind a cliff, probably drawn by the din.

"Is it me, or are we seem to attract orcs to us?" Qara wondered, making a few steps back and catching her staff with both hands.

"This time, I'm afraid, it is you," Adele smirked.

She heard Elanee murmur something quietly, and the next instant a few desiccated trees on the slopes moved slightly, enough to free their nodose roots and by doing that throw several large stone debris right down on orcs. Survivors lingered a bit, but still didn't get enough brains to make off and dashed towards Khelgar, to receive an enthusiastic welcome from the dwarf. It were times like this when Adele was really glad to have Khelgar around - after all, mass-battle was not her strong point. A duel, face to face – that she was good at, so, as usual, Adele just followed Khelgar, delivering scarce but precise stabs with her rapier to the lucky ones who somehow managed to get alive from devastating chaotic chopping of dwarven axe. Neeshka cleaned up the other side, jumping on a large boulder to stay out of reach and using her throwing knives. To complete the picture, Qara kindled a firewall behind orcs backs, barring any ways to escape – which gladdened Khelgar so much he immediately forgot about his grudge towards the girl's sapper tests.

"Well, that was entertainin'," he said, shaking blood off his weapon and looking at the last fallen orc under his feet. "Bet ya were surprised, huh, ya dumb."

While they were waiting for the firewall to abate, Adele rubbed her chest through blood-stained jerkin, feeling that unnerving pain in her ribs again, and drew a deep breath.

Gods, please, no coughing this time…

She felt a soft touch on her back and turned her head to meet Elanee's reassuring gaze. The druidess was the only one to know her secret – after the night on Maiden's Glade, when, exhausted from the fights, Adele woke up coughing out droplets of blood. Elanee used some kind of healing magic on her, never asking anything, allowing Adele to tell only if she wanted to.

Not that Adele could tell much at all about that pain. There, in her chest, was a piece of an arrow or something, caught during the fight in West Harbor many years ago, when she was a babe – at least, that's what Daeghun told her. Too deep and too close to the heart to be removed. So, it just… was. And, as she told the druidess, when you can't change something - the only thing is to grin and bear it. Somehow she had the feeling that Elanee understood.

"It's fine," she nodded to the elf and smiled. "And thanks for not changing into animal form."

Elanee mirrored her smile: "You asked not to."

"Yeah, well, you know, in heat of battle you turn around and suddenly see a dire boar behind your back… It can freak you out, that's for sure."

"Ugh…" Neeshka pulled out another of her knives from an orcish corpse and shook it down with disgust. Her tail was wagging crossly. "Their blood surely reeks. We come back to Neverwinter, you won't be able to drag me out from the bath even by the tail."

"After me," Qara snapped back. "And you all are paying a laundress for me."

"You wish, Your Majesty," the tiefling snorted. "I'm the one charged with total treasury here."

"Since when?!" Khelgar asked indignantly.

"Since then, that I seem to be the only one worried about its collecting."

"Cease it, guys, please," Elanee said softly. "I'm sure we have more important things to worry about right now."

She turned to Adele for support, but the woman didn't answer, as she caught the sight of a small lonely pebble, suddenly slipping down the mountainside. Adele followed it with suspicious glance, then cast her eyes upwards and skimmed over the cliffs.

"I think somebody is…" she began quietly, but was cut off by the arrival of another orc band.

It appeared that the troops they had just smashed were sent on a probe, and the real forces moved up only now. And those forces were much more impressive.

"No, it isn't me," Qara sniffed. "We do attract orcs to us."

"Just like orcs," Khelgar grinned and shook his head in mock disapproval. "They don't know when to quit."

Catching sight of them, the vanguard lingered a bit, but then, barking something to others, rushed to the attack, brandishing weapons. Not that they had any luck even in approaching their little group enough for a strike, as the same moment a hail of arrows rained down on them, and Adele saw several figures charged down the mountainsides, right into the thick of orcs. Clanging of swords rang out; orcs became apparently confused by an unexpected attack, which did them no good.

"Wh-?" Khelgar blurted, taken aback, then exclaimed, almost offended: "Hey! Those 're our orcs!"

Swinging his axe, he plunged into the fight, and others were left no choice but to follow him.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like we're engaging into battle just to cover Khelgar.

Finding herself in the throng of orcs, Adele instinctively thrust her rapier in the throat of the first orc who came across and swiftly pulled the blade out to parry a blow from the second – but felt her feet slip in a pool of orcish blood on the stones. Before she could adjust her body to keep balance, someone's hand, firm and warm, caught up her elbow, doing it for her, and, casting a quick glance up, she saw a tall black-haired man in full armor, shield hanging on the arm he grasped Adele with, longsword in the other hand. Looking down just as quickly and making sure she was alright, the man nodded and let her go, switching his attention back to the enemies – in time to ward off a blow.

Taken by surprise, the orcs fell dead one by one, and it didn't take much time for the fighters to wipe them out.

"Is this the guerilla band Callum mentioned?" Neeshka wondered, coming up to Adele.

"So it seems," the woman answered, watching the man that helped her. "And that one seems to be the famous "Katalmach"."

"Katalmach" was making the round of his men, verifying that everyone was alive. His face kept an expression of calm concentration, as if even after victory he didn't intent to relax his vigilance. He asked something, and the fighters answered, nodded, visibly relaxing and settling down, as if their leader was surrounded by an air of confidence and composure that passed to others as well.

Well, he doesn't look like some madman or berserker Callum described. He looks more like a…

"…Paladin!" Neeshka hissed, rubbing her shoulder violently. "Damn it… Their auras always make my skin itch."

"What?" Adele looked at her. "Why?"

"Hells know. Guess my demonic blood reacts…" she harshly scratched the skin near her horns. "Shit… What is a paladin even doing here?"

"Want me to ask him?"

The tiefling grinned at her, but before she could reply the paladin turned to them, running his crystal-blue eyes over their small company.

"The Sword Mountains are a dangerous place," he said in a round, sturdy voice, stepping up to them, which made Neeshka move back a little. "Now even more than ever with the orc tribes gathered behind Logram's banner."

"Yes, we've got that already," Adele answered with a light sigh and smiled, jerking her head a bit towards orcish corpses. "Thanks for unexpected help," hearing an undignified grumble of Khelgar, she looked down at the dwarf and nodded him in mock self-reliance. "But, of course, we were doing just fine and would have crushed those orcs underfoot easily."

Again Khelgar opened his mouth to answer, getting red to the accompaniment of Neeshka's giggling, then huffed, shook his head and grinned at Adele:

"Ya know I love ya, lassie, but I swear, sometimes I feel like punchin' ya in the nose!"

"No, you can't!" she pressed her palm to her chest, widening her eyes in theatrical horror. "I mean, I'm too tall for that."

The dwarfed growled jokingly and suddenly tripped her up, making the woman fall and catching her on his shoulder.

"Now how's that?" he guffawed. "Not too tall anymore, eh?"

Neeshka's snickering turned to laughter, Qara rolled her eyes, Elanee just smiled fondly at their childish games. Still hanging on Khelgar's shoulder, Adele looked up at the paladin, who was watching them with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Yeah, we are a crazy bunch," the woman nodded at him and patted the dwarf on his back. "Khelgar, put me down. I need to look dignified."

He did so, and Adele took the extended hand of the paladin, rising to her feet. A few tresses of her black-and-white hair broke loose from the fillet, and Adele brushed them off her forehead, taking a view of the soldiers, who were exchanging glances and hushed remarks – probably about their company – then looked back at the paladin. His stern handsome face still wore a bit bewildered expression.

"So," Adele smiled, as if nothing happened. "I take it, you are the one harassing orcs in the mountains."

"Yes," he nodded slowly - and almost carefully. "For many months already."

"The Greycloaks tried to get in touch with you, actually."

"Yes, I am aware of that," he answered; some sullen tones appeared in his voice. "Be assured, that my men and I fight against the orcs… even if not on Neverwinter's behalf," he eyed their group again and looked back at Adele, who stood closest of the five to him. "I am curious, why have you ventured into the mountains? Surely you understood the risk in coming here."

"We're looking for a Waterdeep emissary gone missing in this mountains."

"Missing?" he asked almost in astonishment. "The orcs have grown bold, then, if they now interfere directly," he turned his head to his people. "This explains many things. Those recent orc movements…"

"Yes," a short blond woman in brown armor nodded in agreement, approaching him a little. "It all makes sense now."

"What do you mean, exactly?" Adele wondered, shifting her inquiring gaze from the paladin to the woman and back.

"Not long ago my men and I came across the remains of an orc raid on a heavily-armed column of troops," the paladin explained. "I was struck by the ferocity of the slaughter and that the orcs would dare strike at a well-armed and disciplined fighting force. We caught up with them and charged. Normally we would have routed them. This group, however, reacted to us with military precision. While their rear guard delayed us, the rest continued to move quickly in an organised fashion, all clustered around a single point. They may have been guarding your emissary."

"Did ya kill 'em?" Khelgar asked, but the man shook his head:

"We could not afford more losses. I just took a small group, and we followed the retreating orcs as best we could. At first I thought we had lost them, but then one of our scouts found the hidden trail to their cave. Our soldiers know the mountains well, but even they would have missed it, if not by chance."

"That must be the place where that… Logram fellow is hiding," Adele suggested to her companions.

"Then what 're we waitin' for?" Khelgar grinned, tightening his grip on the axe.

"If you intend to enter the stronghold of Logram, it is to the north. I can lead the way," the paladin offered.

Well, really, never know where help comes from. First a crazy gnome shows us directions, now a highlander-paladin, - Adele held back a smirk. – Honestly, if these trips to unknown places continue, we'll have to hire a scout or a ranger.

But definitely not that ranger.

"You sure you want him with us?" near her shoulder Neeshka whispered. "I mean, paladins only lead to troubles…" she winced. "And plus, his aura makes my skin itch."

"Come on, Neesh," Adele answered quietly. "He only suggests taking us to Logram and back. And he'll surely help us against the opposition. It'll save us a lot of time and trouble."

"Aye," Khelgar appraised the tall armored figure of the paladin. "An' he seems a good fighter ta have around."

Adele smiled at the tiefling's reflex scratching: "And don't worry, nobody's gonna make you kiss him good-bye."

"Alright," Neeshka sighed in resignation and, casting a quick glance at the man, grinned mischievously. "Not that I'd mind kissing him… if it wasn't for the itches."

Holding back a laugh, Adele turned to the paladin: "We'd appreciate the help, thanks."

"And you shall have it," the paladin assured them. It made Adele wonder if he actually heard their "parley". "Logram's death will be a serious blow to the orcs."

"We have lost some men," the woman in armor moved her shoulder, "but I will assemble who I can and…"

"No, Katriona," the paladin objected. "We have already lost too many, and a massed attack on Logram will only cost us more. I will be going on alone."

She stared at him in huge astonished eyes.

"Casavir… Sir…" she lowered her voice. "We kept you from this once. I think it's best if..."

"Katriona, please," he broke her off firmly. "It is important that you do as I ask. Take the survivors and fall back to the Greycloaks' camp. Do what you can to help them, and keep the pressure on the orcs. If we cannot defeat Logram, then he will come after them in full force, and the Greycloaks must be warned."

Katriona folded her arms, arching her brow incredulously: "So after all this time avoiding Neverwinter forces, now you want me to stride right into their camp?" she shook her head, at once dropping all subordination in the face of the possibility that the man, whom she clearly more than simply respected, would go alone and risk his life with Hells knew whom in tow. "Look, Casavir, let me go with you. There is no need to keep doing this alone. Let us help you."

"We don't mind additional forces," Adele remarked, more out of some kind of women solidarity, glancing shortly at Katriona. The sergeant just as shortly glanced back, something close to gratitude in her eyes.

"The trail to Logram's lair is narrow," Casavir answered, his measured voice calm and soft, but firm, like a blade wrapped into velvet. "More swords will not aid us there."

"I've seen that trail," Katriona mentioned with apparent stress. "If you go up there you'll be nothing more than easy targets. Gods know what guards or defenses they have," though she was speaking with all of them, her stare was fixed on Casavir. "You'll be killed."

The paladin closed his eyes with finality: "You have your orders, Katriona."

...Ouch.

"Yes, of course," Katriona managed a bitter smirk and saluted snappily. "Good luck to you, sir."

Casavir nodded, turning back to their band: "If you are ready, I'll show you the way."

"We 're always ready," Khelgar grinned and was the first to follow the paladin, when the man started walking up the rocky path.

Adele was going to follow too, when suddenly felt a careful squeeze on her elbow and looked at Katriona.

"Look after him, please," she said quietly. "The man cares little for his own safety."

Before Adele could answer, the woman turned back to soldiers:

"Alright, men, you heard the boss. Moving to the Well!"

Adele followed them with her eyes for some seconds and then rushed to catch up with her friends…


"So, let's do it," Adele shot a brief glance on others. "And everybody, be careful, I beg you."

Qara, tossing her head up a little in a way which would have befitted an empress, began to walk, but Adele was relieved to see Casavir outrun her a bit and withheld her. The sorceress measured him with a glare, jerked her shoulder indifferently and allowed him to go first. When the three of them together with Elanee disappeared behind the turn, Adele and Khelgar moved at Neeshka's heels up the cliff.

A couple of minutes later tiefling led them out on a flat ledge she previously had sneaked on to do some scouting. This point had a good view on a narrow passage below – and it was exactly the place where orcish archers stood. Fortunately for the adventurers, the archers – just like true orcs – were much more busy with swearing at each other than watching a path they were entrusted with. Either they were too confident in the secrecy of the passage, or just had some more important things to argue about.

Casting a glance down, Adele noticed ahead the barricades Neeshka mentioned. Five rows of plank fortifications supported by logs protected another orc band. Looking a little back, Adele saw the others. Qara was readying a spell of hers – judging by the way the air was gyrating towards the girl, raising small whirlwinds of dust from the ground. Casavir stood beside her, covering the girl with his shield and watching the barricades ahead. Elanee seemed to feel Adele's gaze or was just looking around, but she lifted her head, meeting Adele's eyes, and gave her an encouraging nod.

"Now," Adele whispered, adjusting her grip on the rapier.

Khelgar immediately dashed towards the orc archers, managing to take down the two of them with one cleave. The third one jumped aside, but Adele run her blade into the side of his neck, hearing the whizzing of Neeshka's throwing knives above her shoulder. The last orc started back with one of the daggers between his eyes, stumbled… and before anyone could stop him tumbled down from the ledge straight on the heads of his tribe folks.

The orcs took alarm, a few beasts left the barricades, launching down the path, and Adele seized a longbow from the hands of a dead orc. Pulling out several arrows from the quiver underfoot, she contrived to shot off three of the orcs before they reached her companions. The survivors were met with Casavir's sword, as the paladin stepped forward to cover the spellcasters and give them time to finish their spells. He repelled the clumsy attacks of enemies and delivered his own blows in such a calm swiftness, that the moves of his blade were almost mesmerizing.

"Now's my turn," Khelgar chuckled and hurried to the ledge-edge with apparent wish to leap down onto the orcs.

Watching the fight below and shooting arrows, Adele almost missed him, but in the last moment managed to catch the dwarf by the collar of his chainshirt:

"Wait!"

The same second Casavir stepped aside, moving out of Qara's way, and a jet of flame stroke from her body. Reaching the first of the barricades, the fireball carved its way through it, sending nearby orcs flying, hit the second fortification and exploded in a dazzling sphere of blaze, devouring everything around it. Orcs scattered in all directions, but got a nasty surprise from Elanee's entangling spell and stumbled, falling on the ground. Tongues of fire, vaulting from one dry plank of the barricades to the other, caught the monsters, turning them into live torches. Neeshka, running out of her daggers, just watched the fight below nervously, while Adele took down everybody she could, silently cursing an unbalanced orcish bow. Casavir fought off the rest of the orcs, landing his blows in the same unruffled and measured manner, using his shield to ward off the attacks and the flames.

"The lad is good," Khelgar nodded approvingly.

"No argue there," Adele agreed, herself admiring the dance of hardened steel in the arm of the paladin.

"Huh, that way he's not gonna leave me any!" the dwarf threw his axe over in the hands. "Eh!"

With that exclamation, he jumped off, sliding down the cliff on his tailbone and raising his axe in the process, which allowed him to cut the first orc he bumped into in halves.

"Now that is "wow"," - Neeshka muttered, still looking at the fight and fires below. "Looks kinda picture "conquering of the Nine Hells". A paladin is definitely in place," she snickered and nudged Adele with her elbow softly. "Maybe ask him to redeem me or something?"

Adele snorted in laughter.

As all the orcs lay dead, they made their way down. Adele was relieved to toss away the twisted bow and to see all of her companions unharmed. Khelgar was patting his beard in order to put out a few of smoldering hairs. Elanee trampled down some embers close to her. Casavir was wiping blood from his blade, his eyes focused on the orcs, as if he wanted to be sure that none of them posed threat any longer. Neeshka with a feigned indifference turned over the corpses with her boot in hopes to see something she could take as a souvenir. Qara was sitting on a large boulder, squeezing her staff between her knees and stroking Tamin, who dared to show his nose from under her collar. The sorceress was milk-pale, apart from arterial-red flush covering her cheeks. Fetching a water flask from her belt, she took a deep gulp, and Adele wasn't quite sure if she actually drank it or if the water just vaporized the moment it touched the girl's lips.

"You okay?" she asked Qara.

"Oh, yes! Just dizzy a bit," Qara suddenly flashed her a broad exhilarated smile. "Now that's what they lacked at the Academy - field practice!"

"I think we could all use a little rest," Casavir suggested.

"Agreed! Even I'm kinda out of breath," Khelgar grinned and turned to the paladin. "So. Seein' as how we altogether packed up two dozens of orcs – why don't we introduce each other finally?"

The paladin looked at him with surprise, apparently just now getting the fact that he actually didn't introduce himself yet, and cleared his throat uncomfortably:

"I beg your pardon," he bowed his head a little. "Casavir."

"Khelgar Ironfist, that's me!" the dwarf extended his hand to the man.

Adele watched others introduce themselves as well, Elanee – with her usual soft and aloof politeness, Qara – indifferently and a bit bored, even Neeshka had the courage to shake Casavir's hand, though her face wrinkled a little.

"Is something wrong?" Casavir wondered.

"Nah, nothing wrong with you," she rubbed her reddish skin near the horns. "It's just… the blood riots."

Casavir stepped back a little: "Does this way feel better?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"It is a big step you make – fighting your own nature."

Neeshka blinked at him, then looked at Adele with a taken aback "am I, really?" gaze, ignoring Khelgar, who was laughing into his beard.

"Very well," the dwarf rubbed his palms. "I say we keep movin', until it's dark. Have a whole orcish lair ahead of us!"

"I agree," Casavir nodded.

"Me too," Qara got up, placing the staff on her shoulder and running her eyes over the mountains with the looks as if she was going not to defeat orcs, but to conquer new territories for her kingdom. Tamin, sensing a forthcoming battle, reasonably hid under her collar.

In the deepening cool autumn twilight the six of them continued their way up the narrow path, leading deeper into the mountains. Adele, busy with gazing around, tarried a bit, when she caught Casavir's inquiring stare at herself. For some moments she just stared back, arching her brow questioningly, then shook her head and smirked:

"Yeah, sorry. Adele. Adele Farlong."

"City Watch?" the paladin pointed at her cloak with his eyes.

"Yes. Lieutenant," she smirked again: "Recently."

Casavir lifted his gaze up to the sky: "It's been a while since I have been in Neverwinter."

"Nah, don't worry," Neeshka grinned, patting Adele on her shoulder. "You've left the city in good hands."

The paladin nodded: "So I see."

Adele couldn't hold back a smile and nodded gratefully in return.