Shift

Chapter 30

30

Sunrise. It brought foreboding with it. Even as the first rays showed themselves to lighten the earth they were already leaving. Ranks of soldiers lined up at the gates of the inner curtain. Weapons glinted in the early light. The Heads were among the ranks, dressed in tough tunics and boots that would serve them well in a fight. Lana had a bow and quiver strapped to her back, Irene’s broadsword was hanging from her side. Vera and Raven carried two long daggers each and the others carried an assortment of weapons. They wore their pendants tucked under their tunics so they wouldn’t swing free and be a nuisance. They were ready.

Vera hadn’t seen Drake but she knew he would be there, somewhere. Even if he wouldn’t fight Valdor he wouldn’t hide, he wouldn’t make Valdor throw his wrath elsewhere.

The head of the guard gave the order and they began to leave. Each rank left at intervals and headed in different directions. The rank the Heads travelled with was headed straight to the sacred site and another rank would follow them later for extra protection. Anyone who could fight had come. Men and women, trained and those with only hunting experience. All of them could wield a weapon.

The journey was long and they moved at a brisk pace which added to their exertion. The other ranks would have started attacking Valdor’s domain by now. It was after midday when they reached the location of the old mountain. They were surprised at what greeted them.

“I thought you said the mountain collapsed?” Erika said questioningly. Maya shrugged. There was a rocky hill rising from the earth. While far from being flat or a pile of rubble, it wasn’t the intimidating mountain they had expected either.

“It did. This looks like only a fraction of the descriptions I read.” Maya guessed. Any sort of mine that had gone into the mountain was long gone.

“It will be treacherous to climb up all that rock, it looks loose.” Irene noted.

“We’ll manage; it seems that we have to perform the ceremony up there.” Lana agreed. The girls moved to the base of the rocky hill and began to climb.

First appearances had been deceptive after all. The ‘hill’ was incredibly steep in places and loose and slippery in others. When they were only ten meters up they heard shouts and the sounds of a battle.

“What is that?” Erika asked, pausing.

“It must be the others, Valdor must have figured out where we were going.” Irene said.

“Don’t worry; they’re miles off yet, especially if they have to fight to get here.” Maya called out, resuming the tricky climb. It took half an hour but soon Erika and Irene were pulling themselves over a ledge and onto the plateau where they would perform the ritual. The others scrambled up after them, small rocks and slides of dirt coming loose slowing their progress. Erika looked out over the view. They had underestimated the hill badly. It was steep and higher than it seemed, but it provided an excellent vantage of Valdor’s forces clashing with their own.

“Hey, come here!” Irene called to Erika. She joined the other girl on the opponent side of the plateau. Here the climb was much less treacherous, the long-ago collapse of the mountain leaving a sloping decent from where rubble had no doubt built up.

“We can go down this way, it’ll be faster.” Irene decided. Erika nodded. The others joined them to check it.

“That’s another group of Valdor’s men; they’re coming from the back as well!” Maya pointed, picking up on the rapidly advancing band with her sharp eyes. Even as they called out soldiers came around from both sides of the hill to defend it.

“Hurry!” Lana pulled their attention away from the battle below and they formed themselves into a circle. There was a collective breath and they began.