When night fell they made camp in the trees above the road. Watch was kept
in turns by Fred and the
two dwarves. But except for the howling of wolves in the far distance,
nothing was seen or heard. The
next day they made good time as they headed northeast along the dirt road
that led to the Shreken.
Rowena was on the constant look out for anything strange or untoward, but
nothing seemed amiss except
perhaps for the stillness in the air. Over their shoulders hovered the
peaks of the Goth like a waiting
storm, dark and foreboding. Rowena wondered if it were the hills which
made her feel so ill-at-ease, or if
it was instead her brother for within his face lay a different kind of
storm.
As the sun began to dip in the west, the dirt road came to an end. They were nearly at their destination. Before them stretched out a valley. On one side was the Goth, on the other the Shreken. At the further end of the valley Tumbar's Road reached up into the mountains. A little higher in the hills was the first of the forts that guarded the way. Fred turned to the dwarves, their mission being now at an end. They had brought him from one end of the Goth to the other. Now they would part their ways. The dwarves said nothing, no farewell or wish for good fortune. Fred wasn't surprised; what else did one expect from a dwarf? He looked from one to the other and his eyes grew hard. "There is no fondness between us," he said to them, "but if a day comes when the evil that lives within these hills raises its ugly head, call on me. If the gods do not bar my way then I shall ride to your side without a moment's thought." And then Fred addressed Dokken directly. "I too wish to avenge Baren's death. And Astra's as well. If not for the Dragon, if not for these foul peaks, she would be alive as would be your friend. In the matter of vengeance Dwarf Dokken we share a common cause." Fred turned without another word and rode down into the valley. A startled Rowena followed after him. The two dwarves simply stood there, watching them.
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2/24/2000 4:34:40 PM
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