Azure bonds - Kate Novak [95]
No one in town would let them pay for supplies or services. Mourngrym had passed the word that bills were to be submitted to the tower. Alias was glad she hadn't assigned the halfling any shopping tasks. Who knew what the bard would pick up on the town's tab? For herself, Alias picked up a new dagger and shield from the smithy and had him sharpen her blade.
Dragonbait looked a little anxious about turning his own bizarre weapon over to the craftsmen, but the man reassured him with the special care he took handling the sword before he began working on it.
They left town four hours before sunset. A few townsfolk bid them farewell as they traveled along the road, but Alias caught no glimpse of her goatherd.
*****
The weather held fair and warm, and no extraordinary encounters marred their travels. A singularly stupid troll attacked Dragonbait on watch their second night out from Shadowdale, but when the rest of the party woke up the troll was burning merrily on the fire. The next day, they lost several hours in the Elven Wood, hiding uncomfortably in a damp cave to avoid a large party of ores.
Their stay in the town of Voonlar was cut short when a sheriff's deputy's purse was found in Olive's room at the inn. Rather than arrest them, the deputy accepted an apology accompanied by the return of all his gold, thrice what could have possibly fit in the leather pouch. They also had to agree to leave town immediately. Alias was ready to throttle the halfling, but Olive argued her innocence so vehemently that the swordswoman believed her.
More than the loss of a night in clean sheets troubled Alias. There were rumors of a war to the east, and she hadn't had any time to confirm them.
They camped outside of town and continued toward Yulash in the morning. Twice that day the shadow of some great, flying beast crossed the sun, causing all the horses to panic and rear on their hind legs.
Still, Alias remained unperturbed. She felt that "they," the people who had branded her, had given up. There were no more disturbing dreams or giant monsters or assassins in black. The swordswoman was willing to bet that the kalmari in Shadow Gap had been their last card. I've passed out of their range, she assured herself. Only Moander is up here, and he's been locked up beneath Yulash.
By twilight they were in sight of the great mound on which the city of Yulash stood. The single hill sloped gently, resembling a giant shield lying face-up on the plain. According to Olive, once upon a time an individual standing in the highest citadel atop the crown of the hill could see the smoke rise from the dark furnaces of Zhentil Keep, and the fog roll off the shores of the Moonsea.
"One of the merchants in Shadowdale told me that the Yulashians could have seen the glow of fire when dragons destroyed Phlan, except they were being destroyed by dragons themselves at the time. A horde of them came down on the Dales two years back," Olive explained. "Destroyed one of Shadowdale's high-muckety witches."
"Sylune," Alias snapped.
"Yes. That was her name. Anyway, the dragons left Phlan and Yulash in ruins, killed all the rulers and mages, and scattered the commoners."
"Now Zhentil Keep forces occupy the rubble," Akabar reminded them. "Its altitude makes it a strategic location."
As the darkness settled, they could see there were fires on Yulash mound, punctuated by flashes of fireball and other magical flames.
"The war is at Yulash." Alias spat with annoyance.
"Hillsfar forces trying to take it away from the Zhentil Keep army stationed there," Akabar guessed.
The next day they traveled more cautiously as they passed great, burned stretches of overgrown fields, untended orchards completely shattered by lightning, and ridges of ground torn up by the claws of great beasts.
When piles of rusted weapons and rotted carrion began to dot the side of the roads, they dismounted and walked beside the