The Doom of Kings_ Legacy of Dhakaan - Don Bassingthwaite [48]
They emerged from the tunnel and onto the open trade road into sunlight so bright that Geth had to shade his eyes. When he’d blinked away the brightness, he let out a low whistle of amazement.
The Seawall Mountains rose above them. Without the bulk of Sterngate obscuring the view, Geth had a sudden feeling that the massive peaks might fall down from the sky to crush him. Adding to that sense of oppressive height was the barrenness of the slopes close to Sterngate. For perhaps two hundred paces or more from the fortress’s walls, the ground had been swept clear of trees and bushes. In their place was a labyrinth of ditches and embankments that made the earthworks protecting the lightning rail station look like the diggings of a child. The only easy path was along the road.
“All to keep Darguuls out of Breland?” Geth asked Chetiin over his shoulder.
“Cyre wasn’t the only nation to lose territory in the creation of Darguun,” said the goblin. “By that point in the war, Breland had been in possession of Marguul Pass and lands east of the Seawall for more than twenty years. Haruuc’s uprising left the Brelish frightened—and their defeat at the Battle of Marguul Pass in 970 frightened them even more. They’re still scared.”
“Do they need to be?”
“That depends on how successful you are.”
Geth grimaced.
Some time around mid-day they left the defenses of Sterngate behind and entered Marguul Pass itself. Steep slopes and ravines surrounded the constantly climbing road—hostile terrain to try to ride, let alone march, through. Side tracks that looked like they had been worn into the rock and thin soil over centuries wandered off from the road to vanish into the rugged landscape. Occasionally, the side paths seemed to split off from the road, trace around the far side of a hill or outcropping, then return to the main road. In more than one spot, cobbles displaced by time poked out through the dirt of these looping paths like broken teeth. With Chetiin dozing behind him, Geth stared at the strange side paths each time they appeared, trying to figure out why they were there.
Eventually, Ekhaas caught him staring and supplied an answer. “Marguul Pass has been one of the major routes through these mountains since the earliest days of my people,” she said. “When House Orien built the trade roads, they followed older roads laid down by the Empire of Dhakaan. The side loops mark the places where humans went through when Dhakaani went around.”
“Some of these side paths look like roads of their own,” said Ashi. “They don’t come back.”
“They are roads. Dhakaani lived in the mountains as well as in the lowlands. Often they lived beneath the mountains too. Some of the people who still live in the mountains use the old roads when they come this way. Look there.” She pointed along one of the paths that wound into the brush on a hillside. “That leads to the remains of a cliff-town that was once Kaal, where nobles of the empire went to bathe in healing springs.”
Geth shaded his eyes and peered into the distance. Far away, he thought he could see what looked like worn blocks carved out of the living rock of an exposed rock face. “Grandmother Wolf,” he said. “Is that it?”
Ekhaas nodded, but, riding behind them, Midian coughed discreetly. “It’s not Kaal,” he said.
Ekhaas’s face darkened and her ears rose. “It is Kaal,” she said. “The Kech Volaar have records of it. One of the emperors of Dhakaan even maintained a palace there. There’s a famous song written by one of his wives about the view from the baths in the cliff-side.”
“Maybe he kept a palace at a place called Kaal, but that’s not it.” The gnome kept his voice polite. “I don’t know about this song, but in my experience, descriptions of historic views are notoriously vague. Whatever view your song describes could probably match dozens of places in these mountains. Those ruins are old, no question, but they were built after the fall of the empire as a warlord’s stronghold. The design confirms it.