He covered his nose and mouth with tattered, dirty cloth and
urged the warhorse to move at a quicker pace. That their
loved ones had left these poor shells to rot did not bother
him. Now was a time to take care of the living, to help those
still with the breath of life within them. The dead were in no
hurry.
The light began to fade as the sun, hidden by clouds,
plunged closer toward its own death. Garrick eyed the huts
in this region. Unlike those he had passed shortly before,
these were more or less whole. Knowing them to be
contaminated, though, he could not bring himself to rest in
one. He dared not rest, anyway. Each moment was as
precious to him as if it were his last.
The woods came into view less than an hour later,
marking the beginning of the pass even before the great
ridges that stood to each side. Garrick blinked, rather
surprised that he had made it this far. That in itself was a
miracle. He gave thanks to Paladine and suddenly felt warm
all over.
The first trees were little more than stumps. This part
of the forest had been raped by the desperate villagers.
Panic had finally taken over at some point. To one side was
a small stack of firewood. A little farther, a tree stood with
its trunk chopped half through. Idly, Garrick wondered if
the woodsmen had fled because of plague or because of the
approaching horde.
Auron was hesitant to enter the woods and would do so
only after much persuasion. Garrick frowned. The warhorse
was not prone to hesitancy. The knight put one hand on the
hilt of his sword, but did not draw it. With more urging, he
managed to get the horse to move at a reasonable pace.
The woods were deathly silent. No birds, no ground
creatures. Not even the faintest hint of a breeze. Auron
snorted. Garrick tightened his hold on the sword. He
searched for but did not find any trace of draconian activity
in the woods. The feeling of death was in the air, though. It
was as if animal life had abandoned this area to the Queen.
Even the trees seemed to have given up; many were
obviously dying – another sign of things to come should the
armies of darkness emerge triumphant.
He rode on. The night air cooled his burning head. He
forgot some of his pain. To either side, the ridges grew
higher and higher. Garrick pulled his mount to a halt
momentarily and picked out a likely spot on one ridge.
Auron snorted and would not move. The animal had given
more than most and had finally reached its limit. Even its
training could not overcome such exhaustion.
Garrick patted the animal gently and dismounted.
Leaving the horse to rest, he made his way to the ridge top.
It was steep but by no means impassable. Discarding some
of his heavier equipment, the knight made progress.
He thanked Paladine that it was not a long climb. The
campfires became visible just after he had cleared the tops
of the trees. Further in, the pass sank deeply, giving him a
much better view of the region than he had hoped. Seeing
the vast number of fires, Garrick knew he had located the
Queen’s forces. They had dared to settle in an area where
they could easily have been trapped if there had existed an
army to trap them. The northern garrison, of course, was too
small. All other resistance had been crushed. The
commander of the army had a right to be confident.
Tomorrow they would head through the pass and into
the unprotected lands. It would not take them long to reach
the garrison then. The battle would be even shorter.
Once more, he wished that Standel had survived rather
than he. Standel would have looked at the massed forces
and scoffed. He would have organized, would have planned.
Garrick had only a few wild ideas and a hope that Paladine
would grant him the chance.
His head pounding, Garrick returned to his mount. The
horse was grazing peacefully. He saw no reason to disturb