Next morning we were all up early. We made a last breakfast with a kitchen at our disposal. We were just finished eating as someone knocked at the door.

“I’ll answer the door!” Loraline got to her feet.

She went to the door and opened.

“Good morning, Loraline!” Enleadir smiled at her with a curt bow.

“Good morning, come in!” she waved him in.

“These packages here are rations for your journey.” he waved at a stack of small packages beside the door.

“That looks much. I need some help!” Loraline grabbed as many of the packages and carried them inside.

We all went outside to fetch the rations. We managed to fill our backpacks completely with a few packages left. Loraline tied them to the side of the backpacks with some straps.

“I’m ready.” I had donned my backpack.

After a few moments we were all ready to go.

“We go to armory first.” Enleadir waved us out of the guest quarters.

It was still dawn and the trees were covered in deep shadows. We went down the ramp around the tree after crossing the hanging bridge. No one spoke on the way and soon we entered the inside of the tree again. We followed a few hallways and entered a large room filled with weapons, armors and shields. Most of the weapons were swords and bows, but there were a few other weapons as well in a corner.

“Take whatever you need, but consider you have to carry them all day for the time coming.” Enleadir leaned against a table next to the entrance.

“No plate armor then.” I started to stroll along the racks.

“These are the gambesons we made for you. They’re decent armor and quite light since they’re made from spidersilk.” He patted on the table next to him.

I looked at the armor available. Most of the metal armor would be better than the gambeson, but would add a decent amount of weight. Remembering the backpack on my back I set it down. A gambeson would give decent protection from cuts and impact, stabbing was an issue though, as with most armors.

“I’ll try the gambeson.” I went over to the table.

The garments were dyed light grey. I put on the gambeson. It was quite comfortable to wear and reached down over my knees. It was quite light for the thickness of the garment. Since it didn’t impend my movements much I decided to keep it.

My boots were made from sturdy leather an reached over the kneecaps in the front. They would protect my shins and feet well enough.

I added a light helmet to cover my head.

What weapon should I take. The axe had been nice to trip opponents, but it was a rather clumsy weapon. I needed something which was convenient to carry. Slowly I strolled along the racks.

The others had put on a gambeson as well.

“I’ll leave the chainmail for this, it’s much more comfortable to wear and much lighter.” Caroline made a roll forward.

In the end we all chose the gambeson for their superior weight.

Tilly had gotten herself a spear again. The reach of a spear was nothing to scoff at.

Milly had girded an arming sword and was looking at the shields now. Shields are a save guess, they help to keep oneself out of harms way.

Caroline joined Milly at the shield rack while Loraline was stringing various bows. She had a small sword at her hips.

We had Caroline and Milly with a shield for the front line. Tilly could support them from the back. Our magic wasn’t strong enough to rely on for a battle alone. Loraline was a capable archer, and the added strength she got from training would make her much more dangerous than before. A bow was muscle powered weapon after all.

I picked up a halberd. It was about one and half meters long. The haft was made from hardwood. Halberd were nice. They had a nice stabbing point like a spear, there was an ax head to one side and a nice sturdy spike at its back. The long haft would give quite some leverage. It was shorter than the spear though. I tested the weight and balance and decided to give it a try. The butt end was reinforced with a steel cap as well.

I went back to my backpack. Milly and Caroline had picked both wooden round shield, reminding me of the ones vikings had used.

Finally we were all done.

“Let’s meet the Lord and the Lady.” Enleadir opened the door of the armory again.

He led us to a room with a table surrounded by a couple of armchairs.

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back soon.” Enleadir waved at the armchairs and left the room again.

We put down our backpacks. I laid my halberd on my backpack. Then we sat down and waited for a while. Everyone was a bit nervous. We exchanged various glances, but nobody spoke.

A while later the door opened again. Lady Illurien and Lord Thyrian entered the room.

“Good morning!” We all jumped to our feet.

“Stay seated.” Lady Illurien sat down on a free armchair nodding at us.

“We won’t hold you back for long.” Lord Thyrian sat down next to her.

Enleadir followed them and stood behind the armchairs.

We sat down again.

“Since the control ring for your marks started to move steadily in our direction for a while it was time to decide about what to do with you. The council decided to let you go if you swear to keep the secret of this place to yourselves.” Lord Thyrian looked us in the eyes.

“We will keep your secret to the best of our ability.” Milly looked solemnly at Lord Thyrian.

“Then speak after me. I swear to keep the secret of this valley to myself.” he looked at us with a piercing gaze.

“I swear to keep the secret of this valley to myself.” We repeated.

“That should be enough.” Lady Illurien nodded at Lord Thyrian.

“I agree.” Lord Thyrian nodded back.

“Then I have some trinkets for you.” Lady Illurien pulled three necklaces and a small chest from her bag.

“Crossing the Claws towards the east will be daunting.” Lord Thyrian nodded.

“The necklaces shields the bearers of a slave marks from the pain the mark may cause to a degree. It’s nothing fancy. The necklaces will loose efficiency with use and its magic will eventually fade away. In this chest are some healing potions. They’re quite efficient, so try to use them sparingly.” She opened the chest and revealed a dozen small glass bottles.

“Thank you very much!” Milly smiled at her happily.

“Then we’re done here. We wish you a save journey.” Lord Thyrion raised to his feet.

“A save journey.” Lady Illurien raised to her feet as well.

They left the room. Tilly put the chest with the potions in her magical bag.

“Let’s get moving. We need to get up in the mountain. There are places to rest for the night we want to reach.” Enleadir looked at us expectantly.

We donned our backpacks again and left the house a few minutes later. Enleadir lead the way. We met no other elves this morning. After a while we trekked along what looked like an animal trail. We had to go in a line.

I used the halberd a bit like a walking stick, brushing away branches in my way. We spent most of the morning in the dense forest. Enleadir seemed to know his way. He never hesitated at branching tracks. It was just before noon as we stopped below a large fir growing next to a sheer cliff.

“We’ve to climb up the fir tree. Just follow me.” Enleadir started to climb the fir, quickly disappearing up the branches.

“Let’s go!” Milly started to climb after him.

I tied my halberd to my backpack. In the meantime Caroline and Loraline went up as well.

“First!” Tilly jumped up the lowest branch a few moments before me.

“Last but not least.” I grinned at Tilly.

We carefully climbed up the large fir for several meters. After a while Enleadir came into view. He waited at a large branch leading in the direction of the cliff.

“Just walk over the branch and pull yourself up to the edge of the cliff.” he smiled at Tilly.

“There are no rails!” Tilly observed.

“Can’t go by train, huh?” I pulled myself up the last few meters.

The branch was unusual strong, about 15 cm diameter.

“Will it hold my weight?” Tilly threw a annoyed glance.

“Beams of that size are used to build houses.” I patted Tilly’s shoulder.

“Here we go!” She started to balance over the branch and vanished between the foliage. After a few moments there was a vibration in the branch.

“It’s my turn then.” I looked at Enleadir.

“Go ahead.” he nodded at me.

Fortunately I trained balancing over things quite extensively. I reached the cliff after a few meters. The edge was about one and a half meters above. I pulled myself up and reached the top of the cliff without issue, freeing the edge of the cliff for Enleadir immediately.

The rim was covered in light mist for a few meters.

A few moments later Enleadir came over the edge of the cliff.

“Let’s make some distance from the entrace, then we can have a bit lunch. I think we will reach the place to spend the night in reasonable time.” he started to walk ahead.

We followed him closely. I removed the halberd from my backpack again. We walked about three quarters of an hours until we reached a place with some larger rocks sprawled at the base of scree ramp leading up to the mountain range. We were at the southeastern edge of the valley.

“We will reach the cliff at the top that scree ramp in the evening. There is a nice crack in the cliff to rest for night. Tomorrow we will reach the crest of the range between those two mountains. The day after I lead you through the challenging part down in the next valley. We will part ways on the next morning.” Enleadir pointed up the mountains in front of us.

We had some cold lunch sitting on the rocks.

“I didn’t remember that the backpacks were so heavy.” Tilly whined.

“You’ll get used to them in a day or two.” I massaged my shoulders.

“I hope so.” Milly groaned.

“They’re getting lighter over time.” Loraline chuckled.

We continued our way up the scree ramp for the whole afternoon. It was near dusk when we reached a small crack in the cliff which widened up after a few paces. There was enough space to sleep for all of us. We had dinner after we set up our camp.

“I take care of the watch. Elves don’t sleep as humans do.” Enleadir made himself comfortable near the entrance.

“We can do our part as well.” Milly objected.

“You can. I can rest when I get back home, so it won’t hurt. In addition you were climbing all the way up with your backpacks. I don’t have much heavy luggage.” he smirked at her.

“Okay.” She seemed satisfied.

We fell asleep quickly after dinner.

The next day we spent climbing up the mountain for the whole day. Enleadir knew the way which spared us detours. Actually the path we took felt like it was used occasionally. A while after dawn we entered a crevice. We followed the crevice for a few meters and stopped in front of a sheer rock face

“This is an old dwarven outpost. It was abandoned centuries ago. Most dwarves live to the east now.” Enleadir pressed against a stone protrusion and a part of the rock face gave way into the mountain.

We walked along a small corridor with murderholes in the arched ceiling. The door closed behind us after a few meters.

“The entrance can be locked from within. We’re probably on our own tonight.” Enleadir opened a second door at the end of the passage. After we entered he closed the door again and latched the second door behind us.

He went to some crystals in the wall and filled them with magic. They started to fill the community room with a large stone table with long benches in a warm yellow light.

There was a staircase up next to the entrance. A passage lead to the left while a worn wooden door was in the center of the right wall.

“There are a rooms for the night to the right and there’s a simple kitchen to the left. The stairs lead to the barbican and some lookouts to observe the surrounding area.” Enleadir leaned against the table with his back.

We put down our backpacks and sat down at the table.

“Let’s have a simple dinner.” Milly started get something to eat from our backpacks.

“There is a small well in the kitchen.” Enleadir sat down beside us as well.

We started to eat. I got two jugs with water from the kitchen. The well wasn’t really deep and I could get some water with a bucket that stood next to the well. Loraline fetched a few plates.

“Tomorrow we will start to decent into the valley beyond. I’m staying for the night and will leave in the morning.” Enleadir explained while we were having dinner.

“Let’s clean up and head to bed.” Milly yawned and looked at the door leading to the rooms.

“We should setup a vigil.” I started to collect the plates on the table.

“There shouldn’t be anything dangerous around, but it’s certainly wise to do so. I’m going to check the lookouts.” Enleadir nodded at me getting to his feet.

“May I accompany you?” I got to my feet as well.

“As you wish. We have to take the stairs.” Enleadir headed to the stairs.

I followed him. The staircase ended in the room on the upper side of the murder holes.

We passed the room and there was a small crevice from which the outside of the outpost could be monitored.

“Why is the outpost empty?” I looked down the crevice.

“It’s not manned permanently, it’s just a convenient place to sleep for a night or two. This high up in the mountains there are few monsters, most of them live in the valleys, especially the slopes.” Enleadir pointed at a passage at the wall.

We walked down the passage for a few and reached a small chamber witch was partially open to the rocky valley in front of the outpost. Another passage lead along the cliff’s face. There was nothing moving on the outside. When all the lookouts were manned it would be difficult to approach unnoticed. The moons shed a pale light over the mountain range. I even saw the small purple moon, which was visible to south between two peaks.

“We will part ways tomorrow without much of a chance to meet again.” I leaned against the wall focusing on the outside.

“We will. Your future is going to be ... interesting ... and dangerous though.” Enleadir stepped beside me looking out as well.

“It’s not easy to make new friends in such a situation.” I furrowed my brows.

“Your only chance to survive is to move. Your stay here was just a blink of an eye. Without those slave marks the situation would have been different, but on the other hand humans die so soon.” Enleadir shook his head.

“That’s a problem as well. Did I ever ask you how old you are?” I gave him a curious look.

“Old enough, Lilly. While we are not immune to a violent death we life for quite a while. My father is one of the oldest among us.” he winked at me.

“Elves an humans are quite different.” I sighed and focused on my feet.

“They are. It’s not only the age, but that’s quite a barrier. I’d like to get to know you more, but there isn’t much time for that.” he put his hand under my chin and gently pushed it up.

“I would have liked to try it as well I think. There is no way plan for the future being on the run though. I still like you.” I looked in his eyes.

“I will remember you fondly as well. Maybe we meet again, but we may have changed quite a bit then.” he solemnly looked back at me.

I blushed. There’s probably no way to meet again. The most probable was that I would simply die at some point.

“Time will tell. I’ll try to stay alive as long as I can.” I tried a small smile.

“Time will tell, Lilly. It may be another place and under other circumstance, but maybe we find some time to get to know each other a bit more than the last months.” He gave me a solemn look.

“Let’s go back for the others. There’s not much to see here.” I started to head back to the outpost.

We headed to bed. I was a bit dejected, but maybe it was the best to not pursue this in the first place. There may be no next time, but fate wasn’t on our side.

The night passed without anything special happening.

The next morning we left the outpost early and after we crossed the rocky plain between the two peaks Enleadir led us down into the next valley. We walked many ledges and had to climb at many a point, but we reached a larger piece of ledge a few meters above a scree ramp in the evening.

“There are multiple ways to go towards the east. I’d propose the valley leading east in front of us. It’s not inhabited by humans since the terrain is rather rough and not suited for agriculture. There will be all kind of monsters ahead though. The population changes over time and you have to find out what lives there at the moment. I’d advise to avoid fights as good as you can as they will slow you down to a degree and there are passes ahead where your enemy could try to intercept you. The more time you give them the better they will be prepared.” he looked east.

“Going south would mean to enter the empire, we won’t do that. The northern valley has settlements where they may have agents. They all will we informed by now. We could try to scale the ranges themselves, but the terrain is much worse than the bottom of the valley, as long as there are no paths to follow.” I leaned against the rock face.

“When do we reach the area around Soltan?” Tilly looked at me curiously.

“Since we don’t have a carriage and roads it will be over a month I think.” I stretched my arms and yawned.

“That’s quite a while.” Milly looked east along the valley as well.

“As long as we keep moving it’s fine. We have to hole up through the winter though. It’s quit harsh in the mountains.” Caroline started to get ready for the night.

“We go as far as we can get, but we won’t rush either. We don’t want to be the ones ambushed.” I got my bedroll from my backpack as well.

“I’ll do the watch.” Enleadir nodded at us and started to focus on the surroundings.