Tiriel took the lead and led us back along the road Thord and I had come. We didn’t see any more grimbears, and thankfully no sign of that monster elephant. When we reached the northbound road we turned right and followed it towards the end of the valley.

When we’d passed the last half-collapsed building Tiriel fell back and motioned to me.

“Peter,” she said, giving me a quizzical look. “I am not angry with you. It was good that we discovered that the sword is real. It makes things much easier.” She saw my raised eyebrows and added, “It means a dragon heart amulet will lead us to it.”

“Okay,” I said. “Wait, you mean... killing a dragon is easier now, after all?”

“No! she giggled. “That’s the most dangerous and difficult thing we could do! We might not even succeed. But if we do, we now know we will find the sword!” She jumped straight up and clapped her hands together.

“Isn’t that... extremely dangerous too?”

“Oh yes! I actually have no idea, but from the stories it seems like it’s completely crazy, if it’s so powerful it can blow up a battle mage. But if we weren’t sure the sword is real we might kill the dragon in vain, or be killed in vain. And there may be no way to stop the war. There will be others with the same plan as Lecander.” She shrugged.

“Oh,” I said.

“The problem back there,” she went on, “was that - well, my brother is the Elven King, and he wants me to stop the war and not add more conflicts. If you and Thord had been brought back they might have cut off relations with the Kingdom.”

“I... I’m sorry. It wasn’t planned.”

“I know it wasn’t!” she grinned. “It should have been, that’s the problem! Serah said she wanted to go there, and then you two went there. Next time, I want you to tell me what you want to do and tell me I’m wrong if I stop you.”

I frowned at her. “I don’t understand,” I admitted. “Aren’t you our leader?”

“Yes I am!” she said and pirouetted. “And my word is law!” She crossed her arms and gave me that haughty regal look. “But I’m wrong literally all - the - time, and that’s why I have you in the party.” She waved towards all of us. “Can you imagine how it would end if I tried to do this myself!”

She laughed happily at my baffled expression.

“Good! I can see you understand but are confused! That’s good! Just tell me I’m wrong. Please?”

She cocked her head and set off that blazing smile at me. I smiled helplessly back and nodded.

“Sure. I’ll tell you every time you’re wrong. But not more than once per minute.”

She laughed again and pirouetted.

“Perfect! Let’s talk about something else now. Do you have mountains where you come from?”

“Yes, we do. We have many different mountain ranges.”

“And are you sure there are no elves there?”

“I’ve never heard about it, or seen. Back home, they say elves live in the forests.”

“In the forests! I would like to see that! Do they build their castles above the trees or among them then?”

I laughed at her, and tried to explain that elves didn’t exist except in stories. She refused to believe it - of course there had to be elves!

We kept discussing my peculiar elf-less home world as we walked, until after a few hours we crested a hill and saw a tall waterfall in the distance.

“I suggest a break,” Arndrir said, “and a choice. Tiriel, which way do we go? I haven’t been here, but I know there are stairs in the rock beside the waterfall and a path up over the hillside over there.” He pointed to the right, where I could just make out a faint track switch-backing its way up the steep grassy slope.

“Yes, the path to Cammerdal!” Tiriel said happily. “It’s an elven town,” she added, glancing at me, “the one closest to the human lands. It only has a small castle.” She stared across the valley. “I want to go there, but it is a three day trek across the empty plateau.”

“I’m not sure we have enough provisions,”Arndrir said. Tiriel nodded.

“I hoped we could buy some more in Ruula, and also some mountain gear, but we couldn’t stay long enough for that.” She gave me a mock-stern look. “The road ahead goes up past the waterfall and through a deep ravine. It’s a great place for ambushes! It leads to Davorra, a human mountain town. We can buy provisions and equipment there.”

“Which is better for dragon hunting?” Thord asked.

Tiriel glanced at Arndrir, who replied.

“It doesn’t matter much. They roam across the mountains as they wish, but usually higher up. We’ll need to climb a bit before we set the trap.” He glanced back at Tiriel.

“Davorra,” she decided, and glanced at me with narrowed eyes.

“That sounds right,” I told her. “Very wise decision.”

She laughed and clapped her hands together. “Everyone, look in your packs if we have any extra tasty morsels left! The climb to the ravine is tiring.”

I stared in awe at the waterfall as we approached. It was huge - it must have been a few hundred meters tall - with four or five streams of water cascading over black rocks, sending sprays of mist into the air and seeping into the valley. The road led straight up towards it, to the pool at the foot of the fall. Just before it we plunged into the roiling fog the road turned sharply left, and disappeared into a dark tunnel. We stopped right inside the mouth and huddled together, to be heard over the thundering noise of the water.

“There are stairs in the rock,” Tiriel shouted. “They are narrow and twisty and slippery. Be careful! I will go first if we meet anyone. Caveria, walk behind me, then Serah.”

We continued into the tunnel and emerged into a rock gallery leading in behind the waterfall. The torrent made it completely impossible to talk or see much in there, but we passed it without incident and arrived at the stairs.

The steps were wide enough for two persons to meet, and were rather tall even for me. I tried to ask Thord if the dwarves had built this, but his gestures seemed to say it was built by humans. The stairs climbed along the rock face, with occasional low rock spires as a kind of railing, but for the most part it was open to the sky. I hoped that would change later on, when we got higher.

Tiriel had been right - it was tiring. We climbed and climbed, with the stairs going back and forth across the cliff. At each end they turned into the rock and around a stone pillar, before emerging again above the level below. Unfortunately for me the builders hadn’t added a safety railing, and as we got higher I had to force myself to look at the stairs and the people in front, rather than the view over the valley.

It took us a few hours to reach the top, and my legs burned when we finally did. The stairs ended just a few meters from the top of the waterfall, where the rushing river leapt over the edge and dove into the valley. The rock thrummed from the force of the water.

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We were at the end of a deep, narrow ravine cutting through black rock, with the river flowing through its center. I could see the sky above, but it must have been almost a hundred meters or so. It was a spooky place and I was glad when Tiriel beckoned us to move away from the ledge.

“This is the Castralii Gorge,” she said. “It is only a few kilometers but it is dangerous. There are many holes and crevices where bandits and monsters can lurk, so we must be careful. I will climb up and scout ahead from above.” She looked at each of us in turn. “It is better to move through it quickly, if we can. We do not want to spend the night here.”

Nobody argued, and I was too tired to joke about right or wrong decisions. Tiriel went up and exchanged a few words with Serah, and then she climbed - straight up the wall.

I’d seen her climb trees so I shouldn’t be surprised, but she was even faster on the rock. She was gone in an instant, and then we heard her whistle from ahead.

“Ready?” Arndrir asked. We nodded, although I could have used a short rest. A few kilometers should be fine, though.

We had gone very far when we heard a high keening call from ahead - Tiriel warning us. We split into pairs, Thord and Arndrir in front and Caveria and I at the rear, with Serah in the middle. I tried to see Tiriel somewhere up on the wall, but couldn't. I hoped she was perched somewhere up there with her bow ready, if needed.

The path curved slightly, and behind a rock pillar it widened beside what looked like a natural cave. Three men with swords stood in the opening, looking tense. There were more people behind them, including a few children.

Arndrir stopped and held up his hands. "Hallo," he called. "We are passing by and do not wish to fight."

The men exchanged looks, and one of them lowered his sword.

"Hallo," he said. "Apologies, but we dare not assume anything. We were attacked earlier, without warning."

"Bandits?" Arndrir asked.

The man shook his head. "I am not sure. They did not rob us and did not seem to want to kill us. They came out of the woods in the valley and charged us with drawn swords. We fought back, and suddenly they laughed and ran off."

"Very strange," Arndrir said. "Are you heading for Ruula?"

"Yes," the man responded. "We have been forced to leave our farm - it was taken by soldiers. We hope to find work in the mines, rather than watch the soldiers destroy our farm."

A small movement caught my eyes. Tiriel had climbed noiselessly down the cliff and was now sitting twenty meters up, watching attentively with narrowed eyes. The men in the cave mouth hadn't seen her.

"We made camp here," another man said, "rather than risk darkness during the descent. The small ones aren't so fast." He gestured towards the children.

"That's wise," Arndrir said, but I stopped listening and stared at one of the children, a small boy. He was fiddling with a toy. It looked like a rounded wooden block, with four wings - one on each side. As I watched he threw it into the air. The wings flapped - three of them. It looked like an arm on the fourth one was broken. The thing keeled over and sank to the ground, wings flapping frenetically. The boy picked it up and scowled at it.

The adults were still talking to Arndrir, and I took a few steps towards the boy and went down on one knee.

"Hey," I said. "Can I see that? Is it broken?" I smiled in the friendliest way I could.

He stared at me, and for a moment he looked scared. Then he looked hopeful, and walked over to me.

"It can't fly," he said and held it out to me. I took it and turned it over. It was fascinating - just the round block and four wings. They looked like bird wings, except they were symmetrical. Each wing was attached with three arms, connected through an articulated joint. The upper one was broken - no, it wasn't, it had just worked loose from the joint. That would make the wing useless. I peered at the joint. Yes, the pin holding the wing had fallen out.

It should be easy enough to repair, if I had anything useful... I dug through my pockets, there should be something. There. A nail, with a flat head. I coaxed the arm back into the joint and pushed the nail into it. The head secured it from one end, and for the other, I tapped it gently against a stone to bend the sharp end of the nail.

I pulled experimentally at the arm. It seemed to be enough. I handed the toy back to the boy. "Try again," I told him.

He looked dubiously at it, but threw it into the air. The wings began flapping, and - it worked, the toy held steady, wings beating rhythmically. The boy laughed with joy, and I probably looked as happy as he did. What an amazing toy - I'd never seen anything like it. The boy beamed at me and I nodded back, trying to look like a competent and friendly adult.

The toy flapped above him and he held it in a string. He ran back into the cave, with the toy flapping after him.

I rose and turned to find the others were all watching me.

"Oh, uh, hi," I said to the leader of the swordsmen. "I thought I could maybe help. It was a small thing." I stepped back to the others. Serah was grinning at me and Thord nodded approvingly.

"Thank you," the man said gravely. "He has been very displeased with it. Our travels will now be much smoother." He nodded and broke into a grin. "Thank you!"

We said farewell and wished them good luck. I glanced up towards Tiriel, but she was already gone, to scout further ahead as we continued through the ravine.

"What was that toy?" I asked Thord. "I've never seen anything like that."

"An elvish thing," he said. "It's enchanted with their air magic so it can fly."

Air magic. Not quite a helicopter, then.

We didn’t meet anyone else in the gorge, whether friend or enemy. The strange attackers hadn't followed, at least. It was a relief to get out of the dark, narrow gap into a wide valley. The sides weren’t very steep, but sloped up fairly gently from the grassy floor up into rock and gravel fields.

We took a break in the shadow of the cliffs.

“Davorra is only a few hours away. We should be there by nightfall,” Tiriel said as we rested our tired feet and legs. “Great work everyone!”

Just as we got up to continue, several things happened at the same time. Caveria suddenly called out loud, before spinning around and sprinting behind us. She threw a thin wall of fire into the air, blocking several fireballs shooting towards us.

“Rocks!” Arndrir shouted and pointed. Three huge rocks came crashing towards us. I half drew my sword, before realizing how stupid that would be.

“This way!” Arndrir called. “Caveria, look out!” She grunted in reply as she blocked a volley of fireballs seeming to drop on us from above.

Tiriel stayed with her as the rest of us ran deeper into the valley. I stopped and turned, and to my relief I saw them jumping easily out of the way of the rocks.

“More rocks!” Arndrir shouted. Now there were twenty of them, and from the other slope too. I tried to see where they were coming from - this couldn’t be natural.

A sudden roar from behind made us whirl around. Three large men with swords were rushing towards us from the trees, and a smaller one, seemingly unarmed. He split off from the others and seemed to try to encircle us.

“Caveria!” Arndrir called as he and I drew our swords and Thord drew his axe. I glanced behind me, and saw Tiriel leap over the rolling rocks towards us, while Caveria shot into the sky on pillars of flame. She wasn’t alone - someone else did too, from the slope above the ravine.

Dammit, not that Lecander guy again! There was nothing I could do about that except worry, so I turned back to face the three swordsmen.

“Peter, to the left!” Serah called to me. I looked and saw the smaller man running flat out towards me. He seemed to be heading for me, but he was unarmed. It seemed weird, but I moved away slightly from Thord, to get more space. They would be three against two, at least until Tiriel came into bow range, but I should dispatch my attacker quickly enough. I turned towards him and readied my sword.

He threw himself on the ground and slid toward me on his belly. I wasn’t ready for that and just slashed ineffectually in the air above him. Then he grabbed my foot and pulled.

It wasn’t a very strong pull, but my leg just buckled and I fell. The man climbed over me and took hold of my wrist. He had a horrible, cold grip, and my arm went limp. His other hand tried to reach my head, and I dropped my sword and struck his head instead.

“What the...” he panted. “What’s blocking me...”

My arm was getting cold and limp as I beat at his other hand to keep it away from my head.

“Peter!” I heard Serah shout, but I was too busy. Suddenly a fireball landed just behind me, and I heard someone - Thord? - curse loudly. I realized they were fighting the swordsmen, and I got angry at this small, strange man. I pulled my leg up and tried to kick him in the stomach. As I did, I noticed something felt warm against my own stomach. Blood? The bastard had stabbed me?

He let go of my wrist and pushed hard at my chest, pinning me to the ground. Bad move, I thought, I’m stronger than you. He whistled loudly. Another fireball landed behind me, and another, and then somebody landed beside me in a cloud of flame. Caveria! I thought.

It wasn’t Caveria. It was another battle mage, who looked down at me coldly and threw a net over me and the my attacker both. The small man grinned and threw himself to the side, pulling me with him into the net. The mage threw it over us, and then took hold of it in both hands.

He rose back into the air, taking the net and us with him. I flailed desperately as the ground fell away. The small man rolled over me and finally got his hands on my head. The last thing I remembered was his triumphant grin as he took a firm grip on my head. Then everything went dark.