The temptation was great to give in to gravity's pull and run down the hillside beyond the ridge faster and ever faster, once I had gotten past the first especially steep drop at the edge. If we had been on a trip just for fun that is what I just might have done. Right now though behavior like that was out of the question. Recklessness like that probably would have given me away despite the spells I maintained to cloak myself. It would have given me away and might just have killed us all as well. Maybe not right here and now but quite possibly in the long run, if one of the guards would have managed to light one of the signal fires. Maybe another time though.

Instead of giving in to these urges I took every step with great care. This had the additional benefit that the slow and measured movements improved the effect of my Chameleon Skin spell. Going slow as I was it probably was almost as good as Invisibility. Picking my steps at times wasn't exactly easy though, especially as the moon shrunk further and the light available diminished ever more. The darkness of this almost new moon helped us hide from the enemy guards. At the same time it increased the danger of missing a step or sending some rocks tumbling down the mountainside in a noisy mess. I sent many silent prayers to the Moon Maidens as we descended.

Finally we reached the bottom of the pass in between the mountains and thus moderately even ground. We still had to watch our steps but we could speed up a little now. I did just that. I had no way to know how Eld'tide and our two other comrades did. They moved in utter silence and I didn't dare look over my shoulder to check on them. I had to trust in them and their skills. Only moments later we were upon the position where the signal fire had been set up. I slowed down again to survey my immediate surroundings and to allow my heart to calm down a little.

There was the pile of wood and kindling, drenched in oil. Once lit it probably would be visible for leagues. There were some amphorae with more oil stored nearby just in case. A little way off I could barely make out the contours of a primitive, low hut built from local stone. I could hear the snoring noise coming from that direction as well. Three, or more likely four people. It took me a little longer to make out the men that were actually on guard. No fires or torches gave them away. They had picked positions near boulders that would hide their outlines to a degree as well. There were two of them. Three watches of two during the night. Once morning came around they probably would be relieved by another group from the tower who would stand watch during daytime. A pretty decent arrangement overall.

As I stopped to carefully observe my surroundings I finally caught a first glance of my comrades. The two rangers were already closing in on the hut and Eld'tide was low on the ground readying her bow and two arrows. Good. I in turn crept closer to one of the two guards on watch. The human man wore blackened chain mail over a thickly padded gambeson. A pretty decent combination. His only mistake was the thickly padded hood he was wearing. It was matching the gambeson and probably kept his ears from freezing in the chill of the night. At the same time it impeded his hearing though. It didn't exactly help that his attention was mostly focused on the pass itself, especially the side leading down into human controlled lands. The other guard was watching the other direction. Neither of them paid much attention to the mountains to either side though.

I stopped dead in my tracks, as I smelled fire. It wasn't much, and it was hard to notice, especially as I wasn't taking deep breaths to not give myself away, but it was there. The tin contraption at his hip! He always kept one hand on it while his other rested on the hilt of his sword! It probably was some kind of oil lamp that could be kept lit at a low burn for long times without running out of fuel or burning the man wearing it. Clever! He'd probably only have to throw it at the oil drenched pile of wood and it would go up in a flash. I would have to mind that thing! No way around it.

I was almost in striking distance. No, actually, if I were to shift my grip on my weapon I might just be able to strike from where I stood. The result would be not as devastating as possibly though and I didn't want to trust in my weapon's wyvern poison property alone. It probably would kill him just fine even if I were to only scratch him, but I didn't feel like taking any chances. In this particular situation there just was no kill like overkill. For that reason I wouldn't strike at his center of mass either. I probably could punch through chain and the padded cloth below but the resulting wound might not kill the man quite fast enough.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I changed the angle of my strike slightly, aiming higher, at the gap between his padded hood and his body armor. I took a deliberate, slow but deep breath and sprung into motion. That startled my opponent into action as well, but he didn't get far. My aim was true and my powerful jab slipped into the gap between his head wear and the rest of his armor. The supernaturally sharp blade bit dip, cutting through flesh, one artery, two veins and his larynx. I could feel the edge of my weapon scrape along bone as it cut all the way to the spine.

The result was a mostly silent but bloody mess. He coughed up some blood and that was the only sound he made as I halfway separated his head from his body. The spray of blood that I caught face first was worse. Well, it was worse in the sense that it was damn annoying. I ignored best I could. Using the leverage provided by my weapon I wrested him around to make sure he would bury that lamp at his belt under his own body as he fell. Once he was down, only twitching weakly, as his heart started to fail due to the drastic blood loss, I let go of my weapon. Instead I drew my hunting knife to cut through his neck the rest of the way. A moment later the bloody deed was done.

The other guard was down as well, two arrows sticking out from his back, as he lay face down, while a third had penetrated his skull. I hadn't even heard Eld'tide loose them. While I still watched she was upon the downed man, cutting his throat as well for good measure. Everything was under control there. I shifted my attention to the hut where the rest of the guard detail had slept. There was the sound of a brief scuffle, then silence fell once again. Still I wrested my glaive free and got ready to deal with anyone coming back out of the hut, should it be anyone else but one of our two comrades. My gorgon friend probably was in a better position to deal with any problems, since she had a new arrow on her drawn string already, but I could manage a mean throw with my weapon as well, one that would be plenty deadly enough.

I needn't had worried though. The first thing to come out the low, door less entrance of the hut were four severed heads. Tortho's rangers had been rather through. I swallowed hard and relaxed slightly as the two left the building right afterwards. Neither of them seemed injured. As far as I could tell everything was well. At least here it was. I turned to look in the direction of the watchtower. I could hear the sounds of fighting from there. I tensed again. Had something gone wrong? Or was it just that there were more enemies there than here? No one lit the fire at the tower's top thus I could only assume that the situation was not entirely out of control.

I looked at the others and we spread out a little to intercept any stragglers from the towers that might try to flee in our direction. Eld'tide took up position where the guard she had taken down had stood, still with an arrow on her bow's string. I moved a little further towards the center of the pass where a well trodden path showed the way the enemy had taken. They probably still used it to get supplies to the tower. I slipped behind a tall stone next to it. The two rangers took up positions to either side of us to make sure no one could slip through unnoticed or at all.

I took a real deep breath for the first time in a while as I listened. For a little while everything was silent as the fighting at the tower came to a stop. The fire had still not been lit. I took that as a sign that we had won that battle as well. Then I could hear someone approach along the path though. Fast, heavy steps and hard breathing. Definitely not one of Tortho's scouts. Whoever it was, they would pass right by me. I got ready to strike. The others must have noticed as well but I didn't wait to see what they would do. I was tense as one of Eld'tide's bowstrings.

Then, just as his bumbling steps carried the fleeing man past my hiding spot I struck and I struck hard. I jabbed the blade of my weapon deep into the mans side, with all the force and momentum my considerably larger frame could produce. I could feel cloth, leather and chain links give as I struck true. Then my weapon cut through flesh and a whole lot of blubber into the poor fool's intestines. Two arrows struck him into the back before he could even go down for good. He was even too out of breath to scream. I wrinkled my nose and took a step back as a particularly nasty smell hit me. He might have voided his bowels or maybe it was the wyvern's poison eating through his intestines. I couldn't tell for sure. Either way it was nasty. I pulled my weapon free of his belly and jabbed it onto his throat instead.