We kept watch at the signal fire and the path passing near it until a messenger from Tortho arrived, to let us know that the watchtower had been secured and that there would be no other stragglers trying to make a run for it. There would be no more stragglers at all. The soldiers at the tower were all as dead as the ones that had been stationed here. Even then I didn't leave right away. Instead I only sent the messenger back with an update on the situation at our position, asking the captain to join me here instead once he was done for good over there.
As I waited the stars finally started to fade as the sky above turned blue and the sun finally rose above the horizon far in the east above the lands under the rule of the Council of Kings. I was looking out across them, standing a good distance from where they had gathered the dead of this secondary guard post to bury them in shallow graves under piles of heavy rocks, as I finally heard steps approaching me. They were the deliberate and deliberately sauntering steps of the dark elf scout captain. By now I was able to tell them apart from most of the others.
I waited for him to join me at this vista and even then I didn't speak right away. “Any losses or other things worth mentioning?” I turned slightly to look over at him. I expected no shocking news on either account. Sure, I couldn't rule out losses but I didn't expect them to be heavy. And the fight as a whole hadn't sounded like he had run into anything too unexpected. He probably hadn't had all that much trouble either. I asked anyway, just to make sure.
He grunted and rolled his shoulders. It looked like he was a little stiff after last night. I could relate. “Two wounded badly enough that they will probably take some time to recover and a handful of others with minor injuries.” He paused briefly and turned to look back at me. “I would like to send the latter back to Caer'zoth with the former. Hopefully at least some of them will be back to full health to rejoin the campaign with a supply caravan or on their own before long or at least before it is all over.”
“Mhm.” That sounded reasonable. Better they get a chance to recover properly now, even if their injuries weren't all that bad. “Make it so.” That wasn't all that was on my mind though. “What about the soldiers they had stationed here? What about their supplies? Will we have to expect a supply caravan of theirs to arrive anytime soon?”
He pondered my questions in silence for a moment or two before he answered. “The soldiers were a mix of the young and the old. Some of the former had no business pretending to be soldiers, to be honest. Too young. No fighting experience. Not much else either. It was the old ones that gave us the most trouble. But even hard earned experience can only make up for the passage of so many years.” He shook his head. “They probably were the ones they didn't want to have along for their raid. As for their supplies, they still had enough at the tower to last them a few days. Maybe more. I don't expect any more to arrive before our army can get here.”
He stretched from head to toes once and sat down on a rock to soak up some of the morning sun. He wasn't done yet. “I'm a little worried about their dead though. We stripped them of any iron worth mentioning, gathering it. It isn't much but I wouldn't let it go to waste anyway. The bodies though … we can't dig proper graves up here. They might attract carrion eaters soon.”
I could understand why that might trouble him. Carrion eaters like vultures or ravens circling above the pass in large flocks would give away what happened here as surely as any signal fire. I pointed towards the other end of the pass, the one descending into our lands, with my glaive. “Have the bodies dumped down a cliff facing out lands if you find no other way. Any carrion birds circling over there shouldn't be visible from human held lands.”
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He didn't look terribly comfortable with the idea but accepted it with a nod anyway. “I'll see it done. Anything else? Shall I send back what little loot we gathered so far with the wounded?”
“If they can carry it? Yes. Otherwise store it in the tower for the time being. Loot is nice but we can't let it slow us down. Not yet anyway.” Time still was of the essence after all. “Send a message back with the wounded as well. Or send one of the harpies ahead with it if you can part with one for the time being. I want the army to move up to the pass.”
He didn't move himself. Instead one of his rangers who had stopped a little distance away, but still well within earshot got moving. “Consider it done. What about the pass itself then? We will secure it until the army is here. But what about the time after?”
That was an important question. “Yes, we will secure it for now. We will use the tower.” I pointed back up at the ridge. “I want some sharp eyes back up there day and night as well though.” That wouldn't be a pleasant assignment. Not unless some semi permanent shelter like the rock hut here was constructed. The wind and the cold of night were worse up there, especially without any fires and the possibility to warm up by moving about. Bedrolls and a well camouflaged tent weighed down by rocks would be the bare minimum.
The seasoned scout seemed to agree with me though. “We can get a few archers up the other ridge as well. Together they should be capable of covering much of the pass and more eyes are always better than fewer.”
I snorted amused. “That is what we will do then. Once the army is here the trolls and giants might be able to improve the tower a little. Maybe with a wall blocking off most of the pass. I don't want to waste too much time on it though. We will leave a small garrison here to secure our supply line.” I turned to face back eastwards, the direction we would be heading once the army had caught up with us. “Our prize awaits somewhere down there, even if these lands don't look like much.” I could see a few smoke columns but none of them hinted at a village even remotely comparable to Caer'zoth or any larger settlement.
The dark elf captain let his gaze wander as well. “Yeah, it really doesn't look like much but maybe they will surprise us?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I'm not sure I want to see any surprises down there. I'm really not sure.”