As the first light of morning appeared, Elysia watched warily as Frey inspected the rubble of the ancient stone arch. The stench of stale air and rotting bones rising from within nauseated him. She turned to look down the mountain, where the surviving outcasts were setting up funeral pyres from the remains of the chariots to cremate the dead. Nobody wanted to bury them so close to the mountains.
Elysia heard Frey growl with fierce satisfaction, and she turned around again. Frey was expertly running his hand over the broken stones, on the surface of which the engraved runes formed a faint web, and then he raised his eyes and gave her a wild smile.
"There is no doubt, catgirl; the runestones that guarded the entrance were split from the outside."
Elysia looked at him as suspicion washed over him. She felt enormous fear.
"Looks like someone has given the Von Deyl Curse a hand." she whispered.
♦ ♦ ♦
Rain poured down from the gray sky. The carriage rattled south; Beside him, the River ran at full speed towards its mouth, and the flow, increased by the rain, constantly threatened to overflow the banks. Elysia swung her reins, and the oxen ducked her head and redoubled their effort to move forward over the muddy ground.
Beside her, Krisvel sneezed. Like almost everyone else, she was pale and sickly looking. The strain of the long journey and worsening weather had made them vulnerable to disease.
The road had become endless; they had the feeling that they had been traveling forever and that they could never rest. Even knowing that someone in the entourage had set the undead free was no longer unsettling; certainty had faded to cold suspicion when she failed to discover who was responsible.
Elysia gave Frey an accusing look, as she hoped that Krisvel's sneeze would provoke the usual rude comments about human frailty; but the dark hero was silent and stared up at the Mountains with an expression so determined that it was unusual even for him.
"What are you looking for, Sir Frey?" Krisvel asked Frey.
Frey, however, did not turn around and continued to look wistfully at the scenery. At first he gave the impression that Frey wasn't going to reply, but then he pointed to the silhouette of a cloud-shrouded mountain.
"This place." he said he. "Reminds me of home."
He spoke in the sweetest voice Elysia had ever heard from him, and the nostalgia he oozed broke her heart.
Frey turned to look at them, and there was such a look of mute misery on his face that Elysia had to look away from her. Frey's crimson cloak was wet and wrinkled from the rain. Krisvel reached out and adjusted his cloak the way a woman might have done with his mistress.
Frey tried to frown at her fiercely, but he couldn't keep it up and just smiled sadly. Elysia wondered if Frey hadn't come this long way just to get that fleeting glimpse of the mountain, and then she realized that a drop of water was about to detach from the lower end of Frey's helmet; it could be a tear or just a drop of rain.
♦ ♦ ♦
"We can't leave them yet." Frey said as he looked directly at Elysia's eyes.
Elysia turned to look at the dilapidated fortified mansion they had found. They could see the smoke coming out in plumes from the chimneys of the newly converted building.
"Why not Frey? They've found an unowned area, arable land, and the ruins of that old fortress. It won't take too much work to defend it. Besides, you know I don't like humans."
"Elysia, we are about four weeks from the point where the river meets the sea. In these mountains live tribes of greenskins, harpies, maybe even Wyvers and who knows what else."
"I already know that, Frey. We will have to go through the mountains to find the ancient dwarf fortress."
"I know, but we can't leave yet. You saw the bodies we found in the mansion; their bones had been broken to remove the marrow. The walls are burned, and Dieter has seen the tracks of goblin wolf riders around. The place is not defensible now, but with our help, with my help, I can make it defensible."
"Why do you think you would be able to do something?" Elysia asked as she arched an eyebrow.
"Because my specialty is defense, I have the knowledge and ability to work with stone and make fortifications."
Elysia turned to look thoughtfully at the mansion. She seemed like she was analyzing the state of the building; she frowned at the dire state of the structure.
"I dont know." she said at last. "Perhaps not even a master craftsman can fortify this place. He is old, very old."
"I can do it. I know it is possible."
"Perhaps. But it will take you a lot of time."
"Maybe, but I'm sure the baron will pay us handsomely for our services."
Elysia sniffed suspiciously.
"The figure had better be higher than what he pays for adventurers."
"Follow me." Frey said with a wide smile. "Let's go find out."
♦ ♦ ♦
Unable to fall asleep, Frey silently got up, and put on his armor without making a sound because he didn't want to wake up Krisvel. He gently wrapped her in the cloaks they used as blankets to keep her warm, then placed a light kiss on her forehead. She moved, but without waking up; so she took the sword, which was by the entrance of the hut, placed her helm on her head, and went out into the cold night air. "Winter is coming." she thought as she watched her breath condense.
In the moonlight, she walked through the cluster of shacks that nestled in the lee of the new wooden walls that surrounded the mansion. He felt at peace for the first time in a long time, and even the night noises of the camp were reassuring. The fortress had been completed before the first snows, and it seemed that the settlers would have enough grain to last through the winter and plant a new crop in the spring.
He listened to the lowing of the cattle and the measured steps of the sentinel who walked along the top of the wall. He looked up and saw that a light was still shining in the window of Manfred's room; then she thought of his twisted fate. "I never would have imagined that I would settle for a long period in a fortified village on the edge of nowhere. I wonder what my companions in the Castle would think if they could see me now. They would probably die of laughter." Frei smiled.
The truth was that it was exciting to be in this place. He was overwhelmed by that feeling you get when something is about to start, because the community was still taking shape. "I could have a role as a member of the group." he thought. "This can be a perfect place to start a new life."
Somewhat melancholy, Frey looked to the East; towards the place where Damenburg castle possibly stood and then looked around. "I can't, I have a mission to accomplish. Maybe someday."
He continued toward the guard tower, where he knew Elysia was. Catgirl couldn't sleep; she was restless and ready to leave the place. Because of that, she spent her nights standing guard in the tower that Frey had designed.
Frey climbed the ladder and went through the trapdoor that opened in the floor of the guard room. He found Elysia staring into the darkness of the night. Though Frey's arrival made her nervous.
"You can't sleep either, right? cat girl."
Frey moved forward to stand next to the catgirl, and they both stood looking out over the outer wall, a moat lined with sharp stakes surrounding it. The only easy entrance was the land bridge that overlooked the tower they were on.
"Frey..."
"Yes, cat girl? You have something to tell me?"
"You have done a good build." Elysia commented, and the dark hero looked down at Elysia and gave her a confident smile from under her helmet.
"I never would have imagined that you would be able to design, plan and build this type of structure. How did you learn to do it?"
"I told you, didn't I? My specialty is defense, I have knowledge of how to defend a location and how to fortify a building."
"Well I must admit you've done a great job, this tower looks like it will be able to stand for generations."
"We'll find out soon enough." Frey replied as he pointed towards the outside of the fortress.
When Elysia looked where Frey was pointing, she paled due to fear.
The fields were filled with goblin wolf riders. At that time, Frey handed Elysia a horn to sound as an alarm.