The Treasured One

‘That would keep the army eating for a while, I suppose.’

‘Our troops will be going up there anyway, and carrying supplies while they’re climbing up would be more useful than looking at the scenery, don’t you think?’

‘Where did you find somebody clever enough to string all those ropes up through that pass, Danal?’ Gunda asked, staring up the steep gully.

‘It was a young fellow named Keselo, I think,’ Brigadier Danal replied.

‘I should have guessed that, I suppose,’ Gunda admitted.

‘Is he really that bright?’ Andar asked.

‘Sometimes he’s almost bright enough to shine in the dark,’ Gunda replied sourly. ‘That irritates me, for some reason. Young soldiers are supposed to be stupid, and Keselo breaks that rule every time he turns around. “Wise” is supposed to belong to us older soldiers, but Keselo keeps poaching in our territory.’ He straightened. ‘I guess I’d better scamper on up there and let Narasan know that we’ve arrived with the rest of his men,’ he said.

‘Don’t forget your pack, Gunda,’ Andar reminded him.

‘I am going to be in a bit of a hurry,’ Gunda protested.

‘It’s one of the obligations of higher-ranking officers to set examples for the ordinary soldiers,’ Andar reminded him.

‘You had to go and say that, didn’t you?’

‘That’s one of my obligations, Gunda,’ Andar replied with a broad grin. ‘I’m obliged to remind you of all the things you’re obliged to do. It’s a heavy burden, but I think I’m strong enough to carry it. Take the pack, Gunda. Don’t argue with me.’

‘What’s in this pack that’s supposed to fill our commander with delight?’

‘Beans, isn’t it, Danal?’ Andar asked.

Danal nodded.

‘Beans? Gunda demanded. ‘You’re beating me over the head with a sack of beans?’

‘Would you prefer rocks?’

The basin at the top of the narrow pass appeared to be primarily a meadow dotted here and there with clumps of trees. About the only unusual feature of that basin was the source of the River Vash. Gunda had heard about geysers before, but this was the first time he’d actually seen one. His mind shuddered away from the thought of the sort of underground pressure that could send water spurting a hundred or so feet into the air in such volume that it was the primary source of a river that was quite nearly a mile wide at the mouth.

There was an old sergeant lounging in the shade of a tree near the top of the pass, and he stood up and saluted when Gunda came out of the steep pass. ‘The Commander’s men have set up camp at the north end of the basin sir,’ he supplied, pointing toward a broken-down ridge-line. ‘From what I’ve heard, he’s been waiting for you and the rest of the army.’

‘Has the enemy made any attacks, yet?’ Gunda asked.

‘None that I’ve heard about, sir.’

‘Well, that’s something, I guess.’ Gunda hitched up his pack and went on up to the north end of the basin to Narasan’s camp.

The north ridge appeared to have been shattered by some sort of natural disaster, and the ruins looked almost like the walls of a city that had been battered by catapults for a year or more. It was most probably the peculiar rocks of the region that caused Gunda to compare a natural formation to a man-made one. The peaks which had formed the ridge were almost universally black, and when they’d shattered, they’d broken off into innumerable rocks with flat surfaces. Gunda even saw a sizeable number of black rocks littering the red-colored slope that led down toward a very large depression - also red - that extended out from the foot of the slope. Gunda was vaguely aware of the fact that red-colored rocks - or sand - were somehow related to iron. That was just a bit baffling. If there was so much iron ore in this region, why did the natives make all their tools and weapons out of stone?

He shrugged and went on into the army camp just to the south of the shattered ridge-line.

‘You made good time, Gunda,’ Narasan observed when Gunda reported in. ‘We were more than a little worried that you might have encountered that church fleet on the south coast.’

‘I think we might have got lucky,’ Gunda replied. ‘When I got back to Castano, the church had commandeered every wharf in the harbor. They sailed north, and I went on up to the channel to make sure that we were right about where they were going. We were, of course. Then I went on back to Castano, and Andar had been breaking rules for all he was worth - little things, like no separate quarters for officers, no roof over everybody’s head, and a few others he didn’t mention to me. He managed to get the entire army on board the ships we had, but several of them were low enough in the water that even a mild storm would have shoved them under.’

Narasan winced.

‘It’s summertime, old friend. The chance of a storm at sea is pretty slim right now. Anyway, we encountered Sorgan down near the south coast, and the notion of burning church ships has him all excited, doesn’t it?’

‘It thrills me more than just a little, as well,’ Narasan admitted. ‘The thought of having one enemy army attacking from the north and another from the south didn’t make me very happy’

‘What’s in that bag you’ve got tied to your back, Gunda?’ Padan asked.

‘We’re not going to laugh about this are we, Padan?’ Gunda demanded grimly.

‘Why would I want to laugh?’

‘It’s an idea that Andar dreamed up one night. All of the army’s food supplies are stacked up in big piles on the river bank. Danal had conscripted a fair number of burly soldiers to carry them up here, but the weight of the packs slowed them down to a crawl, and that was hindering the movement of the rest of the army. Andar suggested that reducing the weight might speed things up, so from here on, every soldier who comes up that pass will be carrying twenty-five pounds of food with him.’

‘Now that would never have occurred to me,’ Narasan admitted.

‘What are you carrying, Gunda?’ Padan pressed.

Gunda clenched his fist and held it up in front of Padan’s face. ‘Beans,’ he said, ‘just beans, and don’t even think about laughing, Padan.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it, old friend,’ Padan replied with no hint of a smile.

‘Good. You get to keep your teeth, then.’ Gunda turned back to Commander Narasan. ‘Has anybody seen any of the snake-men yet?’ he asked.