Chapter 5

It takes Tracer about two weeks to heal enough to begin the long journey Tron has laid out for them. Towards the end of those two weeks a thousand Valley Guardsmen arrive. The sight of them brings hope back to the beleaguered troops in the mountains, but the information they carry isn't too comforting.

The colonel who leads them tells them, "The Valley Guard has managed to swell our ranks to ten thousand, but the remaining nine thousand will remain in the valley to protect its people."

The information on the Continental Army isn't much better. The army is spread throughout the country, and it will take them nearly another month to gather in force at Trididium.

Even once that happens, they are only going to send five thousand troops into the mountains, leaving the rest behind to defend the continent just in case they fail here. The Continental Army should be able to gather at least a hundred thousand people easily.

They are going to have to send more men. The war in the Dandum Mountains will decide the fate of the continent of Liladintum. They have to be made to understand that. General Anderson himself decides to go down and plead their case.

As much as Tracer wants to remain and be a part of the coming battles, he begins to believe that perhaps he does have a destiny to fulfill. In the two weeks he was healing Tron told him a great deal of the prophecies that they are supposed to belong to. Tracer still isn't sure of anything, but wherever his path leads, he will still be fighting for his country. At least he knows that much.

It is a beautiful spring day. The sun is shinning bright from the clear blue sky. This high in the mountains the trees are sparse enough to allow plenty of sunlight through the canopy. The air smells of pine and with the arrival of the Valley Guard, smells of hope. Granted not enough soldiers have come to win this war, but perhaps there are enough to hold off the invading armies long enough for the Continental Army to gather its forces.

Besides the Valley Guard, singles and groups of citizens are coming up from the flat lands to join what is now called the Mountain Guard. Although to this point they only number in the hundreds, it is still a good sign. Nothing unites a nation like a common foe bent on the total destruction of your home and memories. Tracer understands that in a decent-hearted strong nation, the people don't need a central government to tell them what is right and what is wrong. In a good nation the people volunteer and mobilize on their own.

It was the philosophers and the divine ones who spread the word of what is going on up here. The populace knows that if this enemy is willing to slaughter the gentle people bent only on the knowledge of science and the gods, then they will not hesitate to run women and children into the ground. As the word spreads, the anger grows.

General Anderson is leaving on the same day Tron and Tracer plan to begin their journey. General Anderson is confident that he'll be able to bring back at least fifty thousand more soldiers. Tron is confident in the prophecy. Tracer is confident in the fact that he knows nothing other than he is willing to try.

The goodbyes are short but sincere. Tron and Tracer mount their steeds and turn south. It was only a week ago that Tron pointed towards the south and the continent of Escrotry and said that is their destination. It is a daunting feeling looking out across the endless mountains and knowing that your destination lay far beyond that. It is a lonely feeling, but Tracer has felt alone all his life. Even sometimes when friends and family surrounded him, he felt alone.

Tracer pats Ram on his neck and whispers, "You ready, boy?" He rears his head up and whinnies so loud that it startles nearby soldiers.

In the last two weeks, Tracer's combat exploits weren't the only ones to grow to almost legendary status. Tracer found out later that it was Ram who saved him from the Wolveris who was coming at him with his sword raised. In fact, they said that there were a half a dozen enemy soldiers dead at Tracer's feet with their heads kicked in. Even after the battle, Ram was so charged that it took Tracer's own people almost ten minutes to get to him, because Ram wouldn't let them near him.

What a warhorse that cute little redhead Tammara had given him. Part of his problem with his life, he thinks, is that he has never found that one true love. He was once in love, but in his years of isolation he let it simmer for so long that she died from a disease. It is one of the many regrets and pains Tracer carries with him through this life. Perhaps he was spared the disillusionment of finding out he is not meant for that life. Her name was Pamela, and she was so pretty and sweet that his dark nature seemed to lighten when he was near her or even just thinking of her. At least Tracer learned that his heart had the capacity to love.

As Tron and Tracer set out, the thought crosses his mind, "Am I undertaking this journey for the love of my people, or for selfish reasons to find peace in my life?"

The fact that he even questions that thought is a good sign, for only three weeks ago he would have said it was purely selfish. If he can accomplish both tasks while still maintaining his sanity, then so much the better.

The first day alone proves that this is going to be a difficult journey. The way is rough and treacherous. Not only do they have to wind their way in and out, down and over the terrain, but they also have to dodge patrols of mercenaries.

As Tron points out, "It's a good thing they are only mercenaries, because the Wolveris have such a keen since of smell that they would find us before we even get across the border."

Now the border is not truly defined. It is impossible to do so, for it goes from Liladintum to Escrotry without a change in the land. For generations, and even eons, Tracer supposes travelers from both continents have intruded into each other's domain.

All the wars he studied about in the history of Liladintum were all civil wars between the powers wanting to rule Liladintum. Long ago he heard of a war between the humans and trolls, when the trolls decided they wanted to expand out into the foothills. The humans pushed them back into the mountains. He had never heard of an invasion from another country, but that is what's going on now.

"The reasons are much darker than expansion and conquest." Tron explains to him.

In the weeks Tracer studied the prophecies, it spoke of evil spreading across the land. It says the war is not for territory and wealth, but for souls and the spirit that lies within. If this is true, then Escrotry is not the enemy, it is something much more sinister, and most likely Escrotry is a slave to it.

No matter what race or religion you are, most people just want to live out their lives in peace. Whether it is politics, military or religion, it is the quest for power that brings war to the lands.

They spend their first night in a cold damp cave, but they dare not light a fire so their dinner is cold and tasteless. Tron assures Tracer, "There is no need to post a guard." but Tracer swears that Tron's gray speckled warhorse does it anyway.

The more Tracer is around this horse, the more he realizes it is no normal animal. Ram defers to its lead as if in reverence. Tracer wishes he'd let him in on the secret. Tracer asks Tron about him many times, but the only answer he gets is that he is old, wise and stubborn beyond comprehension. He does manage to find out his name, which is Goliath. When Tracer looks at Goliath and the wise old man sitting atop him, the only thing he believes is that it is beyond his comprehension.

In the cold damp cave Tracer's left arm starts stiffening up, but the doctors have assured him that he will get full use of it again. Luckily the sword swipe only went about a half of a mark deep. Ram seems to understand this, for he doesn't make any sudden moves that will pull the reins out of his hand or jar his arm too hard. Under different circumstances, Tracer would have put the reins in his sword hand, but they are deep behind enemy lines and reaction time can be the difference between life and death.

They travel the rest of the week during the day, but the further they progress the more the enemy patrols increase. It is on the seventh day that they decide they will start traveling at night. They find a crevice big enough to hold all four of them, and wait for night to fall.

There is a point at which you are somewhere between the stages of sleep and wakefulness, when you hear something and you are not sure in which realm it is coming from. Tracer opens his eyes. It is still daylight. The noise does not fade with his dreams. Tracer doesn't bother to wake Tron. He slowly creeps out of the crevice and makes his way towards the noise. Tracer slithers up a rise and looks down upon a marching army that is heading north.

"Black Army regulars." Tracer flinches so hard he bites his tongue.

"Will you quit sneaking up on me like that? The enemy isn't going to have to kill me, you're going to scare me to death." Man, Tracer realizes he has become jumpy in the last ten years. It's probably his guilty conscience.

"There must be ten thousand of them. Since you're a powerful wizard and very adept at sneaking up on people, isn't there some way you can get a message to our forces? To let them know they are coming."

"They already know they are a coming." Even Tron's southern accent can't sugarcoat this situation.

"Yeah, but not when and how many."

"This is just the first wave. I would think the main force is probably a couple of weeks behind this one." His matter-of-fact tone of voice is beginning to grate on Tracer's nerves.

"Fine, why don't you just have Goliath attack them?"

"What? How did you kn..." he looks at Tracer very shrewdly then says, "Very funny."

Actually Tracer was being funny, but Tron's reaction makes the humor drain away. Tracer would have pressed him further, but he lets it go because he has started playing a game, pretending that Goliath is actually a magical horse and can take whatever shape he desires. "Oh, well, it helps pass the time."