The Circle arrived at the foot of the Baffin Range four days after leaving Eden Halas.
Dare’s mood was dark after learning from his mother that Arianne, Keira and Celene had barely escaped with their lives from Caras Anara. Ronen had even more reason for worry when told his wife was injured by the sting of one of the spiders infesting the small seaside village. Fortunately, the Lord of Gislaine was able to take comfort in knowing that like always, she was more than capable of extricating herself from such situations and anyone else who happened to be with her at the time.
Of course, their stay did not pass without Hadros worsening Dare’s mood by rebuking him about keeping a better eye on his wife instead of letting her roam the countryside with an inadequate escort. It had taken Aeron to keep the King from physically expressing his displeasure upon Hadros’s face. Ronen was none too happy either about hearing Celene described as ‘inadequate’, and told Hadros that he was exceedingly lucky that Celene was minding her manners in Halion’s court or else he would have learned what she thought of his prejudice.
In an effort to limit further quarrels between the King of Carleon and his oldest son, Halion saw them supplied and sent on their way as quickly as possible. Provided with useful intelligence as to which route Arianne was taking to cross the Baffin from the Forest Guard, Dare realised they were approaching Angarad through the Splinter pass. Angarad was familiar territory for Celene, and despite Syanne’s warning of the danger to travellers who crossing the pass, it was still the fastest way to reach Celene's homeland.
‘This is intolerable,’ Aeron complained as they rode along the foothills of the mountain, towards the Splinter. ‘We were certain all of the great spiders had been driven out of Highland Woods when Balfure was destroyed.’
The battle with the spiders had been an ongoing concern since Balfure had first attacked Eden Halas and failed to breach the Veil and assail the city. In an effort to keep for the next three decades, the elves were in constant battle with the creatures who had laid waste to almost all the wildlife in the forest, to say nothing about the human inhabitants in the area.
After the destruction of Balfure, Aeron had led him father’s men in a sustained effort to drive the foul creatures from of Eden Halas and believed he had been successful to that end. However, learning of Caras Anara’s fate meant that he was not as thorough as he thought and now an entire village was destroyed. He felt responsible for those deaths even though he knew that he had done all he could to eradicate them forever.
‘It’s not your fault, you know,’ Kyou remarked as he sat upon the pony that he had acquired from the Halas. Aeron’s silence for most of their journey told the dwarf that he was most likely still troubled by what had transpired. Unlike his father, Kyou knew that Aeron had great affection for the race of men, and thinking he might have been responsible for the deaths of so many of them would weigh heavily on him.
‘You know me too well,’ Aeron returned quietly, yet Kyou’s words did nothing to assuage his guilt.
‘I do,’ he nodded, ‘and I know that for an elf, you have a tendency towards self-recrimination even when you are not at fault.’
‘I was in charge of the party to drive the wretched beasts from Halas,’ he declared hotly. ‘I should have known that they were too easy to kill. Such creatures make it a habit of learning to finding new breeding grounds. I should have anticipated that they had merely found a new home, not that they were vanquished for good.’
‘It is always easy to make such claims in hindsight, however you had no reason to believe they weren't destroyed,’ Kyou countered. ‘I have fought with you in battle, my friend, and you seldom leave things to chance. You did all that could have been done to destroy the things. Now you should focus your attention on ridding Avalyne of them for good instead of moaning about how it could have been stopped.’
‘As usual, you are too blunt for your own good,’ Aeron frowned, but he could not find fault in Kyou's words. There was too much truth to it for that. He knew he would not shed his culpability at their deaths, even if Kyou was right. He would avenge Caras Anara. Once this quest to save Arianne was done, he would return home to Halas and assemble a group of his father’s finest men. They would go to Caras Anara and end the threat of the syphi once and for all.
‘But I am right,’ Kyou pointed out.
‘You are,’ Aeron grumbled. ‘How is that possible? You dwarves aren’t known for your subtlety.’
Kyou laughed and Aeron would have joined him, except a sudden gust of wind swept out of nowhere, dislodging rocks and dust from their place on the ground to be borne into the air. A great chill fell upon them, and although it was bright and sunny not long ago, the sun had suddenly disappeared behind thick, heavy clouds. The change in weather was so swift that Aeron had barely registered the change in the wind, a thing elves were always the first to notice.
As he stared up the sky, he watched the dark clouds hang pendulously over their heads and without warning the snow started to fall. Slowly at first, but as the wind intensified, the precipitation matched its ferocity. As they approached the Splinter, the snowfall continued with such speed that it was becoming difficult to see the pass ahead or the terrain they had just crossed. The tall trees of the alpine forest could only be seen as dark pointed silhouettes through the whirling gale of ice and sleet.
‘There is something afoot here,’ Tamsyn cried out, making his voice heard over the wind as he rode to the front and nudged his steed next to Dare's.
‘What do you mean?’ Dare demanded. While he did find it strange that the weather had come upon them so swiftly, it was entirely possible that it was a natural occurrence. He had seen a freak storm or two in his time.
‘It feels as if someone has produced this storm for our benefit,’ the wizard replied gravely.
‘Then we best cross the pass as soon as we can,’ Dare ordered. ‘Once we are on the other side, the mountains shall shield us from its might.’
Tamsyn was not so certain. The gale force winds were now bringing down the snow from the top of the mountain and it was coming down on them in large, heavy balls. He wondered if an avalanche was eminent. The sudden snap of cold made everyone pull their cloaks and their coats to their bodies and even the horses were uneasy. Spirit, Tamsyn’s trusted steed, snorted his displeasure, and the mage placed a hand across the stallion’s neck, trying to soothe its anxiety.
‘Tamsyn, can you sense it?’ Aeron asked him as they neared the pass.
‘Yes, I can,’ the mage nodded.
‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Tully stated. His livelihood depended on being able to read the weather and nothing about this seemed normal. ‘This doesn’t feel right.’
‘Are you developing elven senses too?’ Kyou stared at him with a smile, but it was a nervous one. There was something to all this. They could all feel it now.
‘Let’s hurry,’ Ronen insisted, digging his heels into the side of his horse. ‘Maybe we can outrun it.’
His horse bolted forward, breaking into a gallop towards the opening in the mountain.
‘Ronen, wait!’ Dare shouted, but the howl of the wind swept his voice out of Ronen’s hearing.
The King swore loudly when he saw his friends disappearing into the sudden blizzard. However, he could do nothing but follow suit, hoping to save Ronen from himself before he put too much distance between them. When there was magic afoot, it was best to be cautious even if the danger did not appear overt. The others followed his stead, keeping the Bân in their sights as they followed him into the breach.
Dare knew that it was Ronen’s love for his wife that made him irrational. The King could well understand his fear, but Dare had spent too many years rushing in where others feared to tread, and so had learned the wisdom of caution and patience. Years of evading Balfure and his Disciples had taught him that much.
The walls of the canyon soon flanked them and the storm seemed to grow a thousand fold in its ferocity, until it became too hard to see through the blanket of snow. Dare could see Ronen ahead and felt gratified that his old friend had come to his senses to slow down. Kyou and Tully had already brought their mounts to a halt, awaiting the arrival of the King.
‘Fools!’ Dare snapped as he reached them. ‘We have no idea what lies ahead!’
‘We were riding after him to stop him!’ Kyou retorted, somewhat offended that Dare would think them foolish enough to act so rashly.
‘He can’t hear us!’ Tully broke into the conversation. ‘We tried to call him before he got too far ahead of us but he couldn’t hear us over the wind. We wanted to tell him.’
‘Tell him what?’ Dare stared at them in confusion as the others caught up with the trio.
‘About that!’ Kyou pointed at the ground.
Through the snow Dare saw what it was that had brought them to such a complete standstill. The skull of a man long dead stared at him with through empty eye sockets. The King searched the ground and made the same grisly discovery that Celene and Arianne had made days before. He saw the irregular formations of rock that travelled along their path and knew nothing he was seeing appeared to be caused by natural erosion.
Suddenly before he could think to utter another word, he heard burst of sound through the wail of the wind that made him jump. It was like a clap of thunder that echoed down the canyon despite the wind screaming about them. Dare’s heart began to pound as Tamsyn brought his mount to halt beside him. ‘We need to get out of here!’
‘I won’t leave Ronen!’ Dare said defiantly. ‘Take the others from here and I will go find him.’
‘No!’ Tamsyn grabbed his arm before he could gallop away. ‘You are the King! I will go!’
‘I am the King and it is my choice!’
‘LOOK OUT!’
Aeron’s sudden shout ensured that there was no choice to be made, because the elf’s cry was imbued with such panic that both men stopped arguing immediately.
Dare and Tamsyn looked up and saw a huge boulder tumbling towards them. Dare dug his heels into his horse and sent it running, but Tamsyn had not the speed for such a hasty departure. Instead, the mage raised his staff and the dark gem embedded in its length seemed to glow before the boulder shattered in mid-air, sending fragments in all directions. No sooner than its debris had crumbled across the ground than another crashing sound was heard. This time the deadly projectile from above landed near Tully’s pony, forcing the animal to bolt ahead. Kyou’s mount had reared up on its hind legs as more rocks started to fall around them.
‘Ride!’ Dare ordered, unable to think of anything else to save them from the deadly barrage.
He didn’t need give the order twice, for the others were already surging ahead. Dare looked upward to see more boulders tumbling off the top of the mountain into the pas. He pulled the reins of his horse as one of the large fragments covered him with its shadow and dug his heels deeper into the animal’s flank to escape it. The horse snorted angrily and bolted forward with enough speed to ensure that when the rock came crashing down, it would not be with the King under it.
Dare’s relief at escaping certain death was short lived, however, when he saw Kyou’s horse rear onto its hind legs in fright when a boulder landed in front of it. The dwarf tried valiantly to remain in the saddle but he was unseated easily, and Dare thought absurdly that this experience was not going to improve his opinion about riding very much.
Aeron, who had been riding alongside the dwarf, immediately pulled up the reins of his horse and forced it to turn around. Leaning down with one hand on the reins, Aeron reached for Kyou who was scrambling to his feet after his unceremonious dismount. Another large boulder landed behind them and began rolling forward, propelled by its momentum in pursuit of the duo. However, Aeron proved far too swift to be brought to an untimely end this way as he grabbed Kyou’s arm and swept the dwarf onto the back of his horse, before riding out of danger’s way.
Dare continued his own efforts to escape the deadly onslaught of rocks that were raining down on them. He could see Tully struggling to escape the rock fall while Aeron and Kyou seemed to be making good pace. The farmer was weaving expertly through the crashing rocks around them. The King attempted to determine the source of this deadly storm but could see little through the blizzard of rock and snow. Despite the struggle to avoid the crashing rocks around them, Dare noticed the bombardment was isolated to where the Circle was attempting to cross.
‘Tamsyn!’ Dare shouted for the mage, suspecting that perhaps the wizard might be able to discern what was happening and stop this before any of them were killed.
Dare saw Spirit first. The great steed seemed to know that its rider was being hailed and paused in its steps until the King reached them. Dare rode next to Tamsyn, knowing they could not linger long.
‘The rocks follow us Tamsyn!’ Dare declared as another great boulder crashed along side of him and he had to struggle to stay his horse from bolting in panic.
‘I know,’ Tamsyn nodded, his eyes climbing upwards to the top of the canyon. ‘I do believe that there is an ice troll is at work here.’
‘An ice troll?’ Kyou exclaimed staring up. ‘There’s an ice troll on the mountain?’
‘I fear so,’ Tamsyn retorted. Ice trolls were the offspring of the Mael’s Primordials who were capable of commanding the weather to bring about ice storms such as the one they were now experiencing. They were ancient and rare, emerging from the ice caverns deep in the mountains only when they were hungry so they could feed on man flesh. Great hulking beasts covered in white fur, they were powerful enough to bring about sudden ice storms and rain down the hail of rocks the Circle was presently trying to avoid.
Boulders continued to crash all around them as their mounts descended further and further into panic from the rocks shattering about them in perilous near misses. The troll’s frustration at being unable to crush one of them caused it to hurl even more rocks down at them. Their ability to prevail was making the troll more determined to kill them, and it would not be long before one of them was crushed by the barrage.
‘We must keep moving!’ Dare insisted, seeing Aeron and Kyou disappear through the snowfall. He knew that to remain in place was to invite disaster.
‘I’ll tend to this,’ Tamsyn shouted. ‘You take the others and go!’
Dare stared at him. ‘You’re going to fight it?’
‘This is a ice troll, I can deal with it! GO!’ Tamsyn boomed, showing the King that his patience was finite and that he would tolerate no more argument.
The bombardment around them was becoming worse and only the storm prevented the giant from throwing his rocks accurately. But it was only a matter of time before one of those deadly boulders met their mark. Dare saw the resolve in Tamsyn’s eyes and knew that he had to obey. Even kings knew obedience when faced with the wrath of mage and Dare knew that Tamsyn did not give him orders lightly. With reluctance, the King nodded in compliance and quickly averted his gaze to Kyou and Tully. ‘Stay close to me you two, this will not be easy.’
‘Tamsyn…’ Tully opened his mouth to speak when he saw a large rock looming over them.
‘HURRY!’ Tamsyn ordered and Tully instinctively broke his pony into a gallop. Following Dare, Tully cast a look over his shoulder and saw the mage escaping the reach of the boulder that crushed the space where they had been. Realising that he had to trust Tamsyn to his own devices, Tully returned his attention to Dare before he too rode through the canyon without looking back.
Tamsyn felt fragments of rock biting into his skin as the rock shattered into a multitude of smaller pieces scattering across the snow-covered ground. He squinted as he looked above and saw that there was indeed a troll perched at the top. The creature was as he remembered it—tall and hulking, covered in grey white fur with two large teeth protruding past its lip from its lower jaw. It saw Dare and the others riding away and gave chase by flinging as many rocks at the parting trio as possible. Fortunately, this allowed Tamsyn the time to deal with the him before one of those rocks met their mark.
Taking a deep breath, Tamsyn remained steady on Spirit as he raised his arms, clasping his staff on each end as he gazed at the turbulent heavens above. Whether or not the troll saw him Tamsyn could not say, but as it was often with such creatures, its attention was quick to wander and it was more concerned with killing the riders it could see clearly than the one alone. Holding his staff up high, Tamsyn did not need to speak the words to make the spell work. Only novice conjurers required such things.
The ice troll was not the only one who knew how to summon storms.
A crack of lightning splintered the sky with its thunderous roar. Spidery tendrils of blue and white struck the top of the mountain, creating a tremendous sound that made all the other noises before it pale in comparison. The troll screamed above the howl of the wind and Tamsyn did not need to instruct Spirit to move. The horse, sensing the danger, broke into a gallop as the ledge upon which the troll made its murderous assault crumbled underfoot. Tamsyn looked up and saw an avalanche of earth, rock and snow falling to the ground.
He thought he might have seen the creature itself, but the mage could not be certain as he was too busy riding out of the pass before it was buried.
However, as he rode away from the destruction, he heard a scream through the blizzard that was neither wind nor shattering rock, but rather like a voice that was filled with fury and despair. It sounded like it was falling to the ground from a great height before coming to an abrupt end as the pass was completely buried in rock. The ground shuddered beneath Spirit’s hooves and even Tamsyn could feel the tremors in his bones.
Yet with that cataclysmic end, the storm suddenly abated. The wind died like a dying gasp and quickly slipped into a whisper. The gale had blown away the clouds and with the departure of thick gray canopy, the blue sky made its reappearance. Tamsyn felt the sunshine upon his face and knew that the danger was passed. He brought Spirit to a halt and looked behind him at what he had wrought. The passageway was now completely sealed by rock, stone and soon to be melting snow. The Splinter was no more.
‘Tamsyn!’ he heard Dare calling after him.
Facing forward, he saw the king’s Circle galloping back to him, having turned back when the weather had suddenly shifted for the better. He could see the relief in all their eyes.
‘Is it dead?’ Kyou asked, looking over Aeron’s shoulder at the mage.
‘It will cause no more mischief,’ Tamsyn confirmed, though he was never pleased to end any creature, even one who deserved death.
‘Perhaps next time you shall bear little more caution Lord of Gislaine,’ Tamsyn gave Ronen a reproachful stare for having rushed off so recklessly into the pass to begin with.
‘I have been properly chastised by my King already,’ Ronen confessed, terribly embarrassed that his impulsiveness had almost cost him and his friends their lives. He did not think it was possible to hear the King shout so loudly through a blizzard, but somehow Dare had managed it. What was worse, it was to Ronen’s shame that he could not refute any of his King’s angry words. ‘I promise, you will not see me behave so rashly again.’
‘Not unless you wants to explain to your wife why you are the Lord of Gislaine in the prison tower when we return to Sandrine,’ Dare grumbled.
‘If you were not my King…’ Ronen started to say.
Dare did not let him finish, ‘I’d strike you instead of just shouting at you.’