Dennis McKiernan - The Brega path

The engagement had ended, the Rucks had been slain or had fled, and the head of the column was forming up again when Rand, Kian, and Shannon finally came to where Perry and Cotton were waiting. Kian embraced both of the Warrows, and Shannon greeted Perry with a grin and a hug. "You came barely in time, Friend Perry," said the Elf. "We were just preparing to start down the dark square shaft to who-knows-where when you led the Drimma to our rescue."

"Oh, but it wasn't me," protested Perry, "my good friend here, Cotton Buckleburr, was leading." Perry then introduced a self-conscious Cotton to Shannon; at first Cotton felt somehow clumsy and awkward in the presence of the lithe Elf, but Shannon's lighthearted.manner soon put the Waerling at his ease. "Lord Kian," asked Perry, his apprehension growing, "Ursor, where is Ursor?"

A troubled look came over the Man's face. "We do not know where he is," answered Kian. "We fed the Spaunen on a desperate chase back to the underground river. When we got there, we debated whether to go on up the north passage or to swim under the wall and go through the Gargon's Lair and on to await the Host at the five corridors by the Grate Room. Ursor asked us to stand ready while he swam to see if the Yrm were gone from the cave leading to the Lair. He tied a rope to a boulder and let the swift current carry him under the wall. When he returned, he said all was black in the other cavern-those Rukha were no longer there. He had lashed the line securely on the far side, and he asked us to go ahead of him in the water. By this time the pursuing Yrm were nearly upon us. Shannon and I plunged in and pulled under to the opposite tunnel. Almost as soon as we got there, the rope went slack, and we hauled it in, and tied to the end were our backpacks. But Ursor never came. We tried to go back, but neither Shannon nor I was a powerful enough swimmer to battle back through the rush without the aid of the line, and we could not get to the other side to find him and aid him. We know not his fate, though 1 fear it was grim." Lord Kian stopped speaking, a pained look in his eyes.

"We took a long rest," said Shannon after a moment, taking up the rest of their tale, "and then we made our way back through the Lost Prison, up the silveron delving, and finally through the tunnels to the Grate Room. Again we rested, this time in the upward middle corridor of the four eastern ways. But it was not our lot to idle our time away until the Drimm army arrived, for Rupt forces came at nearly one and the same time along all passageways, including the west one. We were revealed and fled into the Grate Room, where we drove wedges under the door to jam it shut. We indeed were about to try to escape down the shaft when we heard the ancient Chdkka shok! Chdkka cor! battle cry of the Drimma and were saved that perilous descent."

Shannon fell silent, but before Perry or Cotton could ask any questions, Durek, Anval, and Bonn returned, and once more the march resumed, Bonn again in the lead, for the Legion now marched in passageways he had trodden before.

The Host halted for a rest in the great Round Chamber. Patrols were maintained along the corridors, and Bane was posted in the center of the gallery as a ward for all to see. Perry fell instantly into slumber, for he was exhausted, having had no sleep since he had rested in the Gargon's Lair. Cotton, on the other hand, before settling down made certain that his friend Bomar was unhurt, for the Warrow had been deeply concerned ever since the Legion had marched past the Side Hall and the Spawn had attacked the rear guard. Bomar laughed and told Cotton it would take more than a Grg or two to do him and the cook-waggon crew in, and not to worry. Relieved, Cotton returned to where Perry slept and lay down nearby. Cotton, too, quickly went to sleep, and his and Perry's slumber was undisturbed.

But all too soon it was time to move on; and so, after but six hours of respite, the Army again headed east along the Brega Path, Bonn still in the lead,

As they marched, Cotton seemed withdrawn, as if bemused by some deep thought. Finally, when Perry sounded him out. Cotton grasped the Horn of Valon and held it for Perry to see and said, "Well, Sir, I mean, look here: ever since we've come into Kraggen-cor, the Horn of the Reach has… changed. It seems more polished, or, well, as if it were somehow shinier. I don't know what it is exactly that's different, but it seems to be, as it were, more… more alive!"

Perry looked closely at the bugle, and he, too, sensed that it had changed. The metal appeared to have more depth, the racing figures seemed to have taken on greater dimension, the carven runes higher luster. Yet Perry could not say whether this silvery life was due to an actual change in the horn or, rather, a change in the way he himself viewed it. "Perhaps, Cotton, it only seems to glisten more because this cavern is dull and dark and provides great contrast to the shining silver; or perhaps it glimmers more because it now is illumed only by the light of Dwarf lanterns."

As if in response to Perry's words, the bugle glinted and flashed in the blue-green phosphorescent glow; yet, deep within, it seemed to burn with a light of its own.

"That may be, Sir," replied Cotton, looking with perplexed wonderment at the glittering metal, "but I think it's got more life because it's back to its home again, back to its birthing place, back to where it's meant to be."

About the horn, Cotton said no more, and the buccen strode onward in silence, each deep in his own thoughts, as the Army pressed on through Kraggen-cor.

The Host covered the remaining twenty miles in six hours, and they were attacked twice: The first time was a minor assault: arrows hissed at them out of the side passages of Broad Hall; Felor's companies rushed the corridors, and the maggot-folk scuttled away in the darkness, and the attack was over. The second time was a major engagement: a force of nearly four hundred maggot-folk had lain waiting in ambuscade in the Great Chamber; but Bane had alerted the Legion that Spawn were near, and the Army avoided the concealed assault and fell upon the enemy in fury, driving them out of die chamber. In both engagements, Dwarves died, though the number was small.

The Legion then made its way along the two-mile detour around the wreckage of the Hall of the Gravenarch and then marched the final mile to come down at last to their chosen battleground: the vast Mustering Chamber, the War Hall of the First Neath.

Dwarf lanterns were affixed to each of the ancient cressets, and the Hall was brightly lighted. Patrols were again posted in the corridors, and the Host was arrayed to meet Gnar's Swarm. But the Spaunen did not come. Dwarves were sent over the rope bridge to Quadmere to fetch its cool clear water, and the Army rested. Again Perry and Cotton slept.

Upon awakening, both Warrows were well rested but famished. Unfortunately, the only food at hand was the crue Cotton had brought in his pack. And so they ate the tasteless waybread and drank water for their meal. Rested, with his stomach full, and in the spacious, bright Hail, Perry's spirits began to recover at last. He had washed his face clean of the face blackener, and had removed the shirt hiding his armor, now he was a resplendent silver warrior. And though he was troubled by Ursor's unknown fate, still he started joining in conversation with Cotton.

Before he realized it, Perry began telling the other buccan all about the journey down the river, across the wold, and through the caverns. The words came tumbling out, his voice hesitating only when he painfully spoke of Barak's death and funeral, and of Delk felled by Ruck arrow in the Lair fire. When Perry fell silent at the end, his tale told, Cotton leaned back in wonderment, his jewel-like green eyes wide. "Why, Mister Perry," declared Cotton, "you're the one that's had a real adventure, not me. That's the story you've been wanting to write; not my adventure, but yours."