The tent flaps opened letting in unwelcomed frigid air. General Mikel turned to the soldier who opened them. "Sir, our scouts have returned." said the soldier. One man followed the soldier into the tent.
"Close those flaps will you?" commanded Mikel. "Now, your report Marshal Erik." The soldier exited the tent, closing the flaps behind him and leaving the scout behind.
"Sir, we've spotted the beast a couple miles or so north and a bit east of here."
Erik approached the map laid out on the large table in the centre of the tent and began looking over it, searching for known landmarks.
"We are here, Erik." said Mikel as he pointed to a landmark on the map, simply labelled 'camp'."Our guest has outdone herself, what do you think?"
Erik looked closer, rubbing his scruffy beard, his expression turned to one of astonishment.
"Ah, yes!" exclaimed Erik, pointing to another landmark slightly north of camp. "I recognise these cliffs… though I thought they were further north than here." Erik looked up at Mikel, expecting a response. Mikel, in turn, looked at Evelyn. There was a slight pause before Evelyn realised they wanted an explanation.
"Ah, sorry general, Marshal Erik was it?" she replied, voice shaking from the cold. "A few days ago, when General Mikel's men kindly escorted me to those cliffs, I realised that we were walking up a slight incline, one you cannot measure without the right equipment." Erik looked at her, surprised. She continued, "I apologise again for travelling there on foot but it's easier to get a rough idea of how far it is when I'm walking on my own two feet rather than horseback."
"You can measure distances by counting steps? Wow lass, that's amazing. Gee, I would lose count after a hundred."
The winter's air masked her embarrassment at the compliment, almost everyone was sporting rosy cheeks.
"Oh, it's nothing so precise. Once I'm walking in a rhythm, it's easy to keep a rough count of how many hundreds of steps I've taken. I counted approximately fifty eight hundred steps to those cliffs, just shy of three miles on flat ground but on that incline, it's closer to two and a half."
"Quite something, isn't it?" said Mikel, gesturing to the map. "Now Erik, whereabouts do you think that blasted monster is?" Erik again stroked his scruffy beard looking at the map.
"If those cliffs are here then I believe it was spotted around here." Erik pointed at an empty spot one mile east of the cliffs.
"Great, let's have a look around." said Mikel, looking up at Evelyn and Erik with a big smile on his face, emphasising the wrinkles on his aged face. She was caught off guard by his sudden change in expression. Is he enjoying this? Evelyn had heard stories of the famed general, a leader who still revelled in the thrill of battle despite his advanced age. She suspected she was going to witness this more manic side to him in the coming days. Up until now, she had been discussing business with the official representative of the Rafathod on charting the Galken Wood but now, an entirely different man had surfaced. A uniter, general, warrior… hunter.
Mikel exited the tent, not waiting for anyone else, and began barking orders at his men. Evelyn folowed to observe. The snow, broken up by hundreds of footsteps in the camp, scattered the ground. The air was cold and still but the general's men were anything but that. Weapons were being sharpened, soldiers were in drill formations and horses were being tended to. A few dozen or so men had lined up in formation in front of Mikel. Every soldier she had come across had sported a scruffy beard much like Mikel's and Erik's and these men were no exception. She pushed up her scarf hoping to mimic them but she found it wasn't quite enough to keep her lips from cracking.
"Remember your positions and expect there to be an extra hour of waiting after you hear the signal." shouted Mikel, "For the hunt!" All his men grunted in unison and began marching in different directions, some to the horses and some to the armoury. Mikel turned back and approached Evelyn.
"Come take a look at what my soldiers have made, lass." He gestured to the west end of the camp. The sound of woodwork dominated the air. Dozens of men were moving the trunks of the colossal trees in this forest, rolling them on smaller logs. It still astonished Evelyn that the tree trunks were often over an armspan in width let alone the fact that these men were chopping them down and cutting them. An entire country could be built on this timber alone.
They approached a handful of men mounting a makeshift wooden bridge to a few horse carts, the length of which was at least fifteen metres long from end to end. She could hear the wood creak with every adjustment.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Evelyn looked at him then back to the bridge and pondered momentarily. "It looks like all the other bridges we've used to cross some of the chasms, only…" she paused, "it's nowhere near as fortified as the others. Can a man on horseback even cross this without falling?"
Mikel grinned. "Perhaps but you know what definitely can't?" He laughed as the realisation set in. He gestured back toward her tent. Evelyn looked back on this month-long expedition, much of the terrain was bafflingly uneven despite being relatively dry. There were little to no rivers or streams yet they came upon the occasional crack in the ground. Often there were ways around but some of these chasms seemed impossibly long and were up to ten metres deep. The snow devilishly masked their depth and many men and horses were injured falling into deeper depths than they had expected. Evelyn had insisted on marking every chasm they had come across. Though they were scarcely twenty miles deep into the Galken Wood, they had marked at least that many chasms on the way and they only became more common the further in they ventured.
"I recall there being a particularly wide crack southeast of here," said Mikel, pointing to a general area on the map down and to the right of camp.
"Yes, I remember, it was approximately one hundred and ten degrees southeast of here. I don't recall exactly how far but probably no more than two miles," Evelyn pointed to a specific point on the map near where Mikel had indicated. "It's quite a distance, do you intend to lure it that far?"
Mikel frowned. "We have no choice, this monster is not something we can face directly."
After about twelve miles into the forest, everything they had encountered had been freakishly large, the most troubling being wolves almost as large as horses. The soldiers employed strategies similar to the ones used to defend against cavalry charges, wooden stakes as fortifications and very long spears to keep them at bay while archers rained hell upon them. Most men that found themselves within arms reach were killed, crippled or amputated. Though Evelyn had never seen these wolves alive, she saw their corpses being carted back along with ten times as many corpses of men each encounter and just as many injured.
"No matter how many men we throw at it, we simply do not have the raw strength to push it back. Which is why we must trap it, even just to restrict its movement for a moment. Can you make a copy of this map to take with us? We should be ready to set off in a couple hours."
"Of course. I'll have a rough one done by then." She nodded.
Mikel again showed that slightly manic grin and left her to her devices, shouting more orders as he left the tent. She peeled the map off revealing a second large sheet of paper, identical in size and placed the map next to this sheet. The second sheet had many of the indents from the map and some of the ink had soaked through the paper leaving incomplete outlines of all the nearby features. Why draw an entire map twice when you can draw two at once? Her father's words rang in her mind. She had insisted that no one touch her maps without permission and thankfully, Mikel is blessed with extremely loyal men who respected her wishes.
Evelyn exited the tent, donning a fur cap, to find Mikel and his men waiting, many of them mounted on horseback. Mikel himself stood by two unmounted horses and offered one to her as she approached. She held up a cylindrical container containing the copy of the map.
Mikel smiled and said, "Perfect, you'll lead us there."
They both pulled themselves up onto their horses and only then, at this higher elevation, did Evelyn notice how many men were participating in this hunt. It must have been at least two-thirds of the garrison, over two hundred and fifty men. Mikel had led a force of five hundred men into the Galken Wood and a month later, under four hundred remained. At first, Evelyn thought this force was excessive but after seeing the numerous casualties over the last month, she understands the caution the Rafathod council exercised when allowing Mikel to organise this expedition. He knows what's best and has earned their trust. Whatever this monster was, Mikel intended to end the threat, permanently.
Mikel rode to the front of the group, Evelyn followed closely behind. Approximately one-fifth of the force was also mounted on horseback while the remaining bulk was on foot. At the rear, there were a few horsecarts filled with snow shovels, stakes, food and ammunition as well as the two wooden bridges, one of which was the purposefully structurally unsound one while the other looked like a normal one they had used to cross some of the creeks and chasms. Half the foot soldiers carried heavy-duty long bows while the other half were armed with crude pike-like stakes, made from the same lumber used to make the bridges and stakes. Though not as thick as the stakes she had seen them use for fortifications, they intended to pierce something just as thick with its sheer weight. The woodworkers must have sawn the stakes into quarters because the sharp points were not centred at the ends of the pikes.
"Attention!" shouted Mikel. The murmurs quickly stopped. "We will march half-step!" He paused briefly, "Onward!"
The sound of footsteps dominated the air, followed by the creaking of the wooden carriages as the horses heaved them into motion. Each cart required four horses to pull. Mikel led the march at a very slow canter. Evelyn had to reign her horse in as she almost overtook him trotting at speeds she was used to.
"Sorry lass, it will take us a lot longer to move everything over to the chasm. Enjoy the afternoon sunlight while you can."
She turned about on top of her horse to face southwest where she thought the sun would be but she could not see it through the forest's canopy. Snow still fell this time of year, not nearly as heavily as when they had started the expedition but even so, the giant trees still carried snow on their leaves blocking most of the sunlight if any could peek through the clouds.
What would have been an hour's ride in uneven terrain and thick snow turned into a whole ordeal. Between the horsecarts, the longbows and the stake pikes, the bulk of the forces were already marching at a snail's pace and to top it off, they paused at least twice an hour to give the men some rest. Evelyn used this time to lead a scouting team, often on foot, to get a feel for the terrain and to find wide enough pathways for the carriages to fit. Some of the scouting team had brought snow shovels to clear the thicker snow. Only after clearing the way could they resume the march. What a cruel joke, commander. Evelyn thought. She scarcely had the time to bask in what little sunlight had found its way through the canopy and before long, night had come turning the cold from something she tolerated to something she dreaded. She tried not to sit still, thinking she would freeze to death if she did. She estimated it was only around 4 pm. At this time of year, the nights were long and a majority of the travel was done in the fewer hours of daylight they had. To top it off, the nights in the Galken Wood were eerily dark and almost impossible to navigate in. The canopy covered what few stars peeked through the clouds. Even then, that didn't explain the darkness. This slowed their progress even further, torchlight could only see so much of the terrain and reading and annotating her map became more and more tedious.
It had been six gruelling hours since the darkness set in and only now had she felt a wave of relief as she recognised some of the nearby trees' positions. They were close.
"Halt!" she shouted. The men begrudgingly gathered around her. She could tell they were on edge. They had been walking back and forth at slower and slower paces, shovelling snow and taking orders from a stranger. Before this night, Evelyn had only advised Mikel and some of his lieutenants on which directions to go. They had never scouted in darkness before and for a force so large.
"What is it now?" asked Ruben, one of Mikel's lieutenants that she had worked with before.
She looked down, "Sorry, I don't mean to be a bother." She stared at her map. This was a critical moment.
After a short pause, Ruben sighed, loudly. "It's ok, lass," he assured, "We do not like this as much as you, so let's get this over with. What are your orders?"
Evelyn met his eyes, "We are close." The men turned to each other and cheered, some with relieved faces. "Travel in pairs, one in front of the other, single file. If one of you steps into the chasm, it's up to the other to catch you. You're with me, Ruben. I'll lead. Let's spread out!" She tried to sound commanding toward the end but it sounded like she was pleading with them. They spread out in a cone, Evelyn and the other men in the front of their pairs carried the torches while Ruben and the men at the back followed closely behind, with one hand on the person in front's shoulder.
The forest was dead silent, Evelyn could only hear the crunching of the snow beneath her and Ruben. She could no longer see the other pairs of men, only the torches which looked like fireflies, tiny specs of light in the darkness. Her heart was pounding and her body shaking in the cold. Where is this bloody chasm? She thought, wishing this would just end. Each footstep was slow and deliberate. One hundred and eighty-seven, one hundred and eighty-eight, one hundred and eighty-nine. Each number counted, taking longer than the last—one hundred and ninety, one hundred and ninety-one, one hundred and ni-.
Evelyn shrieked. Her foot sank into the snow, failing to find solid ground beneath. Losing her balance, she fell forward and dropped the torch in front of her. She felt a strong tug on her left arm, halting her fall.
"I got you, lass," Ruben had overcorrected and pulled her backwards, landing on the ground behind him. "W-woah, sorry lass, you are lighter than I thought," apologised Ruben as he helped her back to her feet. The torch petered out in the wet snow and they were left in the darkness.
"Thank you, Ruben," her voice shaking. She composed herself for a moment. The silence was broken by another scream to their right.
"Everybody stop!" bellowed Ruben, "We've found the chasm."
One of the floating lights moved closer toward them and Evelyn could make out the two men carrying the torch.
"One of you two, stay near the edge, we will go back and grab some stakes to plant and attach the torches to. We must mark the boundaries of the chasm," said Evelyn. She led Ruben back toward the rest of the scouting team ordering them to carry stakes and hammers over to each torchbearing pair. "We will report back to Mikel and–"
Evelyn's voice was cut off by a howl in the distance that came from the northeast on the other side of the chasm. Shortly after, they heard another howl this time on their side of the chasm but to the southeast.
"Quick, the signal!" Ruben yelled.
One of the scouts unwrapped a longbow from around himself and another pulled out an arrow wrapped in oil-soaked cloth.
"Faster, those wolves will be on us in a few minutes!" Ruben urging the man.
He lit the arrow using the torch and the scout groaned as he struggled to draw the bowstring. He aimed back toward the way they came and released a light into the darkness.
"Another!" Ruben drew the short blade at his belt. They released an arrow into the darkness and another shortly after. While this was happening, the pairs of men abandoned their positions near the chasm's edge and began to form a ring around Evelyn and Ruben. They had all drawn their blades, frantically looking around into the darkness.
"Stakes! A few meters in front!" ordered Ruben. The scouts who had prepared the hammers and stakes ran in front of the torchbearers and plunged the stakes into the ground at a 45-degree angle facing away from the ring. Like clockwork, each scout hammered a stake into the ground in less than a minute and pulled back behind the ring, drawing their blades as well. They made a half circle of wood facing the direction of the second howl and again, silence.
Evelyn's heart was racing, her thoughts as well. Her eyes darted back and forth to catch anything in the darkness. She could not believe the sounds she heard, those howls were from no ordinary wolves. They were deeper, guttural. She could make out an underlining roar beneath the high-pitched howl. She recalled the numerous dead and injured from encounters with these wolves, only adding to an impending sense of dread. The sound of snow crunching in the distance broke the silence, Evelyn covered her mouth and held back a scream. She put her hand on her knife at her belt and drew it, hands shaking. Standing in front of her, Ruben turned to her, putting his hands on hers, steadying the shaking.
"Try to stay calm, they'll have to get through us before they get to you," whispered Ruben. Evelyn closed her eyes. Stay calm, they fired the signal, help is on the way. These men are trained. Ruben knows what he is doing. In stressful situations, Evelyn finds solace in the facts, the positives and so she continued to recite them. Help is on the way, we can't be more than a few hundred meters away. They know this way is safe so far, I'm sure they are rushing here on horseback.
A growl permeated through the darkness, they could not tell exactly which direction it came from. More growls, each one layering onto the next.
"Fire!" a sharper whisper.
Evelyn heard a loud woosh over her head as a light flew into the darkness ahead. She didn't even notice the same scout was still loading arrows. The light disappeared as the arrow buried itself in one of the nearby trees. What is that going to do? She wanted to voice the question but she knows speaking now is not a good idea.
"Again."
The scout fired another arrow, slightly more to the left of the first. This light rapidly disappeared into the darkness. After a short pause, the growling continued, sounding closer this time. Evelyn's shaking stopped and she opened her eyes again, searching the darkness. The least I can do is spot them– she thought.
This time, Evelyn heard a rumbling from behind them. She turned to see a line of floating lights in the distance rapidly approaching. Startled, she heard loud barks in front of them, gargling, chaffing to the ears but thankfully, they seemed to retreat further and further into the darkness. The scouts still held their blades forward, fixated on the darkness but as the rumbling got louder, they finally relaxed.
Mikel and two dozen other men on horseback approached.
"Is everyone alright? Is our navigator safe?" As he got within line of sight, he sighed in relief. "Spread out and clear the area, make sure none are hiding!" ordering his men. Evelyn fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Ruben leaned over and patted her on the back.
"Wait!" pointing forward, she called out, "Don't go in that direction. The chasm is there, it's dangerous." Mikel nodded and redirected his men.
"How do you… how do you do it?" Evelyn asked, still panting. Ruben kneeled next to her and breathed a sigh of relief.
"I've been in your position, a fresh recruit with no combat experience. You'd probably want to hear something like 'you get used to it' but well…" he trailed off. Evelyn looked up at Ruben. The ring of scouts was still holding in formation, as frozen as the snow they stood upon.
"For God's sake!" speaking out and standing up. All the scouts jumped in unison, finally audibly breathing. He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet.
"This cursed wood, what is Mikel thinking?" he grumbled. Ruben looked upward into the darkness and sighed again, this time in frustration. "Sorry lass, it's not what you want to hear but this ain't nothin' like the battles we used to fight. We've never fought monsters, in the dark." Evelyn stared in disbelief but felt a sense of relief and her breathing settled down.
"You finally get to hear Running Ruben," Mikel approached the scouts again on his horse. "I thought it odd he shut his trap in front of you!" Mikel continued to jest.
"Shut it! You old fool!"
Mikel and the scouts began laughing. "Trying to look classy in front of our navigator are you?" said one of the men.
Another replied, "Ruben wouldn't know class if it struck 'im over the head!" By this point, all tension had dried up and even Ruben started laughing with them.
"Look, you got the miss smiling!" said another one of the men. Evelyn only just noticed she was as well and almost forgot where they were, in the dark blistering cold.
"Don't worry lass, he's just intimidated by your speech." Mikel jested again, patting Evelyn on the back, harder than Ruben had.
"Are you calling me an idiot?!" The men continued to laugh and Evelyn found herself joining in.
"Bring me Ruben, Erik, Henrik, both Hans's, Otto, Sven, Tomas, Victor, Agnar, and Lennart," Mikel said to a younger soldier.
"Sir!" saluted the soldier and walking away. Mikel turned to see Evelyn emerging from her tent. He grinned.
"How was your rest, lass?" Evelyn had a grumpy look and was still shivering.
"Very funny commander, I barely got an hour of actual rest."
It was still dark outside. She only found the commander because he stood in a well-lit area with many torches. She looked up hoping to see any form of light peeking through the canopy but to no avail, it was like staring into the abyss.
"What time is it?" asked Evelyn. Mikel also fixed his gaze upward.
"It's the morning that's for sure. Daylight should come through in an hour or so."
Evelyn looked around to the other sources of light. Though not as well-lit as where she stood, she could see Mikel's men setting up fortifications, carrying stakes and shovelling snow. There were multiple rows of large stakes, all facing toward the chasm in front of them. They towered over the men, reaching as high as three metres. Mikel had positioned their tents about fifty metres from the chasm's edge. Between here and the edge were four rows of stakes each with a small one-meter wide gap. Whatever beast they intended to hunt must be significantly larger than that. She dreaded the thought.
"Now that I have you here, I must tell you what to do if things go south," Mikel started. He turned to her and dropped his grin. The sudden change in tone shocked Evelyn. Mikel pointed toward the rows of stakes. "If the beast breaks through the first fortification, you must retreat. As far as I'm concerned, your job here is done and we can't have you dyin' on our hands."
It's true. Evelyn had already created an accurate map with all the major landmarks. She had led them to this chasm but to what end? She pondered his words for a moment.
"To be honest, you lot have told me scarcely little about this beast. Am I in that much danger? What are you trying to accomplish here?" Mikel recoiled a little. Those questions had struck a cord. Mikel grinned again.
"You don't pull your punches, do ya lass?" He stared off into the distance, his grin slowly fading again. They stood there momentarily, listening to the sounds of sawing and hammering wood. Evelyn dared not speak up, this was the most serious Mikel had ever looked. She knew his reputation, his history, his accomplishments. The general that united his country, tamed its people and brought lasting peace. He squinted his eyes and frowned, accentuating the wrinkles around his eyes.
"I miss those days… The glory, the thrill." He let those words settle in for another moment. "I thought I would enjoy peace in my old age but as the years went by I… I miss it." He turned to Evelyn. "When that Darak Prince returned from the Land of the Gods and your fancy council asked me to conquer this wood, that thrill came rushing back." That manic grin returned. Evelyn's heart started to race. She stared at his face and for that moment, felt genuine fear. Here, standing before her was a beast trying to satiate its hunger moments before closing in on its prey.
"This beast was discovered decades ago and any survivor would return with horror stories," he paused, "I want to be the one to hunt it. You, Evelyn Haussard, will be my witness, one last accolade for the history books." He raised his right arm toward the fortifications as an artist would display their latest work.
"Don't scare the lass, boss!" shouted a voice from behind. Evelyn turned around and saw Ruben leading a dozen men, one of which was the soldier Mikel had given orders to. These must be the men he asked for. Mikel laughed.
"Form up, men! You are the lucky soldiers who get to be bait," said Mikel. Half of them groaned in unison.
"...thought as much," Ruben grumbled.
"Now now, no complaining. As I was telling Evelyn here, your names will go down in history." They were not impressed. These men would be a footnote in a history book.
"I've given you a rough idea of how to bait it," said Mikel, "We will use the cover of darkness to trap it in the chasm. You must find the beast before next nightfall but only bait it as night falls. Any sooner and the plan may fail, any later and you could get lost. Mark your path, you'll have to tread the same ground in the dark." His men had fallen silent, the graveness of Mikel's orders setting in.
"Erik, you lead the search effort to find it so you will lead this too. Use your best judgement, if you don't think the mission can be done today, delay it. We'll try again tomorrow."
Erik had a concerned look on his face. He thought for a moment. "We should sandbag our horses and approach its territory on foot, we can't afford to anger it by mistake." Erik's pondering was plain to see.
"Good, good. It appears Erik is already coming up with ideas," Mikel directed to the rest of the men. "Make sure he gets everything he asks and do as he says, he is your commander for this mission. Dismissed."
They left Evelyn and Mikel to their devices.
In the next hour, Evelyn had worked out a rough timeframe for the mission. Erik and the group were to leave two hours before night falls and should arrive half an hour after the darkness set in with the beast in tow.
When day finally came, it was time to lay down the bridge to cross the chasm. Two dozen men hoisted the massive wooden structure and carried it down to the chasm. Notably, gaps in the stake fortifications remained to allow the bridges through. Mikel directed Erik and his men to cross the chasm immediately so they could install the weaker bridge and finish the fortifications. As such, they were on the other side of the chasm resting and eating with their horses.
Evelyn received no special treatment, she lined up with the rest of the soldiers eagerly awaiting a long overdue breakfast. On today's menu, beef jerky and potatoes, not a glamorous meal but it was served with hot water which she was always thankful for to fend off the cold. At this moment, she would brew some tea with the hot water but she had run out over a week ago. This is probably one of the last meals I will have in this hell hole, she thought. Contrasting the bland meal, Mikel's men were in high spirits. Evelyn was walking through a bustling crowd to return to the main tent, the men were chatting enthusiastically while enjoying their meals.
"Come join us, Evelyn!" one of the scouts called as she walked past them. The scouting team she helped before were all eating together minus Ruben. They were gathered near one of the giant trees about fifteen metres away from the chasm's edge. As she approached, one of the men offered her his seat. Half of the group was sitting on shorter stakes hammered into the ground with the other end sawed to a flat top.
"Thanks," she replied, sitting on the stake, "It's odd to see everyone in such high spirits." A lot of them had wide grins on their faces.
"Yeah, Kurt was just saying that he'll get to see his little one soon," one of the scouts said. Evelyn knew Kurt was a fairly young man, not much older than herself though it was harder to tell when everyone was sporting bushy beards. His thick brown moustache was angled upward hiding his grin while chewing his food, crumbs littered his beard.
"Oh really? Son or daughter?"
"I don't actually know, Juni was pregnant when we got the call. Gods, I hope she and the baby are alright." One of the other scouts patted Kurt on the back in encouragement.
"Don't worry, lad, let's slay this beast and go home. They'll be waiting for ya."
"What about you lass? Got anyone waiting at home?" asked Kurt in return.
Evelyn's thoughts immediately went to her father and his concerns. He taught her everything she knew about the map-making craft and how dangerous it can be out in the field, especially in a place like this. But even with his protests, she convinced him to let her go, this kind of experience is very valuable for a map-maker. Not to mention the recognition, the first to create a map of the Galken Wood.
"My parents," she paused fort a moment. "This is my job but I want to ease my father's worries. I'm sure he'll be relieved to see me back alive."
"The old bastard is still going?" The scouts turned to see Mikel approaching.
"If I see him again, I'll vouch for you personally," said Mikel, putting his hand on Evelyn's shoulder. "He would be proud of the work you've done here, lass." All the men cheered in unison, showing Evelyn the same camaraderie they did Kurt.
"Okay, enough slacking men, back to work!" shouted Mikel, ending the festivities as quickly as he joined them. A few scouts groaned in response and others stood up in salute even if unenthusiastically.
"I'll hear no complaints! This chasm isn't going to fill itself."
They headed over to the supplies behind the fortifications taking up shovels. Mikel intended to fill the chasm with loose snow to add to the illusion of what was essentially a natural pitfall trap. One group of soldiers retrieved the working bridge from the chasm while another group brought the faulty one to replace it.
"General!" called out Evelyn.
"What is it, lass?".
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mikel turned to her and raised an eyebrow.
"You've done more than enough, lass. We have our mission schedule. I can't ask anymore of you."
Evelyn raised her right hand to her head and saluted him—a show of her seriousness.
"Sir!" she exclaimed, "You've stressed the importance of this mission and I don't want to be standing around idly." Surprised at her initiative, Mikel pondered for a moment.
"Very well, go with the scouts, they'll be taking horsecarts out to gather snow from elsewhere."
"Sir!" she exclaimed again in response and left to join the scouts, taking up a snow shovel.
Mikel scoffed and mumbled to himself, "I can't say I know many soldiers who want to do this kind of work."
"..."
Mikel looked up, a vast canopy leaking light through, an overcast of branches and leaves barely holding back the sun's radiance and for a brief moment, it couldn't. Mikel brought his hand up to cover his eyes before the rustling of the leaves hid the sun again just as quickly. It was a day like this, stray beams leaking through a blanketed sky, an impending battle. Mikel had requested the services of a Coalition cartographer as he expected the last remnants of the Ridatt to attempt to retake their keep. He was nearing the end of his campaign, to unite the clans of Rafathod and the Ridatt were the last to fall into line. He was unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain. The Ridatt keep was centred in a vast empty field bordered by the Galken Wood to the north and the Hvitan Hills to the southeast. Such a large stretch of flat terrain favoured the Ridatt, who specialised in mounted combat. The hills and the forest were as enigmatic as the horizon, you could not see beyond it and that worried Mikel. But in the coming days, he hoped to put those worries to rest.
"Isn't it phenomenal?" exclaimed Holden. Mikel gave him a puzzled look and snorted.
"Femo-", Mikel struggled with the word.
"Phe-no-me-nal," Holden emphasised each syllable.
"Phe-" he tried again, "Ah, screw it. I ain't learnin' every fancy word you tell me."
Holden chuckled.
"It means remarkable or amazing, great." said Holden. He gestured toward the landscape.
"Great? It's borin' and grey, not to mention the clouds. I haven't seen the sun in days. We're lucky it's not raining."
Mikel and Holden Haussard were atop the keep's walls. Though mostly stone, the fortifications were all wooden much like the railing separating them from a deadly drop. They were wandering from one corner to the next, moving between lookouts.
Holden was a tall, spindly man. He had short brown hair, which he kept combed, and his large nose was accented by a wide, bushy mustache. Much to his surprise, Mikel had found out that Holden was in his mid-thirties. Though he looked it, he did not act that way. Even now, months into the campaign, he was still in high spirits, constantly in awe of the scenery which Mikel himself took for granted.
"Can't you see?" asked Holden. "It's strange, the land around this keep is unnaturally smooth, almost perfectly flat. But go far enough and suddenly, it is very rough and hilly. It's as if something impossibly large flattened this very place."
Mikel gave him another puzzled look. He looked out onto the hills and observed precisely that. Strange, I've been here a handful of times but never really noticed, he thought.
"On top of that, or should I say the opposite," Holden continued, "I think these plains are lower elevation than the surrounding lands, only slightly. It makes you wonder how it came to be. Even the Galken wood looks higher; I can scarcely see over its trees, even atop this wall." Mikel turned to the wood. Though he could see over the smaller trees near the edge, the colossal ones further in still stood out and would tower over the keep's walls if they were next to each other. Even at this distance, he could make out the impossibly wide trunks.
"Sorry, General, I'll stop gawking. What would you like me to do?"
"The Hvitan Hills," Mikel pointed to the southeast. "The Ridatt will no doubt come back to claim their keep. We don't know this land, and I suspect they'll come from the hills. I'd like to have a better idea of what's in them. Perhaps we could ambush them there."
"Then I will begin surveying them immediately!" replied Holden with his usual enthusiasm, right hand raised in salute.
"Hush now, Southerner. It's getting late. You can start tomorrow."
"Ah, of course, these long daylight hours are still confusing. Well then, I'll see you first thing tomorrow!" Holden raised his hand in salute again before leaving.
The false bridge was completely buried in loose snow, the chasm filled to the brim. To an unaware eye, it would look like any patch of snow with solid ground beneath. As Evelyn approached, Mikel was recounting his orders to Erik and the ten others were to act as bait.
"You'll see us back here with the prize in tow," called out Erik, standing on the other side of the chasm. Though it did not appear that way, if she didn't know any better, she'd thought it normal for these men to hold their conversations over long distances.
"You better be ready, Sir!" shouted Ruben. "Running from this beast was not on my bucket list."
Mikel, laughing, "Well, we'll make sure you can do the other things on that list before you kick it." The others joined. Evelyn wondered how these men could joke in a situation like this but she gathered this was the reason why Mikel had selected these people.
Mikel sent them off, and they rode away.
The next two hours were tense. Clearly, the rest of the soldiers did not share the jovial mood. Evelyn had taken her place up at the back, behind rows of fortifications and lines of men who all had axes, blades, spears and bows at the ready. A good third of the men were in groups of four, carrying large stakes, thicker than their arms, that were carefully sharpened to a point. She had not seen the beast, but she could guess its size. Mikel himself was in the front row, barely twenty metres from the chasm's edge, with a stake in his arms and a sheathed blade at his waist. Short torches had been placed at either side of the chasm, signifying where the false bridge started and ended underneath its cover of white.
The canopy was now a dark blanket, the shapes of men becoming a blur as Evelyn could no longer make them out. The winter night was setting in again, the torches as fireflies in the dark once more. She could see a sparse trail of fireflies leading away from the chasm into the black unknown, the trail Mikel's bait would follow back to the camp. Although she couldn't tell, she knew the entire expedition had their eyes on that trail. All was quiet, and every second felt like an eternity.
Then, the sound of crunching snow in the distance. A lone rider approached the chasm; it was one of the eleven men. He was not carrying a torch. Evelyn could not tell who it was but the entire expedition could hear Mikel berating the man.
"Why are you alone? Where are the others?" She could hear the anger in his voice. The stern general had showed itself again.
She could not hear his reply but could make out his terrified tone. Mikel was efficient, Evelyn saw him point backward behind the fortifications and the whimpering soldier was already leading his horse to the back.
"Hold everyone!" shouted Mikel, now facing everyone behind. "The mission is still a go, we will wait for the others. Hopefully, with the beast in tow."
Not minutes later, Evelyn could feel a slight rumbling at her feet.
"Archers!" cried one of the commanders.
As the rumbling grew louder, Evelyn could make out new torchlight in the darkness ahead, seven lights flickering. As the specks became clear, she could feel the ground shake beneath her feet, resonating to an unending rhythm. Accompanying it was the sound of wood cracking, snow crunching and then muffled shouts.
One of the seven lights was snuffed out, more muffled shouts. The rumbling stilled for a moment and then began again, more ferociously than before. Evelyn thought she could make out a scream but the overload of sounds drowned most of it out.
The figures of the six remaining men came into view, their torches outlining their forms but they were contrasted by a large shadow mere tens of metres behind them. They themselves were only a couple hundred meters away.
"Draw!" cried the commander, followed shortly by the tension of bow strings.
A deafening roar sounded out from behind the horseriders, a guttural, gargling, deep hum. A deep breath split by the chattering of teeth, the thumping of its stride and the crackling of wood. Evelyn cupped her ears, only now noticing the leaves falling, tangling in her hair but her eyes remained locked on the chasm and the approaching riders. Mikel's army held their hidden positions.
The riders approached, fifty metres away, forty metres away, thirty, twenty, ten, the trail they followed was snuffed out behind them. The first of the six crossed the bridge at breakneck speeds. The rest followed, single file, making their way toward the gap in the rows of fortifications.
As the last one rode over the concealed bridge, it burst out of the darkness, mere metres behind him. Everyone was staring in horror, that moment in time paused. It was a hulking mass of fur, wider than any colossal tree. Save for its head, bare skinned and grey. Round like a bear's but with a longer snout like an alligator's. Its jaw was open, sporting teeth as long as blades and twice as thick. Its fur from the neck down was a glistening silver, but it did not hide its muscular frame. It had two pairs of front legs or arms, Evelyn wasn't sure but it was using them to run aside from one which was reaching out, claws bared, to swipe at the last rider.
Its stride caused the chasm and the bridge to shake, the last horse almost losing its balance. Some of the snow had been shaken off revealing the wood beneath but it was too late for the beast to notice. It put one of its front limbs on the bridge's edge and it immediately gave, splinter and cracking beneath its weight.
"Fire!" howled the commander, as loud his voice could carry and mass of darkness flew toward the beast. It stumbled, falling headfirst into the chasm, for it could not slow down in time. Many arrows flew true but ricocheted off its hide, only a handful piercing its now exposed back. Evelyn was knocked off her feet as it crashed into the closer wall of the chasm, violently shaking the ground beneath her. She quickly stood up, leaning on a nearby fortification. The six riders had sprinted past her behind the safety of the army.
Its guttural screams continued, almost deafening. One of its claws peaked over the chasm's edge, grasping for something but Mikel was faster. He screamed, charging with three other men holding the large stake and driving it into the beast's paw. It recoiled in pain, screaming even louder, it was enough to pierce its thick hide. One of the men with Mikel had not fully let go of the stake and was pulled into the chasm with its paw.
The rest of Mikel's army was behind him, joining the battle cry and charging with their stakes. The monster tried numerous times to pull itself up out of the chasm, each time it was met with a stake to its paw, its arm, its head, its neck. A handful of men were pulled into the chasm with the beast. Mikel remained in front, swiping at its limbs whenever it came close. The rest were throwing their spears and axes; even some of the archers had come up to the chasm's edge to add to the barrage of timber and steel.
"Uproot the fortifications, we need more stakes!" yelled Mikel. The groups of four men began pulling the wooden stakes out of the ground and resumed their task.
The encounter lasted around ten minutes but it felt like an eternity. The archers were out of arrows and the remainder of the army resorted to pelting rocks, sticks, anything they could find on the ground at the monster.
The monster reached its paw up again but at the other side of the chasm, outside the reach of any of the men carrying stakes. Its claws were scraping against the chasm wall, trying to find a grip on any of the imperfections of the cliff face. Some of the men lobbed their stakes as best they could across the gap but it was too far and there was little force behind the throws. Most missed and the rest bounced uselessly off its hide. It found its footing on the other side and began to limp back into the darkness. Evelyn could see its hind legs, they were much shorter than its front limbs but much thicker.
"Bridge!" Mikel roared as he charged back toward the structure, "Get the bridge! We cant let it get away!"
Mikel pulled back to the group of men tasked with following Evelyn in case of a retreat, ordering them to hand their horses over. He and a few others mounted up and rearmed themselves with new spears.
"Sir, it killed Henrik and Lennart." It was Erik, one of the six men that had crossed the bridge. He had a slight quiver in his voice. "Victor and Hans separated from us."
"Have you still got your head on your shoulders, soldier?" asked Mikel.
"Yes, sir!" Erik straightened up, saluting. "I'm coming with you."
"Good. Let's put this monster into the ground. Now, where is that bridge?!"
Two dozen men were carrying towards the chasm, their heaving breathing and heaving audible to everyone.
"To anyone courageous enough to follow, come!" addressing the whole expedition. "It can't go far."
He noticed Evelyn in all the chaos and approached her on horseback.
"Wait here, lass. We will be back with its head on our pikes."
"No, sir. Don-"
She was cut off by a loud thud, signaling the placement of the bridge.
"Forward, men!" he thundered, charging forward, barely giving enough time for the men who carried the bridge to move out of the way. He was backed by at least thirty other men on horseback and they all crossed the bridge in twos, resuming their battle cries. Their forms disappeared into the darkness, only a handful of specks of light among them fading into the darkness.
And all was quiet.
A few moments passed, and Evelyn's racing heart finally came to a halt but her thoughts did not. Is Mikel leading them to their deaths? There is no chasm nor fortifications to help them. Where is it going? Why are we here?
She could not sit idle. She pulled a torch from a nearby stand and mounted her horse.
"What are you doing?" Ruben, noticing her. "Stop! You'll get yourself killed." He rushed over to her and tried to block her path.
"Sorry, Ruben," She tarried the horse forward, forcing Ruben to jump out of the way. She led the horse down to the chasm, coming into a gallop and crossed the bridge. She could see a trail of blood amongst the damage to the forest and followed it into the darkness.
"Sir!" One of Mikel's men burst through the meeting hall doors in a panic. "Sir! Emergency signal from the scouting corps." The war meeting paused.
"What is it, soldier?" asked Mikel. "Calm down, use your words."
"They're here, sir. They're here."
"They're early… Holden," he muttered under his breath. Then, raising his voice, "Scrap the plans, we take the fight to them now!"
Holden and the scouting team crested the last of the Hvitan Hills. He brought his horse down the hill onto the flat ground at full gallop and began making a break for the fort. He could hear the war cry of the Ridatt cavalry as they crested the hill shortly after; they were gaining on him. His heart was pounding in his chest, sweat dripping from his brow. Holden had never been in combat before and hoped he would not have to. But he knew how to ride a horse, and he continued to urge it on as his life depended on it.
The metal grated gate guarding the fort's entrance was raised, and a mass of cavalry poured out.
"Bunch up together, we can't impede them!" shouted the scout commander. The rest of the scouts moved in and surrounded Mikel in a tight formation, and a small gap opened up in the oncoming cavalry line in turn.
The real danger was only beginning. They used the hills to obscure direct lines of fire but they were in the open now.
"Shields! Protect the cartographer!"
The two men on either side of Holden held their shields out to protect his back. He peeked over his shoulder and saw another Ridatt cavalry line at the crest of the hill with bows drawn. They released and Holden looked down, closing his eyes, the anticipation almost as bad as the result.
Horses and men screamed as stone pierced flesh, and he heard a few loud thumps on the shields, wood splintering. Holden opened his eyes and saw that a couple of the men at the back were missing, their horses fallen. They scrambled to their feet but they did not run. Instead, they stood their ground, spears pointing back toward the Ridatt cavalry charge. To his left, one of the horses no longer had a rider but it kept pace with them regardless. The scouts were down to eight men, including Holden.
Then, another black mass of missiles was released. He turned away, not wanting to see the fallen men either. He closed his eyes again, fearing the worst.
The soldiers on either side of him cried out in unison with more thumps on the shields they were holding over his back. They and one more soldier fell out of formation, five men remaining. How much longer to go? His breathing became irregular. Daring to turn his head around once more, he resisted and focused on Mikel's oncoming charge ahead of them. They weren't far away now, just a few hundred meters away.
Three hundred metres, two hundred and fifty metres, two hundred metres, he thought. It steadied his panicked breath a little. One hundred and fifty metres, one hund…
Holden felt a sharp pain in his thigh, the force of it knocking him off balance and the next moment he was tumbling in the grass below.
Mikel watched in horror as Holden fell from his horse from the last volley. The army he led passed the scouting corps, and ahead, he saw his fallen men swallowed up by the Ridatt cavalry charge.
"Shields!" Mikel bellowed. Another volley of arrows appeared from that hilltop, no longer aiming at the scouts but at his own cavalry charge. This volley, however, was much less threatening to a force of over a hundred men. Only a handful of arrows flew true, and a few of his men fell, but they were too sparse to do any real damage. And that would be the last volley before the clash.
Caught unprepared, the forces Mikel mustered paled in comparison to the Ridatt cavalry but this mattered little. His blood boiled. Raising his spear above his head, he unleashed his warcry, and his men followed suit. However, he did not hear them. His mind was filled with the thought of Holden shot off his horse, and a blind rage took over. Soon, nothing but rage and the thrill of battle remained.
The forces clashed. Mikel quickly leaned to the side, the opposing rider, on his right, catching only air with his spear while Mikel's connected with the rider's chest, pushing him off his mount. He drew his blade, letting his spear fall with the Ridatt soldier. Another rider behind the first tried to skewer him as well, but he deflected the thrust with his shield and plunged his blade into the man's neck. The thrust was clumsy and scraped off the side, but it did its job. A third, this time to his left, slashed downward toward his horse, but he swept his blade over his mount and knocked the sword out of the way. Using the last of his momentum, he rammed his shield into the rider's face and knocked him over. And finally, he caught a fourth, to his right and slashed at his leg before he could react.
Mikel and a handful of others emerged on the back end of the Ridatt's forces. He reared his horse and returned to the fray.
By this time, the rest of his forces poured out from the fort's gate, infantry. He did not have the horses to match the Ridatt's cavalry, but he had the men. They were too far from the fort's walls for their archers to support them, so they, too, were among the infantry. The enemy archer line at the crest of the hill did the same in turn, and charged down the hill to support their troops.
The battle raged on, Mikel slashing at any soldier who dared approach him. He had carved out a crimson hole in the enemy forces, the corpses of men and horse alike piling up around him. Only he and a few of his cavalrymen survived the encounter, but they only had to hold on until his infantry arrived.
Three more Ridatt cavalry charged toward him on opposite sides, two to his left and one to his right. He turned his horse toward the duo and did the same. They neared him at the same time, swords raised on either side. Mikel threw his blade and caught shoulder of rider to his right. Surprised, he screamed in pain and dropped his blade as his horse carried him past. Mikel urged his horse at the last moment, leaning forward below the other rider's slash and bucked him in the face with his shield, knocking him off balance, joining the killing field below. Rearing his horse around once more, he faced the remaining rider but he was no longer charging.
His infantry had reached the battlefield, or what was left of it. The remaining Ridatt were in retreat, a costly victory. Even so, his men raised their weapons and cried out in triumph.
The warriors of Rafathod were honourable and valued strength, courage and fairness but the rules of war meant little to Mikel in this moment, still blind with rage. He could not hear the cries of his own men and scarcely noticed that they had reached his surviving cavalry to support them. He spotted a few surviving Ridatt who had lost their mounts and were retreating on foot. Charging after one, he leaned over and pulled a spear from a nearby corpse and punctured the man in his side. He would not hear those screams either and there would be no survivors today.
He found another man limping away from the battlefield and threw his spear into the back of his leg, dropping the man. He approached him, dismounting next to him. Crying out in agony, he continued to crawl away. Mikel pulled his spear from the soldier's leg, blood poured out as the man spasmed and screamed his last scream, voice hoarse. He plunged the spear into his back, putting him out of his misery. He turned and surveyed the red-stained fields once more and spotted the Ridatt he had bucked with his shield, limping toward his horse. He threw the spear again but it did not fly true, landing a few metres away from the limping man. Though the horse got spooked by it and began to run away on its own. He began charging toward soldier with nothing but his hands. He tackled the him to the floor and began scouring the nearby corpses for a blade, axe or spear.
There was shouting coming from in front of him but he ignored it. He found a knife attached to a dead soldier's belt, it could have been one of his own men. Drawing it, he returned to the fallen Ridatt and raised the small blade.
"General!"
He heard, the word this time. Though it did not come from one of his own men.
"General Mikel!"
He tried to plunge the blade down into the screaming mans throat but his arm would not move.
"General!"
That voice again, is that Holden?
"Sir, that's enough."
This time it was Erik's voice.
He looked up and saw Erik panting, holding onto him by his arm. He struggled against it.
"Mikel!"
Mikel looked up and saw Holden being supported by one of his men, his right thigh bandaged with a piece of cloth.
Finally noticing the Ridatt soldier cowering in fear, he dropped his knife. He gazed upon his would be victim and saw only a boy. He looked like had he had barely seen nineteen winters. Only now, he registered the stench of the battle; iron, guts, piss and shit. His skin, his armour caked with blood.
He turned his gaze to the injured cartographer again, the boy beneath him, his face, mirrored on Holden's. A look of sheer terror.
But Holden's fear turned to disgust, eyes squinting, brow furrowed. And before turning away from the horrors, Mikel, the blood-soaked battlefield, the corpses of man and beast; his disgust turned to sorrow.
Evelyn leaned in close to her horse, it's warmth helping her stave off the frigid air. Just ahead, she could see light. The featureless darkness began to fade and she could make out the forms of the gargantuan trees, many of which were bent, cracked and leaning over.
She stopped her horse. The destruction in the wake of the monster was clearer here. Aside from the environment around her, the mangled bodies of two men and their horses were in the trail. One of the horses laid on its side and it's rider bore a large three clawed gash on the side of their torso, from their shoulder down to the horse's belly. It had severed the soldier's arm and left their leg attached only by the bone. His face was twisted, mouth open, no doubt screaming before he met is end. The other rider, a handful of strides ahead, was trampled along with his mount. A bloody mound of armour, wool, bones and flesh.
Evelyn almost wretched at the sight, swallowing back her last meal. C'mon Evelyn, don't lose heart now. She pressed on.
The light in the distance grew brighter and brighter until she could make out the gargantuan trees in all directions. The light was a blazing fire, like the sun, illuminating her surroundings. The nearby trees forms were revealed. She had never seen the tops of the trees with such clarity before, they were always obscured by the dense canopy of the Galken Wood. Every branch jutting from the thick trunks was like a tree of its own. They must have been over a hundred metres tall. Some were taller and wider still, their heights obscured by the canopy of the trees around them. She wondered how ancient this forest could be and what kind of beast could even splinter these old trees.
She approached the fire and the trees around her gave way a little. Traveling through the wood in the last month, Evelyn noticed very few smaller flora grew here. What shrubbery existed was resilient and rare, living off far less sunlight than their taller relatives, so it was a shame to see this smaller bush alight. Part of which was already blackened and no longer burning as it slowly spread to the untouched parts of the bush. The surrounding area was more open, fewer trees dominated the space and the canopy gave way to the clouds above.
There was another dead soldier by the burnt bush, his horse nowhere to be seen. He was in better shape than the last two victims but he still wore a large gash in his chest and the grass beneath him was crusty with dried blood.
Evelyn dismounted and took a closer look. It was Henrik, one of the original twelve men sent to bait the beast. Another victim in Mikel's conquest. Her horse whinnied behind her, startled from the fire. She patted its head and stroked its face. "Easy, easy." she said calmingly.
Men's voices echoed in the distance. She couldn't make out whose was whose so she mounted her horse again and followed the sound. As she distanced herself from the fire, torchlight ahead became visible. The voices became clearer, Erik's commands stood out among them.
She saw the man barking orders as she approached. Another gruesome scene. There were atleast a dozen more mangled corpses and half a dozen more injured, their wounds being attended to. Evelyn could hear there cries of pain. Some had lost an arm or a leg and others wailing in pain from large gashes across their bodies.
"Lass?" shouted Erik, "What are you doin' here?"
Ignoring his question, Evelyn stared in awe and in horror at the body of the beast behind Erik. It was slain. She circled around it with her horse.
"Hello? Evelyn?"
Not acknowledging him, she examined the dead monster. It was in no better state than its victims. Dark red blood had poured out of its many punctures, staining is grey fur. It was facing away from the direction of the trap it fell into, one of its two right arms reaching toward something deeper into the forest. Another one severed at where its wrist would be. There were pieces of the wooden stakes still in some of its wounds.
"Where is Mikel?" asked Evelyn, noticing that he was not present.
Erik looked down and sighed.
"Probably ending this monster problem for good." He pointed his arm in the direction the monster was running before it fell. "We think it was running toward its den."
One of the other men approached Erik and Evelyn, it was Tomas. He regarded her.
"Sir, we can't wait for Mikel to return. They won't make it here, they stand a better chance of fighting another day with the medics."
Erik looked down and sighed again.
"You're right."
"Have you encountered any wolves here?" interjected Evelyn, realisation coming to her. She reflected over the last month. The large wolves hunted in packs frequently and when they attacked humans, they went after smaller groups that had splintered off from the larger expedition, much like the night before. But on the ride to here from the chasm, she had not encountered any at all.
"Well?" she asked again after not getting a response.
"Uhh, no we haven't, now that you mention it." replied Tomas. "We've been too focused on…" He gestured toward the scene around them.
"Don't be alarmed." said Evelyn, noticing the slight fear on Erik's face. "I don't think you will see any for miles. This is the beast's territory."
Evelyn turned her horse toward the direction the beast was running.
"Where are you going?" protested Erik. "It's still dangerous out here."
"Do as you were, take these men back to safety. I'll inform the general. I fear for their lives or…"
I fear we have invaded its territory and what it's protecting. She didn't voice this thought. And again, she rode into the darkness following more tracks, away from the light.
Evelyn felt tense which made the ride over even more nerve-racking even though barely a few minutes had passed before she the trial finished. She found herself staring down a large incline into a cliff wall as tall as the chasm's wall where they laid the trap. Looking left and right, she saw that the wall continued onward further than her torchlight illuminated. She realised this was also a chasm. One side of it was flattened out until it was no longer a sheer cliff edge but smooth slant and in the other side, a gaping maw, black as night. The cave's entrance was at least five metres high and across.
A noise to the right broke the silence and Evelyn let out a small shriek. Startled, she pointed her torch to her right and saw a handful of horses tied to stake, Mikel's. Him and his men must have left them here before entering the cave. Evelyn lead her horse to the others and tied hers too.
She started down the incline on foot, torch in hand. Nearing the bottom, the incline approached forty five degrees. Hobbling down, she slipped but caught herself with her free hand. She reached the bottom of the chasm, her torch close enough to illuminate some of the interior of the cave. But it did little, its penetrating darkness seemed endless. The cave tunnel was at a slight incline going deeper into the earth. She pressed on.
The tunnel was straight for the most part, at least for a few minutes of walking until the tunnel opened up. Both the ceiling was higher and the ground lower. Evelyn climbed down as the tunnel's edge ended abruptly. Looking back, she had climbed down a small ledge that was waist height. Ahead, the large tunnel split in two. She made a mental note of how long she had been walking. Two hundred and eighty four steps from the cave's entrance to this ledge, that's about two hundred and twenty metres. Both left and right were equally dark, the torchlight did not illuminate far enough to discern a way to go. So she picked left and stuck with it.
This larger cavern was not straight, the path winded back and forth, up and down. There were many smaller tunnels that split from the main path but none lasted more than thirty steps. After the fifth off shoot, she struggled to keep her mental map of the cave consistent but she knew that she was still descending deeper overall even if the cave moved up and down. It was getting warmer the deeper she descended and after a few minutes of walking, she noticed there were patches of moss on the walls that became larger and more frequent the deeper she went.
She counted six hundred and nine steps from the first split in the path before she finally heard something echoing through the tunnel. She recognised Mikel's voice amongst other murmurs. A few moments later, she saw a flickering light ahead.
"Evelyn?" said Mikel, surprised to see her. Limping, supported by one of his soldiers, he was with three other men. One of which was carrying another on his back. They were a grim sight. Covered in blood and mud from head to toe, their beards sticky and red. Behind them, the cave opened up even more into what seemed like a large room. She could not tell how large as the torchlight did not reach any walls or ceilings. The only thing breaking the silence was dripping water.
"Lass? What are you doing here?" he asked again. She ignored the question.
"What did you find down here, General?" she countered.
Silence.
"General, we are in the monster's territory. We have not seen a single wolf since crossing the chasm." continued Evelyn, "Similarly, we never encountered the beast past that chasm. I think it's prote-"
"Evelyn." Mikel interrupted, firmly. "It's over. I'm glad you're here, can you lead us back to the surface? I know you've memorised-"
She did not let him finish either. She walked past the men, torch still in hand.
"Evelyn, wait." Mikel grasped her shoulder as she tried to go past. Evelyn glared at him and shook him off. He was in no shape to stop her.
Mikel and his men left a blood trail into the large opening behind them. Evelyn followed it. The room behind them must have been atleast fifty metres across and was high enough that she could not see any ceiling. There was moss everywhere, some stained by the blood. She tracked the trail to the opposite end where she could hear the dripping water.
There they lay. Three bodies. One slightly larger than a man ten metres away from the other two smaller figures, no larger than children that had seen no more than ten winters. Realising that the beast was its mother, the larger one looked a lot like her. A hairless head, long snout, six legs and a bulking body. The smaller ones were less alike, with heads proportionally larger compared to their bodies and covered in fur like the rest of it. But like their mother, they were blood stained and punctured, motionless. The larger one laid on its side, a large gash across its torso.
Evelyn turned away from the horrific scene. MIkel and his men were standing at the entrance to the room with their torches in hand. She strode up to them.
"Was this necessary, General?" she asked.
He did not respond.
Numerous thoughts buzzed through Evelyn's mind. That feeling she had when Mikel asked her to be a witness, fear of the kind of man capable of such horrors, was at the forefront.
"All this when we could have gone around it?" she continued, her voice rising and shaking. "What was it for? Glory?"
The men around her stared at her in disbelief. They had been dead silent from the beginning, too afraid to speak up. Mikel himself was wide-eyed at first and then down trodden, looking down at the floor.
"How many lives, Mikel?" she pleaded. "How many of your men died to slay this beast?"
The men winced at the question, it hung in the air like a rotten stench.
She gestured behind her toward the cubs' corpses.
"And this?!"
She was shouting now, her voice no longer shaking.
"Why?"
A long pause.
They stood there for what felt like an eternity, none of them meeting eyes with the cartographer.
"Come, General." said Evelyn, breaking the silence. "I'll lead you back to camp."