Sword of Kings
Chapter 32 – Challenging Times

by Bill W

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Legal Notice:
The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts. 
The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality.
Don’t read this story if:
**You’re not 18 or over,    
**If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live,
**Or if you don’t want to read about gay/bi people in love or having sex.

The author retains copyright to this story.  Placing this story on a website or reproducing this story for distribution without the author’s permission is a violation of that copyright.  Legal action will be taken against violators.

I wish to extend my thank you to Emoe57 for his editorial assistance with this chapter.

E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other ‘constructive’ comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com.

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It was a far from pleasant night's sleep for Kieren and his protectors, although not everyone suffered to the same degree. Everyone's sleep was affected by the temperature, which included the frigid air that sneaked through the tiny openings into their makeshift lodging, as well as the cold that seemed to rise out of the frozen ground. The chill made it difficult for them to get a good night's rest, but they were still able to drift off from time to time. The two young elves actually slept the best, as their youthful resilience and higher metabolism seemed to counteract the effects of the cold, but Kieren was not quite as fortunate. He was plagued by a series of nightmares, mostly concerning his encounter with Madumda. In each of these dreams the Dark Lord would kill him, in individual combat. Sometimes, this would happen within seconds, but other times it took up to several minutes. However, the outcome was always the same. Kieren was unwilling to tell anyone about these dreams, because he worried what they'd think about him, but these visions were deteriorating his already shaky confidence even further.

Among the warriors, Turquinine and Rhys slept the poorest. That was because they had to sleep alone. They had tried to adjust by using their two blankets as one, with half folded under them and half wrapped over top of their torso, but they readily confessed this was the one time their size was a disadvantage. The others didn't complain about their slumber, but they weren't overly perky this morning either, so it was evident they had suffered to some degree, as well.

Each person spent the first few minutes after waking up just trying to get warm. Everyone was stretching, jumping about or rubbing his limbs energetically, to encourage his blood to start circulating again, which would force the chill from his body. Upon leaving the protection of their temporary shelter, they soon discovered it had been completely cloaked with a fair accumulation of snow and traces of their journey had been nearly obscured by the falling and drifting flakes. “It's a good thing we had Hadwin's shelter to protect us from this,” Kieren thought aloud, causing the others to readily agree with him.

“I doubt we would have survived the night without it,” Quintain added, while looking appreciatively at the Nardinian. At that moment, all of them took a few seconds to acknowledge Hadwin's contribution, with a quick comment or thoughtful look in his direction, before they set about disassembling the structure.

Turquinine took down the entire covering almost by himself and packed it with his own things. He did this to prevent them from having to continually take it apart and reassemble it, if they should need it again. The Mitikuan also felt he would be able to handle the additional weight of this gear, far better than the others. Even though the blankets didn't weigh that much alone, when combined with the moisture they had absorbed from the snow, it made them much heavier. That didn't deter the knight from accepting the burden of carrying the additional load, however, and no one was willing to argue with his generous offer. As the giant of a man slung his gear on his back and prepared to leave, the others followed suit. Each of them was more than eager to move on.

It was still snowing when they resumed their march, although it was much lighter than it had been on the previous day. They didn't seem to mind it as much now, especially since their bodies began to warm up from the exertion. The dwarfs had located a new path, which was fairly flat and would help to make the hike slightly easier, so they trudged onward through the gently falling flakes. Alaric maintained a watchful eye on the horizon and soon discerned the movement of the giant condor in the distance, so he signaled the others to take cover. Quickly, they found whatever hiding places they could and moved into the shadows of nearby boulders, remaining motionless until the threat disappeared.

Once Alaric had given the ‘all clear signal,' they got back into formation and started off again. As they continued on, Kieren took this opportunity to study the others as they marched along, to see how they were holding up. He could tell that Garreth and Romaric weren't thrilled with the conditions, but they were toughing it out, and the warriors seemed to slough off these hardships as commonplace. Kieren almost burst out laughing when he finally located Qaim, for the shaggy haired creature was almost completely covered with snow and looked like a giant snowball on a pair of spindly legs. Despite his appearance, Qaim seemed to be among the least affected by this run of bad weather and continued on, with a little spring still left in his gait.

The travelers did take a brief pause, to consider eating on the move, but they gave up on that idea quite quickly, because their hands were too cold to grip anything. They walked for about another twenty minutes, before they came to an abrupt and unexpected halt. Without warning, the flat ground before them suddenly jutted sharply skyward, blocking their path forward. “What doeth we now?” Turquinine asked.

The dwarfs were busy studying the obstruction and didn't immediately respond to the giant knight's question. After a few minutes of investigation, they turned toward the others. “The way we see it,” Sedain began, “we have only two options. We can either climb up and over this peak or we can double back and take our original path.”

“We can't climb over that,” Alaric informed them immediately. “Maybe you and your brother could, but the rest of us do not have the skills or the experience required. The climb we made yesterday afternoon, just to get here, was almost more than most of us could cope with.”

“If we climb up this side, then won't we have to repel down the other?” Rhys asked. “And isn't there a chance that the far side will be as steep, or possibly steeper, than what we're facing here? We cannot afford to take chances like that and endanger the safety of anyone in the group,” he added, before scanning the faces staring back at him, looking for their support. He was disappointed when no one responded immediately. “I suggest we turn around,” he continued, with more emphasis than before, trying to make his point as sharply as possible.

“Qaim no want to go up and over,” the aignx interrupted. “Qaim no like. Feel bad to Qaim.”

“Great! That's really helpful,” Quintain commented. “Now we're reduced to listening to our guide, who's been hiding behind someone every time anything out of the ordinary happens.”

“Hey, we might do well to listen to Qaim,” Alaric challenged, tensing up as he moved in front of the dwarf. “Remember, Beraut told us he could sense things the rest of us couldn't. Maybe this is one of those times.”

“And maybe it isn't,” Quintain shot back, “but if we act upon HIS feelings, we will lose valuable time backtracking.”

“Will we?” Rhys challenged. “It might take us nearly as long or longer to scale this obstacle and then climb down the other slope. I still say we go back.”

“I agree with the dwarfs,” Hadwin chimed in, bolstering Sedain and Quintain's egos slightly, from knowing they had at least one supporter. “We should just continue moving forward and make the best of it. Otherwise, we could waste precious time retracing our steps, only to find something else blocking our way.”

Kieren, Garreth and Romaric had been whispering excitedly amongst themselves, trying to reach their own consensus. “I have something to say,” Kieren interjected, once he and his friends had reached an agreement, but no one seemed to hear him. “Excuse me,” he nearly shouted now, causing the others to temporarily cease their bickering and focus on him. “Even though none of you have asked for our opinion, we're still part of this group and don't like being ignored. It may not matter to you, but the three of us would have the hardest time making the climb, and we don't think we could do it. We think it's best if we head back the way we came.”

“It's time the three of you grew up,” Hadwin said rather forcefully, his jaw set and his eyes glaring at the trio, which caused Kieren and the two young elves to cringe. “Sometimes we have to force ourselves to do difficult things. We do what we HAVE to, not just what we WANT to. You two should have never been allowed to come in the first place,” he added, while glaring at Garreth and Romaric. His comment stung them deeply, but the Nardinian had more to say. “I never understood Beraut's reasoning for letting you join this group, so if this is too tough for you, maybe you should just run home now.” Not only were the boys shocked by his harsh rebuke, but some of the warriors were also equally surprised.

“That was completely uncalled for,” Rhys responded, after moving between Hadwin and the elves. “Each of these young men has proven his worth on this journey and you have no right to challenge their place here or to use their age against them when it suits your purpose. They are risking as much as the rest of us and should have a voice in whatever is decided.”

“Methinks that even though they be small and young,” Turquinine stated, “they hath proven their fealty to Master Kieren and earned mine respect, so I suggest thou apologize to them,” he added, causing Hadwin to blanche and relax his gaze from Garreth and Romaric.

“Fine, coddle the children,” Hadwin fumed. “Seeing my opinion counts for naught, I can see I'm not needed here,” he added, before spinning about and walking away from the group.

At first, both elves had been deeply hurt by Hadwin's comment, but those feelings began to disappear once Rhys and Turquinine jumped to their defense. Both young men understood they probably weren't as valuable as the warriors, but they didn't think they deserved to be treated like children either. They had each kept Kieren from harm at least once on this mission and therefore didn't feel anyone could say they had no value.

“We have to resolve this issue quickly,” Sedain prodded. “We are wasting valuable time arguing, when we need to be agreeing on how we should proceed?”

“If this were a military operation,” Rhys responded, “the ranking officer would make that choice. The problem is, we have no single person in charge.”

“Beraut left Qaim to lead us,” Garreth blurted out, before realizing what he was doing. When the others began to look in his direction, he felt it would be best to finish his thought, to keep the others from thinking Hadwin's comments might have been correct. “If Qaim was put in charge to lead us,” the elf added meekly, “then maybe he should be the one to choose which way we go.”

“He's been nearly worthless as a guide since Beraut left us,” Sedain objected, “so I don't see how he could help us now. My brother and I have been the ones leading you since we've entered the mountains, so I think you should continue to heed our advice.”

“Yes, and by following YOUR advice to move out of the valley,” Rhys challenged, gritting his teeth as he said it, “was what has forced us to deal with all these hardships in the first place. If we follow any more suggestions like that, we may NEVER complete this mission.” This time it was the dwarfs who felt offended and Sedain grasped the handle of his battleaxe, as if he were ready to challenge Rhys in order to defend his honor.

“I think we all need to take a minute to think about this calmly,” Alaric suggested, while discretely positioning himself between Sedain and Rhys. “We will never accomplish anything by trading insults.” Slowly, Quintain relaxed his grip on the handle of his battleaxe and everyone continued to mill about, not wishing to be the next to speak.

“Methinks Master Kieren shouldst decide,” the Mitikuan knight eventually volunteered, knowing someone had to say something or they might end up staying there forever. “This assignment is his to complete, so therefore the decision belongeth to him.” Kieren didn't feel comfortable being thrust into the center of this dilemma and reacted by offering a suggestion of his own.

“I think we should each have a say in this,” he countered, “so I feel everyone should get a vote and we do whatever most of us think is best.” This made everyone begin to look around at each other, as they mulled Kieren's proposal over in their minds. Hadwin and the dwarfs really didn't want to accept this plan, because they had a pretty good idea which suggestion everyone else would choose. The problem was, they also knew they weren't going to be able to convince the others to do what they thought best, so they concluded it would be a waste of time trying to stop this from going to a vote.

“Okay, let's vote then,” Hadwin stated. “All in favor of continuing on, raise your hand.” He wasn't surprised when only he and the two dwarfs thrust their arms into the air. Undaunted, he continued. “All in favor of going back the way we came.”

The boys were a little hesitant to be the first to signal their choice, because they didn't want to seem too eager to go against the others, but they did want to make sure their votes were counted. For that reason, they waited until some of the others began to raise their hands, before they also lifted their arms. Hadwin wasn't surprised to see that this option had the most support. Now that it had been officially decided, each of them grabbed their belongings and prepared to retrace their steps.

They stood around for quite some time, not going anywhere, because no one seemed willing to take charge after their disagreement. Eventually, Rhys broke the stalemate. “Sedain and Quintain,” he began, “we still need your experience, so if you would please take the lead,” he added, trying to placate the dwarfs. The two diminutive mountain men didn't seem overly impressed by his words and gave the Akiktite a glance that not only communicated their disdain, but also reflected the hurt they felt. They were still bitter about their idea being dismissed so easily, but felt they were still obligated to complete the mission they had volunteered for. Grudgingly, they moved to the front of the formation.

The group had been on the move again for quite some time, yet many of them still seemed to be dwelling on the various comments that had been uttered earlier. No one was speaking to anyone else and there were more than a few icy glares between the various members of the small party, as they were unwilling to forget how some of the others had slandered them. As they approached the place where they had camped the previous evening, they heard Alaric call out. “I see the condor in the distance. Everyone take cover.”

“Where?” Hadwin challenged, sounding a bit panicked. “There's no place to hide here. Our clothing will stand out against the snow and make us an obvious target.”

“We need to get back to the spot where we put up our shelter last night,” Sedain suggested. “Those boulders can conceal our presence until the threat has passed.”

“We have time,” Alaric announced. “Our friend seems to be in no hurry to head this way.” This news allowed the others to relax slightly.

“That's good,” Rhys added, “but I suggest only one of us go at a time. If we all try to move at once, it will increase the chance the condor might notice movement, no matter how far away it is.” Everyone agreed and then Quintain volunteered to go first, seeing he had been leading them. He was extremely cautious, making sure he wouldn't be spotted by the bird, but he wasn't overly concerned that would happen. Undaunted, he made his way quickly and uneventfully.

Sedain, Qaim and Hadwin went next, following the same technique Quintain had used. Just as the last of that group of warriors got safely to his destination, Alaric informed them that the condor had stopped its approach completely and was now circling a spot farther along the mountain peaks. The others had to take the elf's word for that, seeing the condor looked no larger than a fly hovering over garbage to them, but they were grateful for the breathing room. Feeling a little more confident, they sent Kieren next.

Kieren was a lot more nervous about moving across the exposed area, as he wasn't convinced the condor was otherwise distracted. He moved slowly and cautiously over the expanse, continually glancing up at the heavens, looking for his nemesis to return. He was greatly relieved when he reached the others, but he knew he couldn't relax until they were all safely together again.

Romaric and Garreth went next, one after the other, and their apprehension was highly visible, as they slinked across the open ground. Each of them was certain the bird was going to spot them, before they reached the spot they were going to meet up with the others, and come swooping down after them. With undue caution, they crept across the open expanse, nearly crawling to reach the others. Fortunately, they made it without incident and were safely hiding in the shadows with the rest of their group.

Once the elves were safely across, Rhys, Turquinine and Alaric covered the same ground, although they did it a little more boldly than the teens had done. Once the entire party was together again, they leaned against the leeward side of the boulders and waited patiently, while Alaric checked to see what the condor was up to.

“What's happening?” Rhys asked him, curious as to what was going on.

“The condor has been circling the same spot for quite a while,” Alaric informed them, while keeping his eye on their adversary. “I'm not sure what it's up to, but it doesn't seem to be in any hurry.”

Alaric continued to visually follow the aerial threat, knowing they would be trapped there until it decided to move on. Several seconds later, the elf watched as the condor began moving toward the spot where they were all hiding. As he inhaled deeply, about to warn those closest to him, the bird made a sudden and unexpected dive. Confused as to what it was doing, Alaric failed to signal the others, choosing instead to remain focused on the area where the condor landed. He knew it would eventually take flight again and that's when he would alert everyone else.

For the rest of the party, it seemed as if they had been waiting in the shadows forever and they were beginning to become bored. They also realized they were losing valuable time by having to wait around like this; minutes that would be best used traveling. Many of them were beginning to wonder if they should take the chance and just continue on, despite the bird's presence. Rhys was nearly prepared to vocalize that idea, when Alaric spoke up.

“The condor is airborne again, but it appears to be heading away from us now,” the elf advised them.

“Then we can't waste another second. We must get going!” Sedain suggested. Alaric made one more quick check, to make certain the condor was indeed leaving the area, and then he signaled the others it was time to go. With the others following closely behind, the dwarf started off again.

About twenty minutes later, Sedain and Quintain noticed something up ahead and signaled the party to come to a halt. “Stay here, while Sedain and I go and look around,” Quintain told them.

“Why, what's wrong?” Kieren wanted to know.

“Maybe nothing, but we've noticed a disturbance along the path,” the dwarf told him. “We think it best we check it out before continuing. It's probably nothing to be concerned about, though, but we just want to make sure of that.” Everyone watched as the dwarfs left, but Hadwin made sure those who remained behind found whatever cover they could, to keep out of sight. Before long the duo returned and they were highly agitated.

“It appears the condor landed earlier,” Sedain gasped out.

“That would coincide with what I saw,” Alaric told them. “I watched it dive and then stay out of sight for a while, so I figured it must have landed.”

“But what difference does that make?” Kieren wanted to know, confused as to why this seemed to cause the others to panic.

“From what we could determine,” Quintain responded, “the bird seems to have been moving over the last visible traces of our earlier passing.” The dwarf paused at this point, as he scanned the faces of those in front of him. After gauging their reaction, he continued. “I'm not sure if that was just a coincidence, but it almost appears as if it was actually following our tracks.”

“Do you really think it could have been looking for us?” Garreth asked, terrified the condor might know they were in the mountains.

“Not necessarily us,” Quintain advised him, “but I think it knew something had been wandering about. It appears to have been looking for a meal. The gods were kind to us when they allowed that bird to find some other poor critter in our place. I think it must have been one of the smaller animals that dwell in the fissures in the mountainside, but I'm not sure what it was doing out where it could be spotted. It must have been spooked by how close the condor was to it and tried to run. There were splotches of blood in the snow, which shows it didn't make it.” Everyone seemed to shudder, thinking it might have been one of them.

“Do you think it will come back then?” Romaric wanted to know, visibly shaken by the news.

“It will eventually,” the dwarf told him, “but for now it has flown off to consume its catch. It would be best if we get away from here, as quickly as possible.”

Without questioning the suggestion this time, everyone followed Quintain and Sedain as they moved along the trail, going as quickly as they deemed safe. As they traveled along that narrow pathway, the snow started falling again. At first it came down only as a light flurry, but as they continued on, the white flakes increased in intensity, making things even more difficult. When they came to the spot where they would begin their descent, the dwarfs brought them to a halt.

“This is where we climbed up to this level,” Quintain advised the others, “so it is also the best place to make our descent. We will try to make it a little easier by using ropes to accomplish this.” After making that announcement, Quintain withdrew a rope from his pack and tied a rather large, adjustable loop in it.

“This will allow you to slip the rope around the upper half of your body and secure it under you arms,” Quintain advised them. This idea sounded reasonable to everyone, with the possible exception of Qaim. The aignx seemed to shy away from the group after he heard the dwarf mention the ropes.

Turquinine and Rhys were the first to descend, because they were the largest and it would take more bodies to anchor the rope on the upper end. They would also be best able to defend the others as they climbed down to join them, should something attack. After they had safely reached the lower pathway, Hadwin went next, followed by Garreth, Romaric and then Kieren. Alaric followed them, quickly making his way to the bottom. The dwarfs pulled the ropes back up and were about to tie it around Qaim, but the aignx wouldn't allow it.

“No! Vines hurt Qaim,” he wailed, though not loudly. “Qaim no use. Qaim climb down.”

The dwarfs didn't think this prudent, but they didn't wish to waste time arguing with the aignx, so they let him do as he wished. As Qaim slowly clambered down the mountainside, the dwarfs packed up the ropes and readied themselves. Once Qaim had reached the others, the dwarfs climbed down behind him.

“I strongly urge that we move even farther down the mountainside,” Rhys advised them, once they were all together again, “until we get below the areas effected by the snow.”

“I agree,” Alaric added, quite rapidly.

“Let's not start this again,” Hadwin responded. “We've wasted enough time debating about how we should continue. I say we should just get going and move away from here, before Madumda's guardian returns.”

“If we move lower,” Quintain added, “we may just run into other dangers, which would prove equally troublesome.”

“Like what,” Alaric wanted to know.

“To start with, there would be a greater risk of encountering the types of animals we spoke of earlier,” the dwarf responded, while looking very serious. “Not only that, but there would also be the possibility of washouts and mudslides, caused by the vast amount of precipitation, and even the chance of running into enemy patrols, which might have been sent here to report on possible troop movements. Those types of threats would negate any advantage we might otherwise gain.”

“I agree with Sedain and Quintain this time,” Kieren interjected, having seen the logic in their argument. “I think having to deal with any of those problems would be much more dangerous than putting up with the snow. Besides, the condor will be a threat no matter what level we're at. I think we should just do as the dwarfs say.”

“Yes,” Romaric agreed, looking around. “Let's get away from here, now. I'm getting a bad feeling about this place.”

“Yes, before something else happens,” Alaric calmly added, “we should get moving.” Begrudgingly, the dissenters gave in and they struck out once more.

The snowfall continued to increase steadily as they moved forward, until they were facing blizzard conditions. The heavy snow was making it impossible to see even a short distance in front of them and was increasing their chance of mishap. Sedain stopped the party briefly and grabbed a collection of ropes, so he could tie them to the waist of each person in the party. This would help to make sure they wouldn't accidentally get separated in the blinding storm, and if someone happened to stumble or slip, they wouldn't plummet down the mountainside before someone could save them.

After these preparations had been completed, they continued to trudge forward, spurred on by the dwarfs. These diminutive mountain-folk not only wanted to make as much progress as possible, but they also knew it would be unwise to stop or slow down in this storm. If that were to happen, their body temperatures would begin to drop rapidly and put them in jeopardy of suffering from hypothermia in these extreme conditions.

Regardless of their intentions, their pace did slow even more as the snow increased and their spirits began to slip even lower. They all knew they would eventually have to stop, but realized they wouldn't survive another night in a makeshift camp. The snow was falling much heavier now, so it would collapse a flimsy structure in no time at all. The dwarfs wondered if they might be able to find a cave or a hollow in the rocky face of the mountain, but quickly concluded it was snowing far too hard for them to see the trail, much less a cave, even if such a thing were there. Some of those who had given in to the dwarfs' last suggestion began to mentally question whether they had done the right thing, but soon realized it was too late to think about such things now.