Normally, Ben loved missions that let him exercise a bit of creativity, and this one certainly allowed for that, but the lack of information bothered him, especially the second part. Find the barbarian tribes and investigate the situation? No problem. But find a tribe of Jotun somewhere to the north, sneak up on a fifty-foot tall monster named Brogthall and figure out what he was up to? That was going to be tougher. Oh, and get out alive so he could report back to the Duchess. That was an important part of the plan and one that he approved of. His current plan was to make contact with the barbarians, parley and gain information on their enemies. If they knew anything about the Jotun and Brogthall, he'd have a chance at completing the second half of the mission.It wasn't hard at all to find the camps of the barbarians. There was a trail a hundred feet wide through the greening grasslands pointing him in the right direction. They had stopped only a few hours ride north of the Empire army at the edge of the scrubby hills that marked the no-mans-land between the Empire and the North. Of course, an hour at Courier speed was a lot more than an hour at the slogging pace of infantry and wagons. It would take a normal man on a good horse three days to cover the same ground, and without some sort of magic, a week for a fast traveling army.This area was within the land granted to Baron William by the Emperor. Recently, it had been snow covered wastes. Before that it was a large area of poor land with small rocky hills dotted with oak and pine, surrounded by arid flatlands. It was changing even as Ben and Goodboy rode through it. The trees looked greener and healthier. Small streams and ponds had appeared, and lush grass was growing fast. Rolly had talked about melting glaciers, recharged aquifers, and winds moving in new patterns. Everyone else just attributed it to "magic" and "Summer," and left it at that. They were soldiers and concerned with soldiery things. They accepted that the Shepherd would have special knowledge of the things that would affect his herds. While he was still two miles away, he found a suitable hill with a tall tree and enough branches to climb high above the surrounding area. Sitting on a branch at the top with his spyglass and enhanced perception he was able to see the fine details of the growing camp. It was something between a refugee camp and a military camp. Someone had chosen the site well, atop one of the larger hills. Most of the trees had been cut down and were being turned into firewood and logs. The treetops and branches were piled high to form a barrier. He saw sharpened poles being driven into the ground and angled to stop changing enemies. The greenery was being used to disguise the defenses. From the size of the stakes, and their placement on the far side of the camp, it was evident to Ben that they were more worried about what might be coming from the North, and not the army pursuing them from the south.
A mile to the west, two wooly Mumakil were grazing happily on the long grass, happy to be rid of the heavy harness and load they had packed for most of their lives. They were not as comfortable in this warmer place, but the food was good, and they didn't want to abandon such good forage just yet. The small men had come to annoy them, but without their harnesses and a powerful Beastmaster to speak to them, they couldn't be controlled.Wagons piled high with goods and children were coming out of the hills, along with herds of long-haired cattle, horses, sheep, and very large goats. Horsemen were guiding them to the side of the hill nearest Ben. People from the camp were mingling with the incoming refugees, sometimes frantically. Warriors were looking for their families, or news of them. Not all of them got happy news. The barbarians had suffered casualties in the war, and not everyone forced from their homes was going to make it.That defenses were going up on the North side of the camp meant they expected to be attacked by enemies pursuing the refugees, and far sooner than they would have to worry about the Empire's slowly advancing forces. From the information Rolly had gathered they were going to be facing off with large, hungry monsters. Normally, horse archers would have an advantage in open territory like this. They could ride around the large beasts or giants and bring them down with archery. But not if they had to defend their camp. They were stuck between two rock, with not many options of anywhere to go. One direction took them to Rowan Keep, and the other was a long trek through increasingly barren lands before they hit an area where nothing lived but powerful monsters that resembled a cross between a crocodile and a preying mantis. Someone had decided to make their stand here rather than run.And if they were only been an army of soldiers, soldiers who had invaded the Empire and waged war, Ben wouldn't have had a problem with the situation. Wars had casualties and the North had started this one. But something stunk here. There was a land grab going on, taking advantage of the absence of the people who went to fight. The giants and ogres were on the move, and forcing the smaller people from their homes, and those people were now stuck here with their herds and whatever they could load into wagons. The Emperor wasn't going to be happy to have several tribes of barbarians grabbing land from the Empire to replace their lost lands in the North. That meant another war.
And something else a lot more deadly might be walking down from the North. Were they coming to help the barbarians establish a beachhead in these now-grassy plains? Or wipe them out to prevent them trying to retake their northern lands? Worse, they might ally with the tribes and force the barbarians to attack the Empire again. He needed more information, and the only place to get it was from these people. There was a good chance that they might rather put a lot of nasty arrows into him rather than talk, but that was just a normal part of his Courier job.
Getting down out of the tree was easy, leaping from branch to branch as he descended then performing a full double somersault as he landed in front of Goodboy. His mount yawned, unimpressed by what a monkey with opposable thumbs could do. Ben scratched his ears a bit, then mounted up. "Time to run down and see how unfriendly these folks are. Don't worry, the arrows don't sting much after the first few."Inside the camp, an exhausted Jarl Cragstone was meeting with three other Jarls, supposedly with the purpose of devising strategy. Mostly they wanted to sit for an hour and drink ale without anyone presenting them with another unsolvable problem. They had been shocked when they were met with the first wagons and learned that the giants had come to reclaim the lands ceded to the Barbarian clans generations ago. Cragstone had known the giants wanted the valleys. They grumbled and complained every time a great conclave was called. They would demand their lands back, and the Council would have to argue against it. A political ploy, everyone thought. Except now the giants were striding across the land, with no one to stop them. If it had been just the ogres, they could have fought. Even the monstrous trash giants could be dealt with if all the clans banded together. But not with the Jotun against them. The Frost Giants were skilled at war, and fought with their heads and their giant axes. With all three monstrous hosts combining, Cragstone knew they didn't have a chance in hell of winning. Others disagreed, but he knew it was simply that the thought of losing their homes was something they couldn't quite accept yet. "We should fight!""Against the Jotun?""Well, no, against the Ogres. If we can drive off the Ogre tribes, we could bribe the Jotun. They like their gold and silver. Cragstone nodded in agreement. "They do, but once they take a contract and go to war, they cannot be bribed. And they are marching now. How much gold do the tribes have? A few bags of dust panned from the icy streams and some old, battered crowns passed down through the ages? It would take a chest of gold heavier than we can lift together to get their attention, let alone make them retreat or fight against the other monsters. If we stay here, they may not pursue us. My wife and mother were told by them to pack quickly and leave, never to return. They only had a day, but it was enough to save some things. And they did not rampage and didn't kill unless attacked.""They killed Yuri!"That brought a laugh from the other men. "Yes. I hear he leaped from the roof of the tallest barn and hacked off a giants nose with his axe. The Jotun was quite upset when his nose fell to the ground and shattered, and there was Yuri, a one-legged old man of nearly a century and a half hanging from the axe imbedded in the giants face, laughing hysterically. Brunhild said the other Jotun laughed along with him, at least until no-nose threw him to the ground and stomped him to paste.""He always said he wanted to die in battle." They raised a toast to Yuri, drank down the ale, and poured more.Cragstone smiled at the mental picture. "And we may all get the chance to do the same." He was feeling the start of the melancholy calm that always preceded a berserk rage. It wasn't far away now. Battle was coming, probably his last."You think the Empire will pursue so far? We are on the very edge of their lands."One of the other jarls shrugged, "I would. Why leave a living enemy on your doorstep."Cragstone shook his head. "They will pursue, but our first fight will be against the trash giants and yeti. They killed many of the people from Sulfur Springs, attacking without mercy, and giving no time to pack and leave as the Jotun did. They only stopped to eat while the others escaped. They will be hungry again and be drawn to this camp. Bronk will not stop them.""You think this is Bronk's doing?""Has to be. He calls, they come. He says stay, and they do. If they attacked, it was at his command. And if Bronk wants us gone, he will not be gentle about it. I expect he might even be leading the charge. I've heard he likes his meat fresh.""Well, that's a bucket of frozen piss!" They all raised their drinking horns at this perfect description of their position. They were tapping the last keg of ale when someone threw back the hide door of the yurt and danced into the room.
Tamique was wearing his black witches hat and a white robe torn off at mid-thigh. She sat on the table near Cragstone and grinned at him. "Why the mopey face? You should be smiling. I've got a surprise for you!"Cragstone winced, "I've had a few too many surprises these last two days, Tamique. What is it?""Guess!" "No, just tell me, or leave me to my drinking and high-level strategy discussions."She frowned at him, eyes twinkling. "Oh pooh, you are such a fuddy-duddy sometimes. But I'll tell you, because I know you'll want to watch. We have a visitor riding toward the camp. I saw him up in a tree, watching us. I think he's a Beastmaster, or Rime Knight, or maybe a spy for the Council or something. He's all dressed in white and he's riding a pure white doggy that is so cute!"Cragstone stood up, his bones aching. "I so didn't need to deal with this."Tamique took him by the arm. "Don't worry, you don't have to. Jarl Redhoof saw him coming and is going to meet him. He wants to challenge him to a duel..""By the gods, why? We don't know who it is."Tamique rolled her eyes and giggled, "Because he's crazy in the head. He rides that murder-deer he inherited from his mother, the witch. No one else would challenge a mysterious sorcerer riding on a white Snarfang. Come watch, it will be fun."Cragstone and the other Jarls followed her out of the yurt, none of them quite knowing what the hell was going on.