Carrying Brynn and his war hammer while clad in full plate armour was going to be a greater challenge than he thought, Abner decided, after scarcely having walked a hundred paces with the heavyset woman on his back. The others were pulled away, understandably eager to get to the other side of the Channel, and having seemingly forgotten that Abner was carrying their recuperating companion.

  Abner considered using his ring, but feared they might need its power soon. He could feel that its power was not inexhaustible, and he knew it was past time to have it examined by an expert. Gen was the likeliest candidate. He cursed himself for not showing it to her before, and vowed to show it to her at the next opportunity. The Channel wasn’t far, and he focused his efforts on putting one foot in front of the other, wondering how they were going to cross it. He felt the ground tremble beneath his feet with each step and wondered if it was an indication of his legs’ strength giving out.

  Before he knew it, Abner bumped up against Gen, who was next in line in their single file formation. Caught off balance, Abner teetered and was just about able to catch himself before he fell. Sweat poured down his face from his exertions, stinging his eyes.

  “What is it?” he panted as he struggled to pick himself up.

  “I don’t know, the others stopped,” she replied, standing on tiptoes in an attempt to see over Kara’s shoulder in front of her.

  “Quiet,” the elf whispered sharply. “The Enemy is near.”

  “Enemy?”

  Abner would have jumped if he had the strength when he heard Brynn’s alert voice in his ear. He twisted his neck and watched her incredulously as she climbed down and stood on steady feet.

  “How long have you been fit to walk?” he demanded.

  The heavyset woman shrugged. “Almost as soon as the elf completed her spell, but I thought it wise to conserve my strength.”

  “Quiet!” Kara’s voice was more urgent now.

  Abner looked up and saw Eskar glaring at him from the head of their group. He pressed his finger to his lips and beckoned Abner over. Hesitantly, Abner stepped past the others on the path the Captain had created through the undergrowth through elven means that were beyond Abner’s ken, and stood beside the elf.

  Eskar looked Abner in the eye and tapped his finger against his mouth again, and when Abner nodded in understanding, he beckoned for him to peer through the branches of a bush. At first, all he saw was trees in the distance. Then, he lowered his gaze and saw that they were standing over the deep black gouge in the earth, the bottom of which was roughly fifty feet below them. At the bottom of the Channel, marching eight abreast in a line as far as the eye could see, were tusked, green skinned creatures in black armour. Some carried long spears over their shoulder, while others were armed with swords.

  Marching alongside the infantry were more of the same creatures who rode enormous wolves that stood almost as tall at the shoulder as the average man. Then, in the distance, Abner saw a great two legged creature covered in brown skin that was the colour of mud. It stood almost three times as tall as the average man and was armed with a crude club that had been fashioned from the log of a tree.

  Shocked to his core, Abner turned back to Eskar and gave him a pointed look. The Captain pointed down the Channel, and Abner saw one of the elven tree bridges spanning the roughly forty foot wide Channel, and Abner understood at once the quandary they were in. He turned back to Eskar, who gestured for them to withdraw.

  “What was that?” Abner gasped once they were a good distance away.

  “The Black Horde,” Eskar replied. “Or the second wave, at least, on their way to ravage your lands.”

  Abner paled. “There are so many…”

  “Yes,” Gen agreed gravely.

  “We need to warn our people,” Abner said, aghast, and regretting his decision not to join the prince’s defence of the northern territories.

  “Our problem now is how we are going to get across the Channel to my people,” Eskar reminded them.

  “Couldn’t Gen teleport us again?” Abner offered.

  Stride swatted him on the arm. “Are you insane?”

  Gen held her leather pouch up and shook her head. “I’m out of reagent, I’m afraid.”

  “Wonderful,” Abner breathed. “We’ll have to wait until they finish passing through, then.”

  Eskar frowned. “The first wave took three days to fully clear through.”

  “Your people have been watching this second wave,” Abner said. “How long do you think it will take them to pass through?”

  Eskar shrugged. “Perhaps another day or so.”

  “We can’t afford to wait,” Gen said.

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  “I agree,” Eskar nodded. “We will have to make the crossing now, then.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Abner protested, holding up a hand. “Shouldn’t we at least wait until nightfall?”

  “We are fairly certain that orcs can see in the dark,” Kara remarked.

  “We will make the crossing at sundown,” Eskar declared. “The sun will be in their eyes.”

  Abner frowned. The bridge tree didn’t offer much cover, but he couldn’t think of any better suggestions. Soon, Eskar was leading them through the forest once again, and Gen fell in step alongside Brynn.

  “So, the Elders gave you use of the Chromatic Cloak,” she began.

  Brynn was unable to keep the guilt from her face and nodded. “They thought it likely I might have to kill your brother.”

  “And they were right.” Gen’s voice was small, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

  “So, that Channel,” Abner said, wanting to lift the heavy atmosphere, especially in light of the perils that lay ahead of them. “What made it?”

  Kara glanced at Eskar, and when her Captain did not react, turned to Abner. “It was in our wars against the Black Horde thousands of years ago. Their great dragon, Irkalon of the Black Flame, was so large that his wings blotted out the sun. It was his black flames that carved that gouge in our sacred woods from their Fortress of Ith Dralar all the way to the banks of the Erevine near Ilramin, inflicting a scar that nature has not been able to heal for three thousand years.”

  “What happened to the dragon?” Abner asked.

  “It was slain in battle over Eshkalar,” Kara replied. “Qarmdral, the great archer, shot it down with a mighty ballista wrought from dwarven steel. It fell into the waters of Lake Harfel. To this day, nothing can thrive in its waters.”

  “So,” Abner breathed. “Your people have experience fighting this Black Horde.”

  Kara nodded. “We defeated them and sealed them away. It was your people, that Stinwell, and his expedition, who unleashed them once again upon this world.”

  Gen frowned. “That is one thing even our Elders do not know. How did Queen Arshava seal the Black Horde away?”

  Eskar turned around to give Kara a pointed look, and the elf fell silent.

  “That is not for outsiders nor heretics to know,” the Captain said brusquely. “What matters is that they have returned to blight this world once more.”

  “Perhaps with your people’s help, we could drive the Black Horde back,” Abner said. “If our people bolstered your ranks, we could whittle their numbers down all along the Channel.”

  Eskar scoffed. “You don’t know what you are asking of us. We have already lost so much.”

  Abner bit his lip, knowing this was neither the time nor the person to make this plea to. The Queen held ultimate power over the elves, and it was she he had to convince. Perhaps she could be if they aided her in this plot. That is, if she wasn’t somehow involved herself.

  Eskar raised a hand, bringing the others to a stop. He bade the others crouch while he scanned ahead. Abner nudged Stride’s arm and gave the boy an inquisitive look. Stride narrowed his eyes before holding up two fingers and pointing ahead of them. Abner arched an eyebrow in reply, and the boy shrugged.

  After a few tense minutes, Eskar relaxed and turned around. “Enemy scouts. They have withdrawn.”

  Abner felt his skin crawl. Of course, the Enemy would be scouting along the top of the Channel. It was common sense.

  “It is strange for them to enter our woods,” Kara remarked. “Were we seen earlier?”

  “We cannot rule that out,” Eskar replied.

  Brynn frowned. “Why don’t they enter your woods?”

  Kara turned to her and shrugged. “They simply never have unless responding to provocation from our end. We assumed it must feel like a fetid swamp would to your people.”

  That didn’t make sense to Abner. Not posting scouts along a vulnerability like the edge of the Channel was something any human army or freesword worth their salt would do no matter the conditions, but he didn’t see the point in contradicting the elves now.

  “Do we proceed?” Gen asked. “With the crossing at sundown?”

  Eskar took a moment to think it over before nodding. “Corruption has arrived at our doorstep, and we are the only ones who know. We can ill afford to waste time.”

  Abner nodded silently, but knew that it would be all for nought if they were killed in the crossing. Eskar led them at a slow pace, and the crossing came into view as the sun had stained the sky a brilliant hue of orange as it began to dip beneath the horizon to the west. Abner looked down at the Channel, down which the endless stream of black clad orcs still marched, heading west.

  Most had their heads lowered to shield their eyes against the sun, but all it would take was one of them to spot them. His heart began to pound. The risk was high.

  “Now is as good a time as any,” Eskar said and turned to Kara. “Bring up the rear.”

  “Yes, Captain,” she said.

  The group rearranged itself and waited as Eksar watched the steady stream of orcs passing by. Every now and then, an ogre lumbered past, having to carefully duck its head to avoid hitting the bridge. That struck Abner as strange. Why didn’t they just smash the bridge?

  When Eskar judged the time was right, he crept out into the open, keeping his body low. Abner was next in line and hurried after the elf. As he approached the arched tree bridge, the undergrowth thinned, leaving Abner feeling completely exposed and wondering if they shouldn’t be crawling instead. Eskar didn’t seem to share his reservations and had quickened his pace as he crouch-walked up the bridge.

  Abner was trailing behind and attempted to quicken his pace. His armour began to rattle as he began climbing the tree bridge, causing Abner to grit his teeth and come to a stop. Upon hearing the noise, Eskar stopped and whirled around to glare at him. Abner gave him a sheepish look and chanced a glance over the side to see if any of the creatures below had noticed the sound. His heart almost stopped when he noticed an orc staring right at him.

  Abner’s eyes widened, and he didn’t dare move as the creature’s beady eyes stared into his soul. His heart sank when the orc elbowed its neighbour and pointed at him. The other orc grunted, and Abner could scarcely believe his eyes when they both fixed their eyes straight ahead and carried on marching as though nothing had happened.

  Abner held his breath, thinking the creatures must be waiting for him to lower his guard before raising the alarm. He quickly realised that it made no sense and glanced at Eskar, whose disbelief mirrored his own. At length, the elf motioned for them to continue crossing. They crept along low and slowly at first, but as they reached the other end, Abner rose to his full height and looked openly at the army passing beneath them. A few of the creatures bristled when they saw him, but none even slowed their pace as they marched on past.

  “What in the world?” Gen muttered as she stood beside Abner. “Orcs are meant to be bloodthirsty savages that live for the fight.”

  “Hey,” Eskar hissed. “We can discuss what this means later, but for now, let’s not try our luck.”

  Abner was inclined to agree and began to join the others, but noticed that Gen remained rooted in place, staring at the orcs.

  “Could this be a new species of orc?” he heard her mutter to herself. “Or perhaps their time sealed away has changed them somehow…”

  “You can admire them later,” he said as he dragged Gen back to the others, back into the safety of the undergrowth.