Ghost of the Shadowfort: The Bladeborn Saga, Book Two by T.C. Edge

Author:T.C. Edge [Edge, T.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

25

The horn started blowing as soon as they came into sight of the fortress, sitting sprawled across a rugged hillock in the foothills of the Weeping Heights. Either side of it, the Banewood spread out, clothing the southern side of the mountains as they spread high and endless into the distant ash-grey skies.

"I suppose they've spotted us, then," Amron noted from atop Wolfsbane as he stared toward the battlements. Men in sooty silver cloaks were standing guard along the parapets and up at the summit of the Infinity Tower, the great Horn of Haldar was blowing loud and long, a deep vibrating bellow that rang out for miles around. "Have you visited Northwatch before, Walter? Quite the sight, isn't it?"

"Aye it is, my lord, and a sight I've seen once or twice before, if not this close," answered the luckiest man in the world, trotting alongside him on a stubby-legged garron that rather matched the man's stout and paunchy proportions. "Not been beyond the gate, though. You'd have to be a lord or knight or listed man for that."

He was right, of course. The fortress of Northgate was the northernmost of all the Vandarian strongholds, a military outpost not intended for the use of commoners, standing vigil against wildmen and raiders and other things more foul that might seek to pass south across the mountains. For a thousand years the men of Northwatch had seen to that solemn duty, though in recent centuries they'd grown idle in their work. It wasn't for want of trying, no, but a lack of threats to busy them. Rangers still ventured into the Weeping Heights, if not beyond them, but rarely came back with any report to trouble those who slept warm in their beds.

"Quite the racket too," Walter Selleck said, as the horn continued to rumble. "Does it blow like this every time someone gets this near?"

They were travelled along the final stretch of the High Way, though much of it was buried under a foot or so of snow. Still, Amron knew the route well, leading them through the winding track through the low foothills to where Northgate loomed. "If someone approaches, yes, the horn will blow," he said. "It shouldn't last much longer." Even as he said it, the noise trailed off, leaving a light ringing in his ears. "Ah, you see. Blows a lot longer if someone comes from the other side."

"I suppose that doesn't happen often."

"Not for some time, but for when a ranger returns. They have different sounds for those, though. There's a whole series of signals they use to give warning of who approaches."

Walter pulled at his earlobe, and wiggled his shaggy-bearded jaw. "Leaves a bit of a ringing, doesn't it," he said. "Must be a big old horn to make a sound that deep."

"You haven't heard of it?" Amron was surprised by that. Walter was a fairly learned man, and profoundly interesting besides. They'd shared much about their adventures during their ride from Blackfrost, though it was Walter did most of the talking.

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