The Tiger's Time by Marc Alan Edelheit

Author:Marc Alan Edelheit [Edelheit, Marc Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-24T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Chest heaving from the exertion of the climb, Stiger came to a halt. Despite the chill night air, he was hot, sweaty, and somewhat out of breath. Glancing back down the slope, he decided he needed more exercise. In a column of two, the men of Pixus’s century continued to flow by him and into the entrance that led to the underground.

The opening of the tunnel looked blacker than black, almost ominous. From its depth spewed a colder flow of air. It felt refreshing, but at the same time Stiger found it wasn’t. The cold of the underground would be with him as an ever-present companion for the next few days, chilling him to the bone. The only warmth would come from marching and the occasional fire—that was, if they had time to stop.

“Seems like we slipped away without detection,” Sabinus said, having made his way up the hill to him. The centurion was breathing heavily. “Hogan’s boys did their job, that’s for sure.”

Not wishing to waste breath as he recovered, Stiger remained silent. He had to agree that Hogan had come through. The enemy’s scouts had been efficiently eliminated. A short time after Hogan had given the all clear, the century had marched out of the encampment.

“The climb wasn’t so bad.” Sabinus cracked his neck before taking out his canteen. After a quick swallow, he offered it to Stiger, who took a grateful swig before returning the canteen.

“It was the pace you set,” Sabinus continued. “If I may say so, a real punisher, sir. Almost as bad as a route march, but shorter.”

Stiger glanced over at the centurion, wondering if Sabinus had said that for his benefit. After a moment, he decided the centurion was serious. Sabinus was sweating just as profusely as Stiger and appeared almost as winded.

“Route marches are always the worst and that’s what’s essentially ahead of us,” Stiger said. “A forced route march.” Stiger almost groaned at the thought of how far they had to go. “Don’t worry, I’ll slow things up. We have a lot of ground to cover and something more manageable will be called for. That said, we will march in longer intervals with shorter breaks.”

“I had figured as much, sir,” Sabinus said and then brightened. “The good news is the dwarven road is straight and level. That should make it a tad easier for the men.”

Stiger looked behind them into the trees, where the dwarves had ripped up the brush along the old road. They had also felled trees and removed the stumps so the wagons could pass. Even in the dark, it was a path a blind man could follow. He glanced upward. The cloud cover had thickened up considerably, completely hiding the moon. As a result, he wasn’t able to see much farther than a few feet.

Thunder rumbled, sounding much closer than before. The air, though chill, was humid. It wouldn’t be long before the rain started. A flash of lightening somewhere off to the left illuminated the clouds for a fraction of a heartbeat.

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