110 Corag Mountains
After riding into the mountains, Mateo and Jenirod met up with Destrar Broeck's mammoth army outside of Stoneholm. Though familiar with the big beasts from his training year up in Iboria Reach, Mateo had never seen so many of them all together in the same place. Jenirod could not believe the spectacle. “The Book of Aiden tells of great monsters, but I never dreamed of creatures such as this!” On the ride into Corag, he had been so proud of his horses, but even the best chargers from Erietta Reach seemed puny and ineffective when measured against woolly mammoths.
More than a hundred beasts shuffled around the open stony areas near the cliff city, bellowing and snorting as they searched for food. Soldier-trainees set up camps on the cold ground, and herders tried to keep the mammoths from wandering. Skilled Corag metalsmiths had fashioned embossed plates of body armor and fastened them to the shaggy beasts with leather straps and lengths of bright metal chain. The mammoths trumpeted as if proud to show off their new armor.
From the great hump behind the head of a bull mammoth, Destrar Broeck waved at them. “It's Subcomdar Bornan himself! Look sharp, Iaros, or he'll report you to the queen!”
Though the destrar's nephew tried to make an impressive show, his mammoth mount lumbered away, despite Iaros's tugging at its neck harness and yanking its soft ear.
Mateo laughed. “I hope your beasts won't be so unruly inbattle, Destrar. Will they follow commands when we strike Gremurr?”
“Almost certainly not. A beast this size does exactly as it likes. Fortunately, once we get them on the road and over the pass, they should charge all on their own—the Curlies won't know what hit them. We'll wreak havoc enough, don't you worry.” He glanced down at Jenirod and their warhorses. “Just make sure your little mounts don't get stepped on. Isn't that Destrar Unsul's boy?”
Jenirod sat high in his saddle. “Yes, sir. Would you mind two more men in your assault? Mateo and I would like to join the march on Gremurr.”
The Iborian leader shifted on his shaggy mammoth. “I thought you might be coming to take command, Subcomdar.”
“No, I'm here in an… unofficial capacity, but we've got our reasons. You are in charge of this operation.”
“You're welcome to lend your arms and your blades. You were always good at following orders, as I recall.”
“And you were good at giving sensible ones, Destrar.”
One of the mammoths in the herd let out a shrill roar, and the rest followed suit in a chorus powerful enough to knock rocks loose from the surrounding cliffs. Broeck heaved a long, grumbling sigh. “We've been here two days already, and these beasts are anxious to move. If we stay much longer, they'll get hungry and restless.” His face darkened. “But that's not the only reason for us to march. I've waited long enough to avenge Tomas.”
His comment burned like a hot stone in Mateo's heart. “The queen already exacted revenge for Tomas. A thousand Urecari paid the price. I did it myself, for her.”
“I heard… but that was her revenge.” Broeck glared at him. “This is mine. He was my grandson.”
While the mammoth army prepared to move out, Jenirod paced, betraying a mixture of queasiness and excitement. “This will be different from my attack on Fashia's Fountain, won't it?” Haunted uncertainty had hovered behind his eyes ever since he'd caught up with Mateo in the rainy meadow. “This is a real battle? Against real enemies?”
“Yes, Jenirod. You'll face Urecari fighters who can actually defend themselves. They'll die like men instead of helpless victims.” Mateo wondered if he would ever stop thinking of the thousand heads. Or Tomas's. “But I mean to see them all killed, nevertheless.”
Broeck and Iaros led the huge beasts along the mountain road into the cold and windy wilderness. Along the way, the mammoths stripped the grassy meadows of all vegetation. As they climbed higher, Destrar Siescu's new road dwindled to a stony path across cliff faces, chipped out by countless prisoners.
Siescu himself waited for them at the last work camp on the pass overlooking the descent. Corag soldier-guards still watched the bleak-eyed Urecari prisoners who toiled at the rockpiles, shuddering in terror at the passage of the lumbering monsters.
Wrapped in thick furs, Siescu greeted Destrar Broeck and Mateo. “We've opened the gateway to Gremurr. You can march these beasts to the mines and chase the Curlies all the way into the Middlesea.”
Mateo ran his eyes over the sullen laborers. “Keep your workers fed, Destrar. Once we capture the mines, we'll still need people to provide labor for the Tierran army.”
Broeck adjusted the head harness of his mammoth, impatient. “Don't worry, we'll capture more prisoners at Gremurr, too. I don't intend to kill them all, though they deserve it.”
Raga Var came up the path from the mountain pass ahead. “I just ran the route, and the way is clear. Your monsters will make the passage safely.” He nodded toward the Eriettan horses, pursed his lips in appreciation. “Those are better creatures for a narrow mountain path. Mammoths are too huge.”
The Iborian destrar laughed out loud. “Horses won't strike a tenth of the measure of terror these monsters will! Mammoths won't be too huge when we face the Urecari.” Broeck slapped the bull mammoth, and the big beast plodded forward, taking one heavy step after another. The huddled Urecari slaves watched from their open camp.