Somewhere in Mt. Black Nastrond...
Hadron road along the mountain path. As usual, he was bored with these long rides through the middle of nowhere. Galbrecht had been dreading the inevitable question for at least two or three hours now. Just as he had been starting think that Hadron had been toying with him by NOT asking it, the troop of men came to a halt.
There in front of them, cutting completely across the path, was a palisade. They could clearly see that the path went right up to the palisade, and then disappeared under it.
Hadron looked at the palisade, then at the path, then over to Galbrecht.
"Galbrecht, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there was a palisade here the last time we rode through these mountains."
"No, m'Lord, I think you're correct. This palisade wasn't here a few days ago."
"So someone was inconsiderate enough to build a wall right across our path, and not put a gate on it."
"It seems that way, m'Lord."
"Well, that is most rude of them. Now what do we do?"
Galbrecht was just about to suggest sending a trooper in each direction to look for the gate when a guard appeared at the top of the wall. "You there! Approach and be recognized!"
Hadron's troop of soldiers approached the wall. Galbrecht took the lead. "I am Galbrecht, captain of Hadron's Colliders. And this is Lord Hadron, Margrave of Aegir's Deep. Why have you built this wall across the trail? How are we supposed to get through here?"
"Get through? Well, you don't. What are you doing here, anyway? I mean, don't think I've ever seen cavalry here before. How come you're not on the main road?"
"What ... main road? I thought this *was* the main road!"
The sentry chuckled form atop the wall. "This the main road?! Ha! This is just an old game trail. The main road comes through from the northwest. You must have missed the turn a few miles back. You must have had a hell of a time trying to get those cavalry through these hills. He he he ..."
"Well, which way is it to the gate?" Galbrecht called. "We need to get through."
"Oh, you can't get through this way. The wall runs from a cliff on the north side clear through to a sheer drop in the south. There's no gate here. You'll have to go back down the trail to the main road, and then up the main road to the gate."
Galbrecht closed his eyes and shook his head. "And how far is that?"
The sentry chuckled again. "For me? Well, it's only a couple hundred yards to the gate. For you, on that game trail down to the main road, then back up to the gate? Oh, say.... 8 miles I think."
Hadron's face flushed red. Without a word he turned his horse around and headed back down the game trail. Galbrecht brought the men around behind, and they all headed back down the game trail. As they road away, they could hear the guard calling after them: "I'll walk over and let them know you're coming! He he he... Hey Frank, come 'ere! you're not gonna believe this!"
Galbrecht started swearing under his breath. "I hate this !@#$ing mountain!"
