Kassadea had been escorted through the gate shortly after they had announced the joining to the Ice Worlders, and by the late hours of the night, a contingency of the Royal Guard’s dragoons had arrived from Laya.  Early the following morning, Taren had mustered the troops of Dezol, and the soldiers from the other human settlements had gathered in preparation for a strike against Thainos’s Castle.

Jedin was riding with Taren and Jerith at the head of the army. As they went, Jedin considered the banner that flew over the troops that he was marching with. It seemed odd to him to see Volerum’s three rose banner in such an alien looking land, and over such a foreign looking army, but this too was Volerum’s people now, and alliance against a common enemy was the principle on which Volerum had been originally founded. It seemed fitting to Jedin that it continued that way, giving strength to both peoples.

The soldiers of Taren’s army wore chain mail over thick coats for warmth, giving them a rather bulky yet intimidating appearance. Jedin himself simply wore a thick coat that had been given to him by Taren’s people.

The army marched south toward a large mountain range. Taren had told the troops that they would make camp in the pass between the mountains, where Taren hoped that they would not be discovered until they went to attack Thainos the next day.

Taren and Jerith were riding together and talked, while Jedin rode back in silence and pondered on the battle ahead as they began to enter the canyon pass. The primary threat, of course, had become the demon forces, yet Jedin wondered if Moira had gotten power over the Ice Wand, or if she was still out there somewhere else. Either way, Moira was still dangerous. He was not certain which of the threats were worse. Moira had said that she served The Dark Force, and that bothered him most of all. What Moira said about The Dark Force made him wonder if she served him of her own choice or if some power was compelling her, and if she could still be brought back to reason; Jedin didn’t know.  

There were many beliefs surrounding The Dark Force, most of which were little more than legend, but many suggested that he would lend power to those he manipulated to do his will, and Jedin wondered what Moira had gained from her association with him. Certainly it had provided her with the knowledge to open the gates. But why, thought Jedin, why did she turn to The Dark Force? For power? If the legends offered anything, it was that The Dark Force only manipulated others to maintain his own power. Why? he thought again as he shook his head.

Soon, the army made it to the mountains and started through the pass. The trek was difficult, and there was only the faint appearance that a road had once been there.

As they went, Jedin was puzzled to see that some of the upper portions of the mountains were wooded, but then remembered some of what Taren had explained to him some about the nature of the Ice World. While this world was cold by nature, only the human territories had been permanently frozen by the demon kings. The remainder of the land was ‘less cold’ and supported most of the wood and food that his people gathered.

After some time of riding in the canyon, Taren stopped the troops near a bend in the pass. “We’ll set up camp here just before the bend, and we will move out before dawn,” he ordered.

The men dismounted and staked their horses, and began to prepare snow caves and put up a few tents. Among the tents was one larger command tent that Taren called Jedin and Jerith to. When they came into the tent, they found Taren there with one of his generals, by the name of Renin. The tent had been lit with candles, and had a collapsing desk in the center of it with a map spread across it. They stood around the table to hear Taren explain the map.

“This is where we are,” said Taren, pointing at a small gap in the mountains. “We will take the army through here to Thainos,” said Taren as he moved his finger through the pass to a spot marked Thainos. At this point Taren pulled out a diagram of a castle. “This is the castle,” finished Taren.

The diagram showed a simple castle with three outer walls to make a courtyard, with towers at each of the corners. In the center of the courtyard was a taller main tower for a keep.

“The castle isn’t too heavily defended with troops, but it still houses a sizable force. The castle’s main defense, of course, is the Ice Wand that Thainos uses from the top of the center tower,” explained Renin.

“I can deflect any spells directed near me, but how do you plan to take the castle?” asked Jerith.

“Once that battle begins, our soldiers will assemble our covered batting ram, which we intend to use to break into the court yard. There we will be too entangled with the demon forces for Thainos to use the wand.” answered Renin.

“Then with the soldiers that Kassadea augmented our troops with, we should have the strength to enter the keep.” Taren added.    

“For that matter, I know of some spells that could save time battering in the gates,” said Jedin.

“Yes, yes, any magic you have at your disposal will help immensely,” said Taren.

“Well, once inside it’s only a matter of getting to Thainos,” said Renin.

“Oh good, because I thought that it was going to be much harder than that,” said Jedin with a slight sarcastic tone.

“Well then, it’s late now and you’d best be off to prepare your beds before it becomes dark. You’re dismissed,” said Taren.

Jedin and Jerith went out into the canyon, where it had become rather windy, and by this time the sun had gone down past the mountains, and it was starting to become dark.

Jerith and Jedin piled snow up and dug it out to make a snow cave, in which they laid out their bedrolls and went to sleep.