20

The following days were difficult; they rose early and walked until evening, when the sun set, they ate and settled down to sleep.

The sun rose once again; it had been rising like this for several days since the decisive meeting. They set off right after breakfast, as usual. However, while the sun was still hot, high above Dero and Zon, who were the first to go, one of the Gurders sent on reconnaissance landed. They arrived. Ahead of them lay a forest perfect for a hiding place, and just beyond it was the Lord's valley.

"If we're so close, why aren't there any scouts?" wondered Ker, who had just joined his friends.

"I don't know, Ziemon, we got very close and saw the Lord, who was just inspecting his troops in their collars. Maybe they've realized two are missing?" the scout replied.

"Probably, and they'll go looking for him. What are we doing?" asked Droden Goldcrest, looking at Dero.

"I don't think there's time to rest, especially since we don't know if the brigade searching for the two already with us will see us. We can't risk it, we'll go through the forest, surround the area, and attack.

" "What's the attack supposed to look like?" Kukularz asked.

"What exactly does the area look like?" Dero asked the scout.

"The forest surrounds the valley—or rather, you could say the valley, because that's what it looks like from our side—forms a sort of semicircle, while the other semicircle is the Black Mountains.

"In that case, we'll surround the valley from the forest side with archers. I'll prepare the sleeping potion immediately. It will only take a moment, just enough time to boil the water and a moment to brew it. I suggest we light three fires and place pots of water on them. Let it boil. I have all the herbs we'll need." Everyone will take some liquid into a canteen and dip an arrow in it. On my signal, you will fire and shoot at everyone once most of them are on the ground. The drug works very quickly and for a long time; it will wear off only tomorrow after sunrise. The magicians, along with those they previously selected as assistants, will descend into the valley and remove their collars and tie them up just in case. My brother and I will go search those strange nests mentioned earlier. The Gundere will cause a stir with their screams to scare the Lord and find him, and the ten chosen ones will go with the Golden-crested Thrush to search for him and kill him and his trusted ones. Anything else? Is everything clear?

"Yes, everything is clear," Thrush, Oak, and all the clan chiefs replied in unison.

"What about the Hounds? Do they want to help too?" Ker asked.

"The dogs will make sure no one escapes the valley; we can't allow that, we have to keep everyone under control.

" "Okay, now everything's clear."

"Glad to hear it, then, to the fires."

The arrow fluid was ready in a moment; the herbs only needed a moment to brew. Three lines of Foresters gathered at the cauldrons, filling their spare water skins. Once one was full, he ran into the forest and disappeared. To avoid being discovered, every now and then one of the Gurder scouts would fly in and report on what he'd seen. In the square beyond, the Lord hovered around his slaves, speaking to them.

Finally, everything was ready; the fires were extinguished, and those who weren't in the forest were heading to their posts.

Dero leaned out from his post to see when to signal his assistants, and he realized that without them, he would never have his father back.

Everything was as the scouts had said, all kidnapped. The Gerdere stood in a square between houses made of wood and stone. Behind them stood a row of stags, and in front of them walked the Lord, delivering some kind of speech. To the side stood two of his favorites, also Stags, but without the collars around their necks. A little further on stood two posts, to one of which someone was tied.

"This, this place I saw in my father's mind, gods, it's hot here," Zon whispered.

"I'd gladly send my thoughts to Father, telling him not to worry that we're here, but I'm afraid the Lord will notice; I don't know how strong he really is," Dero whispered back.

He didn't wait long to give the signal to attack. As soon as he surveyed everything you'd done in the square, he motioned to Ker to send the order to everyone. In an instant, arrows flew from the trees, and most of the creatures gathered in the squares fell. The Lord and his two vassals began to look around impatiently. One of them ran to the nearest bird, but he didn't have time to do anything before six Gurders caught up with him, chanting their death song. The Lord ran terrified from house to house, heading for his caves, but he didn't get far before Goldcrest caught up with him, along with his son and several other tribesmen, and they surrounded him. One of his henchmen was already lying dead. When the brothers went out to search the huts, suddenly one of the stags, still not sedated, caught up with them. Its evil eye glared first at Dero, then at Zon, and suddenly vanished. Stag staggered and fell before the Frostoids could react. Ker and Lesion stood behind the sedated man, smiling, each in their own way.

"Dogs don't have anything to do here, do they?" Lesion said.

"They'll have some more. Someone tell them to watch over the bound ones, because I see the mages have already removed some of their collars," Dero replied.

"Yes, they started with the Stags, because they're bigger and who knows how long the sedative will last.

" "There's a man tied to a pole," announced a Forester who ran up to them.

"Let's go there!" Zon said, bypassing his brother and running after Forester.

There was indeed someone tied to the pole, his body mutilated, riddled with wounds and still bleeding, but old scabs were also visible.

"It's not a man, it's Rogacz, but they'd cut off his horns.

" "You're right, I only saw him from a distance before and immediately ran to you to let you know. I thought it might be your father.

" "Drink, please drink," the prisoner said weakly.

"Dero, go find your father, I'll take care of it here.

" "Okay, here's Ker's strengthening fluid. You can't lose your strength just yet; it's unknown how many prisoners there are." Dero handed his brother a canteen made from a beaver's tail and ran to the nearest hut.

"Who are you? Can you speak?"

"I'm... a wizard... my name is... Rommm." Rommm whispered, drinking the fluid.

"That explains everything; the Lord also wanted to gain magical abilities from you."

Dero searched hut after hut, finally coming across one that stank terribly. He pushed back the nausea and went deeper, but he stumbled upon a sturdy door, much more solidly constructed than the entire shed. It was locked with a latch. He slid it open and went inside. The body of the Forester lay on the ground. It was bruised and bloody, the Forester unconscious.

"Ker!" he called, leaving the kennel and looking around. All the kidnapped creatures were already tied up, and the Dogs were lying in wait beside them. Wiatr ran up to him.

"Look for Ker, dog."

Wiatr ran off and returned immediately, barking at Ziemon.

"What's the matter, have you found your father?

" "Not yet, I've found some Forester for now. I should actually ask Wiatr to bring one of them, but I wasn't sure if the dog would understand. Let someone take care of him, I'll keep looking. He waited until Ker entered the house and then went to the next dilapidated shack.

The Gurdere surrounding the Lord sang their song for a long time. He tried to fight them off, throwing fireballs or freezing balls at them, but they only targeted individuals who dodged, and new ones appeared in their place. After a while, a second, flying creature joined the circle surrounding him on the ground. His magic was nothing compared to the strength of so many Gurdere. Moreover, he began to lose strength, staggering and falling. With the last of his willpower, he tried to knock them all down at once with a freezing ring created by his magic, but it was too weak, extinguishing before it touched even one of the surrounding creatures. Suddenly, everyone heard a dull explosion, the Lord's body shattering into small pieces.

Dero finally found his father; he was in the hut closest to the cave.

"Father, finally!" "He exclaimed at the sight of Frostoid, standing with his back to him and peering out through the tiny window.

"Dero, son!" Keraj approached the boy and hugged him. "Where's your brother, how did you find me?"

"Zon's with someone tied to a pole, I'll tell you the rest later, for now let's get out of here."

They emerged into the open air, and Keraj saw the bound bodies of his tormentors before him.

"And where's Lord?" he asked.

"He's dead, and neither are his two favorites." Drozdem said, approaching the father and son.

"And who are you?

All in good time. First we have to deal with the sleepyheads, because if they all start waking up at once, we might have problems with them. Besides, there's no telling how the stags will react once their collars are removed. Oh, and my birds found a lot of food in Lord's cave. We'll spend the night here tonight and have a real feast, if you don't mind, Chief Captain." – Said Goldcrest, bowing his head to Der.

– Come on, friend, of course we don't all need rest and food.

"Great, then let's get to work."

Drozdem left, and Dero took his father's arm. Although he hadn't been tortured recently, he wasn't in the best of shape. The Lord tried to starve him, since the abuse he was subjected to wasn't working.

Zon continued to give Rogacz tea prepared by Ker, but when his brother approached him, leading his father, he placed him on the furs he had previously placed on the ground and stood up. He looked at this beloved person for a moment, and as soon as his father opened his arms, he fell into them and cried.

"Dad, finally, how we feared you were already dead, Dad..."

Father hugged him close, as he had when he was still a child.

"I was afraid too, son, that you wouldn't make it, but I believed in you, that you wouldn't abandon me."

"Come on, we need to light a fire and eat something."

But before Dero could begin unpacking his pack to take out skins to sit on, Ker approached them.

"Friends," a voice said in their heads, "follow me. I've already prepared the fire and the food is ready, and the dogs would love to eat something, but they can't move from the Stag they're guarding.

" "So are you and Ziemon. I think you really have a lot to tell me. Hello Ziemon, thank you for your help; my heart rejoices that my eyes are seeing one of those who tried to help me earlier.

" "Welcome too, father of my new friends," Ker said. "We'll talk over the meal, now let's take this Stag and carry it to the fire as well.

" "It's very heavy. You'd better call one of the Gurders, we can't handle it alone."

Before total darkness fell, everyone sat by the fires and ate. Drozdem, Kukularz, Ash, Lesion, and Dąb also sat by the fire, though in the case of the three friends, it would be difficult to call them sitting, as they were more likely standing on their three claws. The brothers told their father how they had reached him and what was happening in their cave, how they had met Keraj and the others, and how they had all decided to help them and, in the process, themselves. Keraj wasn't much, but they decided that after a bit of rest, they would try to let their family know they had found their father. Keraj told them how he had been kidnapped while gathering eggs, how he had later been rescued by the Ziemons, and kidnapped again. How, after a long journey between the legs of the Traitors, he had reached this terribly hot valley, how the Lord had tortured his body to get him to agree to give him his abilities, and when that didn't help, he had starved him and given him nothing to drink.

When they stopped telling each other their adventures, they decided to wake up Stag, who was guarded by Rose, Wind, and Leaf, while at the same time eating the morsels that Keraj fed them.

They poured Ker's specialty into Rogacz's eye. Rogacz opened one eye, and there was no trace of the evil that had previously burned only with bewilderment and surprise.

"Who are you?" Zon asked, deciding to take over the interrogation.

However, before he answered, Zon glanced at the fur lying next to him.

"Wizard, what's wrong with him? Let me go to him, why did you tie me up?" He spoke in the Frostoid language, only with a different accent.

"If you answer our questions calmly, we'll answer yours," Zon said.

Rogacz looked at each of them individually, at the dogs, and after a moment relaxed.

"Ask," he said.

"Who are you?

" "My name is Drozzz, I'm Rogacz, Rogacz are my race.

" "How did you get here?"

"I don't really know where I am.

" "You're in the valley that belonged to the Lord.

" "Oh, I remember something." Two of my friends promised to show me something and took me to some house. I don't remember anything more, except that I'm waking up now and I don't know what's going on.

"Hmm, one of them is probably him. Please show me the body of the one who didn't fall to pieces, Kukularz."

Gurder walked away a bit and rose above the ground, returning a moment later carrying in his claws the corpse of one of the Lord's henchmen.

"Is that one of them?" Zon asked, as the body was placed before Drozzz.

"Yes, it's Migooo.

" "Migooo, you're saying you don't remember anything else?"

"I think we can believe him; after all, ours didn't remember anything either," Drozder said.

Zon nodded.

"And do you promise not to use violence against us once we free you?"

"I promise, just because I look like this doesn't mean I attack anyone without reason, but you were supposed to tell me what was going on here too."

Zon told everything to an increasingly surprised Drozzz, and then cut his bonds. As soon as he felt free, he approached Keraj and knelt on both knees before him.

"Lord, forgive us for being like this, we didn't know what we were doing, we're not like this, forgive us." Huge tears began to drip from his single eye.

As soon as Keraj assured him that he understood everything and held no grudge against him, he stood up and approached his wizard.

"Rommm, wizard Rommm."

"He's unconscious from exhaustion," Ker said. "We gave him some tea to strengthen him, but he still needs rest."

"Wait, I'll take care of him." Zon placed his hands on the sick man's body and stroked him. This went on for some time, during which Rogacz watched what he was doing. Finally, the wizard opened his eyes.

"Drozzz, dear boy, I see they've removed that nasty collar."

- Yes, wizard, I am free and so are the others, we are all free thanks to this group of strange creatures.

"Yes, we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

" "You don't, it was only by chance that we saved you," said the Golden-crested Thrush.

"In that case, thank you very much.

" "Dad," Dero said to his father, "I think we should talk to Grandma. They're probably worried there. The Lord is dead, so nothing should bother us."

The brothers and their father stepped aside to allow themselves to concentrate in peace. They easily found Bera's thoughts and relayed the good news. She, in turn, was very happy, which they clearly sensed, and told them about Merga's strange son. After a moment of this exchange, they said goodbye and returned to the fire.

"I have one question for you," Keraj turned to the Stags. "When I was a child, my father and I found a girl hunting, a human girl, a Frostoid. When we grew up, I married her and have children with her, these boys and a daughter. There was also another daughter, but my sons just reported that she is dead – unfortunately. The case concerns the one who is alive. She gave birth to a boy who looks similar to you, and my wife apparently remembers that her grandfather looked just like him. How is that possible?

" "Hmm... you see, we are a people who like to wander and explore the world. Often, when we set out, we are young and eager for adventure, we meet women from other races and marry them, and that must have been the case here. I'm surprised, however, that your wife doesn't know anything about it; she must have been really young?"

"Yes, she was young, true. When spring comes, we meet with other clans, and at one such gathering, we tried to find her relatives, but unfortunately, we were unsuccessful." It's true that some of the tribes live very far away and not all of them show up at these meetings, but...

"I think I could go with you to your village with a few of the Stags, if you don't mind, and meet the little one.

" "We would be very grateful, but don't your wives and mothers miss you?

" "Sure, but only three of us will go with you, the rest will go to their homes. I don't have anyone, the village has two wizards besides me, although they're still training, but I'll be back, and I'll take two of them who also have no one.

" "Excuse me for interrupting," squawked Thrush, "but could my son and a few companions accompany you? You'd be back sooner.

" "Of course, we would be very grateful, because we don't hide the fact that we'd like to return to the cave as soon as possible," said Zon.

"Unfortunately, we won't be accompanying you on your return journey, but perhaps we'll visit you someday. Although you said it was very cold there, I don't know," said Oak.

- Boss, but I would really like to go too, after all, the Gurdere will be coming back here, this is their territory, these mountains and this empty field, could I, please?

"Agree, Oak, let Ash fly with us, we'll all return together later," Kukularz urged the Forest Chief.

"Yes, let him fly with us, he'll also meet my countrymen, the Earthlings are very hospitable.

" "Okay, if you insist, then I agree," Oak agreed