The pass of Dentra

In the early morning, the eight men were not looking fresh. The night had been chaotic as the lizards were edible in terms of nutrition but this was without counting the stomach ache the riders had due to the taste. They were in such a sorry state that they preferred to walk near their horses than ride them. Even Rufon who was comfortable with everything had to stop to throw up a few times. Rahir looked at Falin with insistence, grumbling some insults in his mouth without daring to tell them loudly to not start another fight. He had no power to argue anyway. 

Mikel was leading the way, followed by Gabron who was gluing Sarin. Jäwell was right after them, Falin was behind him and Rahir was just in his back with a murderous look. Then, there was Urak, ready to interfere if Rahir started another conflict, and Rufon was closing the path. In only two days, all of them had their place in the formation. It was as natural as if they were companions for years, everyone knew of his role and his place in the formation. Bringing some value to the dynamic of the group. 

They engaged themselves on the pass of Dentra in the first lights of the day, hoping to pass it fully before the night fell. The pass was a trap for everyone foolish enough to adventure on it, but fortunately, it was a short path that was manageable for even non-experienced travelers in a full day of walk. 

During the day, it was a trail in the mountain with a steep hillside. Little stones and branches were making it easy to slide, without mentioning the holes all along the path, some of them being hidden under a large amount of leaves from the trees. However, it was a single path and it was impossible to get lost which made it quite easy. 

The horses were walking slowly, fearfully looking where they were placing their hooves, and even losing balance at times. During a turn, Sarin's horse stepped on a branch that rolled into a hole and dragged the animal in a fall along the mountain. The animal's posterior was on the slope, trying to find any way to place its back legs in vain. It was a chance that Sarin was more massive than his horse. The man had the reflex to catch the beast by the neck before it completely fell and pulled him in one move. 

The horse was thrown on the wall on the safe side of Sarin, stunned and confused, his head had hurt the rocks and the poor animal was trembling, refusing to walk more after such a frightening experience. It needed Urak's expertise to calm the situation and convince the beast to walk again thanks to caresses and an appeasing tone of voice.

However the incident was not the only one, Urak took a branch on the head and was knocked out for a while after he tried to get back to his position in the formation, Falin had vertigo when they had to cross a wooden bridge and was not able to walk over it before Sarin had to take his hand and almost carried him. Rahir argued with a bird who made the saddle of his horse, and many other things happened on the way, many unexpected things. 

Jäwell didn't say a word but noticed the worried look of Mikel as they were walking. He slipped away to the head of the formation and marched just behind Mikel. He noticed Jäwell and whispered to him immediately in a very low voice to not be heard by Gabron who had an easy tendency to fall into panic.

"We are late," Mikel admitted.

At first, Jäwell didn't see the problem, "We will skip a break, it will be fine."

But Mikel shook his head, "No, we are a lot late. We will be at three fourth of the pass when the night will fall and the last part is the most dangerous. We have to find a spot for the night on the way."

Jäwell looked at the path in front of them, it was about a seventy centimeters large dusty trail, sometimes even less. The left side was a wall and the right side was a vertiginous slope along the mountainside. There was no way along the path they were about to pass through to have a flat surface large enough to sleep safely, especially for the horses. One move and they would fall to a certain death.

Mikel was pale, he swallowed hard and continued, "That's not all. Look at the clouds, Jäwell. It will rain tonight."

Jäwell raised his head and became pale on his turn, "Ah, that's not good."

They didn't stop to walk to speak to not raise suspicion, the two men had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation and were somehow hoping that there would be a way to place a shelter at some point. 

Jäwell took back his place in the formation but he kept looking at the clouds forming, hoping that they would avoid the rain to come. If they had enough chance, the winds may push the menace in the right direction and spare the riders. 

The path was becoming harder and harder, Mikel was right, the closer they were to the end of the trail the more it was sliding. Then, they felt a few drops on their skin. Rufon stopped to walk and everyone stared at him.

"What is happening, why do you stop now? We still have a lot of road to do," Falin said as he was the closest to him.

"Just let's move! You are not going to stop for a few drops!" Rahir growled.

Rufon looked at the sky calmly and stated, "We will camp here."

It was still plenty of time before the night and they didn't understand why Rufon wanted to stop now. They saw him opening the saddlebags on his horse and taking a shovel. The man started to dig on the path peacefully as nothing could disturb him, he even whistled joyfully. 

Mikel opened his eyes wide and started to search for something that could be used as a shovel as well, "You are a genius!"

"What? What happens?" Rahir asked in confusion, "Are we digging our tombs now?"

Rufon laughed, "It will rain soon, which means everything will be soaked. Since I don't want to sleep in the cold water, it is better to prepare the camp while it is still dry. Also, the path is dangerous and there is no way to attach ourselves to not fall. We are just simply going to dig a gutter along the wall of the mountain to evacuate the water and we will lower the level of the path to obtain a natural barrier on the slope side."

Rahir blinked a few times, he looked around and everyone else had already started to dig to secure the place as much as possible. Before nightfall, they had flattened the fifty centimeters trail, dug a canal to avoid the mud to make them slide, and made a natural barrier. Rufon used the tent fabric to roll himself in as it was impossible to mount a tent properly in these conditions and the others imitated him.

The night fell on them and the rain came down hard, but thanks to Rufon's idea, the damage was limited and they were able to keep warm as best they could. In the silence of the mountain, the noise of the water was loud and oppressive, when suddenly, Sarin laughed, breaking the stressful ambiance.

"At least we don't have to eat Falin's lizards," He simply said.

Then, followed by the laughter of the other men, including Falin, "You are happy to have eaten my lizards, you have something in your belly to survive this terrible night."

"Right, all hail the lizards."

"There is a city right after the pass, right?" Jäwell asked in a serious tone.

Gabron answered, "Yes, there is Argradan." 

Jäwell scoffed, "We are going to stay in this city for at least a day. I need a beer, a bath, and a bed."

"I don't see the problem, we are pretty fine here," Rufon said with a smile from one ear to the other. 

"Of course, you don't see the problem," Gabron groaned, trembling at the idea of falling and remembering this time when he had to hide in the humid swamps to not be spotted by the enemies, "I am for the beer plan tomorrow night."

"Focus on the beer," Jäwell said to try to calm him.

In the depths of the night, when the water was falling endlessly on the eight riders and nature was menacing to smash them at every moment. When the rain was moving the trees around and the thunder was raging in the sky. They were lying on their back and all dreaming about one thing. 

A good, fresh, beer.