Two weeks had past since the Toledian army left to pursue victory and heroism in the north, and Derick and his army made themselves comfortable in the small valley. The Orcs were now almost completely driven out of the surrounding area and a few men were enough to guard the passes against any invasions.
Actually thought Derick, life was pretty easy around here. The fortifications had now taken serious forms. Since they had brought several workmen, who normally would construct war machines and traps, they could make some real work of the encampment on top of the hill. The inner keep was even made from stone. Not as impressive as any of the castles that rose above the towns of the rest of the Empire, but sufficiently large to give shelter to fifty men. And while some were finishing the second floor and the roofs, other people were working downstairs to expand the tunneling which Anglus had discovered when the valley was still in Orcish hands.
While the outer wall was still made of wood, they had expanded it so in case of trouble the entire division could be brought inside. The gatehouse would be finished tomorrow and would rise an impressive twenty feet high. Some of his men planted crops like corn and grain, which they had brought to cultivate any conquered lands. If anything showed the desire of his men to stay here it was the fact that they were planting food, which wouldn't be ready for harvesting in the next three months. And if Derick looked deep inside his own mind, he didn't have much enthusiasm about following the Toledians nor did the idea of going home seem very appealing.
The Empire wasn't what it used to be under the regime of their new leader. So in any case, they weren't going back and they were certainly not going forward, so the only option left was to stay here. Derick didn't know what he or any of his men would do when the Toledian army returned, but he would worry about that when they did. For now they would relax and build their defenses. No more marching, no more fighting any meaningless war and especially no more politics.
The days went by without anything noticeable and finally the fortress was finished as far as it would get at this point and the men gave their attention to the positions in the watch points and encampments on the mountain passes. Large wooden walls soon blocked the passes. The doors in these walls were big enough to enable them to escape quickly if the need would require such. But if the enemy was about to enter the valley, the doors could be closed and it became possible to hold of an army for several days with as little as twelve men.
Because the only way around the passes was through the mountains, Derick had his men put up a few barricades there as well, which would make it more difficult, but not impossible to climb around the walls. Because there still was a small chance the passes would fall into enemy hands, they placed a wooden platform somewhere near the top of the mountain. The platforms were pilled full of stones and other rubble and a rope was attached to it. This rope was attached to a wall just behind the barricades. So whenever the passage would fall, one man could pull the rope and a deadly avalanche would come down on the on-rushing foe. If the man would be quick enough, he even could escape unharmed.
Derick was thankful for Anglus' help in organizing the defense of the valley. While Derick had been in charge of many units in his time, Anglus had been commander of a cityguard regiment which led the defense of the walls in Nordan and he knew what is took to defend a wall. Most of the new structures were build under anglus' supervision. This left Derick with very little to do, so he took it upon himself to make sure his men would get the exercise needed to keep them in shape. He organized a two-hour exercise in which any man that wasn't on duty in the mountain passes had to take place. Even the Workmen had to attend the exercises so that they, if need be, could carry a sword and probably hurt their opponents more than they hurt themselves.
Derick had sent out scouts to gather information about the lands surrounding the valley and the amounts of Orcs still in the environment. Twice the scouts had reported a large group of Orcs near the valley. Derick had saddled his horse and had led a small portion of his army to meet the Orcish troops. During those conflicts only two man were lost. One of them hadn't even reached the battle, but had fallen from his horse on the way down from the mountain and fell from the cliffs. Unfortunately his body couldn't be reached and they had to do with a small blessing on top of the cliff.
A look through the fortress would reveal al kind of abnormal business for an army. Of course there were smiths making weapons and other objects, some people were making arrows or shields, but on the other hand people were selling clothing or food in what appeared to be a market place. Nobody had much gold or copper for payment, but a sale usually resulted in an exchange of goods or an offering of services. Life in the valley had settled down and the men who lived there could almost call it a home now. Derick knew he soon would have to send a company back to the Empire to collect some food and other materials. They couldn't hunt enough game to keep them fed throughout the oncoming winter and there were little other food-sources. While he walked across the market place he thought about the consequences this would have for his defense. If he sent to small a party they probably wouldn't come back, and if he'd send a bigger party his defense would be to small to withstand any real threat.
Derick didn't get much chance to think about the party, as he was disrupted by a voice shouted across the square. 'General, general!' a messanger cam running across the square. As the man came closer Derick could make out his face and recognized him as one of the messengers he had stationed in the North-most pass over the mountains. 'General, it's the Toledians. They're coming back. One of the scouts just returned and saw them, less than a days march away.' Surprise showed up on Dericks face. He didn't think the Toledian general would ever give up his mission, not even when most of his army had crumbled to dust. But they were back already. A mere two weeks since they started their journey. Derick rushed across the market place and took the street towards the stables. Even in this rush Derick couldn't help but feel pride because they had achieved so much in so little time. The pride was soon forgotten as he started wondering why the Toledians are back already.
He rushed his horse towards the north passage. The small road that he had ordered his men to construct came in very helpful, as Derick could not imagine himself galloping through the wilderness that this field had been only a week ago. Within an hour the mountain pass came in sight and Derick slowed down a bit, to give his horse some small relieve. Derick didn't consciously think about slowing down, but taking small precautions like this had often saved his life and had become a second nature to just about every soldier under his command. If Derick exhausted the horse and would suddenly be forced to retreat he would be killed by the simple factor that his horse was to tired to out-run anyone who would chase him.
Half an hour later Derick had reached the encampment and climbed the wall. When Derick reached the top of the wall he could see an enormous amount of the land beneath him. To the left he saw the mighty river that later would bend back and would miss the valley by less than a mile. To his right there was a large forest that would entangle anything that tried to pass through it. Derick had sent several men into it to find out if any Orcs were in the forest. But non of them had returned. The full patrol he had sent after them had seen nothing of Orcs, but they also didn't see the scouts that went before them.
Nobody, thought Derick, could wade through the river. And an army couldn't travel trough the forest, so the Toledians would be coming from the front. Perhaps the Toledian general had decided to return and fight Derick's army after all. That would be exactly something Derick could expect from a general that had no idea of military discipline. Derick calculated the estimated time of arrival of the Toledians. The scout had reported they were less than a days march away, but the Toledians weren't in sight. And it was now half a day later, so this meant that the Toledians were either travelling very slowly or that they had paused a lot of times.
Derick still couldn't see them. 'General' a voice said. As Derick looked he saw a soldier pointing towards the rim of the forest. The Toledian army slowly marched in sight a mere fifteen miles away from them. They had probably followed the forest to stay in cover. They would be more difficult to see there than they would have been when they were walking in the open fields, which lie directly in front the valley. At least the Toledian general had learned something from this mission Derick thought. It would be unlikely that the Toledian had known this maneuver before.
As the Toledian army closed in Derick could see that some of the men were supporting each other. Some of the horses carried bodies from fallen or wounded men. As they drew closer Derick could see that there were only a few men who had the power to walk up straight. And those men often bared the extra weight of the equipment of wounded soldiers. Derick couldn't spot the baggage train which had accompanied the army when they left. And the number of horses in the army was much smaller than it was supposed to be.
If Derick had been curious before, he now couldn't bear to wait another second. He sent a messenger back to the fort to notice Anglus that he didn't have to be alarmed by the return of the Toledians. Then he selected twelve men from their posts on the walls and gate and told them to form a small welcoming comity. They were ordered to check out what had happened to the Toledians, with the apparent underlining that they were also supposed to find out if there was any form of misconception going on.
Derick was sorry he couldn't go with them himself, but he understood that small community in the valley behind him would have to much difficulty when they lost a leader at this stage. He watched the soldiers slowly ride towards the Toledians. It seemed to take forever.