Draco decided there was no time to waste and returned to the other side of the rampart to take another look at the surroundings. On the way, he spotted a somewhat concealed passage leading outwards, situated right next to one of the platforms. The exit was barely wide enough to drag a gun carriage through and far too low for any draught animal to pass. The dragon opened the bolt and pushed the gate outwards.
The reptile stepped onto the embankment, from which he had a view of the centre of the Crater. The rampart was too low to see anything above the treetops, but it was still a decent vantage point. The forest opposite seemed calm and empty, almost in a strange way. Only now did Draco realise that when he had been in Enpine, the woodland surrounding the estate had been teeming with life. Sounds came from all around; it was filled with animals, both large and small. Something was always on the move. Here, however, there was only emptiness. Something that should have been obvious in an artificially created area had become a shocking discovery for the boy.
'Can you see anything?'
The dragon flinched at the sound of Cedric's voice behind him. He hadn't paid the slightest attention to what was going on around him and had let his mind wander. I shouldn't have done that, he chided himself. He had no desire whatsoever to even consider what the consequences might be if he'd missed not his own team, but someone from the opposing group.
'Apart from the fact that there'll be nowhere to hide under the pine trees, there's nothing interesting.' He shrugged and scanned the area once more.
Retfield stood beside him and looked around himself. Sheth sat down on one of the logs and waited calmly for further instructions. Noah and Zane were missing. Draco had no idea what to say, so he tried to follow Cedric's gaze more or less in the same direction. However, he didn't see anything of interest.
'We'll carry on as planned,' Retfield finally said. It was hard to tell whether he was speaking to his team-mates or to himself. 'We just need to remember that if we come back this way, they might have an unpleasant surprise waiting for us here.'
A fortified position could indeed cause considerable problems if it were properly manned. Draco didn't consider this very likely with fewer than fifteen defenders and no cannons. True, even a single person hidden in the trenches or behind the ramparts could harass a moving unit, but they wouldn't be able to halt the whole unit. Furthermore, the distance between the lower line of trenches and the forest meant that the range of spells they'd learnt at their level that could reach targets was significantly reduced, not to mention their accuracy and spread. The dragon would pay more attention to the matter of detection and raising the alarm than to stopping them through combat.
'If they lie in wait here, they'll be in trouble if we pass them right by the cliff.' The troll voiced the dragon's thoughts, which Draco wasn't particularly keen to share.
'Remember, they've got Liam.' Cedric didn't even turn round.
'He won't be able to set enough traps that quickly.'
'He might set enough to leave us with no choice.' Retfield turned on his heel and, without waiting for the conversation to continue, headed towards the open gate.
Sheth merely shook his head and rose from his seat. He looked grim, but didn't seem quite as indifferent as before. He glanced questioningly at the dragon.
'What's the deal with Liam?' Draco blurted out, unsure whether the troll was expecting a conversation or simply waiting for the dragon to make a move.
'His father's an alchemist, and he's picked up a lot by helping out in the workshop,' Sheth sighed heavily and grimaced. 'Far too much, definitely. Especially when it comes to anything that might explode.'
'That's the last thing we'd need.' The dragon had prepared for many things before the start of the academic year, but it hadn't occurred to him to familiarise himself with handling explosives. The only thing he knew how to handle was gunpowder. At least enough to load a rifle.
'Once we find Liam's team, we'll have to leave it to the scouts to check the passage.'
'That doesn't exactly reassure me.'
'You're not the only one.'
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It took them a while to make their way through the pine forest. At first, everyone kept a close watch on the whole copse, but quite soon the tense atmosphere eased a little and they began to glance more calmly between the tall trees. For their group, passing through here was not much different from the previous forest, thanks to Noah's ability, but for others it must have been a real relief after struggling through the thorny undergrowth.
After less than a quarter of an hour, the forest suddenly gave way to a rocky scree slope full of fragments of all sizes, ranging from boulders taller than Draco to fine gravel. The rocky debris covered a vast area straight ahead and stretching far to the right, towards the centre of the Crater. On the other side, more spreading tree canopies were visible.
It was difficult to tell whether anything was lurking amongst the rocks, but this also meant they could continue moving along the cliff in relative safety, remaining at least partially concealed. Nevertheless, they had to watch their step, as the rock fragments were by no means as stable as they might appear. Apart from the risk of falling, this also meant they made a lot of noise, which they preferred to avoid.
'You'd expect them to have changed quite a bit, but this wasn't here at all before,' muttered Cedric under his breath, holding the map in one hand whilst trying to mark out the area of rubble with a graphite stylus in the other.
As there was no longer any need to clear away the vegetation, the young Retfield led the way. Noah was able to catch his breath a little and balanced on the rocks near the dragon. Zane tried to cover their flanks, whilst Sheth looked around nervously every now and then, glancing towards the forest they'd just left. Draco, not particularly used to walking in such terrain, kept his eyes fixed on the stones, trying not to lose his balance.
'Bloody hell,' muttered Cedric, somewhat nervously.
Draco glanced at him, only to see him furiously trying to wipe something off the map. Given the shifting ground and the march itself, marking anything on a piece of paper was no easy task and required concentration. The dragon shook his head slightly and was about to go back to watching the ground, but his gaze shifted to the terrain ahead of them. The reptile tensed and leapt forward, grabbing Cedric by the shoulder and pulling him towards himself. Slipping on the small stones, they both tumbled backwards, making quite a racket in the process. Draco was back on his feet almost immediately and, holding on to the nearest large rock, looked down into the bottomless chasm from which he'd pulled his commander.
Cedric, who at first had been swearing like a sailor and preparing for a proper tirade about the new cadet's stupidity, looked at the expanse before him and fell silent. The chasm began abruptly, without any warning; one might even say it had been concealed by the small rise they had just climbed. Vertical walls plunged downwards, only to vanish after a few metres into a white haze resembling mist, though it was certainly not mist. The rocky slope appeared to offer no handholds for climbing. The chasm was several hundred metres wide, but as the opposite bank lay lower down, they hadn't noticed it before.
The dragon leaned out a little further and looked in both directions. The crevice stretched from the base of the cliff to, more or less, the edge of the pine forest. It also appeared to narrow as it approached the centre of the Crater. The bottom was not visible along its entire length, though the artificial nature of the haze suggested it was meant to simulate its absence.
'What a surprise,' the reptile said grimly, trying to get a better look at the walls of the chasm.
For a moment, silence reigned, broken only by the scraping of stones as the other teams joined them. Everyone stepped forward to look into the abyss.
'Shall we go round it?' asked someone from the last team.
'I don't like this open area,' said Cedric, who had been staring at the map the whole time, as if it were about to reveal a hidden secret to him.
'I can go and have a look,' offered Zane. 'It'll take a bit, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem.'
'Okay,' Retfield agreed after a long pause.
The elf merely nodded and disappeared amongst the rocks. The others just exchanged glances and sat down where they stood. Only a few people moved a little further away and scanned the surroundings, trying to spot any potential dangers. Draco sat down near the edge of the chasm and gazed across to the other side. There, too, was a pile of rubble, very similar to the one they were currently in, and beyond that, a forest.
Sheth sat down beside the dragon and, with a sigh, took off his helmet. He seemed weary from the tension and the anticipation of whether something they hadn't foreseen might happen. They sat in silence for a moment, until the troll decided to break the silence.
'Not bad reflexes.'
'Oh, really.' The reptile gave a wry smile. 'Years of practice.'
'Don't worry about Cedric.' Sheth stretched out a little and leaned against the rock. 'He'll get over it eventually and start behaving more like a human.'
'You're starting to sound like Zane.'
'I hope that's not an insult.' The troll almost laughed.
'Depends on who you ask.' The dragon glanced to the side, feeling the wind pick up and hearing a rumbling coming from somewhere further down the chasm. 'Never mind that.' He waved his hand and lowered his voice slightly. 'At first I was afraid Cedric would be like his older brother, but now it seems to me that the perpetually stiff Scion is easier to get along with.'
'You met him?' The surprise on the troll's face was so palpable it was almost strange. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. The reaction struck the dragon as unusual.
'I had the chance a while back.' He shrugged. 'Why?'
'Cedric doesn't talk about him much, but Scion is one of the few students on a scholarship for the advanced military programme. Rumour has it he's a prospect and will be representing Solvein at this year's Arcana Convocation.' There was a sudden spark of genuine passion in the troll's voice. It was clear that he was fascinated by the magical tournament. Although for the dragon, it was more a source of hazy memories than a cause for delight. The only thing he associated with the competition, held every four years, was a moment of tranquillity brought about by the almost festive atmosphere that swept through the whole of Dagos. Even Pirce didn't waste time chasing after Draco and devoted himself entirely to soaking up the latest news about the tournament. 'All I know is that Scion sometimes helps his younger siblings practise magic. I once asked Cedric if he could ask his older brother to give us a bit of training too, but… Well, our commander can be very emotional at times,' he concluded, spreading his hands.
'I've noticed that last bit,' the dragon muttered, barely audibly.
'Don't worry about it.' Sheth, enlivened by the conversation, gave the dragon a friendly nudge with his elbow. 'He can be a bit of a handful, but give him a bit of time. Let him get used to you.' The troll moved closer and leaned towards the dragon. 'You did well today. Not just before entering the Crater, but volunteering for that sprint, and then catching Cedric at the edge of the precipice; those went down well. I can't promise he'll like you, but you'll certainly earn his respect. Keep it up, and you'll be fine.' With that, he stood up and, grumbling about the delay, made his way between the teams.
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Left to his own devices, Draco sat and gazed at the rock faces. He was not only pondering what both Zane and Sheth had said, but was also trying to put himself in Cedric's shoes. He didn't get very far, given that he'd never faced such problems before. Reflecting on his life so far, he had to admit with distaste that he'd never realised just how hopeless a situation his daily life in Dagos had put him in. At that moment, a heavy sigh was all he could manage.
'Good news and bad news.'
Draco looked up at the sound of Zane's voice. The elf had just emerged from behind a rock and, with a grim expression, leaned against it before slumping to the ground. He looked tired, as if he'd run quite a distance.
'Could you be more specific, if you don't mind?' Cedric seemed to pay no heed to the other cadet's condition and crouched down beside him with a map and a stylus at the ready. He looked at the boy impatiently, as if annoyed that he was loafing about for no reason.
'Generally speaking, the crevice stretches for about a kilometre.' The elf rolled his eyes, though it looked more like a studied gesture than a natural reaction. 'The closer you get to the end, the smaller the rocks become, until all that's left is coarse gravel. It's a long, but not particularly wide, empty space that seems to run all the way to the centre of the Crater.'
'That really isn't great,' Cedric muttered under his breath.
'You can get through it easily enough, so it's not that bad. The problem arises when you look from the end of the crevice towards the entrance to the Crater, more or less.' Zane rested the back of his head against a rock and continued, staring up at the ceiling. 'I didn't want to run across open ground, so I went back into the forest and made it to the end. From behind the trees, I could see that the rubble also extends towards the ravine, and to be honest, it's a bit strange that we didn't come across it sooner. Right, let's get to the point.' He blurted out, sensing the commander's urgent gaze upon him. 'Somewhere halfway along this side branch there's a watchtower. From its tower, there's a brilliant view of the end of the ravine and almost everything right up to the entrance to the Crater.'
Retfield narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'It's manned, isn't it?' Cedric seemed strangely calm.
'Ah, yes.' Zane nodded. 'I don't know if it's just one squad, but I saw at least three people at the top of the tower.'
'It'll be difficult to get close to them,' Retfield assessed, running his finger over the map.
'Worse still, I'm sure I saw a signal launcher there, and the mast was empty.'
'So not only do we have no reason to attack them, but they'll also raise the alarm as soon as they see us.'
'We'll either have to take a risk or back off,' stated one of the cadets who'd been discussing strategy before entering the Crater.
'There's no point wasting time. We need to take the watchtower quickly, before they realise what's going on,' someone from the side objected.
'As soon as they see us, they'll shoot. They're not idiots,' Zane chimed in. 'Besides, they're probably expecting us from this direction. The guards are watching the entrance, the ravine and the forest we just passed through.'
'Can't we just carry on?' the dragon blurted out. As if on cue, everyone fell silent and looked at him. 'Don't we have any earth mages?'
'I am one, but this width…' the nervous goblin said timidly.
'I'm not talking about casting a bridge, after all.' Draco bit his tongue just in time. 'All we need is a ledge wide enough for us to slowly walk sideways across,' he stated as if it were obvious, pointing to the high cliff behind them.