"Yet the passage of the valley filled the hearts of the men with misgiving. We were ever mindful of ambush and hidden snares, and the hills themselves, despite appearances, seemed somehow unquiet, and watchful of our movements.

"Signs of the enemy there were aplenty, some very old, some recent. We came upon the ruins of what appeared to be old abandoned barracks and guardhouses, that no doubt had been sacked many a long age ago. At points were the valley walls drew close and steep and high above us, we saw that archers' fortifications and platforms had been builded, no doubt to supply withering fire for some campaign. The stonework was very old, resembling closely the earliest known works of

men, and Darrow the wizard took the time to examine them. It was his judgement that they were made long before the great wall was builded, in a time when there was great strife.

"Presently we came to the narrow pass that is the only known entrance to the Burning Lands, and what we saw there made us realise that it had long been held against us, that a Great Power had once held sway there.

"So long has Lund and the Great Wall stood that those unschooled in history live under the mistaken belief that the evil in the east has only recently gained a foothold. Yet we were witness to ancient works builded long before the earliest works of man.




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