well and good. If not
... well, they still had their weapons.

The commander was depending on the vagueness of the information that may
have filtered down from the north. The news had already come that the
invaders were fierce and powerful fighters, but the commander gave the
impression that the only reason any battles had taken place was because
the northern tribes had been truculent in the extreme. He succeeded
fairly well; the natives he now met considered their brethren of the
northern provinces to be little better than savages, and therefore to be
expected to treat strangers inhospitably and bring about their own ruin.
The southern citizens of the empire eyed the strangers with
apprehension, but they offered very little resistance. The commander and
his men were welcomed warily at each town, and, when they left, were bid
farewell with great relief.

It took a little time for the commander to locate the exact spot where
the Greatest Noble and his retinue were encamped. The real capital of
the empire was located even farther south, but the Greatest Noble was
staying, for the nonce, in a city nestled high in the mountains, well
inland from the seacoast. The commander headed for the mountains.

The passage into the mountains wasn't easy. The passes were narrow and
dangerous, and the weather was cold. The air became thinner at every
step. At eight thousand feet, mountain climbing in heavy armor becomes
more than just hard work, and at twelve thousand it becomes exhausting
torture. But the little company went on, sparked, fueled, and driven by
the personal force of their commander, who stayed in the vanguard, his
eyes ever alert for treachery from the surrounding mountains.

When the surprise came, it was of an entirely different kind than he had
expected. The commander's carrier came over a little rise, and he
brought it to an abrupt halt as he saw the valley spread out beneath
him. He left the carrier, walked over to a boulder near the edge of the
cliff, and looked down at the valley.

It was an elongated oval of verdant green, fifteen miles long by four
wide, looking like an emerald set in the rocky granite of the
surrounding peaks that thrust upward toward the sky. The valley ran
roughly north-and-south, and to his right, at the southern end, the
commander could see a city, although it was impossible to see anyone
moving in it at this distance.

To his left, he could see great clouds of billowing vapor that ro