The War of the Mountains

The War of the Mountains is the fifth and final installment of the Men of the Mountains saga. It concludes the adventures of Aidan Tanner and the Death Hunters who are preparing for the imminent war against Morag. After the death of Bedeling from Simon's betrayal and the Dreadling army meeting the Northern resistance north of Eagle's Nest, the exodus party of Eagle's Nest reaches safety.

Plot

Chapters

1) The Massacre of the Drylands

Immediately following the final chapter of *Forgotten Lands* Nieve, along with the Northern Mountean resistance are overwhelmed by Karg's army. Nieve goes into shock at the sheer sight of war but due to her small size, she is able to avoid harm for a while. As she crawls along the battlefield, she notices the Prince and his royal escort being overwhelmed. She manages to save the Prince from being mortally wounded but he is knocked unconscious. She manages to drag him through the commotion but just before she can reach some nearby woods, she is pouched on by Dreadlings. Belgar arrives in time to save her and carries the Prince through the woods with Nieve closely behind. They notice many of the Mountean survivors are fleeing into the woods. Karg unleashes the wolves from *The Book of the Dead* into the woods to hunt down the survivors. Knowing they will not make it on foot, the trio climb and hide in the trees and let the wolves pass beneath them.

2) Old Spices

After the wolves return to Karg's army, the trio travels across the Northern valley with the Prince still unconscious and Nieve discovering a nasty leg wound, stuttering her pace. They find a small house in the middle of some fields occupied by a lone woman. The woman helps tend to their wounds but Nieve soon discovers the woman intends to kill Belgar and imprison and keep sedated the Prince in order to bargain her life with the Dreadlings. They manage to kill the woman, and Nieve recognizes her as someone who used to sell her spices at the Eagles Nest Market and that she was once a resident of the city. Belgar laments that the threat of war can drive people to madness. They find a remedy that successfully revives the Prince to full strength after a few days. They find a stable with 2 horses and ride out to Derillius.

3) The Funeral

At Derillius, the Death Hunters hold a funeral and memorial for Bedeling and Sarah. The group decides to pass War Hog, Bedeling's sword to Lionheart. The expedition that rode to the town of Bedstead, occupied by Dreadling mercenaries has returned after successfully retaking the town. After this small victory and the news Dune is sending aid and a portion of its army to help defend Derillius, the city has a great feast for all civilians and survivors of Coronica and Eagles Nest. Later on, the few survivors of the Battle of the Drylands arrive at the city and Lionheart is distraught to realize his sister was presumably killed in battle.

4) Storming of Derillius

The Mountean force in Bedstead is wiped out by Karg's army which has arrived from the north. They bombard the city causing panic and forcing the fleeing people to enter the caves below. Derillius' small army stands to fight against the Dreadlings to buy time to get as many people to safety. There is an underground tunnel which leads to the Island of Berth which was built as an option in case the city fell. The leader of Derillius authorizes the use of the tunnel despite it not being used for hundreds of years due to its unknown condition. The people flee through the tunnel but Karg discovers the tunnel and reroutes his men to enter it and kill everyone.

5) Desolate Island

The Alchemist wields an explosive substance which he believes is powerful enough to destroy the walls and flood the tunnel. As Karg approaches the Alchemist in the tunnel, the Alchemist sacrifices himself by exploding the substance taking out him, Karg and the tunnel walls. This causes the survivors to be stranded on the island for many days as they estimate it'll take many weeks for the Dreadlings to find ships to cross the bay.

With no help being sent from Dune, the capital, who have seemingly abandoned all Mounteans outside the capital (also as no capital army came to Derillius prior to its fall) the people work together on the mostly barren island to survive, feeding the weak, tending to wounded and the Death Hunters recruiting a small army.

Derillius is decimated by Morag with the Master Sword.

7) Three ships

Three ships arrive on the Island of Berth from the capital. The capital ships lead by Jorge, have only come for abled body men to join the Mountean army forming in Dune. After being convinced by Aidan, the capital negotiates that for every one child or woman they accomodate on the ships, they demand one healthy man obliged to join the Mountean army. People start filing onto the ship but the Dreadlings have already arrived on the island and start making their way to the ships. People run onto the ships and great hurdles and many are crammed onto the many decks of the ships. The Death Hunters stay behind to counter the first wave of Dreadlings, allowing as many people as they can to escape to a ship. But Jorge's ship stays behind to allow them also to escape. It is discovered many citizens turned on Jorge and his men delaying the departure of the ship. Jorge resumes control