The march from Tivar back through the grasslands lifted everyone's spirits somewhat. The weather was bright and clear and even the early morning chill and evening drop in temperature were endured with some cheer. There had been some grumbling about leaving so close to End Year's Day, especially from Talbert and Winstin. The pair had slowly formed a grudging friendship on the march, partly due to their shared junior status. The simple truth was that Tivar's End Year's Day celebrations were all cancelled and any rowdy parties would result in a stay in military jail.

Jenk's familiarity with military protocol had helped Tegg adjust to his position as leader, but he decided quickly not to try the loose knit group's patience. He had established standard watches, marching positions and scouting turns on the first day of their journey, and he shared in the load and enforced the orders until they had become habit. Otherwise, he had adopted a very relaxed role and only Winstin and Talbert insisted on calling him "sir" or "lieutenant".

It took the group seven full days to reach the trail through the grasslands. Cathnoma took no interest in the path and Jenk and Tegg both agreed that nothing new had passed this way since they first crossed it. Tegg was puzzled by this, but accepted it and ordered them to follow the road south, staying just out of view on the west side of the road.

Their journey south went more slowly, partly out of the need for cover and partly due to the rougher terrain. The gentle slopes gave way to rockier and rougher patches, many of which denied them the cover of the high grass. It was still a decent enough trip, even without campfires or hot food. One luxury they did not have to forsake for safety's sake was light. The equipment from Tivar included small lanterns that Dar and Winstin called "torches". They included a small, glowing yellow stone set inside a metal tube. The end cap could be rotated to allow for light to escape from one or opposite sides, resulting in a very handy way to have controlled light.

Four days after turning south Cathnoma began to act jittery. Tegg was growing bored of the endless walking, so the dog's sudden interest in something at least indicated a break from the monotony. Ren allowed Cathnoma to lead him along and in short order Cathnoma found a large Joshua Tree with large claw marks along the trunk.

Jenk lened close and whistled “Trog. A big male.”

Tegg examined the marks and agreed. “I think we're skirting the edge of his territory.”, he said looking around. Tegg pointed to a patch of trees further west. “He's probably holed up in there.”

Ren followed Tegg's finger and finally asked, “What... exactly is a trog?”

Jenk ran his hand through his hair and slowly looked around in a circle before answering. “Trogs are big... groundhogs, almost. Bigger than Cathnoma, here. Pretty much as heavy as a person with teeth and claws and spines. Not friendly animals, but not too hard to avoid if you know what to look for.”

“And there's one that lives here?” Ren asked, starting to sound anxious.

“Yeah, but if we're careful we can avoid it. Or at least we won't make it mad.” Tegg said, dusting his hands on his legs.

Once the party was aware of the new danger, Tegg took them a few hours south and camped early. Although grateful for the break, he got some curious looks. Finally, over an early dinner he clued everyone in.

“Healthy New Year, everyone” he said, raising his tankard of water.

Late the next afternoon the party had just walked out of a stand of pine trees when Talbert gasped.

“Get Down!”, he yelled.

Everyone dropped into the few patches of grass available. Tegg, Jenk and Winstin crawled over to Talbert.

“What is it?” Winstin asked in a rasp.

“There's a building or something up ahead on the road.” Talbert answered, pointing south.

The four crawled carefully over to the roadway and peeked south. Just on the edge of anther set of trees on the edge of the road stood a tall wooden structure. The building was essentially two square wooden huts, one on the ground and one sitting above it on tall stilts.

“I think its a lookout tower”, Winstin whispered.

Jenk nodded and looked over at Tegg, who was squinting to see movement. “I'll go.” he said.

Tegg looked back and nodded. “Be careful.” he said.

Jenk made his way through the grass to the trees. They were too far apart to prove good cover, but it gave Jenk a means of crawling to the tower without having to get up and look. He carefully crawled just inside the edge of the grass, worrying that he might be spotted, until he finally came to the edge of the grass. The area around the bottom room of the tower had been cleared, probably to prevent what Jenk had originally planned. Short of a direct charge or divine luck, he wasn't going to sneak up on the thing.

Tegg, meanwhile, had organized everyone together to consider options.

“If you hear him shout, take out anyone you can find. They might have some signal. Winstin, you and Talbert work your way down there behind Jenk, see if you can't find a good position. Vallen, head over to the road and keep a lookout for anyone coming up on us. Dar, Arasen, come with me. We're going to try and get onto the other side of that thing. ”

Jenk lay in the grass watching for movement for a few moments before he caught a flicker of something in the upper building. He was considering charging, but couldn't figure out how to sneak across the open area. While he sat checking out the tower, he hear rustling in the grass and looked over to the right and saw Tegg and Dar taking up a similar position. When Tegg saw him, he pointed to the top building and waved his hands, then gave an exaggerated shrug.

Tegg nodded and considered the tower. There was a trap-door in the bottom of the upper tower, but no ladder. The whole thing was clearly recently built, he could see the stumps of the trees that now served as stilts over in the cluster of pine trees. Tegg spent a minute considering the options and came up short. If they broke cover, they would probably be spotted and there was no way they could climb the stilts before the tower alerted someone.

Jenk saw Tegg's expression and shook his head. Tegg had come to the same conclusions, they'd have to skirt this area by a wide margin to avoid alerting the tower. Just as he was about to turn back into the grass, Jenk spotted Talbert and Winstin in the grass to his right. The pair was walking hunched over rather than crawling, and were coming to the edge of the grass between Tegg and himself. It became very clear that they were paying more attention to each other than the tower, and were about to wander into the open. Tegg looked desperately at Tegg, who was still studying the tower. When Tegg looked back and saw his expression, Jenk pointed. It was too late.

There were a series of shouts from the tower and an arrow whistled into the ground near Talbert's feet. The boy gave a yelp and looked up in surprise.

Jenk would have yelled, but decided that the two would have to take care of themselves. He dashed out of the grass in a run, rushing to escape the bowman's angle of attack. He reached the lower building and reached for the door, but there was a solid thunk sound as someone barred it. Cursing to himself, he looked over to see Tegg, Arasen and Dar arrive in a crouched run.

“Those idiots!” Tegg barked, fonding the handle of his dagger and looking up.

“We're in a bad spot”, Dar said, pointing up. The trapdoor on the bottom of the lookout had opened and they could see light coming out.

Jenk considered his bow, but any attempted shot would be ridiculous. “What do we do now?!” he gasped.

Tegg moved to one of the stilt poles and glanced up. “Can you take this down, Dar?”

Dar looked at the pole for a moment, then frowned. “Eventually, but it would take hours to make it hot enough to light on fire. Even then, it would have to burn most of the way through. I might be able to destroy these boards” she said, patting the wood sides of the lower building “but it will still take time.”

“Arasen?” Tegg asked.

Arasen looked down at the poles, then shrugged. “Maybe”, he said weakly.

Jenk growled, and moved so that Talbert and Winstin could flatten themselves against the lower building. “Sorry...” Talbert said.

“We couldn't see the tower and we got turned off course.&rdquo, Winstin explained.

Tegg let it drop for the moment. He looked back at Arasen and said “Do something Arasen. Even if it just distracts them.” With that, he reached up and grabbed the top of the building.

Jenk realized what Tegg was going to do and pulled out his bow. When Tegg looked at him he gave a half wave, “I can cover you somewhat, at least keep them from aiming too long.”

Tegg nodded. As Arasen started focusing on the ground at the base of the poles he jumped up and dragged himself over the lip, rolling onto the roof. An arrow thudded into the wood beside him and Tegg found himself next to another trap door leading down. This one, however, was still open.

Tegg dropped through the trapdoor, past a ladder and into the room with two daggers drawn. He had no idea if the little room would have walls, and didn't want to fight with a sword in a tight area. The lower building was one large room with several bunks and storage chests. There was an outer door across the way and the ladder leading up to the open trap door. Two Tohri guards sood at the door leading out and both gave him a startled look as he charged.

Jenk saw Tegg roll onto the roof, and took his first shot at the upper trap door. Firing between the poles at the tiny hole nearly straight up proved even harder than he though, but he was rewarded with a surprised yelp as his arrow hit the ceiling of the topmost hut. It was off target, but close enough for the other bowman to back off for the moment.

When he heard Tegg yelling inside the hut, Arasen finally snapped out of his stunned state and focused. He had no idea if he could help Tegg, and didn't want to hurt him in the process, so he focused on the poles instead. He reached out into the ground and felt the poles going down, wrapped his thoughts around the dirt beneath their bases and pushed hard.

Winstin felt like an idiot, especially when he could hear Tegg fighting. In a burst of rage he jumped up and grabbed the roof. Jenk made some sound, but Winstin ignored it and rolled onto the top of the building.

Dar could feel Arasen reaching out, but his fumbling and inexperiece made her think it was a lost cause. But when he acted with the elemental magic that she was shocked. “Wait, Arasen! That's too much!” But it was too late. The ground beneath them heaved and rolled and everyone struggled for balance. From above, there were several loud cracks as wood exploded.

Jenk recovered and looked up in amazement as splinters rained down. Whatever Arasen had done, one of the four stilts that held up the top building had suddenly sunk five feet into the ground. The top tower, now precariously balanced on three of its corners, was missing several feet of flooring and wall where the stilt had once been attached. Jenk could see parts of the inside of the hut and scrambled to the side to look for a shot.

Tegg slashed downward and hit the first guard on the bracer as the Tohri tried to block the attack. Tegg then turned and tried to slash the other before he could recover. The other Tohri looked like he'd just woken up, although he was awake enough to dodge the attack and bolt toward a pile of weapons and armor lying on a table among cards and dice. Tegg spun and charged after him only to see Winstin drop from the trapdoor. The guard tried to stop, but Winstin was on top of him in a flash and tackled him into the table, smashing one of the legs and sending gear and cards flying.

Talbert could hear Winstin and Tegg inside and knew he had to try and make up for his stupid mistake. He rushed around the side of the building, hoping to climb one of the poles while the guards in the lookout were distracted. When he got to the far side, he clambered onto the roof of the lower building and then jumped to grab one of the poles. With his legs wrapped around it, Talbert slowly inched his way up.

Jenk continued to fire shots at the trapdoor and the hole in the side, partly to protect anyone who might still be on the lower roof and partly to trap the enemy. He wasn't sure how they might get them down, but he couldn't think of any other course of action. The guards in the top were staying well clear and Jenk started to worry what they were planning.

While Winstin scrambled to his feet, Tegg assumed he would take care of the one guard and turned back to his original target. His target, however, had already taken the opportunity to race to the door and was trying to pry off the bar. Tegg rushed up, but waited just long enough for him to take the latch off before stabbing the Tohri in the back of his neck.

Winstin had seriously injured the Tohri when he dove in on top of him, and finished the job efficiently. He stood and turned to see Tegg finish off the other guard before walking over to the ladder and looking up.

“How do we get up there?”

Tegg looked back and said, “There must be some kind of ladder or rope up top. They drop it when they want to get down.”

Winstin nodded and the two headed out the door.

Ren, Vallen and Cathnoma had finally arrived. Vallen noted that it did no good to keep a lookout given the noise they were making.

Tegg grumbled something and looked up, just in time to see Talbert reach the top of the stilt. “Shades and bloody.. what is that boy doing?”

Talbert barely noticed the reaction of the group when they saw him, he was trying to climb from the leg of the tower to the upper building. The construction of the tower had been fast and frugal so the bark of the trees was left intact, as well as a number of short bits of limb. Talbert hadn't encountered any real problems until he reached the top and found himself unable to reach the trapdoor. His youthful exhuberance and desire to make good on his mistake had managed to get him this far, but those were rapidly waning under the stress of being twenty feet off the ground with less and less to hold on to. Talbert finally decided to swing to the outside of the stilt and attempt to make his way in through a side window.

When Talbert's plan became clear, Jenk started firing arrows faster and faster at the trapdoor, trying to keep the guard's attention. Arasen was too spent to damage the other stilt, so Tegg rushed back inside to look for an axe. Ren, Vallen, Hack, and Dar cast around wildly for some spark of inspiration.

Crouching on the outside of the stilt, Talbert could just get enough purchase to leap for the windowsill of the top tower. He grabbed on but the leap caused him to slam into the side of the building, alerting the guards to his presence. Talbert looked up and saw a surprised Tohri guard looking back at him. Both uttered shouts of surprise and the guard vanished inside. Talbert scrambled to get his feet planted before the guard returned and found that the floor of the building extended past the walls just enough that he could put some weight on his feet. When he looked back up, however, the Tohri guard was looking back, sword raised above his head.

Dar, Ren, Winstin and Vallen were staring up at the lookout tower trying to come up with a plan when Dar suddenly said, “Winstin, how much blasting clay do you have left?”

Winstin frowned and said “Perhaps two fistfulls.”

Ren and Vallen looked confused while Winstin slung his pack onto the ground and began fishing through it. After a few seconds, he produced a small oiled bag and pulled a handfull of what appeared to be dark red mud out of it. It appeared to have the consistency of pottery clay and was rust colored with numerous flecks of black in it. Winstin formed it into a ball, then smacked it onto one of the remaining support pole, where it stuck. He then pulled a small bit of white string out of the pack and carefully stuck it into the clay.

Dar walked up and Winstin got out of her way, hurredly packing the black sack into his sling bag. “Time to clear out”, he said. He then turned and ran towards the woods.

Ren looked confused, but gathered Arasen from where he was sitting and followed. Vallen hesitated until she saw a flame appear on the end of the string. Dar nodded in satisfaction, grabbed her by the arm and the two ran after the men.

Talbert judged the Tohri's attack, and let go of the lookout window with his left hand just as the sword smashed into the sill. He desperately tried to find footing on the lip that the floor of the lookout formed outside the walls, but in his panic he couldn't get he boots to find purchase. Looking up at the Tohri, his stomach dropped and time seemed to slow down. If he held on, he would lose his right hand. If he let go, he would probably break both legs, if not his neck. Talbert swallowed dryly and was just mustering the courage to let go when there was an explosion like thunder and the entire building seemed to rock. The vibration loosened his grip, and he felt a sickening emptiness, only to slam face first into the wall of the lookout building, which was now tilting away from him at a sharp angle. Talbert blindly reached up and grabbed the window again, trying to pull himself up. There was a series of loud pops, followed by wood crackling. Talbert looked to the side and saw the wood of the wall had broken outward outward and the top part of the stilt he had climbed up on was now outside the lookout. He realized the entire building was tilting sideways so he climbed to his knees then jumped to catch the stilt. The building continued to crack and lean for a few seconds, then it seperated entirely from the stilts and fell to the ground with a massive crash.

Praelate Mogisor finished the short evening service with a few words of encouragement, putting as much assurance and hope into his voice and face as he could muster. It was a sham, of course, he felt neither emotion anymore. When the vision had come he had spent days in an elated mood, knowing that something would happen soon that would change their nightly torment. But as the days wore on his newfound cheer started to slip. The faces of his few charges, rejuvinated by his words of encouragement and newfound spirit, started to lag as well and Mogisor forced himself to begin the daily charade.

“They will come&rdauo;, he reminded himself for the thousanth time. The Lady had said so. Or her avatar had. Or he thought it had. The vision was too clear, too present, too direct to be anything but a real vision, but days of waiting and nights of torment chipped away at his resolve.

Mogisor moved down the main wing of the church to the large double doors and slipped through into the fading light. Smoke from lingering fires greeted him, still burning after weeks of time and even a bit of rain. He wondered if the town would ever stop burning. Mogisor turned off the main path and walked along the inside of the low wall that surrounded his church. The heavy stones were still in good shape, well sealed and strong. Any invader could hop over them without too much effort, but they would meet something else if they did.

They knew that from experience, now.

The hand motions were routine now, the prayer simple. Protection, defense, and a small amount of pain to remind them were woven into an invisible net of magic that he linked to the corner post of the wall. It was a weak spell, admittedly, and not one that would hold a dedicated army at bay. Luckily his attackers weren't smart enough or numerous enough to fully test his defenses.

The strand locked into the earth behind the wall and Mogisor played it out like fishing line, sending it high into the air. He moved quickly around the church. He was still getting winded before he reached the far corner, but weeks of this and a lack of much food had cut down his bulk somewhat and he wondered for the thousanth time if this was penance for all the succulent roasts and pies he'd enjoyed in life. At the far corner he completed the line, pulling it into a tight dome across the top of the church. He would have to repeat this for the other corners, then create a tight enough net so the beasts could not pass. The older dome would dissipate just after he finished, but he lacked the power to do this more than once a day, and was starting to worry about having the energy to do it even that often.

Even as he started the second strand he could hear them. They weren't out, not fully yet. They moved and grunted in the newly forming shadows of ruined walls. Mogisor had even named a few, at least four visited every night while others lost interest or came from elsewhere to try their luck. His visitors had better come soon or they would find nothing but an empty church to rescue.

After Talbert had sheepishly clambered down the stilt, the group surveyed the destruction. The lookout and its two residents had collapsed into a pile of timber on top of the lower building, smashing the roof. One of the Tohri was dead, the other was seriously wounded, but alive. Tegg tied him up and they collected themselves.

“What.. exactly, did you three do to that other stilt?” Tegg asked, looking at the ragged end of the stilt. It looked like it had been hit by lightning, and there was a lingering odor of brimstone.

Winstin grinned and pulled out a small bag. “It's blasting clay. You light it on fire and it explodes.” He pulled out a small wad of it, showing everone in the palm of his hand.

Vallen recoiled a bit, “Should you just be dragging that around in your pack?”

“As long as nobody drops a torch in my pack, its fine.” Winstin said, squeezing the ball into a coin shape. “I don't make it, its some kind of secret. Tivar buys whatever it can from Avendoor, and I have no idea where they get it. I get as much as I can, but its usually only a handfull or so each season. Lucky for me, most people won't carry the stuff around. As long as you're careful...”

“Ok, good to know” Tegg said, rubbing his temple. “Does anyone else have anything that we should know about before we move on? Any mystic gear they've...” Tegg paused, then chuckled. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small eyepiece. “I guess I'm just as guilty. I've got something to show you all.”

The surviving Tohri lookout became another problem. Ren moved to treat his injuries, but Tegg stopped him.

“No need” Tegg said, drawing his long dagger.

“You're going to kill him?” Ren asked with a look of confused disgust.

“You'd leave him here to tell our enemies where we are? Someone will be here to check this place out, I don't want them following us.”

Ren backed up a step, conflict playing across his face. He looked at the others and a few seemed to feel pity for the injuried Tohri. However, none of them were interested enouth to intervene on his behalf and Tegg dragged him into the grass. Winstin and Talbert had simply nodded and moved off to raid the lower building for supplies, Dar had moved to collect her gear with Arasen in tow, asking a stream of questions. Jenk was gathering the gear he had left in the grass while Cathnoma followed him.

Vallen gave him a half shrug “Tegg is right”, she said.

“I don't think so.” Ren replied, scratching his face and frowning.

“You would have killed him a few minutes ago” Vallen said, packing her gear away. “How are things different now?”

Ren crossed his arms and fumed. He had no real answer, but it felt wrong to kill the man now. “We could leave him. He's got supplies here...”

Vallen said nothing, slung her pack over her shoulder and checked her weapons. “We can't take him with us and more Tohri will be here before nightfall. If he's here, they'll know where to find us. ”

The debate was over, but Ren was not satisfied. It made no difference when Tegg returned and had them pack up their gear, though. The day had been wasted at the tower and he wanted to put as many steps as possible behind them before somebody came to check on the lookouts.

Jenk spotted the next lookout tower the next afternoon. Tegg had them backtrack, then crossed the road and took them east up into the hills. His plan was to stay out of sight of the towers and make their way southeast until they found something.

Their new path took them back into the low foothills of the mountains. They were many miles northwest of the foothills where they had lost Henton, but the terrain and pine cover were the same. Walking through the pine needles and bushy laurel trees put them on edge and the remains of the original troop became edgy. With winter now over, the pine and holly trees were met with the barest hints of green life. A few leaf buds appeared on the twisted laurel branches and tufts of grey grass occationally revealed a sign of approaching spring.

Winstin and Dar knew their new teammates were edgy, but after their last few missions along the caravan road, this was a refreshing diversion. Dar's peace was interupted here and there by annoying questions from Arasen, who seemed to have adopted her as some sort of teacher. Dar grated at the fawning. She had worked too hard in her craft to be reduced to introductory magic lessons. She recognized that Arasen had great potential, she saw the amount of control he already had over his magic. His mental maturity, however, undermined that control and she was not prepared to take the time and effort required to teach him patience.

Winstin, on the other hand, was privately thrilled to have Talbert looking up to him and a new lady to romance. After being the junior soldier on many missions into the forest, to have a green recruit to order around a little was fun. Winstin did not plan on hazing Talbert, but he was enjoying the admiration he was building in Talbert through his nearly endless supply of war stories and battle descriptions. As for Vallen, while she wasn't the most striking woman he'd met in the army, she was the here and now. His attempts to make headway with Dar had been blocked at every turn, even attempts to simply be friendly met with an icy stare or comment. Eventually they'd fallen into a comfortable stalemate, he left her alone and she ignored him unless they were in battle.

After two days of curving southeast the group found a deer trail leading into the mountains. Cathnoma showed interest in the trail, but his reaction spoke of chasing animals rather than killing enemies. Tegg found this encouraging and decided to scout the higher ground.

His intuition proved out and after hiking uphill the rest of the day the group reached a ridge overlooking the entrance to the mountain pass. The view was stunning in its vista, but when the sun set the group was speechless. The valley floor looked like it was swamped with glowflies as thousands and thousands of tiny lights flickered on. The party stood slackjawed, realizing that each tiny light was an enemy campfire.

“By Dalton's very eyes...” Tegg whispered, lying next to Talbert, Winstin and Dar. The three had worked their way up to a higher outcropping of rock to see if they could count the enemy or find a path. The hills had turned rocky and it had gotten harder and harder to find easy footing while moving closer to the enemy. Tegg did not want to move downhill because it would take them closer to danger, but from this distance it was difficult to see much more than campfires and distant tents.

Winstin had proven to have the sharpest eyes, so he and Tegg had been scouting the hillsides, taking other team members in turns. “Maybe we could move down that hillside there”, Winstin said, pointing in the distance.

Tegg followed Winstin's direction, but did not like what he saw. Winstin didn't sound too sure either, so Tegg just let it drop. “How can there be so many?” he asked instead.

Dar moved back and sat up, stretching her legs out. “Does it matter? There's no need for an accurate count, Tegg. There's ten times as many as they suspect.”

Winstin joined her and grunted in agreement, but Tegg stayed where he was. Lying there, he suddenly had the hunch to try his eyepiece. “Maybe. Lets see if they have any magic...”

Two Dom entered Intin'Tet Hincon's command tent with the evening reports and handed them to his aide. The action was routine and followed the same pattern as it had for two seasons, but Hincon was troubled. He watched the two leave, paying more attention to them than he normally did, but couldn't quit put his mind to what was different.

Hincon prided himself on knowing his army. He had not risen to his post at such a young age by being ignorant of the needs and moods of his Dom. He knew when raiding groups were in need of recreation. He knew when his animal tenders needed feed. He knew when his supply runners were sneaking off to romance some villiage girl. To know these things was to know the heartbeat of his army. When they broke minor rules, such as bringing fermented grain into camp he would permit it for a night and then quietly insure that it stopped for a few months. When they broke major rules, such as harassing a capture Tohri villager he would have them flogged and bond them to the village as a debt worker for a month. Now, however, Hincon felt like a doctor whose patient had taken a turn for the worse but was showing no obvious symptoms.

Their speed was different, he knew that. At first he blamed the fatigue of camp life and the constant field work. But his Dom were well trained and well fed. There were no requests for diversions, no recreational hunts, no games between sets. Their attitude was also different. He had nearly called a Dom up for insubordination, a crime that was almost unheard of, and yet he could not define exactly what the Dom had done! It wasn't surly, nor disrespectful, at least not entirely. He had no word for what "it" was.

His subcommanders were of little use. They had been assembled from other villages and islands, thrown together in this great war with little regard for the old lines of authority. Neither seemed overly concerned about Dom acting oddly, they were Dom after all. Still, Hincon was troubled.

Tonight's routine was finally broken when a Dom messenger entered his tent. The Dom barely paused after announcing his presence, yet another minor breach of protocol and pattern that grated Hincon.

The Dom dropped to one knee a half-second slower than normal.

“Yes?”

“An'Tet Ontess will be arriving in a few minutes. He brings four hundred sword and one tenth set of archers.” The Dom started to rise and leave.

“Hold, Dom.”, Hincon growled.

The Dom shifted and dropped back to one knee. “Sir?”

“You have not been dismissed.”

The Dom bowed appropriate to a minor rebuke and said the correct words. “My apologies, Siv An'Tet Hincon.”

Hincon measured the Dom's response. The words and actions were correct, but still incorrect. He struggled for some means to quantify why they grated him so as to correct it, but he came up empty. He also needed some reason to continue holding the Dom here. “Where is Ontess camped?”, he finally managed.

“On the southern side of the valley” the Dom responded simply.

It was a vague answer and it bothered Hincon even more. He fumed at not having requested specifics, not knowing if the Dom didn't know the details or was withholding information. Such lapses were beyond his ability to accept and still minor enough that they might be unintentional. If only there were a pattern. “Dismissed.”, Hincon grunted.

As the Dom rose a Siv entered. The Dom moved to let the Siv pass, but barely one finger further than was absolutely necessary. The Siv was in a rush and ignored the Dom, but Hincon noted it and added it to his worries. “Magical sensor is pinging again.”, the Siv announced, holding up a round, flat bit of slate.

Hincon nodded idly. The thing was always pinging at something, being both too sensative and vague at the same time. It pinged at nothing and yet when magic was around it could barely tell you more than a rough direction and almost nothing about distance. Hincon wondered if it was more wishful thinking than anything. “Noted. ”, he said.

The Siv set the marble plate down and hovered over it, pointing at flecks of gold that would appear and disappear in pulses. “It's close, but weak. Perhaps passive magic. Maybe a potion or enchanted animal.”, he said with a voice full of awe.

And maybe it's not a blasted thing at all, Hincon thought to himself. He didn't even know this Siv's name and was about to ask when the entire plate turned blue. “Gate opening?”, he asked idly.

The Siv nodded, then looked up with eyes wide when the plate flashed red. “There's something else. Something to the southwest!”

Ren jumped up when he saw Dar and Winstin carrying Tegg down to the campsite.

“What happened?” he asked, pulling his back open.

Talbert and Arasen helped to set Tegg down against a tree trunk and Dar answered. “He said something about checking for magic, then he gasped and.... this” she said.

Ren checked his pulse and found Tegg's heart was racing. He started to race through the items in his bag when Tegg groaned.

“Are you alright, Tegg?” Vallen asked.

Tegg opened his eyes, squinting a bit, and answered “We have to get back to warn them. I... think we're in serious trouble.”

Everyone exchanged worried looks and sunddenly Cathnoma started to howl.

Winstin snapped at Ren “Shut that dog up! They might hear us!”

Ren grabbed Cathnoma's collar and paused. He let go, stood and cocked his head “Listen!” he said in a rasp.

Everyone paused and in the silence they all heard it.

Horns.

The group raced headlong down the hills, crashing through brambles and bushes without a thought. They knew that discovery would mean death, even given the distance they had on the Tohri.

“How could they have spotted us?” Winstin managed to yell as he jumped over a log and shoved a holly branch out of his way.

No one had an answer. The horns continued to blow as they raced down to the end of the pine cover, breaking out through the underbrush and into the edge of the grassland near dusk. They all stopped as if on cue and paused for breath. The grasslands would offer minimal cover, what few stands of trees existed were scattered and thin.

“We can't do this all night”, Vallen said gasping for breath.

Tegg looked back and stretched his back. “We can't stay here. We've either got to find some cover or put some distance between us.”

Jenk moved over to Tegg. “We should lighten our packs and make a run for the road. If we find it, we could follow it in the dark for a ways, maybe find a stand of trees to catch some sleep in.”

Tegg nodded. “Drop everything you don't need. Take food, blankets and water only.”

There wasn't much of a moon, but in the grassland they really didn't need it. The night was clear and cold, the grass was dry and easy to run through and the group made good ground in their flight. Tegg and Jenk had decided to strike northwest, moving as fast as possible and relying on Cathnoma to warn them of any danger. The rest of the group was not happy about dropping their tents, cookware and extra weapons, but the grumbling only lasted until they were too tired to worry about it. Tegg and Jenk pushed them until nearly dawn, when they took cover under a small bit of brush. They camped haphazardly, throwing blankets down on the ground and sleeping fitfully until Tegg roused them.

They ate while running, tossing spiced apple cores and bits of salted beef to the side. There was little point in hiding their trail, the grass revealed where they had run for miles even without the droppings. Stealth had been abandoned for speed.

When they stopped that evening, everyone was gasping and moaning about their aches and pains. Their sides were burning from exhaustion, feet ached from the hard boots and legs felt like they were on fire. Few complained, partly because it would be a wasted effort and partly because they were too tired. With little discussion they shoved enough grass together to keep them off the ground, fell over and were asleep in moments.

Tegg woke them again at midnight, forcing everyone to get up and pack. Everyone grumbled, until they heard the horns again. They were closer.

As they were jogging out into the grass, Jenk worked his way over to Tegg. “They're gaining.”

Winstin, who was marching next to Tegg turned and agreed. “They're pushing us this way. Those blasted horns.”

Tegg frowned. He hadn't considered the horns as anything but a rally call, but it made sense. “What options do we have?”

Jenk frowned and looked over his shoulder. “Few. None. I don't know. They're south and east of us. We could turn North.”

Tegg considered this for a few moments, but shook his head. “They're pushing us north. If we go west, we could cross the road and push for the forest.”

“What if they're at the road?” Winstin asked.

Tegg hesitated in his march, then looked west. “I think I have an idea where we could go...”

For the next few days the horns came and went. They did not seem to get any closer, and it raised their spirits somewhat. The party eventually crossed the road, staggering from exhaustion, and Tegg called them to a halt.

“I have an idea as to how to evade our pursuit.” he said.

Jenk looked around, then grinned. “The trog. You're headed for the trog's den.”

Tegg nodded. “That's the idea. It might get us all killed, but I think we can pass through without making it too angry. Ren, you're going to have to keep Cathnoma in line, I have no idea what he'll think of a trog.”

The party made a direct line for the clump of woods where Tegg and Jenk thought the trog lived. As they ran, Tegg and Jenk explained how to escape an angry Trog, telling them to fight their instincts to run at all cost. Cathnoma started growling and dancing as they ran, contantly pulling Ren one way or another. Ren had slipped into a light meditative state, pushing calm and quiet thoughts to Cathnoma. He found the dog's mind reeling with smells and needs. Cathnoma wanted to hunt, to find, to harry and to kill whatever the maker of the smell was. In his connection, Ren could almost taste the musky markings of the trog, and marvelled that such a smell had a powerful appeal to the dog where a human encountering such a powerful odor would have been retching and heaving. When they passed the outer trees, Ren nearly lost his connection as driving forces inside Cathnoma's brain flooded back to him.

“We have to hurry, Tegg. I can't... hold him for long”, Ren managed.

Tegg grunted, “Hang on Ren. We can't go too fast. We need to let it know we're here.”

Pushing through some underbrush, they heard it. The trog had detected intruders and was working through the woods to stop them. It made a huffing, grunting noise as it ambled through the dead leaves and pine needles. The sound got louder and louder and Tegg called them to a halt.

“Everybody, walk slowly! When you see it, walk at an angle away from it...”

Within minutes the trog burst through the brush in a run at them, and everyone fought the sudden urge to flee the massive monster. The trog towered over Cathnoma, standing nearly four feet at the shoulder. It was a long, brown haired beast with zigzags of white along it's haunches. It was shaped like a beaver or a groundhog but had huge spines that lay across its back. The trog stopped, dropped it's head low and issued a gutteral hiss at them. The spines along its back stood up, forming a fan and it growled, showing massive front incisors. Had it not been such a monster the smell of it might have been the worst thing about it.

“Don't run. Don't look at it too much. Just move slowly away.”, Tegg whispered.

“Move slowly away, do not run”, Jenk repeated, hunching over and moving away slowly.

Ren did not hear any of this, Cathnoma's mind was focused purely on fighting the beast. The dog's thoughts had a blinding purity, no consideration, no second guessing, no doubts. It was so singularly intent on killing the trog that Ren knew he had to take drastic action. Summoning all his might, he send a powerful blast down the connection to the dog and Cathnoma collapsed in a daze.

Vallen saw the dog collapse and watched Ren nearly trip over it. Summoning all her courage, she moved to the dog, putting herself between it and the hissing, growling beast, bent down and picked Cathnoma up. She hadn't considered just how heavy the dog was, and lurched forward. Suddenly, Ren's hands were around her and he took part of the dog's weight. They both quickly hunched back over and continued on.

Tegg saw the trog reacting to their passage as he had hoped. The trog was still defensive, but had started to make signs of superiority. The beast had defended its territory and was now just making noise to signal its alpha status.

When the trog was out of sight, Tegg started to move at a slow jog. It didn't take any encouragement for the party to follow suit and when they escaped the trees back into the edges of the grassland, Tegg broke into a run. “If they follow us, they'll be in for a surprise. We can't count on that trog guarding our backs for long, though.”

Later that day they heard sounds of screeching and barking behind them, drinving Cathnoma into a frenzy. Ren managed to silence the dog, and everyone paused. Jenk looked back and laughed.

“We were luckier than I thought.” he said, sitting down in the grass.

Everyone except Tegg gave him curious glances until Tegg chuckled and said “The trog we passed was a male. That noise... was his mate. Guarding her den.”

They camped early that night. Tegg assured them that they were relatively safe, the trogs had been victorious in at least surprising the Tohri and driving them off for a bit.

“What did you see in your looking glass, Tegg”, Dar asked him.

Tegg pulled the glass out from his shirt and considered it. “I'm not entirely sure.”

When Tegg had opened his eye and looked through the glass, it was nearly black. The campfires and the men sitting around them were a wash of blacks and blues, but at the far end of the camp, deep in the valley between the mountains, there had been something. It seemed to rush towards him when he looked at it. There was a massive archway of stone, supported in a frame of wood and standing twenty feet tall. These had been clear as day, glowing in a magical blue light. As he looked at it, a light appeared in the middle of the archway and a circle of blue moved out, touching the outer arch walls. Tegg squinted, trying to see what the arch would do. Then, in a massive flash the circle went from pale blue to blinding white. For Tegg, it was like looking into the sun and he tried to pull back, only to wake up in the campsite.

“I think it was some sort of door. Some magic door.”

Dar frowned. “I don't know of any power that could make a door like that. Even the biggest magical doors are barely big enough to walk through. I've only ever seen one, and it no longer worked.”

Winstin sat with his dagger out, rolling it between his palms. “Buy why there? It doesn't seem like a very strategic place to put a door..”

“Maybe they don't have a choice”, Ren answered. He stroked Cathnoma's head and soothed the dog, who was still a bit jittery.

Tegg stood and looked back. “We'll continue on for a few days at normal march. We've still got ten days until we get back to Tivar. We need to warn them. ”

Duke Malloy and General Kenv leaned over the map, examining the newly placed enemy indicators. After several hours of endless questions they had finally allowed the exhausted team to head back to the Inn to rest. The Duke, haphazardly dressed and not yet shaved, grinned as he moved pieces around this way and that.

“I can't bloody well see why you're so happy”, the General grumbled. Roused from sleep, the man's red eyes and wild hair made him look positively insane.

“We have met our enemy, Kenv. We have found them.”

“Huzzah.” the general sarcastically replied, mocking a toast. “Your gamble paid off. Now we know that there are a blasted horde of them sitting fifteen days east of us.”

The Duke smiled at the grumpy soldier. Few men would dare use such sharp tones around the Duke, but the man had been General of the armies of Tivar since they were the Duke's father's armies. “Ah, but we know where they are. As for why and how, I don't care. We can plan an attack or a defense or, given your mood, we can plan a disorganized retreat to Avendoor.”

The General rubbed his eyes and chuckled. “Oh, all right, your lordship. Let's have a look at all this then.”

Sitting around the table three hours later, the Duke, General Kenv and two other generals paused to have a late breakfast. The plans were haphazard and incomplete, but they were slowly establishing their best options. The need arose to properly scout the army, a task which the General wanted to oversee with his own scouting groups.

“Your pet team has done wonders, sire, but we need trained scouts to get information on this army.”

The Duke was finally worn down by logic. “Yes... fine. We'll send them on some other task then.”

The Generall nodded and traced his finger up the coastline of the map. “Perhaps they can tell us what's happened to Port Redcap.”