It is just after
dawn, at 6.15a.m., when Gertrude descends from her overwatch position
and flies down to start pecking at Yaz's side.
Yaz is up in a shot and
quickly raises the rest of them:
"They're on their way," he
cries with a mixture of excitement and terror. "A large caravan of
wagons headed from the farm in this direction."
Yaz has just a few minutes
to make quick devotions to Prirodna while the warriors check over
their weapons. They then all head for the trail and take up ambush
positions on either side of the trail, trying their hardest to
camouflage themselves so as to avoid detection.
It has continued snowing
throughout the night and, with some relief, Yaz sees that there are
many more hours of the condition left yet. As Yaz predicted, the
snowfall was not heavy enough to settle and so the ground is very wet
underfoot.
As they start to hear the
jingle of straps and the wheels of wagons along with the dull thump
of horses' hooves on the muddy trail, they realize that the caravan
is getting close to them. Intermingled with the more regular sounds
is a cacophony of bestial noises with grunts, howls, bellows, snorts,
rattles, buzzing and flapping, creating one hell of a din.
As they try and control
their rapidly beating hearts, the caravan comes into view. First of
all, they see four hunters at the fore, leading the convoy. They have
longbows in hand and are looking all around them, but don't seem to
be searching for anything in particular. Then the first of eight
wagons comes into view. The party immediately recognizes Eladria sat
on the front of the wagon. Sat next to her is her Polak husband,
Yurek, dressed in his three-quarters plate and looking as serious as
ever. On either side of the convoy are guards, sixteen of them in
total. The party notices that eleven of them are the mercenaries that
they passed on the road yesterday. Riding on the last of the caravans
is a man in his late twenties. He is wearing green robes and has a
golden ankh around his neck, almost identical to the one worn by
Eladria. Bringing up the rear are another four hunters, longbows
poised in the same style as the advance guard.
However, it is not the
guards that attract their attention, but rather the contents of the
wagons. The wagons are large affairs and the eight of them are each
filled with two huge cages. They cannot stop from gaping as they see
their contents.
Inside them are the
strangest beasts that they have ever seen in their lives. They all
seem to be huge hybrid creatures made up of a mixture of all sorts of
beasts. There are creatures that are mostly insectoid, some with
leathery hides, some with feathers, some with fur and some with
scales. Some have clipped wings, some insectoid legs, others massive
claws, some stumpy legs. Several of them have many more than either
two or four legs. Their heads are also different from the bodies.
Some have gigantic beaks, some wide mouths filled with vicious fangs,
some with the heads of gigantic insects and some have vaguely
humanoid heads. Several creatures have more than one head. One thing
that each of the creatures have in common, however, is the fact that
they all have a mad look in their eyes, looking as if they have
little purpose in life except for wanting to kill. They seem totally
wild and vicious.
Out of the sixteen
extraordinary creatures, one of them grabs the party's attention
above all of the others. Its torso is large and covered in thick
khaki scales which graduates into a yellow and black ringed abdomen
that ends in a large point, similar to that of a gigantic wasp. It
stands on two gigantic back legs that seem similar to those of a
massive rabbit and looks capable of bounding large distances. At the
front of its body are four enormous pincers, similar to those of
enormous crabs.
And it has the head of
Darius.
Will sadly sighs to himself
and says a silent prayer to Prirodna to bring an end to this whole
bestial abominable ordeal quickly.
Winnacer puts his hand over
his heart, tracing out Kesryk's etching with his finger, his head
drops. He then looks at the rest of the party, making sure nobody
takes any unwise measures in anger.
Watching the foul menagerie
make its way past, Jihan's roving eyes pass over Yurek and the
guards, giving an angry squint towards Eladria before passing over
the hybridized animals. His gaze meanders along slowly, studying the
macabre scene passing by, until they settle on the beast that has the
transplanted Darius' head. Surprisingly, the elf does not fly off the
handle immediately. One of the prayers the others noticed him singing
in his room during his rather frantic period of distraction was the
elven Journeysong again. He has already made his peace with his
brother's departure, though a look of anguish passes across his face
at the fate Eladria has bestowed upon the unfortunate goblin.
His gaze filling with acid,
he levels a look on the druidess that the others believe could split
a rock in twain. Then his eyes shift to focus on Faewen'il directly
for the first time in days.
"Can you read his mind from
here? Is there anything of Darius left in that tormented form?" he
whispers with violent intensity.
"Or has our brother gone to
find his peace..."
"Let me be havin a try,"
says Faewen'il as she takes the pendant hanging from the chain around
her neck and touches the eye motif. She then concentrates on the
creature that Darius has become. Just a few seconds later, she takes
her hand away from the pendant and lets it fall back inside her
dress:
"It nae be the Darius that
we all remember," she says sadly. "It nae only be his body that
they've been messin with, but also his mind. He be little more than a
vegetable - an angry vegetable that has little sense but to do much
more than kill."
As Faewen'il falls silent,
the elf reaffixes his caustic gaze on Eladria's departing form:
"Prirodna's work?..." he
hisses angrily. "We shall see about that..."
His right hand twitches once
almost convulsively towards where Weitbeissen is holstered on his
back, yet he reigns himself in after taking a deep breath. After
another two of such, he seems to calm, though he looks like he'd have
his swords out faster than Flint could earn the enmity of a woman if
someone made a loud noise.
"Start charming, brother,"
he says momentarily. "We've got a long day ahead of us..."
"Damn!" says Bennett as he
looks at the creature and shakes his head, "Even a little bastard
like Darius didn't deserve something like that! Well, I guess that's
what he gets for not staying with us when we came and got his ass in
the first place."
Bennett shakes his shaggy
head distastefully:
"Anyway, do you think you
can charm such monstrosities, Yaz? They don't appear to be normal
animals to me and you'd put yourself in one hell of a lot of danger
by getting close enough to them to try. In any case, I don't think
that these animals should be left alive, not even Darius monster, as
they seem designed only to kill, each other or others. Maybe we
should let the fights go on a while after all, huh?"
Yaz fails to reply to
Bennett, as he doesn't know quite what to think as the train goes by,
except that this twisted, miserable excuse for a druidess must die,
slowly and painfully. He no longer has the concern for the
'assembled' animals that once thought he might, except to end their
torment and rage by making sure that each soon sees the peace that
comes with death.
He then proceeds with the
plan. As the menagerie passes by, Yaz looks for the toughest of the
creatures that he can see and looks to see whether any of them could
fly. A few of the creatures are winged, but Yaz sees that their wings
have been clipped to ensure that they are unable to fly away from the
arena. It is difficult to pick out two that look tougher than the
others. He guesses that the animals have been 'designed' to be
roughly equal in strength so as to make the games as interesting as
possible. As a result, he picks a couple of them at random.
The first that he selects
has the body of a huge bull, but with the head of a fish similar to a
pike with a large mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Instead of a
normal tail, it has one similar to that of a snake, which looks
distinctly poisonous.
As the beast passes on its
wagon, Yaz, as quietly as he can, starts to utter the charming
incantation before gesturing towards the beast. He then whispers to
the beast,which is thrashing about and stamping its cloven
feet.
"Quiet," is all that the
druid says.
However, it seems to have no
effect, as the creature seems to be as wild as ever.
"Shit," Yaz curses. "That's
one spell wasted already. Let's try another beast and see if that
goes any better."
He looks back at the passing
convoy and sets his sights on a huge bird that has five giant
reptilian heads protruding from its torso, similar to those of
crocodiles and a gigantic claw at the end of both wings.
Once again he quietly utters
the incantation and gestures towards the beast, which is snapping at
the guards either side of it. Once again, he tells it to be still
and, once again, it has no reaction.
Yaz is rather pissed at the
fact that both attempts to charm the creatures have been
unsuccessful, but he doesn't let it get to him.
"I've got one left," he
says. "I'd like to have a crack at Yurek, Eladria's husband, but I
want to wait until he is just going through the gate."
"We can trail them through
the bushes," suggests Jihan. "Then we can hit them just before they
go through the gate."
"We would need to keep very
quiet though, as we've already learned how good those hunters are"
adds Will. "Perhaps just the three of us should go and the rest can
follow a safe distance behind."
The others agree and so Yaz,
Jihan and Will start to move forwards, heading through the forest
towards the arena, while the rest of the party wait for a while and
then follow the caravan.
The elf and half-elves move
through the forest quietly and are able to move faster than the
caravan that is moving at a slow pace. They take up a position within
the forest, some 75 yards from the entrance to the arena, which is
just visible through the gently falling snow and trees.
Yurek, still sat at the fore
of the first wagon by the side of Eladria, comes into view and Yaz
once again starts the now familiar incantation, praying to Prirodna
that he has better luck than the first two times that he used the
spell that day.
He stops chanting and then
gestures towards the warrior.
"Let's see if I got him,"
Yaz says and looks back towards Yurek."
"Look up at the sky and
scratch your forehead," he whispers.
With great relief, Yaz sees
the Polak looking up at the heavens while scratching his face.
"Got 'im!" Yaz says
excitedly, the two failures on the creatures now having been
forgotten.
"Let's leave him alone for
the time being," he adds. "It would be a shame to miss our chance at
playing our cards just when the time is right."
Yaz then tells Yurek to
simply act as he would do normally, so that Eladria does not start to
get suspicious.
The three of them then watch
what happens as Eladria and her men arrive at the camp. The wagons
are all drawn up to the animal pens at the rear of arena. Very
carefully, the drivers of the wagons, which are an assortment of
halflings, goblins and humans open the gates on the animals' cages
and goad them into the pens at the arena with spears. The hunters
stand by with longbows poised in case there are any problems in
transferring the animals.
They were wise to take the
precautions, as one of the creatures, which has the body of a
rhinoceros and three lion-like heads goes wild and starts to attack
its keepers. As Eladria hears the commotion, she rushes over to give
her assistance, but she is at the other side of the complex. In the
time that it takes Eladria to make her way over, the creature manages
to take out three hunters and three of the servants as the hunters'
arrows fail to pierce its heavily armored hide. Eladria soon put a
stop to it, however, as she casts at the beast and it meekly walks
into its cage before a very shaken halfling locks the beast
in.
The rest of the operation
goes more smoothly and soon all of the animals are safely locked in
their cages. The five remaining hunters come to join up with the two
that had been on sentry duty through the night and leave the complex
so as to patrol around it. Yaz sees to his annoyance that two of them
head for the stakes that he warped in order to repair the wall. As
they see the hunters starting to patrol more widely around the arena,
they decide that it is time to leave before there is any danger of
their being spotted. The three of them wander back in the direction
of the fur farm and meet up with the rest of the party who are
standing some 500 paces from them in the forest.
Winnacer looks at the
position of the sun in the sky:
"It's after 7.00a.m. now,"
the young LawBringer says. "We should be heading for the meeting
place in order to meet up with the Dragons."
They all agree, and head off
through the woods in a southerly direction through the forest in
order to meet up with them.
During the journey, Winnacer
turns to the rest of the group and speaks:
"Do you mind if you can tell
me exactly what happened while we were in Pardubitze? I've got the
basics, but it these details, like old companions being transformed
into monsters, keep throwing me for a loop. What exactly are we
dealing with, and how much did you piss her off?"
Will gladly responds to the
young Lord's question:
"Well, you've got the most
of it already. This druid woman, Eladria, the same one sitting at the
front of the caravan just now, claims to have been given a vision by
Prirodna to help the woodland animals evolve. I don't know how she
does it, but it seems that she is toying with nature here."
"As I said before, she was
very cordial and did not seem overly angered at us, although Flint
did toast her buns quite on the dark side. Her husband however, was
very wroth with the whole lot of us, barely containing himself when
we left. Personally I was surprised that he didn't send out hunters
for us despite his wife's treaty with us. You can be assured that he
would have most certainly attempted to make good on his threats were
he to see one of us five again, if it wasn't for Yaz's actions at the
arena. He was the one sitting with her in the caravan."
"Don't worry about the
grumpy bastard any more," interjects Yaz. "I managed to get him so
he's on our side when we want him. That should help to even the odds
quite a bit in our favor."
"As for Darius' sad state,"
Will continues, "I do not know, but am led to believe that he
willingly submitted or was tricked into participating in such obscene
experimentations. As I said, he was working with the farm when we
found him, and then was quite withdrawn and hostile toward all of us
when we met, not speaking a word, and leaving without even a 'never
you mind'. He was, however, still just an ordinary goblin when last
we saw him."
The conversation goes quiet
for a couple of minutes, and then Bennett speaks to Winnacer:
"About that plan to take
over the fur farm and to keep it running," he starts. "I agree with
it in principle, but how are we going to keep it without living
there? I believe that my vow was sufficiently obtuse that I may
return there once it isn't under Eladria's control, which seems to be
one of the purposes of us being here. What we need to do is take
advantage of the chaos that we wreak on this place and let the
Nyemetz think the place has gone dormant in an effort to replenish
its stocks. I don't imagine that it would be too hard to keep the
illusion of it still operating, just on a much smaller scale, while
truly it serves as a base for our insurrections in this area, but one
thing we need that is in short supply is bodies to fill the place up
with. I'd suggest using the Reds, but they don't appear to be at the
level that a fortification would serve them well. We need to draw in
some people, potential rebels, that can keep up the appearance of
this place's operation. They won't really have to defend it, as I am
sure the word will be spread that the place took a devastating hit.
If we were to free all the animals within, or at least appear to,
then we would have months in which the Nyemetz would not expect
anything."
Bennett thinks for a
minute:
"I may have something. How
about this? We're agreed that we need to take Eladria and Yuri out
right? Well, if we are able to do that without raising too much fuss
about it, what say we put two of our people in their place? Yaz could
be Eladria and Xavier could be Yuri, so we have personalities and
powers in the right place. All we'd need is some simple altering of
their appearance magically, something Corrow or Fae should be able to
do without too much fuss, and if absolutely necessary, we still have
two remaining doses of Granny's powder, right?"
"We only be havin the one
now," Faewen'il interjects. "Hrust took tha last of ours to get him
out o the country."
"Anyway, Bennett continues,
"then we get Yaz and Xavier back to the farm, with maybe one or two
of us accompanying them, though not Will, Jihan, Flint, or myself
obviously. Over a couple of days, with the casualties from the
assault and everything else, they can build a relatively new force of
guards there that might be more conducive to our operation. Hell,
with all the hired mercenaries here already, it would be easy to
argue that the operation is out of funds and dismiss those that know
the place best, leaving the operation to maybe twenty or so outside
mercenaries, well-paid and those whose loyalties can be best assured.
Then, once the house-cleaning is done, Yuri and Eladria could beg off
on some mission. We could leave the place in the hands of one of
Boris' people, under the guise of him being a new administrator to
rebuild the operation's finances, etc. He could continually recycle
people in and out until the place was full of new guards with ideas
similar to our own about the Nyemetz. Doesn't seem like that much of
a stretch to me, and it keeps us from having to destroy the farm or
kill all of the guards. What do you all think?"
Winnacer nods
appreciatively:
"A pretty sound plan,
Bennett. The only problems I see are that it would require us to stay
at the farm much longer than any of us really care to and that it
does not address what we would do about the worgs and their sale to
the Nyemetz. I guess we could say that after the rebel bombings at
the games, the whole operation was set back and will take some time
to repopulate their stock. But I would prefer using some of the
Dragons, perhaps Sonya and an illusory Corrow, to be the front if
that option opens up for us. But using it as the final refuge of the
mages, that would be rather neat trick to swing."
"And what do you mean by
'Reds?'"
"Sorry," apologizes Bennett,
"that's just a name that was used briefly in one of the texts I read
about the Wuurster Schweinhoff Movement and it's a lot easier to use
than the name, so that's what I have been calling them. As to the
worgs, what I thought was that we could just delay that for a while,
then opening back up the operation or not would be our choice. As to
using Corrow and Sonya, I agree that those might be better choices
long-term, but I think for the immediate, Xavier and Yaz would do
much better, as they can much easier mimic the abilities of those
they are replacing. Then we phase out the guards and Corrow and
Sonya, using Corrow's magic, could replace them, but that would
require constant concentration from Corrow to maintain the illusion
and it doesn't look to me like he could handle such a thing. Better I
think to just move Eladria and Yurek out of the picture and leave the
farm under one of the Dragon's control, by their leave, while they go
out on some mission to restore the depleted stocks of the farm, get
needed resources, whatever the case may be. That way we minimize the
need for magical aids and we can always return with an illusory
Eladria and Yurek if we need to. Ideally, those two just disappear
and the newer guards at the farm get used to working for its Dragon
administrator. By the time we return to use this place as a stage
against Hradetz and Dvur, there should be no one left who would
recognize us and our appearance would be just something of minor
note. Should work, I think."
By the time that the
conversation regarding the future of the fur farm has finished, they
are in the clearing that Boris suggested as a meeting point. Although
it is only 7.30, all of the Dragons are waiting for them.
Greetings are exchanged and
they tell Boris, Viktor and Tomas the good news that Yurek is now
under their control. Boris congratulates them and then speaks:
"I don't know whether you've
been thinking more about your plans, but our plans are still the
same. Boris and the best eight archers that we have will lurk outside
the entrance in the woods, keeping an eye on the place, but staying
far enough away so as not to be interrupted by the sentries."
"Meanwhile, Tomas, Corrow
and myself along with ten of the lads are dressed as merchants and
bodyguards. We will be hanging as close to the bookies office as we
can without attracting too much attention. As soon as Flint blows the
VIP lounges and all hell lets loose, we takes out the bookies office
and snatch all of the gold. At the same time, Boris' crew will be
taking out the gate."
"So what are your plans
currently?"
Winnacer nods in approval
and then goes quiet for a moment, obviously deep in thought. He then
turns to Faewen'il and speaks:
"Would it be possible to
turn Yaz invisible as well, if need be? It would give him a second
chance to recruit their aid. Otherwise everything you said sounds
pretty solid. The only problem that leaves us with is how to get
Xavier and myself in. I guess that means either Xavier or myself
needs to play the role of Nyemetz noble. I hate to admit it, but
that's something I probably know a little too much about. Do you
think I can take a look at that transforming clothing?"
Faewen'il shrugs, glad that
the gloves are hiding the white on her knuckles as she replies
back.
"I can cast one on him; but
that only be leavin one other spell. Keep in mind that anyone who
stays within arms reach o tha parson it is cast upon stays invisible
as well.... and I also be already dressed as a noble so I be needin
bodyguards an an escort."
"As for the others," Bennett
adds, "seems to me that we can get to the bulk of our objectives from
outside the enclosure, providing we deal with the guards that are
sure to be patrolling the perimeter. The sneakier members of the
group should almost certainly never enter the compound proper, or at
least until the shit hits the fan, as it were, especially considering
that Jihan, Yaz, Will, and Flint will be almost impossible to conceal
from detection casually. I, on the other hand, can simply wear my old
armor and keep my face down and I'm a bodyguard. I don't know that
any of them noted me all that much anyway."
"Are you sure that someone
wouldn't recognize you?" asks Winnacer.
"I can get in," Bennett
responds. "Nobody gives a rat's ass about bodyguards, and I can play
that out. Plus I'm relatively non-descript."
The others in the group
aren't so sure about this, as Bennett's rough appearance is hardly
typical, but Bennett does.
"I'm pretty sure nobody at
the gate will be looking out for me," he continues. "The others,
though, will be more problematic. Seems pretty humanocentric out
there."
"I think we'll be most
effective if we go in together. Besides, it seems that all the nobles
have more than one bodyguard. In fact," Bennett's eyes glint
mischeviously, "It seems to me that the most appropriate disguise for
you, Winnacer, would be Fae's husband. If ever a more tight-assed
couple could be made, I know not where, and between the two of you,
surely all attention would be distracted from me. You are more than
welcome to the armor, as in either of its forms, it's sure to draw
too much attention to me."
Bennett draws the folded
clothing that is the 'Fabio' armor from his pack and hands it to
Winnacer.
"Besides, if we need to
split up once we get inside, then Xavier can accompany Fae and I,
you, which would give us the advantage of an easier entry plus the
mobility to split if needed."
"Well it seems as if we have
the plan arranged then," summarizes Winnacer. "Xavier and Bennett and
myself will act as bodyguards for myself as a noble and noblewoman
Fae, while an invisible Flint will accompany us. Yaz will remain
outside, with Will and Jihan keeping him safe from any danger posed
by the hunters."
"I suggest that we strike
immediately before the first of the games. Perhaps Yaz can start
things off with a thunderstrike, perhaps on Eladria, which will be
the signal for Flint to take out the VIP's by setting off the
blasting powder. We then all make a fast exit before whatever guards
remain after the Dragons' attack know what's going on."
"Well that's how it looks to
me, unless any of you have any other ideas?"
"Sounds good to me," agrees
Boris. "Jus' one thing though. Make sure that yer gives us five
minutes notice before yer starts blastin', as there might be some
people what we needs to get clear from the area before 'and."
"OK," agrees Yaz. "I'll give
the cry of a hawk five minutes before I blast Eladria."
"Very well," says Viktor. "I
think that we should now move from here to a spot that overlooks the
trail to the arena so that we can see the visitors coming. I think
that we should try and mix in with the majority of them so that they
don't have an opportunity to check us out too carefully."
They all agree and so mount
their horses once more and then make a short half-hour journey to a
low wooded hill that gives them a good view of the trail that
approaches the arena.
It is just before 9.00 when
they get there and the trail is empty. Half an hour later, they start
to see the odd carriage or two making its way to the arena, both of
them guarded by mercenaries. Half an hour after that, the visitors
start to trickle towards the arena and they see them entering the
complex.
"Looks like attendance is
gonna be well down on the last one," says Boris, shaking his head as
he watches the few vehicles making their way to the arena. "There was
a lot more goin' to the arena by this time last time that the ran the
Games. It must be the bad weather stoppin' 'em from comin'."
By 10.30, however, the slow
trickle of visitors has grown to become a constant stream and so the
arena is going to be far from empty.
"I reckon that we should
start to get ready to join the trail now," says Viktor as he sees a
good procession of visitors now making their way up the trail. "I
believe that we need a good hour for Flint to set up the charges and
for us to get a good idea of the strengths of the guards on the gate
and the bookies' office."
All of those who are going
into the arena check over their attire so as to make sure that they
look like nobles and merchants. Winnacer changes out of his trusty
mail and puts on the 'Fabio' armor. It looks a little strange as it
is hardly at the height of fashion any longer, but it is not going to
draw too much attention to him. Flint checks over the many sacks in
his bandoleers. Once he has finishes this task, Faewen'il gives the
dwarf a quick talking to:
"I be goin tae make ye
invisible now, so I don't want nae funny business from ye."
Flint gives a little grin as
a response, but does not comment.
"Ye must be stayin close tae
me at all times, whatever happens, or else ye'll be comin
visible."
Flint, still grinning,
nods.
The lass then starts to cast
upon him and the dwarf disappears from sight. As the others watch,
however, they see smoke curling from above his position.
"Ye must be puttin yer cigar
out," says Faewen'il firmly.
"Bollocks!" curses Flint's
voice beneath the smoke, but obediently extinguishes the
cheroot.
"Right," says Viktor, "let's
move out."
They split into two groups,
one made up of those that are going inside the arena and the other of
those that are going to remain outside. Those that are not going
inside head straight for the entrance to the arena so that they can
remain outside and give assistance should everything go wrong and
some members of the group be spotted as they make their
entrance.
The other group that are
going inside the arena head due north until they reach the trail that
leads from the Dvur road to the arena. The Dragons scout ahead and
wait for a break among the passing carriages before the first group
consisting of Tomas and Corrow, who are dressed as merchants, along
with five of the Dragons, dressed as bodyguards, emerge from the
cover of the trees and start to proceed along the trail.
The rest of them wait for a
few minutes for Tomas' group to go out of sight and then Viktor gives
the signal for Faewen'il and Winnacer, who are dressed as nobles,
along with Xavier and Bennett as bodyguards, plus the invisible
Flint, to start making their way up the trail.
They start to get a little
nervous as they carry on up the trail towards the arena. Behind them
are a couple of carriages belonging to some merchants and behind
them, the party can just spy Viktor and five of the Dragons, who are
also dressed as merchants and their bodyguards.
As they come closer to the
gate of the arena, their hearts are pounding and they hope that the
guards are not checking everyone out too carefully. As they see the
carriages in front of them, however, they see that the guards are
only giving the nobles and merchants entering the enclosure cursory
glances, however, being mostly interesting in ensuring that they
receive the entry fees from each person entering through the
gates.
Without complicated security
measures, there is no queue at the gate. Bennett keeps his head down
as they come up to it.
A young girl who is flanked
by a couple of guards comes up to them:
"Four of you are there?" she
asks, smiling. "Then that will be one hundred gold pieces,
please."
With just a simple nod,
Winnacer reaches into his pouch and brings forth the required amount.
Xavier is busy checking out the number of guards at the gate,
counting seven of them in total. Bennett continues to keep his head
down.
"Thank you," says the girl
as she takes the huge weight of coins into a large pouch. "You can
hitch your horses over there. The lads will take good care of them.
Enjoy the Games."
They once more nod to the
girl and then trot their horses over to where the girl indicated. As
they arrive there, they dismount and a couple of lads take the horses
from them before leading them over to the south wall of the complex,
next to the guard house, thankfully a safe distance from the VIP
rooms.
As the rest of the party
sees the others safely entering the complex, they make their own
plans:
"We need somewhere better
than this to watch the goings on," says Yaz. "I can't see the animal
enclosure from here."
Jihan and Will nod in
agreement and so the threesome leave Boris and the eight Dragons
behind in order to walk around the outside of the arena at a safe
distance.
"This should do fine," says
Yaz after walking carefully for some ten minutes. "I can see
everything that I need to see from here and we're not too close to
the place, so hopefully we won't have any problems from the
hunters."
"I guess that all we can do
is wait," continues the druid.
He looks up at the sun,
obscured as it is by the thick clouds from which the snowfall shows
no signs of slowing.
"It must be around 11.00
now. We've got an hour to kill before things start getting
interesting."
Jihan and Will take their
bows from their back and line up arrows in the wet earth in front of
them so that they can access them quickly if needs be.