Chapter 5. A slow panic arose as the word instantaneously spread around. Quickly, they jumped out of their slumber, suiting up in what ever armour they could find, chain mail, a full body suit, and even home made armour, armed and ready for any kind of danger or threat. The loud clanging from each, echoed sustainingly, amplified off the stone walls. Generals, majors and corporals, each of the leaders of the Emperors vast army, assembled their men in ranking order in a large indoor courtyard, one huge square stone room, the roof reaching up well above their heads. They put their minds together, creating a plan of attack. The Emperor’s dominated guards were used as examples of what to expect from the intruders. Stunned faces peered worriedly at their unconscious mates, their blood stained armour and dinted helmets and breastplates, a picture easily stating a thousand words. The crowd was dotted with reds, symbolising the novice soldier, all armoured in chain mail. Privates wore a maroon colour chain mail, thicker and stronger. The corporals wore full body armour, dark green defining their rank. All the other ranks above the corporal wore a full body armour, the sergeant in dark blue, the lieutenant in a hazelnut brown, the captain in dark, dark black, the majors in silver, and the cornel dressed in orange - gold, each suit elegantly shined and polished. ‘Where are we?’ Power wondered looking over his shoulder. ‘I’m not sure.’ she replied, ‘But if we can get them to believe that we’re dangerous, and that we could possibly harm the Emperor if it came to that, then we’ll be safe.’ They had been running all over the place, taking the nearest turn down each corridor, the lifeless stone not giving any hints. ‘You mean that we’re not going to really kill the Emperor if we have to?’ Power asked worriedly. ‘Exactly.’ she murmured, ‘If we killed him, then we wouldn’t have a safe guard against the inevitable attack. As long as he’s still alive, we’ll be okay.’ They came to a cross road, four different paths to chose from. The three new corridors seemed endless, the flickering light of the torches sitting in their places in the wall, not enough to penetrate the overwhelming darkness injected by the creepy shadows. Power leaned the tiny, yet heavy, Emperor against the wall, giving his arms a rest. ‘Which way do we go?’ ‘It doesn’t matter any more.’ she replied, straining her eyes down one of the corridors, ‘They’re here.’ They were surrounded. The march of the soldiers from all four sides was equal and in time, their lefts and rights simultaneously. The beat gave the kidnappers a sense of anxiety, feeling the pressure pounding down upon their minds, their heart rate increasing with every step. ‘Give me the Emperor.’ Ice said. Taking control of the old man, she pressed her curved dagger on his saggy throat. A mixed range of colours had formed around them, chain mailed soldiers lined up in the front few ranks, sharp spears and pikes extended in front of them. The more heavily armoured men were behind them, baring many different kinds of arms; battle axes, broad swords, cross bows - practically anything with a sharp point. ‘What do we do?’ Power panicked, a throwing knife drawn in each hand. Ice circled on the spot with the Emperor in front of her, giving the impression she meant business. ‘Try to look like your not worried,’ she said out of clenched teeth, ‘Make it look like your insanely ready to kill.’ Power pursed his lips. Then, after a little grin, he put on the act. Wide eyed, he blinked furiously, his face twitching, urging with his hands for someone to take the big man on. Back to back, the pair spun slowly in circles, watching closely for the first move. Closer and closer marched the army, the front ranks with their spears out stretched. A rather skinny looking man lead the way down one of the corridors. His black hair slicked back, his beard rugged. A light blue hose covered his scrawny body, held together tightly by a thick strip of leather with fluffy bear skin boots that reached half way up his bonny shins. His white, almost see through shirt had no collar. It parted, showing of his hairy chest. The long sleeves were buttoned up at the wrists, over - hanging loosely from the base of his hands back up to his shoulders. A satin, black cape hung from around his neck, clipped up over his throat, fluttering by his ankles as he walked. A long, hilted sword finished off his pirate look, an eye patch and a peg leg the only things missing. Power struggled to control his amusement, ‘Ahar matey!’ he said mockingly as they approached, a giggle emphasising the "Ahar". ‘Halt!’ the thin man yelled as they came as close as they would dare. ‘Don’t try anything stupid.’ Ice warned, holding the Emperor’s head back with her sharp, curved knife ready to slice. ‘Tho, thith ith the Great Power of Oiy along with Ithe the Thleeper?’ the skinny man said with an outrageous lisp. Power held his mean face, laughter spilling out of his nose. ‘The one and only,’ Ice replied, stone faced. ‘My name is Therelia, the Emperor’th right hand man.’ he introduced proudly, straitening his posture. ‘You wouldn’t dare kill our Emperor.’ he stated rather than asked. ‘Well Therelia, I’m - ’ ‘It’th Therelia. You prounonth it with an "Eth".’ he corrected, trying as best he could, to pronounce the letter "S". ‘Well what ever you name is, just be warned that I’m ready and willing to kill your pathetic Emperor.’ she cautioned, ‘Touch one hair on either me or my friend, and your old bag of an Emperor gets it. You got that?’ ‘How dare you talk of the Emperor in such a manner!’ Serelia said in outrage. He peered at Power’s twisted face, flinching as he pretended to make a move for him. Ice glared seriously at the leader, ‘Look we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.’ ‘What do you propoth?’ ‘We want you to show us the way out of here.’ ‘And what if we don’t?’ Serelia inquired. ‘Lets just say that you’ll see what the Emperor actually thinks of you on the inside. Your Emperor is not dead yet, but it can easily be arranged.’ A large in take of air was extracted from around them, as the army gasped noisily at what Ice was prepared to do. ‘Your bluffing?’ the leader said, wanting to believe what he had said.’ ‘Oh, am I?’ Ice threatened in her grotesque voice. Serelia stared into the eyes of the mysterious blonde - brown haired girl, searching for a sign of hesitation or fear. ‘Front rankth, kill the girl!’ he demanded. ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you!’ she bellowed, ‘The Great Power of Oiy is not a sane man. He’s undefeated in combat and has defeated a whole army in past times. You kill me, then the beast shall be unleashed.’ The front ranks of the battalion looked at each other apprehensively, asking each other whether to kill or be killed. The black haired Serelia thought about it for a while, eventually giving in, ‘All right! We’ll do it. Jutht don’t hurt the Emperor.’ ‘Firstly, send the rest of your army away.’ Ice ordered. The slow precession made the Emperor’s right hand man uneasy, having to watch his enforcement’s slowly disappear from around him. Formalities were thrown out the window, the armoured men not bothering about marching in time. ‘You watch from behind.’ Ice whispered to her muscular accomplice. ‘Letth go.’ Serelia said, leading the way. They started off down one of the long corridors, behind a column of soldiers. Power received his first glimpse outside the stone castle, through an open - shuttered window encased in the wall along a sharp spiral staircase. They were surprisingly, a long way above the ground, clouds floating by above the sandy terrain, the sun rising on the distant horizon. They continued to spiral downward, a window every now and then, the stone - carved steps, moist and mouldy, clicking on their heals. Ice struggled to drag the limp Emperor, whilst pressing her sharp, arched dagger against his throat, often stumbling over his lanky feet, almost causing her to slice accidentally, the Emperor’s neck. Power walked backwards behind them, one throwing knife in hand, guarding the way of any possible attack from the rear, all the time, twitching and blinking furiously like a blood thirsty maniac prepared for a killing or two. A stone - paved courtyard came into view through the clearing fog, a pair of watch towers sitting in the two corners, over looking the hot, sandy desert with a brightly coloured pennant on each roof, moving wildly in the wind. ‘You know if I had the chanthe, I’d drop you like a bad habit.’ Serelia said, looking over his shoulder. ‘I’m sure you would try.’ Ice smirked. They declined several more floors, finally reaching ground level, a giant steel gate baring the exit. It creaked and groaned as it manually had to be lifted on Serelia’s command. They persisted on, making their way to the thick stone draw bridge. ‘How come everything’s stone around this place?’ Ice inquired. ‘What’th it to you?’ Serelia asked stubbornly, ‘Well, if you mutht no, the Emperor’th anthethtorth had to build thith place out of thtone in order to keep hith enemieth out. It jutht maketh thenthe.’ The main part of the castle reached endlessly upwards extended forever into the clouds above. It was ornately carved in the shape of a mountain, other watch towers further up camouflaged with the stones complicated figure. It was well hidden, forcing the eye to believe that it was a simple mountain in the distance. The courtyard was big, particularly square, like a cubicle with out a ceiling. The rock walls were thick, a wooden walk way from tower to tower reached around it’s parameter, a ledge for the attacking soldier upon it’s solid frame. ‘Lower the draw bridge!’ the leading man said to the guards in the watch towers. The stone bridge lowered as expected, coming to a sudden halt as it hit the ground on the other side of an hell infested moat. ‘There, you got what you withhed for, now had over the Emperor.’ ‘Not quite. First, we won’t some water, three sacs full.’ Ice demanded. The pirate like man gave Ice a frustrated glare, but then looked at the helpless Emperor, a pained decision for him to make. ‘Bridge mathter!’ he called up to one of the watch towers. A burly, chain - mailed soldier stuck his head out of one of the openings in the left tower, his unshaven face scared and mutilated from previous combat. ‘Yes Milord?’ he said in a coarse voice. ‘Fetch me three sacs full of water as quick as you can.’ the amusing man ordered. ‘Right away Milord.’ the battle injured man obeyed. ‘You know, your never going to get out of the gauntlet alive.’ Serelia said with a faint smirk. Ice’s lavish blue eyes narrowed, ‘Don’t you worry about that. That’s how I got myself imprisoned in this dump, escorting some of Leif’s enemies safely through the gauntlet.’ The cocky, bark haired man chuckled, ‘Like I said, don’t expect to come out alive. As soon as your out there, I’ll have my best magicians working or your demise.’ The beefy guard master came scrambling back, chain mail rattling with three skins full of water. ‘Here you go Milord.’ he said, roughly managing a bow. He scurried back into his turret. ‘Here,’ Serelia said, handing over the water, ‘now give me back the Emperor.’ Ice chuckled, ‘You don’t think we’re that stupid do you?’ He returned a dumbfounded look. ‘We’re not just going to hand you back the Emperor like that. Unfortunately for you, were taking him with us. You know, I would have given him back to you, hadn’t I known that you were going to have your best magicians working on our demise.’ She smiled. ‘But you can’t do that!’ Serelia said in a high - pitched, feminine - like voice. ‘Watch us.’ she said dismissing him. She turned on her heal, urging Power to follow, leaving the overly dressed Serelia to scrutinise helplessly as his master was dragged away by a pair of loony fugitives. They loosely jogged down a path way etched in the tall mountain the castle was surmounted on, weaving back and forth the track, that endless ambling over by war horse and soldier had left behind. The misty atmosphere reddened the eye, dust forced by the wind with no place to settle. The smooth sand dunes were freckled all around them. The sun appear a murky red, it’s blinding shine non - existent against the dense dust cloud that lay above their heads. Winds swirled and spun around them, tumbling like a drunken man down a flight of stairs after a bar - room brawl. The untouched sands beneath their feet, didn’t provide much support for them, sinking down a little under the knees every step of the way. ‘Where are we going?’ Power yelled over the roar of the winds, his character returning back to normal. ‘South!’ Ice said simply, sheathing her dagger by her side. ‘Here, you carry the Emperor.’ Power regained control of the unconscious Emperor, hoisting him over his burly shoulder, ‘Where exactly South are we going?’ Ice pursed her lips, clipping the three sacs of water onto her mahogany belt, ‘I was thinking somewhere in Gardna, towards the Greater Inland Sea.’ ‘What’s so special around there?’ ‘I just like the place!’ Ice admitted, ‘There’s more things to do there! Also, the residents of Gardna are friendly people! If we’re in any trouble for any reason, you can trust that they’ll be able to help us!’ Steadily, they made their way in a South Westerly direction, sweat oozing out of their bodies, soaking their fur skinned cloths, causing them to stick to their bodies annoyingly. The pounding heat crushed down on their shoulders, burning their integument, cooking them in their skeletons. Power’s thin garments weren’t enough to stop the intense scorching. Their faces were stung excruciatingly, as the grains of sand blew into their sight, retreating their vision to no more than blurriness. Power wiped his eyes of the gunk that filled it, ‘You sure that we’ve got enough water?’ Ice drew the front of her shirt over the better part of her face, leaving a small gap for her to see. ‘I hope so!’ she shouted. ‘If not, we’re just going to have to make it last! Besides, it’s as much as I could carry!’ ‘How long is it going to take us to get out of this desert?’ ‘Four days at the most!’ Ice replied, re - adjusting her hilted sword. Power glared into the distance, squinting to verify what he saw was really there. ‘What’s that?’ he yelled, pointing to a vertical column reaching into the sky. Ice gaped at the on coming object, ‘It’s a twister!’ The huge twister reached endlessly into the sky, it’s source usually from a cloud. Not this one. It lingered up high, eventually fading away, it’s spinning motion easily collecting up the earth and launching it considerably into the heavens. It’s murky colour changed from time to time, flowing with the colour change in the sands. Power gazed on astonishingly, ‘Is that why this desert is known as the gauntlet?’ Ice nodded. Three other twisters joined the first one, surrounding the mere humans with their intense mass. ‘What now?’ Power asked. ‘We’re surround!’ The wind had picked up greatly. ‘There’s nothing we can do!’ Ice said, not so comfortingly. ‘That’s why this desert is called "The Gauntlet"! It’s because of those blasted twisters. They kill everything unless told otherwise.’ The twisters continued to gain, ‘What’s controlling it?’ Power appealed. ‘The Magicians of that castle are control them! They set it to a task and it does it.’ ‘And there’s no way we can stop it?’ ‘Not that I know of! I thought thaty’d care more for the safety of the Emperor!’ ‘It’s possible they’re just trying to slow us down!’ Power searched inside his pockets. ‘Maybe this will help!’ He pulling out a light, blue, glowing object. The diamond shape jewel was attached at the bottom to a chain, with a flat, hollow, circular disk to hold on to. Ice looked at closely, ‘What is it?’ ‘I’m not sure!’ Power carefully looked at it as well, ‘I found it in a drawer in the Emperor’s room! I unlocked it with his key!’ ‘Was there any clues to what it was?’ Ice questioned, watching the twisters draw closer and closer. Power looked down, eye’s deep in thought! ‘I think there was one thing!’ Power said, coming out of his concentration. ‘On the outside of the drawer, it said, "The large squall blows wild, brain set for disaster! Death awaits all those who oppose it! Pirouette azure the stone so that the attention of the spinning sand he’s caught! Death, bringing life"!’ ‘Well, "squall" means storm, the storm being the twisters!’ Ice said, deciphering the riddle. ‘And "brain set for disaster" means that it’s set to kill!’ Power added. ‘“Pirouette azure stone so that the attention of the spinning sand he’s caught”! A "Pirouette" is a form of spinning, and azure is a bluish colour! So, all we have to do is spin the blue stone in the air!’ ‘Do you think it will work?’ Power helplessly asked. ‘Anything’s worth a try!’ Ice said peering up into the sky at the monstrous winds. ‘Spin it above your head!’ By the end of the chain, Power began to swing the brightly glowing gem above his head, a surprisingly amplified whirling sound created by it’s fast speed. The twisters were only several hundred meters away from the pair, enough distance between the four masses of air to all most lift them off the ground. The low whirling sound eventually turned into a high pitched ringing noise, and it’s bright azure glow changed into a dark fluorescent purple. Power continued gyrating it. The large twisters ceased their advance, stopping in their tracks but continuing to spin, possibly at an increasing rate, standing there as if waiting for something. ‘What now?’ Power asked, watching closely the twisters movement. ‘Tell it to do something!’ Ice replied, staring in awe at the dark, fluoro purple stone. ‘I command you to redirect your onslaught upon the Emperor’s castle!’ Power demanded, pointing to the mountain behind them. They watched and waited. ‘It’s not doing anything!’ Power protested. ‘Don’t speak so soon!’ Ice said, a small grin easing onto her face. The four giant twisters slowly began to move again, this time off in the direction of the castle that they had just come from, collecting up sand by the ton. ‘Good!’ Ice said in her husky voice. ‘At least we’ll know what to do the next time!’ ‘And at least we won’t have to worry about any of the people from the castle attempting to follow us!’ Power said with a faint smirk. They continued their slow pace, most of the time trekking across the wind as it blew in from the east. They had little to no trouble with those threatening twisters that tormented them not long ago. The only thing closely related to those four storms was the winds that maintained to harass them annoyingly. The bright sun continued to pound hard on them, only relenting it’s unforgivable force by dusk, introducing the usual cold and chilly nights that often accompanied deserts. The days past without to many more hassles. Their biggest worry was their rations of water they had to sustain. Water was scarce in this particular desert. It was rumoured that the Borderline Desert to the south, no matter how vast it really was, sprung water every so often in the form of crystallised water springs, surrounded by tropical trees and pasture. Not many people with brains dared to travel across the Borderline Desert. Their normal route would have been by sea. This lack of popularity crossing the desert eventually lead to the lack of truth in the rumour. Power forced these thoughts into the back of his mind. He didn’t like the position he was in and he wasn’t to happy when his mind teased him about other possible places he could be at that moment. Day’s seemed like weeks. Travelling without a horse was tedious, and walking was even more wearisome and time consuming - even though time didn’t really matter that much to them. Their desert journey was soon to come to an end as signs of life once again flourished around them. The winds slowly diminished, as did the sands, practically coming to an abrupt halt as the flat surface eased into low rolling hills. The desert was like a basin of water as those lush hills encircled it, large amounts of green at one stage, then fine yellow sands the next. ‘It’ll be good to get out of this dreaded desert once and for all.’ Power sighed as he looked upon the moist hills welcoming them. He gently rubbed the back of his burnt neck. The sun had pealed and whither his skin to painful blisters that would sometimes pop on their own. ‘Sure is.’ Ice agreed. ‘Besides, our water is almost finished. If we’d have found another way out of that castle, we wouldn’t of had to take the Emperor along with us. We’d still have a fraction of water left if it wasn’t for him.’ ‘Don’t go blaming him,’ Power defended for a reason unknown. ‘You’re the one who decided to take him along with us.’ ‘I didn’t see you come up with a better idea.’ she accused. ‘Maybe we should have asked for a wagon or a cart of some kind for the Emperor.’ he suggested, thinking back several days, when they had escaped their capturers. ‘It wasn’t good on my shoulders to carry this guy for that great a distance.’ ‘A cart or wagon would have slowed us down. Wheels aren’t to good in the sand. Then we would have needed a horse to pull it along. It would have been another mouth to feed.’ ‘I never thought of that I suppose.’ Power admitted. The hills came with a change of weather - the temperature mainly, along with a change in the wind direction. It brightened up their mood, nonetheless, Ice in particular. She went from grumpy and demanding to peaceful and quiet. The greenery around them showed signs of a place that hadn’t been used; the ground untouched by the heavy hooves of horses and the grass unspoiled by camp fires or litter. They continued onward silently as the sun gradually sunk prematurely behind a dark bank of storm clouds that the gale had brought with it, signalling the end of the day and the coming of another rainy season. They made their camp within a small cluster of protecting trees and pressed on again before day break. The gloomy clouds overhead were dark grey, and no traces of blue sky were in sight. Bright rolls of lightning illuminated the western horizon. The wind picked up disturbing the trees tranquillity, swaying them mercilessly from side to side. ‘That doesn’t look to promising, does it?’ Power said to Ice, looking up through the tree tops at the forming clouds. ‘The rain?’ Ice replied. ‘Not at all.’ ‘Do we keep going, or do we stop and find shelter?’ ‘There’s no sufficient shelter around here. Lets just keep on going.’ ‘What’s wrong with where we are?’ Power protested. ‘We’ve got good cover.’ ‘It’s looking to be a big storm that’s about to hit us.’ Ice said, trying to explain herself. ‘This type of tree above us is brittle and easily breaks. With the wind that’s whipping over head, it’s like a death trap more than anything else.’ ‘Since when did you become a tree expert?’ Power wasn’t at all sure of the words Ice preached. ‘Since you asked, “What’s wrong with where we are?”.’ Ice said with a devious little tone in her hoarse voice. Power smiled briefly. On the left side of the path they were following - although there wasn’t really any definite path - an overgrown bush moved violently as three dirty looking men stumbled from behind it, just barely maintaining control of their assorted horses. ‘Halt’ a clean shave man commanded. He looked as if to be the leader of this band. ‘Let me take care of this.’ Ice murmured to Power as she stepped a little further in front of him. ‘My name is Opawa, son of Trast, leader of the Backwoods Criminal Corporation.’ Opawa raised his head in pride. ‘Fancy name.’ Ice admitted. ‘Who was the brilliant man to come up with that title?’ ‘My Grandfather made up the name if you must know. Our leadership runs in the family. I’ll be the next to take over the business. Just as soon as my father dies.’ ‘You sound a little anxious.’ Ice said cautiously. ‘My father’s old. He won’t be on this world for much longer.’ Opawa wore a brown smock that opened slightly at his chest and the baggy sleeves reached just past his elbows. His matching pants only extended past his knees to finish with a few torn ends. His companions were clean shaven like their leader, wearing cloths closely resembling their chief’s attire. ‘Your not planning to ambush us, are you?’ Ice said with false fearful look on her face. ‘Of coarse we’re going to ambush you.’ the person on Opawa’s left replied. Ice let out a shrill high - pitched cackle, breaking her usual coarse voice. ‘You’re going to ambush us?’ Her eyes began to fill up with humorous tears, Opawa’s plans to much to bare. The leader looked around at his associates, not quite sure of himself now. ‘What’s so funny?’ he inquired, raising his voice over Ice’s giggles. ‘What do you mean “what’s so funny”? Your trying to control us by demands and you can’t even control your horse. The name “Backwoods Criminal Corporation” is enough to laugh a spirit from the dead.’ Ice continued to insult the small band of men, their expressions growing fierce at every word she said. Eventually, Ice was on her back clutching her stomach, forcing the breath out of her. Opawa tried to counter Ice’s first insult, ‘I can to control my horse.’ In turn, their horses reeled, dropping their owners off their backs and onto the earth behind them. This contradiction drew Ice into hysteria. ‘And that name.’ Ice concluded. ‘How dare you insult my given name.’ Opawa said in rage. He returned to his feet and dusted himself off. ‘That wasn’t very nice at all.’ He pouted a little, feeling sorry for himself. ‘I’m only twenty - one. I’m new at this.’ ‘I’m sorry.’ Ice apologised propping herself up onto her elbows. ‘Do you want me to give you all that we have anyway?’ ‘No.’ Opawa replied. ‘It’s no fun now.’ ‘Your a criminal corporation. Doesn’t that mean you prevent crime or cause crime?’ ‘We create crime, I think.’ ‘You sure?’ ‘I think so. I only just moved in with my father a week ago, so I could learn the trade. I was told about the business only yesterday.’ Ice smiled, ‘Why don’t we help you catch your horses.’ Quickly, the terrified horses were rounded back up. ‘Where’re you headed?’ Opawa began again, unsteadily re - mounting his horse. ‘We’re not real sure.’ Ice said cautiously. ‘Somewhere south, south - west.’ ‘Why don’t you three come to my father’s house.’ he offered. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, and I think we’d be able to get medical attention to your friend there.’ He pointed to the kidnapped Emperor on Power’s shoulder.’ ‘Thanks.’ Ice acknowledged. ‘But don’t worry about any medical attention for our friend here. He found his way to our ale and wine and got himself a bit drunk. He’s real hard to handle when he’s drunk so we keep him sedated to make it a little easier.’ ‘Okay. I understand now. Lets get back to my Father’s house. I smell bad weather coming along, and we wouldn’t want to get caught out in the middle of it.’ Ice and Power mounted a horse each, whilst the Emperor was tied down to the third one. The mischievous men walked on foot. ‘What was with all that lying about the Emperor?’ Power whispered to Ice just before he mounted up. ‘He was asking us questions that I didn’t really want to answer. You never know. He could have be a spy. If we slip up and give him information about our doings, he could have just found himself one pocket richer, leaving us without heads.’ The dusty sky soon went pale as the cloud bank slowly stretched itself from horizon to horizon, eventually, blotting out light entirely. The pace of the flowing breeze quickened, and the tree tops were flung around wildly. The canopy lessened with each passing meter, leaving them open to any kind of onslaught from above. The three thieves leading them, hurried from a brisk walk, to a jog, even to an full fledged sprint as the gloom above them opened up and began to heavily rain down on them at formidable angles. A small flicker of light appeared before them as they crested a knoll to look upon a deep, vast valley. A lone house stood out in the open, with a fenced property with shed and barn. Few cattle grazed warily in the down pour, but most, including horses, sought shelter beneath trees and any other type of asylum they could find. After a long run down the other side of the knoll, they were brought to a gated court yard. They dismounted and untied the Emperor, then left their horses to a few soaked workers to tend to. Their work was hustled as was the three travellers and their hosts to get out of the driving shower. * * *