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-----“Y’know me pappy might be a’thinkin’ ye look a bit sissy up drivin’ th’ wagon,” Strolum says mockingly to Dilton before the two parties part.
-----“Then it be a good thing yer pappy ain’t here,” Dilton retorts in his gruff voice. “Fer the poor man might be sorrowful at seein’ his son wearin’ his hair like a woman.” Dilton nods toward the long red locks of Strolum. Both warriors’ faces split into smiles.
-----With that, Raven, Rinda, Strolum, and Pil mount up and join Jyan as they set off after Whisper and the looming village of Ku. Dilton slowly turns the wagons around so that they head toward the east. With a sign from Sol, they then begin to move down the east bound road with the Gorian and the woodsman flanking the wagons. As they begin to leave the lights of the small thorp behind them, Jeilin looks over her shoulder at the moon high in the western sky.
The First of Solentide, D.Y. 500
-----Into the night they ride once again. It takes a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the moonlit dimness of the countryside past the dwindling bonfires of the receding thorp behind them. The moon shines off the slick black hides of six horses pulling the wagons and from where Dilton and Jeilin sit they look like dark shadowy serpents swimming through a river of jet.
-----Soon, however, the full moon casts a grayish light down upon shadowed shapes in the surrounding landscape and the trail road they follow almost appears a dull white color. The one hundred or so people carried in the five wagons behind them remain quiet and the going is easy as Dilton sets the horses at a walking pace.
-----For the first few hundred yards, everything appears tranquil in this nighttime world. Then just as the light from the distant thorp has faded to a small bright spot, Garrison catches Sol’s attention as he and the Gorian ride back and forth along the wagons on either side to keep an eye on their “cargo”. The woodsman points to several small shapes moving a few yards off to either side of the caravan. “Wolves,” Garrison says. The pair then set about increasing their speed around the wagons and widening their distance to fend off the predators. After a while, the animals give up their pursuit and fade off into the distance.
-----After about an hour since the journey began, Sol rides up along the drivers on the buckboard and Garrison rides up along the other side. The woodsman then speaks up across to Sol saying, “In about another mile, we’re going to come up on that village that Jyan called East Bend. That’s where we saw the main bulk of the troops and the slave wagons gather.”
-----About a half mile to the south, the moonlight can be seen gleaming off the long line of the Altor River.
-----"Lead us on a wide berth around th' place then." Sol replies quietly to the solid huntsman, "We want t'stay well clear o' any potential patrols." The Gorian nudges Thunder back to the wagons where he addresses the crowded villagers, "Yer all doing well so far, but an extra caution t'keep quiet fer now. Once we're past th' area around East Bend, we should be much safer." Once the wagons start off again, Sol makes a habit of doing the occasional mounted patrol around the wagons, though never straying beyond 20 yards.
-----Jeilin listens to the two riders as she sits quietly, hands clasped and resting on her lap. "So then we go to the north?" she whispers. "The Altor is very close the other way, and likely to have patrols. Unless we can find a crossing near here."
-----As the caravan continues to move east, she pulls up the black hood of her cloak, hiding her light hair and much of her pale face from being reflected in the moonlight.
-----“You’re right,” Garrison says to Jeilin, “I remember on the way here there is a village across the river from East Bend and though we had no trouble riding along the edge of the river, I don’t want to chance it with the wagons.”
-----He then looks across at Sol. “Let me scout to the north for a little bit and see how the land looks.” The woodsman then rides his horse around in front of the wagons’ team and heads off toward the northern plains.
-----As Sol checks on the people in the wagons, he realizes that most of them are sleeping. It is at this point that weariness because of the day’s challenges and excitement is felt by everyone except for Jeilin.
-----Soon, the noise of horse hooves heralds Garrison’s return and he tells them, “Thank the Hunter for that moon up there! There’s a flat plain to the north and beyond that a large area of scrub.”
-----“Blast that moon!” the storm priest says a bit too loudly. “Give me clouds and the Rager will grant us safe passage.”
-----As some of the sleeping passengers stir and some shush Lovan, Dilton looks over at Jeilin and says in his croaking voice, “He’s one you’ll git used to. Stays a bit on the moody side from time to time.”
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