-----With a weary smile, Garrison tells Sol, “We probably have four hours before daybreak and three before the sky begins to get light. We’ll have to go slower with the wagons.”
-----Carefully Dilton turns his team north off the trail road, while Garrison and Sol watch the wagons to make sure they don’t tip too much during the maneuver. Lovan rides along a few yards away paying little attention to anything.
-----The plain proves to be very smooth and the wagons glide from the trail easily. Garrison then summons Lovan to watch his side of the wagons while he explains, “I better keep in front of the horses so I can watch for stones and other things in their way.” As Garrison rides off to take the point in the caravan, Lovan proves to be little help other than occasional grumbling.
-----Fortune seems to smile on the company and even though it takes an hour to travel about a mile, the wagons quietly make their way north without mishap. Soon small dark hedges of vegetation are seen on the fields in front of the wagons.
-----Garrison soon rides back and reports, “We’ve got these scrubs in front of us that the wagons will have trouble getting through. I noticed that there is an open field to the northeast of us . . . and there looks to be a small structure there like a house.”
-----Sol nods his acceptance of Garrison's report and motions the huntsman to join him in speaking to the group. He rides back to the cart and informs Dilton and Jeilin what Garrison had just told him. The Stormbringer then explains, "Garrison an' I will ride up t'th' house an' make sure it's either deserted or that th' occupants will not betray our way. Dilton an' Lovan, I want ye both t'stay an' keep these wagons moving. Get as close t'hedges ahead that ye can before heading northeast onto the field. By then Garrison an' I should be at th' house an' well int' determining what needs be done there. An' whatever happens, keep those wagons moving."
-----Sol then briefly glances at Jeilin and offers, "Priestess, I know not if ye'd like t'aid Garrison an' I, but it's obvious ye can look after yerself, so if ye do, then please come along." Pulling Thunder away, Sol nudges the warhorse towards the lone house, shaking his head to clear the tiredness that threatens to settle in his mind.
-----"Please, you can just call me Jeilin," Jeilin replies. She considers Sol's question, tapping her fingers on each other for a second, then nods. "I'd like to help, of course, though I can't do more than calling forth light before the next rest."
-----Taking up the crossbow beside her, she loads a quarrel into it and begins to wind it with some effort. She glances at Sol as he leaves, then back at Garrison. "May I ride with you?"
-----“Of course,” the woodsman replies. He then helps her from the wagon to just behind his saddle. As they ride off, Dilton coaxes the horses in the direction of the small shadows of the hedges in the darkness.
-----The ride across the plain is peaceful if not very cautious. The moon continues to shine down but its angle has lowered a bit from its overhead position about two hours ago. The night breeze eases a bit of the tension as it finds its way between layers of clothing. For those who have gone without sleep, it does sting the eyes and make one long for a rest.
-----Within a few moments, the riders approach what was a well-tended garden. The crops and the ground have been trampled and it appears that many of the vegetation had been yanked from the dirt. The house beyond seems more like a one level cottage. Not surprisingly, the house is dark.
-----From the southeast campfire lights can be seen from a village about a mile off. Garrison tells Sol and Jeilin that that is where East Bend is located.
-----The condition of the garden spoke ill of what had potentially occurred here. Sol glances uncomfortably at the ruined crops, before turning his gaze upon the windows, strangely open at night. Feeling unsure about himself, but unwilling to let it go, Sol dismounts carefully. His plate armour clanks louder than he would've liked, and not for the first time, the Gorian found himself missing the relative comfort and ease of his chain shirt. Sol points at Jeilin and gestures for her and Garrison to also dismount. With one last jab of his finger and a circling motion at Garrison, Sol urges the huntsman to search around the other side of the cottage.
-----As Garrison begins to circle around, Jeilin momentarily holds on to the reins of the hunter's horse as if unsure of how to handle it. She then lets go and turns towards the cottage, black robes billowing silently behind her as she crosses the moonlit garden. At about a few dozen paces from the cottage, she stops slightly off to one side, so that the building interposes between her and the lights of East Bend, and she can glance into the windows at an angle. The small priestess then raises her crossbow, glances a bit furtively around her once more, and levels the weapon at the front of the building as Sol stands before it.