Page 6 (1/2)

He thought it curious to find powrie sentries on the outskirts of Caer Tinella this late at night Usually the dwarves and goblins ob-lins, in particular, did favor the cover of night for their misdeeds, with the town secured, they norahts inevitably broke out a them

That was before Mrs Kelso had supposedly been turned into a tree, though, an action the ure, the dei-lant, just in case the dactyl showed up to personally scrutinize their work

Roger slad his little ruse had caused so uards, he wasn&039;t overly con-cerned He had coo into Caer Tinella, and so into Caer Tinella he would go, whatever the powries uards would slow him down, he realized, but not in any manner they had foreseen

The tries stood cal deeply on a long-steer noted that their caps shone a criht These were seasoned veterans, he understood Powries were called "bloody caps" for their practice of dipping their berets, hats fashioned of skin, often human, in the blood of their enemies The berets were treated with special oils that would allow them to retain the color of the blood, with each new victi the hue Thus, a powrie&039;s standing could often be deterht and the i berets, but he was not deterred If anything, the realization that this pair had dipped their caps often only , this little action would avenge those killed, at least a little bit A low fire burned between the powries, and they had set three torches out a dozen feet in a se open only the short path back to the nearby town Roger slipped beyond that se across the path of the moon As he passed by the circle, the toas open to hi in behind the dwarven pair, sliding down behind a hedgerow a few feet away He waited there a few uard and that no others were in the ie of the bushes, belly-crawling for his prey

"Could use a draw myself," one of the dwarves re a pipe of its own

Even as the dwarf&039;s hand caers slipped in

"Weedthe pipe to its com-panion The other powrie took it and lifted a packet of pipe weed, while the first er&039;s hand caht-sided coinage of the Weathered Isles

Roger smiled widely as the dwarf retrieved its pipe - with its other hand, thus opening the second pocket

"You are sure?" Belster O&039;Comely asked for the tenth ties, answered "No ?"

"Could eat a man with room left in their bellies for his wife," Jansen replied

Belster stood up froe of the see band

"How er Lockless," Belster replied

"He goes in every night," Jansen said in a somewhat derisive tone Jansen had coroup, and had never been enaer Lockless

"Yeah, and we all eat the better for it!" Belster retorted, turning about to regard the ht of frustra-tion than of any anger aientle Belster let it pass

"If any can get by the as much to himself as to Jansen

"So we all hope," said Jansen "But we cannot wait to find out I say we put another five miles between us and the dwarves, at least until we see how dangerous these new additions ht be"

Belster considered the notion for a short while, then nodded his assent "Go and tell Torees that it is better we are on the road this very night, our group will be ready to es nodded and hts

He was growing tired of it all, Belster realized Tired of hiding in the woods and tired of powries He had been a successful tavern-keeper in Pale of five, relocating with his parents from the southland near Ursal For more than thirty years he had lived in that prosperous city on the Masur Delaval, working first with his father, a builder, and then on his own in a tavern business of his ownThen his mother had died, peacefully, and less than a year later, his fa-ther, and only then had Belster learned of the debt his father left behind, a legacy that fell squarely on the large shoulders of the man&039;s only son

Belster had lost the tavern, and was still in debt to the point where he would either have had to accept a decade of indenture to the creditors or go and rot for a like period in a Palmaris jail

He had created his own third option instead, packing his few re- for the wild north, to the Ti raised frooblin raid several years earlier

In Dundalis, Belster O&039;Co a new tavern, the Howling Sheila There weren&039;t many patrons - the Timberlands were not heavily populated, and the only visitors who passed through were the seasonallifestyle of the wilderness town, the oblins had coiants And so Belster becaher

He looked back to the dark forest, in the direction of Caer Tinella, though the toas too far away, and beyond too many hills and trees, to be seen The outlaw band could not afford to lose Roger Lockless, Belster knew The young ees, their leader of sorts, though he was rarely a theer&039;s daring rescue of poor Mrs Kelso, that status had even increased, if possible If Roger was caught and killed now, the blow to morale would be heavy indeed

"What do you know?" came a question Belster turned about to see Reston Meadows, another of his fellow Dundalis refugees, standing behind hier is in town," Belster replied

"So Jansen told us," Reston replied grier will have to live up to his reputation and more, I fear"

"Has Tomas spoken on the matter?"

Reston nodded "We will be on the move within the hour"

Belster rubbed his thick jowls "Take a pair of your best scouts and make for Caer Tinella," he said "Try to deterer Lockless"

"You think that three of us et in to save him?" Reston asked incredulously

Belster understood the sentiulne and his tough powries "I only asked you to learn of his fate, not to deterer was taken and killed, ill have to concoct atale of his absence"

Reston cocked his head curiously

"For the his chin in the direction of the encahtbird, Pony, and Avelyn went off for the Barbacan, but how heavy ht our hearts have been if they were slain?"

Reston understood "They need Roger," he reasoned

"They need to believe that Roger is working for their freedoain and sca co into the forest Yes, Belster O&039; Comely was tired of it all, particu-larly of the responsibility He felt like the father of a hundred and eighty children, and there was one risk-taker in particular who kept his nerves tingling

Belster dearly hoped that one troublean to slither away As he crossed back into the brush, though, he noticed a length of coiled rope, one used by the slaves to haul logs Roger couldn&039;t resist He looped the middle of the rope around a sturdy tree trunk, then took both ends with hi powries

He was back in the woods soon after He decided that he would come back this way on his departure and startle the pair If, as was usually the case with powries, they had not moved much in the er would find a bit of fun, when they took up the howling chase and the loops he had put about their feet tightened and they fell flat to the ground

He et back to theed to extricate thehts away for a later tiht now, quiet and dark A couple of goblins , usually used for gaer considered his ruse about the dactyl and Mrs Kelso Thethat their unforgiving er al Mrs Kelso&039;s disappearance

Too late to worry about that now, the young man told hiht; instead of his nor pockets - and often placing not-so-valuables in the possession of other ht - he went straight for the larders, thinking to get a goodin the forest