“Two coming in,” a voice called out from ahead of us. The horse’s hooves clattered against stone. I could not see a thing because of the hood over my head.

“Five going out!” Another voice called out. A bunch of hooves clattered past us in the opposite direction.

“There’s some kind of fight out in the bush.” An outgoing guard said as we passed.

“Be Careful!” Our guard shouted after them. The clatter of the hooves began to echo. I guessed we had entered the fort. After a few minutes a hand grabbed the back of my vest. It pulled me off the horse. I hit the ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of me. I gasped for air. My hands were tied behind my back. I squirmed on a cold stone floor. I took a few kicks and then I was pulled to my feet.

I was dragged down a flight of stairs. I ran to keep from being dragged down a hallway. My lunging steps echoed in the damp air. We were underground, that much I knew. Then we stopped.

“Two to check in,” the guard said.

“Looks like fun,” another voice said.

“Keep these trespassers alive. Falstag might want to question them.” A shove from behind sent me sprawling. My chin hit the floor. My teeth clacked together. My mouth filled with salty blood. I’d bitten into my tongue.

“Alive? Yeah yeah.” The guard said. I heard a thud beside me. I guessed it was Jenna.

“Alive and ready to talk.” The guard said.

“I’ll try,” he said. There was the squeak of metal hinges and a door slammed shut. A key turned in a lock. Then nothing but the sound of my breathing. I was back in a pit. A stilt pit.

“At least smooger pits had dirt floors.” I said to no one.

Hours passed before I heard a groan from Jenna. A long, deep moan echoed in the cell. Then she tried to speak.

“Mrmph mm,” she said. She was still gagged. There was rustling. My ribs ached with each breath. It was as if the damp air had gotten inside my cracked bones. My nose throbbed. My tongue hurt. Jenna rolled around. She leaned against me. I nearly shouted from the pain in my side. Her back was to me. Her fingers dug into my bruised skin.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Mrmph mm!” Her fingers poked and kneaded my side. She squirmed against me. Her hand reached into my pants pocket. I felt her pull out the idol of Kraken. She held it in both hands behind her back. She stuck his horn into my side. I started to complain, then I understood.

“I get it!” I said. I rolled onto my side so that we were back to back. I held my hands out behind me. She pushed the horn of Kraken into the rope. I moved my hands up and down, working the rope over the pointed horn. I slipped once. The horn dug into the skin between my thumb and forefinger. It punched right through the flesh. I bit my lip to keep from shouting. I pulled my hand off the horn and worked the rope back over the point. After a few minutes, the rope began to loosen. We kept at it until the rope finally snapped.

I untied the hood over my neck. Then I untied Jenna's gag and freed her hands.

“We’re in a prison,” I said.

“That much is obvious,” she said. "It seems this castle is the Town Guard's headquarters. I didnt think it would be so far outside of town"

“Either these guys really hate trespassers or the guard is working with the smoogers,” I said.

"Telle, I hate to bring this up, but all of us were seen leaving our hotel by at least one guard." Jenna said, "Remember? It was shortly after Drexel decided to sell the dead scales of its proprieter to curious tourists?"

She touched my nose. “You look terrible.”

“I feel terrible,” I said. “I heard guards rushing out to fight Reese,” I said. Jenna touched the puncture on my hand from Kraken’s horn.

“My mother always told me, ‘His horn can give us strength and it can destroy us.’” I said.

“I know,” she said. Her ears wiggled.

“Do you think Reese will get us out of here?” I asked.

Jenna smiled a sad smile.

“We’d better think of our own way out of this one. I still have these.” She fondled the explosive beads around her neck."But in a confined area like this, well, I’m afraid this could end very badly,” she said.

“We were saved by Kraken’s horn,” I said. “He didn’t get me this far to have me die in a stilt castle, My destiny has a lot more smooger blood in it than this.”

Jenna smiled that smile again. I took the idol from her hands and prayed for help.

Footsteps echoed down the hall outside our cell door.

“Quickly, we can’t let them know we’re untied.” Jenna slipped the gag into her mouth. I put the hood over my head and did my best to wrap some rope around my wrists. I held it in place with my hands. The door swung open with the creak.

“Bring the little one.” A deep voice boomed overhead.

“They’re both little, sir.” Another voice responded nervously.

“That one!” Hands grabbed me. They walked too fast. I stumbled. My legs dragged along the ground. The guards sat me in a chair. A rope wound around me. It was so tight I could barely breathe.

I heard more footsteps.

“Attention!” someone said.

“At ease,” the big gruff voice said.

“You!” A hand slapped the side of my head.

“What is your name?” He asked.

“My name is Telle Smellme.” My ears rang from the smack. Laughs echoed in the room.

“What kind of a name is that?” He asked.

“It’s gnomish,” I said.

“Who do you work for?” He asked.

“I don’t work for anyone. I…” Smack! My head snapped back. Blood seeped from my nose.

“Why did you kill Jehosophat Gorkon?” He asked. I gulped.

“Do I look like I could kill a dragon?” I asked. Smack! Both my lips split. I choked on my own blood as it filled my mouth.

“You are working for Tang. And you are traveling with a Satyr. Isn’t that true?” He asked.

“No! I was traveling with tourists. We were attacked by goblins. We followed the tracks here.” I waited for the smack. It didn’t come.

“How many in your party?” He asked.

“Four,” I said.

“Wrong!” He shouted into my ear. I felt his warm breath on my neck.

“I’ll have my answers.” He backed off. More footsteps echoed down the hallway.

“Sir, we’ve captured the half-breed.”

“Don’t kill him until I return.” The sound of steps retreated down the hall. A door closed in the distance. Something flat smashed into the back of my head. The ropes loosened and I was untied. I was yanked onto the floor. My head bounced off the stone.

“Let’s spin him around. Whomever his head points at gets two shifts of guard duty!” Someone grabbed my legs. Another grabbed my head. They pushed in opposite directions and I spun on the stone floor. My skin burned across my belly.

“Melkin!” Someone shouted. “Looks like you’re taking my shift!” He laughed.

“Not fair!” A shout came from in front of me. A foot crashed into the side of my head, knocking me in another direction.

“Now he’s pointing at you!” Melkin said.

“Not for long!” More kicks came. Too many to count. When they got tired they lifted me back into the chair. Eventually, the boss returned.

“I’m impressed. You’re pretty brave for a kneebiter,” the deep voice said into my ear.

“I’m a gnome,” I said. My chin rested on my chest.

“Satyrio told me it was your idea to murder the dragon,” he said. I raised my head.

“That’s a lie!” I said. My front tooth wiggled painfully when I spoke. “That dragon attacked us!”

“Sure it did. And spying on my fortress, that was your idea too?” He said.

“Barry hired us to kill smoogers,” I blurted out.

The heavy footsteps of the mans big voice circled me.

"Well I'm convinced. Im convinced, you're convicted. You are hereby convicted of the crime of conspiracy to murder in a premeditated way local business-owner Jehosaphat Orka. Oh wait, How do you plead, kneebiter?"

"not guilty" I moaned.

"Overruled!". He laughed heartilly, and the other guards in the room joined in.

"Do you know about big mama Orka, kneebiter? You're gonna meet her soon. On the bright side, you just saved Heedon Springs. On the dark side, you need to start training for your new job as an H'or D'ouvre." The heavy Footsteps sauntered away.

“The dragon wants them alive boys, but she didn’t say how alive,” his voice trailed off. His thick laugh followed him down the hallway. I was pulled out of the chair again. My ropes had fallen off but I was too weak to even lift my arms. A toe crashed into my face. Something hard moved around in my mouth. It was my tooth. I spit it into the hood. More kicks came. As I faded into unconsciousness, I heard screams from down the hall. They sounded familiar.

“Reese,” I mumbled just before I blacked out.

My face was being torn off. I opened my eyes. Jenna stood over me. She pulled the hood from my face. It was stuck to my skin with dried blood.

“Ugh" Jenna said. Other than my face, I was completely numb. Reese stood over me. His face was purple with bruises. His nose was crooked. His right eye was swollen shut.

“Thankth,” I said. My tongue was thick in my mouth.

“For what?” Reese mumbled.

“For telling them it was my idea,” I said. Reese looked at Jenna. her ears frowned.

“They told Reese you said the same about him,” she said. The numbness retreated. I felt the cold stone floor under me. Each breath hurt. My ribs must have been cracked.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We saw you wandering near that patrol of guards.", Reese said, "You did circles around them before they saw you. Freya was beside herself. I wanted to run down sooner, but after the first near-miss we thought you might avoid them altogether. After the third we were sure they'd never see you. We ran down as soon as one actually found Telle,” Reese said. His breathing was shallow.

“We killed a few. Then more rode up. Drexel yelled for us to run for it. The others got away. I stayed to fight. The guards killed my horse and then caught me,” Reese said.

“Did you tell them anything?” I asked.

“Not at first.” He held up his right hand. His middle finger was gone. His hand was wrapped with the cloth that had been Jenna’s gag. Dried blood covered his forearm.

“They cut off your finger?” I asked.

“They kept asking about someone named Tang. Then they said you blamed the dragon on me,” he said. He looked guilty.

“It’s an old trick,” Jenna said. Her ears pointed at us. “As soon as you said that killing the dragon wasn’t your idea…”

“He knew for sure we killed the dragon,” I said. My face turned red. I looked through the sack for my tooth.

“The boss said he was going to hand us over to big mama,” I said. Reese nodded.

“If we don’t get out of here, we’re dead,” Jenna said. “Can you walk?” She asked. I tried to stand.

“Owww!” Sharp pains shot through my chest. My ribs were broken. When I breathed, some parts of my chest didn’t move at all, other parts moved the wrong way.

“Can you do anything?” I asked Jenna. She sucked her teeth.

“I can’t heal you Telle. But I can make it so you don’t feel any pain. It will last for a few hours, but it’s dangerous. Do you want me to try it?”

“Yes,” I said. I found my tooth in the sack. It was cracked. I put in my pocket with my Kraken idol.

“It is important that you are very careful once the pain vanished. You could easily make things much worse.” Reese looked at his hand.

She put her hands on my chest. Her eyes rolled back, showing only the white. She spoke to herself. I expected the warm sensation I had felt when Cloda sang. Instead, a sharp, deep coldness spread from Jenna’s hands into my body. I shivered. My skin became numb. The cold spread deep into my chest. The cold became numbness. The cold moved down my arms and legs. Jenna stopped mumbling. The numbness spread until the pain was gone. I couldn’t feel anything.

When I breathed, my ribs moved as strangely at they had before, but I felt nothing. I poked my chest. I felt nothing. I pressed my hand against my ribs.

“Be careful, Telle. Remember what I said.” Jenna pulled my hand away. She took off her necklace.

“To use these beads in here would be suicide,” she said.

“What do we do?” Reese asked. Jenna paced back in forth in front of the door. She rubbed the beads in her hand.

"Im just not good at thinking under pressure like this" she said. Her ears wrapped flat against her head. She looked at me.

“You look so bad,” she said.

“And my finger is gone,” Reese said. Jenna’s ears fanned out. She looked at Reese.

“We can pretend that Telle has died. When the guards open the door, I will throw a bead into the hall. You close the door the instant after I throw it. The very instant! If you shut the door in time, we may survive the blast." She visibly worked out some equation to herself. "Well, we probably wont survive the blast, but if we do, we might be able to escape in the confusion.” She pulled a bead off the necklace. Reese swallowed.

He put his mouth to the small window in the cell door.

“Call for help, Reese” Jenna said. “Telle, as soon as a guard opens the door, close your eyes and pray to Kraken.” Reese stood at the window and peered out.

"Won't this just make all the guards run down here?" I said.

“Reese, call for help,” she said.

“Wait. Something’s going on,” he said. He ducked his head back. Two guards stopped by the small opening.

“Whores! Do you hear? There are working women in the castle!” An excited voice said.

“How can that be?” The other asked.

“Who cares? Let’s get to them before everyone finds out, the line will be around the whole courtyard,” the second guard said.

“If Falstaag finds out we left our posts he’ll kill us,” the first guard said.

“I’m talking about live women! Two months before R&R! Maybe you want to be the last in line, but I sure don’t,” the other guard said. There was a pause and then they both ran down the hallway.

“What’s that about?” Reese asked.

“It’s about us losing time,” Jenna said, frustrated. “As soon as they return, we'll blow the place up.,” she said. She sat against the wall.

"Jenna, I don't like your plan" Reese said.

“How do you feel, Telle?” She asked. I pinched my arm and blinked at the red welt that appeared. The numbness bothered me.

“I don’t feel anything,” I said.

“Good,” she said. She rubbed the beads and frowned. Reese walked to the far side of the small cell and sat with his back to us. He picked at a pimple on his neck with his good hand, and practiced his quick closing the door motions.

“Intruders! To arms!” A shout came from the hallway. Footsteps echoed past. Reese spun around. He ran to the door.

“Guards are running up the stairs,” he said.

“They are back there! = They knocked out Roberts!” Freya’s voice echoed down the hall.

"Where? Where?" A guard shouted

“In the barracks! Save us!” Chastity’s voice joined in. Reese stuck his face into the bars on the window.

“Freya! The keys are on that peg,” he said. I got to my feet. Jenna held her beads tightly. The lock turned in the door. It swung open. Freya stood before us in the eggplant and tomato body stocking that Reese had brought.

“Let’s go!” She said. She turned and ran down the hall. At first it was hard to run. I heard my feet slap against the stone, but didn't feel a thing. I stumbled and fell. Reese bent down and picked me up. I kept running. My breathing was raspy.

We turned a corner and Drexel was there. He followed us up a flight of stone steps. We climbed until we came to a great hall. Chastity was blocking us from view as she directed some guards away from the steps.

"Yes that way! that way!" she shouted, gesturing wildly. Her blue dress had been cut short at the bottom. Very short. When the guard had passed, she joined us and we crept down the hall. Freya led us past several corridors. At one point, she stopped. We waited quietly. Voices came from down the hall and we turned back. After a few minutes we came out into a main yard.

“Stop them!” A shout came from atop a parapet. An arrow bounced off the stones near Freya. Across the yard was a lowered drawbridge that led out of the fort's walls. Two guards leaned against a huge wooden wheel. They strained to turn the wheel. There was loud creaking as the bridge slowly raised.

“Run for the bridge!” Freya said. Two guards came from the hallway behind us. Freya wheeled past me.

“Shredded meat!” She swept her legs along the ground. Her foot struck the ankle of the first guard. He pitched sideways. His sword clattered away from him on the stone floor.

Jenna turned and ran for the bridge. Drexel grabbed the loose sword and then followed Jenna. The guards pulled on the wheel. The bridge was half-raised. More arrows bounced around us. Jenna’s arm flew back, and then forward. There was a flash of light and then loud boom. The wooden wheel burst into flames. The guards fell to their knees, ablaze.

“It burns!” One guard cried as he rolled away. We climbed the bridge. I looked back to see how Freya was doing and she passed by me in a blur. By the time I climbed to the top of the raised bridge, everyone else was on the other side. I looked down at Freya.

“Jump, Telle,” Freya said.

“Wait!” A gigantic voice came from behind me. It was the voice of the boss who had questioned me in the dungeon. I looked back. The commander of the town guard stood at the entrance to the castle. He looked like five hundred pounds of bearskin coat.

“Don't leave. We can work this out,” he said. He held his hands up in the air. Guards ran out from the hallway behind him. Several held bows and arrows. The leader waved his hands and the bows lowered.

“Please, lets discuss,” he said. I stood at the top of the half-raised bridge and stared at him in shock.

“Telle, now!” Freya yelled. It was along way down to her. She frantically waved at me. I closed my eyes and jumped. My body jarred when I hit Freyas. She broke my fall, but we hit the ground together hard. I heard the crunch of my ribs. I felt nothing, except the cold of Jenna’s magic. I got to my feet and walked to Reese. Jenna looked worried.

“We should get to camp before Telle comes to his senses,” she said. Freya got up ,with some difficulty, and lifted Jenna onto her shoulders. Reese hoisted me onto his shoulders. They ran. Behind us I heard the creaking of the bridge.

“It won’t take them long to catch us on horseback,” Drexel said.

“If we get back to our hill we will have the high ground, and Gurdy's chain.” Freya said. The grass whipped by as Freya sprinted. Even with Jenna on her shoulders, she left us behind. Reese panted with the effort to keep up. I squinted as we ran. The drawbridge behind us had not re-opened. Ahead of us, the sun was setting. The red sky made the grassland look as if it were on fire.

We climbed the hill. Reese set me down. Sheesha barked and knocked me on my back. Her meaty tongue slid over my face. I couldn’t feel a thing. I sputtered and hugged her around her neck.

“Good girl!” I said. It was so good to see her again. Grundy tended a small fire.

“So the crazy scheme worked?,” he said. He kicked the end of a log into the fire "I thought I'd have to be hacking that fortress down by morning."

“It’s not over yet,” Freya said. She looked back at the castle from the top of the hill. “Falstag and his men have come out of the fortress. Grundy’s smile disappeared. He slowly unwrapped the chain from his arm.

“You best get on that dog, Telle,” he said. Jenna gripped the beads around her neck. I climbed onto Sheesha’s back. It would be tough to ride her since I couldn’t feel her beneath me. My balance was off, and my body wasnt working correctly. In the distant field I watched the guards roam back and forth.

“They are taking their time,” Freya said. “They’ll be here soon.” She had changed out of the body stocking and back into her leather wrap. She was quick.

“I thought you weren't gonna use that outfit?” I asked. She smiled.

“It was a vital part of Chastity's plan,” she said. Chastity joined us at the top of the hill.

“It was nothing, really,” she said. “Drexel told the guards we were the evening’s 'entertainment', compliments of the Barbarian Experience.” She winked at Drexel. He smiled.

“Once they got a look at these two, they lost their better judgment,” he said. “Most towns have an arrangement between local business and the constabulary. I assumed Heedon Springs would be no different.”

“Assumed?” Freya’s smile faded. “You said they would be expecting a visit!” She said.

“Did I?” Drexel rubbed his chin.

“There wasn't an arrangement, but the Guards bought it anyway,” Chastity said, "I insisted on a private room with Freya and one guard at a time." She giggled. “when the first guard came for his session..."

"I knocked him out." Freya said.

“Then I screamed bloody murder,” Chastity said.” She laughed.

"And the rest is history,” Drexel said. “We took advantage of the confusion to find you."

The sun was almost set behind us. To the east, the red sky looked like it was filled with smoke. The ground seemed to vibrate.

“Does anyone else feel that?” I asked. I inhaled and felt a tingle in my chest.

I heard Horses coming up the hill. The guards were closing in. The leader rode on an extra-large horse in front of a group of about ten guards. It must have taken four bears to make the fur coat that stretched across his vast back and belly. Two broadswords dangled from one side of his belt.

“Stay where you are!” Freya shouted down to them. The leader held up his hands. They stopped.

“I want to negotiate, folks,” his voice boomed. "That was a funny stunt. You made my boys look like stupid smoogers in there! But I got a sense of humor, and I don't got time tonight to chase you all over Lengnil's country. I wan't to talk to you people, civilized-like!"

“If we’re going to fight, we’d better start now,” I said. Jenna gave me a worried look. I slid the lance from Sheesha’s harness. The guards squinted into the sun as they looked up at us. Jenna pulled a bead from her necklace.

“What is it that you want?” Drexel asked. The leader dismounted. He turned and said something to his guards. He slid the two huge swords from their sheathes and handed them to his first. Then he walked toward us.

“We haven't really met face, to face. The name's Falstaag.” His voice boomed across the field. “I am in charge here.” He approached us. I inhaled. Pain shot through my chest. I gasped and there was more pain. A new ache throbbed from my right ankle. I remembered the fall from the bridge.

“I've got a proposition for you,” Falstaag said.

"Yeah I heard it before Falstaag," I said, "You want us to be Orka food"

“One step closer and you’re dead,” Jenna said flatly. He stopped.

“Come back to my castle. I’ll see to it that you’re treated well,” he said.

“What a joke! There's no way in hell I'm going back there,” Reese said.

“You've got a lot of nerve,” Grundy said. He tugged his neck beard with his left hand and jingled his chain with his right. "Judging from the look of my friends here, I don't like your hospitality."

“What do you propose?” Freya asked.

“I won’t yell it across this field. We need to sit down like civilized people! Let me and my Leutenant come into your camp. I promise no harm will come to you.”

Freya looked at Drexel. He shook his head.

“On the condition that you come unarmed,” Freya said.

“Of course,” Falstaag said.

“And give us back our weapons!” Reese said.

Falstaag motioned towards his men. One of the guards handed a sack to another. He dismounted and walked to Falstaag. They slowly climbed the hill. Sheesha growled. I climbed down from her back. Pain shot up my legs. My breathing became shallower as the pain returned.

The ground seemed to move under my feet. It was a slight bounce, but it was enough to add the pain in my ankles. I sat down in the grass and moaned. Jenna took her eyes off Falstaag long enough to glance at me.

“I’m sorry, Telle. That's all I can do,” she said. I nodded. My neck hurt. Falstaag and his man entered our camp. They sat by the fire. Everyone else but me stood and faced them.

"This is more like it! Good to meet you folks. This is Leutenant Robbard" He said.

Nobody greeted Robbard.

“Now that’s an ugly dog,” Falstaag said. I lay back in the grass and pretended not to hear him.

“What do you want,” Freya said.

“Right,” Falstaag said. He nodded to Robbard. Robbard lifted up the burlap sack. Jenna’s fist tightened on her beads. “We know you killed the dragon,” Falstaag said. Reese and I looked at each other.

"There were extenuating circumstances, but we do not deny it" Freya said.

“Yes we do! What dragon?” Drexel asked. Falstaag laughed and looked at me.

“He knows,” I said. “I told him.” Drexel turned red.

“What else did you tell him?” He asked.

“That little shrimp spilled his guts.” Falstaag laughed. He pointed to Reese.

“And what tiny didn’t tell, goat boy took care of,” Falstaag said. Robbard smiled politely. His right eye was swollen shut.

“You’re lucky I don’t have my flails,” Reese said.

Falstaag waved his hand and Robbard threw the sack at Reese’s feet. Reese reached in and pulled out his flails. He found my dagger and handed it to me. Then he pulled out a brown jug.

“What’s this?” He asked.

“I don’t go anywhere without a lot of whiskey,” Falstaag said. A smile spread across his broad face. Brown stumps of teeth spotted his gums. Falstaag produced another jug. He pulled the plug out of the top and sniffed. He smiled. Falstaag pulled the plug and took a long drink.

“To our partnership!” He said. Reese pulled the cork from his jug and sniffed.

“Don’t drink it,” Grundy said to Reese.

“Suspicious?” Robbard asked. He took the jug from Reese and tipped it into his mouth. He drank deeply and handed it back to Reese.

“I can send back for some milk if you can’t handle this,” Falstaag said. Reese put the jar to his mouth and tipped it back. A smile bloomed on his bruised and spotted face.

“Woohoo!” He handed the jug to Grundy. Grundy refused.

“Those are the people who cut off your finger!” Jenna said. Reese wiped his chin and scowled. He looked at his flails and back up at Robbard.

"Yeah you owe me a lot more than this Whiskey" Reese snarled.

“I'm sorry about your finger,” Robbard said. “But, look at our side, you killed three of my men, we had to know who you were.”

“Four!” Reese said.

“Jingo’s going to make it,” Robbard said.

Reese frowned. “Those damn helmets!” He took another swig from the jug.

"There shouldn't have been any fighting in the first place" Freya said impatiently, "You attacked our friends on sight." She clenched her fists.

Falstaag belched. He handed his jug to Grundy. Grundy passed it to Drexel without taking a sip. Drexel tipped back the jug slightly.

“Drexel!” Freya said. Drexel handed the jug to Chastity. She took a long pull. Her eyes teared up and she coughed intensely, her face became red and sweaty.

“Have you lost your minds?” Freya asked.

“Let’s hear what he has to say,” Chastity slurred. She held the jug to me. I shook my head.

“What exactly do you propose?” Freya said.

“Why don’t we discuss this in my fortress?” He said.

“I am not going back in there,” I said. My breathed wheezed in and out.

"Sure you are, shorty." Falstag drank.

I reached for my dagger.

"Telle!" Freya barked.

“You feel that?” Falstaag said. He put his hand on the ground.

“There’s a gilmic pig stampede. stay out here, and you'll be flatter than pancakes by morning,” he said. I lay back in the grass. It was too painful to sit up.

"Do you expect us to believe that?" Freya said.

"Whats a Gilmic Pig?" Reese said.

"Freya's stew a few nights ago" I said.

"This is a wild gilmic stampede, coming in from the west", Robbard said, "We've been preparing for it for two days now"

"Preparing?" Jenna said. "Your fortress isn't pig-proofed?"

"The fortress will be fine, we've been preparing the town!" Robbard said as Falstag took more swigs, "The town is right in the path of the herd. The stampedes are slow, but they can cause massive damage."

"So we'll walk around it" Drexel said.

Falstaag guffawed, some whiskey shot out of his nose, "Horses couldnt get around it in time, the stampede is fifty miles wide!"

"That sounds like bullshit" Reese said. Drexel nodded.

"What kinds of preparations do you make in town, Robbard?" Jenna asked.

"There are ditches to be dug, torches.."

Falstaag cut him off, "The deal is, you clowns can either come stay in a luxurious castle as my guests tonight, or you can stay here with the grass and bugs, tryin in vain to fend off an unstoppable herd of giant pigs."

We paused.

“I’ll take my chances,” Drexel said.

“Me too,” Grundy said, and snorted.

“Suit yourself.” Falstaag got up noisily. Robbard was already up. “Robbard, let’s get out of here.” Falstaag took his jug and stumbled down the hill. I stared up at the sky. The stars were out. The sun had set. My chest hurt so badly I could barely move. Sheesha whined and licked my face. The ground vibrated in time to a distant rumble.

“I think he was telling the truth about the stampede,” Grundy said.

“If we go back he's gonna kill us,” Reese said. He stuck his hand in the air. The bandage was soaked with blood. Then he tipped the jug back.

“Stop drinking that,” Freya said. She yanked the jug from his hands. Reese looked nauseus. He slumped down and hiccuped.

"If we go with him, we're gonna end up as dragon pies" Drexel said.

“What do you know about stampedes, Grundy?” Freya asked.

“I’ve heard my uncle tell stories about em.” He wrapped his chain back around his arm. “The pigs we kept were domestic gilmics. They have giant cousins who live in the fields out here. Every generation or so, they have a big run. They’re slow on account of their size, but he was real excitable about how they crush everything in their path.” He took the jug from Freya. He took a swig from the jug. The rumble grew louder.

“What should we do?” Freya asked.

“I don’t see that we have much choice,” Chastity said. I coughed. My body felt as if it were on fire.

"Right, we'll just have to walk slowly away from the stampede all night." Drexel yawned.

The thought of travelling tonight, in the shape I was in, sounded like death.

"I can't, Freya" I said

"Telle?"

"I can't march."

"I'll carry you Telle" Gurdy offered.

"Can you carry him too?" Chastity pointed at Reese. His chin was slumped on his chest. He was burping up blood and drooling.

The air filled with dust. Sheesha ran in circles and scratched at the ground. Freya stood at the top of the hill.

“Falstaag!” She shouted.

“Right here.” His voice came from nearby. His men hadn't moved.

“We keep our weapons,” she said.

“Of course,” he said, smiling. She lifted me carefully up. They put me on the back of a horse. The roar of the stampede drowned out any conversation. We made our way back to the castle. I heard the familiar clatter of hooves on the stones and I shuddered.

“Six coming in!” The guard called out. The wooden wheels creaked as the bridge was raised behind us.