Dax and Ruthor knelt on the ledge along the small animal trail, looking down at the road that paralleled the Arn River. There were few people today going in either direction at this early time of the morning. Darma sat on her haunches next to Dax, her almost grown pups behind the three of them, fidgeting with boredom.

“We will go down to that ledge there to the right of us. Our advantage will be better and closer to the road when we see them, yet still too high and covered from their sighting us, if we are careful.” Dax told Ruthor.

“How sure are you that this will work?” Ruthor asked.

“If Vlad’s pursuit has went as I think, it should work to hasten them. If it has not, then Darma and her pack should be the determining factor.” Dax answered.

“I have used dogs to hunt both stag and boar in my life, but never dire wolves and definitely not in the way you are today.” Ruthor said. “I have seen how she is with you, and her pack with her, but she still is a wild creature. I pray she does as you say she will, even when the blood lust is upon her.”

“As do I my friend, but this is the one way I am sure we can spur these rebels into Eigle fast and close to panic.” Dax replies.

At mid morning they were to the ledge Dax had pointed out. They had manufactured a fulcrum under one of the middle sized boulders at the ledges edge. Now they could see the six rebels coming up the road. They were moving steadily forward but not in haste, being watchful to both their rear and ahead of them. Vlad and the others were not in sight as yet.

“Good, there they are and I can see no one else close yet. Give it a few more moments then we roll this boulder down at them. That looks like the prisoner just behind the lead rebel; I want him to escape for sure, if possible.” Dax tells Ruthor.

Time ticks slowly by, as the men below make their way up the road. Then at the moment Dax was waiting for, he nods to Ruthor to lean with him on the fulcrum in full force. The limb lever creaks while bending, but has the desired effect in forcing the boulder to tumble off the ledge, and start an avalanche of rocks gaining lethal momentum. An abundance of loose rocks and boulders went crashing down toward the men on the road.

The noise is almost deafening as it echoes along the river canyon. The rebels look up in awe and shock, and then break into full panic to avoid being crushed by the avalanche. The two in front do get far enough out of the way to escape any injury; the third man is hit by smaller debris and stumbles. He is not, however, hurt so bad that he jumps to his feet and continues running. The last two are not that lucky, both are struck by the full force of the plummeting rocks and boulders. They are crushed and knocked into the river with the rocks, screaming in death throes as they are struck repeatedly.

As Dax pats Darma’s haunches she, instantly followed by her pack, starts to chase the rocks down the escarpment behind the dissipating dust cloud. All five of the wolves are in full deep throated howls and barks as they scamper down the slope.

Now the remaining three Lagdians are in complete panic and run for their lives. Dax and Ruthor kneel and watch from their vantage point. Dax makes a long wolf like howl which, when Darma hears it, she slows and looks back up the mountain, halting her and her packs chase. With a second howl from the ledge, all five wolves begin to climb back to where Dax and Ruthor still watch the fleeing rebels.

As they turn their attention the other direction from the rebels, they can see Vlad and the men just now coming into view along the road. All three of them a good safe distance from the last of the settling debris and rock.

Dax and Ruthor stand and start to walk along the small path at this ledge in the direction of Eigle. The wolves catch up in a short time with the two of them, Dax patting Darma’s back as she comes up beside him.

“I did not ever dream I would see such a sight as this.” Ruthor says, more to himself than to Dax.

A couple of hours later the trail they were on joined another, as both started to descend down the mountain. In the distance below could be seen Eigle and the road not only along the Arn, but also it intersecting with one that headed north through a pass they were beginning to descend over. The wolves were starting to get edgy as they could see the human city below.

Dax stopped, knelt down and patted Darma’s bristling neck. He then pointed in the direction coming back up the mountain along the other side of the two roads intersection and yet avoiding the city. When Dax and Ruthor reached the intersection of roads, the wolves scurried across and started to climb an animal track on the other side. As the wolves climbed, Dax and Ruthor rested at the intersection until Vlad, with Cran and Ofid approached, walking up the Arn River road.

“We are glad to see you two.” Vlad said with a smile crossing his face. “The mountain seems to have aided in our quest. We saw where two of the dog’s bodies were floating down the Arn, probably from that avalanche.”

“It was, however, in truth, we aided the mountain in that.” Ruthor answered his long time comrade.

“Ahhh, I can believe that.” Vlad said.

“Let us all go on into Eigle.  We can find a place to eat and rest. I want to ask some questions there.” Dax tells them all.

Once in Eigle the five men find an inn, where food and spirits are purchased. While Ruthor and his three men eat, Dax begs his leave and goes off alone to ask his questions elsewhere. Later he returns with the news he could acquire.

“As I thought, the last three rebels did come into the city. However they have already left, without any aid from those here.” Dax tells everyone.

“Even the injured one?” Ruthor asks.

“Yes, all of them are gone. As I thought, aid had to be refused them. You see since they are easily spotted as Lagdian rebels, the Eigle by their own law, cannot interfere or succor any aid. Everyone here must remain totally neutral, especially with rebels, against any legal ruler anywhere.” Dax informs them all.

“Sure, that would fit with all we know of these people. What did they say about the one’s condition?” Ruthor asks.

“Poor, with many cuts and bruises, and substantial loss of blood it appeared. The one I talked to who saw them said he did not think he would make it, unless he found help fairly soon.” Dax replies.

“Well, I for one feel no pity for him.” Vlad commented rather sarcastically.

“So what is your plan now, Dax?” Cran adds in as a question.

“We replenish ourselves with food and drink, while we sleep in a real bed, under a roof for one night. Then we get back on their trail. They cannot move too fast, one freshly wounded, one barely healed good and all of them dog tired I am sure. We have kept them moving too much for them to be rested.” Dax answers.

“I am all for that, maybe I can even find a woman to relax with tonight.” Vlad says with broad smile.

“We are talking about rest Vlad, not recreation.” Ruthor says as all five men start to chuckle.

The next morning Dax and the others leave Eigle, once again in pursuit of the three remaining rebels. However, Dax takes them slightly off the most used road around mid day. He tells them they are going to stop at a small village near the northern Fire Mountain side of the Eagles Plateau, before they start down the Prah River to the west. The next day they are at the village.

Once there Dax barters with another Eigle who trades in horses. Ruthor and the others are not involved in the trade, but five horses are acquired with saddles and bridles.  By dusk they are where the Prah River starts to descend the Plateau, so they camp for the night.

“I could swear we are being followed Ruthor. I can feel it in my bones more than hearing or sight.” Ofid says to his friend as they are dismounting.

Ruthor looks at Dax, who nods in agreement before Ruthor answers. “We are, if I read Dax’s nod correctly.”

“We are? Then by who.” Ofid asks again.

“By friends. Who do not know you yet Ofid?” Dax answers.

“Then why do they not show themselves and ask.” Ofid says.

“You might not like how wolves ask, my friend.” Dax replies.

“Wolves?” Ofid says in a startled tone.

“Yes, wolves, Ofid. But as Dax says, they are also friends.” Ruthor interjects before Dax can speak. “They will come down, when they are ready. Just as I had to learn, show no fear, anger or threat and you will get used to them. The female leader is attached to Dax.”

As the men sit around the campfire that night, Ruthor’s words proved true . Darma and her pack came into the edges of the camp, she herself found Dax and came in to lay next to him, followed by her four large, near grown pups. The men finally settled down as they watched the close affection between Dax and Darma. Ruthor told them all then of his first meeting with the pack and the history between Dax and them. Then he told them of the wolves’ part in the avalanche over the Arn.

During the trip down the Prah, now closer to the rebels, they find the body of the one hurt in the avalanche.  It appears he finally died of fever and infection from his wounds. The rebels had tried to bury him, but the wolves found the scent of his shallow grave. Dax warns the men that now they are all in Lagdian territory, so stealth, for the moment is preeminent. The wolves had fallen into a line behind Darma, who trotted beside Dax on his horse, putting each of her pack near one of the other men on horseback. At first this made the horses and Dax’s men somewhat skittish, but as the day wore on the nervousness settled down. 

Around mid day Dax slowed the groups pace when he could tell they were following just out of sight of the rebels. Soon they would be passing close to Desham on the Prah, the first town in Lagdian. It was along the Prah and at the edge of the plains bordering the west end of the northern Fire Mountains. The southern Fire Mountains continued on the southern side of the Prah for many leagues yet.

Before they came into sight of the town, Dax had them all cross the river to its southern banks; this would allow them to follow the rebels in better cover. It might be possible, that here, the rebels could get some aid from rebel sympathizers. Luckily this did not happen, as there was a detachment of Amish Magdar’s army camped outside the town. When Dax and the men arrived close to the Desham they found the rebels tracks on the same side of the river they were on.

That night as they sat around a small smokeless fire, the conversation turned to Dax’s plans for the next few days. It was also rather humorous that the younger wolves seemed to be sitting closer to each rider that they had been walking beside all day, rather than close behind their dam, Darma.

“Dax, what does Darma mean, anyway. I have never heard of that name before?” Vlad asked as he chewed on a piece of jerked stag.

“It means nature’s breath literally, but would be easier to think of as Wind.” Dax answered.

“That’s an odd name for a Dire Wolf. Do you think we should give names to her pups?” He replied in question.

“I like that idea; they are working out to be tamer than I first thought.” Ruthor said.

“Remember they are wild animals, like the wind they are not tame. But if you men would like to name them, why don’t we make it simple and call them by the wind’s directions; North, South, East and West.” Dax answered.

“That seems to fit them.” Ruthor replied as the others looked at one another approvingly.

Discussions went on about following the rebels, but still at a discrete distance. Dax did say that soon he wanted to separate the two left so that the former prisoner would be alone. He wanted him to run for the safety of his leader, and if he was the only survivor, he might feel forced to. They were now in territory where the rebel camp might be hidden but close at any time.

Cran offered to kill the other one the next day, but Dax had what he thought was a better idea. He did not want the prisoner to feel he was still being followed. He thought he could get them to separate, if he used the wolves instead, to feign an attack. The only problem would be, if the wolves got a blood lust, keeping them from killing the one he wanted to force into a run for the rebel camp. It was decided that they would move out before dawn, get ahead of the rebels, and loose the wolves on them from a flanking position. 

To Dax’s credit it worked, when he loosed Darma, he pointed her toward the second man who was following the prisoner. Thus when the wolves startled the two rebels and all five wolves looked locked on the second man, the prisoner bolted in flight to save himself. Fortunately Darma and her pack responded to the howl Dax let out and stopped attacking the second one before he was killed.

“Cran, keep a guard here, if the prisoner turns to come back, dissuade him.” Dax said as he and the others started to ride down to the other rebel, now trapped between the five growling wolves.

Cran did as he was bid. Once they dismounted by the second man, Dax started to interrogate him. Under the very strong assertion that if he did not answer, Dax would let the wolves devour him, the man talked. He told them his name was Wilan and that the former prisoner was called Beldan. He would not divulge the exact location of the rebel stronghold, but did relinquish its general area. The stronghold was in the Fire Mountains on the north side of the Prah close to where the river dumped into the Lands End Strait.

Vlad bound the man’s hands, gagged him and then kept the other end of the rope with him when he stepped into the saddle on his horse. All the wolves were treated to jerked stag meat as a reward.

Dax and his men caught up with Cran quickly, this Beldan had not turned to help his last comrade. It was decided to keep Wilan as a prisoner and walking behind as they rode following Beldan, the wolves would keep him from escaping.

That night Dax revealed his next part of his plan. “In a day or so Vlad and I will leave the rest of you, we will ride to Viral and contact Amish Magdar. You three keep following Beldan in secrecy. I think I can get this king to send men back with us to attack the rebel stronghold, since I have this dog as evidence of my words. Keep a watch on where he goes, but also a lookout for us once you know where this lair is.” Dax told them all. “You cannot stop their movements until we return. The worst thing would be if you were discovered. Wait patiently; we will get to you as soon as we can.”

“That makes a fine plan, Dax. I agree this king should be more than grateful for help in stopping this rebellion against his throne.” Ruthor added.

On the second day following, Dax and Vlad with Wilan in tow left the others, Darma and South walking by their sides. They started west toward Viral along the road on the north side of the Prah that went from Desham to Viral. It was the second day later before they saw the gates of the capitol city of Lagdian.

“Halt, where do you come from and who is that you bring here, like a piece of livestock?” The guard at the city gate yells out to Dax and Vlad.

“I have come to see King Magdar and bring him a rebel for his pleasure.” Dax replies in a commanding voice. “Will you get a captain of the guard for me to speak to?”

“Stay as you are, I have already sent for him, when I saw you two and those wolves with you.” The Guard shouts in authority.

Some moments later a hearty man in uniform, with several behind him, appears and talks with the guard at the gate.

“Who are you, wolf man, and why are you here with that rebel?” The captain demands.

“My name is Dax and I am in the service of Thane Erik Throgmarden. My men and I have captured this rebel and wish to speak to your king about a matter of great urgency. Can you make this happen?” Dax answers the Lagdian officer.

“I can bring you to my general, but those wolves will not be allowed in the city. Have your man there dismount and keep them at bay.” The captain says.

“Good enough then.” Dax says and then turns to Vlad. “Keep them here with you, if all does not go well, loose Darma and South when they hear my howl.”

“It will be as you say, Dax; I will not be far behind them.” Vlad says as he gives the gate guard a look of menace.

The captain and his men escort Dax, with Wilan in tow, to the chamber of his commander. Then after a short discussion, which convinces the general of Dax’s urgency, the general takes the two of them to the hall where the king is currently at, followed by the captain and his men. After being given permission for an audience the general allows Dax and his prisoner entrance into the great hall of the ivory throne.

Dax had noticed the wondrous statues of the great wooly tuskers on either side of the city’s gates, and stone likenesses of them in places about the city as he was ushered from place to place. But as he enters the great hall, he sees the ivory throne for the first time. Its entire framework is constructed of the wooly beast’s massive tusks and is padded in its long shaggy fur on seat and back. Seated on the throne is a huge framed man, who he assumes is the king Amish Magdar with Anian Drofeld, his wife and queen, standing to his right. To his left stands another old grey-haired mage who is holding on to a staff that appears to be carved from a rib of a Wooly Tusker.

“Well, man of Marden, you have created quite a stir here in Viral this day. I see parts of the reports are true , and you have a rebel as prisoner. Is it the also true that dire wolves accompany you?” Amish Magdar says in total authority. “Why would Thane Erik send men to my kingdom with a rebel prisoner?”

“Great king, he sent us chasing several rebels who came into Marden, this is one of the only two survivors. The other is fleeing for their stronghold, and being followed by the rest of my men. It is also true ; we travel with dire wolf escorts and comrades.” Dax answers. “These rebels came to Marden to assassinate myself for some reason, only known to their dog master and your cousin, Fargyn. I am sure of these things as I interrogated the other survivor before he was thrown out of Throgmarden dungeon so we could assess how many had raided into Marden and why. Then we pursued the party of them here and I now bring this one as my proof.”

“I have never heard of Marden men traveling with dire wolves, Dax of Marden.” Amish states back to him.

“No others do, my lord, and you are one of the first ever to know of it.” Dax answers.

For the next two hours Dax is questioned, then pulled into a discussion with; the king, his general and mage on a plan for the general and many of his troops to accompany Dax and Vlad until they find; Cran, Ofid and Ruthor. 

Early the next morning Dax and Vlad, with Darma and South, beside them, ride abreast of General Hersal leading an army of 1,000 Lagdian soldiers and 300 cavalry. On their third day out and just before they top a long rise, the entire army comes to a halt as Cran comes riding their way in great haste.

“I was sent to find you, Dax.” He says as he comes to a halt in front of him, East immediately stopping to greet his brother in wolf like fashion. “There is a massive herd of the great wooly tuskers over this rise; they fill up the entire valley to the north of here.

“And the rebels, where is the rebel stronghold?” Dax asks.

“Not far, it is in the foothills on the other side of the Prah.” Cran answers.

“Can their lookouts see the valley?” Dax asks his friend and comrade.

“Yes but not all the way to the North, unless they have more sentries than we have seen.” Cran replies.

“That may be just the extra leverage we need.” Dax says and then turns to General Hersal. “General if you will permit me, I think I see a way to give you a great victory. One that will give you even a new legend some day tied to your king and peoples ties to the great wooly tuskers.”

“How do you propose to give me that Dax of Marden?” General Hersal asks.

Dax then lays out his plan for the general, Vlad and Cran. After some hard concentration and continued discussion the general agrees that Dax’s plan just might work. With this in mind Cran leads the 1000 soldiers into the forest at nightfall and quietly to where Ruthor and Ofid wait in hiding, still watching the area where they know the rebel stronghold is. Then the three Marden soldiers along with their wolf companions make their way back to Dax and the rest of the general’s army.

Before the dawn Dax’s entire Marden party moves northward under the cover of darkness and the ridgeline to north of the herd of tuskers. After two hours past dawn, the General sends out a small patrol of his cavalry in full view of those watching from the stronghold. This small force of Lagdian Cavalry ride, as if in no great hurry, as if they are just on another boring patrol.

The rebels seeing the small patrol take the bait, about 50 rebel riders charge from the stronghold in the foothills and gallop across the Prah. The Lagdian patrol waits as long as they can before retreating across the plain toward the low ridgeline.

Dax keeps his men in wait until the last moment he can, then he howls at the top of his lungs. Darma and her pack respond quickly charging at the Tusker herd barking in unison.

“Cran shoot now, but only to wound on their flank or hips.” Dax yells to his archer. The effect is just as he planned. The Tuskers start a frantic charge across the plain, away from the wolves and prickling arrows and directly toward the charging rebels. As they charged the air became thick with the dust off the ground where their hulk propelled it airborne.

The hard fast ride of the Lagdian patrol coupled with the rebel’s fear of being trampled by the massive tuskers brought the Lagdians out of danger of the herd, though not so for all of the rebels. As the patrol crested the low ridge and the rebels charged over it shortly behind them, the ruse was imminent. Now they faced the bulk of three hundred Lagdian Cavalry under the command of General Hersal.

Dax and his men gave up their chase of the herd and charged quickly across the Prah and into the foot hills of the Fire Mountains before reaching where the rebels had charged onto the plain from. The air had become so thick with dust that they were unseen.

The five men along with their wolves kept up their pace until they were in the hills above the rebel stronghold. While they made their goal, the Lagdian army, now hidden in the forest across the river from the remaining rebel forces, began loosing flight after flight of arrows into the target of the stronghold itself, unseen through the dust and cover of the thickly wooded forest.

Before Fargyn could detect this double threat, with his cavalry engaged out of his sight, the air became thick with dust and now a rain of arrows killing many of his men indiscriminately. As he began to shout orders to his archers to return arrows of their own, into the air in the direction of the trees across the river, a new threat was unleashed. 

An unearthly deep roar from above is heard, as an avalanche began to rumble down upon their hideaway. Once Dax and his men had successfully started the tumble of rocks down the slope, he searched the appearance of the men below to see if he could spot their leader. He was sure he spotted Fargyn as the one shouting orders and pointing in the general direction of the forest across the Prah.

The herd had passed out of sight and the dust slowly settling just as General Hersal with his cavalry started to charge across the river from the plain. In unison with this, his army of seven hundred infantry charged from the forest leaving three hundred archers still raining arrows on the stronghold.

Dax pointed Fargyn to Darma, sending her and her pack racing his way and scattering more of his men, Dax and his four men ran into the melee behind her. They cornered the rebel leader against an escarpment of rock just as Dax caught up to what could have been a wolf feast, his howl stopping them.

“If you value life at all, you mercenary dog, you will answer my questions.” Dax said to him.

“Who are you, you’re not Lagdian?” Fargyn stuttered quickly.

“My name is Dax, and you sent men to kill or capture me in Marden, why?” Dax demanded in a venomous tone.

“That idiot Beldan, he led you right to me and you brought this army to defeat me.” Fargyn retorted.

“Yes I did, and I will let these wolves tear you apart piece by achingly torturous piece if you do not answer me before General Hersal finds where I have you.” Dax said to the rebel leader.

“It was Damna the Great; he offered me an attractive reward for you and your belongings. I wanted the treasure to fund my campaign.” Fargyn replied.

“Which belongings does he want and why? I am losing my patience and time.” Dax retorted.

“Your badge fool, no one has ever left him before except in death, and some wooden thing you have, he did not say why. I did not care about the why, only what he offered in gold.” Fargyn answered.

At that moment General Hersal with a few of his men found them. Although the battle still could be heard about them, it was abating as a few rebels tried to flee into the mountains and others now surrendered rather than die.

“You have cut off the head of the snake, Dax of Marden. My king Amish Magdar will be pleased to have his traitorous cousin standing in front of him, in chains, for his pleasure.” Hersal said, as much to Fargyn as Dax and his men.

Within moments cheers began to erupt from the Lagdian soldiers over the moans of the dying and wounded rebels.

A week later the king of Lagdian, having taken great pleasure in sentencing Fargyn along with what of his men survived, to a life of slavery in the holds of Lagdian ships as oarsmen, also gave tribute to Dax and his men to take back to their Thane as offering of friendship for his sending them to help in the annihilation of the threat to his throne. Lagdian ships used slave oarsmen in their ships since the Windless Sea was known to be so calm that sails were ineffectual. These slaves had never been known to escape or live long lives there after.

The following day Dax with his men, wolves and horses boarded a Marden trader’s ship, which had been in port, for the journey back to Throgmarden. The horses were somewhat skittish at first being led up the plank to the ship, where the wolves seemed calmer once on board and together. The men were just glad the trip back would be less stressful

On the second day out of port, as the ship neared the Lands End Strait, the captain sighted a sail on the seas horizon behind them. By the shape of her sails, she appeared to be a Tripolian and that worried the captain, since that could very well mean a marauder. Dax had seen the sails too and went to talk to the captain. Captain Drig worked for Wedan the merchant and member of Throgmarden’s council.  

“Can we outrun the Tripolian ship in case she is a marauder?” Dax asked him.

“I doubt it, unless we can get into the strait and make port at Nispar before they overtake us. Even then, if they are marauders they may attack there anyway, Nispar is not a large town on Steldar.”   The captain admitted.

“It is near dark captain, if you will trust me I may be able to help, but we would have to light no lanterns on our ship and you would have to follow my direction. I know something of the Tripolians that many do not.” Dax confided.

“After hearing what I did about you and your men in Viral, I will chance it.” Captain Drig agreed.

Once the sun was totally gone beyond the horizon on the Windless Sea, Dax pulled his dragon effigy from under his tunic and held it free from its string, as he did he directed the captain to sail along its axis and away from the strait all night long. With the coming of the dawn they could barely make out the western Steldar coastline to their east and were far south of the straits. There were no sails following behind or to either side of them.

“How were you sure you could do that, it was a clouded night without the use of the stars to guide us.” The Captain asked him.

“A trick mainly, one I learned while I lived in Ederwess. Now we can just sail around Steldar and within sight of the coast after that, until we are in the familiar waters of the Straits of Vlande.” Dax replied.

For the next turning of the moon little happened, other than a boring sea voyage, passing Steldar without incident. Then they cruised past the Shadows Beach with its black sand and around the point of land just before Skalm. They sailed up into the Strait of Vlande at Bjalm now they were within the Bay of Throg.

Ceric and Lord Daka met the ship when it docked in port at Throgmarden. As Dax with Darma came down the plank leading his horse, he greeted the Mage.

“Well Greyhair, how did you know we would be on this ship?” Dax asked looking at the mage and smiling.

“Mage Morden sent me a talking bird upon your departure from Viral. We have been watching the bay until we saw your sails this morning.” Ceric said. “We have much to tell you Dax and it appears you can tell us of dire wolves that commiserate with men.”

“It was said that King Magdar is thankful to Thane Erik, Outlander. I am sure you will tell us exactly what happened, you and my men, I see also walking with wolves and horses.” Lord Daka adds before Dax can reply.

Ruthor came forward and took the reins to Dax’s horse, and handed them to Vlad along with his own. Cran brought a wooden box and handed it too Ruthor. Then Ruthor and Dax walked side by side behind Ceric and the Keeper of the Gate. They walked to council chambers and went inside. Once in there they saw that Wedan and Thane Erik were seated waiting for them.

After being asked to give their report, Dax started telling those present of the pursuit, meeting the wolves, following the prisoner into Lagdian and the battle, then of King Magdar’s good will and his imprisonment of the surviving rebels in Lagdian ships. Lastly he told them all what Fargyn had said about Damna the Great offering the reward for him and the two objects in his possession. While Dax spoke, Ruthor sat the box on the table in front of his Thane and opened it for all at the table to see.

Erik Throgmarden’s face broadened when he saw the jewels inside the box, and the scroll on top. Once he read the scroll, he told everyone that it agreed with what Dax had said, and that King Amish Magdar pledged his friendship to the thane in return.

“About these wolves of yours and the men’s, will they be docile here in the city?” Erik asked.

“If not my Thane, we will take quarters close by if you and Lord Daka approve. We have become attached to them as some do with dogs.” Ruthor answered before Dax could.

“You might need to man at arms Ruthor, but let us hope not. Now for you Dax of the Outland, it seems I now owe you some reward in obtaining such a deepened alliance with King Magdar. What would you have of me, except your freedom from our service?” Thane Erik said.

“I would only ask that I be able to follow this information about Damna the Great at some time in the not too distant future, my Thane?”  Dax said.

“On that we have more to tell you Dax. You may have noticed that Peldar is not with us tonight. In truth he and one of his servants now reside in my dungeons.” Erik stated.”I will let High Councilor Ceric tell you why.”

“Mejara woke me one night while you were away Dax. She said she saw someone going into your quarters in the middle of the night. I sent for the watch and they with me found the servant going through your things. Luckily you had given me your satchel for safe keeping or we might not have caught him.” Ceric says in relating the story. “Then with some persuasion by one of Lord Daka’s guards, he relented in telling us that his master, Peldar, had sent him to steal this same wooden effigy you just spoke of.”

“We have Peldar now in chains, in another cell of the dungeon where he has not only confirmed what the servant said, but also that he wanted it to sell it to Damna the Great himself.” Lord Daka adds when Ceric stops talking.

“So Dax, I, myself would like some answers as to why that olive skinned ruler of sand hires assassins to infiltrate my realm, and turns my one time councilors into spies and thieves under my nose.” Erik says in a very unsettling tone.

“We all know, neither you nor I could see any worth to this object, Dax.  But now it seems there must be.” Ceric says.

“So here is your reward Dax of the Outland. I want you to go to Damna the Great as my emissary on a mission to inquire why he sends rebels and corrupts a member of my council in my realm.” Erik states flatly. “I will assign to you these same four soldiers, your wolf pack let’s say, who it appears work well under your command. I have Lord Daka’s agreement to elevate you to the rank of captain, so there will be no question of your allegiance and service to me.”

“I could ask for no better commission and task, my Thane.” Dax says. “My lord Daka, would you also consent then to my advancing Ruthor here to the rank of sergeant at arms, as my second in command and my other men to men at arms above common soldiers. They have proven themselves worthy to me.”

“To this I can agree Captain Dax; they are now your men as long as you all stay in faithful service to Thane Erik and Throgmarden.” Daka says.

“Thank you my Lord and my Thane. We will rest a few days and then set off for Pelia on this task.” Dax agrees and then he and Ruthor bow to all at the chamber table.