Summary
After Finbar had taken watch for 4 hours, Arla took over. A chill goes through her as Drake walks up to her and begins cleaning his crossbow, quietly explaining it with a smile. As they discuss their next move, a moondog suddenly attacks. Arla picks up Drake's crossbow, but doesn't fire both because Drake and the moondog are fighting too close, and because the moondog is paralyzing her with fear. Drake stops the moondog from howling, and tells Arla to shoot. One look from him, and Arla's instincts kick in, sending a crossbow bolt into the moondog's side.
Finbar is awakened by the fight, and Drake hands back the bolt as he heads to clean up camp. Arla now fully trusts Drake, though Finbar is less sure. Before they leave camp, Drake sprinkles some potent spices around the camp to deter any moondogs, to Finbar's amusement.
They climb over the mountain to a ravine, where Drake admires the view that Arla and Finbar can't appreciate. Drake looks over the edge, and sees a massive Lutin and Giant camp. They flee down the canyon, and enter a narrow gap surrounded on both sides by boulders. Drake tells the two Longs that they have a mission to return with information; he will stay and keep the Lutins busy as long as he can. He asks for his crossbow and some food, and asks that they send a relief party, in case he is still alive. Arla protests, but Finbar agrees. He tells them to run as he strikes the boulders, sealing the gap with a hundred-foot high wall.
Three days later, Arla and Finbar return to Metamor Keep and deliver their urgent message to Misha. The ravine, it turns out, connects the Giantdowns to a pass 10 miles south of the Keep, bypassing its defenses entirely. With a Lutin invasion imminent, Misha asks a servant to summon Thomas immediately, so they can tell him the situation. He tells Arla and Finbar to rest afterwards. He'll launch a sortie early the next morning.
Characters
Main characters:
- Drake: A good-humored wandering traveler. More than capable of handling himself, he lets Arla and Finbar escape to the Keep while he distracts a Lutin army bearing down on the Valley.
- He has an ability to connect people with their survival instincts from just one look.
- Drake's crossbow has a 210 pound draw, 3 times as much as Drake can pull on his own.
- His bow also reloads its bolts from a cartridge of 5 bolts.
- Arla: A Long Scout, a collie morph. She doesn't want to leave Drake behind, but both Finbar and Drake convince her.
- Finbar: A Long Scout, a ferret morph. He has a stern, pragmatic personality.
- His stern attitude is enough that Drake made a bet with himself that he couldn't make Finbar smile. Finbar does smile, though, after seeing Drake use spices on their campsite.
Supporting:
- Misha: Leader of the Long Scouts. On hearing the dire situation, he begins organizing a party to stop the Lutin army.
- Today was the first day in weeks he had planned to leave work early.
Minor characters:
- A guardswoman at the Keep gates, armed with a polearm.
Important mention:
- Duke Thomas: Ruler of Metamor Keep. He is about to summoned by Misha to hear of the Lutin camp and likely invasion.
Reference:
- Eli and Kammoloth: The two primary deities of the Followers and the Lothanasi, respectively.
Locations
- The mountain ravine opens 10 miles south of Lorland, just outside the range of the curse in the south. It takes 2 days to cross from the bluffs to the gap where Drake created the rock wall. From there, it is another 15 miles to the Lutin camp.
Points of Interest
- The Lutin army is between 400 and 600 strong, with 6 or so Giants in reserve.