It had been an interesting past few months for Cerriel. It started out with a bit of partying and causing havoc in the Prancing Pony. What later came out was an inside job to stop Lorgorim and the Network from hunting some Dunlending, named Pren. What Jerick, the man that offered her the job after a night of fun, didn’t know was that Cerriel was an enforcing in the Network. With her newly gained information and several pouches of coin, she was off to make sure the dwarf knew what trouble lied ahead for him.
After acquiring a raven, she wrote down a message, hoping to warn the dwarf. The raven, naturally, gave her problems until Goat seemed to threaten it with a good stomping. She only wished that she could understand Goat…
After new clothes and repairing her leather armor, she set off with good-byes to a friend. Unfortunately, she forgot to leave a message for Asiri.
Cerriel and Goat rode hard and quick along the Great Eastern Road. They had to catch up to Lorgorim’s company somewhere near the River Bruinen. Both beast and rider were sore as the days went on. Goat seemed a bit angry, nudging her too hard each night with his horned head. The former sailor longed to swim in the rivers, but her hobby would have to wait.
When they did catch up, Cerriel noticed that the Dunlending brought his own large company of warriors. She flopped to the ground and crawled up the mountain side to view from the fallen tree bridge. She was not going to fight all of them, also letting Goat know that. Cerriel enjoyed a good fight, but she was smart enough not to fight while completely outnumbered. The Network company was in the hands of the savages from Dunland.
The next few weeks passed. Each day consisted of following, tracking and hiding from the company. Cerriel was not a great hunter and often had to wait for Goat to find something. The shouting from the tortured prisoners gave Cerriel a nervous feeling.
As they entered Dunland, Cerriel could only look at the storied path of bones she had wanted to explore. She let out a great sigh as she spoke to Goat, “Well, we know that the path is here. Too bad we cannot search it. Maybe another time, right Goat?”
Goat shook his head as if he disagreed. His rider let out a snort, “Always disagreeing with me.”
Hills turned into plains as they continued further into Dunland. They eventually stopped near the village the company was taken to. Within a large rock formation, Cerriel could look over the entire village. She began counting and marking the number of villagers. Her new hobby soon stopped when she realized that she’d have to move to continue. She instead, decided on tracking their schedule of guard changes and patterns. Her turtle shell rucksack turned into cover from the rain as it poured on her.
Goat had wandered off…
