In the watchtower... 

Boldor, hearing all the screams and yells of the prisoner, wanders into the upstairs room just in time to hear the prisoner's confession. The Dwarf yawns as if having just woken up from a nap. He pauses to watch everyone and all the ruckus however. Boldor wonders absently with a corner of his mind, if anyone has anything to drink around here. Or better yet, he thinks again to himself, muttering under his breath: "I wonder if I have anything to drink?" All of a sudden he stops, realising that he perhaps said this louder than he wished. He looks around. Did anyone hear him? It is hard to tell. 

Relg, who was just passing by, stops and turns around, facing Boldor. For a couple of seconds, his face shows no emotion and he stares at the Dwarf. Then he laughs and says, loud enough for everyone to hear: "It is not time yet to celebrate, we may have won a fight, but the real battle is still to come." 

As Urmahd grovels upon the wooden floor, Raddish backs up a little, almost sorry to be part of this tragedy. He watches the actions of the 'High People' around him before finding moment to speak once more: "Word is stronger than the sword, I think. The truth has done what the threat could not do!" As he sees the traitor is no longer a threat to the group, the Hobbit Ambassador relaxes a little and listens as the party react to this new situation. 

Relg waves Valdo to follow him a few steps away from Urmahd: 
"I would kill him right away..." he says, and there is no doubt that he is serious. "... but I realise that it is not our law which will be taken for his punishment, but yours; and therefore I suggest we either send him back with one of your militia men or we take him with us. But be aware that he can not be trusted, even though, I must admit, his story sounds true to me." Relg stops for a second, thinking. Then he adds: "Now, if he really regrets what he has done, and if he wants to help us, he might be of use to us. The Szreldor might still not know that he got caught and he might be able to spy for us - of course, assuming that we can trust him." A faint smile appears on the Gargath's weather-worn face. "This is your decision, you know what I would do." With these words, Relg turns away and heads for the stairs leading downwards. 

"Hmm, in some ways, Gargath, I would agree with you. But the fact remains that the traitor must stand trial before the people of Buhr 
Criocha and be punished for his crimes. This story of blackmail indeed has the element of truth to it but that is still no excuse for being party to the death and murder of many in Buhr Criocha and the other villages." 

Valdo motions for Lochan to join them. "What are your thoughts Ranger?  You most of all perhaps, would want to see this man punished fully for his many crimes. Am I right?" 

Lochan glances back at Urmahd and says: 
"I agree with you that his tale seems plausible but it has NOT been PROVEN yet. I would remind you of a practical point of having him with us; he may call out to the Szreldor when we're close to them. It may be prudent to gag him at such a time." 

The Guard Captain nods: 
"A wise suggestion, Lochan. We shall indeed do so if it seems prudent to do so. It is still, ultimately, my decision on what to do and right now I am more than aware that we waste valuable time. Time that the Szreldor are using to widen the gap between us and them..." Valdo smiles and adds, raising his stern voice: 
"We have an appointment to keep with the garrison at DionaDail and the Captain in charge  will not wait over long. We must decide quickly. You and you! Blindfold the traitor and take him downstairs to await us." 

The two militia men nearby jump to attention and swiftly do their Captain's bidding. Before long, only the group remain in the upstairs room. Valdo turns to address them: 
"Firstly, let me make my intentions clear to you all. The traitor Urmahd is coming back to stand trial before Raigorn McGarht and Lord Mahrdhricks in Buhr Criocha. Lochan, you have the task of seeing that the traitor survives at least until that time." 
Lochan immediately raises his eyes to protest strongly but Valdo holds up a hand, anticipating his reaction and says: 
"Do not fear Ranger. We still go to retrieve our people. I only want Urmahd to be in a good enough condition to talk when he stands before Lord Mahrdhricks and for the time being, he is our responsibility." 

Lochan nods and awaits to hear what his Captain has in mind. Valdo addresses the group once more, catching Billy's eye as he does so: 
"However... as Keddrun is a well respected man among the northern settlements hereabouts, we have an honourable obligation to secure his wealth for his potential return. I would ask those that have taken interest in the contents of the smaller chest to return those items to it and it shall be sealed and returned to the village. As for the other chest, it appears to have been the spoils of the Goblins and thus I say we should share freely and equally amongst ourselves as is the way of the Northmen. Each person here is entitled to fill their money pouch with coin from the chest and the rest will be secured in the cart for use when required." The remaining militia men in the room need no further hesitation and eagerly descend upon the open chest and begin pouring handfuls of the bronze coin into the leather purses at their belts. Valdo smiles and adds: 
"Now... I would hear the opinions of you all regarding what to do with the traitor. Do we take him with us and turn his services somehow to our cause or do we remove the burden that slows our every step?" He stands, waiting for a response. 

Lochan motions once again for a chance to speak, saying: 
"Urmahd's tale leaves many details unspoken, Sir. Who was the Szreldor chief he owed a gambler's debt to? What arms did he supply to them and at what profit to himself? Which warband 'picked him up' and what details of the court at Szrel Arkasa can he give us? What of Tirana Koresh and Loruss Gars?" 

"You are right Lochan. There is far more to his tale than he has spoken openly of. Go and see what more you can evince from the wretch before we leave," answers Valdo. "It is your task to learn as much as you can from him but I would like Raddish Smallfold to be with you at all times... if you would be willing Ambassador? It seems you have a special control on the prisoner. I would welcome your involvement." 

Raddish nods and moves to join Lochan as the young Ranger heads downstairs. 

It is Gwalchmai's turn to speak and he speaks loudly to the assembled group: 
"Well, I don't think it is up to us to decide whether or not to use Urmahd's service to our cause. It must be Lord Mahrdhricks' own decision. And if he decides to use him, he will probably have ideas how to use him on a much wider scale than we can guess. I think that for our mission we won't need his services, and, above all, we can't take the risk of having him turning back against us. I propose that two or three of us, good riders all, take him back to Buhr Criocha. After that, as the main group is slowed by the cart, the riders should not have too many difficulties catching them up at the meeting point. If you need a volunteer, I am one of them." 

Valdo nods: 
"Thank you for the offer Gwalchmai. Your words speak of wisdom also but I would prefer to have the strength of your axe-hand with me however. Your thoughts are noted, now let us see what the others have to say." 

Meraina stands silently through the whole questioning, smirking slightly in approval at the faked drop that reduces Urmahd to a gibbering wreck.  As soon as the guardsmen have filled their purses she goes to the chest to do the same, packing the coinage carefully to make the best use of the space in her pouch.  At Valdo's question she thinks carefully before replying: "I think Urmahd does have a little more information that he has managed to withhold from us.  But I don't think it's enough for us to be burdened with 
him.  Can we spare a man or two to take him back to Buhr Criocha?" 

Coru joins Relg downstairs without giving a vocal opinion on the prisoner's faith. His eyes however, betray his thoughts; hatred for the enemy, like his leader. The rest of the group shrug with indifference: "It is not our job to say what to do with the traitor, Valdo" says Froin. "As Gwalchmai has rightly said. It is the will of Lord Mahdhricks that hangs over the traitor now and we do not want to go against his orders!" He looks sidelong at the two remaining militia men in the room. 

After all have had the chance to speak their minds, Valdo nods and answers: 
"I hear your thoughts and take guidance from them. All right. We shall extract what information we can from Urmahd before turning him over once we meet Captain Harmal and his band from DionaDail. Once there, a small detachment of militia will escort the traitor back to DionaDail for trial. The rest of us will join forces and ride hard on the trail of the Szreldor. We have women and children to rescue and far to go yet so let us not delay further. As the good Lady Elf said a while ago - there is a brooding menace in this tower and it is not a fit place to tarry. Let us be back to the horses and on our way." With that he turns and, after motioning for the guards to bring the two chests with them, heads for the stairs and the grassy sward below. 
 

Later... 
 

Coru does not care for his share of the money in the chests and pays no heed to them as the heavy wood cases are loaded into the back of the waiting cart, to join the bound and gagged form of the traitor Urmahd. Arekhel is also there, curled up in the spare blankets and fast asleep. Strangely, no one wishes to wake her further. 

Coru turns away, far more interested in the dagger with the Tigers-eye pommel that he laid eyes on earlier... He brings it forth and approaches Valdo as the man completes the dissemination of orders to his men and climbs carefully into the saddle once more. Coru waits until the Guard Captain has adjusted the tight bandage about his damaged ribs, then asks him if he has an opinion on who should to get it. 

Valdo takes the offered weapon and weighs it's strength in his hands. "A fine weapon, Coru. Worthy of your skills as a huntsman," and he gives it back to the man before turning away to oversee the dispersal of his men to scouting positions away from the main group. 

Coru nods and turns as Relg rides up beside him, the horse beneath him snorting and frisky to get moving once more. Still not satisfied, the young Tracker makes his way over and asks again who seems fit to take the weapon. 

Relg takes the dagger and carefully examines it. "It seems to be a nice piece of work. Take it..." he says, and then continues, laughing: "... and don't forget to use it when necessary!". 
 

Later again... 
 

Dawn sees a streak of riders pounding down the southern road towards the settlement of DionaDail by Beinn Diomir, the Lonely Mountain. The smell of the soft loam stirred up under the horses hooves rises pungent in the soft sunlight of a clear day. 

As they ride, Lochan continues his cross-examination of the prisoner, his gag now removed to facilitate speaking. With the sound of the horses onward rush, the man's weak voice does not travel far and his own fatigue prevents him from doing more than answering the man above and to the right of him. 

"So you say that you owed a gambling debt to a Szreldor leader. Who was he and what were the arms that you were forced to supply?" 

"They were mostly steel weapons; swords, lance and arrow tips. The Szreldor leader was from a tribe known as the Bothar I think. They lived in the foothills to the north of the Great Forrest by the Inland Sea and needed the weapons to defend their territory from the fearful raiders of Thuulkan who came from the Far East." 

"And what was his name? Did you get a name?" 

"I...I think it was Lorgan or something..." 

"Hmmm, but that still does not explain how you became involved with the plans of Maldor V and the Szreldor." 

"Huh? Ah. I was taken one day in full daylight by a small band of Szreldor dressed much like any other of the Easterlings but these men had a red line of war paint down their right eyes. They were all the same. I had received a message from Lorgan that he had a new deal to strike up that would not be for weapons. He sent some uncut gemstones as a token and my interest, you would probably say greed, was piqued. I arranged to meet them south by east of the marketplace of Buhr Tallanmor. I was to come alone to the most 
southerly in that line of hills. They would be watching. Well... not surprisingly I fell into their trap. It seemed Lorgan was under some sort of control by these Szreldor, I heard some of the Bothar laughing as I was taken away in chains, I think they called them the Uldragor, the 'killers of Uldor'. Just the sound of that name sent a cold blade of fear straight to my weak heart. I was terrified." 

Relg rides close, listening carefully to every word: 
"So?" 

"So, I was taken to the outskirts of the city of Szrel Arkasa to the brooding mansion of the king's priests that stands above the promontory although I didn't ever meet the Tirana Koresh. I was grateful! It was there that a man named Yaconda Nho told me how I was going to aid the king and the Szreldor armies destroy the presence of their enemies in the north. I could not resist for the fear that lived in those desolate halls was a palpable thing and at all times, there was something...a presence... always behind me, hanging just beyond reach that... Well, they took me to the dungeons where I was shown what would happen to my uncle and to myself if I 
ever strayed from the task. It...it is not a pleasant thing to have a death sentence hanging over you but not just you...over your family as well!" He looks pleadingly up at the faces around him in the cart. "The Zegar do their job well, I am sure of it. Too many stories have I heard... of bodies recovered from the river, their throats sliced deep with a garotte and their hands removed at the wrist. Ugh!" Urmahd shivers and hunches up against his knees. "Now, that is my fate. I have my own Zegan to face when the time comes. I am already a dead man." Urmahd's head drops slowly to rest upon his knees as the cart rocks back and forth over the rutted ground. 

As Relg scrutinises the pathetic man and goes over the words that have just been spoken, he sees the light almost flee from behind the traitor's eyes. Whatever the man has seen during his stay in the Szreldor capital it is enough to rob him partly of his sanity. The mind of the man seems to hide away from the visions that play across his memory. 

Lochan begins to ask a further question: 
"What of Loruss Gars then?" but Relg places a hand over the other's wrist and in a strange moment of almost compassion? says: "Let him rest awhile. There will be more time later when we stop to question him further. He has given us already more information than you think!" 

As Lochan nods and whips his horses reigns to speed up towards the Guard Captain ahead, Coru maneuvers his horse up beside Heladil, with the dagger in his left hand. Since the Elf seems to be minding his own business, Coru clears his throat to attract the others' attention. 

"Eh... Heladil" he starts... 

The Elf quickly wakes up from his mind-wandering, and focuses on the Tracker. With a slightly arched eyebrow Heladil looks at Coru. In the time that they have been together, Coru and his companions have been somewhat aloof. With a small self-conscious grin, for his folk are often viewed in the same manner, Heladil answers, "Yes?" in his typically Elven-soft voice. 

"Errr... sorry to disturb you, but there's something I've wanted to ask you about. You see, I found this dagger on one of the Goblins, and thought that, well to tell you the truth I think it's one hell of a dagger, one of the best looking I've seen in my days. It seems to have quite a well-crafted blade as well." 

<To underline his point, he cuts a line in the thick-leather of his saddle.> 

"Your probably asking why I am telling you all of this, and you're right...maybe I shouldn't have asked you at all..." - Coru pauses, as if to find the right words. The Easterling isn't as quick to express himself as he is with his sabre. - "But the thing is that I've noticed your longbow, and I must say it's an incredible weapon. How did you manage to get the string that tight on such a length of wood? And what sort of wood is it crafted from?" Coru asks enthusiastically. "Makes my old horsebow look pretty pathetic!" he adds. 

Heladil continues riding, aware that the young man has more to say. 

"The same thing goes with the other weapons I've seen in Elven hands, and I sort of figured that you probably have a knack of it that exceeds anything I've ever seen. And if it's something I've seen a lot of in my life, it's weapons. I haven't met any Elves myself until recently, but around the campfires I've often heard that those from the Great Forrest deal in magics, and a couple of remarkable items have been... found... as far east as the plains where I grew up." 

"I have seen what your horse bows can do, Coru and I would not term them pathetic. I would have a very hard time firing from horseback with any accuracy, yet I am sure you and your folk could hit a target while riding more often than I could." answers the Elf. "As to magic, well Elves are not strangers to it, but do not assume that every Elf you meet will be some mighty magician. I do not know what, if anything, our other Elven companions are capable of, but I have only a couple of minor talents." With that he takes the proffered dagger. 

"So, my point with all this fiddle-faddle," Coru continues, looking away for a second, "is that I was wondering if you maybe could take a look of it, and check out if it's of Elvish workmanship, and if so, if it has any mysterious Elvish powers. I once heard of a blade that glowed in the dark. I used to believe it was just another of Maleg's many tales, but after I saw those dead militia men, I've begun to reconsider my comrades reliability." 

Heladil makes a small sound noncommittally. 

"And even if it isn't Elvish, I assumed you knew a thing or two about weapons, so that's why I came to you," says Coru with a look of keen expectation but mixed with the slight embarrassment for his bold approach. 

After examining it for a few moments, Heladil looks at Coru: 
"My apologies, but 'tis not of Elven make. It is a fine weapon, but of Mannish origin with no special 'powers' that I can discern." He hands it back. "As to the tales you have heard, yes there are some Elvish weapons of great power, but I believe the masters of weapon making are our friends the Dwarves." He looks back at the wagon and the surly shape of Boldor hunched over on the running-board. "I am no great weapon master, I am more partial to the wood and wilds.  I have seen your abilities in the wood and in 
tracking and have been impressed, for you see, I also pride myself on my woodcraft. Perhaps next opportunity we get we can go and see if we can find some fresh game for the party." 

"I understand that you are known as 'Hawk' by your companions, is that so?" asks Heladil after a short while. 

Coru nods in affirmation. "Why?" 

With a smile, Heladil adds almost to himself: 
"We'll see." 

They continue to ride side by side for a while before Heladil suddenly sits up in his burnished saddle and points away to the east. "See there, Coru?" he says, looking to the other. 

Coru squints into the dew-born mist rising in swirls from the warming fields but try as he does, he cannot pinpoint to what the Elf is referring. He shakes his head. "I see nothing." 

"It will take some time perhaps to arrive but watch and you might see..." answers Heladil cryptically before cupping his hands to form a short enclosure around his mouth. Taking a deep breath, he emits a loud and strange, "Krek krek krek, yekaah!" sound which surprises Coru enough for him to drop the reins of his horse for a moment. The sound carries far and the Gargath is not even sure if he did not hear an answering cry the same from somewhere far away. Heladil just smiles at him then continues riding, enigmatic as always. 

Coru stares at him for a moment, letting his horse stop to crop the verdant grass. Shaking his head and watching the Elf's back, the Tracker surmises the sound he heard must have been an echo bounced back from the surrounding hills. He takes control once more and puts his horse into a trot to come alongside the Elf and raises his hand to catch Heladil's attention when, without looking round, Heladil points once more just up ahead and above them. Coru looks up and discerns a dusky V-shape spiralling in lazy circles 
towards them. Heladil emits the "Krek keh, yekaah!" call again and the bird, for that is what it is, immediately alters its course and swoops towards them. 

"It is not a Hawk but a Bird of Prey nonetheless," says the Elf watching the bird approach. "A 'Kite' in fact," he adds, using the Arhunerin term that Coru barely knows.