After another hour the four of them had prepared their bedrolls and said their goodnights. One more full day of scouting to go.
The next morning they were approaching a large farm on a hill in the distance, the surrounding land around it was cleared of all trees. Wollfen was sure they had a good view of the rest of the valley and anything that approached.
“Everyone on alert, I don't expect any trouble but we can't know what they may think of us, this is the wilds we are in.”
Kane rode out to the side a bit with Solynne and Keera stayed with Wollfen.
“Kane and Solynne watch the windows and doors, Keera scan the left into the trees.”
They all unhooked the straps holding their swords in their scabbards and continued to ride on casually but on alert. At about eighty yards out Solynne spoke,
“I see movement in the window by the door, they are home and watching.”
As they got closer Keera then spoke up too,
“I don't see anything in the woods at all, it is clear.”
Wollfen switched his focus to the farm house watching warily, at thirty yards he called out,
“HO!! To the people of this land! We are scouts for the Kingdom! My name is Wollfen seconded to Lord Cazzara on official business! We mean you no harm!”
The door immediately cracked open a couple of inches,
“Stop where you are! I expect to see proof of your claim!” Wollfen held up his hands,
“What would you have me do?”
“The other three stay where they are, you dismount and drop your sword. Then come onto the porch and show me any papers you have.”
Wollfen did as he was bid getting off his horse. He then undid the belt holding his sword hanging it on the pommel of the saddle. After that he reached into a saddle bag and pulled out a scroll. Walking up onto the porch and keeping his hands in plain view he offered the scroll through the crack in the door. The man took the scroll and Wollfen waited, then the door opened and the man walked out offering his hand,
“Welcome Lord Wollfen, we are grateful you are here.”
Wollfen took the offered hand and shook it,
“Please just call me Wollfen, I am no lord, just a scout.” He could tell the man was on edge, “Have you had troubles?”
As they got into a discussion Kane looked to the other two making a nod, he understood that it was fine now for them to dismount and approach, which they did.
Wollfen turned to Kane and the others as they mounted the porch,
“This is Bordon, he was just telling me a band of four orcs attacked his cattle yesterday and chased his eldest son, they have been in lock down here since then.”
The three nodded to Bordon and they all greeted each other, two pairs of eyes peered through the door from behind Bordon, Kane smiled and waved at them,
“Hello there you two.”
Bordon turned and waved the children out, one boy in his early teens and the other a girl of eight,
“This is my son Callan and my daughter Jessica.” Again there were greetings and Wollfen turned to Kane,
“Why don't you take the other two and do a patrol of the surrounding woods, check for signs of any orcs in the area.”
“Will do, give us about an hour.”
Wollfen nodded as the other three turned and left. He was sure they wouldn't find anything but it would certainly put this man's mind at ease to see them doing something and be able to give the all clear.
“Please come in, we have some food if you are interested.”
Wollfen certainly wasn't going to knock back a free meal and entered. Once inside he gave a quick look around the room and saw it was spartan, definitely a place of practicality with no trappings of comfort. He sat down at the table on one side of the room, there was a loaf of bread already started there as well as some vegetables, all cooked. He allowed the daughter to cut some slices for him which he smiled and thanked her for. As he ate Wollfen began asking Bordon about his life here,
“So tell me Bordon, how is it you are here all alone with two children?”
The man looked down and Wollfen could see the question was a heavy one,
“Things have not gone good the last couple of years, my wife died last winter, she is buried out by the large oak tree.”
He paused and looked out the window, Wollfen noted a look of wistfulness cross his face, obviously the man was still mourning.
“Then a couple of months ago my two farm hands left for greener pastures, it has been only us three since then keeping things together.”
Again the man looked around, this time at the two children and a little smile crossed his face. He was obviously a dedicated man who loved his children.
At that moment they could hear horses pulling up outside, the others were back so soon? It had only been about fifteen minutes. They all went outside to be greeted by Kane and the other two grinning and holding their 'spoils of war'. Kane didn't hesitate in speaking up,
“We found the four orcs skulking about near the edge of the woods just east of here, it didn't take long to clean 'em up and grab their weapons. We have two crossbows and four swords here, I am sure the farmer can use them.” He was quite proud of himself.
Bordon was quite pleased,
“That's great, yes I can use those crossbows for sure, I certainly have never had the money to buy such weapons, I could also trade off some of the swords for grain at the market.”
Kane motioned for the other two to place the weapons on the porch and he looked to Wollfen who gave a wink of approval.
“Please come inside and have a meal, it isn't much but you are welcome to it.”
They all filed back inside and the conversation was a lively affair as the three of them recounted their exploits in taking down the four orcs. The two children were in awe of them. Wollfen watched on quietly taking note of what was said, curious as to the orcs. Why on earth had they hung around for another day? They had attacked and taken a cow for their own consumption and yet were still here watching the family. Were they planning to attack again? Ever since the orcs had attacked the Nightclans he had paid particular attention to orc activities over the last year, looking for but not finding any evidence of the orcs organizing or coordinating to do anything else. They had continued to carry on like mindless animals simply acting on their own urges. Those urges were simple to an orc, eat, sleep, fight and fornicate.
The end result was he had nothing to put in his final report to Lord Cazzara other than there was some extra orc activity along the borderlands. It troubled him, surely there had to be more? He turned to the others,
“I think it's time we got back to our duties, time is a wasting and we need to be back in Outrock tomorrow.” The other three nodded,
“Let me thank you once again for stopping in Wollfen, you have saved us from certain danger with the orcs that were killed.” He nodded in appreciation.
“And we thank you for your hospitality Bordon, I hope you success in the future.” Wollfen got up and walked towards the door, the others had already exited, “Goodbye and good luck.”
Once outside they all mounted and left with a wave, their journey would take them to the foothills of the mountains further east. Wollfen was curious as to what there may be now that there was evidence of orcs in the area. The day was proving to be a hot one and they settled into a slow canter as to not overheat the horses. They had many miles to go today. Kane took up position in the lead scanning the woods for any sign of activity as Keera took up the rear looking out to the sides and behind. Solynne had fallen in beside Wollfen.
“I have been watching you Wolf.”
“Oh? And what have you noticed?”
“You have been watching Kane doing his thing now for awhile and you are impressed by his leadership abilities, not to mention his quick wits.” Wollfen chuckled with a little smile,
“You did good in finding him I must say, he sure is a smart one and capable too. He is proving his worth very quickly.”
“And what of Keera? She hasn't been doing much, but what she has done seems to show she is good at it.” Wollfen agreed,
“Yes I don't expect everyone to bedazzle me, Kane is a stand out. Keera though has proven herself adept at just about everything that is thrown at her, none of us have trained together. You know me well and understand what I want or need when faced with any given situation. But these two haven't gotten to know me and yet they too have worked well with us.”
“Yes, apart from Keera's heavy drinking she is a perfect fit.”
Wollfen looked across at Solynne, they had known each other a year now and had ridden many a mile together. They had never come together as lovers though, it hadn't bothered him but he had wondered if she was maybe not interested in men. Well Kane had put that question out of his mind that was for sure.
“You know, we know each other well Solynne, you have helped me out no end this past year, I thank you for that.” She smiled at the compliment,
“Piss off Wolf, I am taken.” They both laughed.
Later that afternoon they approached the foothills of the mountains, it had been an uneventful ride with no encounters of any kind. In fact they had seen very little wildlife too. The region was almost desolate. Wollfen wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his forearm and looked around,
“Let's pull up, I doubt we are going to find anything of interest, I want head back.”
The four horses were reigned in and turned about, they wasted no time in trotting off back the way they had come, other than the stopover in the farm it had been a waste of time. Well not really, at least Wollfen could say for sure now that there was no orc activity of any importance here. They rode for another four hours until dusk fell, then they picked out a nice spot to make camp and stopped for the night. If they were lucky they should be back in Outrock after lunch tomorrow.
The evening passed quietly but later that night the clouds closed in and a drizzle started in the early morning hours before dawn, by the time they got up they were mostly soaked through. It was a cold morning as they mounted up and no one felt like breakfast, the sooner they could leave the better. The journey continued on and an hour later the rain became heavier, if there was any doubt they were wet before then there was none now. The four of them looked like bedraggled puppies having played in the rain, just not as excited.
“Any chance of you using some magics to make the rain go away?”
Solynne was looking at Wollfen when she spoke, he looked at her without a word and simply shook his head, he wasn't enjoying this at all. Kane though was in better spirits,
“You should grab a bar of your soap and start using it in your saddle Solynne, it wouldn't hurt to get rid of that sweaty smell you have built up the last couple of days.”
“Cheeky bastard.”
Kane laughed out loud and trotted off a little faster to put some distance between him and her, she just glowered at his back. Wollfen looked back to Keera who had been quiet all morning and gave her a nod, she didn't respond though and he wondered if she was okay. Well they would be back in Outrock soon enough, a hot bath would work wonders.
“Hey.”
Kane pulled up staring off to the left, they were on an open rise of the road and he was staring intently when he called out. The other three pulled up and looked too.
“About a mile out, down near the base of that hill, a troop of people moving on horseback.” They all stared for a few moments.
“It is strange they are moving through the open plain there and not using the road, are they looking to avoid any encounters?”
Wollfen considered Keera's words, it was unusual, were they bandits?
“Who knows, there looks to be about a dozen of them, they aren't moving fast.”
No one could tell what they might be up to.
“Let's continue on, it isn't of any consequence to us.”
The four of them geed their horses on once more and they quickly forgot about what they had seen, they were more intent on getting back to Outrock and having some hot food.
Later that afternoon they mounted a rise and saw Outrock off in the distance, not long now. It livened their spirits a bit to see their destination. The rain had stopped a couple of hours before but a wind had picked up. In those overcast conditions it had chilled them to the bone. Soon enough they were approaching the gates to the town, curiously they were shut. Pulling up Wollfen hailed the guard standing on the rampart,
“Ho! We have business in town!” The guard made no moves as he addressed them,
“The town is in lock down you will need to move on!”
Another man also dressed in uniform showed up beside the guard,
“What business have you?” All this was very curious to the four.
“We have returned from a scouting trip for the Lord Cazzara, please inform the official Oberton that we are here.”
There was some talk on top of the rampart and the man turned back to them,
“The man you call Oberton is dead.”
“What? What has happened? Get me your Man at Arms, I need to speak to him.”
“He is dead too.”