To'brel didn't know what to make of his captors. The angry female was easy enough to understand. She was more or less what you'd expect in a captor, ordering him about and quick to kick or shove him if To'brel didn't react fast enough. However, the male was something else entirely.

Your captor wasn't supposed to be cheerful and encouraging. After all, they're the bad guy. So why was this "Lon'thul" always smiling and laughing?

Even now, he was laughing as he tugged the rope he was using to keep To'brel from running away. "Come on, kid. If you wanna walk, you have to actually walk. I'm not saying you have to like it, but that's the price of this little bit of freedom. Don't worry. Despite your current situation, there's little chance of death or dismemberment waiting for you. Though I suppose there's a real danger of tedium and boredness, but that'll probably depend on how difficult you want to make things on yourself."

Now, what did the male mean by that? While he was glad to hear that his life probably wasn't in immediate danger, To'brel was utterly at their mercy. His future was beyond his ability to control in any meaningful way. So how could he determine the condition of his captivity?

The female seemed less interested in cheering up To'brel. "Why does it matter if he's bored? Lock him in a cell until we get what we need. He should be happy to get through this in one piece."

The male grinned back at the female. "Now, I would have thought you'd've been around long enough to know we don't do things the usual way at the outpost. If I know Jack and Angela, they're gonna take this kid and make him one of their students. Probably try and use him to increase the quality of life in his village or some such nonsense. But, of course, it's the prerogative of wizards and dragons to play by a completely different set of rules than you or I."

That was too much. To'brel couldn't keep silent any longer. "What do you mean wizards and dragons? Is there a dragon where you're taking me? I thought you said I wasn't in any real danger?"

The hunter's grin became a little more mischievous. "Now, I think what I said was you were in little danger, not none. But I wouldn't worry about the dragon. She's not so bad once you get to know her. I've never once known her to eat anyone, though I suppose there's a first time for everything..."

Judging by his tone and the wink he gave To'brel, the male was just joking, but To'brel couldn't be sure. He decided to ask the question that had been rolling around in the back of his mind this whole time. "So, why am I here anyway? Why kidnap me? Neither my village nor father are particularly wealthy or powerful. Most years, we just barely squeak by."

The male raised an eye ridge at him. For once, his smile seemed to be absent. "Well, I don't know how much of what's going on you are familiar with, but what do you know about your cousin, Em'brel?"

To'brel's eyes narrowed. "Why does that matter?"

The male tilted his head to the side. "Well, it matters because she's kind of at the center of everything. Your father, the outpost, and even my own village are all reacting to what's been set in motion since the day Em'brel set out for our village. The day Jack and S'haar's path crossed hers."

At that, To'brel snarled as he wrapped the rope around his hands and pulled back on it, surprising Lon'thul enough to unsteady him just enough that To'brel was able to launch himself into Lon'thul headfirst, knocking the older male off his feet.

To'brel struggled to get to his feet before the other male but froze when his head was jerked back, and a knife was placed against his throat. The female hissed in his ear. "I don't know what just got into your head, but make one move right now, and you'll never see home again. You hear me, boy?"

To'brel slightly nodded as carefully as he could, feeling the knife press against his throat as he did so.

Finally, the other male got to his feet, wiping a little blood from his lips as he did so. "Now, what in the world was that all about? Do you want me to drug you and carry you the rest of the way?"

To'brel glared at the other male. Given what he'd just said, his casual attitude was all the more infuriating. "You just told me the ones running the outpost you're taking me to are the ones who murdered Em'brel, and you think I'm just going to continue to play along with this sick game of yours? Drug me and carry me, then stuff me in the smallest cell you've got if you'd like, but I'm done cooperating with the likes of you!"

The male spit the rest of the blood on the ground then looked at To'brel incredulously. "Now, who told you that Em'brel's dead? Cuz I can tell you that I spoke with her just before leaving on this mission, and she was just fine. A little shaken from all the assassination and kidnapping attempts, but otherwise unhurt."

To'brel spit at the older male, feeling the knife's point dig into his throat just a little deeper as he did so. The warm tickling sensation running down his throat told him the female had drawn blood, but that was of minimal concern at the moment. "Don't lie to me. At the start of the last winter, Em'brel and her father were murdered on their way to negotiate with another village. How dare you invoke their names now!"

Lon'thul just looked at him quietly a moment before shrugging. "Well, I suppose it's easy enough to prove. You've got to come with us whether you believe me or not, and either she'll be at the outpost or she won't. So I won't bring her up again until then. How's that sound?"

To'brel looked at the hunter, trying to catch the hidden angle behind his words, but for all his doubt and anger, his claimes made an odd sense. Lon'thul then nodded to the female. "He's fine now. You can let him loose."

As the knifepoint eased away from his throat, To'brel felt tension he hadn't realized had built up ease out of his frame. However, the female's voice still had an edge to it. "You're too quick to forgive and trust. We should tie him back up."

The hunter shook his head, his trademark grin back in place. "Maybe I am, but I'd rather be too trusting and get burned than too cynical and live in misery. The former hurts, but the latter just makes life not worth living!"

The female sighed and shook her head. To'brel caught the edge of a nearly silent murmur that was probably not meant to be heard by anyone. "What a fool..."

-

As he was brought to a towering gate, To'brel couldn't help but feel somewhat impressed. These gates were larger and more imposing than his own village's. What could possibly lay beyond?

Lon'thul walked right up to the gate and started shouting. "Hey, open up! Don't make me go all the way around to the south entrance. I've been on my feet way too long as is."

A moment later and the gate began to open. But, rather than several large guards pushing it open through raw force as To'brel expected, there was just one guard, spinning a wheel with handles sticking out of it.

Once the gate was wide enough to fit them each comfortably, Lon'thul walked through, all but dragging To'brel through as Chal'ac brought up the rear. The older male stopped and spoke with the guard for a moment. "Orth'kun! How's it going? Jack have any revolutionary breakthroughs while I was gone?"

The guard grinned and shook his head. "Nope, not this time. He's been too busy 'quality testing' his new belly bows and getting measurements for fittings on the new gambeson armor he's issuing to each of us. I have to admit, while I can't shoot the new weapons as fast as I can throw spears, it takes a lot less out of me to use it. Hell, it's almost more fun than work! After sooting it a few times, I still feel fresh and ready for more. I can see why you're so attached to that bow of yours!"

Lon'thul nodded and grinned. "Yeah, it's easy to get attached. I felt naked without mine! I can't wait to feel the weight in my hands again and do some proper hunting once again!"

The guard, Orth'kun, turned and looked at To'brel. "I don't know. It seems like you've been hunting just fine without it. I wasn't expecting you for another day or so. How'd you talk him into walking?"

The hunter shrugged. "Well, given a choice, would you rather be carried over someone's shoulder like a piece of meat or walk under your own power? I gave the kid the same choice, and you can see the result."

Lon'thul paused a moment before changing thoughts. "Hey, where can I find S'haar anyway? The sooner I can get this kid settled in, the sooner I can get some much-needed rest. It's been a long couple of days for all of us."

The large guard scratched his head as he spoke. "Well, I'm not sure, but she's already done her rounds with the guards checking out the walls, so I'd guess she was looking in on the workers right about now."

The hunter nodded. "Good enough, I'll stop troubling you then."

The guard nodded and released something holding the wheel in place. The doors were evidently weighted to shut themselves because as soon as he did, the gate closed. Rather than lifting a beam into place like Top'brel had expected, he slid a large nob to the side, which was evidently attached to a large piece of metal that locked the gate closed.

The young noble went from astonishment at the engineering involved in the gate itself to incredulous at the waste of metal over something so frivolous when a wooden beam would have done the trick. Then, as To'brel was lead up the odd stone pathway across a large open field to what almost appeared to be a small town center of sorts, he wondered what other oddities were in store for him.

It didn't take long for that question to be answered. After a few minutes of walking closer to the buildings, To'brel realized quickly that they were larger than he'd first thought. This "outpost" had two-story buildings crafted out of some combination of wood and stone. As he got closer, he realized he'd been mistaken again, and the stone was actually some sort of painted dirt. That was ridiculous. How did they keep these buildings from collapsing every time it rained? Maybe there was some secret to the paint? He wanted to know more.

With a jerk of his bonds, To'brel realized he'd stopped while lost in thought. Looking up, he could see the hunter grinning. "Listen, if you stop and marvel at every wonder this place has to offer, we won't even make it to the end of the path by day's end. Sorry, but you'll just have to wait to satisfy your curiosity later."

To'brel started to nod when he stopped and watched a female drawing up water from a well, but rather than pull a rope up, she turned a device that slowly wrapped a rope around itself. Once the bucket reached the top, he was surprised by the size. Given the female's build and how little effort she'd been using, To'brel had assumed the bucket would be undersized, but if anything, it was the opposite.

This time the tug at the other end of his rope was a little less gentle, but at least Lon'thul was still grinning. "What did I say? Let's get moving! I've had nothing but trail rations for three days, and I want a proper meal!"

Reluctantly To'brel began moving but couldn't help turning his head to keep his eyes on the well for as long as possible. Eventually, he stumbled, forcing him to turn his attention forward again. In doing so, he caught sight of several argu'n holding what appeared to be sizeable unwieldy devices of some kind. Then, after a moment, there was a slight movement by one's hands, and something shot out toward what appeared to be tightly woven circular batches of plant matter.

He wasn't sure what the purpose of that could be and didn't have enough time to dwell on it as a large building came into view up on a cliff in the distance. Why build something in such an inconvenient place? Getting a path up there alone must have taken a large amount of effort. Did these people have so much free time that they could waste it on such pointless endeavors?

While To'brel'd been distracted, Lon'thul had stopped and spoken with a few other workers who pointed him toward one of the buildings. The noble youth had been looking at the cave in the distance and could just make out something brightly shining moving near the cave mouth when with a nod of his head and a jerk of the rope, the hunter set off again, pulling To'brel with him.

Finally, they approached one of the buildings where Lon'thul stopped and knocked on the door. After hearing some response from within, the hunter opened the door and led To'brel inside.

Looking around, To'brel could see they were in a large room with a sizable firepit in the center and a hallway leading to more doors on the other side. There were several other argu'n around the room, but what immediately caught To'brel's attention was the wild animal that was on its feet and sniffing the air in the direction of the young noble. While it seemed a little small, there was no doubt this thing matched the description of a wolgen.

To'brel didn't know why it was here, but instantly he felt a strong desire to leap at it and attack. However, because his hands were bound, all he could do was shake his hair threateningly as he crouched and braced his arms for a clumsy double-handed swing. In response, the wolgen crouched as well and issued a threatening growl.

Just as To'brel was sure he was about to die, one of the argu'n, a female, spoke sternly. "Grim, come!"

The wolgen stopped and looked back at the female, then back at To'brel, hesitating a moment, but the female spoke again louder this time. "GRIM, COME!"

This time the wolgen walked over to the female, who issued another command. "Sit, stay!"

Miraculously, the wolgen sat at her feet and seemed as if he was indeed going to stay. Then, a much smaller caped argu'n whose face was covered in shadow due to the hood it wore reached down to the wolgen. To'brel half expected the beast to bite off his hand, or at least shy away from the offending appendage, but instead, it leaned into the contact, and the argu'n started to scratch the beast behind its ears.

To'brel was so astounded by all this that he barely noticed when the female who'd spoken the commands stepped forward to examine him. Though once he did, his focus shifted entirely to her.

The female wasn't particularly large, standing at least an inch shorter than To'brel, who wasn't even at his full height yet. She was slightly more muscled than the average female, but no more than dozens of others To'brel could think of. Yet despite all that, she seemed to tower over the young noble. He had the distinct impression that he was looking into the gaze of a far superior predator, and he froze in place as his urge to fight melted from his body.

Finally, she spoke. "You must be To'brel, son of Don'brel and cousin to Em'brel, correct?"

To'brel found his mouth dry as he nodded his affirmation.

The female crossed her arms and spoke again. "Well, I'm sure you've had a long couple of days, so I'll be brief. I'm S'haar, leader of this outpost. You are our captive until such time as we can negotiate your release with your father. However, we have no intention to harm you as long as we don't have to. So do as you're told, don't make trouble, and your stay here will be relatively comfortable. Any questions?"