Maisen checked the clock hanging above the doorway at the armory; she saw that the hands on the dial indicated the time was fast approaching the second hour of the afternoon. She winced at the late hour. The captain wanted to spend as much time breaking in the new Watch recruit as possible before returning the nobleman to the dojo as she had promised the grandmaster.

Captain Maisen pursed her lips as she pondered what section of Tregome she could patrol and cover adequately in approximately two and a half hours. The captain wanted to take Lawrence back to the school by dusk so that the instructors would have some daylight remaining to get in some practice time with Lawrence. She decided that the best course was to inspect the northern walls and then march, eastbound, along with the wall before heading south. Assuming that nothing came up during the street patrol, he should be back by the seventeenth bell.

When the captain turned back to the trio of men, who were waiting patiently for her order, Maisen announced her decision. "We'll inspect the northern walls first and then head south." With that, she marched out of the armory.

Sankryn and Giudot walked behind her and stood to her left and right, respectively, while I took up the rear in a diamond formation. As we marched northward at the captain's customary pace, I thought about our formation and pondered its significance. The two Watchmen could have simply lined up in single file behind their captain. If the streets were crowded with merchants and pedestrians, I was certain that they would have marched in a single column. But since the streets were empty, the duo was less inclined to do so. Instead, by standing apart from their superior officer, the two men could focus on scanning the left and right sides rather than staring at the Maisen's back (Giudot) and head (Sankryn). It was a subtle choice by the two men but effective nonetheless for a street patrol because the trio was covering more ground that way. And it spoke well of these Watchmen because they were actively seeking to achieve their new captain's objective rather than going through the motions of obeying her orders like robots.

As for me, my objective during this patrol was to learn by watching how the three acted while patrolling the streets and absorbing their lessons—through both words and deeds. A few hours earlier today, Maisen had suggested that the two were yearning for someone worthy to follow; I was beginning to appreciate how valuable they would become as my faithful followers in the future. Following their lead, I started turning my head back and forth as we marched along the empty street. Of course, all the shops were closed per the Bishop's edict to mourn the town people lost last night.

Unfortunately, many of these shops lacked signs to identify what wares were available inside the stores. They were like the Lucky Shrine in that sense; you didn’t know what you were getting into until you’re already knee-deep into it. I pondered why the shopkeepers would not have signs for their shops. It certainly wasn’t due to a lack of need. Perhaps, it was because the store owners couldn’t afford whatever Roen, the sign maker, was charging for his signs. After all, he basically had a monopoly in town to charge whatever he pleased and therefore, the owners had nowhere else in Tregome to obtain signs.

As I thought about the sign maker, my left hand touched the small sack of gold tied around my belt. I needed to finalize my contract with Roen but alas, I wasn't going to talk to him today since all the shops were closed. Perhaps, it was better for me to talk to him later rather than sooner because this would give me more opportunities to increase my personal reputation and, hopefully, convince the elf to knock down his price.

During our trek through the second block, the church bell tolled fourteen times, indicating that it was now two hours past noon. When our patrol reached the third block on the street, I felt my eyes glazed over and I closed my eyelids for just a moment. I felt a sharp blow to my torso and the sudden hit jolted me awake instantly. I saw the pop-up, which indicated a loss of a single point of health. My eyes darted forward and I saw Sankryn glancing back with a slight frown; his hand rested on his sword hilt. Apparently, he was the one who smacked me awake with the butt of his sheathed sword. I grinned sheepishly, but the tall man only shook his head and turned his focus ahead again.

Our patrol reached the walls after we passed through the fourth street while heading due north. Frankly, I was disappointed by the sight of the wall. It was old and crumbling, and obviously in desperate need of repair. The wall was made of large stones and stood maybe twelve feet tall. The wall was continuous and stretched both east and west, and ended at watchtowers that stood two stories tall. At the top of the wall was a walkway where Watchmen patrolled and walked back and forth in single file. And judging by their inability to walk past each other, the wall wasn't thick at all—perhaps four feet in width at most. I squinted my eyes at the guards and noted that each man carried a bow and quiver on his back. Every ten feet, there was a ladder attached to the wall, to permit guards to climb up and down the wall.

Suddenly, a runner ran up to the Captain and saluted. The newcomer was a young lad, a teenager by his youthful appearance with short, spiky black hair. I surmised that he was probably serving as an apprentice. His presence invoked my thought of Gendun, my girlfriend's son whom I hadn't seen since the wererat invasion of the dojo. I will have to ask about him when I return to the school tonight.

I saw the boy being grilled by Maisen while she was receiving an update on the northern wall. A few minutes later, he saluted again and ran back to the watchtower on the left end of the northern barrier.

While the two were having a private conversation, I walked up to the wall and knocked on it with my knuckles. I was not surprised when I saw some dirt being knocked loose. The wall was full of holes. I peered through a hole that was the size of my head and saw the wilderness beyond. I imagined a tank from back home charging into this crumbling wall and breaking through. I mentally modified the tank so that it was fueled by steam or magic. Hmm. . . if I ever need to invade a country, then a magic or steam tank would come in very handy.

"What are you doing, milord?" Sankryn said quietly as he came over and stood next to me.

"I'm testing the wall for sturdiness. Unfortunately, it needs a lot of repairs," I replied.

"Tregome needs a lot of things," Giudot snorted when he joined us. "Repairing the wall is probably at the bottom of the Bishop's list," he added cynically.

"Do you think this wall will hold off invaders from beyond?" I asked.

"No," the short man admitted and looked away.

"So far, the wall has held up the weight of our Watchmen on the walkway," the taller man replied.

"For how long?" Giudot snorted again. He was secretly afraid of being assigned to patrol the wall and fall off. This was bound to happen to a Watchman sooner or later, and perhaps THEN the Bishop would start budgeting for repairs on the wall.

During our conversation, Maisen marched back and rejoined our group. Her face was neutral as she said, "The guardians of the wall report nothing amiss since the last update. So we'll head east along the wall and then turn south," she ordered and started marching eastward. As she passed underneath the Watchmen on top of the wall, they offered her sharp salutes, which she returned immediately without breaking her stride.

The wall continued running east for another four blocks and then curved south for another three blocks before giving way to a small pier next to the river. I could see the bathhouse at the end of the next street. I looked at the bathhouse, which was closed, with longing; I remembered taking a bath there just two days ago and the experience was simply divine. I wondered if I could coax Amelica into visiting the bathhouse with me tomorrow morning, and I smiled at the thought.

A bridge crossed over the river stream and a road continued running eastward. The church bell tolled again in the distance, indicating that it was now three past noon. The hour had passed by so quickly and peacefully that I had to pinch myself to stay awake before Sankryn had to intervene again.

When our patrol reached the bathhouse at the corner, we encountered a pushcart on the street heading from west to east. Two persons wrapped in heavy, black cloaks were pushing the cart from behind while another similarly clothed person stood in front as if guiding the cart. The pushcart was made of wood and took the shape of a rectangular box with an open top. It was attached to two sets of wooden wheels.

The cloaks covered nearly every part of these merchants and I could determine neither race nor sex. The only part of their bodies visible were their black leather boots and black leather gloves. From a distance, I saw that the pushcart was filled with hay. My writer's mind started whirling with suspicion at the sight. Why would merchants be leaving town so late in the day? And carrying only hay? If they were new arrivals in town and didn't want to stick around until the marketplace reopened tomorrow, then they should have left town by now.

Fortunately, I was not the only patrol member suspicious of the trio. I saw Sankryn and Giudot quietly approach the two merchants behind the cart while leaving a healthy amount of space between themselves and the merchants. The duo had cut off avenues of escape from the rear. The captain slowly approached the merchant in front and I decided to back her up.

"Greetings," Maisen began calmly. "Where are you headed so late in the day?" she asked. "And I need to see your face so that I could identify you," she added.

Slowly, the merchant before the captain pulled back the cloak, revealing azure eyes, smooth pale skin, and bleached hair framed by sharp, pointy ears. The stranger was an elf! "My name is Khaz 'Orhea," she replied with a heavy accent, "and we are leaving now to spend the night on the road because we couldn't afford your inns' outrageous fees to store our pushcart."

Something stirred from inside the hay.

"What's inside your cart?" Maisen asked as her eyes narrowed.

The two Watchmen positioned behind the cart narrowed their eyes in return, accepting her silent signal to prepare to attack!

Before Khaz could offer a reply, I saw a bright red flash. When the blinding light vanished, instead of a pale-skinned elf in front of the cart, I saw one with jet-black skin. A dark aura emanated from her; it was similar to that of Lord Bane but nowhere near as intense. I pushed aside the ensuing pop-up and immediately warned the captain. "Her skin is black!"

"Drows!" the mighty warrior hissed. She immediately pulled free her magical sword, Jiang, and charged at Khaz!