Ralan quickly discovered that being good on a horse within the city walls wasn't remotely the same thing as being good on a horse on the Plains. Even when he rode amidst the Outer Fields, the terrain was relatively uniform. The Plains, however, were full of ruts, rocks, and uneven ground that made for treacherous footing.

It would have been easier if there were a road, but the road through the gate beyond the Thieves Tower led along the Wall to the Great Gate. Ralan had to avoid the main road and the view of the White Guard, which meant he had to head out along the foothills in the shadow of the mountains along the path that the two Thief guards had said would be there. The trouble was that what they considered a path was invisible to his untrained eye.

At some point, he was to turn to the right at a river crossing and meet up with the main road. Like the entire plan, it depended on Ralan's instincts to somehow get it right as there was no identifiable path, and he was sure there wouldn't be an identifiable crossing.

As he left the gate Ralan was excited, but after two hours at more of a careful walk than even a trot, his confidence at catching Karch was waning. The good news was that the fractured land of the foothills had started to even out, and Ralan could see the plains spreading out to the north, which would give him an idea as to how best to approach the main road.

An hour later, Ralan paused to plan his route. He had somehow made it to the edge of a promontory at a point where the mountains turned sharply south. He had climbed higher into the foothills and had a majestic view of Ness, the Plains, and the mountains.

He had never known that Ness was set within a notch of the mountains. He knew it was surrounded on the north, east, and south by mountains, but he didn't realize which direction the mountains went. Now he knew that they went north/south, with Ness huddled in the midst of them. The plains went off far into the distance to the west, flat and featureless. The only thing that marked them was the Great River, which flowed out of Ness, splitting the plains in two.

The river presented an obstacle that Ralan was increasingly concerned about. The road ran along the river, but was on the other side. To make matters worse, the river turned south off to Ralan's left. Squinting, Ralan was certain he could see the road continuing west.

How was Ralan to get to the road? He could not see anything that looked like a crossing as described by his guild members. His only hope was to gallop alongside the river and hope that he would find a shallow section that would allow him to cross and then backtrack to the road.

"Hold, knight. Do not move or you will be dead before your horse takes two strides." The voice came from directly behind Ralan. He resisted the urge to turn to look at his visitors. The man said not to move, and an arrow or sword in his back did not seem like a good price to pay for curiosity.

"May I turn to face you?" Ralan asked, as a few thoughts went through his head. The first was that these were probably members of the Ranger Guild. He had been warned that he would likely see them. The other thought was that they might be able to help him. While the final thought was that they called him "knight" and not "thief."

"Slowly," a different voice replied.

Ralan pulled on his reins, and turned his mount to the left. Facing him were two men dressed in brown tunics with green detailing. Brown? They couldn't be guildless could they? The man on the left had a nocked bow pointed at him, while the one on the right had his arms crossed. They both had brown hoods, the type that were generally worn under armor for comfort. For them, it appeared more to allow them to fade into the dusty terrain.

Dropping the reins and lifting his hands, Ralan stated, "I'm Ralan. You can lower your bow. I will not flee, and mean you no harm."

The two men looked at each other, and the one on the right nodded. The one on the left lowered his bow and slung it over his shoulder.

"We've never seen a black knight in the hills," the one on the right said.

"Is there a reason you aren't manning the Wall?" the other asked.

That's when it struck Ralan—they thought that the Knight Guild had a special regiment or something that wore black manning the Wall on this side of the river. They had seen the thieves on the Wall and didn't know they weren't knights. How would they without venturing into the city? Ralan thought.

"You are Rangers," Ralan said as a statement.

"I'm Bode, and this is Grey," the one on the right said, nodding in answer to Ralan's statement. So the Ranger Guild colors were brown. Ralan found that interesting on multiple levels. The first was that brown was the despised color of the guildless in Ness. He wondered if the Ranger Guild knew that. The other was that the Ranger Guild was a sub guild of the Fighters, which meant that they should have had white at least somewhere on their clothing. Putting it together, Ralan concluded that the Ranger Guild was pretty much outside of the influence of Ness. That could be an opportunity for him.

"Well met, Bode and Grey. Indeed, I'm a black knight. I am on a mission for the guild. The deputy guildmaster of the Merchant Guild is on the main road heading to meet with the Outlanders. His departure was sudden, and I have already lost much time."

Bode shook his head. "We have no love for the money-counters, but his is a fool's mission. They will kill him before he reaches the bridge to the city."

City? Ralan assumed the Outlanders lived in tents or in caves somewhere in the Plains. They were borderline savages. What was this talk of a city?

"You did not tell us the nature of your mission." It was Grey, who looked much more suspicious of Ralan than Bode did.

"I'm to stop him." Ralan didn't add anything, and the two Rangers stared at him.

The silence created a tension that hadn't existed before, and Ralan was about to break down and explain more when Bode broke in. "You will save his life. It is a worthy mission. Only the money-counters would be so foolish as to bargain with the Outlanders." Bode's voice turned bitter. "They have no idea how many lives have been lost by our guild as we protect the city from their constant attacks. They raid our supplies. They test our defenses in the hills, in the plains, to the north, to the west, and here." He waved across the southern part of the mountain range.

Grey nodded. "I have never seen them so aggressive. Quinto is talking of traveling to the city to discuss things with Saxe, and the two of them hate each other." Ralan nodded, remembering Alard mentioning Quinto as the Guildmaster of the Rangers.

"Our guildmasters may have their differences, but we both defend the city, even if we aren't appreciated for it." Ralan held up his hand, palm out.

"You speak the truth. We will help you," Bode replied. He nodded to his left. "Why did you not just follow him from Gateway?"

Ralan assumed that Bode meant the Great Gate. He didn't have a good answer for that question, so he stammered a bit, and then replied, "I have no idea. I was just told to leave via the South Gate." Ralan shrugged. "Maybe they wanted me to surprise him and his guards." Grey squinted at Ralan. "Or maybe they're just incompetent."

That evoked a laugh from Bode. "That sounds more likely!" He pointed to his left. "Follow us this way. Our captain is Jesser. I'm sure he would love to have someone escort you on a fast horse to catch up. The Plains are not good for surprising anyone, but the distance to Gaotteland is long, so you will have no problem catching up to a money-counter."

Walking his horse over, Ralan held out his hand. "Thank you, Rangers. I will not forget your help." They shook hands, and Ralan followed the two down a barely recognizable path to the camp of the Ranger Guild.