Such was the skill of the wagoneers and the strength of the relationship they had with their animals that the oxen were hitched to their wagons in less than five minutes. Once all the wagons were ready, Dravid launched the caravan down the road at the maximum speed the oxen could manage. Unfortunately, this was all of about three miles an hour so the members of the caravan watched anxiously behind them with crossbows at the ready. The three companions had waited until the last minute to leave and were now riding in the back of the final wagon in the line, searching the road behind them for any sign of movement. Terri leaned a little closer to Aggy and asked, "Are you all out of spells or have you saved something special for the bandits if they decide to follow us?"

Aggy took a break from rubbing her leg where the arrow wound had been to answer Terri's question.

"I've got a couple left but only one of them is likely to scare them off. I didn't use it back there because I was afraid of setting the whole forest on fire. If you and Flem can keep an eye on the road I'll get out my spellbook and re-memorise the two spells I've already used just in case we need them again."

"That sounds good to me," Terri replied and then frowned. "Is your leg still painful? I thought I'd completely healed it."

"No lass, it's fine. It just makes me feel better to rub it. I've never been healed by the power of a god before. Very few dwarves become clerics, we're too busy looking for fights to spend much time praying."

The wagoneers had travelled many miles before they began to relax and start to believe that the bandits had chosen not to follow them. Nonetheless, they travelled all day without a break, pushing the oxen to the borders of exhaustion. No one slept that night, and although their progress the next day had to be slower to rest the animals, the vigilance of the wagoneers continued with the same intensity.

It was not until they were only one day out from Valleros that the caravan truly relaxed and laughter and stories returned to their campfires. After orchestrating their escape and healing the injured, the three companions had become very popular among the wagoneers. As a result of this they were plied with ale during the evening as a happier atmosphere returned to the caravan. This eventually resulted in Terri weaving cheerfully into the bush near the wagon circle in order to find somewhere to 'water the wilderness' as the saying goes.

She didn't go far, both her full bladder and her sense of caution saw to that. Nonetheless, she was out beyond the light of the campfires and it was dark enough that no one was able to see the black cloaked figure creeping up behind her. Terri was feeling much relieved and buttoning up her pants when she felt a firm hand take hold of her left shoulder and the cold edge of a very sharp blade press up against her throat. The young cleric froze in place, desperately trying to get her mind to focus.

"I don't want to hurt you," said a quiet masculine voice just behind Terri’s right ear. "In fact I need you to trust me, although I realise that this probably isn't the best way of going about it. But first I need you to answer a question for me. If I remove my blade from your throat and step back, are you going to cry out or run away?"

Drunkenness and adrenaline fought for control of Terri's thoughts. In the end the safest answer seemed to be 'no' so that was what she said. A moment later the knife was removed from her throat and the hand from her shoulder. Terri slowly raised her hands and carefully turned around. Despite the darkness under the trees Terri could see that her assailant was a slender, shadowy figure standing three steps away from her. A dark cloak with the hood pulled up hid his features, although Terri couldn't have seen much in the dim light under the trees anyway. He was still holding a long knife, almost a short sword, in his right hand.

The man in black lowered the point of his sword a little and then started to speak. "Before anything else I need you to hear some information. I want you to understand that it was never my intention to kill you in that warehouse in Providence. I had just witnessed my contact stab himself in the chest and suddenly I was set upon by three unknown assailants. Even then, I wouldn't have cast the spell if I hadn't seen that you were wearing a Gravenhall amulet. I knew that it would save your life, and that was the only reason I attacked rather than immediately fleeing. I did not, and do not mean you any harm.

"In fact, I need you to trust me because we are both servants of the same cause, we are both agents of the professor. We may have entered his service in different ways but we're working towards the same goal. And finally, I need to tell you who I am. I know that you are supposed to meet with a contact called 'Scarlett Rose' when you reach Valleros. Well there's no need to wait until Valleros, you're already talking to him."

Terri stood silently, unsure how to proceed. Eventually the man in black spoke again, "I have to admit I'm a bit underwhelmed by your lack of response. I was expecting there to be some questions at this point…..and maybe even a brief round of applause." Scarlett stepped in a little closer and narrowed his eyes. "How much have you had to drink?"

Terri leapt at the chance to respond to a question she knew the answer to. "A lot," she said, "I think I might have set some kind of record." Terri then lowered her voice and said conspiratorially and with a hint of pride, "I think I've even had more than Aggy."

"Oooookay then," Scarlett replied with a wry smile. "In that case I guess I need to make this really easy for you. I want you to go back to the campfire and do your best to tell your companions the information I just gave you. I also want you to ask them what they know about doppelgangers. That was the information my contact in Providence gave me before he killed himself, that the infiltrators were doppelgangers. They’re shapeshifters who can exactly duplicate anyone they wish. Alright, off you go, back to the fire, I'll find you in Valleros when I need to talk to you again. Now have you got all that?"

Terri was fairly sure she was being condescended to, but she was also fairly sure it was justified, so she just nodded and started walking unsteadily back towards the caravans and the circles of light beside them. As she left the forest Terri thought she heard a male voice mutter 'amateurs’, but it could have just been the wind in the trees. When she made it all the way back and told the tale of her toilet adventure, Aggy was particularly indignant.

"He wants us to trust him! Well that's not happening. That mage put a massive hole in your chest for Ogden's sake."

"He said that he works for the professor," Terri interjected hopefully. "He also said that he was the Crimson Carnation."

"For Ogden's sake, it's Scarlett Rose not the Crimson Carnation. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I don't trust him and I don't trust your professor either." Aggy was in no mood to be argued with. "We don't need his help in Valleros, we'll figure things out for ourselves."

------------------------

Midmorning the next day found the trio sitting in the back of a wagon as it trundled along the road. Terri was nursing a massive hangover and Aggy had finally managed to stop haranguing her for being too trusting. Terri was in no condition to converse so only Flem and the dwarf were discussing the developments of the night before.

"Have you ever heard of doppelgangers Aggy?" Flem asked. "I've never even heard the word before, and as for them being shapeshifters, such things don't exist do they?"

"I'll not deceive you lad, we dwarves tell no tales of shapeshifters or doppelgangers, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. The lands around here are pretty tame now but they weren't before Gravenhall killed all the monsters, or drove them over the mountains to the east. Ogden only knows what's living beyond those massive peaks now. It's said amongst us that a thousand years ago we dwarves made a crossing of those perilous mountains in a desperate attempt to escape the terror that lies beyond them. We then travelled across these plains until we hit the Dragon's Teeth and made our home there. Our legends don't say much about the monsters we were fleeing except that they were enslaved and ruled over by dragons."

"Dragons!" responded Flem in shock. "I didn't think they were real."

"Oh they're real enough according to our stories, terrifying too. And it wasn't just the monsters they controlled and ruled over. Until we made the journey into this part of the world, we were their slaves as well. Apart from that, we know very little about our time beyond the eastern mountains. When you leave something that terrible behind you, there's no one who wants to remember it. Have you not ever wondered why your own races tell no stories of what your life was like before you came here from over the sea? Because it wasn't a life of rainbows and unicorns, that's why. You'd be surprised what things can be forgotten when no one wants to remember them. There's darkness in the past of all our races, and I'm afraid that some of it is slowly clawing its way back into the present."