“I don’t like it, Boss-man:” Liaz said as he came back from watching the group they had been tracking.

“This don’t feel right.”

“A Guide should trust their senses, Liaz. What do you reckon is wrong?” Punol answered quietly.

“This group, this mission, something. It all feels off to me.”

“I know what you mean, Liaz. This whole job has just been a shitshow. But you heard Traymon and the mage. They’ve got pressure to do this, and they be pressuring him to do it. Unless we can get them the mages to change their mind, then we’re stuck here until we do it, or they die trying.”

“They die trying? Don’t you mean we die trying, bossman?”

“Feck no! Ain’t no way I’m dying on account of some feckless mages. I’ll do my part, but when the shit starts flying, I ain’t waiting to help them. And I advise you to do the same thing. Ain’t never got no-one no-where, helping mages.”

“You don’t like mages then, boss-man?”

“Let’s just say that every experience I’ve had with them has left some poor sucker either in the dirt, or wishing he was, and I ain’t gonna let that sucker be me.” Punol spat as he finished talking.

“Alright, what did you see? They still moving in the right direction?”

“That’s the thing, boss-man. They moving almost exactly where we want them to go, almost into the Highs. Groups like this never go into the Highs.”

“Almost, never, Liaz” Hinta interrupted as she approached the small campfire they were sitting around. “I’ve seen them there once or twice.”

Liaz frowned and turned to his sister to reply but Punol spoke first.

“Hinta is right, occasionally you’ll see groups like this moving into the Highs, but it’s rare. I don’t like it, but it won’t be enough to persuade the mages to cancel this thing.”

“But boss-man, you always told us that the Littles never go into the Highs. What gives?”

“They don’t take big groups of them there, but occasionally you will see a group like this with only a few of the Littles moving around, but they keep close to the Lows. It’s one sign that let’s you know how far in you are.”

He sighed before continuing “Old Jeran, who trained me, always said it was a bad sign to see these groups in the Highs. He reckoned that it meant they were gonna start raiding again. Said it meant there were too many of them and they had to claim more territory or kill off a bunch of them. Feck! Just one more thing to worry about.”

“You think there’s gonna be raids? We gotta warn people!”

“Nah, calm down, Hinta. He said that one or two groups like this in the Highs meant that they were gonna happen in a while. It’s not till all the normal groups in the Highs have Littles with them that the raids start. We got plenty of time to get this fecking job done and get back. We’ll let the Town Council know, and they’ll sort it. Normally they get the army in to do a sweep and wipe out some of the groups. That normally settles things down.”

They all sat silently, lost in the thoughts of death and destruction to come. Finally, Punol shook his head and said “Alright, enough moping around. I reckon this is the best chance we’re gonna get to do it. Hinta, move up there and watch the group. Liaz, go get the others, while I sort the escape route.”

“Sure thing, boss-man.”

“On it, boss.” Hinta said as the two Guides left.

Punol rode down to the river going past the bottom of the hill they had been camping on and took out a small, carefully wrapped package. Opening it, he removed the two small jars that were inside, then carefully opened the first one. Letting the thick black liquid inside drop out, he made a small puddle of it, then tossed some about at random. Closing the jar, he opened the other and did the same with the slightly blue liquid. Finally, he carefully packed both jars away and then picked up a stick in each hand and dipped the ends in each puddle. Using the sticks, he moved around the bank, making bloody marks and filling the area with random tracks. As he finished, Liaz returned with the others.

“Oi! Keep your ponies back from here for now. This is out escape path.”

Ginara looked around at the scene he had created. “The blue is the blood of an Orkanza, but I don’t recognise the other one.”

“That is Gobodile blood. Mighty hard to collect, but one of the few things that would attack an Orkanza. Certainly, any Big who comes through here will think twice about going into the river, and if they do they won’t want to hang about. When this all goes sideways, get back here as fast as you can, and then get into the river. Head downstream and look for rocky shore a couple hundred yards down on the other side. If you’re in the right place, there should be a decent size cave about five minutes away from the river, on the big hill that you’ll see. We’ll meet up there, but if you have Bigs following you, you do NOT go there. That means you too, Mages” he said, looking at Ginara and Yarnis.

“What are you saying, Scout?” Yarnis replied angrily.

“That cave is a bolthole used by all the guides when they are in the area. If you lead the Bigs there, you won’t only be killing yourselves and anyone who is in the cave when you get there, you’ll be killing every other group that comes into these parts. Boltholes like this are used by too many people for some headless to feck to ruin.”

Yarnis looked like he was about to argue, but Ginara interrupted him.

“We understand, Master Scout, and we shall abide by your word.”

Punol nodded at her then continued speaking.

“Alright, the group is past that hill there, maybe half a mile or so. We’ll go around the hill, until we find Hinta and see what they have been doing, but I think the best time to do it will be now.”

“You do not want to wait until night time, Master Scout?”

“If this were people, that would be useful, but for these monsters, that would just mean suicide for us. They rely on scent and sound far more than we do, and they never truly sleep at night, just doze when they’re in the Highs. The longer we stay this close to them, the more chance there is that they figure out we’re here” he explained to them. “Best just to get it done now, while we have daylight to make our escape.”

He turned and looked at everyone before continuing.

“Now, how long will the two of you need to do your magic? And how close do you need to be?”

Ginara turned to Yarnis, indicating he should speak.

“My preferred spell would only take a few seconds, but I would need to be quite close, say 50 yards, to be effective.”

“Not possible” Punol interrupted quickly. “If we get that close, they’ll be on us before you finish casting your spell, if not sooner.”

Yarnis frowned then replied “there is a spell I could use from 100 yards. Its quick to cast, but its hard and takes a lot of power. I won’t be able to do much in the way of magic for a while after.”

“As long as it works right, you won’t need to, and I take it that you can handle anything else that is needed?” He said, while looking at Ginara.

“Yes, Master Scout, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Alright, that will work then. How long will they be out for, mage?” Punol asked Yarnis.

“They’ll sleep for an hour once the spell hits them, but keep in mind that it is not a constant effect. They can wake be woken up earlier, just as you can be when you sleep.”

“That’s fine. We can work with that.”

Punol turned to the guards and the Guides.

“Once Yarnis gives the signal, we all run in quietly, and slit their throats. I’ll grab a Little and dose him with something to keep him under longer, so don’t worry about that. Just do your job quick and quiet.”

Ginara gasped as she understood what he intended “Master Scout! I must protest! These are thinking creatures! We can’t slaughter them like animals!”

“In that case, Mage, we don’t do the job.”

Ginara opened her mouth to protest, but Punol interrupted her “You said you wanted this job done, this is the only way to do it. We’re gonna have them on our tail soon enough as it is. We can’t leave them alive to track us immediately. So, we do it this way, or we give up on this idiot mission now. Which, I am all for.”

Ginara frowned at him, then finally nodded. Punol turned back to the guards and asked “None of you have a problem with this, do you?”

Seeing them all shake their head, he sighed then turned back to the mages.

“In that case, let’s get this over with. Liaz, lead us around the hill to Hinta. I’ll take the rear and deal with the tracks. Remember, if anything happens, head back to here before you go anywhere else. Do that, and you might have a chance to escape anything that’s following you.”

With that, they set off, with Punol wiping their tracks as they walked the ponies. Rounding the hill, they soon saw Hinta crouched behind some trees, looking out at the group below them. They moved up and watched with her. There were roughly 10 Bigs with two Littles, moving around in the grass below. The land in between them was dotted with clumps of trees like they were hiding behind, while the monsters themselves were in a small plain that stretched between the hill they were on to another hill, 500 yards away. Nodding to the others, they left the ponies with Liaz, who frowned when he realised that he would be left behind.

“Boss-man…”

“Not now, Liaz. You’re the best with the ponies, and we might need you to come to us real quick. If shit goes wrong, you know what to do. Otherwise, wait for the me to signal you to come down.”

Liaz nodded silently in agreement, clearly still disappointed. The rest of them moved out, sneaking from tree to tree until Yarnis finally indicated that he was ready. He looked at Punol questioningly, who looked around at the group, then seeing that everyone was ready, nodded at him. The mage held up his hands and focused on them. A small glow quickly formed on his hands, then, as he frowned in concentration, it grew brighter. Gasping, he lifted his hands up and then made a throwing motion. A distorted globe left his hands and flew at the monsters below. As it flew, it grew bigger, until finally it hit the ground in the middle of the monsters and exploded with a silent ripple of energy.

The monsters had all turned their heads to look at the spot they were hiding in as Yarnis started to cast his spell. As soon as he threw spell they had all reached for their weapons before standing, clearly preparing to charge. Fortunately however, the spell hit them before they could, and they all collapsed as the energy passed through them.

“Now!” Punol hissed at the others, then quickly dashed out, as quietly as possible. Reaching the monsters, he pulled out a bottle from one of his many pouches and a cloth. Pouring the clear liquid in the bottle onto the cloth, he went to the nearest Little and held the cloth over its face. As he did so, it stirred, trying to wake, but the liquid on the cloth quickly did it’s job and the monster went unconscious again.

Meanwhile, the Guards and the other Guides had quickly moved to the Bigs, carefully slitting their throats with quick, deep cuts. The monsters made small sounds as they died, but none woke in time to save themselves. Finally, the two Smalls were the only monsters left alive. Having finished with the Little they were taking, Punol drew his own dagger and moved to the other Little. However, before he could, Ginara grabbed his arm.

“Master Scout!” she hissed at him. “Must you kill it? It is basically a child. Surely it can do us no harm.”

Shaking her hand off his arm, he hissed back “Even a Little is enough to ruin this mission. We either kill this Little and take the other or leave them both here. Anything else is either stupid, suicide, or both.”

She tensed, but finally dropped her hand and turned away. Punol quickly moved to the Little and rammed his dagger into its throat, killing it as quickly as possible. Withdrawing his dagger, he looked at the Little’s face, then turned the monster onto its chest, so he could not see it. Sighing, he looked around the scene. Seeing that all was done, he looked up the hill to where Liaz was and waved at him.

“Alright, everyone, as soon as Liaz gets here with the ponies, we’re moving. Eat and drink now, because we ain’t stopping again until we’re home.”

As Liaz arrived with the ponies, Punol took some rope from his saddle bag and used it to tie the Little up and then tie it to the spare pony. Finishing, he took out his water canteen and drank a large mouthful, then pulled out some jerky and started chewing on it. Mounting his pony, he turned to the others who were mounted and waiting.

“Alright, everyone follow me. Hinta, you’re on scout duty, Liaz, deal with the tracks for a couple hundred yards, then catch up. We’re riding fast and we ain’t stopping. Don’t push the ponies too hard, but don’t slack off on them either.”

As they started off at a trot, Traymon pulled his pony up to next to Punol, grinning cheerfully.

“See, old chap, I told you that if anyone could do it, it would be you! We’re saved and we’ll be famous! The first Company to bring out a live Little!”

Punol glared at him as he replied “No, we ain’t saved, and we ain’t safe. That was the easy part, and it was much easier than the next part. No, we ain’t gonna be famous, we’re gonna be dead.”