- 96 -

“I still don’t trust them.” Said Thrain.

The three ranchers were riding their mounts alongside the front wagon as the group continued on.

“They passed Monroe’s Truthseeker skill.” Said John. Drew kept his beak shut since he was in earshot of the three ranchers.

What’s so strange about warning travelers about a large herd of Garnts?

“It’s just an unlikely story. Garnts don’t travel in such large groups.” Thrain said.

“I saw the pack of them myself just a day ago.” Pegg said.

“Herd.” Said Damien from his seat up front beside John on the wagon.

“Sure I heard them too, but more importantly I saw them and counted nearly a hundred!” Pegg said with complete confidence.

“Idiot.” Vaylari said. “A group of Garnt aren’t a pack they are a herd.”

“Well either way we all saw them!” Pegg said.

Hemut kept his thoughts to himself.

“What is the plan then?” Thrain asked. Krag grunted to show his interest as well.

“There’s a cliff face just west of here and we’ve been driving them towards it, but if anyone wandered in the way they’d get trampled and put off the herd.” Said Vaylari.

Seems sensible to me.

“Then that’s where we come in. We get south of the herd and help drive them north and west.” John said.

“With our numbers we can cover more ground and build a wider blind.” The other John said. “And we could use a few of the beasts ourselves. Plus a few more to sell.”

“You’ll have to negotiate that with our boss but with a hundred heads up for grabs I can’t imagine us needing them all.” Pegg said.

“We can take and feed about ten.” Said John.

“Now wait a second John. Let’s not be hasty.” Thrain said. “There’s business to be done here.”

There was a gleam in Thrain’s eye. He had a strange smile on his face.

“We bring a lot to the table, four wagons, six mercenaries and a handful of fighters, enchanters and mages among us.” Thrain said.

“We can bring you and your business proposal to our boss.” Vaylari said. “You have to negotiate with him.”

Within 30 minutes the group left the forest behind them and entered rolling plains. Tall golden grasses spotted the open expanse interrupting the view.

Plenty of spots for beasts to hide and ambush travelers.

“I never get tired of looking at these plains.” Said John. “They stretch across all of Ressalia. After our brother disappeared on the wind, it was out in these fields that I saw him again for the first time.”

Drew flew up to get a look at the area. He made a mental note for his map and watched a few large bushes slink out of the range of the wards on the wagons.

More Ambush Cats? Are these things everywhere?

He spotted a dust cloud over a kilometer wide coming up from the south.

Yeah that’s got to be the herd. There’s easily a hundred there, maybe more. That many Garnts could flatten a town!

Drew flew back down and landed beside John and Damien.

“His story checks out. I saw over a hundred beasts and the dust cloud they are kicking up just south of us.” Drew spoke quietly to John. “Didn’t hear them tho.”

John laughed and turned to Vaylari.

“We spotted the herd. We can get around them if we hurry. How were you meant to contact your group?” He said.

“One of us was to ride back.” Vaylari said.

“Send the red haired one.” Thrain said. “He talks enough for all of you already.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Hemut smiled to himself.

“Get going Pegg. Tell them that we found help and that they want to bargain.”

“Tell him we want first rights to any Garnts we capture ourselves. We want only ten but any beyond that we expect to be paid a service fee for.” Thrain said.

“What’s all that? I can’t remember all that!” Pegg complained.

Damien tore a blank page out of his notebook and scribbled the terms on it before handing it to the rancher.

“Here, written out in common Ressian. I’m certain you can manage that.” Damien said. "You can read, correct?"

Pegg took the page and rode off towards the west side of the herd without a word.

“Ah kent believe yeh shut himmup!” Said Hemut.

-

“We better get a move on. Assuming they make any deal.” John said.

Its good just to help. A herd that size is a problem.

The group took off at top speed to get around and behind the herd.

The ride was bumpy and John led the wagons around the patches of tall grass.

“There could be ruts hidden inside the grass.” John said. “You wouldn’t know they are there until you break an axle.”

Drew took to the air to avoid the jostling cart.

We are putting this new wagon through it paces for sure. The new wheels are holding up well.

“You are going to twist a leg at this pace! Perhaps we could slow down!” Marcus shouted over the roaring wind.

Krag and Thrain set their own pace and pulled up the rear with the third John and the supply wagon. They parked their wagons on the road, out of the way.

“Go! Go! Go! Brothers!” John shouted from the supply wagon.

“Well Damien.” John said after they hit a particularly large dip in the road. “How do you want to do this?”

“I have an idea.” Damien said. “We build a funnel and then a maze to slow them down and eventually sort them.” Damien said. He was bracing himself against the railing of the wagon.

“How will you slow them down?” Drew asked flying low over their heads.

“With sand.” Damien replied.

“And when that doesn’t work we freeze the ground.” Seraphina shouted from the other wagon. “Garnts have hooves and hooves don’t do well at all on ice.”

“Her plan is better.” John said. “Stone funnel with the ground frozen over, then sort them into Channels.”

“How wide of a funnel can you make?” She asked Damien with a competitive look in her eyes.

“How much ground can you freeze?” Damien replied.

“With Drew’s help flooding the area?” She said. “From there to about there!” She pointed to over half of the rising slope of the plains.

“You all are insane.” Vaylari said as her Garnt galloped beside the wagons.

That could catch all of them.

“I can get you the water.” Drew said.

“Then let’s get to it!” John said.

“My trip up north wasn’t nearly this exciting. Is this normal to you?” William asked Seraphina.

He was gripping the seat with both hands, trying and failing to avoid being jostled into the elven woman across from him.

“Only on good days!” She replied and leaned out the open door to the wagon. “They are almost here!”

The two wagons veered off to the north-east to make way for the herd to come up alongside them. The two wagons came about and rushed parallel beside the front runners of the herd.

“Any day now old man!” Seraphina yelled. Her hair was unwinding in the wind and frost was starting to form around her fingertips.

Damien looked at the wild elf and pulled his ashen wand out and channeled Shape Earth.

Drew watched from above as a wall erupted from the ground beside the herd. It blocked a gap in the trees that would have let some of the herd veer off behind the racing wagons.

“Ready when you are Skurr!” Seraphina called.

Drew pulled out his Chanel Water wand and pumped his wings to get some altitude.

A fire hydrant bursting, geysers erupting, animated cartoon monsters flooding an arena, elaborate fountains from earth dazzling spectators.

A charge drained out of his wand and a stream of water a meter wide erupted out of his wand.

“Hydro Pump!” Drew shouted.

The herd ran forwards oblivious to the flood of water splashing beneath their hooves.

Not much time until the whole herd reaches us! Will the wagons get clear in time?

The wall of stone rose up out of the ground like a submarine breaking the surface of an ocean. The wall ran parallel to the herd, keeping pace with the wagons as they charged forwards.

Damien was preparing a second spell.

Guess I need to keep doing my part too.

Drew’s wand drained a second charge to sustain the torrent of water.

MP: 30%

Seraphina flung herself from her wagon landing gracefully atop Damien’s wall.

She pulled out her wand and focused on the flooded grassland.

I hope it’s something flashy with a great name. Ice Blizzard! Yamaguchi Special! Will she summon storm clouds?

Seraphina raised her hands up over her head and a meteor storm of beach ball sized snowballs rained down, ice spread from each impact, freezing the muddy ground into a sheet of ice.

The herd was veering away from Damien’s wall as it charged forwards and west.

Who is that?

The end of the herd was in sight. And there behind them were ten other riders.

The red haired man, Pegg rode along beside his boss. A slender man in a leather skullcap. He was leaning across his saddle conveying Thrain’s offer to his boss.

The boss looked up at the stone walls and nodded to Pegg. He grimaced but nodded back.

The rest of their group rode on hollering and yelling, driving the herd forwards. Until they saw Damien’s wall. Then the riders voices turned to cheers!

Damien’s second wall burst from the ground just beyond the frozen grassland. The two walls grew gradually closer, closing in a funnel on the frozen turf.

Love it when a plan comes together!

More of the herd crossed the ice and slowed drastically. The ice had two immediate effects: all of the Garnts started to slip and stumble, and many of them toppled over or got turned around backwards.

“Keep moving Drew! They need more rooms to slide to a stop!” Damien hollered.

Drew activated a third charge of his wand and flooded the rest of the area between Damien’s stone walls.

MP: 18%

Damien’s walls came together in a gradual curve leading directly into a box canyon in the open cliff face.

Pegg urged his Garnt to fall back. Then he veered off and left the riders to meet back up with Thrain and John. The riders chased the rest of the Garnts into the funnel. But pulled up short before they reached the ice.

The two wagons slowed to a stop and watched the herd pass by.

“Well done!” Damien said to Seraphina. She nodded, looking flushed.

“Drew! What is a Hydro pup?” John called up.

Yeah that’s not something they have here…

“Oh nothing, just got caught up in the moment.” Drew said.

Seraphina sat down with John on the wagon and leaned her head against his.

“I remember when I used to call out my spell names too. He’s young still my darling.” She said.

Thrain and Krag rolled up to the funnel, opposite the other wagons. the last John in their storage wagon followed close behind a huge grin on his face.

“Quite the show!” Thrain shouted. “And here comes our red headed friend. Do you think we earned our pay?”