Damien dusted off his hands after closing up the box canyon with a wall of stone. Then he collapsed into his chair.

The two groups pitched their own camps on either side of the box canyon.

Drew was at a camp table with William. The Johns were splitting trees into half poles and building a corral.

“See this would be the best design for a lock pick.” Drew said, showing William a sketch of a simple lock pick rake, and tension bar.

“Interesting, and why do they need to be so delicate?” William asked. “They will be hard to make and I would enjoy the challenge.”

“So they can fit inside complex lock mechanisms.” Drew said.

“I believe most locks would break this pick.” William said.

Scarlet walked over and dropped a bulky iron lock on the table. It was rusty and dirty and filled with thick brown grease.

“This is a fine specimen of your common lock.” He said. “You’d have an easier time opening it with a rock than a delicate pick like that.”

He showed them a collection of simple iron keys he kept on a ring.

“These are blanks and once you know which kind of locks are preferential to which blanks you can jiggle and bump them until it opens.” He said.

”Except that would be the illegal actions of a criminal.” Monroe said as he stitched up a strap on his armor that was coming loose.

So the Locks really aren’t that complex. And they are filthy. I’ve been over engineering these lockpicks. On the other hand, I could make some really fantastic locks ad sell them.

Thrain came walking back over to their camp. He and John had been speaking with the leader of the ranchers, a man simply named Boss. They had come to an agreement on the reward for their participation. Krag and a John were looking over the wall into the box canyon and deciding which of the beasts they would claim.

“I’d call that a success!” Thrain said. “And I gained a level in Haggling!”

“Congrats!” Drew said as William and Scarlett cheered.

“We are entitled to 15 wild garnts and 50 gold to split between the group.” Thrain said he dropped a bag of coins down on the table.

Krag pulled himself up over the wall to walk amongst the Garnts. John returned to the camp to help set up the corral. Scarlett and Thrain joined them, with Thrain standing by to supervise the labor.

If I can’t pick the locks then maybe I need to find a way to break the enchantment? Or blow them up like the Pixens did? Are explosives an Alchemical item?

Drew reviewed his list of enchantments again but none of them seemed to fit the purpose.

And I wouldn’t be able to activate the enchantment anyways while captured. I’ll sleep on it.

Damien got up after his short rest.

“Such a shame to tea up the vista.” He said to himself.

He reached into his sleeve and withdrew his wand. With a flick of his wrist his stone walls crumbled into sand and gravel.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“There, the plains are clear again.” He said.

Drew flew over to speak with the enchanter.

“How long will we be out here in the open? Isn’t it dangerous?” Drew asked.

“Oh it may take a while to tame the beasts, perhaps a day or two? The Johns are aware that we have a time table to keep.” Damien replied unconcerned.

Their corral was coming together. The ranchers were unloading their own ready made fences from a wagon to build a separate corral.

“Should we be capturing these Garnts?” Drew asked Damien. “Feels wrong, like they should be free to roam these grasslands.”

“Well yes and no. The ranchers won’t keep them all. They will release the herd back to the plains.” Damien said.

Drew followed Damien as he walked to join Marcus at the fence of their corral.

“But domestication is a positive thing for these beasts.” Damien said.

“I don’t know, shouldn’t they get to stay with their family and be wild?” Drew said.

“You might think so, but they get steady food and shelter, they get shoes and regularly groomed, and they are protected from their natural predators.” Marcus said.

Thrain sipped his ale and nodded in agreement.

Still feels wrong. Although they are basically treated like draft horses on earth. Couldn’t they contribute to the herd’s growth and become stronger as a race? If people keep taking the best of them then the herd won’t be as strong.

“Doesn’t the herd need to be strong to avoid their predators? We are drastically weakening them.” Drew said.

“Not necessarily.” Marcus said. “Garnts survive by being fast. And we don’t need the fast ones-“

“Although some prefer fast mounts.” Damien interjected.

“True, but what we are looking for is the strong sturdy slow ones.” Marcus said.

“That’s right! The herd will be faster for it.” Thrain said. “Krag will pick out the biggest Garnts of the bunch, Same as Boss and his team. Then it’s up to the young lads to tame them.”

Krag climbed back over the stone wall. He held a small pot of red paint and his right hand was stained red. He signaled to Thrain that he had made his selection.

“If you would lend us a hand old friend?” Thrain said to Damien.

The two joined Krag where the fence butted up against the stone wall.

Damien used his wand to open up an archway in the wall connecting the the corral to the box canyon beyond the wall.

The Johns sorted through the garnts pushing the ones Krag had marked with red palm prints to the front.

The herd of beasts shied away from the men but made no aggressive moves towards them. Eventually they got the hint and slipped through the archway into the corral.

“Should we get in there and help them? What if the garnts attack?” Drew asked.

“No need to worry lad, these garnts are nearly tame since the mana levels in this region are so low.” Thrain said. "The brothers know their way around the beasts too.”

The Johns encouraged 15 garnts into their corral and Damien shut the archway with stone again.

“A gold coin says I can tame more of these wild beasts than you!” John says as he removed his shirt and threw it at his brother.

“Is that so? Let’s raise the stakes. Loser does the dishes for a week for each Garnt he is behind by!” John replies.

William checked his pockets and came up with 5 silver coins.

“I could use the coin, it will cost me a fair sum to challenge the journeyman’s exam in Valoria.” He said. “But I’m 3 silver short of a gold.”

Drew produced three silvers from his coin purse, they plinked down on top of the fence post next to William.

“I’ll invest in your future Will. I bet you will win.” Drew said.

“Thank you Drew!” William said and ran to join the two Johns in the corral.

Drew turned to Marcus and asked quietly. “Do you think he can win?”

“Sadly, I doubt it.” Marcus said.

“Can he even ride?” Thrain asked.

“I’ve never seen Garnts tamed before. How can I help? Will they ride them until they are exhausted? Or is there something more to it?” Drew asked.

“That’s part of it.” Marcus said. “My people go about it differently, the greater half is trust. The Garnt needs to trust in your judgment as leader of the herd. That you will provide food and safety and companionship, even when the times are rough.”

“I’ve seen this many times before.” Thrain said. “They do bridle them, saddle them, and then break them as you suggest. By riding them until the beast is exhausted.”

“Precisely, it’s once the beasts realize you don’t fatigue and then you feed them and build trust that they become tamed.” Marcus said.

John cheered as his brother held on tightly to a bucking Garnt. He was holding on to the reigns, his fingers on both hands white.

“You need to keep one hand in the air brother!” John shouted.

He saddled a second Garnt and gestured to a very concerned William that he was next.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” William asked.

“Oh it certainly isn’t. Just don’t fall off.” John said. “But with Drew here to heal you, anything short of a broken neck should be fine.”

John was thrown from the saddle and he landed roughly but sat up smiling. The Garnt scampered away trying to shake off the saddle.

The group of ranchers was laughing from their camp. They had not yet started taming their Garnts, instead choosing to watch the spectacle in front of them.

John dusted himself off and chased down the beast to climb back on. It led him in two laps around the corral before he caught the beast’s reigns and climbed back into the saddle.

The lead Rancher started smacking heads and yelling. His men grudgingly got to work assessing the herd and setting about selecting their own beasts to tame.

“We might do better with a few deserts.” Marcus said aside to Drew. “If they keep falling off this quickly it could take all week. I have a recipe my Cassie loves.”