Chapter 101

"This feels humiliating," Riley complained, looking at the open rucksack.

Tobias was knelt down, holding it open, "Wasn't this your idea? It's just a bag, and I need to keep both hands on the reins."

"Uh-huh… No laughing!" she demanded before hopping in.

Tobias pulled at the drawstring, drawing it closer, but left her room to move before carefully sliding it on as Sabine appeared from the shadows.

The older ranger stifled a chuckle, then looked surreptitiously around the stables.

"See!" Riley complained, setting both her paws on Tobias' right shoulder, peering out from that side of his head.

The chuckles broke into furious laughter. "You look like a two-headed monster!"

Tears began to fall, streaking down Sabine's cheeks, as she threw a hand over her chest while she shrieked.

"Let me down. I want off!" Riley demanded.

Tobias crossed his arms and sighed. "It's the best way. You didn't want to ride in a saddle cage."

His cold logic hit Riley like a bucket of water, only fouling her mood further, "I've had enough cages for one lifetime, thank you very much."

"Then it's the rucksack," Tobias replied flatly.

Sabine, meanwhile, was gripping a lumber beam with one hand, working on her composure, wiping at her eyes. "I'm sorry, it was just her ears peaking up over yours, then the look to one side."

Riley grumbled, her whiskers twitching as if her anger had a heartbeat. "Was anyone watching?"

"I made a patrol and saw no one. It seems the random disappearances and killings are having a chilling effect," she smiled like a predator, inspiring Riley to tense.

"Then we should get underway." Tobias gripped the saddle horn then put one hand in a stirrup.

The Cockatrice pranced in place uneasily before stepping away.

Sabine sighed.

"Definitive action yields the best result. Don't be timid. You're the boss of her, act like it!" Sabine snapped and, in demonstration, gripped the saddle horn of a Cockatrice in the next stall and with deft, confident action, hoisted herself up on the waiting beast.

Tobias groaned this time but tried again, pulling himself up and onto the saddle.

The beast whined and clicked, unsure, as Tobias patted her neck.

"Easy, Svad. Don't you want to be friends?" He grinned sadistically.

"Oh, you didn't," Riley shook her head, disappointment dripping from her tone.

He turned his head to one side and grinned in a manner that, to Riley, was all too familiar.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"By the Dead Gods!" She lurched back, tumbling against the back wall of the sack, causing Tobias to lose his balance.

A steadying hand from Sabine stopped his fall, keeping him in the saddle.

"I'll ride with you a while and make certain you don't kill yourself," Sabine, kicking her heels, moved the beast out with her, as Tobias did the same.

"I was thinking I could veil us. Maybe we could move out undetected that way," Riley offered.

The older ranger shook her head. "Stealth like that is a bad option when you're mounted. People need to see and hear you coming. You move at a good pace with your hood up, and all anyone is going to see is two rangers moving through Ashenvale."

Tobias flipped up his hood. "Then let's get underway."

Sabine led them out as those on the sidewalks, returning from their day's work, made way, cutting them both a wide berth, allowing them to both come up side by side in the lane.

"Make way!" Sabine cried before digging her heels into the Cockatrice's side, as Tobias did the same.

Each beast kicked off at a rapid gallop, moving down the lane as Sabine tugged at the reins, speeding through the first intersection, slowing only barely to make a left, as Tobias lost some ground, pacing behind her while he awkwardly worked the reins.

Under his inexpert direction, it weaved and pulled, wanting to go its own way. "Easy, Svad, easy."

"I feel like I'm in a Martini!" Riley chattered as they moved down the cobblestone path, heading for the southern gate, far across town.

"Just try to hold on," Tobias called back, following Sabine, who maneuvered deftly, weaving around carriages, causing Tobias to fall back around every tight turn or quick action.

"I'm trying not to be sick!" Riley complained. The world pitched and rolled while the minutes ticked by.

Finally, after about forty minutes, they came to a high gate manned by six guards. The portcullis was still up, though the sun was moving towards its setting.

"You're just in time, Ranger. We're just about to close for the night," one said to Sabine.

"We're on official business; let us through in the name of the King of Ashes," she replied tersely.

The man nodded and looked toward Tobias, and whistled twice before stepping back. "Safe journey."

They galloped out, revealing green, grassy hills bathed golden in the light of day. Small farms delineated by stone walls dotted the landscape, bifurcated by the winding road that chased off toward the horizon.

"How long will you accompany us?" Tobias asked.

"I'll see you to the second wall, then I have to turn back," she replied, kicking her heels once again and putting on some speed as the gates of Ashenvale began to fade behind them.

Entering a wooded copse, Sabine slowed when a stout man in a cloak and mask walked out in the center of the roadway.

"Ranger Sabine, I believe we have business. You're holding my man, making inquiries," he announced as she came to a stop.

"What is this?" Tobias scanned about nervously, dropping quickly from Svad, barely waiting for the beast to stop.

In quick action, he unshouldered Riley, allowing her to hop out.

Pulling at her power, she cast analyze.

The Ratcatcher, 2-10 Criminal Underboss

An item is preventing further analysis.

He'll make you an offer you can't refuse…

"Relax, Relax, you're all so tense," A wicked, creeping smile crawled across his face like a spider as he held up his hands. "I'm alone. I'm here to talk, and besides, is hurting me really worth your family's life?"

He sneered towards Tobias, whose neck tightened in a seething rage.

"You bastard, if you hurt them…" He began, only for the Ratcatcher to interrupt.

"Oh please, that old song. We all understand the stakes, but surely you didn't expect me to show up here without assurances."

"What do you want?" Sabine demanded, scanning around the woods, sizing up the location.

"I'm a businessman. You have one of my employees; you've cost me good men, and word has reached me that you wished to discuss terms. So let's discuss terms," he shrugged and cocked his head, waiting for a reply.

"Fine, you allow Tobias to pass, guarantee to him that his family will come to no harm, and we'll talk this out. Then you can tell me how you came to be here," Sabine's eyes narrowed in hatred. It was clear she was in no mood to bargain.

"Oh please, your little operation is nothing compared to my own, and the castle leaks like a sieve. I'm as much a king as the King of Ashes and in some ways, a little more. That, you get for free, and, as I said, no harm will come to Ranger Tobias' family so long as I return safely, so if you wish to negotiate on his behalf, he may go. I understand the monsters are surging just past the third defensive ring," he tsked, shaking his head sadly.

"I'm not leaving you here," Tobias said, with his hand on his sword.

"That's exactly what you're going to do. I'll send word about your family as soon as I'm done here. Let me do my work; the people of the realm need you to do yours. It's time for you to be a Ranger, Tobias," Sabine said, patting him on the shoulder.