As it turned out, the ‘hounds’ that Meier had spoken of were in fact wargs.

The two and a half meter long dogs excitedly sniffed and examined the newcomers. While there were dozens of warg variants, it seemed the Viscount mostly had riding specimens. Ranging in fur colors of tawny, blonde, and brown these long-legged canines were bred for the rigor of riding and difficult terrain.

Ulgrin was paired with a golden-furred beast and was promptly showered with licks and snuffles. He smiled and patted the dog, standing on his tip-toes to reach its head. He’d seen a few wargs before, but they weren’t common in his homeland. No doubt because the creatures preferred to remain above ground where they could roam free.

“Lassie here will treat you right, just let her do the movements,” the Houndmaster said. He was an older catfolk whose whiskers twitched in amusement. “She should fit your Dunvi stature best. Your lizard friend will be riding our mastiff.”

Saezz seemed happy to ride the almost four-meter behemoth of a dog. I wonder how much a creature like that eats. No doubt it’d be a fortune to keep them happy and well-fed. Ulgrin saw that the droopy-faced tan dog was incredibly muscular. He got a glimpse of massive teeth as the warg yawned. Yeesh.

Baronetess Sarisa had pulled Alyss up onto her mount, a rather agile looking warg with a sleek figure. “Fran has given me the location of this ‘Windcutter’. She’s holed up in the forests to the north, in an abandoned keep. It should only take four or so hours to ride there.”

Ulgrin turned to his mount and questioned the logistics of actually getting up. Lassie seemed to understand his intentions and quickly kneeled down, allowing him to clamber up and onto the creature’s saddle. It was comfortable enough, but he could tell this was nothing like riding a dinosaur. As the warg took a few steps, it felt very rocky. This was going to take a lot to get used to, but at least his seat was nice.

Raelza seemed to remain with her companion, Wreath, the thornshield more than capable of keeping up through the thick underbrush. “Everyone ready, then? It’s gonna be a long ride.”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Ulgrin cast his gaze down towards Alder. “Keep studying those lesson plans I gave you, boy.”

“I will.” He replied, though somewhat sour at being left behind. The human was still far too malnourished and weak to be joining them on such a venture. While he was fattening up nicely, Ulgrin still wanted him to rest longer. “Good luck.”

“Appreciated,” Saezz said. He looked somewhat odd, his reptilian frame unused to riding such creatures. “Let us be off.”

Their party worked their way out of the castle and into the streets. Ulgrin worked to keep his stomach from spilling out as the wargs calmly plodded along. Eventually they were let out of the city and into the fields surrounding Eastpassage.

Farms and ranches spread outwards in a sprawling line that followed the river. Agriculture seemed far more prominent here compared to his homeland. There was hardly a meter of space without crops being planted or cattle grazing. More specialized paddocks dotted here and there, but there weren’t many large grazers.

Approaching the treeline, they found the edges long since harvested, but the forests of this land seemed quite resilient. Tall oaks, maples, beeches, chestnuts, and hickory grew far higher than the alpines of his home.

“You may wish to hold on tight,” Raelza said, casting her red-eyed gaze towards him. “Things are about to get a bit… bouncy.”

“How bounc-” Ulgrin started, only for Sarisa to whistle. Her lead dog immediately broke out and into a sprint, causing the rest of the pack to follow suit.

Lassie almost threw him from the saddle, but Ulgrin’s practiced reflexes managed to hold on for dear life. All of the wargs ran at high speed into the woods, leaping over obstacles and around patches of briars. His adrenaline rose and it was only his dwarven constitution that kept him from throwing up.

Eventually he settled into a rhythm, learning that he had to move his body in tandem with the warg else he'd be far more nauseous and left saddle sore. Sarisa seemed to know the way to go, leaving him free to focus on holding tight. It was different from guiding a horse or hadrosaur, the warg possessing significantly more intelligence.

Instead, the canines seemed more than eager to follow their leader.

Their journey continued for about an hour before the panting dogs stopped for a rest. Long distance sprinters, they were not. Still, they made good time through the forest. This pattern continued until the suns were high in the sky, marking noon.

“We’re close,” Sarisa said, having dismounted and examined the forest floor. Old cobblestones bled through the ground, marking this as a previous road. “We’ll leave the wargs here. They’ll know not to wander too far.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Privately, Ulgrin was thankful for this. His arse was already quite sore. There were only so many times you could swallow bile, and he was approaching that point. Luckily he’d filled his waterskin with more of that shandy he’d grown a liking to. Lemons were a new and fascinating flavor to him.

Stretching his limbs, “Raelza do you mind scouting ahead?”

“Of course, boss.” She gave a two-finger salute before urging Wreath ahead. The two disappeared into the underbrush”

Saezz approached, an odd look on his face. “He has never experienced something like that before. It is not unpleasant, he thinks. Rover is a good boy.” The warg in question gave a happy ‘whuff’ in response.

“Wargs are a specialty of Andire. Nobles and merchants have been raising them for centuries.” Sarisa gave her mount a pat. “Perhaps you’d be interested in buying one of our family’s?” Stepping beside her, Alyss seemed used to riding such beasts and was none the worse for wear.

“Please don’t rip off my companions, mother.”

“I find it insulting that you think I would price gouge them.” Sarisa sniffed, playing at being annoyed. “Betrayed by my precious daughter.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Ulgrin said, drawing his hammer and staff before leading the way. “We’ve got a bounty to collect. The sooner the better.”

The party made their way through the dense forest. Ulgrin laid a hand on one of the multi-story high trees and took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the world. Coming to places like this was a big reason why he had originally set out on this venture of his. The verdant forests would remain in his mind for years to come, he had no doubt.

Following the road, they eventually arrived at what must have been the abandoned keep.

It had been consumed by the forest and was now covered in vines, creepers, and moss. The motte and bailey fort stood out, a testament to the past but not one that would last forever. Eventually it would be fully reclaimed, but for the time being the fortification still stood mostly intact.

A raised platform of earth housed a tower, or ‘motte’ from which to rain arrows. Down below and following a stone tunnel was the ‘bailey’, where the secondary buildings were surrounded by a ring of low rock walls. A dry moat had once separated the two, but the encirclement was now filled with stagnant water pools. Lily-pads and moss filled it, with frogs and other amphibians calling it home.

Raelza joined them before they arrived, telling a tale of a rather lazy watch system.

“Only one man seemed to be on the main tower, and he didn’t look very focused. There’s a good chance we could sneak up unnoticed, even with your clanking.” She prodded his armor.

“That’s an idea. I’ve never assaulted a fort before…” He grumbled, staring at the building. “Does anyone have any suggestions? This isn’t going to be easy when they’ve got the upperhand and terrain advantage. We’ll need to consider this tactically and come up with a good plan.

Baronetess Sarisa surprised him by simply walking out and into the open. “There is no need for a plan. Follow me.”

Flabbergasted, he watched for a moment before scrambling to follow her. “Are you mad?!”

“No.” The noblewoman approached until she was out and fully visible. “To the residents of this fort; hear me!” Her voice filled the air. “I am Baronetess Sarisa Cloudfield. Under the power invested in me by the Andiran Monarchy I demand thus: surrender and you will be spared! Resistance will be met with summary execution!”

The watchman in the tower seemed just as surprised as he was. Then he called out, “Shit! Boss! We’ve got company! Everyone wake the fuck up and fight!”

Saezz crossed his arms. “It seems we’ve been spotted.”

“So much for a plan of action,” Ulgrin growled, raising his staff. “Charge!”

Sarisa almost instantly outsped them, her internal mana rising in strength. She was almost a blur as she dashed across the field, before kicking her legs and leaping up and onto the battlements, pulling herself up the ten-foot high wall. Raelza was the second to arrive, her faithful companion following suit. The two leapt into the bailey and he could hear shouts of alarm.

“Why didn’t you tell us your mother was like this?!” Ulgrin demanded, his legs pumping to follow. Alyss ran along side him, groaning.

“I didn’t think she would bring me on some kind of mission like this!” She replied. “I’ll blow the front door in! That wood’s way too old to resist a bomb or two.”

Saezz amusedly kept pace with them, “Is this a game? The noble lady seems to be scoring many points if that was the case. You should hurry.”

“We are hurrying!” Both he and Alyss replied at the same time.

They arrived at the front gates to the bailey. Once it would have been a stalwart wooden gate, but now the wood had rotted almost completely away. A few ropes were tied to keep it ‘shut’, but any amount of effort would no doubt break it. Alyss reached into her satchel and threw a bomb at the door.

With an explosion of dust and splinters, the entrance was blown open.

Ulgrin found the early-arrivals to be making a ruckus of the camp. Tents and huts had been set up in the ruins, filled with lounging bandits and vagabonds. They were in complete disarray as Sarisa traveled through them, delivering swift debilitating cuts that left hostile fighters on the ground writhing in pain.

Raelza seemed to be enjoying the battle, riding in circles around them and cutting down what stragglers were left by the noblewoman. Her glaive sung, carving red arcs through the air.

“Lay down your arms!” Ulgrin commanded, faced with a trio of men and women trying to escape. They glanced at one another before raising their weapons and charging his group. An axman with the build of a woodcutter raised his two-hander, yelling a cry of battle as he ran towards the dwarf.

[This doesn’t seem quite fair.] Lorekeeper mused as he raised his staff. [Do I even need to help?]

“No, not particularly,” Ulgrin replied before a deafening bolt of lightning was cast forth. It struck the charging man and sent him flying backwards, leaving him on the ground scorched and twitching, but not dead.

His fellows watched the man go down and turned to see that Saezz had met them. He stared down, cracking his knuckles before reaching out and grabbing the two’s skulls and smashing them together. They quickly went down for the count, completely bereft of their senses.

“Only mother would think of this as a fun bonding experience.” Alyss sighed, her atlatl sending a vial of sticky threads towards a pack of bandits.

“Better than a tea party?” Ulgrin asked, exchanging blows with a spearman. They skirmished for a moment before he hooked his hammer around the spear and pulled the man off balance. Then a swift bash to the noggin brought down another foe.

“She’s not even fighting alongside me! She’s just on her own, showing off!”

Ulgrin shrugged. “I’d rather not face forty men at once. Be glad she’s taking the brunt of it all.”

He was distracted by the sound of whipping winds as a dust devil formed atop the motte tower. A figure stepped forth from the cloud and crossed her arms. Elven in figure, she stared down below.

It seemed the real threat had finally deigned to show up.

We get back into the action. Fairly short chapter today, but I was tired out by other things. On the plus side, I'm approaching 100k words in this book! Only a few more thousand to go. Thanks for reading!