The terrain south of Lyre was largely civilized, but that didn’t help. All the laneways were designed to facilitate transport from the fields to the village and were not that helpful for going in a specific direction other than the village. There were mostly planted fields as well, rather than pasture, which was harder to traverse. Even if they had been willing to just trample the crops, the soil was well tilled and heavy beasts like the horse and donkey did not find good footing in it.

Gwen had her work cut out for her. She went ahead, as much as possible, on Johnson, scouting out the lanes and which ones connected to others in directions they wanted to go in. She would come back and advise them which way to go or would leave markers at the intersections.

Their general trend was more south west than south. That seemed more the inclination of the paths they found, and Gwen reported that just going straight south often led to marshy ground. Overall to avoid having to traverse too many fields they ended up going to the local high ground.

Delta called a halt to it when they reached the top of a modest knoll and found the tumbled remains of some stone building. All that was left was a mounded ring of stones, with a gap in one side. But there was more than ample space for their horses, and it was overgrown with bushes, which made it easy to stay out of sight.

Zipper and Delta hunkered down for half a night’s rest, while Gwen did some longer-range scouting and kept a shorter-range lookout. It was somewhat freeing, to be out, alone, with just her and her wolf. The moon was both new and absent, so there were only the stars to illuminate things, which suited her perfectly.

On her own she could range much more widely, and, even without mountain peaks to guide her, she had a good head for geography and was happy enough that she could find her way back. So, she explored up and down the length of the countryside.

There was a marsh to the south, which she guessed was the flood plain of the river Delta remembered. It seemed to trend more south west to north east, rather than just west to east. To the far west, there was a line of trees. She followed it far enough north and south to be sure it was an actual forest, rather than just a stand or a line planted along a road.

That meant their way forward at next march was between the two. It was all scattered farmlands for as far as she ranged, but it remained to be seen if that continued, or the trees eventually reached the marsh and created a dilemma for them.

Although not abandoned, the land was sparse, and there was plenty of game about the place. In a particularly rich area Gwen dismounted, and let Johnston cavort about, catching rabbits and rodents, and bringing them to her to bag for later.

She massaged her legs, where she still felt pins and needles. When she looked at them, she just felt emptiness. It was as if she should feel more, but whatever was in that elixir they gave took away the pain both outside and inside. It was just now the way she was.

Johnston brought her another small furry creature. She skinned and gutted it by instinct, mumbling a propitiatory offering to Thule over the entrails, praying for continued indifference. It was a strange and different world she lived in now. The tribeless here often did things that made no sense to her at all. But some of them were things like letting her live, and, even beyond that, taking care of her. Her hand fell to her bow. And she now saw that she was of use to them. So, there was logic there. Just different logic.

The breezes blew, and the stars wheeled overhead. They had not changed. It was a good spring night, although much warmer down in the plains than in the mountains. She missed not being able to see the land around her. But it did have the advantage of being able to go further.

She called to Johnston. She had gone far, and it was time to go back. There was probably still a bit of time before the others woke to at least sear the meat Johnson had caught. It would keep better that way.

They loped back over the countryside, scattering a few flocks as they went. Dawn was still far off, but the night was waning, and the animals out and about knew it. Those who slept by day were finishing off their tasks and seeking shelter.

Delta cracked her eyes when she came into camp, nodded faintly, and went back to sleep. Much like the horse and donkey, who twitched at the smell of wolf, but had gotten used to it enough to not wake. Zipper didn’t move at all.

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When the bare smudge of light touched the east Gwen woke the others. They seemed worried about the fire, but happy it wasn’t smoking, and pleased at a meal of warm meat.

Gwen sketched out, as best she could, what she had seen. They exchanged words for forest, pools, hills, and the different game animals she had caught. They were a long way from being fluent in each other’s language, but progress was being made and they most often communicated in a crazy mixture of the two languages. She was even starting to understand a few of the jokes that Zipper laughed so much at.

They wrapped up their meal quickly enough, and Gwen lead them off through what remained of the night. Progress was quick until dawn, as she had mapped out the road. But after that they ranged beyond where she had scouted, into unknown territory.

The forest was visible now to the west as a mass of leafy green trees. They weren’t as dark as the conifers of the mountains, but there was a lot of underbrush which would make for difficult going.

To the east it was open, but that was just appearances. There were dense thickets and patches of marshy ground. The fields had all but ended. There were only a few small patches that were high enough not to be swampy, but free enough of rocks not to be allowed to succumb to trees.

They threaded their way between these two sides at odds even with nature. Any game trail they met, or small stream, went between west and east, and not the north to south they were trying to traverse.

Gwen noticed that Delta kept scanning the skyline ahead of them. Her eyes had mainly been to the two sides, to avoid hazards. Although the increasing daylight made it harder for her to see well.

“Why look?” asked Gwen, drawing alongside of her. She had risen in her stirrups for a good look ahead.

“Look castle”, said Delta. She paused looking for the right words. “There swamp. There forest.” She pointed to either side. “Enemy. North. South.” She mimed people marching the way they came. “Put castle where go enemy.” she concluded.

Gwen thought she understood now. This was a mountain pass. They were moving from the Montihouse tribe’s area to another tribe. It made sense that the pass would be fortified. And, if they were near to such a place, it would be wise to declare themselves to them, so their peaceful intent be known.

It was about an hour later, when the sun was up enough to burn off the mist from the marsh, that Delta called out. Gwen had her hood drawn down deep by then. Her eyes watered in bright sunlight and she felt all but useless as a scout. But Delta seemed to have seen something and called them forward.

They had to trudge a bit further before Gwen could make it out, shading her eyes from the sun. A large grey monolith stood on some slightly higher ground, separated from the trees. Or, given the regular edge, it seemed that the trees had been cut down in a radius around it.

The building was rectangular, with quarried stones forming the corners, and what looked like generally collected rubble filling in the walls between. The top was fitted out with a wooden palisade and jutted out over the stonework. She could just make a few figures on top, silhouetted by the bright sky.

Delta engaged in a shouted conversation with them, most of which Gwen couldn’t follow. She just sagged in the saddle, resting her eyes for a bit. Eventually the negotiations finished, and Zipper led the animals forward.

There was a door in the side of the keep large enough for the horse to fit through. There were narrow slits to either side, behind which they could see men, wary of some last-minute subterfuge. Gwen craned her neck upwards, and there was another person, watching intently through slits in the wooden walkway directly above the gate.

But there was no drama. They were led inside, to a hay strewn open area, that took up the entire base of the building. There were water troughs and a few stalls, clearly set up for animals, although there were no others here at the moment. A pile of firewood filled one side, and hay was stacked on shelves protruding from the wall. Preserved food hung from the rafters.

Once the animals were sorted, they were led up a narrow staircase to the next level. It was pleasantly dark in here, the few narrow windows let in only a little light. There was a fireplace with a fire going, and a meal the people here had been heating up. There was a large table with some substantial chairs set up about it.

It looked like three guards lived here. But their duties were light enough that they all felt they could talk to the new people rather than keep look out. The guests and hosts combined provisions and made a meal of it while Delta and the one of them that was in charge discussed specifics. They had moved Gwen from Johnston to one of the chairs and pulled up trunk sections for the others to sit on. They were quite surprised to see a mercenary without the use of her legs, but Gwen could catch only a few words. From the tone, she guessed Zipper was bragging about her prowess with a bow.

Gwen kept her hood up for most of this and ate the food that was passed to her, rather than reaching out. It was the usual bland, tasteless, affair, so she wasn’t picky. And she knew the less she drew attention to the fact she was a goblin, the easier it would go.

Once Zipper had her initial fill, she seemed to take notice, and became much more attentive to passing Gwen a more than adequate supply of stuff. She couldn’t follow much of what was said, but it was clear Zipper was emphasizing that Gwen had caught most of the fresh game, which the guards seemed to find most refreshing.

When the meal was largely over, Zipper helped Gwen over to one of the palettes. She cleaned her up, something that still highly embarrassed Gwen, and sat with her for a bit, practicing words. Then she left her go to sleep.