When they presented their Mercenary Guild papers at the castle, they were admitted to the courtyard. A cheery Lady Exentine met them and praised their new armor pieces and well-tailored tabards. She thought the goggles for Gwen were genius and longed for a pair for herself that would show her the night as Gwen saw it.

But then she got down to business. In a drawing room she presented them with their official contract. There was a message from the King addressed to the General of the insurrectionists and they were to ‘head north’ until they found them and see to it that it was delivered to him. The particulars of the message were private, but she summarized it for them as being a polite reply inviting him to the castle to discuss what such an arrangement might look like. So, on the surface, it wasn’t a refusal, but they didn’t realistically expect their commander to turn up for polite conversation. But, this way, turning it down was on their side.

Delta thanked her for confiding in the gist of the message, and also for the payment in advance. And, there being no further business, they said another fond farewell and set off for the gate of the city.

“Sorry to go. Not sorry to go”, summarized Gwen.

Zipper nodded. “It was a great place, but too many things to spend your money on. It’s easier to keep honest out on the road.”

Delta was lying out in the body of the wagon, idly stroking Johnston. She looked at the sky, and she looked at the canopy, but she didn’t really see either. It was the city she thought about, and the big beautiful walls. The sturdy, robust, and deeply fortified walls. She had seen what Exentine had wanted the Imperialists to see. What had she not wanted them to see? That was a much harder question.

The classical methods of attacking would not help. The amount of people it would take to protect a ram long enough to breach the gates would be too much. Even with whatever magical sapping they had, they would have to get under the flagged ditch, and bring down a wide enough area of the wall to breach it. The lower slope was a good deterrent to attack by catapult or trebuchet.

They might possibly build a ramp. This, like a ram, would need cover. But they were good at their tortoise formation and that would be enough to shield a bucket brigade bringing fill to pile up a ramp. It would be a fairly large undertaking and it would take some time to build something high enough to rise to the level of the walls.

The cliffs forming the northern defenses provided a worrying approach. Although great as defense to invading the city from that side, it also formed a convenient platform overlooking the city. Siege engines could be mounted there that could bombard the city with little chance of return fire. That wouldn’t breach the walls, but it would wreak havoc to the population and town. She really hoped those cliffs had souterrains dug into them so defenders could sally out and disturb any attack from above.

Gwen eventually nudged her out of her revere to take her midday nap. She was still, by nature, nocturnal, and grew a bit fuzzy in the middle of the day. And, although well fitted, the straps did begin to wear on her after several hours.

So, Delta jogged alongside for a while to get her blood and mind flowing. She explained her thinking to Zipper to get a second opinion, and to settle her ideas in her mind.

“Not bad”, said Zipper. “You don’t have to actually solve the problem. You just have to show you’ve been smart enough to think about it. Ideally you’ll have thought of something they haven’t thought of.”

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Pleased that her ideas passed muster, Delta put on her shoulder harness and new gorget, and worked on some practice moves to make sure all the pieces worked well together. There was a brief bout of rain, but the air was warm, and it wasn’t enough to stop them.

By nightfall they had made it as far as they wanted; a major crossroads where the track branched in four directions. There was an inn there they had been told about doing good business and rumored to have excellent beer. They still felt pretty flush and opted again for the privacy of a room. Gwen was much more comfortable around others, now that they could communicate better, but she was still a goblin and many people were not as openminded as some.

She was waiting and alert when Delta woke up the next morning. She cocked an eyebrow at her, but Gwen nodded at Zipper. They got her up, but it took the help of some cold water on her face to get her aware enough for Gwen to talk.

“There watchers outside”, she said. “Johnston smell them at night. I try to circle behind, but they see and left. So probably scouts. Found nice hidey place. Smell like human.”

Delta scratched her chin. “This is awfully near to Germarnis. I wouldn’t think they would be scouting this far afield.”

“Who else could it be?” asked Zipper.

“True”, Delta agreed. “I guess it doesn’t matter. We’re actually looking for them.”

They set off promptly anyway. The next leg was a long one. With good speed they should make it all the way to Strasnoes by evening, a village on a ford in yet another river making its way from inland to the great lake. The roads were in good repair this close to Germarnis, but they didn’t trust there wouldn’t be obstacles as they went.

The traffic had thinned out by now. There had been a few branches since Germarnis, to which the bulk of traffic went to and from. They were travelling faster than most with two donkeys, a well sprung wagon, and no market load. They passed very little on the road until they were close to Strasnoes. They could see a more cultivated area ahead, where the river cut across their path and a wagon loaded with hay was coming their way. The road was wide enough for two, so they didn’t need to negotiate who had to pull over. As they waved amiably at the farmers on their way out from the town. But as they passed Johnston sat bolt upright and began a low growl.

“Easy boy”, said Zipper. “Just some peasants.”

Gwen had also come alert, and was stroking Johnston, trying to get a reading from him on what had upset him.

Taking this in, Delta loosened up her glaive in its loopholes and swung to the running board of the wagon, watching the hay cart behind them. “Stop the wagon”, she said, after a moment.

Zipper started to protest, then stopped. She called the donkeys to a halt, and then protested, “What’s up? Are we worried about a hay cart?”

“They’ve stopped”, said Delta. She stepped off the cart and retrieved her glaive. Zipper got off the other side and readied her spear. Gwen pulled herself to the back, where they had created a nice portal that she could shoot out of and strung her bow.

The cart had stopped, and the three farm hands had gotten off. Only they didn’t move like farmers. Or civilians. They moved warily, and cautiously. One stood out from the others and held his hands away from his side. He didn’t hold a weapon, but he clearly could produce one quickly if needed.

“Wight’s Company?” he called out across the distance.

“Yes”, said Delta. “Now that you know me, who are you?”

“What business brings you here?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“We’re under contract to the King of Avenio. Please state who you are and why you are delaying our business”, said Delta, shifting the grip on her glaive to one less casual.

“Corporal Bero, 7th division, Imperial Scouts”, he said. “We’re here to escort you into the village.”

Delta smiled wryly, “After last night, I kind of expected to be expected. That’s splendid. We have a message for your commander, and that will just make things all the much easier.” She turned and got up on the wagon without paying them any further attention.

The others followed suit and got the wagon going while the others were turning theirs around.

“Do we run for it?” asked Zipper.

Delta shook her head. “As you said this morning. We’re actually looking for them. We were paid assuming it would take a week or two to find them. This just makes our profit larger.”

“But they’re so close”, said Zipper.

“I guess they really are attacking Germarnis”, said Delta, staring directly ahead.