The endeavours under and around the Shinerock went ahead at a very regulated pace. As Asen had dictated, the Colonists were rotated through mining with Stikus, quarrying with Sigun and cutting wood or foraging for supplies with Endok. Especially the latter task was the most popular of all. No dust from broken and shattered rock, no heavy lifting limestone blocks and no hauling baskets full of Galena ore down narrow corridors. There was occasional rain, but the forest did offer shelter. Sometimes, the dwarves would even go fishing at the river. With game, berries and fish to spice up salted pork and sevenbread, it was almost a comfortable life. The stockpiles of ore, cut stone blocks and lumber piling up, many could barely await the promised trip to the fishing village.

In the end, Asen had chosen Bomrek, Umel and Endok to accompany her on the trip that would probably take them nine to twelve days there and back again.

It was a cold autumn day that Bomrek stood ready next to the wagon, filled to the brim with cut and smoothed limestone rock of the purest white with perfectly straight edges. And then there was the small wooden box with three bars of almost pure silver. Without the trade secrets of a proper metallurgist, there would always remain some lead impurities, but they had done the best they could and stamped it all truthfully, who could ever demand any different from a dwarf?

Also in that box were three letters, one to the Mountainhome in the north, one to the dwarves of the long line in the east, and one to the humans in their rich harbour cities, each containing three freshly-minted silver coins.

While the four where on their critical quest, the others had the job to stock up while they could, especially on herbs, berries and vegetables, while they could still be found in the forest. But also mining and quarrying would need to be done. They wanted to build that wall before winter froze the ground completely.

The trip would take about five days, same as they came. They hoped to some day build a raft and float their wares down the river, but for now they had to do with the oxen.

They said their parting words, wishing each other the best of luck and set out. The weather was fair but cold when they left, the wind was playing the trees like an instrument, a tune of change and chance. Bomrek still remembered well the way they took and tried to follow the eastern slope of the plains where the trees were sparse enough to see landmarks, like they did on their way to the mountain.

The first day went by uneventful. In the evening, a few drops of rain began to fall and soon, it got heavier, so they set up a tarp of tough linen on the nearby trees.

The morning of the second day greeted them damp and cold. Though their tarp had sheltered them from the heaviest rain, it was no comfort for the ground had been turned to mud where there was no grass. They travelled closer to the slope, hoping less soil there meant more reliable ground, but the steep slopes, slippery from water and mud, were only eager to make them slip and fall. By the time they made a break and ate their rations, spirits were already at a low.

Endok told of his experience with the weather in these lands. "It's not going to get better. Just colder. And in a few weeks, the rain will turn to hail and snow. Get used to it. I had to hunt in this kind of weather!" The damp and tight tunnels suddenly seemed like a welcome home to Bomrek.

Their meal ended and they set to the road again.

Luckily by evening, the rain had stopped. They had a bit of dry firewood on the wagon to get a fire started. Endok and Umel came back with branches and twigs suitable for a fire and stacked them up around the fire pit Bomrek had dug out, so that the warmth of the fire would dry them.

As Bomrek bowed down to ignite the spray with flint and steel, he heard something in the distance. It sounded exactly like someone trying to start a fire with flint and steel, high-pitched clacking sounds in regular succession.

Bomrek turned his head to Umel. "Did you hear or see anything when foraging for wood?"

"No, why?"

He waited for another second. "Aren't you hearing that?"

"What?"

"THAT!" Bomrek exclaimed while trying to keep his voice down and nodded his head in the rhythm. Umel and others looked up and listened.

"I don't think we're alone here!" Said Asen.

Bomrek and Endok were tasked with scouting into the direction of the sound. They readied the two crossbows they had brought along and set out, not saying a word, and moving as if they were trying to ambush the last deer in the forest.

The other campers seemed to have been successful with their fire, as the clacking sound had stopped. Soon, the two found a light glinting in the distance, between the trees.

They came closer and Bomrek thought to have recognized something standing close to a fire, but he did not completely realize it until they came closer and he got a proper look at it for the first time. his heart stopped. His entire body stopped.

The creature stood on the clearing ahead, its shoulders around six feet tall. To dwarves it was jokingly known as a "chicken of war" but the people that bred it, the goblins, called it by a different name in their tongue: a beak dog.

It certainly resembled a chicken more than a dog. It had feathers and a beak and stood on two legs akin to a bird, but that's where the similarities ended. Its feathers looked more like short fur than something made for flight, though its tail and arms were lines with broad, long feathers in beautiful and varied colours. The tail was long, as long as the entire rest of the body, thick at the base but ran into a point. The arms did not end in wings but in four stretched fingers with claws. The slender, muscular neck was held upright and bore the creature's head, that looked menaced with a serrated beak and ever vigilant eyes like that of a hawk. On its strong legs,a single sickle-claw menaced with a sharp inner edge and point that was able to pierce chainmail and padded armour.

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Goblins alone were surely more devilish than anything the dwarven, human or elven gods had ever beset upon this world, but in the stew of nastiness that was the goblins and all the races they had allied with or enslaved, the beak dogs were the spicing that made it so poisonous.

And this particular one had a feature that made Bomrek freeze up especially cold: a saddle.

Because the gods just needed to have created something to make sure everyone was having a bad day, goblins tamed and trained beak dogs to ride them. Into battle. Images of the foul creatures clearing gaps and moats of well over ten feet with riders on their backs flare up in Bomrek’s memories.

Endok noticed that Bomrek had stopped and looked at him. He didn't dare to say anything so he took another hard look forward and finally came to the same realization. 

Bomrek did not know whether Endok too has seen or even faced them in battle, but the only news this beak dog could be was that they had encountered a small scouting troop.

After a few minutes of being frozen they silently agreed to get closer. They could hear goblin chatter and sometimes see something move past the fire.

They did get closer and finally stopped about 20 feet from the fire. They could clearly see that it was a group of 3 goblins in light gear. They had already laid off their armour for the night. With them were three of the mounts.

The two dwarves made their way back to their own camp and reported. Asen and Umel were terrified at the though. Neither had ever encountered a beak dog, but the stories that were told were vicious enough to terrify even trained warriors and still not vicious enough to properly convey them.

"We are four, can sneak up on them and all have weapons!"Asen said. "If we don't kill them they will find the settlement and report back. Or maybe they already found it!"

Panic dashed across Endok's face.

Everyone looked at the two men. Endok seemed to scurry back on his butt. “I never was in combat, I was just stationed on a boat that never left port!"

"You're still trained!" hissed Bomrek. He had heard of his marksman skills, that were probably never tested, but his crossbow was in good shape. Umel had grabbed one of the spears, Asen shouldered a crude mace they had taken from the settlement.

"They are six!" Endok said. "Let's go back and get the others, we can lay a trap, if they come by we will get them.

Bomrek knew the skills of goblin scouts. "We might not ever be able to see them again if we go now. Catching them off guard is the greatest advantage we can get. Goblin riders can slaughter entire squads without catching a hit!"

Endok was recruited into this, whether he liked it or not. The two men lead the charge, as the more experienced fighters and hunters. Bomrek also had his large knife, Endok another spear.

They tried to follow their own trail back to the camping goblins. As they neared the clearing, they could hear snoring. Luckily, a half moon was illuminating the foliage and ground enough for their eyes to see everything. The beak dogs were loosely tied to trees and the fire was still slightly smoking.

Bomrek’s heart was beating so loud he was afraid the beasts could hear him. He loaded his first bolt. For that, he put his foot in the metal loop at its front and hooked the string into a double-pronged claw on his belt, then he stood up with all the might of his legs until the string locked in place. He held his hand on the retention spring to make sure it did not click too loud. Endok made the same with his crossbow and the two of them were ready.

Bomrek raised his crossbow and aimed at the first beak dog. Without their war beasts, the goblins were much less of a menace. When they reached their previous spying-spot and everyone got into place, he looked back. He saw ready and determined faces. Umel seemed less eager to get in a fight and took position by Endok, ready to defend him for a reload. Asen stood beside Bomrek and seemed to calculate her approach and attack using a fallen tree as a jump-off point.

Everyone nodded to him.

He corrected his aim toward the neck of the alarmed looking beast, blinked a last time and pulled the trigger.

The crossbow jolted in his hands, the bolt left the string, flew and hit the beast directly where he had aimed, exiting the neck on the other side. It let out a screech as it bled heavily, trying to attack, but was held back on its reigns, fell to the ground and was unable to get back up again before passing out.

At the same time Bomrek let loose, so did Endok, hitting one of the sleeping goblins directly in the chest, and Asen jumped into their camp, screaming as her mace came down upon a sleeping goblin's head with a sickening crack.

Like a well-oiled mechanism, Bomrek let the front of his crossbow drop, catching the string on the claw, went down into a squat and stepped into the loop. With all his legs’ might, he heaved the string back up until he felt it lock back, at which point he had already grabbed a new bolt with his left hand and loaded it into the groove

He raised his aim to the new threat: one of the beasts was cut lose and darting towards him, maw gaping and screeching. The shot hit it directly in the chest, then another from the side, fired by Endok. One of the goblins was quick enough on his feet to have cut the third beast loose and just jumped on its back without saddle, attempting a getaway.

Both Endok and Bomrek loaded their weapons as quickly as possible. The beast turned once, twice, to find its direction and then darted off with its rider.

Two bolts both flew directly in pursuit. A branch shook, a bolt sticking in deep, then a scream was heard. The third mount was hit in the upper leg and fell, screaming, pinning the rider underneath. Asen had already run after them and the two shooters follower her. The goblin was screaming something in its vulgar and appalling tongue.

Asen quickly set her knife to the disgusting creatures throat and cut, then stabbed the beast a few times as well for good measure. Gurgle, splatter, wrenching, then the silence of death returned to the clearing.

Back at the scouting camp, Umel had stabbed everything that could pose the threat of getting up, even the empty sleeping bags. When the other three returned, they gestured her that she could stop. She fell back on the ground and dropped her spear.

Endok and Asen immediately got to searching the corpses and supplies. They did not find many spoils; knives, a few sheets of paper with goblin words and crudely drawn map. Maybe they could find out where they came from and what to expect from their attackers. For now, Bomrek simply sighed in relief. and beheld the carnage. He had hoped it would take longer until he had to endure this again.