Jeanne pushed some brush away from in front of her, looking out over a mile of river water to see a cave on the other side. It’s mouth was wide, enough for three or four wagons to pass by each other with little problem. And tall enough for a two story home to fit within the recess with room to spare. Outside of the mouth was a thin pathway which meandered its way up the slope of the rock side before reaching the top of the ridgeline.

“That … that’s going to be a challenge,” she said to Cid as he knelt next to her.

“Indeed,” he said raising an eyebrow. “First we’ll need to find a way across the river.”

“Then there’s the matter of infiltration,” said Kveldulf.

“And who knows how many of those rats are living in that hole,” Benkin followed.

“Or how deep the hole goes,” Maeryn said.

“Rousalie said there’s a ferry a few miles south of here that should get us across the river without too many issues,” Silvius said.

“Thank the light for that,” said Cid looking up to the heavens for a quick moment. “Last thing I need is to get my fur all soaked and wet.”

“That’s never a good day,” Jeanne said. She turned to see him staring at her. “What? You smell whenever you get wet.”

“Oh, oh,” he said, “I can agree with that.”

“Should we –” Leonidas tried to asked before both Jeanne and Cid simply shook their heads.

“So, what’s the plan?” Kveldulf asked.

“First we get across the river, then we’ll set up watches see if anyone’s come in or out of that place,” Cid said, as he rose to his feet and began marching down a thin path towards the direction of the ferry. “Once we have an idea what we’re working with here, we move in.”

“And if they’re in there?” Gabriel asked.

“Then we do what we’ve been preparing for,” he said. “Leave them little chance to get an upper hand on us.”

“You think these bandits would protect them?” Jeanne asked.

“You don’t need to like a person to be allies,” Cid said, “you just need to have some mutual understanding. And if they’ve been helping these bandits pillage and steal along the river banks, then the bandits might’ve allowed them a place to rest and recover.”

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“But wouldn’t they have the means to start their own gang?” Silvius asked. “Especially if they’re nobles.”

“My guess is they’ve not the best at winning people to their cause. At least not enough to where people are following them by their sheer charisma and talent,” Cid replied.

“And they were more followers to their older brother than they were making the orders,” Jeanne followed. “Not to mention they weren’t the warmest to people, even before they became what they are.”

Arriving to the ferry they found an old man, his hair was white, much of it receding from much of his head and he sported a long beard stretching down to his chest. His clothes were wrinkled and haggard, but he carried a poise of dignity to him as he spotted the oncoming travelers.

“Good day to you all,” he said. “Would ya be wanting to use the ferry?”

“We do,” Cid said, taking out his coin purse. “How much for everyone to cross?”

“Um, let’s see,” the ferryman said counting them all and pondering to himself. “If I did my numbers right, that should be two hermal and seven huguns.”

“Oh,” Cid said, surprised, “I was expecting a lot more.”

“Well, there’s been a lot of traffic and the coins been kind to me as of late,” the ferryman said, “so I try not to set the cost too high. Besides there’s always another part of the river that can be crossed. And then there’s robbing.”

“Is that a common problem?” Kveldulf asked.

“It does happen from time to time. Though oddly enough, the rouges over their tend to chase away anyone trying to cause trouble.”

“Well, that’s kind of them,” Cid said.

“Aye, makes my life a lot easier. Though when I’m their way across the river, if anything did happen to me then they’d up a few creeks without a paddle!” the ferryman said, laughing and slapping his knee.

“I’ll take your word for it’s worth,” Cid said, paying the fee before gesturing the others to follow.

As they moved across the river’s surface, Jeanne closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the water sloshing around underneath their feet. She remembered when she would swim in the lakes and rivers around her village. Feeling the cool water chill her skin and wash away all the cares and worries she’d have.

She opened her eyes and saw Hypatia sitting along the edge of the raft, a stick in her hand and running back and forth along the water’s surface. “Catch anything good?” Jeanne asked her.

“Mhe,” Hypatia said, “A thought there was a halibut that was interested, but they ran off. And there’s a catfish that seems a bit fishy.”

“Was … was that pun intentional?” Jeanne asked.

“A little,” Hypatia replied. “Gotta have something to keep the mind …” Before she could finish, Hypatia got to her feet and looked out a something in the distance.

Jeanne turned to the direction, and saw a rounded object bobbing up and down the water line towards them. “Everyone,” she said, taking out her hammer, “I think we might have something.”

The others turned and upon seeing the object, took their weapons out and spread out as much as they could on the ferry.

“What’s going on?” the ferryman demanded.

“Try and keep us moving,” Cid said, “We’ll tend to this.”

Maeryn looked out and let out a painful sigh. “I don’t think we need to worry about this one.”

As the object neared, it spun slowly to reveal an extremity attached. “Oh gods,” said Leonidas. “It’s another body.”