The night trip was tedious for the unobservant eye. The men have been riding in the gallop for hours without making a stop. Most of the paths were illuminated by the faint light of the cold, waning moon. So, one would say that the trip was boring.

However, nature was their faithful companion in the late hours. Committed rustles of tree crowns caressed by the northern wind, scattering leaves that whispered into the night with their low frequency of life, night bugs flying from a branch to another. The soil was quietly memorizing the echoing stomps of the galloping horses. 'Tata-ta-tata', the horse hits against the pathways sent trembles further into the grounds.

The night was alive and only the ignorant would claim otherwise.

The hunters advanced with the orbiting celestial bodies that slowly moved to the west pushed gently with warm colors of the upcoming sunrise from the east.

The skyline finally mixed its dark palette with the light scheme of the waking sun. Blues grew purplish, grays turned orangish and the sun slowly unraveled its pink folds. The sky, too, had its story to tell.

Bave's tired eyes glanced above the horizon ahead and up, noticing the sun peeking from the straight lines of the hills. Luse was ahead!

The young man tugged the horse bridle and the 'Eeeh' command forced the horse to cease its speed. Kal and Koh mimicked Bave, and the whole column of horses halted.

This time every second horse had to carry a dummy doll made of dried hay and adjusted firm to the saddles. It was safer to convince any lurking bandit in the shadows that they were a whole group of men that occupied every horse than tempt the bandits with unoccupied stallions. After all, horses sold high!

The sunrise greeted the men on a small uphill with a relatively low elevation but still enough to be able to grasp the scenery.

The morning was cool, the wind has stilled as if the sun commanded it so. The hunters descried* a view bathed in pink gold. In the far one could catch the glimpse of the waking Luse, one could barely distinguish the tallest building. That was the gates of the city, standing tall and impregnable whilst protecting Luse.

Beyond and further up, the valleys submerged in the golden veil of rays, faintly colored in pink hues. The beautiful values of nature perfectly fitted the scenery.

The three hunters looked dearly at their kingdom's beauty. It somewhat encouraged them that their decision to take on that trip couldn't be wrong. They wouldn't regret it, no matter what.

Bave glanced at his teammates as they looked back, and the men soundlessly gestured that the trip had to continue.

Despite the beauty that reckoned both artists and observers to still, the men had to continue.

Before their departure, they switched the horses and abandoned the dummy dolls. It was time to camouflage with the white stallions. The dolls were to be hidden and the black horses covered with light sheets. The one exception one's Bave's horse since from Shimeo's departure, he was already using the rested white horse. Therefore, he had to ride a camouflaged black one.

The men could judge by the red paint which stained the sun disc that the day would be hot. Hence, they prepared their leather bota bags after several deep sips from the water. It would come handy when they were to soak the clothing in water to keep their bodies cooled. The least they would need was a heat stroke!

The change took them several minutes and they departed in a new alignment. White horses were followed by black though Bave's exception ruined the pattern. Nevertheless, the galloping continued as planned despite their unexpected encounter with the ambushers.

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Bave led the guild in front of the harras as they advanced into the golden shades of the sunrise. The galloping horses seen from above were organized to take a sharp turn northern from Luse, as planned, toward the wetlands.

The first half of the day was as intense as the nighttime galloping. The hunters were determined to live up to their rank as the fastest guild in the Association Hunters Bar. That cost a lot of energy and a strong lead but also strong teamwork.

It meant that they should not rest, should not eat, should not drink for a prolonged amount of time. It also meant that they had to have strong bonds so the members could follow unreserved their captain and the captain had to be aware of the guild's state in any given moment. The slightest change could be their downfall.

Kal and Koh, in respective order, followed the harras led by Bave as they proceeded to the northwest, closing into the wetlands of Northern Balhkara.

Their captain held tight the bridle as restricted his horse from speeding up. The area, as Zack from the Resti team said, was not suitable for the type of horses they rode. Therefore, the galloping had to switch at a moderate running speed.

As the harras slowed down, Kal and Koh noted that wet tracks were awaiting them. It was very probable that it was the hardest part, but not most dangerous, from their trip. The swamps.

The two hunters had to follow their captain precise as any mistake could get them stuck for hours there. That was the least they would want as the checkpoint and the supposed smuggling taking place was just a few hours away.

The guild had to maneuver for the second half of the day. The sun was blazing hot and the swamps around them kept the air stuffy and humid. It was hard to breathe and the stench of the swamp gases* produced the unpleasant odor of rotten eggs. That combination of the merciless heat made the hunters, and even the stallions, grumble and groan.

It was so unpleasant that the men had to scarf up their faces with whatever cloth they could find. It was hard to imagine what these gases could cause if one was exposed for a long period of time!

The swamp torture continued for hours, until the late afternoon. At least the sun had lost some of its blazing energy and the wetlands cooled down a bit. It didn't lessen the humidity but at least the gases slowly decreased.

The hunters were sweating profusely and the horses demanded water. As soon as the guild exited the wet area, they found a small corner that was shaded by several trees. They had to let the horses rest until the sun bid its farewell for the day.

The checkpoint was just a few miles away, roughly five kilometers, and it wouldn't take them two hours to reach it. Hence, they could rest. They reached the border in time and even earlier than anticipated. So they could afford to rest and prepare for what was ahead.

Bave was taking the sheets off their horses to let their heated bodies cool down whilst Kal and Koh were rustling through their luggage for water. If one wanted a faithful horse, one had to respect the horse!

The men first poured fresh water for the horses than drinking from it themselves. The teamwork, after all, included the stallions as well.

Whilst the animals were enjoying being spoiled, the sun slowly departed. The sunset was as artistic as the sunrise. It rewarded the guild with its mesmerizing colors that painted the scenery in deep orange.

Kal stared into the color and somewhat his throat sought the bitterness of Stan's new beer. It was a similar color, so the man was daydreaming of the fuzzy drunk.

Koh, on the other hand, was busy looking through his luggage for a new leather belt as his current one was too small for the chubby figure of his. If they were to engage in a fight, he had to be able to move freely.

All three of them were submerged in their worlds. Bave, too, was in thoughts. Albeit, his were regarding the possibility of retrieving such a national treasure like the Nominalia. What was to follow after they retrieved it? Should they contact the Association Bar? Or wait for instructions from the mysterious customer who hired them but gave no further information?

Bave has been chanting these thoughts over and over again in his mind, for the whole trip to Luse. However, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't think of anything. He kept reassuring himself that once they get the book, it would probably be the moment when they decide what to do with it.

The hunters finally began to converse after Kal, the most talkative one, broke the silence.

"The swamps were horrible man...I can still feel the stench on my clothes!", he complained.

"Don't mention it. It was worse than that one time in Erma. Remember the public toilet?", Koh commented and just the thought of it made the three hunters wrinkle their noses with the unpleasant memory of feces smudged even on the stone walls inside the small outdoor toilet cabins.

The hunters quietly talked, waiting for their horses to show a sign of readiness. The stallions were snorting; now and then they shook abruptly their heads to shoo at mosquitos and flies that leeched on their skin.

A bit over an hour passed and the men decided that the skies were monotonous enough to advance further. The evening had befallen!