Lowil nodded once, still very upset by the Ranger’s previous words.  “I suppose that I’ll need some more water at this point though.  It’s probably all boiled away by now.” “Ranger Tracker Marce,” the older man offered as an introduction.  “That there is Ranger Scout Petriv.  I prefer my tea strong.” “Noted,” Lowil smiled through...Read More

Stepping over the Ranger who was still rubbing his face in the dirt, Braun pulled his tunic up as if to remove it entirely.  Both Kre and Lowil averted their eyes, not wanting to see more of Braun than they needed to, especially after his self-admitted issues with his bowels. “Rest assured, I have no...Read More

After tearing through both his bag and Braun’s, Lowil’s head hung low as he turned back to face the Rangers.  For their part, one of them was trying to tease the female captive with an apple that he kept dangling in front of her face before taking his own bite while the other was picking...Read More

Lowil heard some sort of a discussion ongoing outside and figured that Braun was feeling a bit better.  He figured that Braun was feeling better and might be chatting with Kre, but he worried that the former’s ill health might make his personality even testier.  So, he figured he should step in, just in case...Read More

The cabin was right where Lowil said it would be.  Given that it was the off-season, it was in a state of disuse though it was still in fairly decent shape.  Braun took off the moment they stopped and made for the nearby bushes while Kre tried his best to ignore the grunting and wailing...Read More

Soon enough, they came to a fork in the road.  The main road curved to the right and following it would continue along the trade road until they eventually reached the next town.  The left path was a forester’s trail used by hunters, loggers, and apple pickers.  The wild apple trees of the Milo region...Read More

A large bump brought Kre back from his half-nap.  It caused his head to smack against the wooden side of the wagon and he cursed softly as he gingerly touched the growing welt. “Sorry about that,” came the apologetic call from the driver’s seat.  “I was trying to get an apple out of the sack...Read More

The cuff to the side of Kre’s head made his ear ring for several seconds. “Back from daydream land then, eh?”  Lowil used to box his ears at least three times daily just to get his attention back to the classwork.  He had tried just about everything else before it came to physical violence, but...Read More

They both looked up at Braun but the sullen driver refused to look back at them.  Lowil shrugged and drew his finger along the map.  “Given our late start, we’ll be lucky if we reach the hills.  If it starts to get dark, we may have to make camp just off the road and call...Read More

“Perhaps it is time to renegotiate the agreements with our military forces.”  Braun slid the reins through a metal loop in front of the driver’s cab.  There really wasn’t much need to direct the the horses, there was only the one main road and the horses had trod that same path many times over, enough...Read More