Chapter 5

The day before she was due to depart on her first patrol run to the Steamfont Pass; Tamalain received orders to report to the new guard commander's office immediately. When she entered the office, she saw that the older Elven commander that had taken her old job had more years in service than she had alive.

"Thank you for coming so quickly Captain. I called you in so I can explain what has been happening in the guard forces recently. We are short on bodies due to the Drakota situation so the schools have volunteered to send students to assist on simple road patrol duties as part of their training. You are being assigned three students from the Trueshot Academy, Cadets Ren'retere, Cadet Ravensclaw, and Cadet Mersinis. All three are second year students, so they are not a total loss as far as experience goes. We hope that by training and traveling with a trained staff member, they will be able advance further in their skills."

Tamalain looked at her commander and smiled. "I know this is a test for me as well sir. You are hoping that I have learned to control my temper and can avoid killing them before we get out of town."

He looked at her and did not smile in return, "No Captain that was not my intent when I helped set this up, but you are right, it will be a good test for the senior guards as well, dismissed." He promptly returned to the reports in front of him and she got the message to get out of his office now.

Tamalain came to attention and saluted, did an about face and marched from the office. "Better this than being behind that cursed desk again." She thought. "Now it's time to find my charges and see that they are prepared for the road trip, this might actually turn out to be fun."

She headed directly to the Academy grounds and asked for directions to the second year barracks. She was quickly directed to the correct building and asked to see Cadets Ren'retere, Ravensclaw and Mersinis. A runner quickly tracked the three students down and brought them to the reception room. When they saw Captain Arrowmark in full uniform standing at parade rest when they entered, the cadets quickly fell into a line at full attention.

"Cadets Ren'retere, Ravensclaw and Mersinis reporting as ordered Ma'am!" The cadet leader yelled.

"At ease Cadets," She stopped and examined the two young men and the young woman before her. They were fit and knew proper discipline so far. Once on the road though, that would tell the real tale of these kids, she thought. How will they react to the unexpected and the unknown was the question.

"Here are your orders cadets, we depart from the northern stables at first bell after sun up, don't be late. Prepare for at least two weeks on the road. Leather armor only, no chainmail will be needed for this mission. Weapons are standard load-out. Make good and sure your bows are in prime shape, I will be inspecting them. Just so you know I am not kidding, I was trained to Journeyman's Boyer by the Grandmaster Stave Green before he and his brother Heart died in the Skyfall."

All three looked unsure and wanted to ask something. "Go ahead and ask away, we have all day still." She smiled and they relaxed a bit more.

The girl decided to act as the spokesman for this session. "Cadet Mersinis ma'am, it's the condition of the school issued bows. They are low quality at best. We try to care for them, but they are just too poorly made."

"I am well aware of the condition of the bows the school has made and teaches with. I was almost expelled myself on the first day of bow training for calling the instructor out on the bow quality. I ended up showing him my personal bow and arrows from the school armory to convince him I knew what I was talking about, I almost ended up teaching the class all year I was so much better at it than he was. But that's a tale for another time. I will see what I can do about some decent bows for this trip."

"Thank you Ma'am. First bell at the northern stables, what food supplies will we need to bring with us ma'am," asked Ravensclaw.

"You will need five days travel rations to start with and all the water you can handle, three days at least for both you and your horses. We will have a primary mount and a remount each to give them a break."

"Yes Ma'am," all three said together.

"Dismissed."

The three came to attention and quickly left the room. Tamalain decided these three might work out if they don't panic at the first sign of danger. Now I need to see about getting a few decent bows for them and myself. She left the school grounds and headed across town to what folks called the best Archery shop in Upper Glenn's town.

She had never been to this store before and didn't know the proprietor by sight. She also didn't see anybody in front when she entered, so she called out, "Anybody here?"

She heard a scrambling from the back and in a minute an elderly woman shuffled out from the back room and looked about to see who had entered her store. She saw Tamalain but didn't think she knew her. "May I help you ma'am?"

"I certainly hope so. I need four new bows for a road patrol run. The schools bows are trash, so I am going to supply these for the duty assignment."

"I won't argue the quality of the bowyers they employ. They get what they pay for." She went over to one rack of completed longbows and pulled four near identical bows off. She handed them to Tamalain to examine and stood back.

Tamalain looked each one over and on the third one saw the Makers Identifier mark, a whittling blade with a staff crossing it over a heart. She looked at the Proprietress and asked were she had obtained these bows.

"I get these from a freelance Bowyer the next town over, Treefall. She claims to have trained with the legendary Green Brothers. I don't know if it is true or not, she does make damned fine bows. Will these do Ma'am?"

"I think so, how much for all four bows."

"Two plat each ma'am." The sales woman said without blinking.

"Sold, I will also need four 100 arrow battle quivers with triple poison inserts, and a full load out of field point arrows for each, plus two reload sets. Fifty plats should cover it." Tamalain pulled out her satchel, poured out a hand full of coins, counted, and stacked them. "Do you plan to be heading back to Treefall any time soon?"

"I hadn't made any plans to, but now I will need a new supply of arrows and several more quivers for inventory."

"Good, when you see Whittles, tell her Tama send greetings and I am going to kick her ass for not letting me know she is alive."

"Yes Ma'am." She looked at the stack of goods than asked, "Ummm, how are you going to carry all this gear Ma'am?"

"Have it delivered to the Northern Stables today with a letter stating that Captain Arrowmark will be there before first hour to receive the delivery and it had all better be there or I will take a few heads. I don't like thieves."

"I will see to the delivery and the message myself Captain Arrowmark. Ma'am, it is pleasure to finally meet you in person. Thank you for saving us from those monsters that horrible day."

Tamalain smiled and replied, "You are most welcome. I will say this, it is best to avoid going one on one with a dragon if you can. It hurts way too much afterwards."

"I will keep that in mind Ma'am. Have a safe journey."

Tamalain waved and left the store thinking about what else she would need for this little jaunt through the woods. Decent travel rations are a must. Those rock hard bars are for killing enemies, not for eating on the run. She visited a provision merchant and found good rations that would last several days on the road, then picked up a few additional water bags for their horses.

Once she had these minor chores completed, she returned to her quarters to prepare them for an extended absence. This was mainly to make sure there was no food left to go bad while she was away. She also made sure all her clothes were cleaned and pressed for storage. She had everything packed and ready to go for the morning. She also informed the Charge of quarters of her impending absence, to see that the cleaning crews dusted at least once weekly while she away. He added her request to the daily log and confirmed with her the orders and timing.

She decided a hot meal was in order so she went to the mess hall and ate her fill. After dinner, she went to the bathhouse and did a complete wash and soak. She did take some time to chat with Farleo and enjoyed tea and cakes with her. Farleo was impressed on how well Tamalain had recovered since that sad day long ago. She knew she would not get another chance at this until near Kelethin. Once she was clean and rested, she returned to her quarters and managed a full night's sleep. It would be the last she would get for several weeks.

The next morning found her at the northern stables minutes before the time she had set. All three of her charges were present and waiting for her arrival. "Good morning Cadets."

"Good Morning Ma'am," all three called out. Tamalain looked them over and found them well armored in good leather and more weapons than they actually needed. The only items not present were their bows and quivers.

Tamalain went to the stable master and asked for the deliveries he had received for her the previous day. He pointed at a large stack of covered boxes in a back corner. "Ok you three, over here, your new bows await." They quickly removed the cover and saw three saddle mounted bow cases and matching battle quivers fully loaded.

Mersinis pulled the bow out of the case she had selected and looked at the makers mark. "These are Whittles bows. They are the best made bows out there Captain. These must have cost you a fortune. Why would you do this for mere cadets?"

"Because Cadet, to learn to shoot well, you need a good bow. It just so happens that Whittles was my instructor at the beginning of my apprenticeship training, so I happen to know these are some of the best tools made. Now quit admiring yourselves and let's get loaded up to move out." Tamalain looked over at the Stable Master, "Do you have the horses I requested?"

"Yes Ma'am, your mounts are saddled up and one set of remounts are set up and ready to go. If you will follow me please," he gestured towards the side door.

Tamalain stopped long enough to pick up the last large quiver full of arrows then headed out the door following the rest. Looking at the horses she smiled, they all looked like fine specimens and had the look that said lets ride. The cadets seemed a bit at a loss for a moment then Ravensclaw walked over to one of the saddled horses and looked it in the eye, the horse shook its head and he moved to the next in line. This one snort, then gestured with its head in a way that said get on and let's get going kid.

Ren'retere looked and walked to the one that had rejected Ravensclaw and it seemed to accept him, so he set his bow case on the saddle mounts and climbed up, settling himself in for a long ride. One of the other saddled horse walked over to Mersinis and snorted into her hair and put its head on her shoulder. "I guess you want me then, works for me. Do you have a name?" She looked at the Stable master.

"That one is Hilda ma'am. She is calm and likes young ladies over men for some reason."

"She has good taste," replied Mersinis giving the stable master a smile.

The last saddled mare looked at Tamalain and decided that she would do and turned so the Tamalain could set her bow case and mount up. "That one Captain is Firebrand. She got the name from her coloring and mood."

"Then Firebrand and I will get along great. We are a matched set." She pulled off her helmet and allowed her re-grown fire red hair to flow loosely down her back. "Take off the helmets for now cadets. We might as well be comfortable for as long as we can."

They removed their helmets and secured them on their belts and finished making sure everything was ready to go. The Stable Master opened the corral gate and Captain Arrowmark led her charges out into the street and towards the Eastern gates. She called back to the others, "We will ride until midday then stop to water and feed the horses at a watering station set up out there. So there will be no need to push the animals hard yet."

"Yes Ma'am," they all called back.

"Keep the remounts close, if they get loose, they will want to return here, so make sure the ropes are set and tied so they can't get loose. Ravensclaw, up here, we will two by two for a few hours since the roads are wide enough now to allow for it. I will cycle each of you through so I can get to know you all better."

As they exited the town, Tamalain noticed her cloaked shadow was at the gate watching her party as they left town. She decided to be a bit smart with her watcher; she smiled at him and gave a big wave. Then she called out, "See you on the road watcher, be careful out there though, it is a might dangerous to lone travelers." He appeared to be startled at the sudden notice and gated out quickly before the guards she had singled could close on him. "Damn it, he got away again. Better luck next time fellows, thanks."

"Our pleasure Ma'am, have a safe trip to Kelethin."

They rode out of town and she had them practice keeping the horses quiet as the rode along. They cadets found this to be a challenge as the horses liked to stomp their hooves as they walked along. To silence the clopping sound on stone, she had them put thick padded socks on the horses hooves. These muffled the sound considerably, but also slowed them down. The horses were none too happy about the socks as they made getting traction difficult. Once she decided they had done this long enough to see what was needed for quiet riding, they stopped long enough to remove the socks and stow them before riding on.

She had them pick up the pace to a canter and they made good time and reached the pool she had planned to stop at about midday. They let the horses drink a little then set the feed bags so the horses could eat without having to forage for grass yet.

After having everybody check their horse's hooves for any damage or loose shoes, they remounted and continued on their way. "When we reach the turn to the Upper Pass road, we will be going up there for the day. I have something to do that is long overdue. It is a promise I made years ago, but until now I have not been able to fulfill it."

"What promise is that Captain," asked Ravensclaw.

"I removed the discovery plaque from the place it had been kept for over 2000 years. It was in the spot our ancestors first looked down upon the Greater Faydark Valley. I retrieved it to protect it from the Sky stones as well as I could and made the promise to return it one day when the Elven were able to return home."

"That is a serious promise to keep ma'am. May we assist in the returning of the plaque?"

"You are most welcome to assist. We will have to build a new cairn for it when we get there. That means moving lots of stones and piling them in a way that will remain stable for many years to come."

For the rest of the afternoon they rode along in silence, keeping their eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble. When they reached the flat area several miles below the ridgeline, they stopped and pitched camp for the night. "This is where the party stopped that night before I discovered the Drakota nest. It is a good site, plenty of space and fresh water in a small stream beyond the rocks on the other side of the road."

Ren'retere volunteered to refill the water bags and started to leave the camp area. "Stop right there Cadet," called Tamalain. "Out here never leave camp alone, always go in pairs to cover each other. Watering holes are the most dangerous places you can find in the wild, even along the roads. Mersinis, you go with him and cover him while he fills the bottles. Watch the water too; things live in it that can have you as a quick snack."

Mersinis picked up her sword and joined Ren'retere at the road. Keeping their eyes open, they crossed to the rocks that hid the stream that passed near the road at this point. They were able to hear the water as it splashed over a few low stones. As they came around the rocks, they could see the stream flowing swiftly down the small gorge it had carved for itself. The water appeared clear and fresh, but their instructors stressed, "Never assume water is safe just because it looks safe."

Ren'retere removed a small vial from his hip pouch and filled it half way from the stream. He then used a small bit of material from another vial, adding it to the water. He capped it then shook the vial hard. When he stopped, he watched to see if there were any changes in the color. The water stayed clear so it seemed safe to drink. He filled the bags and they both carefully made their way back to camp.

He reported to Captain Arrowmark, "The water tested clear so it seems it is safe. I refilled all our bags and bottles for the night ma'am."

"Very good cadet, I am glad you thought to test it first. Mersinis, any sign of predators or threats to us while across the road?"

"No Ma'am, all seems clear and safe for the time being."

"Excellent. Cadet Ravensclaw, you may proceed with the fire now."

"Yes Ma'am, one cooking camp fire coming up." He finished what he had started a few minutes earlier and set the kindling stack, then placed a few larger branch's around the stack. Using a flint and steel, he quickly had the fire lit and burning cheerfully. Once the fire was set, he added the larger sticks and branch's to the burning wood. Over the small campfire, he hung a small cook pot and a kettle to the side of the fire to heat some water for tea.

After a quick meal of heated travel rations, Tamalain set up the watch for the night. They would each stand two hours then wake the assigned relief. She gave specific orders on waking her for last watch unless something dangerous should approach the camp. Once she had the fire banked for the night, and the rest bedded down, Tamalain lay down and slept as well.

"Captain Arrowmark, time for your guard shift ma'am." Ren'retere reached down and tried too lightly shake the Captains shoulder to wake her. He suddenly found his wrist in a vise like grip and a dagger pointed at his throat. He froze in place and hoped she was awake enough not to kill him.

"A piece of advice cadet, don't touch me when I'm asleep. You could get hurt, or killed. My guard shift?"

"Yes ma'am, about three hours until sunrise."

"Good, get some more sleep, we have a long day ahead of us."

Once Ren'retere had settled in his sleeping roll, Tamalain just stood still and listened to the night. The last time she had been to this location, it had been dead silent, as most of the night creatures had already fled from the looming Drakota threat. This time though the night air was filled with the songs of the night dwellers, bringing back memories of her childhood.