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-----A bit later, Raven finds a good place to camp among the trees of a small grove toward the middle of the village just off the trail road. The trees stand fairly tall and provide good cover for everyone while at the same time, giving everyone a good view of anything happening in the village. As the darkness deepens, they can see the twinkling of candles in the surrounding houses.
-----Sarah sits on a fallen log while she speaks with her owl with a troubled look in her eye.
-----Rinda walks up to Raven and asks loud enough so all can hear, "Do we light a fire this night?" After hearing his response, she says with some excitement in her voice, "The full moon will rise soon. This, too, is one of the Hunter’s nights. I wish to pray and give each of you the Hunter’s mark again."
-----Raven says, "Aye, let us have a fire to show the evil we do not fear them." Raven nods as Rinda offers to give the Hunter's blessings to the party. "Good idea, my huntress."
-----Once at camp, Sol walks over to Raven and quietly speaks with him. Raven listens closely as Sol speaks with him. This doesn't take long and soon Sol is digging through his backpack for some rations. With that Raven turns and walks over to Rinda.
-----Once found and consumed, Sol makes sure the horses are set for the night and spends a few minutes extra caring for Thunder. Finally, Sol bids everyone goodnight and sets himself up for sleep near the log where Sarah sits, falling back on his practice of using his backpack for a pillow.
-----Sarah smiles as Sol goes to sleep nearby her log. She wishes she could go to sleep that easily, instead she remains sitting on the log, exchanging worried thoughts with Chessie as he gobbles down the beef jerky she keeps feeding him. From time to time she starts to drift off to sleep but every slight noise or motion brings her back awake again. She doesn't get much sleep that night.
-----Before everyone settles in for the night, Rinda completes her rituals before the campfire that she and Raven have set. Once more the huntress gathers some dirt from the ground and, mixing it with some powder that she takes from her pouch, she sets about applying the markings to the faces of everyone. At first all of the guards turn up their noses at what the huntress is doing but finally all of them, except for the woman Shema, agree to have the Hunter’s mark upon them.
-----When Rinda explains to Shema the significance of the ritual, the female guard simply stares at her saying nothing. Romney steps in politely whispering something to the Huntress. Rinda then nods both at Romney and Shema and turns her attention toward her more immediate friends.
-----The Huntress then approaches Sarah quietly. She talks softly a bit with the young mage before offering to trace light yellowish lines above her eyebrows and down her nose.
-----Rinda then catches Sol before he drops off to sleep, laughingly scolding him by saying, "You thought you would pretend to sleep before I marked you, Sol Herron! I may use the rest of what is left in my bowl after I mark Raven and me on you. That should be enough to cover your face, hair and ears."
-----As she makes the young warrior sit up, her tone turns more serious. "I shall give you a special mark. It is a Hunter’s mark but it also marks you as a brother." She then runs lines along each side of Sol’s nose and across his cheeks.
-----Finally she applies the marks to herself and Raven, chanting as she finishes. As she does, she smiles happily at Raven and points at the sky above. Just over the line of trees a large full moon begins to shine down. "Let the prey come, my Hunter and my Love! The Hunt this night shall be ours!" The light from the fire catches the steel blue color of her eyes.
-----The canopy of trees proves to be excellent cover as the moon rises. Once two of the guards take their watch they move away from the campfire and closer to the edge of the trees. There the trees cast down their shadowy cover while out in the open grassy places, the moon bathes everything in a ghostly white glow.
-----During the first watch, all in the surrounding area is quiet except for the crickets and the noises of animals off in the distance. At midnight, the guards awaken Sol and Bradley to take the next watch while the others continue their rest.
-----Three hours after midnight, as the embers of the fire burn low, Raven awakens. Next to him, Rinda eases her hand on his arm and squeezes it. Both hunters can sense something out beyond their small grove. As Raven looks at Rinda, the blue light of her eyes shines out almost catlike. A snarling smile crosses her face as she scans the flat areas and she slowly reaches for her bow. "It’s time," she whispers.
-----As they look a few yards away at Sol’s position, they can see the young warrior hiding behind a tree watching the trees to the west of them. There between the tall trunks of some trees appears to be a few man-sized forms moving out into the open running while slumped over.
-----Rinda pats Raven’s arm and points, indicating that she is crawling over toward Sarah and the other guards to make sure they are aware of what is going on. As Raven looks beside him, he sees the wolf standing there watching the moving forms. The wolf then looks at his master as if awaiting a command.
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