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-----"T-There was four of us men along with Mistress Dreda and Master Heiros. Five riders came in this morning but I guess you already know," the guard answers Raven as his voice trails off.
-----Raven grunts in pain as he crouches near the guard, "Okay, that means there is only Mistress Dreda left upstairs then right? Tell us what you know about this place. If I like your story, you'll win a prize. Your life. You can start talking now..." Raven looks at his wounds as the guard talks and tries to bandage them as best he can.
-----"Mistress Dreda," the guard begins, "commands this tower. She receives orders and reports to someone else. At different times, others, like the riders this morning, meet here to get their orders. That’s all I know, I swear!"
-----Sol begins walking up the ramp while testing his injured shoulder. At the top, he looks in the main hall of the tower and sees that Sarah is the only one here except for the horses. The horses seem to calmly mill about. He hears no other sounds expect for the sounds of Raven talking to the guard continuing down the ramp.
-----Sol walks into the main hall, sheathing his long sword. He gives Sarah a pained half smile and says softly, "Looks like the woman upstairs is the last one in the tower. Ready to finish this?"
-----Sarah, still in the form of a bandit, looks at Sol and puts her finger to her lips, saying Be Quiet! Gabe appears behind Sol looking around the main hall with wide eyes. The horses remain fairly calm as they look passively at the "three bandits."
-----Suddenly on the ramp at the opposite end of the hall appears the woman who had ordered the guards and the bandits below. She hurriedly descends as her cloak billows out behind her. Her hood is drawn up on her head hiding her reddish hair and dark eyes. She appears to carry a black book in her hand.
-----Seeing the three people in the main hall, she quickly says, "Hurry, you fools! Prepare a horse for me! I must leave at once!"
-----Sol goes wide-eyed, but begins to ready a horse. Sarah and Gabe walk near Sol. During the walk, Sarah drops some sand on the ground and murmurs something.
-----The woman suddenly falters on the ramp staring slack-jawed at Sarah. As the form of the "bandit" fades away and is replaced by the dainty and beautiful figure of Sarah Night, the darkly clad woman slowly and weakly raises one hand. Her words seem to gargle in her mouth and she slumps and then falls unconscious on the ramp. The black book falls from her hand and slaps noisily as it hits the floor.
-----Movement alerts Sol and Sarah and as they look behind them, they see Raven and Zentil entering from the lower ramp.
-----Sol gives Sarah a relieved grin, "Nicely done." Sol carefully makes his way over to the woman, ready to pounce if she wakes up.
-----Raven with a cold expression on his face walks up to the group, "Thanks for letting me know you were going up to face her." Raven pauses then says to Sarah, "Nice job wizard." With that Raven walks past the group and up to the next level of the keep.
-----Zentil, Sol, Sarah and Gabe watch Raven climb the next ramp. He strides past the unconscious woman. Thalog appears in the room from the lower level and surveys what has happened. Sol inspects the unconscious woman and sees no movement in her except for her breathing.
-----Sarah shrugs at Raven’s comment. "Not my fault you took so long, Ranger." Then she walks with Sol over to the woman. "Okay we need to bind this bitch so she doesn't cast any spells when she wakes up. I'd say kill her now but we need to know some things." Sarah gets some rope and ties the woman’s hands and ankles together, she gathers up all the woman’s possessions and inspects them, paying careful attention to the black book. "If anyone has any spare cloth use it as a gag, there are some spells that you only need to talk to cast."
-----Sol shakes his head at Raven's comments, and winces at Sarah's reply. Sighing to himself he tears a generous strip from the unconscious woman's cloak, and promptly gags her with it.
-----Sarah removes a finely made black dagger, a short sword, a whip and a leather pouch from the dark-clad woman. She then carefully looks the book over and opens it. She takes a few moments to read it.
-----As she finishes, the unconscious woman begins to stir. She suddenly jerks awake and looks wide-eyed at the five people standing over her. A hateful look crosses her face as she realizes that she is completely bound.
-----Sarah shakes her head condescendingly as she read through the black book. "You little bastards," she says to the dark woman. "Do you always write down your plans?" Sarah laughs and continues reading for awhile. Then she shuts the book and picks up the dagger, "So, Dreda, how 'bout you tell me the name of your agent in Hearthorn."
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