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| - It did not take long for the three men to prepare their mounts. Morgan filled Renna in on the morning's events as he strapped his packs to the horse she had selected for him. The stable hand gasped audibly several times while he described the encounter at Grodek's smithy. "And you still don't know why they attacked you?" she asked quietly. She glanced over towards Zanadar and the old man. They were at the other end of the stables speaking in hushed tones. From what Morgan could tell, the big man did not appear to be happy. Though he could not hear exactly what was being said, Zanadar was far from being the only one who was upset. Morgan let his gaze shift back to Renna. She had stopped crying, but was still visibly shaken. The ranger was angry. At whom precisely, he did not know, but angry nonetheless. He was frustrated because he knew the big man was not being entirely upfront with him, he was mad because he had been attacked and did not know why, and he was furious that Renna could have been killed and he still did not know to what purpose. "No, I don't have any idea," Morgan answered calmly. "Believe me, I'm just as eager as you to get out of the city and let the guards round them up." "And you're sure they'll be able to do that?" Renna pushed. "I have a feeling we left most of them tied up back at Grodek's," he smiled assuredly, "I'm sure the guard can persuade at least one of them to talk." "I hope so," she replied softly. She glanced back at the stall, now closed, that Morgan had found her in, her dark, brown eyes betraying her worry. "You were defending yourself, Renna," Morgan said, "You had no choice." "I know," she said, her gaze still on the stall. "Are you two about ready?" Zanadar said, as he walked over from the other side of the building. He appeared to have calmed down. "Just about," Morgan answered. He turned to Renna, "Was there anything you wanted to bring?" The stable hand shrugged. "I don't really have anything." "There's nothing wrong with traveling light," stated Zanadar. "Let's get going then," he said as he started back towards his horse. "Don't worry, I have plenty of gear," Morgan said to Renna as he climbed onto his steed, "we can share." She smiled lightly. "Thanks." "Which horse are you taking?" Renna nodded her head towards Gray. "I might as well take him," she said, "Nobody else will ride him while I'm gone." She walked over to the cranky gelding and patted his head affectionately. "Besides," she said as she leapt up into the saddle, "He's a good horse, whether he wants to admit it or not." The two guided their mounts from their stalls and slowly rode to the back of the stables where Zanadar and the old man were waiting for them. Morgan gestured towards the stall where the attacker's body lay. "Shouldn't we... do something about that before we go?" he asked. "Grodek has probably already contacted the guard," Zanadar answered, "They will undoubtedly be here before long, I'd just assume be long gone once they do arrive." "Don't you think that looks a bit suspicious?" Renna said. The big man shrugged. "We didn't do anything wrong, why care how it looks? We can explain when we get back, but for now we need to get moving." Elandar raised his hand dramatically, nearly knocking the hat off his head. "The journey begins!" he declared. Zanadar shook his head. "You better not do that the whole time." "I will do whatever strikes my fancy," he said defiantly. Renna gazed at Morgan with a questioning look. "I'm assuming you get used to it," the ranger explained, he then shrugged and raised his eyebrows. "Still waiting, though." The stable hand actually managed a bit of a laugh. "Let's go," Zanadar said with a wry grin. The stables were close to the west entrance to the city, and within a matter of moments, the four had reached the gate. The sun was only minutes away from peaking over the horizon, and already a steady stream of people were arriving and departing the city. Several uniformed city guards briefly questioned each person to pass through the gates before waving them onward. Morgan knew that there were also a number of guards in plain workmen's clothing observing the area. Security was something taken very seriously in New Targonor. Should any sign of the undead that had claimed the southern half of Thestra ever reach the city, the entire army of Targonor would be called to duty and mobilized within a matter of days. After a short wait in line, an imposing looking guard waved the group to the gate. "What is your purpose for leaving the city?" he asked politely. "Ranger business," Morgan replied, showing the guard Adlus' seal. "Four of you? Those two don't look like rangers to me," the guard said as he looked to Elandar and Renna. Morgan pointed to Zanadar. "He's not either. It's a long story. We're leaving for Rindol Field. We expect to be gone for about a week." The guard nodded. "Very well then," he said, waving them through the gate, "Travel safely." "Thank you," the ranger replied. Outside the city, a well constructed cobblestone road lead from the gate to a small bridge, which spanned a narrow crevice leading out to the sea. The crevice was deep, and was where the Weatherfall River met with the ocean that dominated New Targonor's northern horizon. With each wave, seawater swept in and crashed alongside its walls, sending a wet spray upwards. They rode across the bridge, which had little traffic at this early hour and stopped to survey their surroundings. To the west, rolling green hills sprawled for as far as Morgan could see in the morning light. To the east, back across the Weatherfall River the northern plains stretched out of view. "That was impressive," the big man said after a few moments. "What was?" Morgan asked. "The way you handled that guard." "I told him the truth," Morgan said, confused. "Exactly," Zanadar replied, "Most people leaving a dead body behind them tend to lie." Morgan shrugged, "We didn't do anything wrong. You said it yourself." "That is true." "I hate to interrupt," Elandar said in a tone that suggested that he did not at all, in fact, hate to interrupt, "But we are going to be traveling sometime today, correct?" "We can just head southwest until we hit Tursh," Morgan replied, "From there we can take the road to Rindol field unless you know a quicker way, I haven't been down there very many times." Zanadar leaned back in his saddle. "The road will do fine. I'm surprised you haven't been down there much before." "My post is near Leth Nurae," Morgan explained as they began to ride. "I've never really had much of a reason to go to Rindol Field before." For several hours, the party rode southwest, climbing and descending the lush green hills of the Thestran countryside. It was a bright day. Only a few puffy white clouds lingered in the rich blue sky, slowly nudged onward by a peaceful breeze. As they crested one particularly tall hill, the village of Tursh gradually became visible. Morgan knew that from this vantage point the village appeared closer than it actually was, but that even so, they were not very far away. "Morgan..." Renna said. "Are we stopping in Tursh?" He thought for a moment. "As much as I'd like to, I can't really think of a reason. It will only be around midday by the time we get there so we couldn't spend the night." The ranger frowned and let out a brief sigh. "No, we'll just go around." "I see." "Would you rather if we dropped you off in Tursh and picked you up on our way back to the city?" Morgan asked, guessing as to the meaning of her question. "No," Renna replied quickly, "That's not why I was asking." "Why go around?" Zanadar asked. "Experience," Morgan said, "Every time I've tried to go through I always get stopped by someone. Tursh is not a large village and I have spent most of my life there. Whenever I come through people always want to talk." "Well it isn't everyday their poor muddy village gets to be blessed by the likes of the all powerful tenderfoot Morgan," Elandar said sardonically, "I am sure it's a big deal for them." "That wasn't how I meant it," the ranger said defensively, "What I mean is, all my mother's old friends always want to talk. They're dear old women and I like them all very much, but we don't really have time for that." A grin cracked Renna's somber face. "They still bother you all the time?" she asked, sounding amused. "They're not a bother, they just like to talk." "You're allowed to say they annoy you, Morgan," Renna said. She narrowed her dark brown eyes and flashed a dangerous grin. "I promise I won't tell." "I think I'm missing something," Zanadar said in a puzzled voice. "You see, after Morgan's parents..." the girl began to explain, she stopped abruptly though and looked towards the ranger. "Sorry," she apologized. "Its fine," he said with a dismissive wave. "It happened whether we talk about it or not." "...After Morgan's parents passed," Renna continued, "His mother's friends sort of adopted him and Gillian. He was mothered constantly by about five old women with absolutely nothing better to be doing. Gillian took to them immediately, of course, but they made Morgan uncomfortable, I think. If you hadn't noticed, he gets a bit fidgety when he's the center of attention." She shot him a suggestive look. Morgan frowned and made a conscious effort to avoid squirming in his saddle. He was happy to see Renna cheering up, he had been worried about her earlier but at the same time he did not particularly want to encourage her. "If you ask me, they're the real reason you joined the rangers so young," she said. "It sounds as if Renna has you just about figured out," Zanadar observed casually. "They are wonderful women and I owe each of them more than I will ever be able to repay, we really just don't have the time right now," Morgan insisted, "they'd want to know why I had to leave so abruptly the other day and where we're going and whether or not it was dangerous." He sighed. "They just worry, is all. They don't bother me." "That's an awful lot of explaining if they don't bother you," Renna teased. Elandar's bushy white eyebrows peaked up. "Five wonderful women with nothing better to do than lavish us with attention." He straightened himself and ran his fingers through his stringy old beard. "Maybe we should stop in Tursh." Morgan sagged his shoulders, accepting defeat. "It's all right Morgan," Zanadar said in a comforting tone, "Going around is fine. The quicker we can get to Rindol Field the better, we do not need anything slowing us down and I applaud your efforts to keep on us on track." "Thank you," the ranger replied. "Besides," the big man added smugly, "I don't like old women either."
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