Ch. 5, Page 19

Quij had seen Robilar levitate plenty of times, but being able to fly himself was a brand new experience to the orc hero. He pushed off into the air like he was pushing off from the shore into a river and tried to "swim" through the air.

Otto made his way inside. Combating the invisible stalker with bags of flour seemed like such a natural idea, he could not think why it had not occurred to him earlier. He made to the innkeeper with lightning precision and made his demands.

Tenser, meanwhile, was eager to reach the spellbooks and scrolls in his room upstairs. He could think of a half-dozen spells that would help with the stalker -- all of which he had, by chance, failed to prepare that day. He had no time to prepare new spells, but if he could just find the right scroll...

But then, Endelar started to resist his tugging hand. In the middle of the common room, she decided she had had enough.

Ch. 5, Page 18

The remaining mastiff barked angrily at the rooftop a few more times, then turned and went back to where its companion lay still in the road. The still-living mastiff laid down beside the other one and went silent, only staring up at Robilar as he went running past them.

"I'd love to cut that thing in half, Rob..." Quij growled, gripping the haft of his battleax nearly hard enough to break it.

Robilar paused, listened, and over the background din of the city, he was able to make out the faint sound of roof tiles clattering. And that was when he knew he had the stalker where he wanted it.

Ch. 5, Page 17

"T-Tenser, m-make them s-slow down!" Endelar managed as she felt every bump on the road.

"I-I'm sorry, d-dearest, b-but this an em-mergency!" Tenser said, holding the seat tightly.

Endelar was thrown into him and held Tenser tight, making this his favorite part of the whole day so far.

Ch. 5, Page 16

Tenser turned and called to Robilar, waving at him frantically as the idea developed in his mind. "Come back here!"

Robilar did not plan to comply at first, but curiosity got the better of him and he walked back. "What? Why aren't we moving forward?"

"Because we have that!" Tenser said, pointing to Endelar's carriage.

Robilar mulled the idea around in his mind and came up with his own plan. "Are we commandeering it?"

"No, no!" Tenser said, suddenly having to correct Robilar and allay Endelar before she could get upset. "Just borrowing it."

"But the inn is not that far..." Robilar protested.

"Endelar and I have catching up to do. We can do it right here and you can wait, or we can do it on the ride."

"I suppose..it would be more dramatic if we arrived by carriage," Robilar mused.

"Absolutely," Tenser agreed.

"What's going on?" Otto said, finally catching up to them.

"We're riding the rest of the way in the carriage," Robilar said.

"Oh lovely. I've always wanted to drive one of these things."

"The driver is driving it," Robilar countered. "Come to think of it, there won't be room for you inside. You'll have to stand on the side of it."

"I'll what now?"

Ch. 5, Page 15

Robilar did not have time for this nonsense...but, on the other hand, he did not want to get too far ahead of the others on his own. Glancing back, he could see that Quij had his hands full keeping the guard dogs they had bought from attacking some bystanders in the street. Otto was still struggling to keep up. Tenser had this opportunistic young maiden after him, undoubtedly after the riches he had accumulated over two years of delving the depths of Castle Greyhawk.

Well, he would spare Tenser one minute -- but not a second longer!

Ch. 5, Page 14

They made slow progress, trying to guide their dogs in the right direction. Every so often the dogs would stop and smell something. Robilar or Quij would start to go for their weapons before someone would guess that the dogs were sniffing something more mundane, yet curiously enchanting to the dogs, like the garbage lining the gutter or the dung on some stranger's boots. Quij almost lost one of them to chasing a cat.

What they were not aware of was that Lady Endelar was on that same road, heading in the opposite direction. Endelar was on her way to an important engagement at the Cartographer's Guildhall to gain an important commission. Endelar did nothing small, so she was planning on arriving in style to wow the aristocrat that wanted an accurate new map of the Cairn Hills. Almost nothing could make her late for such an appointment.

Ch. 5, Page 13

Robilar laid there for a moment, listening and watching the hay on the stable floor. The invisible stalker was definitely moving in a straight line for the front doors after knocking Otto aside. Robilar picked himself up and sprinted after him.

Lucien, the stablemaster, was so upset at the damage to his property that he foolishly tried getting in Robilar's way.

"Hey, you can't leave until we've settled damages!" Lucien said, before Robilar brushed him aside.

"Otto, hand this man some gold!" Robilar shouted at his henchman. The last thing he needed right now was the law after him.

Outside, Tenser heard Lucien shouting at Robilar, but was distracted by a breeze, as if something was moving past him...