Snippet #6 - The Duke of Brun and the Golden Bands.   (unedited)

They waited until it was well past dark before the Skywitch rose impossibly high into the sky and then turned off all of its exterior lights. They also made several course corrections before finally coming to rest high above the valley. It wasn’t a few moments more until they’d settled to the desert floor.

“Tomorrow morning, I’m going to take the Skywitch in several different directions and make it look as if we are landing. I figure if I can get Count Stavix’s and General Rhendu’s soldiers to go off on several false trails, it’s the least I can do,” Valeran said, watching as several dancers were led off of the Skywitch. They were smaller beasts than the dancers that were commonly ridden in the city. They also had thicker scales and large crests that when displayed could cover the beast’s eyes. Lord Mendor had provided the dancers and said this breed was much better for the deeper desert. Besides the saddle each lizard was heavily laden with supplies though they did not seem to be affected by the burden.

“These dancers are good animals,” Ellian said, caressing the hard scales on the nose of the dancer she’d chosen to ride. “They are expensive, as well.” Nilesh had already mounted his dancer and had the large book opened in front of him. He had been engrossed in the book since they’d received it and hardly put it down. The little man continued to make odd sounds every once in a while as he read though the disgruntled sounds still outnumbered the ones of triumph. Ashrak and Chari were also climbing aboard their dancers as well.

“I wanted to give you every advantage I could,” Valeran answered as he stood with his hands on his hips before reaching out and grasping Ashrak’s arm.

“You have,” Ashrak answered. “There’s no telling what will find out there but if we succeed it will be because of you. Thank you.”

“You just keep your communicators handy. If you run into something you can’t handle then call me. It won’t take long for us to get to you no matter where you are in this blasted desert.”

Ashrak nodded and patted his belt pouch before looking at his sister. “How long will it take us to get to your men?”

Ellian grinned and launched into her own saddle before taking up the lead of their small group. “Not long, perhaps an hour or so,” she said, squinting into the distance. “I know they’re in the Valley, but not where. However, they will have seen us land and will be watching. They’ll find us. Just ride normally and if you hear or see anything, don’t draw your weapons.”

Ashrak nodded and they all lapsed into silence as they rode into the night. They were able to see fairly well due to one of the moons being almost full. The smallest moon was only a sliver but the larger was about three quarters full and let them see well enough to travel without fear. Nilesh had a large oil lamp balanced so that he could continue to page through the book. Ashrak figured it would keep anyone from thinking they were trying to sneak up on them, which was a good thing when you are trying to find bandits. He did not relish the thought of arrows being fired at him from the darkness.

They traveled slowly for perhaps an hour and a half before Ellian’s friends finally revealed themselves. A voice, deep and gravelly from the darkness, spoke. 

“Ellian,” the man said loudly enough for them to hear. It sounded like it was coming from a large series of boulders and rough terrain just to the right of their current path. “Is that you? Strange company you are keeping these days.”

Ellian immediately stopped her dancer and signaled for the rest of them to come to a halt. She spoke over her shoulder in a low voice. “Don’t make any sudden moves or you’ll have an arrow in you before you know it.” Looking back out into the darkness she raised her own voice. “Daka, I’m here with my brother and some friends. They are not a threat.”

“Aye, so they won’t have any trouble throwing their weapons to the sand then will they?”

Ellian looked back at them and nodded before taking out her own swords and daggers and throwing them to the sand. Ashrak, Chari, and Nilesh exchanged looks but followed suit, letting their own weapons join Ellian’s.   

After a few cautious moments, they could see several figures moving out of the darkness and towards them. Chief amongst those was perhaps the largest man Ashrak had ever seen. He towered almost a foot above his fellow bandits and was just as wide. When he stepped into the flickering light of Nilesh’s lamp, the man’s arms were stick around as a normal man’s thigh. A large scar ran from his four head, across his eye and almost all the way down to his chin though luckily, it seemed to have left his eye contact. Despite his menacing countenance, his grin glinted up at Ellian as he stepped toward her.

“It’s been two weeks,” Daka said in his deep base rumble. “We were worried that with all the trouble in the capital, you’d be dead by now. It’s good to see that we were wrong though now I owe Fallon a gold piece.”

As he spoke another figure stepped around him. She had a long and dark braid and was dressed in tight hunting leathers with a menacing-looking bow held in her hands.  She was a tall woman, and used every bit of her height to reach up and pull Ellian’s head down into a long kiss.