General Escers was pretty fun to travel with. Even when there was nothing to do, he would think of something. And if he couldn’t think of anything, he would always make them laugh somehow, even if his jokes were terrible. Neither Arthur nor Nigel regretted joining his expedition, although they did miss their friends a little.

“I wonder how Vreil and Milos are doing”, said Nigel.

“Now that's going to be one hell of a trip”, Arthur laughed. “But Vreil is crazy strong. I bet he’s having fun with some elvish women right now.”

“Yeah right, as if they could reach Laterna in two days.”

The two expeditions had left Waterslide simultaneously, heading in different directions.

“How long until we reach the dwarven Kingdom, General?” Arthur asked for the hundredth time since their departure. “Long”, was Escers’ reply. He had already explained that it would take at least a month to get to Olympus, the dwarven capital, and that’s if they traveled day and night. Bored, Arthur picked up his weights once again and started working out. He was also wearing big weights around his ankles and wrists ever since they left Waterslide, or maybe even longer. As always, he was hell-bent on becoming the strongest.

On this small one-wagon convoy, other than General Escers, Nigel, and Arthur, there were two people. The first was a dark-skinned man, a friend of the General’s, who had arrived at the Land of the Six Kingdoms from the South, many years ago. His name was Sahtar.

In the two days they had been traveling together, he had told them he was now a merchant, helping his compatriots communicate with the locals. Not many had the patience or energy to learn another language, and so people who spoke both were few and far between.

Other than his general appearance, what drew the gazes of the people around him was his clothes. He was always dressed in a large robe, his shoes were brightly colored, short and pointy, and always kept a scarf-like thing wrapped around his head, like a hat of sorts. His dark skin made a contrast with his extremely white teeth, and he always carried a small, patterned carpet, although Nigel and Arthur had never seen him use it.

At nights, when they gathered around the campfire, he would tell them stories of his homeland, where the deserts stretched as far as the eye could see and even further, the forests were homes to thousands of strange animals, and the people were all tall and muscular. They lived in small huts under the sun, believing in strange, sometimes malevolent gods. But, as he often said, his land was so far away that you would have to travel for a year to reach it. When he told them stories, General Escers, who had heard them many times before, kindly shook his head and joked with him, lying about having visited those lands himself. Everyone was already very fond of him, as they were of Miss Nan, General Escers’ wife.

She was a joyful person, always ready to laugh at her husband’s jokes. They were like most couples, where they both change to be alike after many years of being together, even their appearances. Miss Nan was a somewhat chubby woman in her fifties, with a pair of short earrings she never took off and a number of suitcases which, if Arthur's was correct, were filled with clothes and accessories. A permanent smile was drawn on her face, as if her lips lacked the ability to stay in their rightful position between the nose and the chin, and had instead decided to venture deep into her cheeks. For some reason though, she gave off a strange atmosphere, and nobody except her husband would like to be left alone with her.

“Okay, how long until the border then?” continued Arthur. Patience was never his strong point, although part of his reason for asking was to annoy the General.

“About a month more. It is still a long way to go”.

“If we hurry-“ Arthur tried to continue, but Sahtar stopped him.

“Arthur,” he said in his strange accent, “do not annoy the General.”

“It’s okay, Sahtar,” Escers leaped to protect Arthur, “I like to see the energy of their youth. Arthur, we’ll be reaching a Red House base in a while. You, Nigel, and Sahtar will have to circle around it through the woods. That will help you use that youthful energy. Okay?”

“Yes, sir”, he answered enthusiastically.

As the General said, they soon reached a turn on the road, from where they could see a small number of buildings with the Red House flag on them, a red dragon’s head in a yellow background. Not a particularly beautiful flag, but a flag nonetheless.

As agreed, Sahtar, Nigel, and Arthur got off the wagons and ran into the woods, hoping to circle around the base while General Escers and his wife, wearing villagers’ clothes, would try to sneak through.

“Do we really have to do this?” Nigel asked Sahtar, not sure what answer he would like to get.

“The nearest detour is three days away,” Sahtar replied, “and another three to get back on the right path from the other side.”

As always, Sahtar carried his carpet, which he kept rolled under his armpit. Quite out of place for a forest excursion, but Sahtar was weird like that.

“There’s a suitable spot behind those trees”, said Sahtar, pointing at a cluster of trees.

“Suitable for what?” Nigel asked, surprised.

“To be on the lookout for the General if he gets caught, of course. This spot is close enough to be able to get there in time and far enough that we won’t be seen. You didn’t think we would just circle around, did you?”

“Of course not!” Nigel replied. Arthur barely held back his laughter when he saw the face Nigel made. He did think they would just circle around, after all.

They approached the cluster of trees and hid behind a tree each. This was indeed a good spot. As they took their positions, the General and his wife reached the entrance of the base, where they were halted by a soldier. Fortunately, the wind was blowing their way and they could hear parts of the conversation.

“Who are you and where are you going?” one of the guards asked energetically. Apparently, this was the most interesting thing that had happened to him in weeks.

“We are merchants, going to Mon”, answered the General after he got off the wagon and took off his hat. He had long taken his armor off and was now wearing common clothes. Mon was a village near the border.

“We carry jewelry”, added his wife, Nan, with a glowing smile drawn on her face. Arthur remembered that a Waterslide patrol had encountered some thieves with fake jewels a few weeks back, and they were given these fake jewels as cover. Unless he was mistaken, Vreil and his group had received some as well.

“Go call the Commander”, the soldier shouted. Immediately another soldier, obviously lower in the chain of command, ran off towards the biggest building. Then, the soldier at the entrance turned at the wagons again. “Show me”, he demanded. The General and his wife obeyed his command, although the General raised a brow in disapproval. They took out a box from the wagon and opened it to reveal the fake jewels, hidden below some cushions.

“These are nice”, the soldier's eyes were glowing in the thought of profit. “And do you have a lot of those?” Before they could answer, the Commander of the base arrived panting, having hurried as soon as he heard about the jewels. Nigel’s eyes opened wide. A tall man with broad shoulders and a look that seemed like he wanted to chop anything that dared be in his way, a man with absolutely no facial hair. The commander was the Red House recruiter Vreil had seen back in the woods before he met Ashter. He had told Nigel about this once, laughing at the hairless man. Luckily, Vreil himself wasn’t seen then, and Nigel wasn’t seen now.

“Commander!” the guard saluted.

“Why are you carrying such valuable cargo all the way to the borders?” the Commander asked, ignoring the guard.

“We are not taking it to the border, just to Mon”, replied the General.

“Sure, and I’m a bear. Trading with the dwarves without his Majesty’s permission is a serious crime, punishable with death. I could kill you right now”, continued the Commander.

“We are not lying sir, we are only taking this to Mon”, answered Miss Nan before Escers could. “We plan to keep this safe for our children, so they will have something when they return.”

“Return from where?”

“They have enlisted with the Red House.”

The commander was taken a little aback by this. Although the Red House was lenient with its soldiers’ actions towards outsiders, it had strong ethical rules towards insiders, like the one that demanded that members of the Red House not hurt another member in any way.

“What are their names?” he asked, still not convinced.

“Dron and Seld.”

“Never heard of them”, the Commander replied with relief. Not that it meant much; the Red House wasn’t too populous, but it had at least a couple thousand members. “Well, I suppose I could let you go. Although, with what you’re carrying, you could buy us food for some months.”

From where they were watching, Arthur snorted coldly. He despised bribing.

“Of course, of course, anything for our sons’ brothers in arms”, the General replied joyfully. “In fact, we’ll do something better. How about we give you a portion of these jewels for yourself, and some more for the soldiers. Then you can do whatever you want with them.”

“Excellent idea!” resounded the Commander, turning to a soldier before anyone could change their mind. “You! Unload that box.”

“How nice that everything is settled”, Miss Nan clapped her hands. “On our return trip, we will be carrying some other things. We can count on your friendship then, right?” she winked at him.

Perhaps some hair-growing lotion too.

“But of course”, the commander smiled disgustingly. “Leave what you wish for us and go on.”

The man’s ugly smile was filled with blissful ignorance at the thought of having just stricken a very good deal for himself. He accompanied them to the other side of the base, where he personally bid them farewell. He also sent a couple of soldiers to escort them for a while. On their part, the General and his wife left behind a box of jewels and the promise they would come back with more. A win for both parties, until the Commander realized the jewels were fake.

Sahtar, Arthur, and Nigel joined them when the soldiers had long left. “This went fine”, commented Sahtar. “We didn’t have to kill.”

As he had once revealed, Sahtar didn’t like killing, and he only did it when he had no other choice.

“We don’t know yet”, answered the General, speaking again in his usual voice, the one used to giving commands. “They might be on to us.”

His worries, however, did not come true, and the five of them had no problem leaving the area. They walked through forests and over mountains, they crossed valleys and eventually chanced upon a lake.

To settle his unrest, Arthur had already begun lifting weights for the fifth time that day. This time, he was lifting forty kilograms with each hand.

They saw the lake as soon as they came out of the mouth of a valley. They were surrounded by old, tall trees, brimming with life. Small squirrels danced around on the taller branches and the lower parts of them, as well as the ground, were filled with bugs. Birds chirped from the sky and they would occasionally fly lower to take a peek at these mysterious, two-legged creatures. Not many humans came this way, as there was a much more accessible road just behind the mountain.

“This is lake Griffidor”, said the General, with the face and tone of a tour guide. “After we cross it, the borders will just be a day away.”

“How do we cross this?” Nigel asked, looking around. The lake was so long it would take at least three or four days to circle around it, but its width was so small it would only take a couple of hours on a boat.

“Sahtar knows someone who can get us across”, answered Miss Nan. Sahtar nodded.

“He is a wise man who has lived here for as long as I know, ferrying people across the lake. There is a small village nearby, and its villagers believe him to be a saint. He lives by the food they bring him.”