With the darkening of the sky, the west brought fluffy but grayish clouds that rolled their edges vast and wide. The past few days, in fact, the whole week has been suffocating hot. The gods have finally taken mercy on the lands and the skies were occupied with preparations for the upcoming storm in the northern regions.

The outskirts of the border echoed throughout with far-away rumbles of thunders. It was too far to see the beauty of lightings splitting the sky. However far it was, the soil and tree trunks filled the air with the earthy smell of upcoming rain.

Villagers could rejoice, the gods were merciful!

Kal, Koh, and Bave advanced despite the moody skies and merciful gods. The few extra hours that they gained quickly melted away as the hunters galloped no more. It was unthinkable to speed up with the horses when the noise could invite unwelcomed attention.

The closer they got to the checkpoint, the more careful they grew. Moreover, now the aligning was different. The men had left their white horses behind, even Bave decided to continue with his black stallion despite riding him all day.

The animals that were left behind were well-hidden downhill, a few meters away from a swamp. Whatever they were to face, it could be much more complicated with the harras they initially had to be with.

Therefore, they decided to leave most of their luggage with the stallions. Although some might argue that it was irrational and stupid to do so as bandits could take advantage of the situation and rob them. However, the hunters knew that their stallions would give in not so easily. If it was meant to be, so it be! If not, they would lose a few expensive horses and some clothes.

Bave halted, his hand came up with a sign language giving the command to stop pacing. Kal and Koh followed, and the three men paused. Their captain knew how noisy horses could be. Somewhat his gut feeling was telling him that it was enough. That far was enough, they could continue on foot.

So did they. The guild strolled, trying to stay away from the bare pathways since even a blind man could tell if there was someone on such an obvious route.

Bave lowered his upper half and walked crouching as they finally made their way through some bushes. Around half a mile away, just about less than a kilometer, the huge column of several carriages was pending.

Kal and Koh also made it out of the bushes but noticed their captain stilled at a spot. He has frozen! Was he afraid!? Impossible.

The two men quickly averted their attention to what was Bave looking at. They, too, stilled at a spot! Their eyes widened and the thoughtless state of the mind took over. They could not comprehend it in the first few seconds.

Royal guards and hunters. Together.

The guards that were taking care of the export-import were of a mixed nature. The stupor was that exporting, as well importing, was assigned to lords. Lords usually employed off-duty royal guards but never hunters.

The three-man team soundlessly tried to rationalize the situation, each for their own. Was the current king, Preda Teelh, involved with the smuggling matter or not?

The king did not care personally about the economic matters of the country. Like any other regime, he only cared for the exchequer to be full and stable. All the rest was insignificant. Therefore, the economic matters were usually taken care of by the Lords Union and the taxes then, they had to be annually calculated and paid to the royal treasury.

However, even if the king granted permission for his royal guards to be used, he would never approve of hunters. Moreover, judging by the look of it, the hunters currently siding up with the royal guards were not even from Balhkara.

Their clothing, despite lacking their organization uniform which would make it easier to assess, was typical for the southern regions of Erma. Was the current exchange between Balhkara and Erma?

Bave's eyes sharpened as his eyelids narrowed. Indeed. Preda Teelh was originally from Fostalia, Erma. It wasn't surprising if one started to believe that Preda was trying to sell off, or smuggle for himself, the Nominalia.

Kal and Koh were also thinking about it. The three men also wondered whether the Lords Union was aware of it. Were they just simply exporting without knowing that the Nominalia was to cross borders as well? Were they paid to do it? What about the Kingdom of Erma? Who was buying the Nominalia? Or rather, the king supported such a thing?!

The Concealers' captain looked over his shoulder to glance over at his men. He could read their anger in their eyes. Indeed, it was infuriating. If it were true, their king was a traitor!

Alas, it was not so easy to prove. Moreover, if they attacked now, they could turn into traitors themselves. It was not so hard for the Lords Union and Preda Teelh to stage the treason, and probably have the men beheaded publicly as an example of justice.

Bave looked back to the columns and columns of carriages crossing slowly the borders. It was dark, thankfully, but the few lit torches some hunters were holding, to show the way for the horses to pass, were enough to puzzle the picture out of night blackness.

The young man reached for his forehead, instinctively, and rubbed his face. Should they retreat? There was no telling where exactly the Nominalia was. There were at least fifty carriages, and twenty such have already passed beyond the lands of Balhkara.

The men could have tried to await beyond the borders, on the other side, south of neighboring Vlarik Kingdom. That way they could ambush the carriages which would be no longer under the jurisdiction of Balhkara but the time to reach Luse from Udeos was barely possible. It was simply unrealistic to be a day before the export mission, given the fact the hunters departed that late, and manage to ambush the carriages from outside Balhkara.

Kal and Koh could understand the complexity even without Bave speaking. They knew that the responsibility would fall on Bave's shoulders and it wasn't their call. It was up to the captain to decide whether to risk it all or play safe.

Small droplets began falling from the skies. The rain arrived, graciously so.

Bave looked up to the dark sky, moonless and starless. His eyes quickly assessed the area with no shine from the celestial bodies. It was a relatively even hill with few to no trees and bushes. There was no way for them to reach and attack the guards. It felt like the checkpoint was skillfully decided to be on a bare hill where the eye could capture any possible threat advancing.

Even if they were to approach the carriages, they had to capture all of them since the Nominalia could be anywhere. The luck was not on their side. They were outnumbered, the area was unfamiliar and unsuitable for a surprise attack, the storm was approaching and they had no way of fighting that battle.

The young leader was staring, feeling the pressure of hopelessness. There were times when one had to retreat.

Just as he was about to command to retreat, he heard the faint but piercing sound of wind being rippled in stripes from a sharp object that had forced its way too fast through the air. An arrow took a royal guard down.

That arrow was the ray of hope in the darkness of the night. Dozens of arrows started pouring soon enough. They danced along with the raindrops, and bodies began falling on the ground. The carriages were under attack!

The three hunters lowered further down, hiding from the current chaos that was happening on the checkpoint. The attack was precise but fierce. Whoever was on the offense, they knew how to make the enemy submit.

Bave could not ignore the thought that the attack reminded him of the ambushers from the forest they encountered a few days ago. Was it possible that they advanced as fast as Bave's guild?

The arrow attack scared the horses as well since some arrows looked like being shot aimlessly but, in fact, were aimed at the horses' hooves. The formation of columns was scattered now. Random attacks followed and men, unrecognizable whom they belonged to, attacked on foot.

Bave looked over at Kal and Koh. That was their only chance to get closer to the carriages. Whoever was attacking, they would not wait for the men to feel ready and claim the goods. It was now or never.

The royal guards and hunters aligned in a defensive tactical formation. Guards drew shields forth whilst several archers from the hunters took position to respond as fierce as the attack was. The rest of the guards were trying to fight off skilled swordsmen who tried to claim carriages.

Bave charged out of the bushes, followed by Kal and Koh. They did not hurry to draw their swords out. There were a few meters before they could engage on the battlefield. Therefore, running pointlessly with swords in hands was stupid.

The hunters felt the mud under their feet. The rain has smoothed over the ground and it was hard to run. They slipped now and then but kept charging forth. There was only one thing in their minds – the Nominalia!