[Repeeknon]

"Wait!" Repeeknon exclaimed. "There is, most certainly, something you are not telling us, M'Tago. The red X, on the map. What does it mark? What is at the end of our journey?" Repeeknon knew that he could easily go and find out tonight, but as M'Tago had said, that was a way off. He smiled to himself, as a thought occured to him: if it was something, not someone or someplace, that M"Tago was after, than he could go and get it after sunset. Repeeknon tried not to make his smile too obviouse. He failed.

[Drageon, Mist]

"Hold on, M'Tago!" Teren demanded, reining his jet close to the man's bay. "You are the leader of this expedition and our customer, but I'll not allow any insults to Ice, or Thunder." At mention of his name, the dog leapt from the cart with a sharp bark of warning. Sensing the tension, Thunder shook his glossy black mane and stomped his hooves.

"Ice, is a pedigree White Spitz, of champion lineage extending hundreds of years. A mutt, he most certainly, is not! In the future, if you feel the need to slander, attack a man and face the consequences."

Not giving M'Tago a chance to retort, Teren spun his stallion away, coming to a halt near the cart. Commanding Ice to leap into the saddle, Teren held the dog by his thick mane, muting any threat of attack.

"Your pride, and that dog, will be your death," Mirro quietly predicted.

"No, it'll be drink and a woman. Death by a jealous man's sword; but he's going to earn the right first."

"Wind and bluster, wind and bluster," the gnome chuckled over human bravado.

[M'Tago]

M'Tago hated dogs. His allergy was genuine, and contributed strongly to his aversion, as did an experience from his youth. He still carried the scars from where the large wolfhound had bit down on his shoulder?.

He shuddered slightly at the memory. Still, as much as the unexpected appearance of the mutt displeased him, it wouldn't do to have his guards in a tizzy this early in the game.

The artificer wheeled his horse, ignoring Repeeknon's repeated questions and trotted back to the cart. He looked Drageon straight in the eye.

"I meant no disrespect to you or your animal. I am a poor judge of dogs, but a good judge of men. You are a man of true character and I wish no ill feelings between us."

M'Tago extended his right hand. "Please accept my humble apology."

[Thorsten]

Thorsten ignored Repeeknon's questions and Drageon's outburst over his dog. The sell-sword really didn't care why M'Tago wanted to get to the "red X". His job was to get the man there safely, and so he would. As for the dog, Thorsten felt that such an emotional attachment to an animal would be a severe detriment to Drageon's effectiveness as a guard. What would happen if both the dog AND their ward were endangered at the same time? Which one would Drageon elect to save? Thorsten avoided such emotional entanglements, himself. It left him free to carry out his assignments unhindered by subjectivity.

Thorsten trotted out ahead of the group and began his scouting duties - as ordered.

[Repeeknon]

Repeeknon shrugged off M'Tago's apparent decision to ignore such questions. It didn't really matter if M'Tago told him what was at the end of the trip, Repeeknon reminded himself. It was worth sacrificing some time in Ekawa to go see. It would be easy enough to change his point of re-entry into the real world to mach the piont on the map. Because of what he new about M'tago, Repeeknon was fairly sure it was a thing that was at the end of the trip. He would have to go and see.

[Drageon]

"Well and good, then," Teren said, cheerfully accepting M'Tago's handshake of apology. Ice suddenly lunged forward with a vicious bark and snapping teeth. If not for the quick reflexes of both men, the artificer's fingers would have been painfully bit. "I fear, Ice is not as forgiving. But worry not, if you do no harm to us, he will behave. In a few days, Ice will be as good a guard as any, and better than most."

Thunder was showing restlessness, displeased with both man and squirming dog on his back. Teren shooed Ice off in the opposite direction of the artificer.

"Lead on, Master M'Tago. Dragon Mist will guard your rear flank."

[Meanwhile, Back in Montfort]

CRASH!

Arturo Ringhand slammed the stable door a bit more forcefully than he intended.

Late. He was several hours late.

The hunchbacked dwarf reached a thick hand back and pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head, scowling deeply.

This is not my area of expertise, he told himself again for the forth time in an hour. Mystique should be doing this.

But he knew that the Count's best undercover operative had better things to do than chase one of Arturo's ex-apprentices across half a continent. No, though she would have been better equipped to conduct this type of search, Arturo knew he had to clean up his own messes.

Not that he had undertaken M'Tago's pursuit alone. Far from it. Both Steel and Sephyr had agreed to accompany him on this foolhardy course. Arturo frowned more deeply as he thought of the two. Steel hadn't been seen in days, not since leaving after a "hot tip" regarding M'Tago's whereabouts. Sephyr had had to suspend her own activities to try and find him. Arturo hadn't even heard from her yet and it had been nearly a whole day.

This whole affair was just getting worse.

At least this latest visit had born some fruit, even if it was not all pleasant news. The stable hand had confirmed the dwarf's suspicions that M'Tago had stabled his horses here during the artificer's stay in Montfort. He hadn't volunteered the information, though. In fact, he hadn't been able to recall much of anything that had happened in the past day. That was what tipped Arturo off - the memory loss. It had taken the application of a specific counter spell to reverse the effects of M'Tago's memory charm, but Arturo had been up to the task. After all, it had been he who had instructed M'Tago in the construction of the memory crystal in the first place.

Arturo's musings were interrupted by a slight quickening in the breeze. Small tendrils of air seemed to tug at the edges of the dwarf's hood and he quickly drew the fabric back to expose an expectant ear.

It's about time, he thought as the breeze kissed his cheek.

::Can you hear me?:: came the whisper, a lover's soft caress on his ear.

"Yes, yes," Arturo replied, somewhat impatiently, "Where have you been?"

::I found Steel's room. His things were still there - including his signet ring. No one had seen him for two days.::

Arturo swore. "D'ya find his trail?"

::Yes. I managed to follow his traces to a back alley not far from where we're staying. I lost the trail there, though. There was a major explosion and fire. The air has been too disturbed to further trace him.::

This was not good news. There wasn't much to do about it, though. Catching M'Tago HAD to take precedence.

Arturo glanced up at the street signs marking his location in the city and gave his position to Sephyr.

"Meet me here as soon as possible. I've found where M'Tago stabled his horses. I'm sure you can pick up HIS traces here. He's got a good head start on us, so you'll need to hurry."

::What about Steel?::

"We can't wait for him. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

The breeze died suddenly and Arturo knew that Sephyr had broken the connection. The dwarf settled himself against the wall of the nearest building and waited for Sephyr to arrive.

He swore again. "Steel, you picked a fine time to go missing."

(to be continued...)