And so it came to be then that Tunaraz and his twenty companions set out to the far east, tracking the trail of the eastern raiders.. “Wainriders’ sons.”, one of his men said, a large blonde brute with two braids running next to his ears, “A shame our ancestors, had not sent them all to the grave!” and the man spat and was grieving, for one of his daughters had been felled in the skirmish that followed when the raiders sacked the man’s farm and his plea was as filled with hatred as Tunaraz his had been filled with misery! Harwari, was the man’s name and his every step spelled doom coming for those that had wronged him.
Another was Ulfrid, his hair was shaven off.. but a dark red beard sprouted from his cheecks and chin. He himself had not been wronged, but a friend he was to their company-leader and so had pledged to come to his aid, a gesture that he would be repaid for later in his life, though that is another story altogether!
For now though those names shall have to do and from that point on it can be said that their journey took two months at the least, for the trail they followed was clear to their eyes and the speed of their feet was hardened by urgency, yet their target was swift and the travelling in itself was uneventfull for most part.
And so it had been two months, and they had travelled to the deserted lands of the east, the sun baked their skin and many suffered from burns and a ceaseless thirst. Their pace had slowed untill they had seen no better, then to go to sleep during the day and trudge on by night, yet the heat offered them little comfort in those scorching hours. It was then that Ulfrid and Harwari stood watch, for the first time together and their moods were sullen as their eyes kept looking over the wasteland, nothing but sand, stone and tough plants that had proven to grow without any water nearby. “Bah.. this land is bewitched blood-kin.”, Ulfrid said while scratching his red beard nervously and annoyed.. Harwari his brow was set in stone and his eyes did not leave the open plain, “Hrm? Of what do you speak Ulf.. I have yet to see any sorcerers or any living thing, except those plants.. if that they be.” “Just look before you, over there, far away..", and as he said so he pointed outwards, "Water! And yet.. remember? How often have we came to look for it, only to see nothing there. Vile magic, made by .. plagued spirits that enjoy the torment of men.” Harwari looked and shrugged, he left Ulfrid to his rambling, but then the hold on his club fastened suddenly, “Who goes there?!”, he yelled and before Ulfrid could turn about and draw his long-knife a man appeared...
(continued in part 3)
