Long Lost Friends (Arrival of the Three Dogs)

12 Feb 1371 (1828 Grimmlands calendar)

The two adventurers decide that Knives will cross the bridge first – checking the path to make sure that it will support the weight of his companion.  Chronosaj turns to watch their back trail to make sure that no one is following them and hears the barking of the dogs growing ever louder.

 

Knives closes his eyes, focusing his senses on his feet are able to tell him.  He begins his crossing, feeling every sway of the bridge against the river current.  Each sag of the boards, the creaking of the wood as it takes and holds his weight.  He moves carefully but with practiced grace and reaches the far bank in a matter of moments.

 

As the ex-mayor of Hamelin steps off the bridge on the far bank, Chronosaj sees three shaggy retrievers emerge from the woods and reach the crest of the hill.  One of the dogs is white, the second is black, and the third is yellow.  The hounds make their way down the slope of the hill and come to a stop a short distance away.  Their barking has stopped.  All three are superb specimens with an uncanny intelligence shining in their eyes and take in everything about the two adventurers in an instant – the way they stand, the weapons they carry, the lingering scents of food and drink the two have shared over the course of the day, and the distance between them, the bridge, and each other.

 

The White Dog takes two steps forward and stops.  It opens its mouth and calls out, “Do a halt, miscreants!  We seek only the return of your ill-gotten gains!  Lay down thy weapons, surrender now and we will show mercy!  Resist and thee wilt receive a heckin’ thrash about thy head and shoulders!”

 The dancing light of torches in the woods draw ever closer and, faintly, the sound of voices carry through the trees, barely perceptible over the lapping waters of the river and the groaning of the derelict bridge.