"You are a liar and cad!" Helena hissed at me. We were near the confluence of the two great rivers, the Marl and the Briarbuck. Helena, and the rest of the party had just found out that I had lied to them all, except Dimitri and Godfrey, about our destination in the Western Marches. The kids were already mad at me for lying to them about following their map. If Amenaruu had not intervened when they threw a crying fit then, they would have seen how bad my temper could be and how fast I could send them packing.

The rest of the party was watching us, seeing what would happen. Godfrey and the mercenary guards looked bored. Gerrex was watching me closely to see how I would handle this stain on my honor while Amenaruu looked concerned and Brey and Karl looked on curiously. Dimitri just grinned and said nothing. I had lost ground with Helena and her brother when I had informed them that their precious map had been a fable from the start. They seemed more upset with me for telling them the truth than the rouge Greedlie who had cheated them. I have said it before, and I say it again, there is no justice in the world. Now that I had just revealed my second lie to them, they were taking umbrage at my deceptions.

"I had been hearing that thine map to the Marches had been stolen," Karl said, "and indeed I'd been hearing that it was one of thine own that had done the taking."

I nodded to Karl and said, "That is actually true. It will be to his chagrin when he finds out the map is false."

"Where are we going?" Amenaruu asked in his polite manner.

I looked at the ground for a second before I raised my head to speak, "The true quest begins now. Any one of you that feels that my efforts to protect this expedition from claim poachers, or possible enemies, has somehow harmed you, you may turn around and leave with no hard feelings. If you wish to continue, you must swear loyalty to the party. I will tell you everything I can, there are some things our patron wishes to keep hidden and I will respect those wishes. However, I can tell you that these things will not directly affect our quest. I need you to make your decisions now for the ferry will be coming back soon and this is for no one's ears but our own."

"I swear," Dimitri said without hesitation. He was soon joined by Godfrey and the mercenaries who had known the trip was to be longer than what we had said it would be. Amenaruu hesitated a moment before he swore as well. I looked at Gerrex and he simply nodded.

"Aye, I swear," Karl said to me.

"I swear, as well," Brey said, but that did not fill me with much confidence.

The two youngsters argued amongst themselves, with my many failings as leader being cataloged and noted by them. Eventually, and I was hoping they would not do so and I could send them home. They were really too green to be here, but in the end they swore as well, but they were not happy with me at all. Not that I cared much about that, but I knew they were going to be irritating.

"We are going to the Ashie Valley," I said and there was some raised eyebrows and feet were shuffling. We have directions to a tomb, and these directions are real and verified, from which we will take an ancient crown with three magic gems. Our patron will pay us the value of the crown as a reward. That crown is worth a kingdom, plus we may keep any other treasure we find along the way or in the tomb."

"Only one of the tower dwellers could afford such an item," Brey said slowly as he pondered this new information.

I looked at him darkly but I said to all, "It may be that you will guess who are patron is, I tell you now to keep that information to yourself, he is rich and he is very powerful in the city."

It did not take a genius to know that speculation would be rampant about who we were working for, that is why I added that last part to throw them off the scent. Valker may have influence, but it was subtle, so I gave them reason to believe it was the Doge himself that had hired us.

When we finally made it across the river, we only went a few miles before we made an early camp in a narrow grass filled valley. A small stream gurgled and burped down the middle of the valley and the road went along side of it. Small trees grew reluctantly in the stony soil, but they were the only source of wood for our fires as the area was barren of trees. The walls of the valley were steep and limestone jutted out of the thin grassy soil like prows of sunken ships or ancient cracked battlements. The mountains that surrounded us were not the great snow clad giants of the Camber and Skarr mountains, but they were rocky and treacherous with loose rocks near their tops as the grass did not march all the way to their summits. On a natural terrace high up on the northern ridge above our camp a stone circle stood out against the sky. I had seen such circles before and they always fascinated me, which is why I had been persuaded to camp early. I wanted to get a closer look at this circle and to record it in my notes of my travels. Once the camp had been set up and two small fires lit, I took from one of my Bags of Holding several ancient Varanian artifacts, both magical and non-magical. They included a tripod and several bronze items that the Varanians had used to build their roads and massive building. Dimitri and I had found them in a side chamber in the ruins of a Varanian border fort. Along with the items had been the written instructions on how to use them on ancient scrolls that I translated. This was but our second adventure together for Dimitri and me. The rest of the party had left the high mountain village before the snows closed the passes, as the fort had proved to be a disappointment. Dimitri and I were both convinced there was more to discover and so we stayed behind to dig out a collapsed tunnel. When we got through, we found the fort's strong room and many valuable things inside, including these surveying tools. Our efforts meant we could not leave the village for the snows had come and made the pass unassailable. Dimitri spent the winter in the company of a pretty young widow, while I spent those winter days learning ancient Varanian surveying techniques. I have found through experience that no one is as fascinated with the actual techniques and the mathematics as I am, to I will spare you a detailed explanation of the process. Despite that injustice, these items were the reason my maps were so good. In short order, I had the main landmarks of the valley recorded accurately on my map and then I picked up my pack with its writing material and marched up to the stone circle following what must have been a goat path, as they were the only animals we had seen in this place, beside a few hawks in the sky.

I had not gone more than fifty paces when something told me to turn around, and when I did so, I saw Helena following me.

"Do you require something from me?" I asked simply.

"You are going to the stones up there," she asked in flat tone of voice of someone forced into an unpleasant conversation, "are you not?"

"I am," I replied.

"Do those stones have something to do with the arcane arts?" She asked me flatly. She had chosen to meditate on the arcane symbols alone since she had found out that I had deceived them about following their map. Her interactions with me since then were terse and hostile.

"They do not have a direct connection to magic," I replied. "But being a mage is as much about knowledge as it is about casting spells. Wizards should collect knowledge like a moneychanger collects gold, or so my master taught me."

"Then I shall accompany you to the stones," she replied, her tone and manner suggesting that she was sacrificing a great deal for her craft being in my presence. I just shrugged and turned to march up the hill. The goat path was rugged and steep, and I heard my reluctant apprentice struggling behind me, but I did not bother to turn around to help her. I was quickly growing tired of both her and her brother's petulance.

With the last rays of the spring sun were upon us and the valley below quickly filling in with shadow and cool northern wind blowing, I finished my survey of the stone circle, using cords and stakes to measure the stones accurately. Several of the smaller stones of the second outer ring had fallen over but the main stones, which were about the height of a tall man were still erect Helena asked me questions about what I was doing and the purpose of the stones. She seemed to relax, or at least speaking to me did not seem to pain her as much.

"The stones are set up to mark astronomical events, like mid-summer and mid-winter, but if they were used for any other purpose we do not know," I explained, "They are scattered across the entire western half of the continent. I have seen more than two dozen in my travels. There was a ring of stones by my village. I used to play among the stones as a boy."

"Your childhood does not really interest me," Helena said haughtily.

I turned to her, my face angry, and I could see several emotions flit across her face. I think she was much embarrassed at the pettiness of what she said, but her pride won out over all the other emotions and she set her shoulders for a confrontation with me. However, at that moment, a monstrous howling could be heard on the wind. I have heard wolves howl in a hundred different forests, and I have heard dogs howl in the night, but I had never heard this howl before. I ran to the edge of the circle near the edge of the small terrace and looked down into the valley. Our compatriots had heard the howling, and I could see Dimitri, Karl, and Brey, being old campaigners, quickly organizing to mount a defense to face what may come. On the far end of the valley, where the shadows were deepest, the howls came again and then running down the road as if certain of the purpose and destination, two dozen large hounds of a reddish brown color came chagrining down the road. Even from this distance, I could see the red flaming eyes and the flames dripping from their mouths like spittle.

"Hell hounds!" I said in a harsh whisper. The beasts had not spotted the girl or me on the high ground and were focused on our friends by the wagons. I was too far away to any good with my spells, but they were going to need my magic. A mystic glowing aura appeared as Amenaruu cast a Protection from Evil spell.

"Good," I said aloud.

"What is good?" Demanded Helena, her face white with fear.

"Our companions are responding correctly to the threat," I replied as I saw several crossbow bolts arc out toward the hounds. I did not see if any hit, but I heard a distinct yelp of an injured dog and I smiled a grim smile. But that smile faded fast as I realized I could not get to my friends without being spotted by the hell hounds and would be torn to pieces by the pack. I looked around and saw one of the fallen stones, and inspiration struck me. This stone was too large by my estimation for what I wanted to do, but I quickly found one I thought would work.

I went to the stone, Helena following curiously behind me, and I summoned my Levitate spell and the stone rose up about a foot (.3 m) off the ground. I reckoned it weighed half a ton (2200 Kg). Digging my feet into the thin soil I pushed the stone over to the edge of the terrace.

"Stay here and stay hidden," I ordered the girl as the stone slipped over the edge and I hopped on top of it, lying down along its length. It moved slowly at first, but the slope was steep and I gained speed as I descended. When got to the bottom of the valley my stone and I were travelling at about the speed a fast horse could run. I glided across the valley floor, unseen and unheard by the hell hounds that by now had reached my companions. I heard Amenaruu chanting another of his divine spells and Dimitri was shouting orders to the group. Godfrey had positioned the wagons to give as much defense as they could and the hounds were stopped from entering between them by the protection spell. But if the hounds could not enter the circle of protection the cleric had provided, their fire breath could. The breathed the flames upon the party as they ran past the group huddled in the confines of the spell, burning them. I saw Gerrex step outside of the circle long enough to cleave the skull of one of the hounds with his axe before returning to the protection of the spell.

I was now only few yards (meters) away from the pack encircling my friends when stood up shakily on the stone and jumped off, to tumble haphazardly on the ground. But my actions sent the stone slowly spinning and it hit a knot of six hell hounds broadside. The hounds yelped in pain at this sudden surprise attack, the heavy fast moving stone crushing bones and knocking them sprawling. I got to my knees just as one of the bigger hounds charged me. Shouting in the arcane language, I fired off a bolt of lightning that took the beast in the face, it let out a grinding grunt of pain as it stiffened in death as the electrical power of the spell coursed through it. It fell to the ground dead. With my way clear, I scrambled up to my feet and limped into the protection of the priests spell. Quickly I cast my own Protection from Evil spell and doubled the area we had to fight in. My spell, which did exactly the same thing as the priests spell, but mine created a faint dome of shimmering blue while the priest's divine spell created one of a golden hue. One of the wagons had caught on fire, but Godfrey was dealing with it and so I turned my attention back to the hounds.

"I am glad you joined us," grinned Dimitri as he came up beside and fired off a bolt from his light crossbow. "That was quite a ride you took."

"It did what it was supposed to do," I said back to him. Just then Charles, his confidence bolstered by a Bless spell the priest had cast, tried to do what Gerrex had done and he stepped out of the protection of the spell and struck at one of the hounds encircling us. He missed and one of the hounds leapt up and grabbed him by the arm. The chain mail he wore kept the beasts fangs from puncturing his arm, but I could hear the bone snap over the cries of the hounds and I winced at the sound. The boy was pulled down to the ground and another dog leapt on his chest going for his throat. I fired off my second, and last, Lightning Bolt spell and killed that dark beast, but the one who had his arm was dragging him away from us an toward his pack, where Charles's fate was certain.

"Do you have a Resist Fire spell," I demanded of Amenaruu, who nodded in the affirmative.

"Cast it on the boy," I ordered as fired off a Magic Missile spell at the hound dragging Charles. It hit, as it always does, and the hound yelped and released the boy, who was either dazed or in too much pain to react, and he just lay there on the ground. Amenaruu cast his spell and I fired off another magic missile spell at another hound approaching the boy.

"Protect the boy!" I yelled that order to the mercenary guardsmen who did not respond but two crossbow bolts flashed out, one hitting a hound already wounded by my spell and it fell dead, the other cried out and snarled, trying to pull the bolt out of its side with its teeth.

The big crossbows the mercenary guards used fired off a thick, heavy bolt capable of easily penetrating mail, but they were ungodly slow to reload and fire. I decided to help that along by casting a Haste spell, on my companions. Now they would fire twice as fast and the ones using melee weapons would hit twice as often. Karl took advantage of that fact, his glaive swinging around and catching a hound that darted in to breath fire on him. The first strike of the glaive took off one its forelegs, and the glaive traveling faster than it should have swung around and decapitated the hound an instant later.

I saw a mace of pure energy fly out and smite one of the hounds, knocking it back from the prone boy. The priests had cast Spiritual Hammer, but the spell had taken the form of a mace, which was native to his land where the warhammer was not. Another crossbow bolt went flying, but missed as the hound it had been aimed at jumped to the side. Instead of another offensive spell, I cast a Protection from Evil spell on myself. This spell was not as powerful as the ones keeping our foes at bay, and it only affected me, but that was enough. I grabbed a waterskin hanging half full on the big wagon and I sliced it open and let its contents drain onto me. This would be my only protection against the fire breath of the hounds. Once that was done, I dashed out to the boy who was now groaning on the ground and holding his broken arm, his sword forgotten on the sward. One of the dogs charged me, but the spell I had cast turned him away. He let out a breath of fire that washed over me painfully, causing my wet clothes to steam. I ignored the pain and I grabbed Charles under his arms and started dragging him back. My companions did their best trying to keep the hounds away from me, but two others got close enough to breath fire upon me, each time I felt it, burning pain that chased out all thought from my mind and with teeth set against the pain I simply pulled the boy, who was faring much better than I thanks to the spell the priest had cast to protect him against fire. My protection did little, but it was enough.

The remaining hounds had made the mistake of concentrating on me, and Brey, Karl, and Gerrex took that opportunity to launch a counter offensive. Brey and Karl came in from the right side moving quickly and slashing faster than a normal fighter thanks to my Haste spell. When the hounds turned to this threat Gerrex hit them from behind. The mace of pure energy wielded mentally by the priest continued to strike the beasts. Godfrey used this distraction to help me bring in the boy. I fell to my knees, my hands and face burned and blistered and my once wet clothes scorched. I fired off my last Magic Missile spell and got the satisfaction of seeing another one of the infernal beasts fall dead the grass.

As is usually the case, once the battle turns, which is something you feel rather than know, it usually ends quickly. We had dealt with the majority of the beasts, and the remaining ones were soon dispatched. It was but a few moments after the last had fallen that dead hounds evaporated into the night. I more or less fell over onto my side and then rolled over on to my back. I could see the stars shining brightly in the night sky and a waning moon just peaking over the mountains.

"Helena is at the stone circle," I said loudly to be heard, "someone go check on her."

That someone was Brey, of course. He would never pass up a chance to impress a woman, even if she was not quite up to his normal beauty standards. He galloped out on one of our horses, which thankfully had not been targeted by the beasts.

"You still alive?" I heard Dimitri say and I opened one eye just a bit to see him standing over me. There was concern in his eyes, even if he tone suggested he was jesting.

"Barely," I replied. "If you wanted to finish me off right now, I would not complain."

"The priest is tending the boy right now, one of the mercenaries is also badly hurt," Dimitri explained.

"Would you get me a healing potion out of wagon?" I asked him. "Make sure it is a green bottle and not a red one."

My friend did as I ask and I was soon drinking one of the minor potions I had brought. I gritted my teeth and the pain of my wounds flared up as blisters popped and oozed before the magic of the potion took effect and the burns started to heal. I took another swig of the potion, and braced myself for another wave of pain, which came and went, and then I picked myself up off the ground with the help of my friend's outstretched hand.

"That was no random encounter," Dimitri said to me.

I nodded before saying, "They were summoned, but I do not know who could have done it."

"It seems we have an unknown enemy watching us," Dimitri said.

"I agree with your assessment," I said as I watched Brey return with Helena who sat in front of the fighter, his arm around her waist protectively. "We will have to keep vigilant as we go forward. This will not be the last attack launched against us.