-1

After coiling up the rope and stashing it the wagon, the dwarves headed east, toward the lair of the Red Brigade. Armin led the group, his axe over his shoulder. Next came Strom, his dual axes tucked into his belt, his hands resting on the heads of the weapons. Toren followed behind, riding the wagon, working the reins of the two shaggy ponies. His maul resting within easy reach. Behind the wagon a few yards came Kendrac and Rom, both amazingly subdued, or at least seeming that way. They talked in low tones, snickering and giggling incessantly as the 5-dwarf army traveled along the road.

"Woah there!" Toren said, pulling the reins of the suddenly skittish ponies. "What be yer problem?"

Armin and Strom both stopped and looked back at the bald dwarf, and both winced as they heard the sound of two dwarves walk into the wagon, unaware that it had stopped.

"What be th' trouble, Tor?" Armin asked.

The wagon driver shrugged. "Ponies'r spooked. Smellin' somethin' in th' air methinks."

Kendrac's head appeared from behind the wagon with a grin. "Rum did it!"

Strom shook his head and sighed. "I'll go an' scout out th' area"

Armin nodded. Strom quickly removed his armor and handed it to Armin. He took one axe and ran off towards the hills to the north and east of the wagon's position. Toren climbed down from the wagon and hefted his maul. He looked around warily before looking back at Armin.

"Whatcha thinkin' it be?" He asked.

The red bearded armory shook his head. "I ain't been in these parts fer years. Might'n be orcs, er mebbe goblins. Dunno fer sure."

Toren nodded and looked back at Kendrac and Rom, who seemed to have gotten into a tug of war with a fish. "Oh no, here they go again."

Kendrac tugged mightily on the fish but Rom easily overpowered the tent-wearing dwarf, and fell backwards, rolling down a hill, clutching his prize. Kendrac quickly dashed after him, tripping over his robes and rolling down the hill after Rom. The sounds of arguing and other noises faded away as the two rolled down the hill. Toren and Armin watched the two for a moment, then sighed.

An hour later, Strom returned.

"Orcs" He said with a grin. "Whole lot of 'em. Looks like a war party. All gathered 'round a fire."

Armin's eyebrows went up, as did Toren's.

"How many?" the latter asked.

"'Bout 25 er so. Looks like they hit a caravan. Lots o loot scattered 'round, an a couple o human's tied to stakes. Looks like they be plannin' fer dinner."

Kendrac took that moment to appear, fish in hand, robes wrinkled, but clean. "Dinner? Me's hungry!"

Armin looked at the disheveled dwarf. "Where is Rom?"

Kendrac beamed and shook a pouch that looked rather similar to one of the pouches Rom carried. "Me gets fish!"

"Let him out, Kendrac"

"Why?"

"Because we..." he paused, shaking his head slightly at a thought. I can't believe I am gonna say this. "We need him ta help fight Orcs."

"Orcs!" Kendrac whooped in delight and opened the pouch and started to shake it. After a few shakes, a somewhat irate Rom plummeted to the ground in a thud. "Orcses Rum!! We play with Orcses!"

Rom rolled a few times and scrambled to his feet, quickly forgetting about his ordeal in the pouch. He and Kendrac began to dance around in circles, chanting nonsense about orcs. Armin nodded to Toren, and they each grabbed one of the lunatic dwarves and started dragging them off after Strom, who had donned his armor and was waiting for them. Together, the dwarves headed back the way Strom had scouted towards the orc encampment.