"Halt! Who goes there." He was pleased that his voice didn't crack. The
traveler looked up at him and the Pup was startled to see that the traveler
had a large death rune on his face. The long part reached from his hairline
to his chin and the cross-piece ran over his eyes. And the eyes! They were
an iron grey and were the coldest eyes the soldier had ever seen. The voice
that came out was mild enough however. "My name is Gunnar." The Pup's eyes
narrowed, "Just Gunnar? Don't you Orlanthi normally call yourselves, so and
so's son or something." The Old Hand frowned as he tried to remember where
he'd heard that name before, Gunnar, Gunnar? The mild voice definitely did
not match the eyes. "What other people call me is their business. I call
myself Gunnar, just Gunnar." The Pup heard some deep breaths from behind
him as the Old Hand sucked nosily on his spiff. "Ah, that's the thing," he
heard him mutter. The Pup decided on another tact. "Um, what's your
business in the fortress?" A slight smile appeared on Gunnar's lips. It
did not reach his eyes. "I have come here because I've been...summoned
here. There's a need for death here." The Pup frowned and he heard the Old
Hand nosily cough as he gagged on his spiff. "Why are you coming in the
back way?" he asked. Gunnar smiled again, "Because I thought there would be
a lower death toll if I came up the back way." The Pup turned in alarm as
he heard desperate retching and choking noises. The Old Hand had swallowed
his spiff. He would have looked quite comical what with the smoke coming
out of his ears save for the panicked look on his face. The traveler waited
patiently as the Pup pounded the Old Hand on the back until he coughed up
the spiff. He grabbed the Pup by the arm and turned to face the traveler.
"You're [cough, cough] free to pass, friend." The Young Pup looked
stricken, "But we can't let Orlanthi's pass. We're supposed to be guarding
the path!" The Old Hand whispered harshly, "And we're supposed to report
anything unusual aren't we?" The Pup nodded reluctantly. "Well I suppose
so but what about him?" The Old Hand smiled at the traveler and waved him
on. "If he's not unusual I'll eat another spiff." The traveler moved on up
the path stroking the hilt of his sword as one soothes a dog. He heard the
Old Hand and the Young Pup stumbling down the path in their haste. "You
really haven't been here very long have you?" he heard the Old Hand asking
the Young Pup.
The traveler made his way up the path slowly and carefully, no point in
breaking anything, until he reached the sally gate in the massive wall. He
rapped on the gate and waited until he heard someone behind the gate.
"Who's there and why are you here?" he heard a voice ask. "My name is
Gunnar." He paused. "And a song brought me here." The gate quickly opened
and he went inside.
(Just some colour if wanted).
Oliver
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