As they arrive in Mulard, the marketplace is busy as normal. Dwarves, humans, and gnomes all bustle about trading money and items.

A small female gnome approaches the group and asks, "You men are from the mines, right? How come you are back to town so early."

Not wanting to alarm the people of Mulard, Furendithas says, "Well, we have some business to take care of today, so we asked if we could have the rest of the day off." The woman stares at them for a moment, shrugs, and then walks away.

Chasiarm says, "Before we get a wagon, we should buy some armor, you know, in case we run into trouble on the way."

"Good idea. I'm gonna head over to the smithy's," chimes Furendithas.

"You guys go ahead," responds Darius, "I am going to see if the alchemist has any deals right now."

Furendithas, Chasiarm, and Herrol all go to the blacksmith and ask for armor. Herrol and Chasiarm both purchase sets of padded armor, but Furendithas asks for something more.

"How much are ya willing to sell one of the sets of studded leather?"

"Well, I've known you since you were young, and you've never tried to cheat me before, so I'll give you a suit for 18 gold."

"Well, I don't have much many, I was maybe hoping I could get it for 16."

The blacksmith makes a painful grimace as he hold the leather armor, and says, "Well, 16 is a bit low I am afraid, and I though 18 was a favor. However, I will settle for 17 gold, but never ask me to do you a favor like that again."

The three acquire their armor and put it on, admiring their new warrior appearance.

Darius arrives at the alchemist and inquires about the different types of potions available. The alchemist shows him the goods but says that they are a bit expensive.

Darius speaks, "Well, I was hoping to find something around 10 gold. I don't have much money right now."

The alchemist shows him a few cheap potions, but the one that catches Darius's eye is the sleep potion.

"Oh yes, the sleep potion. It is quite a deal for only 10 gold pieces. I could really sell it for more, but the children love to use it for pranks, so I lowered the price to make it more affordable."

Darius pays for the potion and then heads over to the wagon renter where he sees the other three outside. They all enter the wagon shop and the owner greets them in an annoyed grunt.

"What business do ye have today?" asks Benjamin the wagon renter.

"We need a wagon ride to Arborin," says Darius, "We need to get there as soon as possible."

"And why, may I ask, do ye need to go to Arborin?" asks Benjamin pryingly.

Herrol answers, "We are on business to speak to the King."

"Is that so?" he laughs, "Well, I don't see why he would possibly want to talk to 3 miners and a forest man."

Furendithas's temper rises and he responds, "We have a very important message to tell him, we must hurry. Tinton said you might cause us trouble."

"Tinton Berrywater? That greedy, pig-headed scoundrel! A'ight, I'll get ye a wagon." He leaves into the back room and you hear him say, "Charlie! I got a job for ye today. Couple of folks needs a ride to the capitol." He walks back in and says, "It'll be one silver piece per mile. Ye can pay at the end of the trip. He'll meet ye in the back."

The group heads around to the back of the building and finds a wagon sitting there with two horses already to go. A sturdy, but friendly, looking man greets them as they approach the wagon.

"Hello there friends," says the man, "I am Charles C. Tailor. You may call me Charlie. Sounds like you guys need a ride to the capitol?"

"That's correct," answers Darius, "and we need to get there quickly. We have urgent news to give to the king."

"Well, let's be off then."

Everyone makes their way into the wagon and they set off to Arborin. The trip is rather uneventful and dull. The group talks with one another and with Charlie. Charlie seems to be a jolly fellow. He reveals the fact tat he is a Paladin and is just taking this wagon driving job to get some extra money to start a career. As the day approaches night, the group decides to press on into the night to make the journey shorter. Charlie agrees and the wagon ride continues into the darkness.

As the group heads on into the night, Furendithas, Darius, and Herrol decide to sleep in the back of the wagon. Chasiarm stays awake and rides up front with Charlie. After a few hours, Chasiarm notices some lights of in the forest. They look like red sparks. There are only a few at first, but more keep appearing. He tells Charlie to take a look.

"Those aren't lights... Those are eyes!" he cries.

He gives the reins a few whips to speed up. The eyes follow relentlessly, and soon small hairy figures emerge from the forest and pursue them at full speed. A creepy cackle is heard from the creatures as a volley of javelins whizzes through the air. One barely misses Charlie's head, but three land themselves into the right horse, killing it. The group holds on as the wagon takes a new course off the road. Charlie maneuvers the second horse to a halt, barely stopping the wagon from falling over.

They look to behold the hungry-looking, short creatures pursuing them. There are nearly twenty of them of them in all.

"Everyone out of the wagon, let's take these guys out!" cries one of the group.

The battle is furious, and the hairy beasts seem to have overwhelming odds in a 4 to 1 ratio; however, they are weak and they come down with single hits.

Out in the forest, another ranger is hiking through the woods and hears the commotion. He finds a good vantage point and sees the group fighting the band of Kobolds, as he recognizers them. He also sees the Kobold leader standing a ways apart from the group and decides to start helping them out. Skillfully he prepares his bow and takes aim at the leader. He releases his shot which hits the Kobold in the back, killing him nearly silently. The ranger then joins in the battle by shooting other ones down.

Chasiarm, however, has a little more trouble than his skinny Elven body can handle. He makes a run into the trees for safety. Realizing that their leader is gone and that their numbers are growing fewer, a total of 6 kobolds run away as well. The rest of the kobolds are destroyed.

After the group takes a breath, they divide up the spoils. The ranger introduces himself as Khemir, and the group thanks him for the help. Khemir scolds them for riding in the night, and informs them that the forest is growing into a dangerous place. After the group tells him of their plans to go to Arborin, Khemir agrees to help take them there since that is where he is also going.

Darius and Charlie, both with healing powers, make use of them to heal the badly wounded Chasiarm and Furendithas. After this the group has no trouble falling asleep.

The next morning, the group arises early and decides to send Charles back to Mulard. They pay him with a large portion of the spoils and help him load the wagon with the deceased horse. Before he leaves, he agrees to help heal Furendithas further. Everyone bids them farewell and then turns to Khemir. They briefly introduce themselves to each other, and Khemir tells them of the shortcut to Arborin. They load up everything and head towards Arborin.

CHAPTER THREE >>>