Chapter 5 Part 6

The trip across the desert had gone much smoother and more comfortably for Ultrecht, Keeneye, Norwind and Samson than it had for the others. They had sailed for three days being waited on like the paying customers that they were. Keeneye had managed to root out some information at one of their stops and discovered that the others were ahead of them, but that they had to hire on as laborers to pay for their passage. The very thought of Armegon doing manual labor was enough to amuse the whole quartet for hours on end.

They could hardly wait for their arrival at the southern port. Norwind swore outright that he was going to inspect Armegon's hands for blisters. When they finally arrived at the southern most port, they disembarked to find a town of average size to greet them. Norwind sniffed the air and caught the faint but unmistakable smell of sewage.

"Civilization again," he said with a sigh.

Keeneye sniffed the air as well. "Y'know, now that I think of it we haven't really smelled the usual odor of urbanization in any of the villages we have visited until now."

"You're complaining?" Samson asked him with a smile.

"No but it is odd," Keeneye returned.

"What do you think, Ultrecht?" Keeneye turned to where the mage was standing, but found the spot now vacant. He scanned the immediate area for the wayward spell slinger. When he found him, Ultrecht was speaking to a beggar who was carrying a sign which read, 'Repent! Armageddon Comes!' Curiously, Keeneye left Norwind and Samson checking their baggage and walked over to stand behind Ultrecht.

"Three days ago?" Ultrecht asked.

"Yes m'lord, three days ago." The beggar was not giving his information up cheaply. "The man you described paid me to carry this sign for five days. He said that someone else would come along and pay me to stop."

"Did you see any others with this man?" Ultrecht dropped another coin into the man's hand.

"Well, he was in a wagon with his wife and they had some large crates with them, but other than that he was alone."

"Thank you, my friend." Ultrecht dropped a few more coins in the man's greedy hand. That seemed to satisfy the beggar and he turned and left pausing long enough to dump the sign in a garbage heap.

"What was that all about?" Keeneye's question took Ultrecht by surprise.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Ultrecht chastised irritated and placed his hand to his heart.

"Sorry," Keeneye offered. "So what was that all about?"

"Just picking up a message," Ultrecht informed him.

"A message from Armegon?" Keeneye looked puzzled.

"How did you know that old beggar had a message?"

"From his sign."

"'Repent! Armageddon Comes'?" Keeneye thought for a moment. "I don't get it."

"That's okay. I wouldn't expect you to. Only somone in the know would have gotten it." Ultrecht smiled slightly. "A long time ago, a young elven apprentice managed to blow up half a building when a spell misfired. In fact, he had so strong a talent at magic that when he misfired a spell it wreaked such havoc that the guild nicknamed him 'Armageddon'," Ultrecht laughed. "Over the years the name was shortened into Armegon."

"O-ho," Norwind exclaimed as he walked up. "I have always noticed how he changes the subject if I ask him what his name means."

"Right, since he was an orphan he didn't really have a name other than what the guild gave him."

"That is an amusing story we can ask him about when we catch him," Samson cut in, "but I am more interested in what you learned."

"Well, the good news is that we are only three days behind them." Ultrecht informed his comrades.

"And the bad news?" Samson asked. "The beggar only saw Armegon and Marlena and some large crates."

"Avery was probably covering the rear or scouting ahead," Norwind suggested.

"And Tyson was off getting into mischief," Keeneye added.

"I don't think so," Ultrecht said grimly. "That is a form of code that we have used before and is supposed to pass distance and condition of the group. Allentown was our destination for regrouping. Armegon would have insured that the messenger saw four persons plus cargo even if he had to hire someone to sit in the wagon while Avery and Tyson were away."

Ultrecht looked thoughtful. "No, I think we must assume that Avery and Tyson got separated from the others.

"Well, if they are in a wagon, we should be able to catch up with them if we travel light," Keeneye offered.

"Good idea," Samson agreed. He took a look at his still plentiful monetary holdings. "Come on," he told Keeneye, "Let's go get some mounts."

"Yes, you do that," Norwind said with a wave. "We will wait for you in this tavern."

"Just don't drink yourself unconscious," Keeneye laughed back over his shoulder.