Before Cale could answer, Jak said, 'You'll have to do better than this to tire me, you mangy son of a mangy bitch.'
At that, Dreeve and the rest of the pack barked laughter. The gnoll guide turned and walked back to his comrades.
Cale merely smiled and chewed his food.
The next day was a blur of pain and exhaustion. By sunset, Cale thought his legs had turned to stone. In the distance stood the outer eaves of the Gulthmere, a dark line above the plains. Cale watched the sun vanish. He knew they had only hours to stop Vraggen.
While they ate, Dreeve again walked over to them.
'In two hours, we will reach the edge of the forest. After that, it is not far to the Moonmere.'
Cale could hear the dread in Dreeve's voice when he mentioned the Moonmere.
'We need to be there before midnight,' Cale said.
'We will get you there,' Dreeve snapped.
With that, he turned his back to them and walked back to sit among his own.
'Rude,' Jak said, from around a mouthful of cheese.
Riven scoffed.
Cale smiled. Calling a gnoll rude was like calling a halfling short.
At that moment, one of the two perimeter scouts sprinted into camp. His breath came hard. His tongue lolled from his mouth. The rest of the pack rose to meet him, uttering alarmed growls. The scout stopped before Dreeve and the two held a hurried conversation in their native tongue. From time to time, the scout gestured at Cale, Riven, and Jak. Dreeve eyed them darkly.
'Stand ready,' Cale said in a low tone, and pulled his holy symbol from his pocket.
When the scout finished his report, Dreeve quieted the murmurs from the rest of pack and walked over to Cale.
'We are being tracked,' Dreeve announced, and made it sound like an accusation. 'Two humans on horseback, less than an hour behind.' His lips peeled back from his teeth. 'You have enemies that you did not tell me of.'
It was a not a question.
'No one knew we were in the city, Dreeve,' Cale said.
'A lie,' Dreeve shot back.
Cale struggled to keep from punching the gnoll in his muzzle.
'Perhaps these trackers are following you,' he said, but didn't really believe it.
The trackers could be nothing other than agents of Vraggen and the half-drow.
'I think not,' Dreeve retorted. 'None in Starmantle would dare follow this pack. They track you.' His eyes narrowed. 'Perhaps we should leave you to them?'
The rest of the pack voiced agreement. Sensing a fight, they began to creep forward, growling and brandishing their axes. Beside and behind Cale, Riven and Jak spaced themselves and put hands to their weapons.
Bolstered by his men, Dreeve took another step forward and bent down to put his toothy muzzle right before Cale's face. His voice was a growl.
'You did not speak of pursuers, human. The danger is bigger now.' His expression twisted with cunning and he added, 'So too is my price. Or we leave you here.'
Behind Dreeve, the rest of the gnolls growled agreement.
Riven scoffed and spat at Dreeve's feet. The gnoll spun on him and growled dangerously. Riven merely sneered.
Cale could barely keep the relief from his face. It was nothing more than a negotiating ploy. He hurriedly stepped between Riven and the gnoll. He didn't fear for Riven's safety, of course, but killing Dreeve would leave them without a guide to the Moonmere. Besides, Dreeve was behaving exactly as any good Sembian would-new facts required new negotiations. Cale could appreciate that. Still, he had to play it out to keep the new price within reason.
'We've already negotiated a price, Dreeve,' he said, and he waited for the gnoll's predictable retort.
'This new information would have affected price,' Dreeve growled.
Cale had to keep from smiling.
'A fair point,' he acknowledged. For a time, he feigned deep consideration. 'All right. Four hundred gold then. Our final offer. Well enough?'
Dreeve flashed his fangs in a smile, blew out a satisfied sigh, and crossed his arms over his chest. The rest of the gnolls too uttered a round of satisfied growls.
Dreeve turned from Cale and raised his voice for the benefit of his pack.
'And now we will deal with those who dare track us.'
The rest of the pack barked enthusiastic agreement.
Cale didn't think it was Vraggen himself who was pursuing them, and that made the pursuers but a distraction. Cale could not afford a distraction. Vraggen had to be at the Moonmere already. He jerked Dreeve around by the shoulder.
'Ignore them,' Cale ordered. 'You're being paid to get us to the Moonmere. Nothing more. We don't have time to waste on whoever is tracking you.'
Dreeve growled, 'Tracking you, human. And none follow this pack and live, gold or no gold.'
The rest of the gnolls snarled agreement and thumped their axe hafts in the earth.
Cale let his hand glide to his blade hilt. He spoke low enough that only Dreeve and Riven could hear him.
'Listen to me, you stinking son of a bitch. You've played your little game and gotten your price. Fine. We'll pay it. But if you push any further, I'll split you wide open out of spite. We do not have time to spare. You show us to the Moonmere and you do it now. Otherwise….'
He let the threat hang.
Dreeve's hackles rose; his ears flattened. His hands spasmed near his axe haft but didn't touch it. His breath came fast. Behind him, the other gnolls sensed his anger and they too began to snarl, low and dangerous.
Cale held both his ground and the gnoll's gaze.
'You'll be the first to die,' Cale promised in a whisper. 'Then the rest.'
Cale's certainty seemed to take Dreeve aback. He stared at Cale for a moment, considering. Abruptly, his hackles sank and he took a deep breath.
Without releasing Cale' gaze, he called back to his pack, 'Gez and Nurm, circle back, find the she-dogs chasing us, and kill them both. The rest of you, break camp. We take these humans to the Gulthmere and the Lightless Lake. Let the demons there have them.'
The gnolls did as they were told.
'Well enough?' Dreeve asked Cale.
Cale turned his back on the gnoll guide without answering.
After Dreeve walked away, Riven chuckled.
'That's quite a bark, Cale,' the assassin said, 'but the time's coming with that one when you're going to have to bite.'
Turning to look at Dreeve, and seeing the pent-up anger in the bunched muscles of the gnoll's back, Cale knew that Riven spoke the truth.
'Those two trackers aren't the mage,' Riven said.
'Agreed,' Cale said. 'Vraggen's already at the Moonmere.'
'The half-drow?' Jak asked.
'Perhaps,' Cale said. 'But at this point it doesn't matter.'
He looked at the stars glowing in the moonless sky. He thought of taking the sphere from his pack and comparing it to the sky but decided against it. The sphere had become irrelevant. They knew where they were going and they knew when they had to be there.
'We need to get moving,' Cale said. 'We're almost out of time.'
