H'nry and Lyonnia stood with the man they had chatted with in the woods and
the girl who had shot at them.  A few other riders milled about, keeping an
eye on the situation.  An over weight bald man was led over by two alpha wing
riders.  H'nry couldn't remember their names, but they were twins and they
were huge.

*It's like a damn menagerie around here,* H'nry thought to Dalanth.

<These things do seem to have a way of getting out of hand.>

*Well, let's see if we can make some sense out of this mess.*

H'nry turned to the man he'd talked to in the woods, "Who's she?" he asked,
gesturing to the girl.

"She's one of the raider's girls.  I didn't know she was still here.  I
thought she left with the rest of them."

"Why should I believe you?  How do I know that you weren't leading us into a
trap?"

"I wasn't, I swear.  I don't like what's happened to this village.  It used to
be filled with honest hard working people.  We weren't rich, but we made our
livings honestly, all of us.  Then the raiders began to move in.  A few at
first, using the village to hide in when they were being looked for.  Then
more arrived.  The honest folk began to move out.  We should have, but my
father was too stubborn to leave the land, his land.  We stayed because we had
to, for his sake.  I'm no friend of these raiders," the man answered.

> Tera walked right up to the man and let him take a good look at
> her. She knew the second recognition set in.

Tera had been held in the woods while H'nry had been chasing after the girl.
 He'd heard of her rescue after the fact from Dalanth.  The bald man she was
speaking to had apparently planned to murder her before she joined.  She was
less than happy to see him.

> "Your friend is dead. Just like you had planed for me. Only I'm
> going to walk away and go on living my life. You should start
> worrying about what's going to happen to you when your trial's
> over. I hear the penalty for murder is to be left outside chained
> to a pole and left there for the wraiths to find." she began to
> turn away and then stopped and look back at him one more time, her
> green eyes as cold as ice. "I only wish I could be there to see
> them find you."

> H'nry who had witnessed the exchange suddenly felt as if a ghost
> had walked over his grave. In the last second there before the
> girl, Tera had walked away, a fleeting memory crossed his mind.
> It was something he should know, should remember. What was it
> about the tall blond headed girl, that should set off warning
> signals in his mind. He made a note to himself to look her up
> other time, after they got back to the Warren for a talk. Maybe
> then he could come up with some kind of answer.

In the mean time, he had other problems, like what to do with the people that
they'd found here.  More specificaly what about the people they hadn't found
here.  There were some who were clearly aligned with the raiders, like the
girl he'd caught, but there weren't enough people to account for the number of
occupied dwellings.  The dragon riders had rounded up 30 people in the
village.  Some, like the old man and his family didn't seem to be connected
with the raiders.  That left about 15 who offered some resistance, like
shooting at he and Lyonnia, and seemed to be connected with the raiders.  If
he included the two who had offered quite a bit of resistance, the total
number in the village when they arrived was 32.  The population of the village
seemed to be about 60 based on several people's estimates.

Half the village's population was unaccounted for.  If they were hiding in the
woods, H'nry thought, then they should have attacked by now.  Even with
dragons by the riders sides, a coordinated attack by a group of 30 armed men
could do significant damage.  That indicated that the raiders were somewhere
else, which led H'nry to think that the Shadow was planning something.  He
just whished he could think of what.

H'nry looked at Lyonnia and said, "I think we've done enough damage here for
one day.  Let's get out of here before we do any more."

"What about them?" Lyonnia said gesturing to the assembled villagers.

"We take him," H'nry indicated the bald man, "back to the Warren.  The rest
may remain here, but be warned that we know where you are and will be watching
closely."

Then H'nry leaned closer to the man he talked to in the woods, "I think some
of the raiders will be leaving soon."

As they walked to their dragons Lyonnia asked, "Why did you let them all go?"

"The warren isn't set up as a prison.  We don't have any place to keep so many
people.  The bald man will be used as an example."

NRPG:

Ok, I guess H'nry could have dragged all the villagers who seemed to be in
league with the raiders back to the warren, but what would be the point.  He
didn't have any evidence.  Someone else can get us back to the warren
(please).  H'nry's next stop is Sandor, to whom he will talk about the lack of
raiders at the village.  It'll be an interesting converstation (I'm sure of
that).

Did any of you see the total eclipse of the moon last night?  I took some
pictures.  If they come out I'll try to find some place to post them.

                            Respectfully submitted,
                                H'nry - Dalanth
                                 Telnor Warren
                                  Alton Reich

-- 
                                Alton J. Reich
                                areich@gdeb.com

		   "I may walk slowly, but I never walk back"
			       --Abraham Lincoln