“Agarak, where is my mug?”
Erinhue’s weary voice spoke into the silence clinging to the gathered band of Mithril Knights.
At the sound of a sharply plucked harp string, a tall silver tankard bearing an elaborately wrought letter E, appeared. Erinhue reached out and drew the mug to his lips. The tankard was enchanted. It would not empty as long as the bard held it in his hand and Erinhue drank deeply. After a long draught he spoke again to the empty air.
“We are being poor companions not to share. Would you please attend to our friends?”
The sound pinged again and each one in the company found a tankard brimming with The Lucky Fortune’s blue ribbon ale hovering in front of them. Calling up the power of Mythweaver, Air Ring of the Wordsmith, Erinhue pumped his talented voice with confidence and toasted to providence.
The others in the company repeated the toast and drank their ale, each one allowing it to help calm the stress and tension from the very recent skirmish.
“Hue,” Telta spoke as she gazed into her mug, “ the girl is gone.”
“ Yes, Captain,” one of the Knights in Training confirmed, “ we thought she had followed us when we went to join the battle but when we returned to camp there was no sign of her and what belongings she had were not to be found.”
Erinhue nodded. The news was not surprising and he took a moment to wonder why she had chosen this moment to leave them. He had been expected her to do so ever since that mysterious someone had visited their camp. That could wait. They had more immediate concerns.
“We need to move. It won’t take long for those bully boys to regroup and come search us out.
We are headed for those mines or whatever they are mentioned in that notebook. I will take a report on that as we ride. I need this camp broken down like it never existed and us all on the road in ten.
You two…” Erinhue gestured towards the two most experienced of the trainees “… I want you to stay behind. They could not have gotten a good look at either of you in the heat of battle so I want you to stay in town and watch. Find out what you can, but do not arouse suspicion. Keep watch for three days and then come follow us to those mines.”
The tankards vanished when set on the ground as the company prepared to break camp.
For several more minutes, Erinhue remained seated and made yet another attempt to empty the spelled tankard. He considered his last words and cringed. That all sounded very imposing and authoritative. It had the ring of a true Battle Captain speaking to his command.
Erinhue sighed, shook his head and drank from the tankard once more. How was he ever going to live this down?