inn. Darius said nothing, though he was tempted to remark that he’d sooner sleep on the bare ground than get a wink of sleep with the scene of the crime right next door. He merely thanked him for the information and left the non-commissioned officer to his rather unpleasant task.
Surprisingly, the rest of the journey was uneventful. They rode through the bush for several hours before unexpectedly emerging onto a hilly savannah. Once they left the shade of the trees, the sun once again took its toll on everyone. Travellers who could not use magic and had no means of employing a suitable artefact did not venture out in this scorching heat, so the reasonably well-maintained road was deserted.
The monotonous landscape accompanied them for the next few hours before they finally caught sight of their destination. Darius was the first to climb the hill, from which a view stretched out over a ploughed valley, dotted with green copses in only a few places. The farmland was criss-crossed by irrigation channels, from which a light mist rose. Almost on the other side of the valley, they could see buildings which Bleist took to be a village. From such a distance, it was hard for him to say anything for certain, but at least it didn’t look as though anything bad was happening there.
He spurred Bellator on, urging him to make a little more effort. Fortunately, the sun was already beginning to approach the horizon, though it was hard to tell if it had actually grown cooler. With their destination in sight, it seemed as though they were travelling much faster. They knew, however, that this was merely an illusion.
When they were quite close to the village, a cart laden with hay and some materials began to emerge from it. The driver seemed oblivious to what was happening around him, but the clanging of armour and the heavy stomping of the Tarian caught his attention. The elderly man nearly fell from the cart, and a look of terror spread across his face. The paralysis did not last long,
