When morning came we found ourselves within Leyawiin itself and meeting the two individuals who had been recommended by Sir Ramauld as our guides. Weebam-Na and Bejeen were a pair of locally born Argonians who had made their living as hunters and trackers throughout the swamps and mangroves to the east of the City and had established themselves with the Order as being a couple of the handful of trackers reliable enough to help the Knights deal with the occasional group of bandits. Within seconds of meeting the pair and shaking Weebam-Na's scaled hand I had immediately realised that Sir Ramauld was indeed correct at them being a pair of scoundrels. They had that certain air about themselves and the subtle traces that all their possession may not have originally been theirs to begin with.

  Weebam-Na especially was a twitchy, but likeable fellow. The appearance of Viconia and myself at his door had originally sparked a strange kind of concern from the lizards but they were also equally as quick in relaxing and getting to the point of our meeting. Within a few minutes and turning down a somewhat cooked meal of roasted swamp rat they were having for breakfast the four of us were seated at their dining table hunched over a map I had gained from the Order that covered the entire region from Leyawiin to Stormhold near Morrowind's border and Greenspring towards the centre of Blackmarsh itself. It covered a majority of Blackwood in considerable detail, but it was obvious that no surveyors had truly succeeded in mapping anything more than a few kilometres from each of the major roads and trade routes that crossed through the province like a thinned spiders web.

  "You certainly weren't kidding when you said you needed to go deep into the Black, that area is as remote as they come."

  "Populated?"

  The Argonian hunter shrugged, his muscles coiling under his scales and I could see the various scarring where some... thing had left its mark in the past. He didn't have the build to be an archer, but judging by the rack of various spears arrayed against the wall and the fact that the environment to the east wasn't suitable for bows I knew that he wasn't the sort for killing his prey from far away.

  "Not really. A few scattered tribes and maybe the odd marsh village or two but otherwise that region is deserted. And for good reason."

  "Dangerous is it?" Viconia asked simply.

  Bejeen hissed softly to herself in amusement and I immediately thought of a pot coming to boil. "No. At least no more dangerous than the rest of the marshes. No one really lives there because there is nothing there of any worth."

  "Might be the odd few escaped slaves or other outcasts but nothing that should give us any troubles." Weebam-Na's grin was almost crocodilian as he bit down hard on the meat covered bone that he had been gnawing on since our arrival and worried a strip off. "How many are coming?"

  "The four of us, and three others." some kind of sick curiosity made me watch him eat the chunk of meat by simply tearing off a strip and swallowing it whole. Despite my few experiences with Argonians I couldn't get used to how they couldn't chew. "I don't think that we will have any more."

  "Good. Simpler for food and water. Also cheaper for passage to Rockguard."

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  "Passage?"

  "We're going to need to catch a boat from here to a settlement closer to this fort of yours." A scaled finger tipped in a short claw tapped at the nearest major settlement marked in the region we intended to travel. "It'll be a month's or more journey otherwise just to get there. The two of us scalies would get there fine but we'd have to leave your corpses in the Black. There's a hundred kilometres of ogre and monster infested bogs and marshland between us and where you want to go. We'll travel by boat from here to up the Panther River until we reach Rockguard. From there we'll have to go by canoe or the like as it's not going to be shallow or easy going."

  "Fair enough. How much for your services?"

  Another chunk of meat was peeled away from a bone and he made the act of thinking it over. "Four hundred gold for a month's passage. This doesn't include supplies though; those you will have to get yourselves. Where you want to go is too dangerous for anything less."

  Inwardly I grinned as I had guessed the amount he was going to suggest and had already prepared for it. Several more of our gems had been evaluated and exchanged in the city before we had arrived and the solid thump-jingle caught both their attentions as I dropped it in front of him.

  "Two hundred and fifty gold. You'll receive the other two hundred and fifty once we get back."

  A clawed handed plucked the pouch full of coins and felt its weight. While inhuman there was a gleam of satisfaction in the both expressions of the two Argonian hunters and Weebam-Na grinned even wider with pieces of flesh dangling from between teeth. "You know how to bargain smoothskin."

  "I used to be a forester in the Legion. I know better than anyone that good guides are worth their weight in gold and only a fool doesn't listen to those who know the area. Sir Ramauld recommended you both and I trust his judgement."

  "Gailer has always been an agreeable employer." He replied simply, rolling a few of the coins in the palm of his hand. "Very well, you have your guides. How soon are we leaving?"

  "How soon can you be ready?"

  "Ha! For five hundred septims we could start walking there right now, but for a group of landstriders we will not leave until we know that you are all prepared. Pack light but remain armoured, and bring as many spare waterskins as you can carry as I'm uncertain how we'll go for fresh water once we leave the cities. Food won't be as much of an issue but I'd prefer to get you back in once piece and not shitting yourselves to death. I've never met a dead man who can pay me what he owes me."

  "And I'd certainly be happier being alive to pay it."

  We shook hands again and this time I felt the way that his scaled fingers clenched harder than before as he subtly tested me. "Unless you have any objections we will leave the day after next. It will give you time to acquire supplies. We will make arrangements for the boat."

  Allowing the vampire to rise to the surface slightly, I found it amusing the way that he kept his face carefully blank in the attempt to keep his surprise at the way that my hand felt as solid and unyielding as steel. After a moment's pause, I nodded, letting him go and allowing him to salvage something from our little test. Judging by Viconia's expression, she knew all too well what I did and I could almost hear the sarcastic comments that she was going to provide during our return to the lodge.

  But other than the few sarcastic quips about proving the girth of my manhood, our return to the Stallion Lodge was short and noon was almost upon us. before we had all retired for the evening Viconia and I had arranged to meet the other members of our party to organise the journey ahead of us. By the time we walked through the gatehouse, the trio were already waiting at the steps in front of the towering fortress-monastery.

  "Success?" Alexi said as he watched us walk over to them from his position leaning against the stone walls.

  "Indeed. Weebam-Na and his mate agreed to take us. The day after tomorrow we'll leave by boat to Rockguard and make our own way from there."

  His grin was contagious. "Excellent. I love it when a plan comes together."