Chapter 17      Nilsa, Egil, Gerd, and Viggo were practicing with Raner and half a dozen Royal Rangers behind the Tower. It was a quiet place where no one would bother them. They were practicing basic positioning, which they had to learn first of all. Raner was explaining to them how they had to position themselves around the person they were supposed to protect. He insisted they had to be well positioned at all times and how important this was to be able to protect someone efficiently from an attack or ambush.“Gerd, you’re too far away, and you, Egil, are too close,” he told them.“Yes, sir,” they said and corrected their positions.“To make things easier we’ll call the person you’re supposed to protect ‘the protectee’,” Raner told them. “In most of the exercises I’ll take on that role, but not always. Understood?”“Yes, sir,” Nilsa replied for the group.“Very well.

Chapter 19Lasgol left the remains of the war ship and swam toward dry land. He could see the tall grass and some trees in the distance, so he swam hard to get closer. It took him a long swim to reach the shore; it was farther than it looked. Distances in the water were always tricky and hard to calculate. Thank goodness he was a good swimmer and was in god shape. The life of a Ranger prepared one for situations like this.With a nimble push, he stood on a grass-covered mound on the shore and shook the water off his body while he tried to decide where he was. He needed to know approximately where in the river he was in order to go back to the island to fetch Ona and Camu. Now he was glad they had not come with him, they would not have liked the dip at all, and Camu was not a very good swimmer.The problem was that it was now dark and finding out where he was with only the help of the stars and constellations was never easy. He crouched down and called on his Guiding Light skill. A whi

Chapter 21Ona, Lasgol, and Camu reached the jetty. There was no trace of the boatman, who must still be sleeping it off. They got out of the barge, not without some difficulties, and once they had all landed, Lasgol told them what had happened on the war ship with the sea serpent.Monster, servant dragon, Camu said, certain.Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Much clever throw jewel.Thanks, I didn’t even stop to think, it was pure instinct. Serpent take pearls to dragon, sure.Dergha-Sho-Blaska must have sent the creature to intercept them.Can follow sea serpent?I think so. The locating spell is working. I guess I have to be close enough to feel it.Follow river. That’s my plan too.I have two horses I can switch between. I’ll ride as fast as they can go and follow the serpent south.You better go alone, more fast. And what about you two?We follow, more slow. No can run like horses.Ona moaned twice.I don’t like the idea of leaving you again, now

One of the riders remained behind above a small hill. He turned on his mount and looked toward where the great reptile was marching on south. In spite of its camouflage, maybe because it was moving, the rider seemed to see it. He opened his eyes wide and stared in disbelief. He did not seem convinced that what he was seeing was real. He urged his mount forward and approached the reptile from behind. It looked as if the rider had seen the monster’s enormous tail. Frightened, he sounded the alarm, shouting in the Inon’s tribal language.The other riders heard his shouts and looked back. They stopped following the herd of bison and rode to where the rider was signaling. The reptile realized it had been discovered and stopped. It lay down and once again vanished from sight, becoming a grass-covered mound.The rider was pointing toward the monster and shouting in his own language, obviously upset. Some of the other riders dismounted and searched for the trail. They found it, great reptilia