It was dusk, and the small brigade of Caius had departed Tai'zel short of a day ago. Caius left the town with the same group he had departed; six brave and strong men, each horse-mounted, and each wielding a lance. Some held swords alongside them; some held axes; however, each of them held a spear made of the finest Gradoan iron.

Which was enough to say, "as average as iron can be". So were their swords, so were their axes. And their plate armor, as well. Only Caius held the stronger steel, but it wasn't because he was a cheap man. Quite the contrary; it was hard to find steel sent to his keep's blacksmith to handle, which would have been pointless since the blacksmith could only handle iron and wasn't skilled enough to make any steel. Thus, only Caius held the best of equipments. He didn't mind; he held the best group he could.

A group...made of farmers, sailors and fishermen, trained against all of the incursions towards Southern Grado. They were few and far within, but none had ever truly succeeded. Some of them had seen recent service during the assault at Renais, using their skill at defending the coastline to protect the lakeside of Grado. They were not just farmers, sailors and fishermen; they were farmer-knights, they were sailors in heavy plate, they were fishermen that skewered fish and men with equal skill.

And...they were doing a good step. Had it not been because someone pointed that the distance between Tai'zel and Flarg was smaller than he thought, and since he was pushing his men to travel as fast as they could. The desert landscape was already showing, the grasslands of Grado paving way for the sandy terrain of Jehanna.

"Oi, boss, we were lucky that we didn't have to take four days of travel, ain't it?"

"Of course! And if we move it faster than having the horses walk, we'll reach even faster! How about that for fast, eh!?" Caius blurted his order in such a way that even the horses moved faster. Little could be heard from the tapping of the horses in the barren soil, where hints of sand appeared here and there.

"The boss is a bit cranky today, dont'cha think?"

"Eh, he be serious for now. Once we finish with this criminal, we return to our homes, rest for a while!"

"But that's odd...why no one decided to help us?"

"Our boss is famed in Grado...in the *southern* part of Grado, that is. In the west, he's no more famous than you and I. They mebbe knowing something we dinnae..."

"Why couldn't they send General Caellach? He knows this area better than we do, dont'cha think?"

"Ya think they're gonna bother th' General? Nae, they bother our boss, just like they always do!" The back guard of the company engaged in idle chat as they rode upon the horizon, side to side, shouting as much as they could.

Hours and hours, they rode. Their horses were well-fed, healthy, and willing to go the extra miles. Stepping into the sand was not something they weren't used to; these were horses that were used to see sand along with sea. But not sand lacking any sea. Neither were the fishermen.

"Oi, I feel like a fish out of water! So much sand, so little water!"

"Think that you feel like a fish out of water, but when they travel to Grado, they are snakes out of the desert!"

"Aye, we be the invaders now..."

Caius' horse halted in midst of gallop, delivering a surprised whinny. The rest of the group followed suit. Out from the helmet there was a loud reprimand, deep from the bowels of sir Erthem.

"Invaders? INVADERS!? Of course not! We are following a criminal that has escaped Grado towards Jehenna, we are no invaders! We are strong, yes, but we've seen bigger invasion forces! Us? We're just doing our job, we can't be an invasion force! When have you heard of seven people being an invasion force!"

"Uh, sir...some of the caravans were comprised of seven people. We had to stop them, turn them back...weren't they invaders as well?"

"Are you daft? Which invasion force has a warrant scroll for pursuing a criminal outside of its borders? They had no document, and they were clearly fleeing; thus, we had to stop them. Why, if one of them rebels of Renais were to enter Grado, where would our prestige be? Not to mention, the situation in which Grado would be?"

"But sir! Why us?"

"..." Caius also had the same question. Why them? They were defenders, not bounty hunters. "If I had the answer, Fred, I would, but I don't have it. All I know is that the Prince himself, through the Chancellor, sent us to capture him. Let's do this fast...maybe then, we may be capable of returning home." Caius' voice was not the deep and bellowing voice of before, but one that showed some doubt.

"Aye, to our wenches!"

"And to our farms!"

"And to our nets!"

"And to our boats! Yohoho, on to the sea we go!"

"Yea, and to th' wenches!"

"Are ya daft!? The first thing we spoke were wenches, are ye so desperate to see a woman!?"

"Aye. The first and the last thing I think of is a woman, lad! Me an' I, enjoying mead and wine! And then, getting married and having some kids, aye?"

"Then you don't want a wench, you want a fine woman!"

"Wenches are fine women too!"

"Silence! Robyrt, you keep speaking of wenches, and I'll tell your wife Sara!"

"Sir! No speaking that to me wife! She would kill me!"

"Better her than them, Robyrt! Onward! Before Robyrt's wife comes looking for us and drags his corpse to the motherland! GWAHAHA!!" Caius bellowed a hearty laugh, and rode onward, free of the doubt. His men were his support, whenever he had any doubt. He still had that doubt, of whether he was the right man for this mission. To his men, they were merely capturing a criminal, and while they served guard, they were so distraught so as to hear about Prince Stephan. Only Caius knew about their true mission...only Caius and one of the knights, of course, who heard everything while the others were speaking.