The next morning, Qwarten leaned heavily on Dr. Swedo's shoulder as they watched the rest of the Tereslars making their last preparations to depart. Chris smiled as Dusty ate a carrot from his hand. Kahiri ran her hand through the horse's shaggy mane before she clambered onto his back. Meanwhile, Erok stepped up to Qwarten and Swedo with a cautiously-balanced smile. 

"Alright, Qwarten, we're just about prepared to go. Who do you want to take charge of the mission?" 

Qwarten huffed. "You, obviously. Bernard's too old, Chris and Kahiri are too young, and I don't trust Meg." 

Erok shrugged. "Okay, then." Then he turned to Swedo. "And will we be without a doctor? I don't think that'd be advisable." 

"Absolutely not, Sir Fyervor! A doctor is unquestionably essential. That's why I'm sending my colleague, Doctor Jake Sinvey with you." 

Swedo motioned to a tall, lean man standing beside him. Jake stepped forward and shook hands with Erok, but neither a smile or words appeared on his lips. 

"Alright, alright," urged Qwarten, "get going before I change my mind about staying behind." 

"I will not allow you to make such a senseless choice, Major." Swedo quipped as he shook Erok's hand in farewell. 

After Erok and Jake mounted their horses, the small group of remaining Tereslars resumed their journey. Qwarten and Swedo watched their sluggish departure until the last wagon disappeared over the horizon. Then Swedo carefully led the injured slinger back inside and shut the door behind them. 

******************** 

Erok and Kahiri travelled in front of the party on horseback while the others' horses pulled supply wagons. The foliage thickened around them as they exited the city, although the salty odor of the sea still lingered in the air. The path gradually grew steeper as the Tereslars travelled, and they soon found themselves on a cliff overlooking the sea below. 

After riding in silence for some time, Kahiri shot Erok a quick grin. "So, Sir Fyervor, how many of the legends I've heard about your heroic exploits are actually true?" 

Erok glanced at Kahiri and chuckled. "Not too many of them. I did almost singlehandedly bring an end to the civil war in Jagum though." 

"Is it true that you actually slayed a dragon once?" 

Erok threw his head back in laughter. "Oh, no. That was just a huge lizard with a bad temper." 

"But I heard he set fire to a nearby village while you were fighting him." 

"Everyone who tells these stories embellishes them before passing it on, so I'm not surprised that's what you were told. What actually happened is that the beast knocked a tree over with its tail, and it fell into a bonfire on the outskirts of the village. That's what made the fire." 

Kahiri nodded with realization. "Oh, I see. Surely you've done more than that in your knightly career, right?" 

"Of course!" Erok exclaimed quickly, "Besides many smaller missions, I stopped an assassin from eliminating the Deflorian royal family ten years ago, stormed Fort Impassible six years ago, and broke up the biggest gang in the Kaborian Republic two years ago." 

"And that last one was only with my help." Meg chimed in with a blank expression on her face. 

Erok went silent for a moment before replying. "Y-yes, of course. Meg was instrumental to our success with that endeavor." 

Kahiri looked back at Meg with a grin. "So, is that how you two met?" 

Meg nodded. "Yep. I had a bounty on that bastard gang leader's head, and Erok had a warrant for his arrest. It was only natural for us to team up on him." 

"Who was it you were out to get?" 

"I believe his name was Gavlin Torreres, or something like that. It took us a whole month to find that scumbag and bring him to his knees." 

Erok coughed. "I think you meant to say 'bring him to justice'." 

Meg rolled her eyes. "I know exactly what I said, Erok, and I meant every word. Just because you constantly hang around those Senate air thieves doesn't mean you're any better or smarter than me. Got it?" 

Erok sighed deeply. "Got it." 

"Now, don't remind me why we—" Meg covered her mouth and looked at Kahiri awkwardly. "I'm so sorry, Kahiri. I really derailed your conversation, didn't I?" 

Kahiri slowly nodded. "That you did, but it's fine. I didn't have anything left to say." 

With that, the Tereslars fell silent and continued their ride without further conversation. 

******************** 

The next morning, the Tereslars had travelled in a solemn silence for a couple hours before Bernard broke it. "Hey folks, I think we're gettin' close. The Yugdabs' hideout is right over the brow of that hill, as I believe." 

Erok nodded. "Okay, I'll go and scout ahead to make sure. You all stay back here until I return." 

With that, Erok trotted ahead on his steed. He climbed the hill at a brisk pace, but once he reached the top, he halted, stiffened his body, and hurried back down. "Oh my goodness!" he exclaimed, "You didn't tell me how big a hideout we're going up against, Bernard! It's almost as tall as the hill!" 

Kahiri's brown eyes widened in sync with her mouth. "How's that even possible?" 

"I have no clue, but if I'd known this is what we're up against, I would've recruited three times as many people!" Erok's intense gaze remained fixed on Bernard. 

Bernard held up his hands defensively. "Hey, I never said I was doin' your job for ya, Erok! My job was to lead ya'll here, not to decide who's comin' along." 

"We can always turn back." Chris remarked quietly. 

Erok glared at the teenager. "You're kidding, right? It took us over a week to get here! We don't have the time to do that again!" 

Chris frowned back at Erok. "Okay, gosh! I thought we were rid of the overly intense leader, but here he is again!" 

"Well, when you start making—" 

Kahiri hopped off Dusty's back, leapt between Erok and Chris, and put a hushing finger to her lips. "Do either of you idiots realize that we're probably in earshot of the Yugdabs' lookouts, and that your yelling is putting us in imminent danger?" She huffed in the silence that followed. "I didn't think so. Maybe instead of arguing our heads off, we should come up with a plan. What exactly did you see, Erok?" 

Erok took a few deep breaths to calm down. "Well, you know what a generic castle looks like, right?" 

Everybody but Kahiri nodded. She coughed awkwardly and replied, "No, I've never seen a castle in person." 

Erok stared at the archer disbelievingly. "You haven't? Really?" 

"I already said I haven't. Can you please just describe what you saw?" 

"Well, the hideout is basically a huge structure about the size of a city block. It has thick stone walls and a tall lookout tower in the middle. Oh, and it's surrounded by water on all sides." 

"Well, that's just great. What's our plan of attack then?" 

Erok scratched his chin for a long moment. "First things first, the lookout guard will have to be dealt with." 

Kahiri grabbed an arrow and ran her finger along the shaft. "How far away is this guard you speak of?" 

"I'm terrible at estimating distances, but I'd say 300 feet or so." 

Kahiri squinted her eyes and took a careful look at her bow. "I could probably pull that off. How far can you throw, Meg?" 

"Maybe a third of that distance. Besides, even if I did throw a boomerang at the guy, there's no guarantee I'd get it back." 

Kahiri nodded. "Fair enough. You guys stay back here while I take him out." 

After hearing a chorus of acknowledging grunts, Kahiri spun on her heel and trudged up the hill. Once she found herself near the top, she slowed her pace and placed an arrow on the bowstring. Ever so carefully, she peeked her head over the edge of the hill until her eyes landed on the lookout guard. Her blood froze as she realized he was faced in her direction and was looking right at her. 

Kahiri panicked and threw herself down. She hugged the ground and waited for a long, tense second. When nothing happened, she peered over the hilltop again. She let out a relieved sigh when she saw the guard's head was turned the opposite direction. Then she slowly pulled her bowstring back, carefully aimed, and released the arrow. 

The arrow flew straight for a few hundred feet. But just when it had almost reached its target, it began to fall to the ground, and a strong northern wind took it further off its course. Kahiri closed her eyes and sunk her head into the grass of the hillside again. But then she heard a clunk, so she looked up again. Sure enough, the guard's limp body was draped over the side of the lookout tower, with an arrow through his shoulder, no less. She celebrated silently for a moment before running down the knoll to inform her companions. 

"I got him!" Kahiri announced proudly as she stepped up to the group. 

Meg yawned dramatically. "And...?" 

"Well, the wind almost took my arrow off course, but then it swerved back and hit the target anyway. It was pretty amazing." 

Erok shrugged. "Anyway, so what's the plan from here? Take a swim?" 

Kahiri grinned as she climbed onto Dusty's back. "We wouldn't mind." 

Meg tightened her lips as she ran a hand through her horse's jet-black mane. "Steadfast here won't like it, but he'll tough it out." 

Erok smirked at Bernard. "Will you be alright, old man?" 

Bernard closed his eyes and nodded. "I'm full of surprises, young man." 

"I'm hardly a young man, Bernard. I'm thirty-one—"

 "Nobody cares." Chris interjected, "It was only a joke." 

"I tell ya," Bernard remarked, "you young folks these days..." 

"By the way," Chris began as he grabbed a large chest from a supply wagon, "Dr. Swedo instructed me to give you each ten kodaria berries before we go into action." 

"Of course. Thank you." Kahiri replied as Chris dropped a few of the purple berries into her hand.  

After Chris had finished distributing the berries amongst his teammates, he cleared his throat. "Now, he said to wait about five minutes after ingesting them before we go into action. That should give Jake and I some time to stow the wagons away in that cave over there." 

"Go ahead." Erok sighed as he rested his head in his steed's mane. 

******************** 

Minutes later, the six horse-riding Tereslars charged down the hill and headed for the Yugdab hideout below. With a splash, they landed on the surface of the water and raced to the shore. Just when they'd travelled half of the distance, a camouflaged door on the side of the building flung open and two archers hurried out. 

Kahiri and Meg weren't slow to react. In the blink of an eye, Meg unsheathed her boomerang and tossed it over the first archer's head. He smirked and stepped to the side, only to cry out in agony as the blade buried itself in his calf. The other archer shot at Kahiri, but Erok intercepted the arrow with his shield. While the man reached into his quiver, Kahiri riveted an arrow in the middle of his chest. 

Erok looked back and grinned. "Nice job, ladies. Now, let's head for that door." Then he looked ahead again and saw that the door had begun closing itself. "We'll have to hurry!" 

The Tereslars leaned forward on their horses' backs as they rushed to shore. By the time Erok's dripping horse emerged from the water, the door had swung halfway closed and was speeding up. Just as the last horse leapt onto solid ground, the door slammed shut. 

Erok closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "There's no handle on the outside. We'll have to find another way in." 

Meg shrugged as she yanked her knife out of the fallen archer's body. "Seeing how quickly that opportunity showed itself, we'll probably find another just fine." 

"Assuming the opportunity doesn't vanish just as quickly again." Chris commented with a snide grin. 

Erok glared at the teenager behind him. "Since when did you become Qwarten's mouthpiece? I thought you wanted a break from his pessimism." 

"Well, you guys—" 

Kahiri held up her hand again. "Instead of arguing, how about we go that way and see if there's an entrance over there?" 

Erok frowned. "Why that way specifically?" 

Meg crossed her arms and smirked defiantly. "Here's a better question. Why not?" 

Erok opened his mouth a couple times, but hecouldn't find words to reply with. Instead, he shrugged and led the party northward.     

******************* 

A/N: At long last, I have returned with a new chapter! Who's celebrating?

Anyway, how are we feeling about Erok in general, now that we know a little more about him? And what about Meg?

Any way you look at it, the Merok ship is like half the ships in the "Star Wars" franchise. (No, not the flying, shooting kind.) It seems destined to sink somehow. Unless... *evil laughter follows*

Moving on from that, what'd you think of the chapter in general? (I think we got a good bit of action in the end, and if you liked that, there's a lot more coming.)

And finally, who has New Year's resolutions? (I don't, but if you do and don't mind sharing, what are yours?)

And that's it for my monologue I hope turns into dialogue! (*wink wink* Leave some comments and maybe vote. XD ) I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you on next Friday's update! :D