### 121

You ride across the square and enter a tree-lined avenue that bears west towards Tekaro Cathedral. The Eldenorans have turned this magnificent building into a dormitory for their troops and, as you pass by its grand doors, you glimpse hundreds of soldiers sleeping on the floor of its central nave. Guards posted on the steps regard you with suspicion as your horse plods its way forward, and so you urge him on a little faster in case they are thinking of stopping and challenging you.

At the end of a street flanked by warehouses and guildhalls, you come to the city’s south gatehouse. A guard casts a cursory glance at your uniform and, upon seeing that you are a scout, he pulls a chain which operates the heavy oak portal. As the gate creaks open, you ride through it and out onto the highway beyond. This broad road runs parallel to the shimmering waters of the River Storn and you follow it for a few miles before turning your horse away towards the river. As you approach the rushing waters, you happen upon a derelict hut in the middle of a copse of apple trees picked bare by the invading army. The hut is empty but there is some straw on the ground that will feed your horse, and so you decide to rest here for the few hours that remain before dawn.

Unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

To continue, turn to 272.