We rested for a short time, and then mounted up. We rode hard, wanting to get to Albrecht’s keep in as little time as possible. Robert spent most of the trip complaining that he was sure he’d given Rexor the horseback riding skill. I think he just didn’t want to admit that Dwarves (perfect as they are, in his mind) are simply not made to ride horses.

We arrived at the keep just at sunset. Alex (who, by the way, was the only one of us lazy enough to give all his characters the first name Alex) had split off from the group shortly before we came withing sight of the keep. Alex Shadowfriend, master thief, did not enter through the front door. “Don’t worry,” he told us. “When you need me, I’ll be in position.”

We rode up to the front gate. The keep was exactly as I’d always envisioned it, only more foreboding.

“Albrecht had employed the work of a wizard to build it,” I told the others. “A gleaming fortress of solid onyx. As black as the heart of it’s vile master!”

Wait. Did I just actually say that?