<HTML>    The meeting chamber of Duke Thomas felt almost empty to Misha. Aside from Thomas, Lord Bidwell, Sir Edmund, Rickkter and Misha only George was present. It made a vast difference from the previous meeting although Rickkter was just as silent as before.    "We need to discuss how we are to handle the advance into the north," Thomas explained.  "Plan strategy."    "The basic strategy is simple enough. Advance north along the Sueliman road removing any roadblocks and helping the scouts locate the main body of the Barons army," Lord Bidwell said tapping a map that rested on the large table in the center of the room.    "Just marching north and trying to bully our way through is guaranteed to be nasty and bloody," the George replied. "We're sure to run into a dozen ambushes and countless traps of all sorts."    "The terrain dictates our path. There is only the one road north," the human countered as he ran a finger along a blue line on the map.    Misha nodded ruefully. "Agreed. At least there is one good thing in our favor. The road between here and the Outpost is reasonably clear."    "Reasonably?" Edmund asked, chuckling. "You mean it's as safe as you can make any war zone."    "The only areas we can say that are completely clear are south of the tree line. Roughly along a line that goes from Lord Barnhardt's castle to Mycransburg," the black backed jackal morph explained running his hand along the map. "Everything else is still not completely safe. Between the tree line and Outpost Lutins still regularly raid, but they pay dearly for it. They attacked Mycransburg last September."    "That's less then five miles from here!" Ellingwood exclaimed.    "Until I arrived three years ago there wasn't even an Outpost," George bragged. "Only a pile of rocks. Lutins could slip down through and we wouldn't know they were there till they left the trees. And then it was too late to stop them."    The stallion shot his head scout a cold glance. "When Nasoj attacked eight years ago the original Outpost was overwhelmed and forty good men died. We did not have the resources to rebuild it for two years."    "And until then the Lutins could race down the road and kill and raid all the way to the Keep," George commented. "Me and Misha talked you into rebuilding it. And since then Nasoj and the Lutins have had to get past Outpost and its patrols BEFORE they can pillage."    Thomas scowled at the jackal.    "I remember," Misha commented interrupting the Duke before he could speak. "That the night George arrived you could see a burning village from the window of my apartment. Since then we've been slowly pushing them back north. But it hasn't been easy or without cost."    "I thought we were winning," George said in a dejected voice.    "We ARE!" Thomas countered. "The proof is that he had to resort to such a despicable plan. You were stopping too many of his raiding parties."    "Nasoj had to resort to the desperate measure of an open assault," Bidwell added.    "Desperate or not it came within a hair's breadth of succeeding," Misha commented.    "But he didn't did he?" Rickkter asked.    Misha slowly nodded in agreement. "Now he's going to pay for that."    "My scouts have cleared the whole valley around the Keep and south of it," George commented. "The only Lutins left there are dead. What worries me is once we get past Outpost. The road to there is well maintained. The brush and trees are cut back a full arrows flight on both sides of the road. But once beyond the junction to Outpost the road is badly overgrown. Plenty of places for an ambush, not to mention that the road itself degenerates to a muddy track by the time it reaches the Dike. Unfortunately it's still the only road."    "The worst part is here," the vulpine said pointing to a point just south of the Giants Dike. "At a point called the Vultures Neck. The road passes through a particularly badly overgrown spot there and the terrain is so rough that there is only one route. Plus a key bridge was destroyed by the people of Glen Avery. Until it's rebuilt getting to the Dike will be hard."    Edmund didn't speak for a moment but examined the map. "At this crossroads where the road to the Outpost meets the main road. Is there anything there?"    "Before this attack there was a stone tower but little else."    "There is a road marked in gray that runs east from the crossroads."    "There WAS a road there," Misha explained in clipped tones. "But the forest has completely reclaimed it."    "We could move east along this track and then turn north at these ruins," the paladin commented. "If these ruins are Sueliman I'm sure we will find the remains of a connecting road headed north to the dike. That would place the army miles from where the Baron would expect us to be. Does such a road exist?"    Silence was his only answer.    Looking up he found the fox, his eyes closed staring into space.    "What is wrong?" the man asked.    "Taking an army along that route is impossible," Thomas explained. "NO army has taken that route in centuries." The fox turned around and looked back at the map. "The woods and particularly the ruins are haunted, literally."    Sir Edmund and Lord Bidwell looked dubious.    "I'm not joking and it's no superstition," the vulpine said, countering their unspoken comments. "Those ruins are Sueliman. It was once a fortress built as part of the wall we now call Giants Dike. Its twin stood on the site of the present Outpost," the fox explained, tapping the castles location on the map with his finger. "It's one of some four known fortresses the empire built here in the valley. All were meant to support and control the troops on the wall."    He slid his finger along the map until it came to rest on the carefully drawn image of the ruin. "This one was bigger then the rest. It was home to the largest garrison and the Governor-Commander. When Giants Dike was overwhelmed and collapsed in the year 145 the fortress was attacked. It was taken after a long siege and every living thing in it was put to death."    "With that last resistance destroyed," Edmund said. "The Lutins moved south and went on to overrun all of the Midlands. One of the darkest periods in our history."    Thomas nodded. "When Prince Andrew finally drove the Lutins back north of the Dike in 235 he brought peace back the valley and made Metamor his home. Outpost was rebuilt but not the other one. The entire forest is haunted by the ghosts of the murdered garrison."    "Plus there was something else there. . ." the fox added, his voice trailing off into silence.    "What?"    "In the last moments before the fall of the fortress the doomed Sueliman summoned something. A thing of shadows and magic. It failed to stop the fall of the place but it exacted a bloody revenge on the Lutins. Legends say it killed hundreds of them."    "This shadow is still there?"    The fox nodded. "Yes, I saw it with my own two eyes. It actually saved my life and the lives of the three scouts with me. We were surveying the ruins when a war party attacked us. I watched it literally drain the very life from an ogre as big as wagon."    "It continues to guard the place and I do not think it will like an army of three thousand marching through," the Duke commented.    "Can it be defeated?"    The scout shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but I'd rather not find out. This is not a creature to be dealt with lightly. It's VERY powerful."    "Something as simple as not moving along the route your enemy expects can give us a valuable edge. It could give us the element of surprise. It could mean the difference between victory and defeat."    "Perhaps we can negotiate with it?" Sir Edmund suggested. "If we explained what we were doing it might be willing to help, if only for revenge. After all it was Lutins that destroyed the fortress."    "You want to talk with a shadow?" Bidwell asked incredulously. "It's evil."    "I don't know," The fox commented. "It did save my life."    "Dealing with a summoning is dangerous," Rickkter commented, speaking for the first time. "Even if it's not evil or blood thirsty it has been bound to protect the fortress from all but a true Sueliman army. We could try to rebinding the summoning."    "Is that possible?"    "Yes, but would not care to deal with such ancient and obviously independent magic unless I have to," the raccoon answered.    "If the biding fails the results would be very bad," Misha commented.    "How bad?"    "It could be completely released it from the old Sueliman bindings," Rickkter said. "And after being bound for several hundred years it is going to be seriously upset and go on a killing spree that could kill hundreds."    "But it is still bound to the ruins. What if we did not approach the ruins directly?" Edmund suggested. "But bypassed it."    Bidwell looked at the map for a moment before speaking. "If we start at dawn and move fast we could pass the ruins by mid-day and be far past by dark."    Misha was dubious. "I'm not so sure."    "Risks must be taken," Thomas said calmly. The advanced guard will leave tomorrow morning before dawn."    "What about War Wolf?" the fox asked in an oddly quiet voice. "We will need time to prepare it."    "War Wolf is  NOT going," Duke Thomas ordered.    "We need it's power . . . " the fox argued half heartedly.    "I will not stoop to such evil. The advanced guard leaves tomorrow morning with the main body following two hours behind. War Wolf stays in its prison."    Edmund saw the scout make the sign of the Tree with his hand and nod his head. His whole body noticeably relaxed. "Thank Abba for that." ****************************** </HTML>