Towards the mine!
The stay in Arhem was not very long. During the afternoon, Tindri and Perrima spent time in the temple, playing to Kmorda and other powerful spirits. Meanwhile, Sir Rolande made a point to be seen walking around town with two guards as escorts. Albrich and Roari when to the dwarf smithy and met with Gwellmyn, Bydlo and a dwarf elder from Bethra Zur, called Orgi. Bydlo took a great interest in the sword Nabakos, but the sword Ebharing scared him. Gwellmyn gave some idea of what Ebharing and the new shortsword might be valued to based on craftsmanship only. More importantly, Gwellmyn could describe the general outline of the mercury mine, and the (somewhat senile) Orgi told Albrich about the location and design of the Iron Tower, including a fail safe mechanism built into the dwarven Anvil Shrine in the dungeons below the tower.
Albrich left the smithy with new leather scabbards for their weapons. That made Tindri very happy, because when she put the dagger Dementius in it, he finally stopped talking and fell asleep. After days of his continuous yapping, her ears could relax.
The next morning, the left early, with mists still clinging to the mountains. The convoy had already left, though one caravel, Mangelika, was still anchored in the fjord. Interestingly, that ship had not been a part of the convoy. The group traveled with a cart on loan from the dwarfs, needed to bring home the mercury from the mine.
Only about an hour out from Arhem, they spotted the three demons flying above them. At that time, they also encountered Shulaban and his men, walking towards them on the path. It was a trap! The demons came diving down on them from above, while Shulaban and the goons charged. A small figure leapt from the cart and joined the fray.
But it was not the ambushers' day. Raori's arrows brought down one demon before it could attack. Albrech downed one of the goons, while Sir Roland managed to kill a demon that dove on Raori and then stab the small figure to death - it turned out to be Moska.
The third demon managed to escape. Shulaban tried to as well, but was caught by Tindri's vines. He was really scared at this point and told them everything he knew: Moska had hired them to attack and distract the group until help arrived. He didn't know that the help would be demons and readily agreed to serve Sir Rolande. He was sent back to Arhem with his wounded comrade to spy on the Shagulites. As they saw him leave, an undead crow flew away.
No more interruptions happened on the way to the mine, and they got there by the end of the day. Colonel da Kaelve had kept his promise: the garrison was busy with exercises and the wizard flew away to Arhem, so the Trakorians would not disturb them. Now the question remained: how to get the mercury without bothering the dragon?