The brute pushed Sir Madoc into a shack, the only truly built structure there and followed him in. The Marauder clearly had a smile on his face.

Thom turned away from the shack when Kraid spoke. "Welcome to our home among the tries, Rogue!" Kraid raised his arms expansively, showing off his part of the forest. Thom stared at Kraid's chest. Something in his shirt was glowing blue.

"Ah," Kraid said, "I'll wager you'll be wanting to see this." He took a blue stone out of his shirt and lifted the thong it was attached to over his head. He passed the spritestone over to Thom. The stone had a small point of light inside it that drifted around. If Thom were to break the stone, he would find one piece would not glow at all, and the other would be dimmer. The stone was magical; there was no way to explain the light. "Perdy, isn't it?" Kraid asked.

"Very," Thom said. He handed the stone back and Kraid hung it from his neck once more.

There was already a fire burning in the clearing where the Marauders had made camp. Many tree stumps were around, several around the fire that were carefully stripped of all splinters. They were dug out to serve as chairs. The trees that had once stood near the fire were propped up against each other or trees that were still standing; these were covered with oilcloth tarps to make crude tents.

Out of the woods there came a man who also wore black. It seemed to be a requirement. He had short red hair and green eyes. He looked to be in his early thirties, and he carried a number of skinned animals strung up. "I got us our dinner, Kraid. Who's this?"

"This here's the Dark Rogue, and he'll be joining our merry little band." The newcomer looked impressed. "The rumors about him being captured in Karelia were true. We got the pig what nabbed him in the shack." Thom noticed that Kraid still hadn't asked him if he wanted to join the Marauders, but he didn't bring the subject up either.

"Good. There should be enough for one more," the man said amiably. He transferred the animals to his left hand and extended his right. "I'm Lennox." They shook hands.

"Fine, Lenny," Kraid said. The redhead's smile failed a little at the nickname. "Just you get along cookin' them up." Lennox went over to one of the tents to ready the pot. "Lenny there ain't much of a thief, but he takes care of this place okay. He's alright." Thom got the impression that Kraid needed to explain Lennox's presence, if only to convince himself.

Thom surreptitiously watched the shack whenever he thought he could without getting caught. That other Marauder hadn't come back out yet. He looked up through the trees. Clouds were covering the stars. Tonight would not be a pleasant night.

The Marauder didn't leave the shack until dinner was cooked. He came over and sat by the fire close by Kraid's side. He was a big brute, the tallest man there. He had a carefully tended beard, black hair and cruel dark eyes. He bit into his squirrel hungrily. (Lennox had had to tell them what they were eating.) Over the course of the evening Thom learned that the man's name was Damon.

After supper, a beer keg was tapped and Kraid and the others began to swap stories of their many successes. Thom had contributed his own tales early on, but no one seemed very interested in his thefts, craftily constructed and skillfully executed. No one, that is, except Lennox.

One of the others would interrupt him soon enough and tell one of their own war stories. This was an accurate name for them; they rarely consisted of anything more than bloody accounts of raids on villages, attacks on convoys with the misfortune to pass their way, raping and pillaging for whatever they could carry and destroying everything they couldn't. They all sounded the same to him Lennox also seemed quite bored. He wondered about that one. He must be a thief to be in this group. Was he merely a novice, or was he a craftsman like himself? He'd have to find out.

Eventually, Thom gave up trying to contribute to the revelry. He just nursed his beer and let the others run their mouths. He didn't feel much like celebrating anyway.

As the night wore on, clouds threatened to end the party. The thunder cleared its throat overhead, and the drunken robbers listened.

"No sleeping under the stars tonight. To the tents, lads, and to a clearer day tomorrow!" Kraid slurred. The thieves lumbered off to their beds. "Lenny! Put out the fire, and after that you can guard our prisoner. Rogue, you can use Lenny's tent tonight." Lennox set about dousing the fire. Thom wandered off to do his own little bit of work.

He'd lost track of what happened to Fleetfire when they'd arrived in camp, but it didn't take long to find him. He'd been tied to a tree alongside the Marauders' horses. Fleetfire was on the end. Thom approached the beast cautiously.

"Fleetfire," he whispered. He moved over the sack still tied to the bridle. He dug around inside. "Sir Madoc says you're pretty bright. If that's so, then you probably know he's in some trouble now." He found his lockpicks and pocketed them. He moved down to the other horses. "He's over there in that shack. He'll probably be dead in the morning. I just want you to know that in all my time thieving, I never had to kill a soul. I'm against that. This, what they're gonna do ain't right." Thom finished up what he was doing and moved over to Fleetfire's reins, which were secured to a branch. He began to untie them. "I'm going to do right by your master. He'll be fine." He left the reins loosely wrapped around the branch. "You stay here, and wait until we need you, and we'll all be fine." He stroked Fleetfire's mane and nose. The horse snorted.

"If you're worried about the horse, don't be." Thom stiffened. Lennox had sneaked up behind him. "Addax was a horse thief before he was a Marauder, and he treats them right. He's been fed and groomed."

"You move like a cat," Thom said as he turned around.

"I should. I'm a thief after all."

"But you're not much like these others, are you?" Thom asked as he led Lennox away from the horses before he saw something. "I doubt Damon or Kraid could catch me like that most days. If we hadn't been making so much noise ourselves they couldn't have jumped us in that field today."

"No. They don't have much use for my style - well, our style, of thievery. No mess, no guards, and no one's the wiser till morning. I miss those days."

"How did you fall in with this lot then?"

"The same way you did. In my case it was a jailbreak. Damon'd got himself caught and when the others came for him, they took me along. They sorta pressed me into service here." Thom noticed Lennox avoided mentioning his own capture. In his circle one doesn't speak of such things.

They had made their way to the last embers of the fire. "So why do you stay around? I know I work better alone."

"I tried at first to get them to stop their raiding, their killing. Instead that night they got drunk and turned on me. They didn't do me any permanent harm, but I shut up. I tried to leave once after that but they found me, acted like I'd just gotten lost and `helped' me back. I didn't try again. I was lucky the first time, everything healed up. But if they broke an arm or a leg this time, I'd be useless. I'm a burglar; I can't do anything else. So I just stay here all day and help out doing other things. Hunting dinner. Building the fire." Lennox poked it with a stick and it spit sparks.

"It sounds kinda lonely."

"Well, you get used to lonely. Most thieves aren't social creatures."

"Maybe we can trade tales of true thievery."

"I'd like that, yeah. You were telling us about the time..."

Thom and Lennox spent some time spinning stories for each other quietly. This was something he'd never known before. Thom had never met anyone who truly understood what he did. No one else knew the thrill of the chase, snatching the prize, and then being chased yourself. Both men admitted to having taken risks just for that ultimate thrill of being pursued afterwards.

They had drawn in closer to each other as the night grew chill. Thom stared into Lennox's eyes, those friendly eyes. He could see the understanding and camaraderie in them. He leaned in and kissed Lennox before he knew what he was doing.

Lennox jumped back as if he'd been bitten. "What was that?" he whispered.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that..."

"That's okay," Lennox said. "I hate to admit it but I'd thought of that myself." He paused awkwardly. "Do you think we could do it again?" He leaned over and kissed Thom tenderly. Thom held Lennox's shoulders. From there, they embraced.

When they separated again, they smiled. "Do you want to try something?" Thom asked.

"What?" Lennox said curiously.

"Come away from the fire, and I'll show you."

Thom led Lennox back some distance behind the shed. There Thom took off his shirt and began to take Lennox's off as well. Thom found the older thief to be almost hairless, determined by touch, of course, while he himself had a patch of hair in the middle of his chest.

The two came together once more and kissed, stroking each other's backs. Thom opened his mouth and offered Lennox his tongue, which he accepted. Beard stubble scratched and burned. Lennox ran his hands through Thom's blond hair as each explored the other's mouth.

Thom pulled back and kneeled down. He tucked his fingers in Lennox's breeches and eased them down, stroking his legs as he went. Lennox shivered. He wore no underthings. Lennox stepped out of his breeches and boots and spread his legs, enjoying the wind's touch.

Thom stood and began to completely disrobe but Lennox stopped him and did it himself. Both men's legs were slightly hairy. Lennox undid the corners of Thom's smallclothes and released his stiff member.

Lennox wished it were brighter so that he could see Thom's cock clearer. It was turned up slightly, and it bounced as Thom kicked off his own trousers and boots. Lennox could smell the scent emanating from the crotch before his face: very enticing, very masculine.

Wordlessly, Thom pushed Lennox back coaxing him into lying down. "I've never done this with another man," Lennox whispered to him.

"It's okay," Thom whispered back, as he moved to all fours above him. "I'll show you what to do." He had one knee between Lennox's legs, his arms on either side of him and his face hovered just above his. He dipped down, drawing another kiss from the redhead's lips. He then moved down, exploring the contours of his neck and chest. Lennox gasped when Thom happened on his nipple, so he stayed there a while. Lennox squirmed in pleasure on the soft forest floor. Thom switched sides, and gave the other one equal treatment. Lennox was showing goose flesh from the cold, and his nipples were raised and hard.

Thom moved down once again to Lennox's prong. It was a little longer than his own, but more slender. Thom gripped it. Lennox threw his head back. It knocked into a rock. "Ow," he said.

"You okay?"

"Great, just keep going," he said quakily.

"Did you go already?" Thom asked.

"No, why?"

"You're all wet here."

"I always do that," Lennox explained. "Don't you?"

"Not as much as this," Thom said. His hand was drenched by now with precum. He smeared it over Lennox's cock, and he groaned approvingly. Thom put his hand to his mouth, tasting Lennox's juice. It was salty and a little bitter, but good.

"Can I try that?" Lennox asked. Thom eased a fresh supply of the fluid out of his cock and onto his own hand, and held it out to Lennox. Lennox licked and sucked at Thom's strong fingers. Thom loved it, but soon he had to pull away to reach the object of his desires.

Thom returned to Lennox's penis. He licked up and down the shaft. Lennox jerked, clutching two fistfuls of leaves. Thom was rewarded with more precum. Thom moved to its source. He took the head into his mouth and gathered the juice with his tongue. Lennox began to breathe deeply and noisily.

"Oh, god... No one's ever... ungh... oh god..."

Thom thought back to their undersea encounter with Mactel the previous morning. He sucked hard on Lennox's cock.

"Aaaaughhh!" Lennox cried out sharply. Thom swung around, maintaining his liplock on the redhead's manhood and put his hand over Lennox's mouth. They both remained still, waiting to see if anyone had been awakened. When nothing stirred, Thom took his hand away.

"Sorry," Lennox whispered, "that just felt so good."

"Just try to keep it down," Thom cautioned. "Keep it quiet, I mean." He went back to bringing Lennox off.

Just to be safer, Thom used only his tongue, no suction. He moved down and further down, taking the whole of the cock into his mouth, his cheek brushing into coppery curls of hair. He reoriented his body in line with Lennox's. He almost gagged as the dick rotated in his mouth, but he fought it back.

Thom became inspired. He opened his jaw a little more, and let his tongue slide out. It dragged across the underside of the cock, snaked out and tenderly stroked Lennox's balls.

"Oh my gaaah... aah... I'm going to... haaa... Get rea-- ready..."

Thom felt Lennox's balls pull in. He moved back up Lennox's shaft just in time to take the first shot of cum into the back of his throat. Lennox's arms and legs thrashed and he raised his hips, pushing back into the warm mouth. Thom stared wide-eyed as Lennox shot right into his throat. He went with it and took it all down.

When he was finished Lennox collapsed and landed back on the turf. When Thom checked him over, he saw that Lennox had passed out. He looked at where Lennox had hit his head. It would be bruised, but Lennox would live. He didn't think it would be that easy.

He groped in the dark for his pants, found Lennox's first (they didn't have lockpicks in the pocket) and tossed them beside him. Soon Thom was dressed again, uncomfortably erect, but he had other matters to attend to.

He started to creep around the shack when his thoughts went back to Lennox. He found Lennox's clothes and threw them onto the roof of the shack. That should give him a cover story.

Just then the rain began to filter through the thick foliage above them. Thom felt very guilty, but he could find no other way to keep Lennox safe from the aftermath.

He hurried over to the fire and found a stick that was still glowing at one end. He hunched over, sheltering his makeshift torch from the rain. He pushed his way into the shack and closed the door.

Inside it was pitch black. The thief blew the torch into life. Still, it wasn't very bright.

"Madoc? You here?" Thom whispered.

He heard a thump-thump come from one wall. Thom groped along the wall and found a proper torch. By feel he lit it with his stick. The room got slowly brighter.

"Hellfire!"

Madoc was chained to the wall before him and gagged with his tabard which had been balled up and stuffed into his mouth and tied in place with a rag. He was stripped to the waist, and his chest and face displayed a horrible array of lashes, scratches and blood-crusted gashes. His nose was bloodied and he seemed to be having trouble staying conscious.

Thom rushed over and examined the table next to the beaten knight. There were knives, whips and metal scrapers, some of which still had Madoc's blood on them. There were no keys. He dug out his own lockpicks.

"I'm getting you out of here," he said, attacking the manacle on his right, "so you stay with me, you hear? You're going to have to ride us out of here or we're both dead, so you keep awake." Madoc's attention seemed to be straying. Thom grabbed Madoc's chin and made him look Thom in the eye. "You listen to me, now. Hey, hey! Wake up! I need you here!"

Thom resumed work on the shackle. Just as it gave, he heard the door let in the sound of the storm behind him.

"I thought I heard someone up and about earlier." Thom turned around to see Damon in the doorway. "What is it yeh're doing here now? Could it be that yeh actually feel sorry fer this pig? If it's about yeer doggie ring, we'll get it off 'im." He stepped closer to Thom who now stood protectively in front of Sir Madoc. Damon's dark eyes bore into him. "But that's not it, is it? Yeh want out and yeh mean to take the king's pig wi' yeh. I didn't think yeh were one of us. I s'pose yeh'll be wanting this then." He pulled a key out of his pocket. "Come on then, Dark Rogue. Steal this from me."

Damon pulled back and sent his fist directly for Thom's head, but he ducked and charged into the big man's stomach. Damon lost his balance backward and got checked into the wall of the shack. The key flew from Damon's hand and clattered on the floor.

Damon landed his fist into Thom's stomach and now both men had some of the wind knocked out of them. Thom staggered back. Damon dealt him an uppercut to the chin. He was smiling evilly. This was going to be fun.

Damon advanced on him and grabbed him by the hair. He slammed him into one of the walls at arm's length, and then the other. Thom swung his fists ineffectively. He was unsteady on his feet and his shots had no power. Damon threw him back. Thom pinwheeled and stumbled, then toppled backward onto his ass. Damon closed in for the kill.

Madoc was now within reach of him and threw a surprise left hook which connected with Damon's chin. Damon glared at him with flashing eyes. He grabbed Madoc's throat and began to squeeze. Madoc tried to reach for the table of weapons, but it was still out of reach. Damon was crushing his windpipe.

Thom, who was still on the floor, kicked upwards into Damon's crotch. Damon grimaced and doubled over. He released his grip on Madoc to clutch his pain. Thom scrambled to his feet and tried to get to the door on the other side of the shack. Damon recovered enough to dash over and check Thom into the wall before he could get the door open.

Once everyone had cleared away, Madoc saw that the key had been kicked closer. He began to reach for it with his foot.

Damon now had Thom in a headlock. He turned to the side and slammed Thom's head into the wall. He was beginning to black out, but managed to elbow Damon in the gut. He had to do it twice more before he let go.

Thom stepped forward, away from Damon, seeing stars. Damon brought a double fist straight down onto his back.

Madoc was painfully stretching his arm trying to reach the floor to grab the key with his free hand.

Thom staggered toward the weapons table, but Damon grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him back. "Oh no, yeh ain't goin' near there." He hoisted Thom and smacked his head against the roof. Then he spun him around and delivered a roundhouse to the face, dropping him on his ass again. Thom flopped backward onto the floor, panting.

Damon advanced again and bent over Thom's supine form to pick him up again. Thom kicked upwards, catching Damon on the chin. He used the momentum to roll over his head, landing on all fours as Damon stumbled back toward the door. He charged forward again, knocking Damon into the wall, but this time Damon was prepared. He kneed Thom in the stomach. Thom slumped to the ground, coughing.

"That took most of the fight out o' yeh," Damon said as he stepped over him. He took a length of chain from the weapons table and wrapped it around Thom's neck. He crossed the ends and pulled. Thom's eyes bugged out as he choked for air and tugged uselessly at the chain. He was going to die.

Damon's eyes were wide open and on fire. He stood pridefully over his victim, revelling in the idea of taking his last breaths away from him, in watching the other man's life seep away.

He did not notice anything behind him until someone slashed him deep in his side. Damon screamed in rage and pain. He turned around to confront this new attacker. Madoc punched him out, dagger still in hand. Damon fell forward onto the floor.

Madoc unwrapped the chain from Thom's neck. Thom inhaled desperately, wheezing.

Madoc asked, "Are you alright?" Thom nodded, but his breathing was still difficult. He didn't seem to be bleeding, but bruises were beginning to form where he'd been thrown around. Madoc helped him to his feet.

He quickly collected his clothes and his weapons, and Thom put out the torch. "Why did you do that?" Madoc demanded.

"We need our own night vision back. It's overcast out there, darker than normal. Let your eyes adjust."

The two stood in the shack until they could make out some detail on the floor and near the edges of the door. They could hear one of the Marauders outside, calling Lennox's name softly.

"Shit. They've notice he's gone. I took care of your guard," Thom whispered.

Madoc charged through the door, catching the Marauder by surprise, and then punched him in the jaw. He was down but not out. A short while later he was calling out, trying to wake the camp.

"Fleetfire's this way," Thom said as he ran. "He's untied and ready to go." Madoc whistled shrilly, and the stallion responded, but by now most of the Marauders were awake.

Fleetfire was galloping in heed of his master's call, while some of the brigands were also on their way over to see what was going on.

Madoc prepared to help Thom up onto the steed's back, but he declined. "That'll take too long! I'll get a boost from one of those stumps. Get moving!" Madoc hesitated, but Thom had already started running toward the firepit. Madoc cursed and mounted.

Thom was almost to the tree-stump seats. Several angry thieves tried to stop him, but he kicked, punched and did everything he could to keep his way clear. The area around the firepit was surreal-looking. All around it the trees diverted the rain onto the leaves and collected it, but in the middle of the camp where the trees had been cleared away, the rain was falling unobstructed. The fire had gone completely out.

Thom finally arrived and stepped up onto one of the seats. He turned around to face any Marauders who sought to trap him.

Madoc rode Fleetfire to Thom's position. He kicked at the back of one man who was giving Thom trouble and began to rein in the horse to allow Thom to climb on. Thom surprised both him and the horse by heaving his body across the horse's rump and yelling, "Go! Go!" Thom was prostrate in his usual position behind Madoc.

"Where?" Madoc shouted. The horse had only slowed and was now picking up speed.

Thom finally spotted Kraid in front of his tent, red with rage. "That way!" Thom called back, pointing directly at him. Madoc wondered why, but aimed his mount that way.

Fleetfire's hooves pounded the ground outside the rainy center of the camp, leaving chaos in his wake.

Kraid charged up to the horse, but was pushed back as the riders passed him. He felt a sharp tug on the back of his neck, then toppled backwards onto the dirt.

Thom yelled out, "Let's get out of here! We've got everything we need." Madoc redirected the horse to the edge of the clearing, looking for a roadway out.

Kraid clutched suspiciously at his chest. "My spritestone!! Stop them!"

Thom and Madoc rode past where the other horses were kept, and where Addax was trying pointlessly to undo the knot in all their reins, which Thom had only finished tying when Lennox had surprised him.

Lightning flashed, eerily illuminating the sodden clearing. Thom tucked the stone into his shirt and tried cautiously to swing himself upright. Madoc finally found a clear way out of the camp. Both men were badly injured, but they had escaped.

Over the rumble of thunder, Thom heard Kraid bellow, "Where's Lennox?!" and he feared for Lennox's safety.