BOOK FIVE
THE BOOK OF THE HAWK
Chapter One
Now, in the days that Silent Dog was still Speaker, misfortune began to
fall on The Children of Spirit. A group of fierce bandits began to raid
caravans going south to the lands below the desert.
2 For three years the raiders struck and all efforts to
apprehend them were fruitless. The bravest of patrols scoured the
desert. False caravans went south, hoping to draw an attack, but none
succeeded. Hundreds of The Lords Children were carried away to
captivity in foreign lands, and none could find them.
3 Then one day a young Warlock marched to Northern, and asked
for audience with The First Speaker. As
he carried many letters
of recommendation, The First Speaker
welcomed him.
4 "Lord," the young man announced, "I am The Hawk, a Warlock
from a village above The Southern City. I have come to ask your
assistance.
5 I have gathered a band of excellent fighters and trained
them to great efficiency. It is my desire to take them as a false
caravan into the desert, lure out these bandits who have been
attacking our people, destroy and capture them, and find out what has
happened to our people who have been carried away."
6 "Young man,” counseled The First Speaker, "Some of our
wisest Warlocks have taken
false caravans into the desert. They all have failed. Why do YOU feel
you can succeed over these experienced fighters?"
7 "I spoke, Lord," The Hawk answered with the leaders of each
of these caravans, and realized the mistakes they make. They took too
many obvious fighting people, just a few women, and no children. I, on
the other hand, have gathered a force that though powerful, looks weak.
I have also, Lord, spoken to survivors of the bandit raids, and learned
what type
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