Ray frowned at the girls in their group. He hadn't taken their presence into consideration. However, the guards on the wall were witnesses to their departure. Perhaps they could yet be of use. Females in distress could bring about all kinds of events. He turned and followed John to the road. He calculatingly watched Sharana mount. It was obvious she was good with horses. The mountains though were not easy to travel by, horse or no horse. That put them on equal footing in his mind.

Sharana trotted her horse to the road and looked back at them. Such a large group. So many Roms to boot. This wasn't a good start either. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to calm down. She was hired as their guide. Time to go over rules. "Alright listen up. Rules. I lead. Don't bicker, second guess, or act foolish in regards to the fact that I am your guide. You hired me. If you go against my wishes, then I will bow out of our contract. You aren't allowed in the Nircotian Wilderness without a Nircoti guide. So if I bow out, I am honor bound to kill you. So do as I say when I say to do it. If you listen to me, you stand a higher chance of living over certain death." She gave each a pointed stare, one at a time, including Lola. She would not go easy on the girl.

Larry looked at his two friends uncertainly. Perhaps this alternative wasn't as good as they had thought. Curly punched his arm and pushed him forward. Correctly reading the hesitation in Larry's eyes, Curly was determined to get them started so that they could look back. Moe followed, trying to figure out a way for this to be more to their advantage. Sharana watched them for a moment with veiled eyes. Her thoughts were going to have to remain hidden from this group. Gears were already turning, translating every word and action to be weighed and judged. They had only a short walk until they reached the base of the mountain. Hour tops. Then the trials would begin. Glancing at Gage and his group, she couldn't suppress her grimace. They were her unknowns. She had passed judgement on the characters of the others here. It had been easy. However those three were not the typical idiots she dealt with.