A short Prologue

“Do you have him?” asked the short toady man to a taller leaner younger man. The sun had long left the sky replaced by a lowly sickle moon and most normal humans had retired for the night. The only ones up at this hour were drunks, theives, kidnappers or murders. The two men were not drunks but it had yet to be seen if they were thieves, kidnappers or killers. The pair was no doubt up to any good but no one was here to witness their misdeeds, though an owl perched upon a large oak tree seemed particularly interested in the transaction. It was merely an owl could truly just be looking for its meal.

“Of course” the taller man replied gruffly, “Do you not think I keep my word.”
“Well, where is he?” the toady man implored.
“Payment first” the taller man responded holding out his hand.
“Fine, fine” the toady man agreed digging through his money purse and shoving coins into the kidnapper’s calloused hand. The kidnapper shoved a covered wooden cage into the toady man’s hand. The kidnapper turned and left the clearing without a single look back. He was gone as quickly as he appeared.

The toady man carried the cage back to his horse before deciding to remove the cover from the cage. He placed the cage upon the ground. He carefully removed the covered and peered inside to an empty cage. A surge of dread ran through his veins. He had been given specific directions and he had taken short-cuts. He had paid someone else do the dirty work. He had placed too much trust in the power of money. He had not given enough credit to pull of greed. It was too late to run after the kidnapper. Besides, what would he do if he did catch him, the toady man thought. It was not as if he could take the other man in a fight. It was his own fault for being foolish. He could not return to his employer empty handed. He had to find a way to accomplish his task or else face death.