Gog and Magog

At the junction of the trail and the road were two men, waiting for someone who would not be expecting them. They were bullies employed by Nozh to find and close down the trail used by a rival in the thunderstone business. They had found a couple of caches and had plundered them. Unfortunately for them, one of the pack horses that they were going to use to carry off the loot had run off, and so they would need to come back to finish off the job.

One of Nozh's orders to them was to find one of Ghermiz's couriers and to 'make an example' of him. They had decided that if they did find a courier, then they would bring him back to Nozh, so that information about the rival operation could be obtained. They would rob him before handing him over to Nozh, but would not hurt him any more than they would need to subdue him. Better let Nozh say what would be needed to 'make the example'.

Gog and Magog were encamped, with Gog sharpening a short sword with a whetstone and Magog feeding the remaining horses, which had been secured to a tree. Gog said, "Hey, Magog, how is a woman like a rug?"

"I don't know."

"You got to beat them from time to time or else they are no good."

Magog laughed, and then said, "I guess I have to agree, but you don't want to hit 'em where it shows."

"Hell, that's where you do hit 'em. Make an example of 'em for the rest of the women out there."

"Yeah, but ...."

"Oh, no buts about that. You know what the problem with women is. Some guys are too soft on them. They let them chatter on, and soon they start trying to give orders. And these guys listen to them. Guys like that are a bunch of damned mice that make things tough for the rest of us."

"Look, Gog, I agree that some guys are too soft. But I want my woman to look good. There is an art to it. You have to know where and how to hit. Enough so that she's scared, but not enough where she looks bad."

"You think like that, and she gets uppity. No, you are setting yourself up for a world of trouble if you don't stay on her."

"I don't ever remember Faribande showing any bruises."

Gog replied, "Don't talk about that! I don't want to say nothing bad about Nozh, but ...." His voice lowered to a whisper, "what Nozh did wasn't right. I mean, you smack 'em from time to time to let them know whose boss, see? But what he did to her, that wasn't right."

After a silence, Magog said, "It does prove your point, I guess. She is an example of what happens when Nozh's ain't happy with you."

"Let's talk about something else. Anything else."

There was a silence, and a gloom had descended. Gog started whittling at a stick. Magog noticed a disturbance from the trail.

"I think someone's coming!"

1. Two people on a horse, a small but strongly built courier and an athletic looking woman, were working their way along the trail to the Old Frontier Road. They were about thirty paces away.

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