The flight took the eastern route over the wilds of Momul. A desolate region bereft of human life where dozens of small rivers flowed out of the mountains and split into a thousand weed choked channels before rejoining in the lowlands to become the great river Sarel. The route took them hundreds of miles away from the direct route between the two cities but, with no eyes on the ground to note their passing, the two Gem Lords and their escort of a dozen wing guards would be able to approach to within twenty miles of Castle Gamuk without being seen.

     Lord Ruby scanned the horizon as they approached the eastern extremity of the steaming fenlands, looking for a range of hills he'd spotted on the maps, and when he saw it he pulled on the reins to guide Pyre in that direction.

     Tak hadn't thought of giving his gem steed a name. To him it was just an animal. A mutated variant of the horned lizards that swarmed like vermin in the deserts of the south. He felt some pride in what he'd accomplished, it was true, but what he mainly felt when he regarded the giant flying reptiles was regret and frustration that he'd never quite been able to accomplish what he'd been holding in his mind's eye as he mixed his potions and cast his spells over the embryos floating in their culture dishes. He couldn't look at them without seeing the failures and imperfections he'd never quite been able to eliminate. The tendency for their scales to dry out and flake in hot climates. Their poor night vision. Their extreme sensitivity to many common foods that meant the stablehands had to be very careful what they fed them.

     When he'd first showed them to the others, he'd half expected them to tut in disappointment and tell him to keep trying, so their delight and admiration had taken him somewhat by surprise. At least the creatures were easily trained, and showed great loyalty to their riders, that was something, but not a day went by that wasn't spent going over and over in his mind what he could do to improve the next generation. To eliminate the flaws and introduce new qualities. To bring closer the day when the magnificent beast he knew was possible would come crawling out of its gestation tank and screech in delight at its perfection.

     If the beasts the Gem Lords rode were flawed, though, the steeds ridden by the wing guards were even more so. They were based on the previous generation and were smaller than the reptiles Lords Ruby and Sapphire were riding, as well as being not quite as fast or graceful in the sky. They were fearsome enough to give Domandropolis undisputed mastery over the skies for the past twenty years, though, and were strong enough to carry one passenger in addition to their usual rider, if necessary. If they'd been fertile, capable of breeding on their own like other animals, they could have created a force to dominate the whole continent, but the great beasts were sterile and every individual had to be grown in the tanks. A difficult and time consuming process that only produced one live pup for every twenty corpses.

     Things had gotten a little better with the gem steeds. They had a live birth rate was about one in ten, but that still meant that Tak had pulled almost a hundred stillborn corpses out of the vats between the birth of his own mount and that of Midnight, the black giant ridden by Lady Jet. If Tak hadn't been able to teach the spells to his apprentices and delegate the routine work to them, he would never have been able to perform the research into the new and improved next generation. Even so, though, there was a part of him that knew he ought to be looking into improving the viability of the embryos and curing them of their sterility rather than adding still new features and abilities to the creatures. The trouble was that he just couldn't help himself! He had to keep tinkering! He had to keep trying to raise their intelligence, their flying ability, their visual acuity! It was as if he was driven, and not all the carefully chosen words of his fellow Gem Lords could help him.

     He put these thoughts out of his mind, as he guided his mount in for a landing on the bare, grassy top of the hill. The steed pulled itself up, deliberately stalling itself and killing the last of its forward motion, then flapped its leathery wings madly to lower itself the last few feet, landing on the damp grass with a gentle thud. Their wing guard escort landed around them, several of the giant lizards screeching as their bellies touched the ground, and Tak looked around anxiously to see if there was anyone nearby to hear. All he saw was flat and empty marshland stretching to the horizon in every direction, though. Not a single sign of humanity. Not a single sign that humanity existed at all. For all he could see, the whole planet might be like this. Just nothing but empty fenland from pole to pole.

     Lord Ruby was shouting angrily, however. "For the sake of the Gods, keep those creatures quiet! Sound can travel for miles in this air!"

     The Captain acknowledged the order and passed it on to his men as they dismounted, while Tak contemplated the fact that Barl Hobson was a much more practically minded man than he was. Much less prone to thoughtful contemplation or imaginative meanderings. He couldn't make up his mind whether that was a good or a bad thing, whether it made him more efficient or less of a human being. Then again, Tak knew he could do with exercising a bit more mental discipline himself. He knew that one of his major failings was a tendency to let his mind wander when he should be concentrating. That was why he had no trouble with Lord Ruby taking the lead so often, the redheaded man sometimes treating him almost as a subordinate even though, by his own admission, Tak was by far the better wizard. Tak knew he would never make a good leader. He had a hard enough time managing his own apprentices!

     He removed his small bundle of possessions from the saddlebag. A travelling spellbook, small enough to tuck into a pocket and containing just a few of the many spells he knew; those he thought he'd be most likely to need during their stay in Castle Gamuk. Bundles of material spell components, wrapped up in oilcloth as protection against the rain. A small bundle of spare clothing and a pair of wands. One wand contained pre-cast attack spells, needing only a spoken word to unleash at whatever the wand was pointing at. Much faster and safer than having to speak the magic words and make the hand movements in the middle of a battle when a single lost moment could get you killed.

     The other wand contained a variety of utility spells. Spells whose only purpose was to make life easier for the wizard but which required large and cumbersome material components that were too ungainly to carry around on a long voyage. Much easier to cast them at home, in his laboratory, and make them go dormant, needing only a trigger word to be spoken, weeks or months later, to complete the casting. To distinguish them, and prevent him getting them mixed up in the middle of a battle, the war wand was painted red and bore a large teardrop of crystallised blood on its tip, while the utility wand was a simple black rod, tipped with silver at each end. He slipped them into the holster he wore on his belt, then unpacked his store of material components and removed a silk bag of powdered gold.

     Lord Ruby was doing the same, and the two Gem Lords then began carefully laying the powder out in a circle surrounding their camp. An area about a hundred yards across. Inside the circle, some of the soldiers were unsaddling their mounts and grooming them in preparation for their evening feed, while others were beginning the erection of tents and building a camp fire. This would be their home for the next few days, while the Gem Lords were in the castle, and their job would be to come to their rescue if they got word that their leaders were in trouble.

     Being atop the only hill for miles around, though, they would be spotted by the first trapper of traveler who passed through the area, which was why the two wizards were casting the spell around them. The moment the circle was complete, Tak spoke a series of tonguetwisting magic words and the trail of powdered gold flared into brilliant light. A moment later everything inside the circle shimmered and danced, as if seen through a heat haze, and then faded from view, hidden behind a curtain of invisibility.

     The two Gem Lords examined the effect critically for a few moments, and when they were satisfied they stepped back inside. From inside, everything outside appeared dark and slightly blurred, as if seen through a smoked sheet of badly cast glass, no doubt caused by irregularities in the placing of the gold dust. If they'd had more time they could have done a better job, but every moment they'd taken had raised the risk of some passing traveler seeing them. It was good enough. A wandering peasant could come right up to the foot of the hill now without seeing the camp that had been set up on its summit, and if he should happen to climb all the way to the top and enter the curtain, the soldiers would hold him there until they were ready to leave.

     "Remember, Captain," said Lord Ruby to the soldier who came to stand before him. "No-one is to step outside the circle, not even for a moment. Not for any reason whatsoever."

     "Understood," the Captain replied, his magnificently bushy moustache waggling as he spoke.

     "And try to keep the steeds quiet. The odd screech might be attributed to the marsh creatures, but let's not tempt fate, okay?"

     "It will be as you say, Sire."

     Then they waited. It took several hours for the other half of the expedition to arrive. Twelve horsemen, leading two spare horses and four pack horses, who had set out several days earlier, timed so that they would arrive at the hill on the same day. A soldier went out to guide them into the invisible camp, where the new arrivals dismounted and began changing into their uniforms. Four servants to see to the needs of the two Lords while they were away from home and eight soldiers to guard them on the way to Castle Gamuk and back. Tak and Barl, of course, had no need of either servants or guards, but they were posing as mundane minor nobles and appearances had to be upheld.

     It was growing close to evening by then, so they settled down to spend the night on the hilltop, the two wizards being attended by their servants in the large tent they erected near the centre of the camp. When morning came, Barl and Tak took the two spare horses and mounted up with the rest of the horsemen. Then they set off, down the slope of the hill to a road that led to  the castle.

     As they approached the dark and brooding castle Tak brought the words of his defensive spells to the forefront on his mind in case they met a hostile reception. Lord Ruby gave the appearance of secure confidence as he brought his horse to a halt in front of the gate, though, and he watched with imperious authority as one of the servants dismounted.

     There were guards up on the walls, looking down at them, and one of them left to take word to someone inside. A moment later a small flap opened in the door and a pudgy red face peered disdainfully out at them.
Tak was pleased to see that the once fine but well worn clothes they were wearing were having their desired effect on the doorman. The intention was to make them appear to be only moderately wealthy people who were trying to give the appearance of being wealthier than they really were. Minor nobles from a middling sized city trying to boost their importance by meeting with King Lamont. The doorman was polite and respectful, though. There was always the chance that these visitors were spies for someone far more important and he had to treat them with dignity in case word of his conduct got back to him.

     "Greetings, masters," he said therefore. "May I have your names please?"

     "We are Lords Ghell and Halbon, come in response to King Lamont's invitation to join him on his hunt," said Lord Ruby, affecting a bored insolence as if he didn't make a habit of speaking to such lowly individuals. He very pointedly said nothing else after that, giving the lofty impression that he was not a man who needed to explain himself. Or at least, that he wanted the doorman to think he was.

     "Thank you, masters," said the doorkeeper. Tak saw him glancing down at something. Probably a list on which he had the names of invited guests written, and then he gestured urgently to someone out of sight beside him. The doors swung open and he bowed low as they strode through. Behind them, their entourage followed, leading their horses by the reins.

     "My apologies, my Lords," the doorman cringed, "but we have to be careful. The King has many enemies..."

     "Of course," said Lord Ruby, smiling pleasantly. "We quite understand, and you may be sure we'll mention to the King how well you do your duty."

     The doorkeeper beamed as the guests entered, and then he hurried off to fetch one of the sub housemen to take them to their rooms. "The King will be pleased to see you in the morning," the splendidly uniformed servant told them as he led them along the cold, stone corridor. "I hope you enjoy your stay."

     "Thank you, I'm sure we will," replied Tak.

     Other servants met them in their rooms to see to their needs, and the sub houseman made his way to the kitchens, where the senior houseman was giving instructions to the cook. The servant reported the arrival of the two wizards and his superior looked thoughtful for a moment.

     "Lords Ghell and Halbon," he mused. "The names mean nothing to me, and I know all the King's friends. Obviously they're travelling under false names. Keep an eye on them. Find out as much as you can."

     The sub houseman nodded and returned to his duties.